The man nodded. “You have,” he said. “At your daughter’s wedding. We are allies of Christopher de Lohr.”
Suddenly, it dawned on him. Robin looked at the man by the door and remembered that they’d shared an entire conversation. He pointed to the man.
“De Dere, is it?” he said. “Tiegh de Dere. You are from Berkshire.”
Tiegh nodded. “I am,” he said. “And we did have a long talk about hunting in the north.”
“I recall,” Robin said with some enthusiasm. But then it occurred to him that Christopher de Lohr must have sent these men, and he had no idea why. “But why have you come here, to my home? I do not understand.”
Tiegh’s reply was to throw the bolt on the door, locking them all in the solar. It was the man with the shaggy hair who took over the conversation at that point.
“My name is Magnus of Loxbeare,” he said quietly. “You have met Tiegh, but our third companion is my brother, Aeron. We have come because you have done something quite despicable. A little matter of planning Roi de Lohr’s death. We know about it, and so does Lord Hereford. That is why we’ve come.”
Robin was drunk, but not so drunk that he didn’t understand Magnus’ words. It took him a few moments to process them, but once they sank deep, his eyes widened.
“Roi’s death?” he repeated, suddenly nervous. “Who told you such things?”
Magnus’ dark eyes never left him. “It seems that you and Lord Cirencester have done some plotting,” he said. “Your plan is to lure Roi into an ambush and kill him, making it seem as if he has been killed in battle. Then you plan to marry his widow to Cirencester’s son. Do not deny it, for we know it to be true. We have come to tell you that your plan has been thwarted. And you, my lord, shall be punished.”
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
“I think that you do.”
“Get out or I will call my knights.”
“They cannot hear you. No one can.”
Robin went into panic mode after that. He tried to rush to his table where he kept weapons, but Magnus was in his way, so he darted back toward the hearth, where there was a shovel and a poker. He grabbed the iron poker and wielded it with both hands.
“Get back,” he said. “Get back and leave me. I will kill you all if you come near me!”
Magnus didn’t back away. Neither did the others. In fact, they began to close in on Robin.
“It is my pleasure to tell you, Lord Cheltenham, that your vile life is over,” Magnus rumbled. “You have plotted against the wrong family. Did you think de Lohr would do nothing when he discovered your scheme? A threat against Roi is a threat against the entire de Lohr family. And threats must be eliminated.”
Robin screamed like a woman, slashing wildly with the poker. “Leave me alone!” he cried. “You cannot harm me! I will have you killed, do you hear?I will kill you!”
Magnus glanced at Aeron and Tiegh, briefly nodding his head. “Not before we kill you first,” Magnus said. “The end has arrived, my lord.”
Robin was still slashing the poker as Tiegh came up on his left, Magnus on his right. Tiegh grabbed the poker and lashed out an enormous hand in the same motion, grabbing Robin around the neck. He squeezed hard enough to crush the man’s windpipe as Aeron yanked the poker away. Magnus went in for the kill, grabbing Robin’s flailing hand and planting a dagger in it. Wrapping his own hand around the one holding the dagger, he rammed the blade between Robin’s ribs and straight into his heart. As Robin gasped and pitched forward, Magnus made sure he fell face-first onto the floor, hand still on the dagger, making it appear that he’d stabbed himself in the heart.
And with that, Robin le Bec’s life was over.
But it was all in a day’s work for the Executioner Knights. Tiegh unbolted the door and stuck his head out into the entry, making sure the area was empty, before slipping out with Magnus and Aeron right behind him. Together, the three of them rushed out into the bailey, mingling with the troops and losing themselves in the grounds before departing Cicadia the same way they’d arrived.
Through the open gatehouse.
There were so many people going in and out that no one thought anything of a few random men they didn’t recognize.No one gave it a second thought. But back in the keep, Robin’s strange screams had been heard by one person.
Ananda.
In truth, she had been going up the stairs, still stinging from Robin’s harsh words, when she heard the door hinges squeak. Thinking that he might be leaving his solar, she peered down the stairwell only to see strange men enter his solar and close the door. Curious, she went to the door, putting her ear against the panel to hear what was being said, and she heard everything.
Absolutely everything.
Ananda heard the conversation, Robin’s screams, and the subsequent scuffle. Fearful that the knights might try to do her harm if they knew she eavesdropped, she slipped away, hiding in the gap under the stairwell, until they departed the solar and fled outside. When she was certain they were gone, she timidly went to the open solar door and peered inside, only to see Robin lying facedown in a pool of blood.
For a moment, Ananda simply stood there and absorbed the scene before her. She realized that she wasn’t sorry. She wasn’t even shocked. She knew what had happened and why. But all she could manage to feel was relief. Pure, unrestrained relief. It was a day she never thought she’d see, the day that she had been reprieved from her life sentence of marriage to Robin le Bec. If she ever saw those men again, she would thank them profusely for the gift they’d unknowingly given her. It was all she could to keep from shouting with joy.
