That was the gist of it.
No mountain too high, no enemy too bold, that he could not conquer.
He suspected that he was going to have to prove it.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Winterhold Castle
“What do youmean she escaped?”
It was early evening as Hallam and Kevin faced Covington and Marius in Covington’s gorgeous solar. Per Caius’ orders, they faced the pair together. When they’d entered the room, the mood had all the tides and trimmings of a victory celebration as father and son applauded their final triumph over the House of de Thorington. They were dressed in their finest and toasting each other with Covington’s very expensive Spanish wine while trays of smoked fish and hard cheese was laid out before them.
Certainly, it felt like a celebration until Hallam delivered the news from Hawkstone. At that moment, the celebration came to an abrupt halt.
The question came from Covington.
“Hallam,” he very nearly shouted as he set his cut crystal cup to the nearest table. “What in the hell do you mean Lady Emelisse escaped? What happened?”
Hallam and Maxton had worked out the scenario on their ride from Hawkstone, so he knew it by heart. Backwards and forwards. He knew every single word that he was supposedto say, but when Covington charged at him, bleating his demanding question, all Hallam could feel was disgust.
Disgust and rage.
That had never happened to him before, not like this.
“Precisely that, my lord,” he said, launching into the story. “She asked to use the garderobe, so we permitted it. One does not usually follow a woman when she is taking care of, shall we say, necessities. While we were waiting for her a proper distance away, she escaped.”
Covington was so astonished that he could hardly think straight. “Escaped?” he repeated. “From the garderobe?”
“Throughthe garderobe, my lord,” Hallam pointed out, inferring the disgusting obvious. “I suppose she was desperate enough to do it. We did not discover her absence until sometime later. Worse still, she somehow killed one of our soldiers in the process. He must have tried to stop her. She is on the run now and Sir Caius and Sir Morgan have gone after her.”
Covington’s eyes widened. “But what of her brother?” he asked. “Is he still in the keep?”
“Still, my lord.”
“Did she even speak with him? Did she tell him to surrender?”
Hallam’s lie was about to grow. “She did,” he said. “But that was before she escaped. The brother said he would consider surrendering peacefully if she was brought back safely and that is what we are trying to do.”
That gave Covington pause. It was a false hope that the intact keep might be surrendered without bombarding it and destroying it to remove the brother. A keep that was virtually intact would cost him less to rebuild in the long run. With that thought, he suddenly had hope that, truly, this would all be over soon if they could only find the lady.
So close!
“We found Rupert’s body not long ago,” he said. “It is drying out in the vault. Do you suppose we could use it to convince the brother to surrender now rather than later?”
“I think you should wait until Caius and Morgan find the lady,” Hallam said. “A live sister will have more effect than a dead father.”
Covington’s displeasure returned. “Then who else is looking for her?” he demanded. “You should have the entire army out looking for her. She must be brought back immediately!”
But Hallam shook his head. “That would not work, my lord,” he said. “She would see them coming from a mile away. Nay, it will only work if men such as Sir Caius and Sir Morgan are searching for her in stealth. If she saw an army looking for her, she would only hide and we would never find her. It is better this way.”
Covington wasn’t so sure. He looked at his son to see his reaction to all of this only to see that Marius looked much like his father. Enraged, he threw his expensive crystal cup into the hearth and stormed in Hallam’s direction.
“This isyourfault,” he hissed. “You stupid fool. You should never have let the woman go off by herself!”
Hallam didn’t like Marius; he never had. He particularly didn’t like being called names by the man.
“I am to stand at a lady’s side while she pisses?” he shot back quietly. “I think not, my lord.”
