“Let me seeif I understand this,” Christopher said as he grimly surveyed the tattered remains of the de Efford tent. “You heard the screaming and came into the tent, where you found Harald dead and Lance bending over him.”
He was addressing Essien, who was holding Catalina tightly, trying to calm the woman down. The truth was that the tent had been destroyed because of the fight between him and Lance, though he’d mostly destroyed it throwing Lance around until he finally rendered the man nearly unconscious. Somewhere in the process of that fight, Rhys and Maddoc had joined in because they were in the competitors’ encampment and had heard the noise. Also joining in had been William, Paris, and Kieran, who had taken Lance out of the tent and beaten him within an inch of his life when Essien told him what he’d seen. After that, they took him over to the vault of Lioncross, where the man was currently locked up.
But he’d left a hell of a mess in his wake.
“Aye, my lord,” Essien said, his entire body tight with distress. “Catalina tells me that Harald must have thought Lance was trying to harm her and attacked him. What you see of Harald happened when Lance defended himself, only I did notknow that until well after de Wolfe and Hage took Lance to the vault.”
“So Harald attacked Lance?” Christopher asked. “With what?”
Both Catalina and Essien pointed to the iron sconce halfway across the tent. “That,” Catalina said, sniffling. “Lance and I were speaking, and when I stepped back from him, I tripped. I was on the ground when my father entered. He must have thought Lance was attacking me, so he believed that he was defending me.”
Christopher nodded, digesting what he’d been told, digesting the horrible scene around him. David was standing next to his brother, watching Alexander and Rhys as they tried to figure out how to extract Harald’s head from the weaponry without making more of a mess. Maddoc had gone with William and the others to put Lance in the vault while Peter and Ashton, who’d shown up after the fact, spoke to the guards outside to find out what those men had seen.
Meanwhile, the mass competition was about a half-hour off and they could hear the crowds already at the competition field. Christopher knew that all of these knights wanted to compete, so he had to make a decision.
“Right,” he finally said. “I will speak with de Kerque and see what he says about this. Essien, you should take your wife and leave this mess. I’ll have my men clean it up and prepare Harald for his return to Eckington.”
Essien nodded. “Aye, my lord.”
He pulled Catalina along with him as he moved to exit the tent, but Christopher’s gaze trailed after him. He stopped Essien before the man could leave completely.
“Es,” he said softly. “You do realize what has happened, don’t you?”
Essien looked at him with some confusion. “My lord?”
“You are now the Earl of Mercia,” Christopher said. “These men, Harald’s men, are now yours. All of this is yours. When you are ready, you have some decisions to make.”
Essien had to think on that revelation. It hadn’t occurred to him that he’d now inherited the titles. In fact, that had been the furthest thing from his mind. He looked at Catalina, who was looking back at him with equal surprise at the realization. But he simply nodded, mostly to Christopher, and quit the battered tent, leaving Christopher standing with David.
Once they were gone, David shook his head at the state of the tent once more before leaning over Rhys and Alexander as they worked like a pair of surgeons on Harald’s head.
“Lady Mercia said that Harald fell into the weapons?” he said. “I suppose that is not impossible, but he must have had quite a bit of momentum to do it.”
Christopher was watching the men also. “This situation is very strange.”
“Why?”
Christopher also shook his head. “I am not entirely sure,” he said. “Harald was adamant that his daughter wed, so she did. I heard from Addax that he’d evidently released le Kerque from his oath because the man had designs on his daughter, and when she married Essien, le Kerque felt cheated.”
“And?”
“Andwhy was Lance back here with Lady Mercia?” Christopher said. “I did not ask her why he was here, though I should have. Christ… is it possible she was having an affair with le Kerque? Did Essien step into a twisted situation, something that was my mistake?”
“I doubt it,” David said. “But I definitely think you need answers from Lady Mercia when she calms down.”
“Something tells me that her husband will, too.”
*
Christopher was right.
Essiendidneed answers.
He took Catalina toward the tournament field because the girls were over there, somewhere, with Addax. They knew nothing about what had just happened in the de Efford tent. Truthfully, Essien wasn’t really sure what had happened himself, but he’d refrained from interrogating Catalina about it because she’d been so hysterical.
She wasn’t hysterical any longer.
He came to a halt and released her from his embrace.
