“As am I,” he grinned, kissing her sweetly on the cheek. “Toby, take good care of my wife.”
“Aye, my lord,” Toby replied softly.
Alec’s boot falls faded down the hall and Peyton turned to Toby, scrutinizing his features for traces of Alec. She saw a good deal of her husband in the muscular young knight, only three years older than herself. Toby caught her open appraisal and knew instantly that Alec had told her of their blood relations. Usually shy and reserved, he found himself studying her in return. Christ, she was a beautiful creature.
“May I show you to Lady Rachel’s room?” he asked respectfully.
She nodded, taking his proffered arm. “Thank you, sir knight.”
He smiled, blushing brightly. “My pleasure, Lady Summerlin.”
Considering Alec hadrighteously pounded the man, Colin did not look overly bruised. There was a huge swollen nodule on his jaw, but other than that he appeared in good health. He stood in Brian’s solar with a cup of fine St. Cloven ale in hand, disdainfully watching the activity in the bailey as Baron Rothwell and his father conversed tensely.
Alec’s blow could not have come at a worse time. With Nigel outraged at Peyton’s marriage, it certainly had not helped matters that the new husband had pummeled the would-be suitor. Nigel forewent any casual greetings, delving directly into his protests that Colin had not been given a fair chance to win the fair maiden’s hand and furthermore stating his displeasure that Ivy had been offered as compensation.
Brian, irritated with the man’s commanding attitude and haughty manner, informed him with a shade of satisfaction that Ivy’s offer had been withdrawn due to a previous betrothalcontract Albert himself had made, an arrangement Brian had been unaware of until most recently. A lie, of course, but it was a falsehood that would hopefully deter Nigel from an all-out declaration of war. He was angry enough to have lost the heiress, but to lose the sister as well was a considerable insult.
Brian sent for Alec early into the meeting simply for the fact that Alec’s presence could not infuriate Nigel and Colin any more than they already were; moreover, Alec was a calming influence on his father and Brian was not entirely in control of his emotions at the moment. Alec’s elopement and Rachel’s labor had him on the edge. When Alec entered the solar, characteristically in control of his outward composure, Brian felt a good deal of relief.
Other than a disinterested glance, Colin paid Alec little attention. Nigel, however, spent a good deal of time glaring at the massive man as he vigorously protested his treatment from the entire House of Summerlin. Alec dutifully apologized for his lapse in manners but did not go so far as to apologize for the action of striking Colin. From the look on his son’s face, Brian knew there was no amount of pleading that could convince him to apologize for preserving his wife’s safety.
And it was also readily apparent to Brian that Alec’s body was tense even if his expression held firm, an unusual state for his son to acquire. He was well aware that the taut stance was on behalf of his wife, and further on behalf of Ali and Ivy. With Colin in the room, Alec was very much on his guard, but it was more than that; Brian sensed a good deal of animosity.
He was extremely unnerved by the emotions radiating from Alec; he’d never known Alec to radiate any sort of emotion and it made a difficult situation all the more trying. He had hoped that Alec would inject a certain amount of control into the setting; obviously, he had been wishing for naught and he felt his superior hold slipping.
“Tell me, my lord,” it was the first time Colin had spoken since entering the solar. “Is the Lady Ivy already married?”
“Nay,” Brian replied. “We have planned the ceremony for this evening.”
Colin turned away from the window, his large green eyes glittering. Alec studied him; he was tall and muscularly lean, not unattractive in the least. He would have been handsome had it not been for the simple fact that evil seemed to emit from him like a vile smell.
Alec remembered coming upon Colin once or twice in his youth, before he was sent away to Northwood to foster, but little beyond that. They had never remotely been friends, mostly for the fact that Colin seemed to have a hostile attitude toward Ali. Alec possessed a vague memory of a five-year-old Colin Warrington calling Ali a demon. It was a recollection that still bore weight.
“Who is she betrothed to?” Colin asked.
Brian folded his hands on his desk, his face calm and steady. “Ali Boratu.”
“The black barbarian who calls himself a man?” Nigel said incredulously. “God’s Balls, Summerlin, you might as well have married her to a horse!”
Brian waited for Alec to tear both Nigel and Colin limb from limb and was mildly surprised when no rage was forthcoming. A glance at his son showed his face as unreadable as always, yet the veins in his neck were throbbing distinctly.
“Ali is a decent man with some wealth and a most fitting mate for the second daughter of a lesser knight,” Brian explained evenly. “The betrothal has been inked for quite some time.”
“Then why did you offer Lady Ivy in Lady Peyton’s stead if she was already betrothed?” Nigel demanded, a balled fist on his thigh.
Brian blinked slowly in a show of lagging patience. “As I told you, I was unaware that Albert had arranged a marriage contract between Ivy and Ali. The transaction was made through Ali’s father, Olphampa.”
“How long ago?” Nigel insisted.
“I am not sure. It occurred after Ivy lost her innocence to Ali.”
Colin looked at his father, the men exchanging shocked glances. After a moment, Nigel looked to Brian, considerably less combative. “Nonetheless, if they are not married, the contract can still be broken. My son, as heir to Wisseyham Keep, carries a far more attractive inheritance than a mere soldier.”
“She carries his child,” Alec chimed in emotionlessly. Lie or not, he would not allow Nigel to negotiate the point.
“Nothing a brew of parsley cannot take care of,” Colin addressed him impassively, his evil eyes bright. “Something I have heard her insane aunt can administer quite well.”
“I will not condone an abortion,” Brian said sharply. “The church frowns upon such action, as you well know. The dissolution of Lady Ivy and Ali’s marriage contract is not up for discussion and I do apologize that you have come a long way to face disappointment.”
