A VOW TO KEEP (The Vengeance Trilogy) (42 page)

Royce gripped the hilt of his sword, wanting nothing more than to yank it free of its sheath and thrust it through Tegmont. “He did not steal her. She loved him.”

“It all should’ve been mine–this keep, your mother, even you, Royce. You should’ve been my son.” Tegmont
cursed
at his loss. “The deaths of your parents cursed me. I’ve had nothing but bad luck since. I haven’t sired even one heir. I’ve tried to break the curse, but nothing works.” He turned his attention to Alyna once again. “But this one. She will break it. I’ve known it since the moment I saw her. She’ll give me fine sons.”

“Dressing Alyna in my mother’s garments will not break the curse.” Royce was certain the kirtle had been his mother’s. “What happened to your other wives? Did you kill them, just like you killed my mother?” Royce stole a glance at Alyna, trying to reassure her that she would soon be free.

Tegmont shook his head. “They were nothing. They didn’t matter. When they failed to provide me with an heir, an accident befell each of them. Accidents aren’t my fault.”

“You are mad!” Florence exclaimed. Royce glanced at her and saw even Hilde looked horrified.

Royce felt the same way. His uncle was more of a monster than he’d realized. “Let Alyna go. I’ll give you Daniel in her place.”

Tegmont seemed to consider the trade for a moment. He
sneered
at Royce. “Never! Alyna is the key to my future. Soon a new king will be in power and I’ll be richly rewarded.” He shifted, bringing the blade against Alyna’s throat. A trickle of blood emerged. “Leave us else I’ll kill her.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Use the juice of chicory blended with

oil to gain a wish more easily.”

Lady Catherine’s Journal

Alyna’s cry was nearly Royce’s undoing. “Let her go!” he demanded again. “I will give you my silence about what you did to my mother and father. You can keep Larkspur.”

Tegmont tightened his grip on her as he
dragged her
to the wall, his gaze on Royce. “You were supposed to die that night. You can’t imagine my surprise when I heard the rumors of your survival.” He glanced at the wall behind him, then quickly back at Royce. “I could not determine whether they were true. When you finally returned to England, I decided it didn’t matter. I’d kill you anyway.”

Tegmont reached the wall. Torchlight cast shifting shadows across his features. “Daniel and his band of thieves were supposed to draw you out, to make your death look like the result of a fight. Alas, he was unsuccessful.”

His blade still at Alyna’s throat, he reached up with his free hand and took a torch from the wall.

Royce froze, unable to believe his uncle would repeat the past.

Alyna tried to jerk free, but Tegmont used the knife to hold her fast. He eyed the flame of the torch as though he looked into the face of a lover. “Do you remember the fire, Royce? Do you remember the feel of the heat? The roar of the flames? The power of it? Tonight, I’ll remind you.”

Alyna’s eyes widened in horror as the flame neared her face. “Nay!”

“Quiet!” He dropped the torch near the foot of a timber. The pitch in the wood caught fire quickly and flames raced up the beam, crackling and snapping as they grew. He chuckled as he watched it spread.

Florence bolted past Samuel, screaming as she ran out the door with Hilde and the priest right behind her.

“Tegmont! Let her go.” Royce called out. The fear in Alyna’s face made his heart race, but he didn’t dare make a move while Tegmont had the knife at her throat. He remembered only too well what Tegmont had done to his mother. Royce hadn’t gotten this close to rescuing Alyna only to lose her.

“Mama?” Nicholas’s voice held the same fear Royce felt.

“It’s all right, Nicholas.” Her voice quivered as she instructed her son. “Stay behind Royce.”

Royce knew she had to feel the heat from the fire. He knew how it felt. Alyna’s gaze moved from Nicholas to Royce.

He could see the determination in her face. She held his gaze, as though she wanted him to read her mind. He tensed in anticipation, trying to grasp her intention.

She glanced down and Royce saw a glint of metal in the firelight. She raised her fist and thrust a small knife into the arm wrapped around her neck.

Tegmont cried out in pain, releasing her.

It was all the opportunity Royce needed. He yanked his sword free of its scabbard as Alyna ran behind him. She gathered Nicholas in her arms and held him tight
, moving toward the door
.

The fire spread to the ceiling of the chapel and smoke rolled through the room. Heat filled the small space quickly.

“Damn you!” Tegmont cursed Alyna. “Return to me!”

Royce backed up with Alyna and Nicholas behind him to where Samuel stood near the door. “Tegmont, we must get out.”

Tegmont laughed in response. “Nay! We will all die in this fire. Samuel, shut the door!”

The old servant looked in confusion at Tegmont, then back at Royce as though unsure who to believe.

“Samuel, get out!” Royce told him. “We’ll be right behind you.”

“Shut the door. Lock it!” Tegmont ordered.

“We must leave now, Lord Royce!” Samuel called out, ignoring Tegmont’s command.

Royce turned back to Tegmont. His uncle drew his sword and advanced toward Royce. “You are not going anywhere. You will die in this fire as you were meant to all those years ago.”

“We’re leaving, and if you have any sense you’ll come with us,” Royce answered. He backed slowly toward the door with Alyna and Nicholas, confident Samuel would not lock them in.

“Halt!” Tegmont lunged forward, his sword pointed at Royce’s chest.

Royce blocked him, then struck Tegmont’s sword, trying to dislodge the weapon from his uncle’s hand.

But his uncle was quicker than Royce anticipated. He dodged the blow, then lunged at Royce again.

“Alyna, take Nicholas and leave,” Royce ordered.

“Not without you,” Alyna argued. She stepped toward Samuel to give Royce more room but held her ground.

Royce turned his attention to Tegmont, determined to get them all out. His uncle’s eyes held a hint of madness in them, much as they had that night so many years ago. Royce swore this night would end much differently.

The fire rumbled in his ears; the heat was suffocating. He moved back toward the door in the hope that Tegmont would follow, and they’d all get out alive. A fire was no place for anyone to die.

“Stay where you are!” Tegmont demanded as he shifted to Royce’s side.

Determined not to allow Tegmont between him and Alyna, Royce lunged again, driving Tegmont back toward the flames. “Surrender and you can walk out of here alive.”

“Never!”

Royce clenched his jaw in determination. “Then you leave me no choice.”

Royce attacked but his uncle matched him stroke for stroke.

“Yield!” Royce demanded.

“Nay!” Tegmont’s chest heaved and his sword arm lowered slightly, evidence of his exhaustion. The smoke was taking its toll on both of them.

Royce struck again, at last knocking the sword from Tegmont’s hand. The weapon skidded across the floor out of reach.

Tegmont stared at Royce with a perplexed look upon his face. He touched his shoulder and drew his hand back covered in blood; sweat trickled down his face. “Finish it.”

Royce raised his sword. It would be so easy. Visions of his mother and father flashed through his mind, but this time, he saw them as they’d lived and loved, not as they’d died. He felt Alyna’s presence behind him, waiting for him.

He lowered his weapon. “Nay. I will not take your life, for that would make me no better than you.” Royce picked up Tegmont’s sword. “We are all leaving. Now.”

Royce turned to look at Alyna.

Her face lit up with relief and joy.

Royce returned her smile. “Let us go. Hurry!” He bent to take Nicholas from her.

“Royce!” Alyna screamed.

He spun around as Tegmont came after him with the knife he’d had at Alyna’s throat. The blade glanced off Royce’s shoulder. He shoved Tegmont back and drew his sword just as Tegmont lunged forward to stab him again. Royce’s sword sank deep into his uncle’s chest.

“Oh!” Alyna cried out as she spun Nicholas away from the sight.

“Nay!” Tegmont screamed. “What have you done?”

Royce shook his head. “It’s you. You made the choice.”

Tegmont staggered back, the sword in his chest. He put his hands on the hilt and pulled it out. The sword clattered to the stone floor. Tegmont looked at Royce, then at Alyna. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out except a trickle of blood. He collapsed onto the floor, eyes wide, blood seeping through his tunic.

Samuel touched Royce’s sleeve. “Lord Royce? We must go.”

“Aye,” Royce agreed. He bent to pick up Tegmont’s body.

“Nay, my lord. Let him be. ’Tis best this way.” Samuel looked down at Tegmont, shaking his head. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.” He retrieved Royce’s sword, wiped it clean, then handed it to him.

They hurried out the chapel door and into the fresh air as Lord Blackwell and Hugh arrived with the men.

“Are you all right?” Hugh demanded.

“Indeed,” Royce answered. “Let’s get this fire put out.”

Hugh stepped away to bark orders and men scrambled to comply.

“Thank God,” Lord Blackwell said as he took Alyna in his arms and held her and Nicholas close for a long moment. At last he leaned back to look at her face, his gaze taking in the cut on her neck. “What of Tegmont?”

“Dead.” Royce shook his head.

“And Alyna? How do you fare?” Blackwell asked.

She looked at Royce before she answered. “We are all fine.” She hugged Nicholas tightly. “This little one is my hero.”

Blackwell smiled down at Nicholas. “He is, is he?”

“He led me to Alyna,” Royce added. “He
is
a
hero
.”

The little boy beamed, his face lit with the praise.

“Tegmont refused to leave the chapel with us,” Alyna said. “He started the fire himself. He intended for us all to die in there. Luckily, he failed, thanks to Royce.”

“He would not give up,” Royce said.

“Indeed, my lord, if your lady hadn’t called out, you’d most likely be dead,” Samuel added.

“I’m glad to find you in one piece.” Hugh joined them, slapping Royce on the shoulder. He frowned at Royce’s wince. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Lord Tegmont stabbed him in the back,” Samuel said. “I can hardly believe it, but I witnessed it myself. Lord Royce killed him in self defense.”

“That solves many problems, does it not?” asked Blackwell.

“Justice won the day,” Hugh said as he grinned at Royce. “You’ve fulfilled your vow of vengeance after all these years.”

Royce considered the idea for a moment. Tegmont’s death did not put to right all the terrible things the man had done. “In the end, I realized it was not about revenge. It was about love.” He smiled at Alyna. The relief that filled him to know she was safe knew no bounds.

The bailey filled with villeins and men-at-arms, alarmed by the smoke. They joined the effort to extinguish the fire.

Blackwell looked from Royce to Alyna and back again. As though sensing the emotions between them, he smiled, then took Nicholas from Alyna’s arms. “I think we’d best see if we can help, eh, Nicholas?”

Hugh grinned. “Indeed. I believe I’m also needed to assist with that fire.”

“Let me look at your shoulder.” Alyna started around to Royce’s back.