Authors: Kathryn Loch
Garin gritted his te
eth, fury lunging within him. “You declare war on a peer, Naworth, not a blind man. I am the rightful heir to East of Eden and I am baron here. If you expect weakness from me you will not find it. Withdraw your men.”
“
We will not!” Naworth barked.
“
The
n it begins,” Garin snapped. “May God have mercy on us all.” Abruptly he turned on his heel and left the wall, his knights falling in step behind him.
“
My father would have enjoyed seeing that,” Alyna said.
Garin stopped in the middle of the bailey, tugg
ing her around in front of him. “Go inside, Alyna.” He brushed his lips across hers. “I love you,” he whispered.
“
And I love you. Please be careful Garin. Naworth may not actually attack but I would not be surprised if he has ordered his crossbow men
to send a bolt through your heart if they see you on the walls.”
He smiled at her. “Worry not, my sweet, I will be careful.”
She sighed and slowly pulled her hand from his, returning to the keep.
“
Orders, sir?” Simon asked.
“
Have the knights take their pl
aces. All we can do is wait.”
“
Aye, sir.” Simon started to walk away then paused. “My baroness did have a good point. I don’t want you within bow shot on the walls.”
Garin smiled. “Then you’ll just have to keep an eye on me.”
“
Oh, I plan on it,” Simon
said with a chuckle then turned to the knights.
****
The sun vanished behind the western horizon, leaving only a pale glow in the face of twilight. Juliana moved unnoticed through the still very active bailey. For a sennight, soldiers had manned the w
alls, staring at the enemy forces surrounding the castle. A terrible tension hovered in the air, everyone waiting for a battle to happen.
Garin and Simon remained on the walls with the men most of the time and tonight was no different. The women of the c
astle brought food to those who could not leave their posts. Alyna worked near the knights and Juliana used this pretense to her own purpose.
Juliana had managed to bribe a soldier who guarded the sally port at night. With some hefty sums of gold, she
had been able to exchange messages with Peter. Now Peter had a plan to bring an end to this fiasco quickly and without bloodshed. But he needed
Juliana to do it.
Her heart twisted against betraying her brother. She genuinely cared for Garin but this ent
ire farce had to end. In actuality, her dowry had nothing to do with this. Why couldn’t Garin understand the falsehood here? No matter how successful he proved himself to be, the church and the king would never allow a blind baron to rule. It wasn’t go
ing to happen, not now, not ever.
Juliana knew the end result would destroy Garin. His fight for the unattainable would only make matters worse for him. Why couldn’t he realize that? Why couldn’t he understand his actions paved the way for the destructi
on of his own spirit?
But she had to admit Garin had performed admirably, succeeding at far more than she ever thought possible.
She sighed bitterly and finished handing out the food, then moved a distance away from the others, the last bowl going to the g
uard who manned the sally port. “Why don’t you relax and enjoy your meal,” she said and gave him a smile.
The guard moved a few paces away and sat. Out of the corner of her eye, Juliana saw him eating, pausing only to discreetly pull the gold pieces she
had hidden in the food out of his mouth and put them in his pouch. No one else stood near, the area completely deserted. Juliana quickly reached out and lifted the bar to the sally port, opening the small gate.
She was not disappointed. Peter, his fathe
r, and a heavily armed group of men waited in the darkness.
Peter flashed her a bright smile and stepped forward, wrapping her in his arms and giving her a quick but powerful kiss.
“
Ah, beauty, your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me,” he whispered.
She sm
iled up at him. “Thank you, Peter, these past days have been terribly difficult.”
“
I know, my sweet, but now we can bring an end to this.”
“
Juliana?” an amazed female voice said from behind her.
Juliana sucked in her breath and spun. What was Alyna doing
on this side of the bailey?
Alyna stared at her wide-eyed then her gaze fell on Peter and the blood drained from her face.
“
Alyna,” Juliana said quickly stepping forward. “This isn’t what it appears to be.”
Alyna took only an instant to perceive that this
was exactly what it appeared to be. She drew a breath to scream.
Peter snarled and in a blink of an eye, drew his dagger.
Juliana’s thoughts reeled. He swore to her there would be no bloodshed.
The dagger shot straight for Alyna’s chest.
He planned to ki
ll her.
“
Nay!” Juliana cried, batting at his arm. Ending this foolishness was one thing, murder was entirely another.
Juliana’s hand plowed into his arm and Alyna tried to leap away. The dagger slammed into Alyna’s left side instead of her heart.
Alyna’s
cry turned into a soft, agonized moan as she pitched backward and fell.
“
Oh God,” Juliana whispered, lunging after her.
“
Juliana,” Peter hissed. He followed, his father and his men entering the gate.
The guard she had bribed darted out of the sally port
and vanished.
Juliana dropped to her knees beside Alyna’s unmoving form. The dagger lay covered in blood next to her. The side of her dress rapidly turned crimson. Alyna’s fall had only made the wound worse.
Juliana quickly placed her hand over the woun
d, trying to slow the bleeding. She stared up at Peter, horror coiling through her. “What have you done?”
“
She was going to ruin everything,” Peter snarled.
“
You tried to kill her,” Juliana replied, her voice rising. “You swore to spill no blood and now
you try to murder Alyna?”
“
She is a foolish wench,” Peter said, drawing his sword. “Her life is forfeit.”
Juliana’s heart twisted and burned to ash. How could she have misjudged Peter so terribly? She never imagined he would betray his word, nor had sh
e thought he would murder a woman in cold blood. Alyna, although misguided, did not deserve to die.
“
Move away, Juliana, I will end her misery. It is what I have planned all along.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at the man towering above her who was now
a complete stranger. “What you planned? I thought you would only to take control of the castle tonight.”
“
Lack-witted wench. You should know taking the castle will not stop this. Only when this wench and your fool brother are dead can we be certain. N
ow move aside.”
Terror stole her breath. Peter would kill Garin and Alyna both?
“
Nay!” Juliana said, throwing her body over Alyna’s. “I will not let you murder her!”
“
Then you shall die too.” He lifted his sword.
Terror shot through Juliana but she refu
sed to back away. She was a dolt for believing in Peter. Now she knew exactly why her father had hated her. She could not live with herself knowing she had been responsible for the murders of her brother and his wife.
“
Garin! Simon!” she screamed. “Tr
eachery!”
Peter hesitated, glaring at her in shock and fury. “Harlot!” His sword descended.
Juliana cried out in fear, trying to pull Alyna out of the way and shield her with her own body at the same time.
Peter’s blade arced toward her. Suddenly it sto
pped, the ring of steel echoing through the bailey. For a heartbeat no one moved.
Juliana looked up to see Simon standing next to her, his weapon keeping Peter’s at bay. Her heart slammed under her ribs, sudden tears blurring her eyes. Dear, gallant Sim
on, the knight who always stood between her and danger, the knight who had never once failed her. Simon shoved Peter’s sword back with a primal roar and attacked. The battle cry echoed through the bailey as soldiers turned against Peter’s invading party.
Juliana continued to try to pull Alyna away from the fighting.
“
Juliana,” Garin called, standing only two paces to her left with Sir
Ousby
guarding him.
“
Here, Garin, help me! Alyna’s hurt!”
He stepped forward and Juliana latched onto his hand, guiding h
im to pick up Alyna.
“
How bad?” he asked, his jaw tight and his face pale.
“
Bad,” she sobbed.
“
Ousby
,” Garin barked. “Guard our backs. Juliana, I need your eyes to get us through the fighting and into the keep.”
Shaking, the bile of self-hatred rising in
her throat, Juliana guided Garin to the keep with
Ousby
keeping everyone away from them. She stole a glance over her shoulder. Simon and the other men drove Peter back toward the sally port. If Peter did not give way, he and his men would be slaughtere
d.
Then she shocked herself by realizing, she didn’t care.
****
Garin tried to force down his fear and confusion. What was going on? But Alyna’s limp form in his arms robbed him of sane thought. He carried her into the keep and out of the furor.
Brot
her Martin grabbed his arm. “Your excellency, let me see her.”
Garin stopped, discovering himself out of breath.
“
Baron!”
Ousby
shouted from the door. “Naworth and Vaux’s forces attack the walls, trying take advantage of the confusion.”
“
I will take her,
Baron,” Brother Martin said.
Garin gritted his teeth. He wanted to stay with Alyna, he needed to find out what happened and how badly she was injured. But he nodded and handed her to the monk. “Take care of her,” he said. “Tell my mother she is chatel
aine until Alyna recovers.”
“
If she recovers,” Martin muttered under his breath.
Garin flinched, again others forgot about his acute hearing. But he straightened his shoulders and turned on his heel. Anger replaced his fear. Someone would pay for this.
****
It was almost dawn before those of Kirkoswald rebuffed the attack. Garin was exhausted. He had not taken part in the actual fighting but Simon and the other knights relayed information to him. Just like any other battle commander, who could not b
e in two places at once and had to count on others to be his eyes, Garin assimilated the information, developed a mental picture, and issued orders for counters. While he trusted Simon and his knights implicitly, he sorely missed Geoff’s wisdom and experi
ence.
The men at arms were a different matter entirely. Garin found himself wondering how many hated their blind baron and how many Naworth had been able to purchase.
“
They have fallen back completely,” Simon said.
Garin leaned against a tower on the corn
er of the curtain wall and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. It was strange, he though distractedly, even though he could no longer see, his eyes still burned with grit - as if he had gazed through them all night.
“
Simon,” he asked softly. “What the hell ha
ppened?”
“
I know very little,” Simon replied, gently taking Garin by the elbow and guiding him to the stairs. “I heard a disturbance near the sally port at evensong. I could not believe my eyes when I saw Peter Naworth standing over Juliana and Alyna, pr
eparing to
slaughter them both.”
Garin scowled, a headache nagging. “How did they breech the sally port without raising an alarm?”
“
I know not, except the guard has vanished,” Simon replied tightly.
“
So, he was probably bribed.”
“
Probably.”
“
Simon, God kn
ows I do not wish to say this, but I believe my sister involved with this scheme.”
Simon made a funny noise in his throat. “I found myself wondering the same thing. But I saw her, Garin, while I was in the midst of my sprint. When Peter lifted his sword
she threw her body over Alyna’s trying to protect her. Honestly, I think you would have been proud of her bravery. I know I was.”