Page 80 of While Angels Slept
He nodded. “I know, sweetheart,” he said, gesturing towards the knight’s quarters once again. “Go and see Val, but do not be too long. I will join you upstairs shortly.”
Blowing him a kiss, Cantia headed off to see to Val, her thoughts lingering on Tevin and his newly acquired earldom. It was an enormous event and she was very proud of the man. It would seem that much had happened in the past two days, life changing events that she was trying to come to grips with. Her mind was a little muddled by it all.
Val was ecstatic to see Cantia, and the two women chatted until Tevin finally came looking for Cantia and had to separate them so he could get Cantia up to bed. But Val wasn’t to be alone for long. Soon after Cantia and Tevin left, Myles joined Val in her dark little room.
When dawn came, he was still there.
*
“I am goingto do all of the speaking and you are going to do all of the listening,” Tevin’s tone was a growl. “Is this in any way unclear, Penden?”
In his bottle prison, Charles looked filthy and haggard. The time spent in captivity had not been kind to him. His body had agedtremendously and his mind had entered that dark and shadowed realm of madness, now waiting anxiously for word from Sutton on the success of their plan. Du Reims’ appearance was not a good sign, and he eyed the man with animosity.
“What time is it?” he barked.
“Dawn.”
Charles waved listlessly at him. “Speak then,” he said. “But know there is nothing you can say that will interest me in the least.”
Tevin’s expression was like stone. “I beg to differ,” he said. “Let me be the first to inform you that your plans with Dagan Sutton have been foiled. Dagan is dead and your schemes along with him.”
Charles’ eyes took on a strange glimmer. “Be plain.”
“I am. Dagan was killed while attempting to abduct Lady Cantia for the purpose of marriage, I am told, at your prompting. You were to provide the man a dowry for the lady if he married her.”
Charles’ gaze remained steady. He could see de Lohr and two of du Reims’ other knights standing behind him, big sentinels lurking in the shadows. Charles looked at Myles.
“You serveme,de Lohr,” he rumbled. “You will defend me against this… this usurper. He accuses me of something he cannot prove and I will have my satisfaction.”
Myles could see the madness in Charles’ eyes and it both saddened and enraged him. He had been particularly close to Brac and knew the man would have been devastated by his father’s actions. He found that he was furious on Brac’s behalf more than anything. So many of Charles’ actions were disgusting in so many ways.
“Dagan confessed everything to Lady Cantia,” he replied, deliberately leaving out “my lord”. “She has informed us of your scheme with Sutton. I will not defend a guilty man.”
Charles flared. “You would believe that bitch over me?” he snarled. “I will have your hide for this.”
Before Myles could reply, Tevin stepped forward. “That woman is the only thing standing between you and certain death,” he rumbled. “She has asked me not to kill you and as of this very moment, I will not. But if I ever hear you call her a disparaging name again, I will slit your throat and take great pleasure in your lingering and bloody death. Is this clear?”
Charles gazed at Tevin, a wicked flash in the dark eyes. Either he was too crazy or too arrogant to be intimidated. After a moment, a hint of a mocking smile creased his lips.
“You have wiped everything of Brac off of her, have you not?” he snorted. “My son was barely cold in his grave before you were bedding his wife. Have you flushed her veins with your scent and wiped all taste of Brac from her lips? You are a vile bastard to take advantage of a woman in mourning.”
“And you are a vile bastard to shame your son with your behavior towards his widow.”
The smile on Charles’ mouth faded and he turned away, the insanity in his veins building. Tevin could see the tremor in his movements, the twitch in his eye. He knew there was no reasoning with a madman, and Charles Penden was far gone with madness. It started the moment those arrows struck Brac.
“She is mine to do with as I please,” he muttered. “As the Steward of Rochester, she belongs to me.”
Tevin could feel his body tense, his fierce sense of protectiveness for Cantia overwhelming him. He pressed up against the rusted iron grate that separated him from Charles.
“And IamEast Anglia,” he rumbled. “De Gael is dead and the title now belongs to me, which means Rochester belongs to me and everything about it. You take orders from me now, Penden, and I will have the truth. Did you offer Cantia in marriage to Dagan Sutton for a price?”
Charles was looking at Tevin without turning his head, a sort of ghoulish slant of the eye that was unnerving and piercing. “You boast like a fool,” he hissed. “How do I know you are truly East Anglia?”
“Because he is,” Myles confirmed before Tevin could. “Geoff deGael is dead and Tevin du Reims now controls East Anglia. He is now your liege.”
Charles turned his head now, looking between Myles and Tevin with his sick-eyed expression.
“You have become his dog, de Lohr. I do not believe you. And given the chance, I will do all I can to destroy the chain of command until I am in control of Rochester once again.” He was focused mostly on Tevin now. “I promised Cantia to Sutton because I wanted to be free of this unrighteous prison, but the idiot evidently perished before he could carry out my wants. I do not know how he died but I do not care. All I am sure of is that Cantia is the cause of everything and I swear, given the chance, that I will kill her. She deserves nothing less for everything she has caused.”
