Christopher was leaning over Elle, carefully inspecting the dagger that was jammed into her shoulder right at her neck. “She’s breathing,” he said. “Her heartbeat is weak and fast. She’s in shock. Why is she all wet?”
“Because he tried to drown her!” Hugo said, distraught. “It was Amaro! He was here!”
Curtis, who was barely holding on as it was, looked at Hugo in horror. “Amaro?” he nearly shouted. “He did this?”
Hugo nodded, looking to his liege with the greatest of remorse. “He did,” he said. “My lord, I feel as if this is my fault.I should have told you… I should have told you what he was capable of!”
Curtis’ mouth was hanging open in shock, in terror. “Tell mewhat?”
Hugo was in great distress. “The things he said,” he muttered. “He would make threats toward the lady, toward her cousin. He said you were not allowed to punish him for anything he did, but when he went to Lioncross, I thought he would forget. I thought the threat was over. But he came back!”
Curtis couldn’t decide what to do at that moment—go on the rampage, snap Hugo’s neck, or push his parents out of the way to get to Elle. Perhaps he would do all three, but his brain was broken in the sense that he couldn’t make a choice. He just stood there and quivered. He ended up emitting something of a roar of pain before turning for the door.
“Where is he?” he boomed. “Where is Amaro? I will kill him!”
Peter and Myles were in the chamber, too, grabbing Curtis before he could get away. But it was like trying to stop a raging bull. He’d already slugged Myles the night before in a drunken rage, and here he was again, fighting with his brother, whom he loved dearly. He elbowed Peter in the belly when the man grabbed him from behind and threw him into a bear hug to stop his forward momentum. As this was going on, Caius and Sean came into the chamber because they’d heard the alarms, only to see a full-blown fight going on between Curtis and his brothers while Curtis’ wife lay on the bed between Dustin and Christopher, a dagger sticking out of her chest. When Christopher saw Caius and Shawn, he threw a finger toward Curtis.
“Help them,” he bellowed. “Cai, help them calm Curt. Sean, I need you!”
Caius and Sean split up, Caius going to the tussling de Lohr brothers and Sean going straight to the bed. As Caius enteredthe struggle, Sean leaned over Christopher’s shoulder, getting a good look at Lady Leominster.
She was a bloody, wet mess.
“What happened, Chris?” Sean asked quietly, urgently.
Christopher sighed sharply. “Amaro de Laraga has tried to kill my son’s wife,” he growled. “Curtis is trying to escape this chamber to find the man and kill him, but I need him here. I need him calm for his wife’s sake, not running around like a madman.”
“Where is de Laraga?” Sean said ominously. “I will take care of him.”
Christopher shook his head. “I do not know,” he said. “But find out where he is. Find out what happened and where this happened. I want to know how this came about. And when you locate de Laraga… make it hurt, Sean. Cause him pain.”
It was a command to the man once known as the Lord of the Shadows. He brought pain with him wherever he went, and no one escaped his wrath. Nodding grimly, Sean headed out of the chamber on a mission. As he cleared the room, Christopher looked to Hugo, who was standing a few feet behind him, looking as if he was ready to collapse. But Christopher would have none of the man’s guilt or grief. It wasn’t his right.
“De Bernay,” he snapped. “Look at me and listen.”
Hugo’s gaze immediately shifted from Curtis and the men trying to calm him to Christopher. “My lord?” he said, his voice quivering.
“Find a physic,” he said. “We will do what we can, but she needs a physic.”
“We do not have one, my lord,” Hugo said.
“Then go to the nearest town and find one,” Christopher nearly shouted. “I do not care where you go, but find one. Send men out to comb the area for one. You will also have the servants send up hot water and clean, boiled rags. The same ones they usefor the wounded soldiers. Lastly, send Wrexham to me, now. I am in need of de Royans.Hurry!”
He shouted the last word, and Hugo fled. Meanwhile, Elle was starting to come around, and Dustin had to practically lie on the woman to keep her still.
“Easy, lass, easy,” Dustin said soothingly. “Be at ease. We will take good care of you.”
Coming out of a dark and unpleasant fog, Elle had no idea what was going on. She was staring up at the ceiling, hearing Dustin’s voice, before finally turning her head slightly and catching sight of the woman’s strained face.
“My… my lady?” she said hoarsely, puzzled. “What is it? What has happened?”
Dustin forced a smile. “Be still, love,” she said softly. “There has been a little trouble, but we will take very good care of you.”
Elle still had no idea what she was talking about until she began to remember being in the water. Someone was holding her down in the water. She tried to fight back but couldn’t seem to gain any headway. She remembered panicking, and then someone pulling her out of the water. After that… Was she running? She thought Melusine had been there. But the feelings of panic returned, and she tried to sit up.
“The water,” she babbled, somewhat incoherently. “There was water. Where’s the water?”
Both Dustin and Christopher attempted to push her back down again, but the moment she jostled the knife in her shoulder, she cried out and fell back to the bed. In fact, that cry stopped Curtis in his tracks as he was fighting three men to get out of the chamber and find Amaro. That feeble cry had him pushing them aside so he could get to his wife.
