Page 13 of War King's Treasure

“I’m always nice,” Con proclaimed.

“If he’s not, I’ll just tell Gavin,” Nori said without thought then felt her face flame as their gazes both jerked toward her.

Both of them grinned before Con spoke. “I like you.”

“I’m still deciding, but I like Cris.”

“A woman with taste, my queen,” Cris said then left the room with a laugh.

Before Con could say anything else, Genevieve walked in with two more men at her heels. Both carried trays filled with food. One of them was Lord Armstrong, the man who’d been Gavin’s proxy for their ceremony. She’d seen the other one around Serena before. She thought his name was Duncan. Four other men followed with filled pitchers and mugs for all of them. Once everything was set out per Genevieve’s direction, Duncan directed the others out of the room.

“Queen Eleanor,” Lord Armstrong said as he headed her way. “I promised Gavin I’d keep all of you company while he’s occupied below.”

“Thank you, my lord,” she said. She had to admit, he’d been nothing but nice to her since he’d shown up and she’d become Eleanor Montrose, Queen of the Dread Lands. “Please, call me Nori.” She let her glance encompass the others. “All of you. Call me Nori.”

“I knew it was only a matter of time before you saw us as friends,” Jo said with a grin. “Welcome to the family!”

Nori wasn’t sure why those four words hit her so hard, but when the tears fell down her face, there was nothing she could do to stop them.

Chapter Six

Gavin held his temper on a taut leash.

“One word and I’ll make sure you never see your granddaughter again,” he swore when Phillip opened his mouth. The man had followed Gavin when he’d realized Nori wouldn’t answer his calls.

“What the hell is going on here?” Phillip demanded then turned toward the door when it was shoved open. “Buckingham? What are you doing there?”

Gavin was certain he saw the panic in Phillip’s eyes before he wrapped his hand around the man’s throat. A king? He was weak. A coward.

“Unhand me!” Phillip demanded.

Guards stepped forward at Phillip’s bellow, but none were stupid enough to try to interfere when faced with five War Kings and several of their warriors. Jamie, Geoffrey, and Marcus joined the group forming in the entryway.

“Let’s move this away from the stairs,” Marcus said, pointing them all toward the Great Hall.

“I should kill you now and save Nori the heartache of realizing what her grandfather is capable of.” Gavin gave Phillip’s neck a hard squeeze before releasing him and stepping away. He wasn’t surprised when Buckingham moved toward Phillip. Shaking his head in disgust, Gavin followed the other War Kings, taking a breath to help him gain control of his temper while he walked.

“I love my granddaughter,” Phillip proclaimed loudly.

“You don’t know the meaning of the word love. Hell, I question if you’ve ever loved anyone in your life,” Gavin said. “How long did you wait after her mother died before you removed her to another home? How quickly did you get rid of her? Days? Hours?”

“I mourned Rosamund when she died in childbirth. She was my daughter, but I had to focus on Eleanor. She was a newborn. She needed a wet nurse. A home. Court is no place for a baby.”

“Children need more than that,” Lord Kingsley said as he rose from his seat by the fireplace and came to stand beside Marcus. Kingsley was a grandfather who’d loved his grandchild with everything he had. He’d also accepted Marcus as soon as he saw how much Genevieve meant to him, that Marcus would love and protect her. Phillip could learn a lot from Kingsley.

“Is that what you tell yourself?” Gavin couldn’t imagine sending his child, his grandchild, to strangers. Never. Not as long as there was breath in his lungs. “Does it help you sleep at night? She needed family, love, protection.”

Theo growled in agreement, standing at Gavin’s other side.

“I gave her all of that when I placed her with the Buckingham family. A mother and father. Two older brothers and, soon after, a baby sister.”

Gavin wasn’t sure if Phillip actually believed his own lies or if he was merely offering them up as the excuses they were.

“Like you gave your niece and Rory to Montrose?” Jamie suggested, voice rife with anger.

“I did what I thought was best when I learned Anne was with child out of wedlock. I had to protect her and the child she carried,” Phillip argued.

“You did a great job of that,” Jamie snarled.

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