The Beast of Renald (The Northern Knights) (10 page)

William’s guards and her husband's men closed ranks around them and the king, and each man had a hand on their swords.  All had seen the look on Cedric’s face and were ready to cut the man down.  She too was grateful for the shield of the men and for the hushed cries of dismay that rippled through the room, breaking up the quietness, from a few as their view to what was going on was blocked.

Cedric knelt and swore the fealty oath to Darc.

When he was once again standing, the hall cheered for the action and the king ordered him removed from the hall. 

Caroline looked to Darc. Though anger kept his body rigid, there was something in his eyes that caused her breath to hitch in her throat. Her composure was starting to crumble. She was shaking so hard she knew he felt it.

He spoke low seeing the question in her eyes. ‘He will be kept on the other side of the castle until I decide what it is I wish to do with him.’

Caroline nodded, relieved. When his hand slid over her shoulder and lower back, the comforting touch was a surprising crutch of strength for her and her tremors lessened.

Then Darc turned from her and bowed to William. Caroline dipped into a curtsy. 

‘Rise Baron and Baroness Renald. Lady Caroline.’  William stepped his large frame down from the dais.  ‘I am glad to see that you are looking well. And your son?’

Caroline swallowed, nervously and replied.  ‘He is well, Your Majesty.’ 

The king surprised her and gave her a curt nod.  ‘Good.  I wish you well and may good fortune come to you as the wife of one of my best men. He is fair and above all else, he is an honest man. I am sure you will produce a few fine sons with him as well. ’Tis wise to put the life you knew with Halvard behind you, baroness. Look to your new future. It will bring you naught but ill-will to do otherwise.’

Caroline managed to nod, her lips pressed tight. Darc stiffened next to her.

‘Now pardon us, but I must borrow him once more.’  The king finished and turned his attention back to her husband.

She had been dismissed. With his hands clasped behind his back and Darc at his side, William commanded. ‘Walk with me, Renald.’  

Darc fell in step beside the king and they left the hall. The royal guards followed as did the other man who had shared a look with her husband earlier, Alan Rufus.

Caroline was glad for the moment alone and was eager to get away from the curious eyes in the hall. She needed time to compose her raging emotions and walked quickly toward the tower steps. She was running once she was out of sight of the hall, her thoughts whirling. 

Cedric was a greedy coldblooded murderer.

She had not known what to expect upon seeing him. Fear. Aye, she’d felt that, but that now came second to the rage which she tried to calm upon being so briefly in his presence and seeing her father’s ring.

Just knowing his vile presence was down below somewhere in this large castle made her blood boil and the scarlet haze of fury nigh blinded her. She gulped in deep breaths and fisted her hands at her sides as she paced in a dark alcove off the long passage to the solar where she’d left Kelbie with Laur. She had to calm herself before she saw her son.

Her thoughts went back to Cedric. 

How Helen could’ve loved that hideous creature, Caroline knew not. But she had, despite his misleading her with his vicious lies which had destroyed her beautiful cousin’s young heart.

All the while his real intent had lain elsewhere- with Caroline. She quaked with the memory of his longing gaze down in the hall and what else his eyes promised. She wished with all her heart that she had no ties to that vile man.

His façade of being smitten with her was all an elaborate ruse to get her to tell what he sought. Cedric would not kill her until after he’d gotten what he wanted. 

Caroline wanted to confide in someone.

The many secrets she held were tearing her up inside. But what was she to do?

Dare she confess to her new Norman husband?

His behavior in the hall told her he had discovered her secret. But how much had he truly deduced?

Oh, she was going to drive herself mad over what burned inside her!

Nay, she was in this alone.

Caroline swallowed and hearing voices nearby, she ducked quickly out of the alcove and staying close to the wall, made her way down the torch lit passage to the solar. 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

William and his traveling royal entourage and Alan were gone within the hour. Darc stood on the narrow wall-walk until dusk fell over the castle lost in thought over all that had transpired during the king’s visit.

There was something more going on between his wife and Cedric.

What else did the man have over her aside from siring her son?  Whatever it was, he knew his wife would not reveal all of it.

God’s thunder! He was going to get as much as he could out of her about it.

Her wide eyes of rage and fear came back to him when she had reached for his dagger. Had she meant to silence Cedric over their secret right there in front of William?

Secrets!

A sharp pain struck the back of his neck and Darc reached up to rub the tender spot before moving his fingers around to massage the throbbing scar on his face.

Something bumped his thigh and nearly knocked him over.

Calmness came over him and he reached down to greet his two large mastiffs. The large, fawn and black colored beasts butted him from both sides again with their muscled frames. They were glad to be free of their cages.

The dogs were used to very few outside of him and trained well. They would easily tear anyone within a certain feet of him to shreds.

He’d had them since they were pups and had found them abandoned and nigh starved to death in a cottage during a battle near the Welsh border.

Darc walked down the steps of the forebuilding and away from the castle with them by his side out to the stables. Accepting his fur lined cloak that his stable master held out to him, he mounted his horse and rode out with the yapping beasts happily running alongside him.

What had been interrupted last eve he would see completed this night. But first, he had to gain control and clear his raging thoughts before he visited his wife.  

CHAPTER TWELVE

The robed figure, his back to the two guards awaiting permission to speak, moved out of the corner and seemed to disappear into the seamless darkness covering the raised dais. The figure sat too far back to discern his features for the enshrouded darkness hid all of his form except his boots and mounted spurs. Long, pale and tapered fingers of a scarred hand rapped slowly against the thick wooden arm of the chair. A quick glimpse of a thick forearm of sinewy muscle flashed before it withdrew back under the cover of the black robe. 

That drumming sound set the two guards more on edge as they shifted nervously from foot to foot, with sweat breaking on their brows even though a heavy draft blew through the earthen built building. The dimly lit room added an ominous feel to the chill hanging in the air.

The man sat before them like a king, even though the hovel was riddled with mice scurrying in every corner, cobwebs and rushes of filth covered the floor. The stale smell of unwashed bodies, excrement and musky sex filled the room, strong enough to choke a man. The rapping increased and the deep breaths of the man finally slowed.

The deep timbre bounced off the walls of the room. ‘Now, just what was it you were babbling on about?’

‘We-Well…my lord, I asked…Ho-How am I to drug the whole castle?’

‘He has less than a handful in residence there. ‘Twill not be a difficult feat. If you think it so, perhaps I erred in believing the much rumored tales of your abilities and am lining the wrong pockets with my coin. It would make me very unhappy if they were lies and to think that my precious and most valuable time has been wasted.’

The threat hung in the air.

‘My lord, I, ah,’ the stout guard croaked nervously. ‘Nay. Nay. There is a way around all things. ‘Twill be done.’

Silence was his response.

The guard snaked out his tongue to his bottom lip as he tried to peer into the darkness hiding the man.

After what seemed an eternity, the man from the shadows spoke again, simply asking. ‘And the boy?'

‘No word or sighting yet, my lord.’  The other, taller guard answered.

‘Send word as soon as he is found. That will be all for now.’

‘Aye, my lord.’  Both men answered in unison and immediately took their leave.

Raven Renald stared after them with a twinge of mild regret. He should never have had his giant butchered. He’d let his blind fury take hold of him in a quick act of selfishness.

He missed the ugly ogre. Stupid, the giant had been for the most part, but at least he’d gotten the job done and for no less than a good, hearty meal in his gut.

A slender woman in a red flowing gown appeared out of the shadows to stand near his side. ‘I thought you said the boy was not part of this?’

Raven reached out and gripped her hand. She cried out as he yanked her closer and twisted her arm.

‘I’ve changed my mind. The boy is my concern, not yours. Now worry yourself no longer with matters too complex for such a pretty face and do what you have more taken talents for.’

He practically shoved her to her knees whilst his other hand moved his robe aside and he unbuckled his sword belt from his waist.

The woman's struggles ceased and she sighed.  ‘Aye, my lord.’ 

Raven stood and let the woman finish undressing him. When her fingers slid over the raised scars across his back he stiffened with fury remembering that awful night which seemed so long ago when he’d gotten them from those ungrateful and rotten traitors.

‘My lord, your scars are not so awful. They look better each day.’ She purred softly against his skin.

She let out a yelp when Raven snapped her arm up high against her back as he jerked her against his chest. He took great delight in her heavy and painful pants. With his lips pressed to her ear, he warned. ‘How many times does it take for a dog to learn her place? Did I not tell you never to mention my scars, whore?’ Her whimper made him harden even more.

‘Aye, my lord,’ she cried out when he shoved her against the wall and thrust inside her.

He laughed above her. ‘Ah, my pet, you are not ready for me. A little pain to remind you of your place. Then perhaps I will show you mercy and give you pleasure later.’ Raven wrapped his hand in her braided hair and her cries drove his powerful thrusts harder and deeper.

He stared down at the healed and ugly scars on the back of his hand. He would hunt those bastards down. They had turned on him and sliced him with his own weapons to set his enemy free. He’d lost everything all over again!

Now he was reduced to managing all he could from this rat infested hovel. The mere thought of being in a cave-like environment again infuriated him. He’d very few he trusted to do his bidding but greasing their greedy palms and their fear of him kept them in line.

If he had to search every corner of England, even at the risk of losing his own head, he’d find them and flay the skin from their bones before he gutted them.  But for now, he had to control his eagerness and wait patiently for what he had planned for his brother to unfold.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Despite the long day and unspoken revelations, Caroline knew he’d come and he did. Laur came in to take her son while Darc stood out in the corridor bathed in the shadows. She could feel the angry chill coming from him. She swallowed down a lump of apprehension and followed behind him. She’d not known what to expect after what had occurred in the hall.

In his chamber he removed his belt and mantle. His movements were quick, jerky and showed his anger. Far less kind than their first encounter. Caroline tried not to focus on him, not to think about it, but it was hard when he continued to say naught.  

The only sound in the room was the crackle coming from the hearth fire and her erratic breaths. He’d yet to look her in the eye and at first she was glad, for it meant the act would be done and over. She could do this she told herself even though the images of what had happened before burned inside her. She could not help it, she wanted that again.

He stripped down to his long tunic and inclined his dark head sharply toward the bed.

That made her angry.

His outright indifference was more than she could bear. Both their lives had changed not just his. She was not the only one with secrets.

Still, she tucked her chin and crawled on the bed with her shift pulled up. His eyes looked dark in the barely lit room and looked everywhere but at her.

Fat candles burned but sat far away from the bed and the low fire in the hearth failed to keep the chill in the air at bay for the bank was too low to give off much heat to fill the room.

A soft gasp escaped her when his large body pressed down upon the mattress. Would he not look at her? Not speak a word?

Nay.

He reached for her covered breast and in his rough handling, hurt her, pinching her skin and caused her to shrink away from his touch.

She tried to move further away but his thick thighs forced her legs together and held her in place. Caroline could not bear the tension and she pleaded. ‘My lord-‘

His hard tone stopped her. ‘Do not speak a word. Let the act be done and over. You
know
what to expect. I will not hurt you.’

His softened touch to her breast did not ease her rising fear. His every move was angry. Although he’d spoken the words, Caroline was even more sure now that something terrible would happen over the hidden truths between them. His rough assault upon her flesh stung.

She refused to give up so easily and thought to kiss him again, thinking it would warm up things as it had done before. Anything to stop her from suffering any pain.

Instead of leaning in for the kiss, she asked, ‘Would you care to kiss me?’