by Denise Lynn
King David gave her father a glare. ‘It seems rather convenient to wed such a young woman to such an old man. It makes me wonder if perhaps Bolk’s demise is not already in the planning stages. After all, if someone of his age were to perish shortly after the wedding, who would question his passing? And in such an unfortunate event, who then would gain possession of his men and wealth, little as it is?’
Her father blustered and stuttered in a manner that made it look as though the King spoke the truth.
She could not let his scheming pass without comment. Anger that she was truly nothing more to him than a means to gain ill-gotten wealth emboldened her to ask, ‘What would you do with me then, Father? Find me another old man to wed?’
He spun around, ordering, ‘Shut your mouth, girl!’ He made no attempt to approach her, but she saw his meaty hand clench, then unclench and knew that had Elrik not been there as a barrier that he would have used his fist on her whether the King saw it or not.
‘Yes, well, perhaps there is someone else more suitable as a husband for your daughter.’ A smile played at King David’s lips as he added, ‘Someone younger, with more land, men and gold. Perhaps someone in possession of a title more suited to a king’s great-granddaughter.’
The hope that had been building in her heart died quickly. Who did King David plan to marry her off to? He was well aware that she knew no titled lord, meaning nothing was going to change. She would still be wed to a complete stranger and her father would still gain a measure of wealth from the marriage. Avelyn couldn’t decide which bothered her more—her loss, or her father’s gain.
Before she could make the determination, King David turned his gaze to her. ‘Is there anyone you might wish to wed?’
She knew only one man who might fit her idea of what she wanted from a husband. Only one man who might possibly—some day—be a companion worth sharing a home and a bed.
Avelyn glanced sidelong at Elrik, remembering his words to tell the King exactly what she wanted. At her prolonged silence, he met her gaze and his eyes widened as if he’d seen something terrifying to behold.
Had he guessed her thoughts? Was the mere idea of marrying her so horrific to him?
A heavy sadness fell over her. In a few short days, she’d come to trust and care for Elrik of Roul and the knowledge that he didn’t feel the same made her heart ache in a way her mother’s death never had.
She lowered her gaze to hide the moist heat filling her eyes. Finally, when she was certain her dismay would not be heard in her voice, she softly answered the King, ‘I know of no willing man who I wish to wed.’
‘Roul.’ The King called for Elrik’s attention. He tapped the scroll he’d been holding on the edge of the table and then extended it. ‘Before it once again slips my mind, this is for you.’
Elrik took the scroll and glanced at the wax seal before he frowned at the King. ‘What is this?’
‘That is one of your two final acts for me as my Wolf. Your uncle in Normandy died without issue and without a wife. The county of Roul has now been bestowed upon you with my niece’s blessing. She and Lord Geoffrey expect your arrival.’
‘My uncle in Normandy?’ Elrik appeared baffled.
‘You weren’t aware that your family held land in Normandy?’
‘Well, yes, but that was years ago, long before I was born.’
‘No, I speak of now.’
Elrik frowned, then said, ‘I vaguely remember my father mention something once in passing, but I paid little attention, thinking the claim was due to far more drink than normal.’
King David leaned forward as if ready to tell a story. ‘On his deathbed, your grandfather bade your father and his brother to fight for possession of Roul. Your father lost.’
Avelyn’s father laughed. ‘Not surprising.’
‘Shut your mouth, old man.’
While Elrik’s menacingly deep tone startled her, it was the obvious hatred etched on his face as he glared at her father that caught her off guard. She got the impression that this dark glare was not simply because of her father’s comment, but rather from some long-held dislike. Did they know each other? Had they confronted each other at some point in the past? If so, over what?
‘Enough.’ King David’s order was short and effective. Both her father and Elrik visibly relaxed their stances.
The King continued his tale of Roul. ‘Your father was banished from Roul and as far as I can tell never had any further contact with his family in Normandy.’
Elrik asked, ‘How did he end up with Roul Isle?’
‘Through service rendered to King Henry. A deal was struck between my brother and King Henry for possession of the isle.’
‘And now you are saying that my...uncle has died?’
‘Without issue, yes.’
A slide of Elrik’s thumb broke the seal, then he opened and read the document. A soft curse escaped his lips before he looked back up at the King. ‘You knew this before sending me on this mission.’
King David nodded. ‘Yes, I did. Are you not going to ask what the second task is that you need to complete to end your service for me?’
Elrik rolled his shoulders. ‘I almost fear to ask.’
King David swung his focus back to Avelyn. She got the impression from the broadening smile on his mouth that he was enjoying himself immensely. ‘I have a husband already chosen for you.’
She saw Elrik visibly stiffen.
‘Lord Brandr, as a great-granddaughter of King Óláfr your daughter needs to wed someone with a worthy title. And she will. At first light of day tomorrow.’
Without pausing to acknowledge her shocked gasp, her father shouted, ‘No!’
King David’s brows rose. ‘No?’
‘She is not suited to be the wife of anything more than a minor warlord, or perhaps a guard.’ He narrowed his eyes and spread his arms, hands out as if pleading for understanding. ‘We cannot even prove she is my daughter. That is why she was promised to Bolk.’
Avelyn’s breath caught in her chest. He was now going to deny her? After tearing her from her mother’s home and forcing her to live in his keep?
Elrik leaned over to whisper in her ear. ‘The ring, Avelyn.’
Before she could produce the ring, her father added, ‘We may find Bolk beneath us, but he is the best she will ever do.’
With that, she pulled the small pouch out from beneath the neck of her gown. ‘How dare you.’ Her hands shook as she fished the ring free of the sack and handed it to King David. ‘My mother gave me this, telling me to keep it safe as it belonged to my grandmother.’
‘You had it!’ Brandr’s face reddened as he turned to the King. ‘Her mother stole that from me. That is why she was released from my service. I demand it be returned to my family.’
‘You lie.’ Avelyn gritted her teeth to keep herself from screaming in rage.
Elrik looked down at her before turning his attention to King David. ‘I assume the person you have in mind as her husband is me.’
‘Unless you are willing to forfeit your title, lands, Roul Isle and your family’s freedom for the rest of your life, yes.’
Elrik grimaced, but reached down to take her hand. ‘As Lady Avelyn is now my betrothed, I can assure you that it doesn’t require much inspection of that ring to realise it proves her relationship to King Óláfr.’
King David held the ring to the light and turned it around, inspecting it closely. He then looked at Brandr. ‘I think you are correct. The ring should be in the possession of your family.’
Avelyn felt as if the floor beneath her feet moved. She swayed against Elrik. Everything she believed about herself and her family was wrong. While she would be relieved not to be related to Brandr, would Elrik care that he was being told to take the hand of a servant’s bastard as his wife, or would he convince the King to retract his decisi
on?
‘Avelyn.’
She glanced up at him and saw him nod towards the King.
Slowly turning her head, she saw that King David held the ring out towards her. ‘This is yours. And your mother was correct, you need to keep it safe.’
He then swung his attention back to her father. ‘To ease your mind, I will have documents drawn up that attest to her parentage.’
‘My grandfather will hear of this.’
The King laughed. ‘Your grandfather has already heard of this since I sent him word the moment you left my hall.’ David reached out and retrieved a sheet of parchment from the table before him. ‘As a matter of fact, he has already replied to my suggestion that Lady Avelyn be joined with the house of Roul. Lord Somerled, your uncle, brought word yesterday.’
‘I care not what word my uncle brought to you. I will not have it. I’ll not have the son of a traitor attached to my family.’
Elrik released her hand and stepped towards her father. ‘Traitor? If anyone was the traitor, it was not my father. You intentionally found the oldest, weakest and easiest-to-sway lords you could, those who would listen to a viper’s words without debate, sucking in every lie, every tale as if it were the truth. You talked them into going against their King and who paid the price? Not you or yours.’
Avelyn backed away from the two men. No wonder Elrik had looked as though he hated her father—he did. Would that hatred spread to her, also?
To her shock, her father laughed before saying, ‘It is not my fault your father was among the weak. Tell me, Roul, does the fact that you grovelled for his worthless life still rest heavily on your soul, or do the scars you bear because of your own weakness still burn?’
Elrik drew his arm back. King David shouted, ‘Guards!’
And before Elrik could land the second hit into her father’s face, four men burst into the small chamber and forcibly separated the two men.
To her shame, Avelyn gained a measure of satisfaction at seeing the blood drip from her father’s split lip while Elrik’s face bore no new marks.
Elrik shook off the guards’ hold. ‘Let me go. I am done.’
Her father did the same.
‘Are the two of you finished now?’
Neither man responded to the King’s question, but Erik glared at her father.
King David waved the guards from the chamber. ‘If anyone is interested, King Óláfr is satisfied with the arrangements I made in Roul’s stead.’
Avelyn couldn’t tear her stare away from the King. She’d been right earlier about his smile—he was enjoying himself. The sparkle in his eyes let her know that he seemed to be deriving great pleasure from playing with the lives of those under his rule.
His voice deep and hard, Elrik asked, ‘A word?’
The King nodded. ‘Brandr, escort your daughter to the hall.’
Avelyn shivered—once out of the King’s sight, her father would make her pay dearly for so ruining his plans. Her knees trembled. She knew nothing of this castle, where would she run? Where could she hide to avoid his wrath?
‘No!’ Elrik’s shout seemed to echo in the smallness of the chamber. ‘My men wait outside this door,’ he added in a less forceful tone.
When King David waved a hand giving him permission to speak to Samuel and Fulke, Avelyn nearly fainted with relief. Elrik might not be pleased with this arrangement, but at least he was not going to throw her into her father’s not-so-tender care. For that she was grateful.
In less than a few heartbeats Elrik returned with his men. While neither of them looked pleased, Samuel offered his arm, ‘Lady Avelyn, will you come with us?’
He’d offered her a choice she wasn’t about to refuse. Placing a hand on his forearm, she nodded, whispering, ‘Thank you.’
Before she could take a step towards the door, her father grabbed her shoulder. ‘You are still in my care.’
The hiss of a sword being drawn from a wooden scabbard caught everyone’s attention. ‘Remove your hand from my betrothed or I will gladly remove it from your arm.’
Avelyn gasped at the deadly coldness in Elrik’s voice and looked over her shoulder to stare at him. For a moment she feared he would take her father’s life right then and there. But the certain promise in his words and the unholy gleam in his narrowed eyes made her father release her.
Elrik barely met her stare, but when he briefly glanced her way, he lifted his chin, once again silently ordering her to stand tall. She stiffened her spine and then looked up at Samuel. ‘Shall we?’
Her father stormed around them and angrily rushed from the chamber.
She and Samuel exited the small room with Fulke right behind them.
* * *
The second the door to the chamber closed, King David asked, ‘What needs to be discussed?’
‘Why me? Why Brandr’s daughter?’ He suspected the answer had something to do with the treason committed years ago, but wanted to know what that connection was now.
‘Simple. It is time Brandr paid for his part in the treason your father committed. But, it is also a way to help silence the new rumblings of treason.’
‘New rumblings?’ Elrik had heard nothing.
‘It seems the beginnings of discontent are stirring in Somerled’s court and I wanted them stopped as much as King Óláfr does. We thought perhaps tying the two of you together might help put an end to the stirrings for a time.’
Elrik understood the reasoning. Not only were they uniting the two families who’d been the most involved the last time, but they were doing so with two people who were prized to their respective liege for one reason or another.
‘You are not pleased?’
‘To once again have a wife? No. You knew I had no desire for another wife. But in all honesty, if I am to have one, I would have chosen the same.’
That much was true. He’d wondered at his attraction to this woman and had convinced himself that once they parted ways, he would forget her. Who had he been trying to fool? He wouldn’t have forgotten her—at least not easily. And as much as he told himself that when the time did come for him to wed he would choose a meek, biddable woman, he knew that for the lie it was. What would he do with someone meek and biddable? What would she do with him? The first time he lost his temper the woman would either faint, or be frightened to death.
That was something he didn’t worry about with Avelyn. He was certain that if he lost his temper with her, she would hand him back a good measure of her own temper in return.
‘Do you care for her, Roul?’
It was too soon to know. ‘I find her attractive. Desirable. There is...something...between us. Perhaps in time I may come to care for her and she for me.’
‘Good. I had hoped as much. But what then is this need for a private word?’
‘While the choice is acceptable, you couldn’t have chosen a worse time.’ Elrik ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm his tone. Finally, he said, ‘From what Lord Geoffrey wrote, there is a heated battle for possession of Roul lands between multiple neighbouring lords. He has ordered me to leave tomorrow for Normandy to fight and claim oversight of Roul Keep.’
‘Yes, I know this.’
‘Then you also know I cannot take Avelyn with me. Not into what could turn out to be a long-drawn-out battle.’
‘True.’
‘Then why wed on the morrow? Why not wait until all has been settled with Roul Keep?’
The King shrugged. ‘I had thought of that. But then I also thought of the difficulty between you and Lord Brandr and chose not to give him the slightest opportunity to spirit Lady Avelyn away with the intention of wedding her to someone else just out of spite.’
Knowing Brandr, that was exactly what the man would do. ‘But I cannot leave her here for that same reason.’
‘She will be wed.’
‘Do you truly think he will care? Once away from here, he will no longer be under your rule. He will do as he pleases.’
‘Other than marrying her later, what do you suggest be done?’
Elrik narrowed his eyes in thought a moment, then smiled. ‘Send her to Roul Isle. Rory and Edan are more than capable of seeing to her safety.’
The King nodded. ‘I can do that. In fact, I will order them here to escort her to the isle. However, do you think she will be willing to do this?’
Elrik’s smile faded. ‘No.’
‘Will she not do as you order?’
‘I am not certain.’ Somehow, he had the awful feeling that Avelyn would only do as he ordered if she agreed with the order. Otherwise, who was to say what might happen? She’d already run away once because of a king’s order. Would she do any less if she disagreed with him? Unfortunately, he did not possess the leisure of time to discover how she would react.
David waved towards a chair across the table. ‘Perhaps a little subterfuge might be in order. Sit. Let us discuss what might be done to ensure her safety.’
* * *
When the door to the chamber closed behind them an eerie quiet fell over the Great Hall and once again Avelyn felt every pair of eyes focused on her.
Fulke, with one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, came to her other side.
She wondered if either man knew how much comfort their protection provided. She briefly tightened her fingertips on Samuel’s arm and looked from him to Fulke. ‘I thank you.’
Fulke drew his brows together to scare off a young man who’d thought to approach her, then asked, ‘For what?’
She couldn’t hold back a small laugh at his frightening visage. ‘For so willingly providing me with your protection.’
‘Did you think we’d leave you to fend off these dogs alone?’
‘I know not what I thought, but I am extremely grateful for the Wolves at my side.’
Samuel leaned down slightly to say, ‘Little one, you are the lady of this pack. We will protect you with our lives.’
