While Angels Slept (21 page)

“And you, my
lady,” he broke into her prattle by gently grabbing her by the arm. “I would
like to hear about you now.  Tell me of your family.”

Cantia struggled
not to recoil from his grip on her arm.  She had been so involved in her
conversation, and in Val’s presence, that his gesture startled her. 

“But we were
speaking of Rochester, my lord,” she said. “I am of no consequence.  The Penden
line is far more interesting.”

He ignored her
statement.  “Where were you born?”

She didn’t like
the look in his black eyes and a sigh of reluctance escaped her lips. But she
answered. “Darland. ‘Tis south of Rochester a few miles.”

“And your family
name?”

“Du Bexley.  My
father was descended from an old Saxon line, nobility that dates back hundreds
of years.”

“Is your father
still alive?”

“Nay, my lord.”

“Any brothers?
Sisters?”

“Nay, my lord.
Just me.”

Geoff’s dark
eyes glittered.  He seemed to be enjoying the interrogation.  “Val,” he said to
his cousin, not taking his eyes off Cantia. “Go and procure us some
refreshment.  Lady Cantia and I will be in the solar.”

Val’s eyes
widened. “But.…”

“Go, now. I
command it.”

Val watched
Cantia as her cousin held out his elbow to her.  Her last glimpse of the pair
was of as they disappeared into the solar with Cantia’s reluctant hand on
Geoff’s arm.  

Val knew from
experience that the only person who could help Cantia was Tevin. He was the
only man who had ever been remotely able to control their erratic cousin.  In
fact, she shuddered to think how her brother was going to react when he found
out Geoff had gone on the hunt and discovered the trove of ladies.  More than
that, Tevin’s feelings for Cantia were bound to unbalance the normally balanced
man.  Where Tevin had always dealt patiently with Geoff in the past, the event
of emotion could see that drastically changed.

But he had to
know.  She was almost panicked to tell him. Just as she turned for the great
hall with the intention of crossing through the kitchens and into the bailey,
the entry door suddenly flew open and smashed back on its hinges.  Val started
as splinters of wood from the damages door rained into the air.  But even
before she looked, she knew that Tevin had arrived.

Val barely had
time to turn around as Tevin stormed into the entry and straight at her.  The
expression on his face was nothing short of murderous.

“Where did he
take her?” he growled.

Val pointed
towards the solar, grabbing her brother’s arm as he shoved past her.   Somewhere
behind Tevin, she saw Hunt and the big yellow dog.  The child’s eyes were wide
with fear and Val correctly surmised that somehow, Hunt must have gone running
for Tevin the moment his mother had left the room. 

“Tevin, wait,”
she hissed. “You must calm yourself. No harm has been done yet.  Cantia is
fine.  There is no need for violence.”

Tevin glared at
her, his nostrils flaring. Val stared back at him; having known the man her
entire life, she knew was he was capable of.   He had two distinct personalities;
the calm façade that most saw, and the battle-mode warrior who was sometimes
more animal than man.  What she saw before her was the animal and she knew she
had to soothe the beast or there would be blood at Rochester this night.

“Tevin,” she
shook him, attempting to snap him out of his rage. “Cantia is fine, do you hear
me? He has not harmed her. And you must maintain your calm above all else.   If
Geoff suspects you have interest in Cantia, it will create more of a
situation.  He’ll see it as a competition; you
know
this.”

His nostrils
flared again, his obsidian eyes as black as night. “There will be no
competition. I will kill him first.”

He started to
move past her again but she dug her heels in; it was like trying to stop a
raging bull. “Tevin,” she snapped softly. “Of course there is no competition.
But listen to me, please; attend this with calm and rationality. Get through
this situation with tact and then send Cantia away immediately.  You cannot
allow your relationship with Geoff to sour over her, for there is too much at
stake.”

“Aye, there is
too much at stake.
She
is at stake.”

Val grabbed his
face, something she would have never normally done. But it was imperative that
he focus on her and understand.  “Nay, brother,” she shook her head slowly.
“Everything is at stake.  Geoff controls everything.  And you must be calm, for
this situation is far bigger than Geoff having discovered your lady.”

He was looking
at her, though not entirely calm. “What do you mean?”

She smiled
weakly. “Think about it for a moment.  He has always been competitive with you.
He has also always been threatened by you. He loves you and envies you at the
same time. What do you think he will do if he suspects you are interested in
Cantia and hid her away for your own purposes?”

He glared at her
unsteadily. “I’ve no time for games, Val.  Tell me what you mean.”

She lifted an
eyebrow. “He is unmarried, Tevin.  If he thinks you are intent to claim her, he
can take the competition farther than you can.  He can marry her and do not believe
for one moment that he will not simply to emerge the victor against you.”

Some of the
color left Tevin’s face then.  He stared at his sister a long moment before
finally wiping a massive hand over his face, struggling for composure. “Dear
God,” he breathed. “You are correct. You are absolutely correct. And he would
do it, just to spite me.”

Val nodded,
relieved he was coming to understand. “He loves you, but he loves himself more.
He would marry the widow and see nothing but good-natured victory in it. He
would laugh at you the rest of his life for it.”

Thankfully,
Tevin was calming. But Val could see that his big hands were shaking with the
internal struggle he was feeling.  She gripped his hands tightly.

“Listen to me,”
she whispered. “You distract Geoff and I will remove Cantia. Tell him… tell him
she is still in mourning and that it is improper for her to socialize. Then I
will excuse the two of us and take her some place where he cannot find her.
I’ll take her out of Rochester this night.”

He looked at
her, considering her words, knowing she was thinking more clearly than he was.
In fact, he was so shaken he could hardly think.  “That is more than likely the
necessary answer.”

“Of course it
is.”

He took a deep
breath, laboring to relax. “Cantia mentioned the manor house in Darland as
somewhere she and Hunt could stay until this was over. Perhaps you should take
her there.”

“We shall leave
tonight.”

As much as Tevin
did not want Cantia away from him, he knew it was for the best.  With Geoff’s
discovery of her, the situation was morbidly dangerous on many levels. 

“Take Simon with
you,” he said quietly. “Get away from here as quickly and as quietly as you
can.  I shall come when I am able.”

“You’d better
not. He’ll follow you if he thinks a game is afoot.”

A flicker of
pain ripped across his expression, just as quickly gone.   But Val saw it.

“What is the
matter?”

He averted his
gaze, wiping the sweat from his brow as he looked anywhere other than his
sister’s probing eyes. “Nothing.”

“I know you, brother.
Why did you look so when I told you not to come?”

He sighed, his
black eyes moving in the direction of the warm light emitting from the solar. 
He could hear soft voices inside, Cantia’s voice, and he took another deep
breath, struggling for calm.

“Cantia,” he
began, then shut his mouth.  When he opened it to speak again, his tone was
barely a whisper. “When I told you earlier that I did not know what I was
feeling for her, I know now.”

Val suspected
she knew the answer before she even asked. “And what is that?”

“I fear… I fear
that she has my heart, Val.  More than that; she has all of me.”

“You love her,
then?”

“I must. I
cannot explain what else I am feeling.”

“Does she know?”

He shrugged
those massive shoulders. “I’ve not told her if that’s what you mean. But I… I
have demonstrated my feelings.”

“What do you
mean?”

“I have bedded
her.”

Val tried not to
appear shocked.  But it was too much. “She just lost her husband, Tevin,” she
hissed. “How could you…?’

He could hear
the concern, the pain, in his sister’s tone and he put up a hand to silence
her. “I did not force her. It was the most natural of things, as if we were
always meant to be.  It was the most amazing experience of my life, Val. Do not
diminish it with your judgment.”

She eyed him,
swallowing what was left of her admonishment.  She had never heard such emotion
from his lips and a hand came up to gently slap him on the side of the head. “I
do not judge, brother,” she said quietly. “But I am concerned for the both of
you.  This is a delicate situation.”

He gave her a
wry expression. “You are telling me something I already know, all too well.”

They could hear
more voices in the solar; they even caught a glimpse of Cantia as she walked
past the doorway, apparently showing Geoff something on the wall above her
head.  Tevin’s eyes never left her and Val found herself watching her brother,
envying him his feelings for the woman.  She wished for such happiness, too.

“Well then,” she
took her brother’s elbow.  “Are you calm enough so that we may retreat into the
solar?”

His gaze still
lingered in the doorway. “I am. But I must make a slight alteration to our
plans; you must go and find Simon and John. Tell them of our plans and tell them
to prepare an escort immediately.”

“Of course.
Anything else?”

“Send Hunt back
up to Arabel and tell him to bolt the door.  Have Simon come for the children
when he is finished preparing the escort.”

Val nodded. 
With a deep breath, Tevin moved at a much slower pace towards the solar entry. 
He looked calm even if he did not feel it.  

Val watched her
brother disappear into the warm room beyond.  Slipping in the direction of the
shadows, she held her hand out to Hunt, who was sitting in the darkened
stairwell with the big yellow dog.  With a few whispered words to the lad, he
disappeared up the stairs as Val disappeared into the bailey beyond.

***

“I came as
quickly as I could,” John addressed Simon before he even entered the dimly lit
stables. “What’s amiss?”

Simon already
had three horses saddled.  He was working on a fourth and swung the saddle in
John’s direction.  The slender blond knight caught it with a grunt.

“We need to get
the women and children away from de Gael,” Simon rumbled as he tossed a saddle
blanket over the leggy warmblood. “Val says he’s already cornered Lady Penden.
No telling what the man will do to her.”

John swung the
saddle onto the blanket Simon had just placed. “Then there’s no telling what
Tevin will do to de Gael,” he commented quietly.

Simon looked up
at him from beneath bushy eyebrows. “What do you mean by that?”

Swantey met his
gaze. “Do not play stupid, Simon. You see how he looks at her.  The man is
enamored with her.”

Simon scratched
beneath his fuzzy beard. “And if he is? What about it?”

John moved to
cinch up the saddle. “Nothing, I suppose. But if de Gael is stupid enough to
make a move for her, we could have a damn bloody situation on our hands.”

Simon simply
wriggled his eyebrows and went for the bridle slung from one of the posts. “We
already have a damn bloody situation on our hands,” he muttered. “First
Matilda, now Stephen. I do not even know whose side I am on any more. I could
be fighting for the bloody King of Joppa tomorrow for all I know.”

John grinned as
he finished securing the saddle. “All I am saying is that Tevin is three times
the man de Gael is. Everyone knows how jealous Geoff his of his cousin.  If
they both start tussling over the same woman, there could be trouble.”

Simon shoved the
bit into the horse’s mouth. “So we’re removing the woman and her son to avoid
any trouble. Val and Arabel are going, too. We’ve been ordered to take them to
some manor house to the south and wait out de Gael’s visit.”

John watched his
colleague finish with the bridle. “If we’re expected to ride to war, won’t de
Gael notice our absence and wonder where we are? We’ve ridden to battle with Tevin
for almost eighteen years. He’ll be expecting to see us leading du Reims’ men.”

Simon finished
with the last strap. “That’s not my concern. I’ll do as I’m told and so will
you.”

John merely
shrugged.  “It would be better to send Dagan and Gavril.  I’d rather go to
battle than sit idle with a woman and her son.”

“But we were
ordered to do it.”

“We’re senior
knights. We belong in battle, not minding women and children. Besides, let
Sutton and de Reigate put their time in with escort duties. Why should we miss
out on glory against Matilda while those two ride to victory in our stead?”

Simon scratched
his beard again; there was something nesting in it that itched. “I suppose you
have a point,” he sighed. “Perhaps we should go and find Dagan and Gavril and
give them the duty.  I’m sure Tevin doesn’t care who escorts them, so long as
they’re properly protected.”

“My thoughts
exactly.”

They found
Gavril in the knight’s quarters sharpening his broadsword.  Dagan was found in
the dungeons listening to Charles’ madness.  Within a half hour, both men were
suited up and ready to ride.

CHAPTER TEN

Cantia looked
very calm, Tevin thought. Much calmer than he felt.  As he entered the solar
where Val had convalesced, his gaze was entirely on his cousin.  He was afraid
to linger on Cantia, afraid that Geoff would read emotion in his face.  He was
terrified he would give something away.