Kade looked at the parchment again. “The Ark of the Covenant? Imagine if he gets these items. The power he would have. It’s too much power for one man.”
“You don’t believe this is real, do you?”
“Yes. I do. A Templar knight died defending this from father.” His voice softened, and he turned away from Ralf. “Mother died arguing with father about it.”
“Mother didn’t know about the treasure!”
Kade whirled back to him. “Maybe she did and she was trying to protect it.”
Ralf stared at Kade in disbelief. He shook his head. “We can be free, Kade. Do you know what that means?”
“But at what cost?”
Ralf snatched the parchment from Kade’s fingers. “At any cost. I’ve put up with enough from Father. You left. It’s my turn to be free now.”
Stunned, Kade could only watch his brother walk down the hallway toward his father’s chambers. The bitterness and anger in Ralf’s voice shocked Kade. He had never realized how disappointed his brother was with him, how resentful Ralf was that he left him. Tingles danced along the nape of Kade’s neck, a warning. He glanced back down the hallway toward the stairs and Lia. He should get her and leave. Run. Escape.
But, the parchment… The treasure. His mother’s warning. He couldn’t let Lia down. He had to make sure his father didn’t get it. He quickly followed Ralf toward his father’s chambers.
Ralf had knocked and was opening the door when Kade reached him. They entered together. The room was dark, cold. Just like his father. Kade had often been called into his father’s room for discipline and the memories of those unpleasant meetings sent a chill through his body.
The hearth was lit, casting flickering shadows over the room. A large bed sat against one wall, covered in thick darkness. His father sat in the middle of the bed, looking weak and feeble. “Where is my treasure?” his father demanded.
Kade looked at Ralf for a moment. “We have it.”
A bony hand stretched out from the confines of his father’s nightshirt. “Give it to me.”
Ralf stepped forward. Kade laid a hand on his chest. “We have some demands before we hand it over.”
“Demands?” his father asked in disgust. He began to sputter, half coughing, half laughing. He stopped suddenly. “Ralf. Give it to me.”
Ralf stepped forward, his hand outstretched with the parchment in his fist.
Kade snatched the parchment. “I said we had some requirements before we hand this over.”
The silence that spread through the room was thick and oppressing.
“Just like your mother,” his father said softly. “She thought she could control me, too. You’ve always been like her. Not nearly far sighted enough.”
“You only want this parchment and what is on it. We mean nothing to you. Mother meant nothing to you.”
His father’s mouth twisted. “Fear and power are the only truth in the world. That parchment holds power.”
“And I hold the parchment.”
More silence. Kade could see Ralf where he stood before the hearth. He didn’t understand why his brother didn’t demand what was his, why he didn’t stand up to his father. He was the one that came up with the plan.
“Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to tell me what you want?” his father demanded.
Kade took a breath. “You will never lay a hand on either of us again.” His father chuckled, but Kade hurried to continue, “And you will step aside as Lord of de Claremont and allow Ralf to take his rightful seat.”
More silence stretched through the room. The flames flickered and cracked behind him.
“You can go chase your treasure, but leave the castle to Ralf,” Kade clarified.
His father grimaced. His gaze shifted from Kade to Ralf. “Him? Lord? He can’t even utter a word to me. What kind of lord will he make?”
“He’ll make a fine lord. A fair lord. A generous lord who cares about his people,” Kade defended, his hand fisting around the parchment.
“A weak lord. Is this what you want, boy? To take my title from me? To become lord?”
The silence became heavy, making Kade uneasy. He shifted to look at Ralf. Indecision lined Ralf’s brow. They locked gazes for a moment before Ralf dropped his.
“No, Father,” he whispered.
“Speak up, boy!” his father snapped.
Ralf shook his head. “No, Father. It’s not what I want.”
“Ralf,” Kade pleaded.
But it was too late. Desperation filled Kade. He should have known, known what Ralf was going to do. His brother was not as strong as he was. He couldn’t defy his father, not after years of being under his mistreatment and tyranny. Kade had abandoned him and now Ralf abandoned Kade, siding with his father. In doing so, he had sealed his fate.
“You left,” Ralf whispered. “I was alone.”
His father chuckled, the horrible cackling sound filling the room. “Give me the parchment and I will let you and that little slut you’ve been with leave the castle alive and unharmed.”
Kade looked at Ralf. “What about Ralf?”
“What about him? He is heir and will remain with me.”
Ralf looked up at Kade and there was such anguish and fear in his eyes that desperation fisted around Kade’s heart. He had left his mother and Ralf alone with a monster. His mother was dead, but his brother wasn’t. Kade shook his head. He thrust the parchment toward the hearth. “No. I won’t leave him. If you want this parchment, the power and fear it holds, the treasure, you will make Ralf lord.”
“No!” his father called, reaching for the parchment, even though he was across the room from it. “Don’t!”
Kade marveled at the fear in his father’s eyes, the horror. “You’re right on one account, father. This parchment does hold power.”
His father sat back in the bed, his teeth clenching, twisting his lips into a grotesque snarl. “Fine. Fine. You want the castle, the lands, take them. He can be lord. Just give me the parchment.”
“After you sign over the necessary paperwork, you can have it.”
Lia clutched her knees. Her legs were pulled up to her chest as she sat with her head bent in the darkness of the dungeon. It was chilly, and damp and the constant drip drip drip of water was going to make her go mad.
Strangely, her mind wandered to Kade. He warmed her skin just by looking at her. The way he held her in his arms comforted her. How she wanted to be in those strong arms right now.
He said he loved her! Loved her! She had believed that love was beyond her reach. No one wanted to love an outcast. And she hadn’t dared to hope that anyone would, no matter what Maeve told her.
But Kade had. He did. She was worried about him. And Maeve. She was worried that alone with his brother and father, Kade would forget he loved her. She shook her head against her knees. She couldn’t think like that. She had to have faith in him. He was stronger than he thought.
Have faith, she told herself over and over. Because she did love him. She loved him so very much.
Suddenly, the cell door opened. Lia looked up hopefully, but had to look away when a bright torch was shoved into the dark cell.
Two armored guards came in. They grasped her arms and pulled her to her feet.
“Where’s Kade?” she asked.
They didn’t answer her, but pulled her from the cell, holding her tightly between them.
Fear engulfed Lia. She was being led to the courtyard where she would be burned as a witch. Kade had failed. “Where are you taking me?”
Her heart hammered in her chest. She could barely keep up with the pace the guards set as they walked down the dungeon corridor and then up the stairs with her. They turned down a long stone hallway. Torches lined the wall, casting circles of light in the dark tunnel.
They pulled her through a massive double door into a room that was so large she could fit ten of her crucks into it. Her gaze swept the room. Standing before the hearth she saw three men,
and another man sat in a chair; they all looked at a large wooden table and what was on it.
Lia gasped as one of them looked up at her. Kade! She pulled her arms free of the guards and quickly moved toward him. He walked toward her, and they met halfway across the room. She stopped short before him, trying to read his expression, trying to decipher what had happened.
Kade reached forward and pulled her into his embrace. “It’s all right,” he whispered.
Relief swept through her and her knees almost buckled. She clutched him tightly.
“Give it to me now. I’ve done as you requested,” the voice from the chair cackled.
Kade pulled back from Lia. He kept her hand captive in his and led her to the table.
Lia recognized his brother instantly. She assumed the man in the chair was his father. The other man, dressed in a fine, rich embroidered jupon, with his brown hair cut bowl length, she did not know.
“Give it to me,” his father repeated, stretching his hand out toward Kade across the table.
Kade looked at the unknown man. “Is it all in order?”
“Aye. Lord Ralf will take control of the castle and lands.”
Kade glanced at Ralf.
His father stretched out his hand further, greedily.
Kade turned to Lia. The look he bestowed on her was strange. She couldn’t read the meaning behind it in the flickering light that fell over his face from the hearth. His hand tightened around hers. “One more thing, Father, before I do. I want the truth. What happened to mother?”
Impatience glittered in the old man’s eyes. Red light reflected in them from the hearth. “Happened? She fell.”
“The truth,” Kade insisted. “Her final week. She was not getting better. She got worse. The bruises –”
He waved a slim hand. “Yes, yes. She was weak.”
“And she called for her,” Ralf accused, pointing at Lia. “That’s what you said.”
The grumbling cackle his father produced sent tremors down Lia’s spine. “Her? No. She called for Kade. For you. Repeatedly. And I became tired of it. Of her.”
Lia’s hand tightened around Kade’s in comfort. She stroked his arm to ease the pain he must be feeling.
“You killed her,” Kade charged.
“I silenced her.”
Kade’s jaw clenched and looked at his brother. “Lia didn’t kill mother. She helped her as best she could.”
His brother knew the truth now. The truth that she and Kade had already known. She didn’t kill his mother.
“Give it to me. You promised,” his father said, stretching out his hand.
Kade yanked the parchment from his belt and handed it to his father.
Lia’s mouth dropped open. “No,” she whispered.
His father’s old wrinkled face lit with triumph as he snatched the parchment from Kade’s hold and peeled it open to gaze upon the written words. The treasure.
“No,” Lia said more forcefully.
“Lia,” Kade replied firmly.
She tried to pull her hand from his hold. “You told me your father could never have it. You told me it was too important.”
Her father began to laugh. A high pitched joyful noise that echoed in the great room.
Lia struggled in Kade’s tight hold. This was wrong! That parchment was hers! Tears stung her eyes.
Kade grabbed her shoulders, stilling her fight, and looked into her eyes. “This is for the best.”
For the best? Her mind repeated. The best for whom? “I was supposed to protect it,” she whispered. That knight had died protecting it and she had given it to Kade. She struck his cheek hard, the slap resounding throughout the room. He released her, and she stepped back.
The guards began to pull their swords from their sheaths, but Kade stilled them with a raised hand.
Lia’s world blurred as tears filled her eyes. “I trusted you,” she whispered, but in the silent room her accusation reverberated for all to hear.
His father laughed again. “Foolish girl. He’s used to the beatings! They do nothing.”
She took a step backward and when Kade didn’t move, but stood like a stone statue staring at her, she whirled and raced from the room, from the castle. From his life.
Chapter Eight
Lightning lit the sky in the distance, forking over the castle. Lia ran down the road, away from the castle, away from Kade. Sobs shook her body. She felt broken. If he loved her, he would never have given the parchment to his father. He knew how much it meant to her! He made her believe he loved her, that he could love her, and then…
She wanted to wail and shout and scream. But she couldn’t. She just couldn’t. She was too stunned to even bring forth a cry of anguish. This was her fault. She had believed he loved her. And she had loved him. With all her foolish, silly heart. How could she open her heart to such a callous, lying…?
She stumbled and almost fell, but caught herself against a tree. Stupid, she berated herself. She should have known. She should have known he could never truly love her. No one could. How could she ever have known how deceitful others could be? Maeve raised her to be trusting of others.
A soft rumble of thunder chastised her. She should have known. She wiped the tears from her cheeks, from her eyes. She looked back at the castle. Still, the way he had kissed her with such tenderness, the way he held her in the safety of his strong arms. That had all felt so real, so honest.
How could she have known?
A sob welled inside her and she pushed herself from the tree to continue down the road. She only had one place to go. Home. To Maeve. The only person to ever have truly loved her.
When she turned up the road toward the cruck, she paused at the spot she had found Sir de Rolleston. She looked into the forest, seeing the knight in her mind’s eye. “I failed you,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
The wind gusted, swirling her skirts about her legs, tossing her long hair in every direction. She resisted the wind, staring at the spot the knight took his last breath. He would be disappointed in her. He would be angry that his entire life, his mission to keep that parchment safe, had failed when he gave it to her.
She stood that way, fighting the wind, until the large drops of rain began to pelt the earth around her. Punishing in their severity, they pummeled her head, her body. She turned and continued up the road, walking. The rain hid her tears, and this was a good thing. Maeve would not know she was crying. Lia didn’t want Maeve to know what had happened, not about the parchment, not about Kade. She didn’t want her mother to know how utterly incompetent and foolish she was for believing in him.
By the time the cruck came into view, Lia was drenched. Sheets of rain blew, pushing her toward her home. She stopped. What would she say to Maeve? What lie would she invent? Lia’s shoulders drooped. She couldn’t do it. She had to tell Maeve the truth, no matter how much she didn’t want to. She yearned for Maeve’s comfort.
She hurried toward the cruck and reached for the door. The door opened.
Kade stood there.
Lia blinked. Surely, she was imagining him. He could not really be there. She blinked again, but the rain blinded her. She brushed her hair and the rain from her eyes. Still, Kade stood before her.
He reached for her, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her against him.
The wind quieted, and the gusts of rain stopped to a mere mist. For a moment, she stood, stunned, and scared. She must be mad. This must be Maeve holding her.
“Lia,” he whispered against her hair.
His voice rumbled through her like thunder. She recognized his musky scent, the scent of fire and ale. She shook her head and pushed away. “No.” This couldn’t be. He was at the castle. With his family.
He took her face in his hands, his gaze moving over her, touching every spot. “I was so worried. I thought –”
She shook her head and pulled away from him. “You gave it to your father,” she accused, her voice cracking. “You said never.”
H
is gaze turned tender and soft and sympathetic. “And I meant it.” He reached into his tunic and pulled out a parchment. A parchment that looked like the one he had given his father. “Did you really think I would give it to him?”
Lia frowned in confusion.
He held it out to her.
Lia took it and opened it. She stared at the squiggles and the lines on the parchment. “I can’t read it.”
“This is the parchment Father wanted.”
“But I saw you give it to him.”
“You saw me give him a parchment. I left you here and went to Father Stephen. I knew he had ink and quill. I know how to write, Lia. I wrote on a second parchment. I changed all the names to fake knights. To knights who don’t exist.”
Lia looked at the parchment. “This is the real parchment?”
Kade smiled. “My father will be chasing those treasures until he dies.”
Lia’s heart blossomed with joy. She looked up at Kade, at his sparkling blue eyes.
“I would never betray you, Lia.”
Lia threw her arms around his neck and kissed his lips. “Oh, Kade!” Her heart was full of love for him. She pulled back to look at him. “You did this for me?”
“I did this for us,” he admitted. “For our future.”
“Future?”
“I love you, Lia. And after I marry you, I didn’t want to have to look over my shoulder for my father’s return.”
“Marry?” she echoed.
His smile was warm and loving. “Of course, I’m going to marry you. That’s what a man and woman do who are in love.” His smile suddenly vanished. “You do love me, don’t you?”
Tears rose in her eyes, blurring her vision of him. She wiped them away quickly, not wanting anything to obscure her vision of him. How could she have thought he didn’t love her one moment and the very next that he did? She trailed her hand up his muscular arm to his shoulder, her entire body warm and alive. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. Yes. I love you, Kade. I love you.”
He pulled her against him, kissing her lips hungrily.
Maeve stood near the hearth, stirring a pot. She grinned happily.
A Knight's Protection Page 6
