Page 28 of War King's Treasure

Gavin nodded. “She’s resting.”

“She’s been through a lot over the last few days.”

“Since our marriage.” As if Gavin needed the reminder of what he’d brought into her life.

“Even before you,” Con countered. “She hasn’t had an easy life, despite what Phillip wants to convince himself of. She’s better off with us than she’s ever been.”

Gavin let Con’s words soak in. Nori was better off with him. He glanced toward her once more before following Con out of the room and shutting the door softly behind him. He nodded to the warriors Con had brought along to watch over her. He’d told her she would always be with him, Con, or Cris.

“I’m going,” Con snarled as if he knew Gavin’s thoughts.

“One of you come for me if she wakes before I get back,” Gavin ordered. “She goes nowhere without one of you with her.”

“I will guard the queen with my life,” Alan vowed as he stepped forward. “With my life, I’ll protect our queen.”

Gavin knew Alan was a good warrior. In fact, he might be one who could be placed as Nori’s permanent guard. Reality was, there would be times when both Con and Cris might be unavailable due to their duties as his seconds. Times when he would need both of them. He should have accounted for that earlier.

“What do you think of putting Alan in charge of Nori’s protection?” Gavin asked Con as they moved through the keep.

“He’s a good warrior. Strong. Smart. Disciplined.” Con nodded. “He’s trustworthy. I can’t see the queen finding any fault in him.”

“We’ll need to pick out at least four more who will serve as her personal escort.”

“You don’t actually think she’ll be in danger when we get home?” Con asked with surprise.

“It’s a risk I’m unwilling to take. Not after what happened here.”

“Understood,” Con said as he pushed open the door to the keep. The sun was already sinking in the sky as they made their way along the exterior wall of the keep. Kingsley had made it so the only way to reach the dungeon was through the courtyard. It had been built that way so that anyone who might manage to escape would have no direct access into the keep. It was a safeguard Gavin appreciated with his wife tucked inside.

“Any news on York yet?” Gavin asked.

“He hasn’t arrived yet. King Lyons and King Drake took some men and rode out to see if they could intercept the commander and his men. Lord Armstrong went with them.”

“At least, Geoffrey will keep Jamie calm,” Gavin added.

Con laughed. “Sure, he will.”

Gavin ignored his second as they were joined by Marcus and Lord Kingsley.

“These dungeons have seen more action since you arrived than they have in most of my life,” Kingsley offered. “I knew you five would keep things interesting, especially now that my land is officially part of the Dread Lands, but I hadn’t accounted for this. At this rate, I’ll need to clean them and add extra security measures.”

“I’ll take care of that for you,” Marcus offered as he held open the door for them to enter.

“And here, I was hoping you’d say it shouldn’t be needed again,” Kingsley groaned.

“A man should always be prepared to deal with his enemies,” Gavin told him, but Kingsley merely sighed.

Cris stood with feet apart, arms crossed over his chest, staring down at a man restrained to the chair in front of him. All Gavin noted was it wasn’t Buckingham.

“Where is he?” Gavin growled out.

“Cell on the left with the others,” Cris offered. “I thought you might want to start on this one. He’s the one who fired the arrow intended for our queen.”

Gavin paused, turning back to the chair and the male who’d dared to fire at his wife. The man glanced up then away, not wanting to hold Gavin’s glare. Disliking that, Gavin fisted his hand in the man’s hair and jerked his head back, straining his neck with the angle he held him at.

“I didn’t know!” the male cried immediately. Gavin hadn’t even needed to open his mouth to question him. “He said she’d betrayed us. That you were invading. That she’d handed King Phillip over to you.”

“Show me his hands,” Gavin ordered then watched as Cris released the man’s hands one at a time. Cris held each one up, knowing exactly what Gavin was searching for. The male held his bow in his left hand and fired with his right. Reaching out, Gavin gripped his right hand and slammed it against the wooden arm of the chair.

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