“No.”
Richmond’s jaw ticked furiously, his gaze fixed on Arissa. Taking a deep breath, he struggled fiercely to regain his control and pulled himself gently from Hotspur’s grip. Raking his fingers through is rich brown hair in a gesture bordering on madness, he faced Owen with as much composure as he could muster.
“I shall be calm,” he said, his voice raspy. “I swear it. Just…. do not remove her. I want her here, where I can see her.”
Owen nodded faintly and his soldiers vacated the tent, leaving Arissa unattended. As Richmond tore his gaze away from her and struggled to find a chair, any chair, so that he would not collapse completely. As he fumbled about, Arissa put her soft hand on Owen’s arm.
“Please let me go to him,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. “You have a camp full of soldiers that will guarantee he will notmake an attempt to remove me from your control. Please…. my presence can only serve to relax him. Will you grant us a display of your infinite mercy?”
Owen looked to her, seeing a good deal of his cousin in the beautiful features. As Richmond toppled a chair in his agitated state, Owen watched as Hotspur righted the chair and practically shoved Richmond onto it. After a moment, he simply shook his head.
“I cannot, my lady. He will not listen to me if you are in his arms, I promise you. And it is imperative that he listen to my words.”
Arissa blinked, fat tears rolling on to her cheeks. Wiping the moisture away with shaking hands, her gaze trailed to Richmond’s pale face. “When you are finished, then?” she whispered pleadingly. “Can I go to him when you are finished?”
Owen sighed; certainly, it seemed against the natural order of the heavens to keep Sir Richmond and his lady apart. The two were a part of each other, that much was evident. Even though the maintained distance was necessary in his opinion, he still felt as if he were being unusually cruel.
“Mayhap when I am done.” More than likely, he realized his cousin would receive her wish.
He grasped Arissa by the arm, gently, and moved to within several feet of Richmond. His dark eyes were intense on the massive knight, who was entirely focused on Arissa. In his grip, he could feel the young woman quaking.
“I will reiterate my words from earlier,” Owen said softly. “You will ally with Hotspur and myself, and the three of us will prove unbeatable against Henry’s rule. Is this clear?”
Richmond was lost in the depths of the pale green eyes, barely aware of Owen’s words. But he heard them nonetheless. “And if I refuse?” He couldn’t help himself from expressing one final act of rebellion; after all, he was sworn to Henry to thedeath. His allegiance to the king had always been his stronghold, but gazing into Arissa’s eyes, he realized that his loyalty to the king was a pale comparison to his love for Arissa.
“Then you shall never see her again,” Owen said frankly. “Choose your private hell, le Bec. Henry or the lady.”
There was no choice and they all were aware of the fact. But as Richmond gazed at Arissa, a million thoughts were flashing through his mind with dizzying speed and he fought to concentrate on one particular line of thinking; he had established that Hotspur was allied with Owen, and he had furthermore vowed to Henry that he would destroy Northumberland’s heir if the man had turned against the crown. To meet Henry Percy on the battlefield could prove hazardous; Richmond knew the man would be surrounded by warriors and to kill him would not be easy.
As Richmond pondered the situation, realization began to dawn; he knew how he could defeat Hotspur and keep his promise to Henry, thereby gaining Arissa’s hand. Certainly, it did not matter whose side he was fighting on, so long as Hotspur and the rebellion were terminated.
If he were fighting alongside the man, eliminating him would be considerably easier. It did not matter that his reputation risked irrevocable damage; it did not matter than he would be placing himself in the utmost danger. All that matter was disposing of Hotspur in order to gain Arissa’s hand, any way he could.
Piece by piece, block by block, he could weaken the rebellion if he was placed on theinsideand considered a valuable ally when, in fact, he would proceed to disembowel the resistant faction from the inside out. Sometimes external threats were not nearly as deadly as internal assaults– a disease to destroy from within.
He would become that disease. By the time Owen realized he had brought about his own downfall with his clever blackmail, it would be too late. Richmond would kill them all.
But he had to know Arissa was safe before he was able to commence. Drowning in his treacherous thoughts, he was aware that the Welsh prince was expecting an answer. And he realized he had only one answer to give, the only possible choice.
“I am yours,” he heard himself utter the fateful words. After a moment, he focused on Owen. “Providing one factor– that you release Arissa.”
Owen held his gaze for a long moment, pondering the compromise Richmond was suggesting. “What guarantee do I have that you will not refute your vow if I release the very woman who would insure your loyalty?”
Richmond swallowed. “I am a knight and my word is a good as my reputation. If you cannot trust my word, then we have nothing more to say to one another.”
Hotspur interrupted Owen’s careful reply. “He’s given you his word. You do not need the lady.”
Owen faced a moment of indecision; it had taken him a very long time to secure the king’s daughter. As much as he desired to use the girl against her father, something far more important had resulted from her possession; Richmond le Bec had sworn his service. That in itself was the most powerful achievement he could have hoped to accomplish. The girl had already served her purpose.
Owen was unwilling to insult Richmond by declaring distrust in his word of honor. As reluctant as he was to release Arissa, he realized he had no choice if he were to show faith in Richmond’s pledge. But his display of compromise did not come as easily as he had hoped.
“Do you swear to me that you will pledge your service to my cause if I release the lady?” He hated himself for sounding so distrustful.
Richmond sighed heavily, his body weary with emotion and fatigue. “I already told you I would. You would insult me by doubting my pledge?”
Owen was left with little choice; he would have to trust him. He stared at the man a moment before releasing his grip on Arissa.
“I would not,” he said softly, eyeing Arissa as he turned for the tent flap. “I shall give you five minutes alone with the lady. She will leave this night.”
