“Oh, simply to join my men,” Lord Hamilton said with a casual yawn.
“Hunting,” Jacob said, raising his chin a little bit.
“That’s right,” Lord Hamilton said, sneering once again. “Hunting.”
“I did not know you were a hunter, Milord,” Jacob said, with that same fierceness in his eyes that Lord Hamilton had previously seen. There was something special about this one.
“Oh, on the contrary,” Lord Hamilton said with a chuckle. “I am one of the greatest hunters known to the Kingdom.”
“And what is your favorite quarry, Milord?” Jacob asked, his eyes narrowing. “Is it deer? Or a hare, perhaps? I did not see any hounds with your party.”
“Property, young Jacob,” Lord Hamilton laughed. “Property.”
“I see,” Jacob said, smiling back with his mouth, but his eyes growing ever more dangerous. There was much about him that was reminiscent of Simon, and Lord Hamilton liked that. Long ago, he may have been fearful of those eyes, but now, they were just a tool to be exploited.
“We are ready, Milord,” Walter said, bustling over, his face red and puffing from the short little sprint he had accomplished.
“Good, well done, Walter!” Lord Hamilton boasted and then caught himself mentally. What was he doing complimenting Walter? The little rodent was going to get too big for his britches if he kept that up. “Now get your rump in the carriage!” he spat and watched the brief glimmer of joy on Walter’s face turn to the normal resting paranoia and fear. Lord Hamilton snorted with satisfaction.
“Well then,” Jacob said, taking a step away from the carriage as one of the mounted knights trotted past. “Happy hunting, milord.”
“Indeed,” Lord Hamilton grumbled, and he proceeded to haul himself up into the carriage, where he was able to rest his leg on the opposite bench. “Let’s ride!” he called out, slamming his hand against the carriage walls. With a jolt, the wagon began rolling forward, and the guards rode out into flanking positions.
“Now, we’ll see just how long she spent in France,” Lord Hamilton chuckled, partly to himself and partly to Walter, and he leaned his head back against the padded carriage walls as the procession rolled out of the crumbling gates of Castle Willby.
Jacob watched them go and bit down hard on his lip, feeling panic taking over him. He spat into the yard and began thinking quickly. It did not take him long to come to a conclusion. He had to act, and he had to act fast. He turned fast toward the stables and started off toward his horse.
“Jacob!” he heard Matthew calling to him from behind. “Jacob, you wait!”
“I will not!” Jacob called back, marching into the stables. Matthew followed him, reaching out and spinning him around, shouting:
“How could you! You bastard! You see what you have wrought?”
“Oh, shove it!” Jacob cried back. “I did what I had to!”
“And look where it has placed us,” Matthew growled.
“I was only trying to protect this family!” Jacob shouted back.
“But instead, you have destroyed it!”
“Damn you!” Jacob seethed. “You know not what you speak of.”
“Do I not? I have seen our home invaded, our father shamed, our sister disappeared! All for what? To retain our debt?”
“Brother,” Jacob said slowly, feeling his rage building higher and higher, “mind your words carefully.”
“Why should I?” Matthew shot back. “What will you do? Other than damn us further?”
“What will I do?” Jacob said, glancing between his brother and the stable stall where Laila’s speckled bay used to stand.
“Yes, tell me, brother,” Matthew growled. “How will you damage our family further? I am all ears!”
Suddenly, it all boiled over. Jacob would not take one more drop of anything. He had put up with such atrocious piles of egregious shame and horseshit since he was born, and he would not take it one further day. Simon’s words from earlier wrang in his ears. Like a dormant volcano turned active by an unexpected earthquake, he let loose upon the world.
“Shut your mouth! For once in your damnable life!” Jacob called to Matthew as he drew a step closer, his hand moving to the dirk on his hip. “For the past twenty-two years, I have done as you command. I have ridden where you wanted, killed who you wanted, without thinking of myself, because it was my duty! But when it came time for you to do yours, to protect our only sister, from the devil himself, you went quite as a fieldmouse. I did not. I acted. And you sit here, daring to criticize me? A boy who wanted to be an actor that you turned into a killer, a murderer! A murderer!” the dirk came from the belt faster than Matthew could react, and the point hovered above his Adam’s apple.
“Jacob,” Matthew whispered, suddenly humbled by the blade at his throat.
“You will reap what you sow, brother,” Jacob said coldly, his adrenaline carrying him across the threshold of menace. “You have made me a killer, so I will kill, I will kill all those who stand in the way of our family. Do you know what Lord Hamilton thinks? He thinks you are the traitor. This afternoon, I was offered the castle to bring Laila back and dispose of you. Did you know that?”
There was a steeliness in Jacob’s eyes, the likes of which Matthew had only seen when they hunted bandits. He had always been aware of it, the moment that Jacob engaged the enemy, and he turned into a reaper of souls, but he had never seen it outside of the wilds. Now that it stared him in the face, it was terrifying beyond belief.
“Are you with me, brother?” Jacob whispered. “Will you save our family with me?” Matthew was silent, his eyes darting between the dirk at his throat and the cold, murderous eyes of his fun-loving, happy-go-lucky brother. Every person in the world has a breaking point. It seemed Jacob had found his.
“I used to think you the strong one,” Jacob said, disappointed. “Now I know you are just like father, but younger.” Jacob withdrew the blade and tucked it back into its sheath. “Fare thee well, brother.”
Jacob walked to his horse with a cold march, saddling his beast of war with mechanical calculation. Matthew watched, helpless, as his little brother eclipsed him. Jacob mounted up, strapping his longsword to the beast’s saddle, and threw up his hood to guard from the oncoming rain.
“Fare thee well, brother,” Jacob said coldly. “Fare thee well.”
