Rise of the Defender (107 page)

     “David,” his voice was calm, controlled.
“Christin is my daughter, my flesh and blood. She has her mother's gray eyes,
her grandmother's dark hair, and my nose. Never think for one moment that
Marcus had anything to do with that child. My wife was not his whore, merely
his friend, and it is his misfortune to fall in love with a woman he could not
have. You, little brother, have no right to accuse her of such a heinous crime
and you furthermore have no right whatsoever to strike her. And as far as
weakening me, she has done the opposite and has made me the strongest man in
all the world. Mayhap if you ever fall in love, you will understand. But I am
afraid you will not have the chance; get yourself armed and stand ready to pay
for your actions.”

     Dustin gasped, knowing that Christopher
intended to kill his brother. “Nay, Chris,” she begged. “Do not!”

     He ignored her as David brushed past both
of them and he waited until his brother was out of sight. Then, he took a few
slow steps to his wife.

     “Let me see what he did.” He took her hand
from her cheek and examined the bleeding welt. “He cuffed you good. Does it
hurt?”

     “Not much,” she grasped his hand
pleadingly.  Oh, Chris, you are not really going to kill him, are you? He was
only trying to protect you.”

     “I do not need protecting,” Christopher
replied, caressing her fingers. “And I cannot allow him to be a threat to you
or to Christin.”

     Dustin could not believe her ears. “You
cannot kill your only brother. Chris, what are you thinking?”

     “I am thinking that my brother has crossed
the line,” he answered. “He has injured you and insulted you grievously, and I
will treat him as I would treat anyone who would damage you. I will defend your
honor.”

     She was appalled and scared. “I do not want
you to kill him.”

     “And I do not want to, but I must do what
is necessary,” he said more calmly than he felt. “Dustin, what would have
happened had I not come out here to stop my brother from further harming you?
As difficult as it is for me to believe, the proof of his brutality is standing
out on your face and I cannot allow that. Brother or no, he will pay.”

     Dustin's eyes welled with tears. “But I am
only your wife,” she whispered. “He is your brother.”

     He grasped her face between his hands,
swallowing up her head. His gaze was hard and soft at the same time.

      “You are my life, Dustin,” he whispered.
“Everything else in this life, including my own brother, pales in comparison.
He knows what he did was wrong, but he did it anyway.”

     She blinked and fat tears fell onto her
cheeks. “Please do not kill him.”

     He kissed her and took her hand, leading
her back toward the kitchen door. “Christin is sleeping. Go and relieve
Griselda the sitting duties.”

     “Chris, I….” she started to protest, but he
stopped abruptly at the entrance to the kitchens.

     “Not a word, Dustin,” he said hoarsely and
she suddenly saw the pain in his eyes. “Please, sweetheart, not another word.
Just do as you are told.”

     “But Chris,” she tried one last time to
defend David. “I struck him first in anger.”

     Christopher sighed. “Be that as it may, he
should not have struck you in return. And I will never forgive him for calling
you a whore. Now, go tend to Christin, sweet.”

     She put her face in her hands and dashed
away from him. He followed not far behind and he could hear her sobbing all the
way up the stairs. He paused a moment in the great hall, listening to the door
to their bedchamber slam and feeling enough grief and sorrow to flood England.

     He was deeply shocked at his brother and
his behavior was inexcusable. Yet in his heart, he would rather kill himself
than take his brother's life. Torn, increasingly despondent, he made his way
outside.

     David was waiting for him in full armor.

***

     Christopher was unarmed and without his
protective gear, and he eyed his brother from a distance. Edward and Leeton had
dismissed the men and stood with Jeffrey, Max, Anthony, Nicholas and Guy on the
edge of the practice field, hardly believing what they were seeing. Edward was
the first to approach Christopher.

     “What in the hell is going on?” he
demanded. “David said you called him out. Why?”

     Christopher continued to eye his brother.
“Because he called my wife a whore and accused her of bearing Burton's
bastard.”

     “Christin?” Edward repeated with disbelief.
“That is insane. Why would David say that?”

     Christopher shrugged. “I do not know, and I
furthermore do not care. He did it and he shall pay.”

     Edward grasped his arm. “You cannot kill
your brother, Chris,” he said firmly. “Banish him from your presence forever,
disown him, but do not kill him. You shall never be able to live with
yourself.”

     Christopher looked at Edward for the first
time, mulling over his advice. True, he certainly did not want to kill David,
and banishing him was indeed a viable alternative. “I must punish him, Edward.
What he did was unforgiveable.”

     “Indeed, but discover his reasons and make
your judgment,” Edward replied. “Good God, he's your brother,
Chris
.
Your very best friend, your flesh and blood. Can you,
will
you, truly
kill him over one incident?”

     “One incident?” Christopher repeated sharply.
“Suppose I allow this to go unpunished and one incident becomes two, and Dustin
suffers more than a bruise on the cheek? Suppose she suffers serious injury?
Nay, Edward, I must punish my brother for his actions.”

     “He hit her?” Edward echoed, eyeing David.
“My God, Chris, what is going on in his head?”

     “I do not know.” Pain inflected itself into
his voice. “But mayhap you are correct in suggesting I should find out.”

     He left Edward and walked deliberately
toward his brother, who raised his sword defensively. Christopher stopped a few
feet away, glaring at his brother with a mixture of anger and sorrow.

     “Before I pass judgment, David, I would
hear why you committed such terrible sins against Dustin,” he said quietly. “I
would like to understand what provoked this event.”

     David did not lower the sword. “She has
blinded you,” he said. “Christin is Marcus ' child as surely as I am Myles'.
Cannot you see how much she looks like him?”

     “If that were true, then it is my problem
to deal with, not yours to handle in my stead,” his brother replied. “I told
you once before that Dustin is my wife, not
ours.
If there is any
revenge to be sought or any punishment to be dealt to her, it will come from me
and not you. You have no right to interfere in my life.”

     “Interfere?” David spat, suddenly dropping
the sword and tearing his helmet off. “Someone has to. She is turned you into a
soft, gutless fool. The Christopher who used to be my brother would have killed
Marcus the first time he laid hands on her. He would not have spared his life
and allowed this liaison to continue. What has happened to you?”

     Christopher understood a lot in that
tirade. David simply didn’t understand what it was to love more strongly than
anything else one earth, a love that was forgiving and divine and complete.
Marcus wasn’t the issue here; it was David. David was jealous, perhaps feeling
alone and left out, and he could not accept it.

     “What's happened is that I have fallen in
love with my wife and child and for the first time in my life, I am truly
happy,” Christopher replied softly. “David, I am sorry if you cannot understand
that. Mayhap if you take a wife, someday you will understand. But my loving
Dustin and Christin in no way diminishes my love for you. Perhaps you are
trying to drive a wedge between Dustin and I simply because you feel left out
of my life. Marcus, although you have always been jealous of him, is just an
excuse.”

     David tried to glare at him, to hold his
edge, but it was rapidly slipping. It always amazed him just how insightful his
brother was. “Are you going to kill me or not? Get on with it.”

     “Do you hate my wife?” Christopher asked.

     David looked confused. “I...she's made you
weak, and….”

     Christopher shook his head. “Answer me. Do
you hate her?”

     David's chin went up. “Aye.''

     Christopher studied his brother's face.
“And when did you discover this? There seemed to be no problem until Christin
was born.” He took a few steps closer and slammed the sword away from David's
hand. “You are jealous. You are jealous because I have a beautiful family and
you do not. And you are trying to destroy it. Christ, David, why would you do
this?”

     David faltered, stammered. “It was only
after Christin was born that I began to see what was truly going on. We had all
been blind to it until she presented you with a dark-haired daughter. We did
not want to think the worst until we saw the proof with our own eyes.”

     “There is no proof because nothing ever
happened,” Christopher said sharply. “As I told you, Dustin's mother had black
hair. There is no mystery to it. You are the one who is being blind, David. I
never expected this of you, little brother, and it pains me greatly. I always
thought you were my greatest supporter.”

     David's hurt became evident in his face and
he lowered his gaze, moving slowly to pick up his sword. “Kill me if you are
going to.”

     Christopher was devastated that his brother
was being so stubborn. He was having a difficult time accepting all of it.

     “You will not apologize?” he asked

     “Nay,” David said firmly. “I am not the one
who is wrong.”

     Christopher ground his jaw, irritation and
fury sweeping him. His obstinate brother was leaving him with no choice
whatsoever.

     “So be it,” he growled. “I will not kill
you, although God knows I should. You are my only brother and the bind of blood
saves you from certain death. But I will exile you from Lioncross forever. You
will never again be allowed near me, or my family, and you are banished from my
service as Richard's Defender. I care not where you go or what you do because
you no longer exist to me. Get out of my sight, David. I want nothing more to
do with you.”

     He turned on his heel and left David
standing in the courtyard, his young face a mask of rage and grief. Death would
have been preferable than his brother's rejection. Within a half hour he had
packed his things and was gone.

     Christopher watched his little brother from
the solar that used to be Lady Mary's. His twisted heart grieved him deeply and
his torment was unimaginable, alternately raging and cursing his brother for
his violent, sudden actions and then wondering why he did not have the
foresight to see the storm coming.

     He and David had always been so very close,
as if they could read one another's thoughts, but this time Christopher had had
no idea what David had been thinking and he was overridden with shock. When
David's white charger exited the gates, Christopher allowed himself the
privilege of hot, bitter tears.

     “He is going,” Dustin stood in the doorway,
having seen David load his destrier and turn for the gates. She went in search
of her husband and found him in the private little room that her mother had
favored.

     Christopher's back was to her and she stood
there a moment, wondering if she should leave him alone when she suddenly saw
his shoulders heave. Shocked, she moved into the room and her ears met with a
muffled sob.

     Dustin rushed to him, throwing her arms
around him and pressing herself against his back. She felt a warm hand gently
grasp her arms and beneath her embrace, he began to shake with sobs.

     “Oh, Chris,” she murmured soothingly. “My
love, my sweet husband, I am so very sorry. Please do not cry.”

     His sobs were unbridled, like a child's,
and Dustin's face was soon wet with her own tears. She felt so guilty, so
helpless, and so pained with his grief. She blamed herself for David's
departure one moment, yet knew she had done nothing the next. She continued to
hold her husband tightly and croon to him soothingly, hoping she would be able
to comfort him somehow. His deep tears cut her to the bone.

     He continued to stand by the window and
weep and she allowed him time to grieve before pulling him away from the sill
and sitting him in a chair. She then sat on his lap and cradled his great head
against her breast, caressing him tenderly until his crying ceased. Even after
he stopped, they continued to sit together for an endless eternity, lost in
their own thoughts and both devastated from the loss of a brother.