Kevin heard the softly uttered words, having no idea what William was speaking of. In truth, he’d been caught with his hands up the duchess’ skirts and that was scandalous in and of itself. But the way William was speaking, one would have thought Kevin had committed the most grievous sin against mankind. There was such grief in his tone and Kevin was genuinely puzzled. But the fact that the man had a half-dozen soldiers behind him as well as Gorsedd and Adonis told Kevin that something very big was in the works. He looked straight at Victor.
He knew he was in a very bad position; any and all actions with Annavieve were approved and encouraged by Victor, but that was a secret no one else should know. Now, it looked as if Kevin was in a clandestine relationship with Annavieve in front of Victor’s friend. Would Victor take the blame? Would he admit that he had ordered Kevin to impregnate his own wife because he himself could not bear to touch her? Kevin had no choice butto leave the decision up to Victor. At least, for the moment. But he wasn’t beyond defending himself should the need arise.
“My lord,” he said steadily. “Do you want me to explain what you have come upon?”
“It is obvious what he has come upon,” William said before Victor could answer. “You have taken advantage of the man’s new wife. I knew something was occurring, Hage; I could see it from the way you were attentive to the lady. Now you have shamed your liege beyond measure. More than that, you have lied in a manner that shames your knighthood. You are unworthy of the title.”
Kevin’s manner cooled dramatically. He could take many things in life; he had, in fact, suffered through a great deal in his adult life. But for his honor to be challenged was beyond what he was willing to accept. He was being insulted now, declared a liar, and it was the worst possible offense he could imagine. Before he exploded at Salisbury, his gaze moved to Victor yet again.
“My lord,” he addressed him deliberately. “If you would kindly clear up the situation for Lord Salisbury, I would be grateful.”
Victor was looking at him with a tight, angry expression. Kevin sensed utter and monstrous cold coming from the man, hatred on many levels. When he spoke, it was as if the words suddenly burst out of his mouth.
“I will do nothing for a man who has lied to me,” he said.
Kevin could see that, already, this was going badly for him. If Victor was unwilling to defend him, then the situation would take a bad turn indeed. His jaw ticked faintly. “When did I do this disgraceful thing, my lord?”
Victor threw a finger at Adonis, standing on the outskirts of the group. “He told us what happened to Viscount Twyford,” he cried. “He told us you murdered him!”
Kevin kept his eyes trained on Victor even though he very much wanted to look at Adonis. Shocked at the accusation, he refused to believe that his friend, his friend since birth, had betrayed him. There had to be some other explanation, something that Victor, in his rage, was not telling him. Now, he was starting to become angry. Something was going on, something that he could not get a straight answer on, and it was a struggle to keep his temper. He would not be called a liar. He would not be made to take the blame for a situation that had been beyond his control, on many levels.
“De Norville would not have told you any such thing,” he said, deliberately leaving out “my lord”. “Something is happening here and I want to know what it is. Who will have the courage to tell me?”
“I will.”
Adonis stepped away from the group, moving towards Kevin. In fact, he put himself between Kevin and the rest of the men, protectively. He had decided, in fact, when they had headed out to locate Kevin that his loyalty was only with Kevin. It always had been, regardless of the fact he had sworn fealty to Dorset. If Kevin was going to suffer this night, then so was he. He owed the man that much. It was his fault that Kevin now found himself in this situation. At least, that was how he viewed it.
“De Evereux is here, Kevin,” he said quietly, facing the man. “He was at the feast.”
Kevin’s brow furrowed. “So he returned,” he muttered. “I did not see him in the hall.”
Adonis nodded, wearily. “I know,” he said. “He has shaved his head. I did not even recognize him. He went to Salisbury and told the man that he saw you murder Viscount Twyford in Dover. I do not know how he came into that information, Kevin; he would not say. Dorset asked Thomas and me to swear that we didnotsee you kill the man. On our oaths as knights, he askedus to swear it. I am many things, Kevin, but I am not a liar. My honor means as much to me as it does to you. I could not, in good conscience, lie upon my oath. I simply couldn’t and I am so very sorry, my friend. I can only pray you will forgive me. I told them that Twyford charged you with a sword and that you were defending yourself. That is why they are here.”
Now, a great deal made sense to Kevin. This really had nothing at all to do with him and Annavieve and everything to do with Twyford. Looking at Adonis, he could see the man was verging on tears of shame and sorrow for what he had done. Kevin knew the man; he knew that he was straight and true. He also knew that he had confessed what happened with Twyford in the hopes that Salisbury would understand that Kevin had moved in self-defense. Adonis was persuasive that way. But this time, his gift of persuasion had not worked. Now, they were out for blood.
Kevin wasn’t angry at his friend. In an odd way, he was relieved. Apprehensive, but relieved. Now, the truth was out and he had to face the consequences. His focus moved to William.
“It was not my intention to lie about it, my lord,” he said to Salisbury. “I suppose I should have told you from the beginning what had happened but I was genuinely perplexed when Dorset demanded that I track the killer down and punish him. I have never faced a situation such as that before. Having just returned from the Levant, having been gifted to the Duke of Dorset, I suppose in a sense I did not want anything to ruin what I had worked so hard for. The incident with your son was very brief. He was with his men and a scuffle arose. He charged me with a sword he had taken off one of his guards and in defending myself I impaled him. It was an accident. There was no malice in my heart for him. That is exactly the way it happened and I am sorry for the grief I have caused you. It was not intentional.”
There was pain in William’s eyes as he looked at Kevin. Such incredible pain. “There was nothing else you could have done to spare him?” he begged, tears filling his eyes. “He was just a lad. He was terrible with a sword. The man was not cut out to be a knight. Could you not have simply shoved him away from you? Surely with all of your skill you did not have to kill him.”
They were the pleading words of a grief-stricken father. Kevin tried not to feel guilty about it. “Ididpush him away, several times,” Kevin said. “He came back again and again. The last time, I was distracted but caught him out of the corner of my eye. I turned with my sword and he literally ran into the tip of it.”
William closed his eyes and the tears ran down his cheeks. Then, he turned to walk away but Victor wouldn’t let him. He had far more to say about the situation than he had and, unlike William, he wasn’t willing to leave yet. In his view, Kevin had greatly sinned against him.
The man had killed his lover and lied about it. That was the only issue Victor could see in all of this and as easily as he could uplift a knight and make him great and wealthy, he could also destroy one. More than that, the men around him had come upon Kevin in an intimate position with the duchess, which instantly reflected very badly on Victor. Did he want these men to know he had ordered Kevin to seduce the duchess? Of course he didn’t. It was one of the more questionable orders he had ever given, and this one to a man of legendary reputation. The only way to solve the problem would be to cast the blame off of him and play the victim. Hage would be arrested and executed for crimes not only committed against Victor but also against Salisbury’s son, and the secret of Victor’s orders to him would die with the man. There was no other choice as far as Victor was concerned. It was either his honor or Kevin’s.
Kevin Hage would have to pay the price so that Victor could save his pride. No one must ever know what he had orderedHage to do. Victor was fairly certain that the duchess knew of the orders, however. Certainly Hage must have told her. But she would be an easy disposal as far as Victor was concerned. He didn’t want her, anyway. A slip down a flight of stairs or a bit of poison into her food… aye, she would be easy. It was Kevin he was concerned with at the moment. He had to make a good show of it.
“William,” he gasped, reaching out to grab William by the arm before he could leave. Victor put on a show of great pain. “Surely… my God, surely the man will pay for his sins. Not only has he admitted killing your son, your son, but he has been preying upon my wife. I am shattered. The sins this man has committed against both of us must be punished, do you hear? Hage is obviously an animal. Too many years on the sands of the Levant have turned him into something vile and uncivilized. This I cannot tolerate.”
Annavieve had thus far been standing in silent horror behind Kevin, listening to everything that had been said about him. The admission of killing Salisbury’s son had been shocking but she understood what had happened. Kevin was not a liar and Adonis had confirmed the accidental death, but that didn’t seem to matter to Victor or William. Now, Victor was speaking of punishment against Kevin for his sins and when the man spoke of how Kevin preyed against her, as Victor’s wife, she could no longer remain silent. If Kevin was to be punished for obeying Dorset’s contemptible orders, then she would be punished, too. Just as Kevin had been given no choice, neither had she. She would not let the man fall alone.
“You cannot condemn the man for following your orders,” she said loudly, making sure both Victor and William heard her. When Kevin turned around, swiftly, to grasp her with the intention of silencing her, she stepped far away from him and also from Adonis, who was close in proximity as well. WhenWilliam and Victor looked at her in surprise, she focused on William. “I am sorry for your son, my lord. I truly am. But if both Sir Adonis and Sir Kevin say that it was an accident, then mayhap you should believe them. They are honorable men. As for Sir Kevin preying upon me, he has done no such thing. The duke made it very clear that he did not want to marry me from the beginning. The king forced him to do it. In a complete act of defiance against the king and against humanity in general, he ordered Kevin to consummate his marriage for him. He told Kevin to beget me with child so that the duke could claim the child as his own and Edward would think he had done his duty. I cannot have you thinking that Sir Kevin is an unscrupulous man. In this instance, he did what he was ordered to do and so did I.”
William’s eyes were wide with shock, looking to Victor in horror. “Did you do this terrible thing?” he demanded, sickened. “Did you really tell Hage to consummate your marriage?”
Victor was on the defensive. He was furious with Annavieve, so much so that he was gritting his teeth, looking at the woman as if he wanted to kill her on the spot. He truly did. She was contradicting him and he had no use for a woman who would not do his bidding, especially in front of his peers. She was standing over by the public toilet whilst Kevin and Adonis were over by the livery corral. Victor was closer to Annavieve than either of the knights were. Enraged, he rushed at her and as she tried to move away, he grabbed her by the hair and hit her with a closed fist in the face.
