Not now.
He needed his focus.
“Well?” he said when she didn’t answer fast enough. “Tell me. Did he try to kill you?”
Juliandra’s gaze moved from Kevin to Aeron and back again. “Aye,” she said, looking away. “But I struck him first.”
Kevin didn’t care if she struck him first. All he needed to know was that Aeron had touched his wife.
The man had sealed his own death warrant.
In an instant, Kevin was charging across the hall at Aeron, who screamed like a woman when he saw the man move against him. He began to run as Juliandra and Megsy fled the chamber, terrified that Aeron might try to use Juliandra as a hostage again. But Kevin managed to grab Aeron before he could get through the door after the women and he yanked the man backwards, planting a ham-sized fist in Aeron’s face.
Aeron went flying.
The battle was bloody and brutal from the outset. Since Aeron was unarmed, Kevin wouldn’t draw his sword against the man, so it was hand-to-hand fighting that tore up the hall even worse than it already was. While Kevin used his fists, Aeron used chairs and anything else he could get his hands on, smashing them onto Kevin to try and stop his charge.
But Kevin was like a runaway bull.
Juliandra had been threatened and that was the only thing on his mind, fueling his rage against a man who had made her life miserable for so many years. He’d already decided that he was going to beat him to death, and once he cornered him and Aeron threw a stool at his head, he grabbed Aeron by the arm and pummeled his face. Teeth and blood sprayed onto the floor and, at one point, Kevin hit Aeron so hard that the man went skidding onto the floor and ended up half-under the feasting table.
That was where the tides of the fight turned.
Underneath the feasting table was half of the broken pike with the pointed end. Aeron was dazed, but he saw the pike tip just about the time Kevin was bearing down on him, preparing to deliver the death blow. In a panic, Aeron grabbed the remains of the pole, which were about three feet in length, and when Kevin yanked on his legs and pulled him out from beneath the table, Aeron lifted the pike and rammed it straight into Kevin’s left thigh.
The pike plunged deep and Kevin faltered. It gave Aeron enough time to stagger to his feet and use the earthenware pitcher on the table as a club, slamming it against the side of Kevin’s head. He was wearing his helm, which prevented him from being knocked out, but it sent him staggering over to the edge of the hall where the main entry was. Trying to clear his vision, Kevin could see Sean, Alexander, and William standing there. Having heard the sounds of a fight out in the bailey, they’d come inside to investigate.
And they were armed.
“Nay!” Kevin roared. “This is my fight!”
Sean was forced to throw out an arm to prevent William from charging. The seasoned squire was ready to spear himself a Welshman. Kevin was bleeding heavily, with a broken pike jammed into his thigh, and his face was bloodied where the sharp edge of the broken pitcher had caught him.
But he was still lethal.
As they watched, Kevin ripped the pike from his leg and whirled about in time to see Aeron charging him with part of a broken chair, wielding it like a club. As far as Kevin was concerned, Aeron was now armed. He didn’t hesitate to unsheathe his broadsword, the heavy blade with the de Lara motto etched into the hilt. At this moment, he was the living embodiment of that motto.
Always Vigilant.
His sword arced upwards as Aeron bore down on him, cutting straight into Aeron’s torso and slicing so deep that he cut him all the way through to his spine. Aeron collapsed at his feet, bleeding out all over the floor as he twitched and groaned in the last few moments of his life.
And with that, the fight was over.
In pain and exhausted, Kevin pulled off his dented helm, sheathing his sword before putting a hand over the puncture wound on his thigh to try and stem the bleeding. Alexander walked around him, pushing Aeron over onto his back to survey the damage.
The man was quite dead.
“Let me look at your wound,” Sean said, putting his hands on his brother to steady him. “How is your head? Where’s the damage?”
There was blood smeared all over Kevin’s face, so it was difficult to tell where the damage really was. Before he could answer, they heard a gasp and looked over to see Juliandra standing in the kitchen passage, her eyes wide at the bloody, destroyed room and a dead man lying on her floor. But her gaze flew to Kevin, seeing that he was clearly injured, and she gasped again.
“My God,” she murmured in horror. “How badly did he hurt you?”
She was asking as if she cared, but Kevin wasn’t going to fall into that trap. He wasn’t going to believe that a fight between him and Aeron had suddenly made everything well between them.
No, he wasn’t going to assume that at all.
Slowly, he pushed his brother away, taking a few limping steps in Juliandra’s direction.
“My body will heal,” he said. “But I want to know what he was doing here. What in the hell was going on, Juliandra?”
She looked at him, shocked and hurt by his tone. “What do you mean?”
He pointed to the body on the floor. “Have you been deceiving me the entire time?” he said. “Did you run off into Aeron’s waiting arms even as you told me that you wanted nothing to do with him? Why is he here?”
Juliandra put her hand over her mouth when she realized what he was accusing her of. There seemed to be accusations and mistrust flying around, infecting them both.
The tears began to come.
“He was here when I arrived,” she said hoarsely. “Of course I did not run off into his waiting arms. Yours are the only arms that have ever held me and the only arms that ever will. I told you that I hated Aeron and I meant every word of it. Never at any time did I lie to you about it.”
“It’s true!” Megsy said, still weeping at the turmoil that had consumed The Neath. “He came here yesterday and pushed his way inside. He smashed things and told us that this was now his home because m’lady was living with the Saesneg, but when m’lady returned, he attacked her!”
Kevin’s gaze lingered on the crippled maid before returning his focus to Juliandra. Realizing that there had been no deception, at least not on Juliandra’s part, he simply shook his head.
“I came here to tell you once again how sorry I am and to bring your father home,” he said, his voice faint and raspy. “I came to tell you how sorry I am that a decision I made cost me everything – your trust, my happiness. It was never my intention to hurt you, Juliandra, but our association started off on a lie, a decision I made for what I thought was the greater good. Never did I imagine that our lives would somehow be intertwined to the point where I was terrified to tell you the truth. I did not want anything to touch our happiness, but my bad decision has cost me. I came here to beg your forgiveness and for no other reason except to tell you… tell you that I love you. That does not come from a man of desperation. That comes from a man in love.”
Juliandra still had her hand over her mouth, tears coursing down her face at his words. She was calmer now that she had been when she’d first discovered his deception, but not by much. There was still a great deal of hurt and anger there.
“Oh… Kevin,” she whispered. “I love you, too. But what we have… it was all built on a lie.”
He nodded, weary and in pain. “I know,” he said. “I do not know if you can find it in your heart to give me an opportunity to rebuild it, but I hope that, someday, you will give me that chance. I am not asking you to forgive me today, tomorrow, or even next week, but mayhap a day will come when such a thing seems reasonable. When that time comes, if it comes, I will be waiting.”
With that, he stepped aside as his brother and Alexander lifted Aeron’s body and hauled it out of the chamber. Megsy ran after them, giving Kevin a wide berth as she ran around him, telling Sean and Alexander where they could put the body. That left Kevin a
nd Juliandra alone in the hall, a smashed room and a bloodied floor between them.
Juliandra simply stood there, looking at him as the silent tears ran. Kevin was so weak and weary that he could barely stand, but he faced her as proudly as he could. He drank in her vision, wondering if it was going to be the last time he ever did.
“It has been a day of great upheaval,” Juliandra finally whispered, wiping at her face. “I know you are in pain, Kevin. I am in pain, too. I have lost my father and my husband on the same day.”
He was struggling not to weep at her words. “You have not lost me,” he muttered. “You will never lose me. Even if you cannot forgive me, I am still your husband and I shall always be here if you need me. All you need do is call and I shall come. I shall defend you and protect you until the day you die, no matter what. But know this… whatever you decide, I will never love another. I have given my heart to you. It is not mine to ever give again.”
Juliandra’s face crumpled and she nodded, indicating that she understood, as she struggled not to openly sob. Kevin watched her weep, wishing with all his heart that he could take her in his arms and comfort her.
To see her like that was tearing him apart.
“I never meant to cause you pain,” he said. “Please believe me, Juliandra. I never set forth to deliberately hurt you.”
She nodded. “I know.”
He sighed heavily. “What do you want me to do with your father?” he asked. “Given that he hates the church, I did not want to take him to the local parish, so I brought him home.”
Juliandra wiped at her eyes. “There is a cellar near the kitchen,” she whispered tightly. “I can have the servants take him there.”
“That is not necessary,” Kevin said. “I will carry him.”
“But you… you are injured.”
He smiled, but it was without humor. “It does not matter,” he said. “As your husband, it is my duty to tend to your father. Where is the kitchen?”
Juliandra pointed to the doorway behind her. “On the north side,” she said. “Are… are you sure that you do not need any help?”
Kevin shook his head as he turned for the door. “Nay,” he said. Then, he paused to look at her. “In the days and weeks and years to come, I pray you do not think too unkindly of a man who found more happiness with you in two days than most men find in a lifetime. If our lives do not join again, then know that I wish you the utmost health and happiness, Juliandra ferch Gethin de Lara. Even if we are not together, you will always be my entire world.”
With that, he headed out, limping and bleeding, leaving Juliandra standing in her destroyed hall. Making her way to the only chair in the room that wasn’t damaged, she collapsed on it and wept.
EPILOGUE
Brighton, Sussex
The brown pebble beach didn’t bother his feet like it used to. He’d learned to walk on it since he’d spent the past several months here, letting a little cottage in the sleepy fishing village of Brighton and coming out to the beach every single day to fish for mackerel or anything else he could catch. At first, it had been difficult for him to focus on the art of relaxation, but he learned to settle down soon enough.
No battles, wars, intrigue, or spying.
It was the first time since childhood that he had known peace.
Perhaps not complete peace, but at least he wasn’t making himself ill any longer. That had gone on for months, unable to eat and drinking excessively. He’d literally made himself ill every single night and then every day, it would start all over again.
It was the cycle his life had become.
Sean had finally made him go to Brighton. When he’d left Juliandra in Wales and he’d refused to stay to Wybren, he put Gareth in command of the fortress and headed back to Trelystan where he had proceeded to turn into a moody, angry, bitter man. Kevin had never been the unemotional type and when word reached his brother that he was still not himself, Sean had summoned him to Lansdown, whereupon he had forced Kevin to take a trip to get away from the Marches and learn to deal with the unexpected thing his life had become.
At first, Kevin had refused to go anywhere. But eventually, Sean and his wife, Sheridan, broke him down and sent him off to Brighton because both Kevin and Sean had fond memories of the place, and Sean had decided that was the place for him to go. Quite literally, he had escorted Kevin to the brown, rocky shores of Brighton and found him a little cottage to let.
Sean had remained with him at first and they had enjoyed peace and relaxation as they had never before enjoyed in their adult lives. It was just the two of them sitting in the sand, fishing, having absolutely nothing to do but talk and fish. Brothers bonding as they had never bonded before. But eventually, Sean had to return home, leaving Kevin alone to enjoy the sunshine.
And here he was.
It was a warm day in late summer as a brisk sea breeze blew off of water the color of a pale blue gemstone that Kevin once saw a woman wear in London. It was a bright, rich color. Overhead, gulls gathered because when he caught a fish, he usually threw it back and they would dive in to gobble it up.
But they had to fight the dog for it.
About ten feet to his right, a big, black dog lay in the sand, waiting for the next fish to be tossed. The stray dog had found Kevin and Sean on their first few days in Brighton and now was Kevin’s constant companion. He’d named it Ax because it was dark like a steel blade and had a big, wide head, so Ax followed Kevin around every moment of the day and slept at his feet a night. He was a good watchdog, too.
As Ax dozed in the sun, Kevin shifted positions on the sand, wincing when the wound Aeron had given him in his left thigh pained him. It was only now starting to heal correctly after having become poisoned for quite some time. When Aeron had stabbed him, he’d driven leather and fabric and mail into the wound, and it had festered repeatedly until a physic in Brighton had managed to clean it all out and sew it up tightly. Then, and only then, had it started to heal.
But it was inevitable that the pain in his leg should remind him of the last time he saw Juliandra. Every time he moved that leg and felt the ache, he thought of her. But the pain in his leg was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. As he lay back on the sand and felt the warmth of the sun beating down on him, he thought of that final day.
He relived it quite often.
He thought of carrying Gethin’s body down into the cellar as the servants directed him because Juliandra was nowhere to be found. He thought of the ride back to Wybren with Sean and Alexander and William, silent companions who stood strong alongside their beaten friend.
He thought of his return to Wybren and the days that followed, when Alexander and Peter and William eventually left to return to their respective homes, but not without words of encouragement to Kevin, who hadn’t been so wounded that he hadn’t appreciated their fond farewells. William had even offered to give him the black stallion that no one could seem to ride, but Kevin had declined, not wanting to give the young man a place to offload the ill-gotten horse.
He intended to let the squire, with the gambler’s heart and the soul of a warrior, suffer his punishment for his little nasty habit.
He would reap what he sowed.
Sean had remained with him until such time as he had decided to return to Trelystan because he was unable to stand the memories of Wybren. Gareth had been more than happy to assume command and, along with Cal, remained at Wybren while Kevin traveled back to Trelystan with Sean and Bannon. Even now, it was Bannon in command of Trelystan while Kevin lay in the sun and tried to piece together what was left of his heart and his life.
As he lay there and pondered what his life had become, he heard Ax growling. Turning his head, he peeped an eye open to see what the dog was growling at only to see a shadow fall over him.
He was up in a flash.
Prepared to fight, he was astonished to see Sean standing behind him, smiling broadly. He lowered his balled fists.
“Sean,” he gasped in surprise
. “What in the hell are you doing here? Why did you not send me word that you were coming?”
Sean laughed softly as Kevin reached out to embrace him. “Because I thought you could use the excitement of an unexpected visit,” he said. “Brighton can be rather dull.”
Kevin nodded. “Dull, but not unpleasant,” he said. “I have not suffered overly over the past few months.”
Sean looked him up and down, getting a good look at his brother who was leaner than he normally was, with skin as brown as leather from sun exposure day after day. His normally cropped hair was long, nearly to his chin, and he had a beard that covered his cheeks and jaw.
It didn’t look like the brother he knew.
This was a newer, different man.
“You are looking well,” he said after a moment. “How have you been since I last saw you?”
Kevin shrugged. “Well enough,” he said. “I spend my days fishing and my nights with that ugly dog sleeping at my feet.”
The both looked over to Ax, who wagged his tail at them. Sean chuckled. “Charming,” he said drolly. “But surely you’ve done more than pass the hours with only fishing.”
Kevin turned to look at the small fishing village about a quarter of a mile away. “There is a tavern in town,” he said. “The creatures that crawl in and out of there make me homesick for The Pox. Speaking of The Pox, how is everyone? Sherry and Peter and Chris and the like?”
Sean nodded. “Well, all of them,” he said. “But Edward de Wolfe has sent young William to the north, to a place called Northwood Castle. That place is one of the great castles in the north, one of the only things that stands between England and the Scots overrunning the country.”
Kevin was surprised to hear that. “Is that so?” he said. “I am surprised that Edward sent his favorite son so far away.”
Sean grunted. “Apparently, William has been caught gambling one too many times, so Edward is sending him far to the north to battle Scots. That should keep him occupied so he has no more time for his life of thievery.”
The Agents of William Marshal Volume II: A Medieval Romance Bundle Page 83
