“Of course he will,” Dustin said before Christopher could reply. “If he will not, I will go in his stead. We have two young daughters, my lord. I can only imagine my agony if one of my daughters was in danger. Turn me loose on the man and I guarantee you shall have your daughter back.”
There was such fire in the woman. Jax was rather taken aback at her passion, looking to de Lohr to see if the woman was serious. From the look on de Lohr’s face, it was evident that she was. Christopher kissed his wife’s hand again before gentlypushing her back in the direction of the stairs that led to the living rooms above.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” he said with mock patience because he was trying to get rid of her. “Before I answered de Velt, I wanted to see what you thought of it. Thank you for your input.”
Dustin wouldn’t leave so readily. She was still looking at de Velt. “My husband will make sure he pays for the crime of abducting your daughter,” she said. “Have no fear that he will do what he can.”
“Thank you, my lady,” Christopher said, more loudly so she would get the hint and leave the room. He turned to smile at her to make sure she left before he continued the conversation. “Your advice is priceless. We thank you very much.”
Dustin was still fired up over the abduction of the young girl, muttering threats to the abductor as she left the hall. Both Christopher and Jax listened to her as she quit the room and headed up the steps to the upper floors. When she was out of earshot, Christopher turned to Jax.
“She tends to get excited over things,” he said, “but I must have her approval before I do anything and I had to make it seem as if it were her decision. Otherwise, she would give me extreme grief for involving myself in someone else’s battle.”
Jax laughed softly. He couldn’t help it. “Your wife and my wife are cut out of the same cloth,” he said. “I understand completely.”
Christopher grinned but soon sobered as he thought on the task that lay before him. After a moment, he spoke.
“There is something more you should know about this mercenary,” he said. “I assume he gave you a name when he sent his missive to you about your daughter?”
Jax nodded. “Bretton de Llion.”
Christopher drew in a long, thoughtful breath. “I heard that name also,” he said, “and it was familiar to me, so I contacteda vassal whom I believed to be related to the name. It turns out that the name Bretton de Llion was the name of my vassal’s cousin, a cousin who lived at Four Crosses Castle when you attacked it. De Llion was the name of the garrison commander and Bretton was his son. We thought that somehow the boy survived the siege, which makes sense if this mercenary who calls himself Bretton de Llion is out for revenge against you. It would make him the son of a man you killed.”
Jax appeared rather surprised by the revelation. He thought back to those dark and bloody days, thinking of Four Crosses Castle, which was the last castle he confiscated along the Marches. He had put one of his best generals in charge of it, Apollo l’Ancresse. The man still lived there with his wife and children and grandchildren. Unlike his other general, Orion, who no longer lived at Cloryn, Apollo still inhabited the castle he was assigned after the conquest. But along with that information, Jax also remembered something else.
“Four Crosses,” he muttered. “I recall the place very well. A big castle with no moat and a big gatehouse. You say that this mercenary is a survivor of that siege?”
Christopher nodded. “That is the suspicion.”
Jax thought hard on that possibility. “Four Crosses was different from the other castles I confiscated,” he said. “It was the last one so mayhap I was feeling a bit more lenient because we did not kill everyone. We took some men and forced them into servitude.”
Christopher listened with interest. “Do you have any of these men left in your service?”
Jax shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Those men have either died or have moved on. One man, a knight from Four Crosses, actually serves de Vesci. He is an older man and somewhat diminished mentally from a blow he received to the head during the siege of Four Crosses, but he is as strong as an ox. In fact,de Vesci keeps him as a bodyguard of sorts. The man can barely speak a full sentence but he can still kill.”
“What is the knight’s name?”
“John Morgan.”
Christopher stared at him a moment. Then, his eyebrows lifted. “Morgan de Llion was the name of the commander at Four Crosses,” he said, rather shocked at the potential implications. “Is it possible that de Llion’s father lived?”
Jax was rather surprised at the implications, too. “I suppose it is,” he said. “When we found the knight, he was incoherent. He gave his name as Morgan and we thought it was his surname.”
“Is it possible it was his first name?”
Jax shrugged. “It is possible, but you know as well as I do that Morgan is a very common surname in Wales.”
Christopher was thinking many different things at that moment, not the least of which was utter neutralization of the mercenary and the return of Jax’s daughter. He was a man who thought quickly on his feet because his life often depended on it. The more he pondered the thought, the more enthusiastic about it he became.
“Agreed,” he said. “But on the possibility that this could be de Llion’s father, mayhap you should summon him from Northumberland. When I go to mediate with the mercenary, I will bring this knight with me. Even if it is not the man’s long-lost father, mayhap he will recognize him and it will unbalance him enough for me to gain the upper hand. I am not beyond playing dirty tricks when the life of a young girl is at stake.”
Jax whole-heartedly agreed. “I will send word to Northumberland today,” he said. “But it will take time for Morgan to arrive. I am not sure I want to wait that long to begin negotiations for my child.”
Christopher shook his head. “You will not have to,” he said. “I have the luxury of thinking more clearly about the situationright now than you do, and I believe that we should send this mercenary a missive telling him that you have asked me to assist with the negotiations and we want to know what his terms are in exchange for your daughter. I might even tell him that we have an old knight from Four Crosses who survived the siege but nothing more than that. Let his imagination run wild. That should garner an immediate and, I would think, eager response.”
Jax felt much better with Christopher taking the lead on the negotiations. It was what he had hoped for. This man was much better at communicating than he was and he could see why– he was gracious, well-spoken, strong, and highly intelligent. Aye, there was much to respect there. Finally, he felt as if he were one step closer to getting Allaston back and he was deeply grateful.
“Then I shall trust your judgment,” he said. “And… thank you. I am not accustomed to showing gratitude to anyone, but please know that you have my most heartfelt thanks.”
