Gem of Gravane (The Northern Knights) (29 page)

“I see that you are covered in what
you are full of.” Aric’s deep timbre of rage shook the walls and caused Thomas
to shiver. “Where is she?”

Thomas swallowed. He was good as
dead. Even if he told the Norman, the man would kill him as soon as he’d see
what he’d done to her. Either way he was going to die. He cursed that his
cousin had won.

“Why should I tell you? Either way
it will not save my life will it?” He asked. his tongue snaked out like a
serpent to lick his wet lips.

Aric’s flat cold tone confirmed his
fears. “Nay.” 

Aric noted the possessed look in
his eyes.  The man was crazed.

“Well then. Since I cannot have
that which is mine. Nor shall you. I will never tell you. I will go to hell
with that fat cow rotting at my side.”

Aric’s large fist smashed into the
side of his face and he gave his men the nod to stand the filthy man upright.
By then, Thomas had come out of his dazed state with a sneer on his face.

Aric demanded. “I will ask you but
once more. Where is she?”

Thomas tried to shake the hold of
the guards off, but they held fast. He opened his mouth.

“I am here, Aric.” 

Danielle’s hoarse cry tore through
him and Aric, the hairs on the back of his neck standing, turned to see her at
the hall’s entrance standing next to Balwain.

Emotion he did not want to name
slammed into him at the sight of her as she limped towards him. She came to a
stop a few steps away from him and Thomas. Aric drank in the sight of
her.  His rage returned when he noted her bruises. The cuts on her cheek,
lip and fingers were bleeding.

He paused but a moment when her
fingers gripped his forearm. His sword was raised between them.  He’d not
even been aware that he’d lifted it. He would have her cousin’s head.

“Danielle. The sound of his own
hoarse voice shocked him.

“I am here. I beg you, no more. No
more bloodletting.” Danielle said tightening her grip on his arm in restraint.

Aric trembled with the storm inside
him. Did she not know what it was she asked of him? He shook with his need to
kill Thomas. She had no place in these matters and he opened his mouth to say
as much when she spoke.

“Aric.” 

Everything was in that one word,
her plea was like the cry of a wounded animal and the sound tore through him.
After all the grief her cousin had caused her. She would still- Nay!

“I do not think I can give you this
boon again for him. After all that he has done! He forfeited his miserable life
when he chose to harm you.” Aric’s eyes blazed with fury and disbelief. His
hand tightened around the hilt of his sword seeing the answer in those eyes he
could lose himself in forever. God’s teeth! Would he ever be able to deny this
woman?

Danielle was aware of the struggle
within him and knew that he did not understand. She knew too that some of his
anger was directed at her for he was mad that she dared once again to interfere
with his choice of dispensing justice upon her cousin.  She had wanted
Thomas dead.  Wished it with each nail she had lost in clawing her way out
of that crawlspace. Wished it if any harm came to her little secret she’d yet
to reveal to Aric.

But looking at all the dead bodies
strewn over their floor and now at Thomas.  She could not bear to see
another life taken.  Even if it was one that deserved it more than any she
knew. She met her cousin’s possessed gaze for a brief moment before she turned
away.

Her gaze shot back up to Aric’s and
she said, “I trust you, Aric.”

She saw the tremor go through his
large form before she felt it.  He tilted his head. He was not happy, but
he did lower his sword. He would bend yet again for her and Danielle let out a
held breath.

“Step away, Danielle.”

Danielle backed up and moved near
the raised dais. Aric’s snarl was one that bode his true intent for
Thomas.   

“In your futile campaign in
stealing Gravane coin for your own selfish ill-gotten gains and to build your
cause against me and against our liege lord, King William you must now face
your judgment, Thomas Balfour. I know that you are a follower, for you are too
much of a simpleton to be anything but. Know this. Any that stand with you or
have stood with you will see the end of their plight at the tip of a Norman
sword. England
will
be united. What say you of your crimes?”

 Thomas was sputtering like
the simpleton he was even before Aric completed the question.  Aric’s gaze
impaled him where he knelt. 

Thomas’s beady eyes shot over the
other knights in the room and saw that they each had their hands on the hilt of
their swords. 

All but Aric, Danielle noted, for
the look shooting from his eyes told Thomas and all within the hall what he
wanted more than any weapon he could have drawn. 

Death.

  Thomas rose on his spindly
and unsteady legs as that look intensified with each of his movements. A moment
of long lost lucidity surfaced in him.  If it meant he would have to
beg.  Then beg he would.

Aric wanted to cleave the man in
two, but with Danielle at his back, he tried to swallow his fury.  He
wanted to show her that he was a fair man, no matter the crime. But it was
harder and harder to be that man when the crime was against her.  He
continued, sharply,   “Your days of stealing and murdering are over.
For such crimes against what is now mine, I can imprison you here.  As ill
as it makes me to admit it, part of my wife’s bloodline runs through your
selfish veins.”  He felt Danielle’s gaze bore into the side of his face,
but he did not look to her.

“Aye, we are related!” Thomas’s
pitiful outburst was laced with the panic rising in him.

“Yet, that did not stop you from
murdering your own sister, did it?”

Aric ignored Danielle’s shocked
cry. 

Thomas had a choking fit. He was
caught. The damn Norman knew. Thomas knew his reaction had sealed his fate.
There was nothing left. Begging was out. He made a move to step near Aric to
interrupt. 

Balwain slapped the flat of his
sword with disgust across the back of his knees and Thomas went back down on
both knees. Thomas shot the angry knight a pleading look, his wide eyes
skirting from Aric’s dark gaze to the big sword, fearing the angry knight would
behead him right there. 

Aric’s voice cut through his rising
terror.

“As unfortunate as that may be,
know this, man. It is just that relationship and her wish, which saves your
hide and gives you, how shall I put it, mercy.”  Aric let his words sink
in. When Thomas all but shot a relieved look, still laced with his terror upon
Danielle, Aric moved to block his vision of her. 

“This will be the last time you
look upon her. You shall be stripped forthwith immediately of the lands this
relative’s father had so generously given your sorry arse and cast out. Your
exile will give you plenty enough time to think of the many wrongs you have
committed.  Be grateful that you leave here with your head intact. And
Thomas,” Aric approached the kneeling man,” consider that a boon too because of
your cousin, my wife.”

Thomas screamed as guards grabbed
him and lifted him up to remove him from the hall.  Thomas let out a
bellow and Danielle wished she’d a moment to have closed her eyes, but
everything happened so fast. 

Thomas had wrenched his way out of
the guards clutches, the dirk out of his tunic and raised above his head when
Aric’s sword found its way into his belly,  slicing through flesh and bone
up to his evil heart. Shock and horror colored Thomas’s face and he let out a
piercing gasp as Aric made a twist with his arm and withdrew his sword. 
Thomas and his entrails hit the stone floor just as Aric reached Danielle’s
side.  He spoke to Balwain as he grasped her arm.

 She was stunned as he pulled
her behind him. She must not have been moving fast enough for suddenly he drew
her up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to their
chamber. 

Chapter 30

Once there, the
shock waning, she pushed at his shoulders. “Put me down.” 

He didn’t until he reached the bed
where he set her on the edge. Aric reached out and brushed his fingers against
her unmarred cheek to catch a tear.

Danielle hadn’t realized that she’d
been crying yet again. She met his somber gaze with the anger still lingering
within them. Yet, his words were spoken softly.

“I am sorry you had to see that,
Danielle. His crimes were too grave against not only our King, but to you. I
must be honest with you and ask your forgiveness for my lie. I knew he would
never have left here alive.” 

She shivered with a nod and wrapped
her arms around her chest. Aric grabbed a cloth and wet it from the nearby
washbowl.

After cleansing her free of the
blood, she moved away from him a space on the bed.  . 

When he reached for her, she
stopped him with her hand on his forearm. Aric could feel her tremors in that
warm touch. He wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and hold her
forever and tell her everything would be all right.

He held her gaze and waited.   

Her eyes shone brightly as she
watched him. Even though she had tried, deep down she’d known. Aric was a
warrior. A Norman knight born to fight and a man bred to lead and lord after
all. There was only so much he could stand or allow. 

She vowed right then to never
interfere again when he was making judgment upon someone.   His mail
was splattered with the remains of the battle and his long hair, wet and loose
hung around his dark, handsome face. 

She took note of his bruises.

The purple bruise forming on his
jaw, the cut on the back of his hand when he’d removed his scabbard and sword
and set them next to the trunk at the bottom of their bed to clean her
wounds.  He looked haggard and sweat beaded his brow. 

Her heart felt like it was being
squeezed by a tight fist and she wanted to feel his arms around her. He was now
wavering on his feet and she knew it was his battle to fight against the
effects of his head wound.

He needed her to take care of him.

Danielle was unsure what she wanted
to do first. Scream at him.

Clean him free of his bloodstained
armor. Hug him. Kiss him.

She chose the latter and leapt into
his arms.  

Aric caught her to him with a look
of welcomed surprise and met her heated kiss with his own.  He relieved
the pressure, mindful of her bruised lips. The kiss went on for a long time,
and then she pulled away to pull him down onto the edge of the bed. 

Aric felt a pang in his heart at
the wetness in her eyes and wiped another one away.  “Sweet, Danielle.”
Her silent weeping tore him asunder. He cupped her face. “I am sorry.”

He pulled her onto his lap and
wrapped his arms around her. He gave her a hot, brief kiss next to her ear.
“Please say you forgive me.”

She surprised him when she said,
“There is naught to forgive, Aric. You showed my cousin mercy by giving him the
chance to be heard. Like you said, he chose his path long ago. I was just
saddened to hear that he was responsible for Rose’s death. I understand your
reasoning in not telling me. ‘Tis awful to see that they ended their lives for
naught.”

“For greed and selfishness,
Danielle. Neither could see past it.”  He tilted her face up to his and
caught a tear with his thumb. “Though I am still saddened that you had to see
such a sight in our home.” 

He reached out, his fingers under
her chin and turned her face from side to side inspecting her for any more
bruises. He wanted to kill Thomas all over again.

She smiled at him and winced from
the pain of her lip. Aric leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “I think
we are both the worse for wear and in need of a long bath.”

She gave him a sweet smile as she
reached up to cup his cheek. Aric closed his eyes, wanting to savor the feel of
her. He lay back on the bed with her still in his tight embrace.

After a short while, Danielle
scrambled off his limp body and stood over him with her hands on her hips. Then
she frowned. He’d succumbed to his wound.  She gathered his legs and after
a bit of effort got them on top of the bed before planting a kiss on his warm
forehead. She then left the chamber to call out for their bath and his squire.

Chapter 31

During the fortnight that followed
the removal of all the bodies and Thomas’s from Gravane, the manor returned
back to normal and Aric healed completely. Much had happened in the short
weeks.  

Danielle found out that Aric had
sent Thomas’s documents on to William’s court within the first week after
they’d spoken their vows.  

Although much to his chagrin under
Danielle’s care and her order to remain abed, Aric at first had argued with her
and then she’d turned on that charm of hers. And he’d bent to her will. He told
himself he’d only done so for the way she wore her heart on her sleeve. 

He cared too much for her to crush
her plan to care for him and so he had allowed their chamber to serve not only
as his sickbed, but the temporary hall as he heard most business matters that
could not wait.

 Most of the morning affairs
were spent with her hovering next to the bed while he was propped up and held
meetings with his seneschal and Balwain and to hear the reports from the
villagers.  Whom never failed to bring a gift or two or three with them in
offering to speed his recovery and show their thanks for unity in the village.

 Aric was glad he’d healed
quickly and the meetings returned below stairs once again. For the large pile
of blessed tokens were starting to take over their chamber. Through it all,
Danielle had beamed at each new one as though it were a gem.

 He would never fully get used
to her easy way with the serfs, but he understood it. Mayhap one day he would
grow accustomed to it.