“I beg of you, Eduard, by all that’s holy, release me from this nightmare. I will give you whatever I have, I will humiliate myself in any way that you wish, but please don’t ask me to help you kill this man. ’Tis cold-blooded murder. An abomination to God and mankind and…”
Her words faded to silence as he touched her again, sliding his finger along her bodice to stroke a path up her neck, so gently that it seemed a profane reminder of the pain he’d so often inflicted on her. His finger ceased its journey below her chin, digging into the tender flesh there. He jerked hard to make her meet his gaze.
“Did I neglect to mention that I’ve had your children brought home from fostering at Denton?”
Catherine arched back, feeling as if he’d buried a dagger in her belly. “Oh God, why? You promised not to harm them!”
He grinned wider, the look mocking the Arch-fiend himself. “They were none too pleased, I’m afraid, to see their dear Uncle Eduard. Little Isabel even wept a bit.” The corner of his lip curled. “Rather reminded me of you.”
Tears flooded her eyes and she began to struggle against him. “You bastard! What have you done to them?”
“Calm yourself, Catherine.” He looked down at her, gripping her wrists to prevent her from striking him. “The twins are safe enough in their old chambers at Faegerliegh Keep for now. But ’tis right that you remember what will happen to them if you thwart me in any way. Several of my people lie in wait here for the sole purpose of watching you in my absence. I’ll be kept informed if you’re stupid enough to try anything.”
She gazed at him uncomprehending for a moment. When realization began to dawn, Eduard smiled and nodded. “Aye, Catherine, sweet. Spies. Neither you nor anyone at Ravenslock knows who they are. It might be the baker’s apprentice, or the lady’s maid who draws your bath. Mayhap even the squire that serves you at table. This is a huge and prosperous estate. My spies are many, and they are everywhere. Falter in any way, Catherine, attempt to tell Camville of our plans, and I’ll learn about it swiftly. And then, my dear, your children will suffer the consequences.” He stopped talking and drew his finger quickly across his throat with a slicing sound.
Suffocation squeezed her and welling tears spilled hot onto her cheeks. “How can you do this? You’re their uncle, for God’s sake. Their blood…”
Eduard’s expression hardened, and he leaned closer. “No one is sacred, Catherine, remember that. It doesn’t take much to snuff the life from children. Their necks are delicate, like baby birds fallen from their mother’s nest. All it takes is a flick of the wrist—”
Gasping, she shoved against his chest with all of her strength. He barely budged. Instead he chuckled softly at her renewed struggles, the sound magnified in her ears like the howling of the damned. She pushed against his powerful weight in earnest, trying to raise her fists to beat against him. It had no effect except to make him laugh harder.
A split second later, however, he went utterly still against her, and his smile faded.
“Get your hands off of her Montford, or I swear you won’t live to regret it.”
Slowly, Eduard turned to face the owner of that inexorable voice—and the deadly tip of his sword. Catherine had thought Gray looked menacing on the field earlier, but it was nothing compared to the expression in his eyes now. His gaze had sharpened to cold, green ice. Eduard backed up, Gray’s blade pointed at his chest, until he was pressed against the wall.
“A wise choice,” Gray said. Catherine stood a few paces away. She dashed the tears from her cheeks as she gazed back and forth between the two men, feeling the almost tangible hatred rippling tense and hot around them. Eduard looked coiled and ready to spring at Gray, who seemed in turn to be waiting for even the slightest reason to rip Eduard open, belly to chaps.
She clenched her fingers tight to still their trembling. Though Gray stood a little taller, the men were dangerously similar in build and strength. Seeing them in this adversarial pose, wounded as both were, made it easy to understand how they’d risen to the status of the king’s champions. They looked like gods of war, their bodies hardened and trained into weapons of destruction.
She shuddered anew, thinking how fortunate it was that they’d not managed to kill each other on the field. Surely ’twas only an act of the Almighty that had prevented what would have in turn brought death to her children.
“Care to explain what you were doing to my wife?” Gray’s voice sounded deceptively quiet. Unmistakably lethal.
Eduard’s expression shifted, suddenly, and he shrugged. “I was giving my sister a bit of brotherly advice on conducting herself as your lady. That and wishing her farewell in private before my journey of tomorrow.” He smiled, though she saw that the look didn’t reach his eyes. “’Twas nothing sinister, I assure you.”
It was clear that he wanted to strike Gray away from him; he was barely restraining himself, and it gave Catherine a burst of satisfaction to know that for once Eduard was being forced to rein in his brutal temper.
“My lady,” Gray murmured, calling her attention back to him, though he kept his gaze and his blade squarely pointed at Eduard. “What say you to this? I would feign believe otherwise, but tell me he speaks true, and for your sake I’ll forswear.”
Eduard tried to twist his head to look at her, no doubt to glare her into submission, but Gray immediately shifted his stance to prevent the contact. She was left as so oft of late to make her own decision in the matter. The power of independent thought frightened her. She felt unsuited to the task, having rarely been allowed to indulge in decision-making before coming to Ravenslock.
“I—I don’t know what to say, my lord.”
“Just tell me the truth.”
Catherine clenched her fingers tighter together. What could she say? Oh, but she would love to see Eduard suffer for his sins against her. For his threats against her children. But the twins were the very reason she needed to protect him from Gray’s retribution. Sighing, she unclenched her hands and pressed her palms flat to her skirt. “’Tis true that Eduard was giving me parting advice in private, for fear he’d have no other opportunity before his departure on the morrow.”
“’Twas no more than that?”
She paused briefly. “His ways are not yours, my lord, but that is all that happened.”
Gray paused, obviously wavering. Finally he murmured, “Then I am forced to abide by your avowal.” He slid his sword back into its sheath and stepped away from his rival, though he continued to position himself as a buffer for her. He indicated the portal to the great hall. “Go, now, Montford, before I change my mind.”
Eduard looked ready to explode. He flashed a hate-filled glare at Gray, his gaze flicking over to slice Catherine as well. Then, with a growl, he gritted his teeth and stamped down the corridor. The door to the great hall swung open and slammed shut behind him.
Gray faced Catherine once more and warmth flooded her. She felt shock tingle up her spine, not unlike the sensation she’d had the first time she looked into his startling, beautiful eyes at their wedding. But when he spoke that sensation faded under a wave of regret.
