Addax sighed heavily. “Peter, my father died so that Essien and I could live,” he said. “We went through hell before we were brought to England, so Essien owes our father grandchildren. He owes the man gratitude at the very least for his sacrifice.”
Peter nodded. “I know,” he said, softness in his tone. “I’m not arguing with you, Ad. It’s simply that I know Essien. He served me at Ludlow when I first took command of it. So did you, Ad. Do you remember the Welsh warlord from Bleddfa that was enamored with Essien and wanted the man to marry his daughter?”
Addax was nodding before Peter even finished speaking. “I do,” he said. “I remember everything.”
“How angry Es was that a man dared to want him for his daughter?”
“Aye.”
“How furious he was when we gently told him to consider it?”
“He would not speak to me for a month.”
Peter scratched his chin as he looked to his father. “And you say this contract has been agreed upon?” he asked.
Christopher nodded. “For Essien’s sake, it has,” he said. Then his focus turned to Addax. “Ad, I found you and your brother when you were quite young. Although I am not your father, I feel that I have stood beside him in every decision I made for the two of you. I never tried to take his place, but merely reinforce what I felt he would want for you. Would you agree with that?”
Addax nodded without hesitation. “We would have died without you, my lord,” he said. “You are not my father, but you are, mayhap, the closest thing I have to one. I know that Essien feels the same way.”
Christopher pondered that. He’d watched Addax and Essien grow up. He’d made it so they were educated in the finest homes, trained by the finest men, and had the opportunities that they had. There was no question about that.
Essien would simply have to realize this was one more opportunity being provided.
“Then I will tell him personally,” he said. “Ad, send a soldier to fetch your brother, but you and Peter will come with me to the solar and wait for him. I will do all of the talking. You simply stand by and provide support if needed. If he is going to hate someone, let him hate me for this. But it is for his own good.”
Addax nodded, splitting off from Christopher and Peter as they went to the keep and he sent a soldier into the hall to summon Essien. He then joined Christopher and Peter in the lavish solar of Lioncross Abbey, a chamber that had witnessed much of the making of history over the decades.
It was about to witness something else now.
Life was about to change for one of the princes of Kitara.
And it wasn’t going to be pleasant.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Essien was stilldrunk as he made his way to the keep of Lioncross Abbey, so much so that he swore the steps leading into the keep were moving. The damn things were moving! He stumbled in through the door and headed to the chamber on his left.
He stumbled through that door, too.
“Ah,” Christopher said, looking up from Peter and Addax, whom he’d been in conversation with. “You’ve managed to make it here, Essien. Well done.”
Essien was weaving where he stood. “It was not easy, my lord.”
“I can see that,” Christopher said, fighting off a grin. “Greet Peter. He has only just arrived.”
Essien had only just noticed him. He yelled the man’s name happily and affectionately mauled him, hugging him until Peter had to push him away. Addax helped, directing Essien into the nearest chair. The man sat so heavily that the chair cracked but didn’t break. He looked so shocked that Peter and Addax burst into laughter. Even Christopher was grinning.
“Christ, Essien,” he said. “Are you going to break my furniture, then?”
Essien stood up and tried to tip the chair over to see where it had cracked, but Addax wouldn’t let him. He kept the chair on all four legs, insisting his brother sit, and Essien did, though far more gently.
“I will buy you a new chair, my lord,” Essien said. “My apologies.”
“No need,” Christopher said. “Peter, send for fruit juice or boiled water. We need to flush the alcohol out of Essien’s veins because I fear the man is too drunk to understand what I’m about to tell him.”
“Not true,” Essien insisted even as Peter went to the door to summon a servant. “I’m perfectly fine. I’m not so drunk that I cannot understand a conversation.”
“This is not only a conversation, Es,” Christopher said quietly. “It is more than that.”
