Rise of the Defender (106 page)

     Griselda looked thoughtful as she wrapped
the baby up again. The small hands and feet were indicative of a premature
infant, although the child was as big as any she had seen. Properly swaddled
and laid on her side, the old woman watched the dark-haired infant for a
moment, pondering her discovery.

     After a moment, she shrugged to herself and
turned away; mayhap the infant was premature, after all mayhap Lady de Lohr had
been right all along.

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

     It was evident from the beginning that no
child was ever loved more than Christin de Lohr.

     Dustin dismissed the wet nurse after a week
of service and insisted on caring for her daughter exclusively. After all, she
had birthed the babe and 'twas only right that she tend her. Christopher tried
to reason with her, but Dustin would not listen. As usual, he let her have her
way but kept a careful watch on her diet and sleep habits, not wanting her to
tire herself.

     But the spoiling and doting was equal from
both parents. Christopher would sit with the baby and rock her for hours,
singing to her in his delightful deep baritone and Dustin would stand in the
doorway and listen with tears in her eyes. Deborah could not listen at all, the
sweet tenderness of a father and daughter sent her sliding into sobs. The
shortening days of autumn were spent with his daughter when they should have
been spent outside with his men, but he wasn't overly concerned. David and
Edward were driving them like slaves and he knew they were being kept at the
ready.

     Christin would awaken every two hours
during the night like clockwork and Christopher had made it his duty to collect
the hungry babe and bring her to his wife for nourishment. The pleasure and
contentment he derived from watching his new baby tug at his wife's breast was
well beyond words. He had oft wondered what true peace of soul and spirit was,
and if he would ever achieve such a thing; watching little Christin suckle
Dustin's swollen nipple made him realize that he had achieved true contentment
in life and had not even known it.

     September passed into October and into
November. The snows came and they were all in the deep freeze, but inside
Lioncross, there was always a warm fire blazing and food enough for all. It was
truly a place of happiness and love and Christopher was sure there was no
better castle in all of England. All of his life he had been searching for
himself, here, he had found it.

     Christmas came and Christin had turned into
a fat, red-cheeked cherub with an infectious toothless grin. Christopher adored
the baby; she was rarely, if ever, out of his sight and he took to carrying her
everywhere he went, much to Dustin's irritation. Christin was her daughter,
too, and she was hardly ever allowed to hold her. Fortunately for the irate
mother, Christopher would not dream of taking the babe with him outside and
during those times, Dustin bonded with Christin eagerly. She almost felt the outsider
the way Christopher demanded he be allowed to hold his daughter at all times.

     But she wasn't jealous, nor did she feel
neglected, for the nights were theirs and theirs alone. Christin finally
started sleeping from dusk until dawn, and Christopher always made sure he
reserved that space of time for his wife. Most often, they would take a bath
together, soaping each other sensually until the heat of passion would overtake
them and they would make slippery-wet love to one another. The first time Christopher
had made love to her after Christin's birth had been so sweet, she had cried
with the pure joy of it.

     And she felt in top form, too. Her luscious
figure had returned better than before, she thought, and Christopher could not
get enough of her. She was so truly happy for the first time in her life that
she had completely pushed John and Ralph and Richard out of her mind for fear
of hexing her good fortune. She never wanted Christopher to leave her again and
the thought of him returning to battle made her sick to her stomach.

     But as time passed and Christin grew, quite
another thing was turning her stomach into knots. Christin was absolutely
beautiful with dark, wavy hair and her mother's huge gray eyes, and Dustin was
verily pleased to see that she looked like her. The eyes and the shape of her
little mouth were definitely Dustin's, but it was the color of the hair that
upset her so, with she and Christopher so blond, the dark-hair of the babe
stood out obviously and with every passing day, Dustin began to imagine she saw
something of Marcus in the sweet baby face.

    
Foolish
, she scolded herself, for
her mother had possessed black hair and it was entirely possible that little
Christin had inherited her grandmother's dark hair. But the fear, the apprehension,
and the overwhelming guilt plagued her.

     Two days after Christmas, Dustin went out
to the rabbit hutches to make sure the peasant boy had given the animals enough
warm bedding and food. Christopher had the babe, as usual, in the great hall
and Alexander had followed her out into the hellish cold, dancing around her
feet to keep warm. As she was poking into one of the cages, a figure came up
beside her.

     “It is awfully cold to be out here,” David
said, his nose red with the ice. “What are you doing?”

     “Making sure they do not freeze to death,”
she said, slamming a little door closed and securing it. “I thought you were
tending to the new men-at-arms?”

     “I was,” David said. “But Edward and Leeton
are drilling them in battle rules and I want no part of it. Where's Chris?”

     “Inside with Christin, where else?” she
snorted. “Sometimes I think he loves her more than me.”

     There was something in David's eyes that
set her strangely. “I doubt it,” he replied evenly, then paused a moment.  His
gaze was intense on her as he spoke. “I know, Dustin.”

     She blinked at him, tilting her head.
“Know? Know what?”

     He let out a hissing sigh, all of the
friendliness gone from his face. “Jesus, do not lie to me,” he snapped. “You
can lie to Chris because he loves you and he will believe anything you tell
him, but for God's sake, do not lie to me. I
know
.”

     She honestly had no idea what he was
talking about and her irritation grew. “Know what, David? What are you talking
about?”

     He suddenly grabbed her arm, his fingers
biting into her flesh and she gasped. “You slept with Marcus, did not you?” he
hissed. “Christin isn't Chris' child at all – she is Marcus'.”

     Dustin's mouth went agape. His words had
hit her in the face like a slap and left her reeling, but she had the presence
of mind to calm herself before she tore into him like a hurricane. Roughly, she
tore her arm from his grasp and glared daggers at him.

     “How dare you accuse me of infidelity,” she
seethed. “Christin is Chris' daughter, David, in spite of your wild imaginings.
I cannot believe you would think so lowly of me.”

     He grabbed her again, this time with both
hands, and she struggled angrily with him.

     “You are a liar and a whore,” David
snarled. “Christin looks just like Marcus; admit it! She bears his dark hair. Explain
how two blond people such as you and my brother can bear a dark-haired child!”

     Dustin yanked free and slapped him hard
across the face. David responded by slapping her just as hard and sending her
reeling. She slammed into the rabbit hutch, grasping the first thing that came
into her hand and swung it back at David with all her might. The short piece of
wood caught David in the neck and he grunted, a mighty gash in his flesh. He
put his hand to his skin, drawing it away sticky with blood.

     “You
bitch
!” he hissed.

     “I was defending myself!” she fired back at
him, wielding the wood like a club. “How dare you accuse me of such terrible
atrocities. I cannot believe you would think such despicable things about me
when I have never done anything to deserve such distrust. And who are you to
confront me with such things? You are not my husband!”

     He reached out and disarmed her, but not
without a struggle. The log went sailing and Dustin backed away from him,
preparing for the next barrage.

     “Somebody has to confront you,” he growled.
“Admit it - Christin is Marcus’ child. I knew it from the very moment I laid
eyes on her that she was not of Chris' loins.”

     “You did not, because it is not true!”
Dustin shrieked. “I swear to God I shall kill you for such lies, David.”

     He charged at her, grabbing her by the
shoulders and slamming her against the rabbit hutch. Dustin grunted and gasped,
struggling in David’s grip, but it was like fighting iron.

     “They are not lies,” he rumbled, his face
close to hers. “So help me, Dustin, I shall kill you before I allow you to hurt
Chris. He is the mightiest knight since Galahad and you have already turned him
into a soft, simpering fool who cares only for the comforts of his home and
family. He used to be the toughest, mightiest warrior in all the world and I
have watched him turn into a tender family man right before my eyes. Jesus, he
was right all along. You will destroy him.”

     Dustin's fear-filled eyes gazed back at her
brother-in-law, his words overwhelming her. The hatred, the hostility
frightened her and after a moment, she could only shake her head slowly.

     “I will not, David,” she said, pain in her
eyes. “I would never do such a thing.”

     “You already have,” he spit with contempt,
releasing her and stepping back, his big hands clenching nervously.

     Dustin's fear was overshadowed by her
anger. “Christin is his daughter, and I am his wife,” she said, trying to
figure out what the motivation was behind his fury. It was very unlike David.
“If a family makes a man weak, then I suppose he is weak. Weak of his own
choosing, David. I did not force it on him. If you want to be angry with
someone, then be angry with him. I did nothing but love him and he chose to
respond. I did not shove my affections down his throat like a stuffed goose.”

     He turned away from her but she refused to
let him go that easily. She was starting to make headway with him.

      “What do you want from me, David?” she
wanted to know. “To swear to you that Christin is his daughter? Then I will. 
On the Holy Bible, I swear to you that she is his own daughter, and I
furthermore swear to you that I never touched Marcus Burton!”

     The latter was only a half-truth, yet, it
could be the full truth. After all, she had once thought her encounter in her
dark bedchamber to be a dream. Mayhap it was after all. Mayhap if she told
herself enough it really would only be a dream again and not the reality of
Marcus in the flesh.

     David's jaw was ticking and he refused to
answer. Dustin could see that there was so much more to his outburst but she
still wasn’t sure what it was. “This isn't just about Christin, is it?” she
said, her tone considerably softer. “There is more to this than you are telling
me. Why have you decided you suddenly hate me so, David?”

     He wouldn't look at her, nor answer. He
pulled free of her grasp and paced a few feet away, trying to collect himself.
Dustin stood there, watching him, wondering if he was ever going to answer her
when Christopher came out into the small courtyard, his face grim.

     Dustin's eyes widened and she covered her
cheek where David had struck her. David, however, had a bloody gash on his neck
that was impossible to cover up as Christopher's eyes bore into him.

     “I heard a nasty rumor that you struck my
wife,” he said calmly to his brother. “Is this true?”

     David knew what he had done and fully
realized the consequences. “I did.”

     Christopher's jaw flexed dangerously.
“Might I ask why?”

     David looked away. “Ask her.”

     Dustin watched the two of them
apprehensively, knowing a servant must have heard the struggle and had run
straight to Christopher. She feared for David's life.

     “I am asking you,” Christopher said.
“Answer me and I may be merciful.”

     David turned to face him, then, and his
face was glazed with scorn. “Do you truly wish to know, brother? I struck her
because she's been playing you for a fool. Look at Christin; does she
look
like you? She does not and do you know why? Because she isn't your daughter,
she's Marcus'!” He gestured wildly toward Dustin. “She has been Burton's whore
all along and God only knows why you haven't done something about it. Why do
you think Marcus left? Because he was in love with her and he could not stand
to see her with you. Goddammit, you are both in love with her and she has been
playing both of you for idiots. I stuck her because I will not allow her to
damaged you any further; she's already brought the mightiest knight in the
realm to his knees and now she threatens to drive a dagger into your heart!”

     Christopher was astonished at his brother's
tirade. He always thought David had adored Dustin and he was honestly at a loss
to understand his breakdown. But the fact remained that he had deeply insulted
Dustin as well as injured her, and he would pay the price.