Kevin watched her go. He knew she was ashamed and she had every right to be. But her shame only riled his anger against the man who had caused her such upset. As Juliandra ran off, Kevin moved towards the lowered portcullis.
“Now that you have heard of her disgust for you in her own words, you will go and you will not return,” he said. “If you do return, then it will be as a polite man who wishes to establish a peaceful existence, for if it is anything else, I shall turn my archers loose on you and your men. I will no longer tolerate your spoiled behavior and your demands. Is this in any way unclear?”
Aeron was standing there with the buxom woman in his grip, in disbelief that this situation had not gone as planned. Glynn came forward to tug on him, trying to pull him away, but he didn’t seem to want to move. He still thought the situation was salvageable.
“Bring her back!” he demanded. “Bring her back! Tell her that I must speak to–!”
Kevin turned away, motioning to his sentries. “Close the gates,” he said. “I do not want to see that man’s face again until my anger has abated. And make sure he takes that motley band of misfits with him. Watch them as they clear the village. I do not want them causing any trouble.”
The sentries nodded and Bannon, Gareth, Peter, Cal, and William took to the walls to ensure Kevin’s commands were carried out. They wanted to see the retreat of the Welsh for themselves, but if they caused any trouble, they would be thefirst ones from the gate with their swords swinging. Kevin kept walking, joined by his brother and Alexander as he went.
“Now you see what I am dealing with,” Kevin said. “There is no reasoning with an idiot who will not listen.”
“Let me return to Chris and tell him what I have seen,” Alexander said. “I will leave the de Lohr troops here, but Chris should send word to ap Bedo that his cousin is causing problems at Wybren, not the other way around.”
Kevin glanced at him. “Wouldn’t that mean that Chris knew of ap Bedo’s missive? That could place his spy in danger.”
Alexander shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “We shall word the missive to make it seem as if Chris is asking for ap Bedo’s assistance with ap Gruffudd. The fact that they are cousins is not a secret. But you are correct; that idiot does not listen. He is spoiled and he is reckless, a dangerous combination.”
Kevin couldn’t agree more. “Then I would be grateful if you can see what you can do about it,” he said. “If he comes back one more time, I may have to rip his tongue out and shove it down his throat.”
As Alexander headed off to make plans for his return to Lioncross Abbey, Sean walked alongside his brother as they both headed in the direction that Juliandra had run. Sean had heard Kevin’s proposal of marriage because he’d been close enough to hear the softly uttered words, but he wasn’t sure he should say anything about it. Kevin was clearly focused on finding Juliandra and easing her. So Sean thought that perhaps, this time, he should let Kevin deal with this on his own. It seemed that he didn’t need any brotherly advice. His little brother, from what he’d seen, had grown up quite a bit since he last saw him.
Kevin was finally coming into his own, as evidenced by the way he handled ap Gruffudd.
“I will be in the hall if you need me,” Sean said. “I did not get any of the food that the others were so happily slurping up. I will wait for you there.”
Kevin simply nodded, too preoccupied with finding Juliandra to respond.
He found her in the kitchen yard.
Actually, he found her sitting in the game locker, where the carcasses of hunted game would hang from iron hooks on the rafters. He’d gone into the kitchen yard, thinking she might have gone back to the kitchens, but a servant sweeping up the ashes from the cooking fire simply pointed to the game locker.
Kevin opened the door to find Juliandra sitting there, looking at her feet.
“He is gone,” he said quietly. “I am fairly certain it will not be the last time I see him, but for now, he is gone. I am sorry he upset you so much.”
Juliandra shrugged. “Coming from Aeron, that is nothing new,” she said. “But… but I cannot believe he brought a woman with him, thinking to exchange her for me. As if I am something to be bartered for.”
Kevin leaned against the door jamb. “You arenotsomething to be bartered for,” he said. “All the rubies and gold in the world would not be enough to coerce me into trading you. But mayhap something less potent than that pear cider might convince me, though. I think I’m still drunk from last night.”
She looked at him, sharply, to see that he was grinning. She broke down into a reluctant smile.
“Is that why you asked me to marry you?” she said.
His smile faded. “Nay,” he said. “I asked you to marry me because I wanted to.”
“Why?”
He lifted his broad shoulders. “Because I think you would make a most desirable wife,” he said. “I explained it all to you last night. Are you going to make me do it again?”
She looked back at her feet. “You are asking to marry me without my father’s permission,” she said. “It is a very great thing you are asking of me. If I marry you, will you release my father?”
His smile vanished completely. Without another word, he turned away. He hadn’t taken three steps when Juliandra came running after him.
“I am sorry,” she said. “I did not mean to make it sound as if it were a condition of my acceptance. It is not, you know. It would be easy for me to say that it is, but what you have asked… it should not become a negotiation, at least not like that. It is something personal and deep that you have asked of me. I can only answer it with emotion, not practicality.”
He came to a pause, turning to look at her. “What emotion?”
