Peyton stared at Alec as if he had suddenly gone mad. Across the room, Nigel was twitching with fury and fright.
“I told you,” he said to Brian. “I warned you!”
Brian did not respond, but Alec rose to his feet threateningly. “And I warned you. I am seeking answers, Nigel, and I fully intend to have them.”
Nigel was ashen as he focused on Alec. “Is that what you seek, Legend? Answers? Very well, then. I shall give you what you seek.”
Brian abruptly came alive, his face mottled with terror. “No! I forbid you! I have done everything you have asked, Nigel, everything! I forbid you to go back on your word!”
“I have given you no word,” Nigel snarled, turning to Alec once more. “Answers, did you say? Gladly.”
“No!” Brian roared pathetically, his hands gripping his hair as if to pull it from his scalp, his anguish a palpable entity. There was not a person in the room who was not visibly moved by the man’s agony. His obvious terror.
Alec glanced at his father with great concern. “What is it, Da? What in the hell would upset you so?”
Ali, rising from his crouch over Colin’s unconscious form, tried to push Brian into a chair. But Brian would not respond, instead, he seemed to be slipping deeper and deeper into horror. Peyton had been frozen with shock from the moment she had entered the room, but hearing Brian’s pitiful bellow jolted her from her trance and she moved swiftly to comfort the man. He attempted to ignore her, too, but her firm, soothing voice eventually permeated the cloak of his panic.
Alec watched as Peyton and Ali lowered Brian into a chair. Only when his father was seated did he return his attention to Nigel.
“Tell me now or I shall rip your heart out.” It was not a threat. It was a pledge.
Nigel was calming in spite of Alec’s vow. With a gesture that could only be described as an arrogant shrug, he moved from his position against the wall, toward Alec.
“It is your father’s fault that I am forced to divulge this information. Had he controlled you better, it would not have been necessary,” he glanced at Brian, paled faced and blue lipped, before continuing. “You said you wanted answers. What precisely do you want to know?”
Alec was so tense he was literally quaking; over his shoulder, Brian emitted another piteous groan of denial. In a flash, Alec remembered his conversation with Jubil and prepared himself for the lies and rumors that would come spouting forth from Nigel’s thin lips. Bracing himself.
“Why is my father so afraid of you?”
Nigel raised an eyebrow. “Most likely because I can destroy the House of Summerlin in one blow.”
“How?”
“By divulging the fact that he and I are half-brothers. I am your uncle, Sir Alec. Your illegitimate uncle, the result of your grandsire’s lust for my mother.”
Alec’s brow furrowed, unconcerned. “That will destroy the House of Summerlin? You will have to do better than that.”
Nigel’s smug expression faded. He had been positive Alec would fly into a frenzy as he digested that small measure of reality, but apparently, Alec was unfazed. In fact, he was beyond unfazed; he appeared undaunted by information that would have brought most men to the border of shock at the very least. But Alec Summerlin appeared… bored.
In a reversal of roles, Nigel found himself shocked as a result of Alec’s calm acceptance. He was seized with the desire to damage the emotionless man, whatever it would take. As Colin began to come around, spitting teeth and blood, Nigel demanded satisfaction. The shock turned to madness. They would all pay.
“I would think that would be enough, but I see that I must disclose additional realities before you understand the gravity ofthe situation,” he suddenly focused on Peyton. “Your betrothed was killed in Norwich over a year ago, was he not? By a spear tipped joust pole? I can tell you for a fact that it was not an accident. De Fortlage was well paid for his role as an assassin.”
Alec could take a verbal attack on his family, the implied threats of infidelities and deeper behaviors. But he would not tolerate an assault on his wife. His thinly held control snapped and he growled, taking provocative steps towards Nigel when soft hands were suddenly gripping him. He stopped immediately as Peyton pressed her sweet body against him in order to halt his advance.
Peyton could feel Alec quivering beneath her hands. Truth was, she was shaking, too. Although she was reeling with shock, she would not allow Nigel to visibly upset her. Especially with Alec and Brian so volatile. When she was positive Alec had ceased any further forward movement, she turned to the older Warrington with a careful calm.
“I would assume, then, that you initiated the murder?” she asked steadily.
Nigel shrugged vaguely. “Poor knights are always in need of additional coinage. With Deveraux moldering in the ground, I was able to press Colin’s suit for your hand. ’Tis only right that a de Fluornoy marry a Warrington and end the feud that has lasted for decades.”
Peyton was nearly ill with what she was hearing, but she maintained her calm facade if only for Alec’s sake. “Since your raids and harassment failed, you resorted to murdering an innocent man to seek vengeance on St. Cloven?”
Nigel snorted. “Deveraux wasn’t an innocent, I assure you. The man has two bastards in King’s Lynn, mayhap more. He never wanted you; ’twas St. Cloven he wanted. Feud or no feud, it’s what I wanted, too. Even your husband, I would wager. Your keep is far more beautiful than you could ever be.”
Peyton’s knees weakened, but she fought it. As cruel as Nigel’s words were, she wasn’t overly astonished by them. She knew St. Cloven to be a prize; she’d always known. Nor was she shocked to hear of James’ bastards; it wasn’t an unusual occurrence, although she would have hoped he would have remained celibate out of respect for their betrothal. But the mention of his personal disregard for her feelings disturbed her.
It wasn’t true!She and James had loved one another, once. It seemed like an eternity past. At least, she thought she had loved him. Whatever the feelings they shared, they had faded into the recesses of her mind and she refused to become upset by Nigel’s remarks. James was simply no longer an issue. He hadn’t been an issue since the day Alec had kissed her.
