Page 49 of While Angels Slept
“Of course. Anything else?”
“Send Hunt back up to Arabel and tell him to bolt the door. Have Simon come for the children when he is finished preparing the escort.”
Val nodded. With a deep breath, Tevin moved at a much slower pace towards the solar entry. He looked calm even if he did not feel it.
Val watched her brother disappear into the warm room beyond. Slipping in the direction of the shadows, she held her hand out to Hunt, who was sitting in the darkened stairwell with the big yellow dog. With a few whispered words to the lad, he disappeared up the stairs as Val disappeared into the bailey beyond.
*
“I came asquickly as I could,” John addressed Simon before he even entered the dimly lit stables. “What’s amiss?”
Simon already had three horses saddled. He was working on a fourth and swung the saddle in John’s direction. The slender blond knight caught it with a grunt.
“We need to get the women and children away from de Gael,” Simon rumbled as he tossed a saddle blanket over the leggy warmblood. “Val says he’s already cornered Lady Penden. No telling what the man will do to her.”
John swung the saddle onto the blanket Simon had just placed. “Then there’s no telling what Tevin will do to de Gael,” he commented quietly.
Simon looked up at him from beneath bushy eyebrows. “What do you mean by that?”
Swantey met his gaze. “Do not play stupid, Simon. You see how he looks at her. The man is enamored with her.”
Simon scratched beneath his fuzzy beard. “And if he is? What about it?”
John moved to cinch up the saddle. “Nothing, I suppose. But if de Gael is stupid enough to make a move for her, we could have a damn bloody situation on our hands.”
Simon simply wriggled his eyebrows and went for the bridle slung from one of the posts. “We already have a damn bloody situation on our hands,” he muttered. “First Matilda, now Stephen. I do not even know whose side I am on anymore. I could be fighting for the bloody King of Joppa tomorrow for all I know.”
John grinned as he finished securing the saddle. “All I am saying is that Tevin is three times the man de Gael is. Everyone knows how jealous Geoff is of his cousin. If they both start tussling over the same woman, there could be trouble.”
Simon shoved the bit into the horse’s mouth. “So we’re removing the woman and her son to avoid any trouble. Val and Arabel are going, too. We’ve been ordered to take them to some manor house to the south and wait out de Gael’s visit.”
John watched his colleague finish with the bridle. “If we’re expected to ride to war, won’t de Gael notice our absence and wonder where we are? We’ve ridden to battle with Tevin for almost eighteen years. He’ll be expecting to see us leading du Reims’ men.”
Simon finished with the last strap. “That’s not my concern. I’ll do as I’m told and so will you.”
John merely shrugged. “It would be better to send Dagan and Gavril. I’d rather go to battle than sit idle with a woman and her son.”
“But we were ordered to do it.”
“We’re senior knights. We belong in battle, not minding women and children. Besides, let Sutton and de Reigate put their time in with escort duties. Why should we miss out on glory against Matilda while those two ride to victory in our stead?”
Simon scratched his beard again. There was something nesting in it that itched. “I suppose you have a point,” he sighed. “Perhaps we should go and find Dagan and Gavril and give them the duty. I’m sure Tevin doesn’t care who escorts them, so long as they’re properly protected.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
They found Gavril in the knight’s quarters sharpening his broadsword. Dagan was found in the dungeons listening to Charles’ madness. Within a half hour, both men were suited up and ready to ride.
CHAPTER TEN
Cantia looked verycalm, Tevin thought. Much calmer than he felt. As he entered the solar where Val had convalesced, his gaze was entirely on his cousin. He was afraid to linger on Cantia, afraid that Geoff would read emotion in his face. He was terrified he would give something away.
Geoff had a smirking grin on his face as he caught sight of his massive cousin. Leaning casually against Charles’ enormous desk, he waved a hand at Tevin.
“Come in, cousin,” he sounded suspiciously as if he was gloating. “See who I have found? Why, it’s the lovely Lady Penden. Shame on you for keeping her locked up in her room. Why on earth would you be so cruel?”
Tevin cocked an eyebrow. “Because she is in mourning for her husband. It is not proper for her to be socializing and well you know it.”
Some of the grin left Geoff’s face. He wasn’t expecting that answer. His gaze moved to Cantia, raking over her in a manner that made Tevin’s blood boil. “Mourning?” he repeated. “Why should she do that? Penden has been dead over a month. She’s far too young and lovely to waste her life in mourning.”
