Page 212 of Historical Hotties
ONE WYLDE KNIGHT
A Medieval Romance
Part of the de Reyne Domination Series
By Kathryn Le Veque
DE REYNE FAMILY TREE
PROLOGUE
Year of Our Lord 1271
Westminster Palace
Abattle wasbrewing.
A battle so big, so volatile, that everyone in the great hall of Westminster was coiled and waiting. Coiled because they had to know which way to pivot when the battle began. The king, Great Henry as he was called, was on one side, and on the other… Well, the other side was the current Earl of Ashington. A man once known asEl Viento del Norte.
The North Wind.
One of the greatest mercenaries of his time, an English knight who had spent years fighting with the greatest mercenary army in Aragon under the command of his uncle, a man known asEl Vibora.
The Viper.
Henry may have been the King of England, but Gage de Reyne, his opponent, was more than a formidable match. Henry had a healthy respect for the man, though he wouldn’t admit it. He preferred to stack his side of the battle with great warlords to hopefully show Gage that he wasn’t afraid of him.
At all.
Not even a little.
… maybe.
But it had come to this. Years of wrestling for the service of the same man, a man who happened to be Gage’s son, but who also happened to be a knight very much coveted by the king. Gage had kept his son in the north, fighting Scots, knowing that Henry was eyeing the man for greater royal duties, and in a moment of weakness, he allowed his son, perhaps the greatest knight his family lines had ever produced, to accompany the king on crusade. The French king was going, and Henry, being pious and semi-delusional, also decided to go. It was an honor for Gage’s son to go with him, as Lord Protector. Even kings needed a bodyguard. But ill health had forced him to turn back, and Gage’s son right along with him. But the king kept him close, a security shield that he refused to release.
That was when the battle truly started.
The northern warlords, called the Northerners as a group, were a tough band of battle lords because they held the north against the Scottish and, at times, Northman onslaughts. That made them perhaps the toughest of the tough. When there were battles in the south of England or even in France, oftentimes the Northerners didn’t participate. They still held the north, like their own little kingdom, and earls such as William de Wolfe, Adam de Longley, Gage de Reyne, and more were, at times, with power that equaled the king’s.
And Henry knew it. He knew the Northerners were their own little group, a very strong group, but they were still his vassals. It was moments like this that he was forced to hammer that home. The battle for Gage’s son had come down to this day, this moment, and now the final skirmish would unfold. A winner would be declared.
Henry intended to be that winner.
“Understand me, Ashington, so there is no doubt in your mind,” Henry said firmly. “I am not requesting the service of your son. I am commanding it. He is not going home with you—he is remaining here with me. Why would you deny your king his wants? Furthermore, why would you deny you son such prestige?”
Gage, his expression lined with displeasure, faced off against a man he’d faced off against before. Henry was old these days. He’d stopped actively participating in battles or even administering the country for the most part. His son, Edward, had taken over most of Henry’s duties. As Edward would be king one day, that was perfectly acceptable. In fact, Gage could see Edward behind his father, seemingly remorseful for the man’s stubborn behavior against a loyal warlord.
But that remorse didn’t change Gage’s mind.
It didn’t even move him.
“Your grace, it is not prestige you offer Thor, but the role of a nursemaid,” he said frankly. “I permitted him to accompany you on the crusade to the Levant. I felt it was important to provide you with his protection. I felt—”
“Heismy Lord Protector,” Henry said, interrupting him stubbornly. “I had a Lord Protector, once, in Patrick de Wolfe, but Patrick chose to marry and remain at his father’s holding of Berwick Castle. Thor is the perfect man for the task.”
Thor.
Thorington de Reyne, to be exact, Gage’s second-born son. He’d been named after his mother’s family and had gone by Thor since he was an infant. That was all anyone knew him by. He was also a twin, his older brother by ten minutes being Brian de Reyne, the man who would become the next Earl of Ashington. Brian and Thor had essentially the same facial features and had, as children, been nearly identical, but time and growth spurts had changed that. Brian was dark-haired and big, fair, andfreckled, while Thor had the sultry darkness of the de Reynes—wavy, nearly black hair that tumbled to his shoulders and a smoldering handsomeness that he’d acquired the moment he transformed from a youth into a man. But both he and Brian shared shockingly bright blue eyes when no one else in the family had them.
