“Mayhap I do, just a little,” she said softly. “How can I not? You are a fine and true and noble knight, and a kind andconsiderate husband. Love has sprouted, but I promise you, it will grow. I can feel it in my heart and in my soul. It was only meant for you.”
He stared at her, a thousand words upon his lips and a million emotions rolling through those black eyes. The first thing that came to mind was the first thing he spouted.
“I think I loved you before you were born,” he murmured. “Mayhap even from the beginning of the world and most certainly until the end of it. People would say that we are mad and impetuous to say such things to each other, having known one another for only a short time, but all I know is that when I first looked at you, I could feel something happen, deep down. And when I look at you now, I feel as if I have been born anew. You have made me feel things I’ve never felt before, Em.”
It was a sweet thing to say. Emelisse smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as he embraced her.
“It is true,” she said. “I have felt the same thing. It will always be like this, Cai, I swear it. If there is breath in my body, I will always strive to make you happy and content.”
He leaned down to kiss her, his heart racing, feeling such happiness that he swore he could walk from the window and walk right onto the air.Walking on clouds. He was about to kiss her again, more lustily, when something out on the street caught his attention.
A Pembroke tunic.
It was Kevin.
“Christ,” Caius hissed, releasing Emelisse. “What in the hell is he doing here?”
They would soon find out.
*
“He’swhat? He’sdead?”
They were standing out in the middle of the muddy, slushy street. Caius had run all the way down from his second-floor chamber, out into the street as the village begin to come alive, to intercept Kevin. The knight had been paused in the intersection, looking at the buildings around him, including The White Bear, when Caius had emerged from it. Once he saw the man, he headed straight for him.
“Aye,” Kevin said grimly. “As near as we can tell, he was drunk and slipped on a spilled pitcher of wine, breaking his neck when he fell. Servants found him before dawn this morning, purple and stiff. Covington de Wrenville is dead, Cai.”
Caius couldn’t help it; his mouth was hanging open in shock. “What of Marius?”
Kevin’s expression darkened. “That is why I had to come and find you,” he said. “He’s screaming about the fact that he is now Baron Darliston and he demands the use of William Marshal’s army. We thought we had convinced him last night to wait until you found the lady, trying to buy you some time, but he is no longer willing to wait. He wants Hawkstone and he wants it now, using his father’s death as a rally cry. He has his army greatly worked up about it. Because of this, Maxton has moved The Marshal’s army away from Winterhold.”
Caius was listening closely. “Away where?”
“North,” Kevin said softly. “He is moving them to Hawkstone, Cai.”
Caius frowned. “Why?”
“Because he is preparing to defend your property against Marius.”
Caius grunted, extremely unhappy. “That was not his decision to make,” he said. “The Marshal told us directly that we cannot use his army to defend de Thorington.”
Kevin nodded. “I know,” he said. “But that is because he feared for Lady de Wrenville’s life. With Covington gone, thethreat has been mostly removed. Marius hasn’t shown any interest in Lady de Wrenville as far as we can tell.”
Caius didn’t like it; any of it. “Damn,” he growled. “What does Hallam have to say about all of this? Surely he is caught up in the middle of everything.”
Kevin snorted unhappily. “He hasn’t left Lady de Wrenville’s side,” he said. “If Marius wants her, he’ll have to go through Hallam. And you know what will happen.”
Caius rolled his eyes. “It will be a bloodbath,” he muttered. “Marius is greedy and ambitious, and if he seeks to use Alice against her uncle, the situation will go from bad to worse. In fact, I do not see Covington’s death as solving the problem. If anything, it has only made it worse. Marius wants Hawkstone and he wants William’s army, and he is far less rational than his father was.”
“That is true.”
“And he wants to marry Emelisse.”
“He does, indeed,” Kevin agreed. “There are rumors that he intends to send his army out to search for her, though we’ve not heard it from him directly. But who knows what has happened since I have been searching for you.”
That was the final nail in the coffin as far as Caius was concerned. Over Kevin’s head, he could see William leading two horses down the sloppy avenue and he motioned to the squire, who came running in his direction.
“De Wolfe,” Caius said, taking his horse from the young man. “I want you to get on that beast of a steed and ride it as fast as you can south and find Maxton. Kevin says he is taking The Marshal’s army north, to Hawkstone, but I want you to find Maxton and stop him. Tell him that I command him to stop where he is. I will follow shortly and explain. Do you understand me?”
