“Titus!” she gasped. “Tertius, it was Titus! Sweet Jesus, he wasgreen!”
Tertius, regretful that she finally remembered, stood up and went to her as she burst into quiet tears. He patted her shoulder comfortingly.
“I know,” he said softly. “I am sorry you had to see that. Atticus should not have allowed it.”
Isobeau wiped her eyes. “He did not have a choice,” she sniffed. “I asked him to take me to Titus. Actually, I demanded he take me to him.”
Tertius sighed heavily, dropping his hand from her shoulder. “Why would you do that?”
She looked up at him, still wiping her eyes. “Because he is my husband and it is my right to see him,” she insisted. “I… I had to see him, Tertius. I had to know that he was truly gone.”
Tertius understood, somewhat. “We all told you he was truly gone,” he said. “Did you not believe us?”
Isobeau nodded, sniffling delicately, trying not to think of her green-tinged husband. “I did,” she said. “But I had to see for myself.”
Tertius lifted his eyebrows and moved away from her, towards the table where there was food and drink. “And so you did,” he said. “But it would have been better to remember the man as he was and not his state the very last time you saw him. Sometimes you should not be so stubborn, Izzy.”
Isobeau watched him as he brought her a hunk of bread; she waved it off, nauseous. “Did Atticus tell you that he intends to go after the men who killed Titus?” she asked.
Tertius looked at her with a mixture of disapproval and distress. “How would you know that?” he asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Did Atticus tell you the circumstances surrounding Titus’ death?”
Isobeau nodded. “He did,” she said. “But he was not going to tell me. A wounded man in the hall spoke of it and I made Atticus tell me the truth. He is going to find de la Londe and de Troiu but he will not take me with him.”
Tertius threw up his hands in relief. “Finally,” he hissed, “the man is showing some sense. Of course you should not go with him, Isobeau. He will not even let any of the knights go with him, me included. I asked to go on behalf of you but he would not allow it.”
Isobeau frowned. “He acts as if he is the only one with a measure of vengeance to be had,” she said. “He acts as if I have no say in this at all.”
“You don’t,” Tertius said sternly. “Let de Wolfe do what he is bound to do. You cannot stop him and he will not let any of us go with him, so there is nothing we can do about it. But trust me when I say that de la Londe and de Troiu will be found and they will be punished. Atticus de Wolfe will make sure of it.”
Isobeau’s gaze lingered on her brother a moment longer before looking away, rubbing her belly gingerly. She wasn’t feeling very well at the moment.
“Mayhap you and I should go alone,” she muttered. “If Atticus will not let us accompany him, then mayhap we should simply go alone. You can find these men and you can kill them.”
Tertius glanced at her. “I will not take you, either,” he said. “De Wolfe told me that you are with child. Do you really think I would drag my pregnant sister all over England? You are mad,Isobeau. Atticus is leaving today to return Titus to Wolfe’s Lair and you will go with him. Then, you will remain at Wolfe’s Lair whilst he does what needs to be done.”
Isobeau looked at him with some guilt in her expression. “I am sorry I did not tell you about the baby sooner,” she said, shrugging. “There has not been the opportunity.”
He waved her off, as if it was of no consequence. “Have you sent word to Papa yet?”
Isobeau shook her head. “I have not.”
“He will be eager to know.”
She pursed her lips irritably. “He will want me to name my son after the de Shera tradition of Roman names for the males,” she said. “I will not do it.”
“Titus is a Roman name. Name him after his father.”
She faltered, fighting off a grin. “That is the only reason Papa allowed me to marry Titus,” she snorted. “He bore a Roman name.”
Tertius grinned. “I fear you will not have a choice in naming your son.”
She conceded the point. “Then I shall name him something grand like Julius Caesar de Wolfe.”
Tertius burst out laughing. “Where did you hear of that?”
She watched her brother laugh. “From Papa, of course,” she said. “You know how he felt it necessary for us to know of our ancient Roman heritage.”
Tertius continued to snort although he was relieved that his sister seemed to be feeling better. The color was coming back to her cheeks. But now he was feeling rather exhausted, having sat up watching over her all night. Now that the sun was rising over the misty morning, he was seriously thinking on seeking his bed.
