by Nicole Locke
Reynold did not hold her more tightly to him, but in the confines of the horse, and the way he gently grasped the reins, she felt as if he surrounded her. As if the storm that was him engulfed her. Except this time Darkness did not feel...dark.
‘Why did they leave you?’ he said, the words spilling out. His voice, for once uneven, broke on his words. ‘How could they leave you? You who come to anyone’s defence, who won’t leave anyone behind?’
A question she’d asked herself many times, though she always knew the answer.
She clenched his hand, her fingers digging into his palm before she released them. ‘My family had grand aspirations. Always mimicking those in the higher classes. I remember my mother or maybe it was my brother teaching me to speak properly. To make it easier to be the expert thieves they thought they were. I was useless to them. Too clumsy to pick from purses, too honest to tell a sad tale.’
The irony of it all was she felt true pain the next day and every day afterwards. She knew how to plead for bread, for her life. And she had been broken until one day she was kidnapped by the man she should have feared the most and—
‘Aliette, I wouldn’t—couldn’t—despite everything against us, despite my better judgement—leave you behind.’
She didn’t know everything and there was so much more to say, but in this she knew. Linking her hand with his hurt one, she said, ‘I know.’
* * *
Reynold knew, while still a fair distance from his home, that his enemy was waiting for him there. At any moment, he knew he could turn around. That despite his so-called burdens, there was time and distance on his side to stay safe and keep running. Except... Reynold brushed the top of Aliette’s hand, ducked his head to the crook of her neck to breathe her in.
He wouldn’t do it. His parents and his brothers would never stop pursuing him. If nothing changed, their children would be at war as well. After she gave him just a glimpse of her childhood, he realised they shared so much in common. His parents hadn’t abandoned him, but them wanting him to be something he was not was as true for him as Aliette.
If he continued to hide, the reign of their hatred would continue. No more. Raising his fist, he called for his men to stop.
‘What is it?’ Aliette turned in her seat, her large blue eyes taking in everything he showed her. ‘They’re here, aren’t they?’
He nodded. ‘Up ahead, they wait for me.’ Because he had set traps in the landscape and had ridden past them, noting they’d been triggered. Only a battalion on horses could have disturbed them all.
Because Eude had been killed in Paris and his death was merely a message. A message that they knew his location, who was with him, where he would travel next because there was no other possibility when he had the burdens of a family he chose. Because of Aliette and the future he wanted.
He’d been reading the story of his life for a very long time—the time for adventures and plot changes was over. He’d turn to this chapter of his life earlier than he ever dreamed and, because he loved Aliette, he would see it through.
Dismounting, he tossed the reins to Louve. ‘I’ll need your horse.’
‘Reynold, what are you doing?’ Aliette said.
Holding Aliette’s horse firm, Louve dismounted. ‘Are you certain?’
‘You question me on my knowledge, mercenary?’ Reynold said.
Louve snorted. ‘If you know there are enemies ahead, then there are enemies ahead. I question whether this is wise.’
To meet one of his brothers or his father at his home, to attempt to stop this, was the wisest decision of his life. ‘What do you think?’
Louve smiled. ‘I think when you get your head chopped off, I’ll inherit some coin and be in charge.’
‘Have you been reading my papers?’
Louve indicated to Aliette. ‘No, I think you’re learning about who’s important...like me.’
‘You’ll know what to do.’
Louve’s grin changed and he wrapped the horse’s reins tighter around his fist. ‘You never need to ask.’
‘Reynold, don’t. Whatever you do,’ Aliette said, ‘you can’t go, not and leave me here.’
‘Stay on the horse, thief. Stay safe. Stay alive.’ He looked at her stomach and back into her terror-filled eyes. He had lain with her in all ways. It was possible she carried his child. He knew she carried his heart. ‘The carriage with your family will catch up with you soon. I need you to do this. Do you understand?’
‘I don’t agree.’
‘I wouldn’t want you to.’
With a subtle kick, Reynold rode away from the life he led and the game he played very well. Rode it towards another fate he knew nothing about, with no control or power to stop whatever force waited to kill him.
And because he couldn’t stop wishing to be closer to her he turned to catch one last glimpse. He saw his future wife clasping her arms around herself, rocking on the horse he’d left her on, staring at the setting sun, at the light dimming from twilight into night.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The torches surrounding his favoured home were ablaze, which made it all the easier to see the armed men surrounding it and his brother Balthus at the top of the gate.
One swift arrow and he’d be dead. Instead, the gate swung open and he rode into the courtyard. Balthus ran down the stairs as he dismounted.
It had been years since he’d seen his youngest brother. Gone was the flush of youth, he was a man now, a warrior in his own right. His death would come down to a true fight.
So be it. For once his hand was steady.
‘Sheathe your sword, Brother, you can see mine is not drawn,’ Balthus said. ‘You’ve had a long journey and I’ve prepared food for you.’
Reynold did not take his hand from the pommel while there were men with their bows on shoulders. He had no place for cover, but he could draw fast enough for one strike...which was all he needed.
Balthus looked around him. ‘Although I have to admit, I had food enough prepared for more than you. The others won’t be coming?’
‘Never.’
‘Pity, I ordered the slaughter of your fattest pigs. Now, it seems, I should have spared one or two of them for another time.’
This wasn’t the Balthus he’d talked to those years before, the one who stood next to Guy, who spewed his vitriol hate. At that time, Balthus’s eyes were filled with judgement. Now there was almost amusement, as if he were pleased with the surprise of his visit.
Reynold wasn’t pleased at all.
‘Let’s get this over with, shall we?’ Reynold said, knowing the comment wasn’t as he would usually proceed. It seemed he was learning Aliette’s impatience. Or maybe... ‘I need peace in my life.’
‘I agree and your wine is excellent.’ Balthus waved his hand towards the home. ‘Come, let’s sit. It’s cold enough in daylight, at night, it’s uncomfortable.’
Reynold wasn’t going anywhere, not until he understood what was happening. He had expected to defeat whichever family member dared take over his home. To threaten them so terribly, they’d leave him alone. If that didn’t work, to bribe, to beg.
Balthus raised a brow. ‘You think I poisoned our supper? It’s your food.’
‘It’s my house.’
‘You’ve lived in some fine homes over the years,’ Balthus said, pointing to the house. ‘I like this one best.’
He did, too. It was why—No, it couldn’t be.
Balthus noticed where his gaze strayed and raised his left, heavily bandaged hand palm up. ‘I visited Mother again. She questioned my loyalty at Ian’s brilliant plan to flush you out of Paris. You had only two directions to go: he chose one way—I chose this way.’
Reynold left nothing to chance. ‘No one knew of this home.’
‘True. The rest of them don’t. Ian believes I travelled east, but
I discovered this place on my own years ago and enquired about purchasing it. You can imagine my surprise.’
For years, his brother kept this house a secret from his family. There was no possibility for Balthus to divide his loyalty, so the only conclusion was: ‘You have more patience than I gave you credit for. Setting this trap and waiting to spring it.’
Balthus sighed. ‘Ian’s intentions to kill you depended on me doing my familial duty should you flee towards me. Mother doubted my loyalty. I should boast and tell that I held my hand to the flame the longest of any as I renewed my vow to her. Of course, there is the fact that I might never be able to use it again.’
‘So she doubts your loyalty and this is why you’re here. Preparing food, inviting me into my own damn house. You want to align with me. You think I’m going to harbour you? Draw your sword and let’s be done with this. One less Warstone brother to contend for the top.’
Balthus tilted his head. ‘I didn’t think you’d do it.’
‘Kill you? You murdered Eude!’
‘Ian’s doing, that’s how close he got to you. And those men you killed by the river were mine. I think we’re even.’
‘Raise your sword. My books are ash. They’re worth more than any Warstone.’
‘Better the books than the woman.’
Reynold knew not to reveal that Aliette meant anything to him. But a growl began before he could contain it and he warned Balthus anyway, ‘You couldn’t get near her.’
‘That’s what it is, isn’t it? Your threatening death to your younger brother because the woman is making you protective.’ Balthus lost his smirk, a flash of wistfulness crossed his features. It was gone before Reynold could decipher it properly. ‘Can’t imagine our sire ever raising his sword to protect our dame.’
No. If his mother got close to a cliff, his father would find a way to make her fall look like an accident.
Balthus shook himself. ‘Needless to say, Mother doesn’t doubt my loyalty and, despite what gnarled mess my hand will be when it heals, she continues to love me more than any of you. Or she will, until she discovers that I didn’t kill you. Nor do I intend to.’
Reynold swayed. ‘We’re going inside. Now.’
* * *
The house was as Reynold remembered it. The reds and creams, the tall windows. They were covered with oiled cloth for the winter, but soon that would be taken down and the hall would be flooded with light.
The whole house was designed for light. He loved the sun, but it was more than that. When he imagined himself in this home, it was after a very long war. When he finally defeated his family. When that day came, he wanted light surrounding him and to never hide again. To end the war, he never imagined dining with them.
‘Why are you here? Why are you acting as if we can simply converse like brothers?’ Reynold asked the moment the wine was poured and they had privacy. So much change because of Aliette. He never would have felt the need to demand the truth. He would have waited for Balthus to drink, to loosen his tongue and reveal everything.
But Reynold wanted the answer before the drink. Wanted the truth to be told without influence, because his brother wanted to tell him.
‘We are brothers,’ Balthus said.
‘We were raised as enemies.’
‘True. Which explains why Ian tried to kill me after Guy’s death.’ Balthus chuckled. ‘I can see you are surprised. I was, too, because it makes no sense to play his card early. But maybe he thought with you already on our parents’ death list, and Guy murdered, everything would fall to him.’
He needed to ask, without asking. ‘Everything?’
Balthus gave a knowing look. ‘We don’t have the Jewel of Kings. Which is why it surprised me that Ian took the chance. I always thought he’d take us all down once the jewel was secure.’
Ian was an excellent swordsman and cunning as well. If Balthus had escaped, then his younger brother had acquired great skill. ‘How’d you survive?’
‘Because Ian, instead of ruining the perfect parting of his hair, ordered an Englishman named Howe to kill me. It wasn’t facing each other, but with an archer. A damn fine one, too. If it wasn’t for the fact I know how to ride a horse into the woods, I wouldn’t be here now.’
There were too many possibilities. ‘If Ian tried to kill you, then how did he trust you with this plan to trap me? How do I not know he’s not riding through the gates while we talk?’
‘Because he doesn’t know I know. I was hunting and pretended to make chase on game.’
Reynold knew better than to trust this, but the answers were coming fast and assured. Could his brother be that good of a liar? ‘How did Mother take his deeds? She couldn’t have been pleased because she loves you best.’
‘Since Ian failed, he won’t be able to surprise me again. I like that power of knowledge I have over him, so I haven’t told her. Just as I haven’t told her of this house. Because I like the power I have over you.’
No, this wasn’t about power, it was something else. Something Reynold couldn’t quite comprehend. Not yet. ‘Or you’re conflicted and loyal to us both.’
‘He tried to kill me—you agreed to sit and have wine with me.’
Did his brother just differentiate between them? Could Balthus decipher that there was a difference between brothers? ‘And so now there’s trust between us? Do you think me a fool?’
‘Then what is this?’ Balthus said. ‘We are talking, sitting, dining.’
‘I’m merely extracting information from you before I kill you,’ Reynold replied.
‘You could since you are the better swordsman. But my men would kill you directly after.’ Balthus tilted his head to the side. ‘I remember you. I remember you...protecting me.’
He had loved his sibling and had incurred numerous punishments trying to protect him. ‘You were too young when I left.’
‘Your screams made an impression on me. They hurt you far worse than the rest of us because of it. Encouraged our brothers to lay waste to you as well. Ian and Guy bragged about it long after you left. They thought you weak to leave.’
‘I came out the better for it by leaving.’ And Balthus had come to harm with his parents’ manipulations. He’d abandoned his brother to a cruel fate.
‘And I, left behind, didn’t,’ Bathus said. ‘Or is it, I shouldn’t forgive you for leaving me with them?’
Uneasy with how quickly his brother understood him, Reynold stood. ‘Warstones never ask for forgiveness. What is the point of this misguided conversation? There are many years since then and there can be no true trust between us. There’s been too many harms done.’
Balthus frowned. ‘Maybe so, but I want to know why you protected me when they hurt you for it. I couldn’t have done anything to earn it.’
And in that, Reynold understood what Balthus hadn’t. He knew because of Aliette. That sometimes compassion didn’t have to be earned. It was simply there.
He wanted to deny he’d done it because he cared for the infant Balthus was, but answering with a lie wouldn’t solve anything...if there was something to solve. ‘I didn’t want you to turn out like the rest of us.’
Balthus’s eyes widened and Reynold knew he revealed too much of his remorse. A mistake.
A weakness. A word his mother used. But Aliette knew the truth of him—did he feel weak with her?
Reynold held out his left hand, the one badly scarred, the one Aliette had shed tears over. That moment had only given him strength...and the beginning of something else. The ability to trust. Though, for now, caution when it came to his brother was necessary. Still... ‘I don’t deserve your forgiveness for leaving you with them.’
Balthus’s eyes gleamed with something like awe and wonder. ‘You don’t, but you want to ask me for it anyway. You’re as tired of all this as I am. Just as I hop—’
A booming voice haile
d a greeting, two called out in warning. A creak and neighing of horses underscored by the uneven rumble of carriage wheels. Above it all a child was wailing broken sobs that cut across the night air and made Reynold break into a cold sweat.
Heart stopping, Reynold drew his sword. ‘You’ll stay here.’
Balthus looked to Reynold, to his sword and shrugged. ‘The wine may be gone upon your return.’
Sword out, Reynold rushed outside. The gate was open and the courtyard was littered with Balthus’s men, his own, Louve, the carriage that had carried his daughter.
Everyone he had told to stay away were here with his enemy, with his family. Every emotion flooded him as well. Frustration, anger, joy and overwhelming fear. He couldn’t move as it overtook him.
Aliette, holding Grace, walked up to him. A litany of sounds from her lips, a song. ‘There he is. There he is. I told you he was here and that we’d all be together again. See, we are!’
She never stopped until she was within his reach. Until his daughter was within his reach. His daughter. ‘She’s... I can hear her.’
At his words, Grace whipped her head towards him. Her cries stopped. Her wet, reddened eyes widened. She hiccupped, once, twice. Aliette patted her back.
‘All of France can hear her.’ Helewise hobbled up. ‘Hasn’t stopped since the moment the carts were drawn away. Days of her crying. I could hardly get food down her and, when I did, she mostly spit it up or choked. When we joined Aliette, she started babbling.’
‘She was trying to ask for you, Reynold.’ Aliette said, her eyes tender.
Reynold felt his hand slip on his sword as he took in his daughter, his future wife. Vernon and Gabriel were standing next to Baldr and Guarin. Louve looked as though he would burst with laughter.
Sheathing his sword, he held open his arms. ‘Give her to me.’
‘Here you go.’ Her tone was half-amusement, half-warning, and Reynold caught Aliette’s narrowed gaze above his daughter’s head. The thief was not pleased about something.
‘What is wro—?’
