The Iron Knight (The De Russe Legacy Book 3) (32 page)

He was a fool for thinking that it was, indeed, possible because it had happened to him. Something about Sophina connected to something deep inside of him, as if they were of one mind and one soul, thinking similar thoughts, understanding each other because of the things in life they had experienced. All he had to do was look at her and know she was true and noble. All he had to do was look at her and feel complete, once again.

With her, The Iron Knight wasn’t so empty, after all.

“I cannot judge a man who does what he must do in order to survive,” he finally said. “And for saving your life, he will always have my gratitude.”

Sophina was relieved, for Laurent’s sake. “What will you do with Holderness, then?”

Lucien didn’t look at her. His focus moved to Colton, standing over Holderness several feet away. “De Royans!” he shouted. “Put him in the vault!”

Colton nodded, hauling Holderness to his feet as the man bellowed his displeasure. As Colton pulled the man away, towards the gatehouse where the vault was located, Sophina couldn’t even look at him. Instead, she took a closer look at Laurent’s wound and realized it wasn’t too terribly deep. Messy, but not deep. Still, she needed to remove the dagger, a dagger that just as easily could have been planted in her back had it not been for Laurent.

“Come with me,” she said to Laurent, taking his elbow to help him along. “Let me tend your wound.”

Laurent went without prompting. He, too, was eager to get the knife out of his shoulder and put this terrible incident behind him. He still couldn’t believe his father so blatantly tried to murder someone, but given how badly his father wanted Juno to marry de Russe, in hindsight, he wasn’t so surprised after all. Just as he started to move with Sophina at his side, a voice rang out nearby.

“So this is Lady de Gournay,” a man said. “De Russe, now I see why you’re willing to surrender your fortune for her. She is exquisite, indeed.”

Walking next to Laurent, Sophina froze, turning to see a man she didn’t know standing a few feet away from Lucien. He was tall, and dark, and not unhandsome. His French accent was heavy. He was looking at her quite lasciviously and it didn’t take a great intellect to deduce who he was.
Du Ponte
. It could be no one else. No use in running away; he had sighted her. Therefore, she faced him without fear.

“I am Lady de Gournay,” she said coldly. “And you are St. Michael du Ponte?”

Du Ponte bowed gallantly. “At your service, my lady,” he said. “It is a pity the carriage did not make it to Gillingham. We should not find ourselves here, disrupting de Russe’s life. I trust you were not injured in the ambush?”

Sophina found his concern offensive. “That was yesterday,” she said. “Had your men not run like cowards, they could have told you that I nearly drowned and my daughter along with me. Had it not been for Sir Lucien, we would have perished.”

The smirking smile on du Ponte’s lips faded. He didn’t like insolent women. “I would not insult my men if I were you, my lady,” he said, a veiled threat. “They are fine warriors. And you will let another tend to that knight. You and I have much to discuss.”

Sophina shook her head. “We have nothing to discuss, my lord,” she said. “Sir Lucien has made you an offer for our marriage contract. Know that it is my wish to be married to Sir Lucien, so any business you have to discuss will be with him. Good morn, my lord.”

She turned away, continuing her walk with Laurent, but du Ponte wasn’t finished with her. “You will not turn your back to me,” he said, hazard in his tone. “As long as I hold your father’s offer, you are essentially my property and you will obey me. Do you understand?”

Sophina kept walking without answering him, which utterly inflamed du Ponte. “Come with me now or I will force you!”

That brought Lucien to du Ponte’s side. An enormous hand shot out, grabbing du Ponte around the neck as de Bretagne and Pembury, who had been standing off to the side observing the unruly situation, rushed to prevent a fight. De Bretagne pulled Lucien away as Pembury, a mountain of a man, yanked du Ponte clear of Lucien’s murderous grip. Du Ponte, infuriated at being grabbed and manhandled, shoved Pembury away by the face and broke the man’s grip on him.

“That woman is my property, de Russe,” he shouted. “You have no right to interfere in my business!”

Before Lucien could fire off a reply, de Bretagne got in his face. “He is right,” he hissed. “The woman belongs to him no matter how much you want her. If he demands I enforce the contract, I must rule in his favor.”

Lucien looked at the man, stricken with disbelief that de Bretagne should side against him. It didn’t matter that he was pointing out the obvious; Lucien didn’t care about that at all. “I will
not
turn her over to him,” he muttered. “He cannot have her.”

De Bretagne sighed heavily. “Lucien….”

“
Never
. You will have to kill me in order to take her from me. Is that in any way unclear?”

De Bretagne looked at him, his expression tense and torn. “Are you telling me that I shall have to take her by force?”

“That is exactly what I am telling you.”

De Bretagne stared at him a moment longer before releasing him. There was exasperation to his movements, caught in the middle of something he was most reluctant to be part of. With a harsh sigh, one of extreme frustration, he turned to du Ponte.

“Get in the great hall,” he commanded. “You’ll not spout threats out here for all to hear. Get into that hall and we shall come to a satisfactory conclusion of this situation or I swear I will take my men and ride from here, and you shall have no further help from me.”

Du Ponte was incensed. “I am within my rights!”

“Get into the hall and prepare to negotiate or I leave this minute.”

“And I shall tell Henry!”

“And I shall tell Henry what I know of your suspect dealings with outlaws in the area. De Russe will support my claims. We shall see who comes out on top of that particular battle.”

Du Ponte’s face turned red but he shut his mouth. He knew it could mean great trouble for him if de Bretagne carried through on that particular threat. With a baleful glance at Lucien, he turned and marched for the great hall. De Bretagne watched him go all the way in before turning to Lucien.

“Now,” he said seriously. “I have no desire to do battle with you, Lucien, but in the matter of supporting a legitimate contract, I have no choice. You know this. So it is my suggestion that you go in there and make your offer to du Ponte so sweet that there is no possibility he will refuse. Is
that
in any way unclear?”

Lucien almost grinned when he heard de Bretagne use his own words against him. But he couldn’t quite manage it; this wasn’t a grinning situation. This was damn serious. Turning for the hall, he preceded de Bretagne into the structure.

Sophina had been watching the entire thing. She’d seen the scuffle between Lucien and du Ponte. When Pembury and another knight had separated them, she watched with concern as first du Ponte and then Lucien retreated back into the hall.

She knew their impending discussion was to be about her and she wanted to hear what was said. She wanted to know just how much Lucien was prepared to lose in order to gain her and she wasn’t entirely sure she should let him. Not that she wanted to be married to du Ponte, for she clearly didn’t, but having Lucien give away his fortune because of her… she wasn’t sure she could stomach that. It just didn’t seem right for the man to become a pauper simply to gain a woman he’d known all of a day.

No matter how much she loved him.

Aye, she loved him. She couldn’t remember when she hadn’t. But she still couldn’t let him sacrifice everything he’d worked so hard for just for her. She had to be part of that discussion. Seeing that Gabriel was still nearby, clearing out the men who had come to break up the fight, she called out to him.

“Pembury?” she said. “Come and tend to Sir Laurent.”

Gabriel obeyed. He moved to Laurent’s side, eyeing the protruding dagger with concern, but he was rather confused by the request. Sophina pointed to the keep.

“Take him into the solar,” she said. “My daughter is in our chamber on the third level. You will ask her for needle and thread. She will be able to help you.”

Gabriel was still confused. “Where are you going, Lady de Gournay?”

Sophina began walking towards the keep. “To see what is transpiring inside,” she said. “Do as I say, now.”

Gabriel wouldn’t dream of disobeying a lady’s request but the truth was that he didn’t think she should be in the hall. He, in fact, had been in the hall since the beginning of du Ponte’s visit and it hadn’t been pleasant. He was about to say something to that effect but Sophina was walking away from him, quickly heading towards the hall. Gabriel hoped that Lucien wouldn’t become angry with him for not preventing her, but Laurent needed help and that was his priority at the moment. A man with a dagger in him took precedence over a determined lady.

So he turned away, walking with Laurent towards the hall, until a scream stopped him. He and Laurent turned sharply to see a very unwelcome sight – two big knights, du Ponte knights, had hold of Sophina and were dragging her towards the hall.

Releasing Laurent, Gabriel broke into a dead run after them.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“I
s that du
Ponte’s lady?” l’Evereux hissed.

De Fey looked at him strangely. “You were there,” he said. “You
saw
the woman.”

L’Evereux shrugged. “I did not look at her closely,” he said. “She had red hair but it was pulled back upon her head. I do not recognize this woman at all.”

De Fey rolled his eyes. “That is the problem with you,” he hissed. “You are as stupid as a post. Of course that is the woman we were bringing to Gillingham. Even if you did not recognize her, you just heard du Ponte speak to her.
That’s
the woman we have come to retrieve.”

In the wake of Holderness’ attempted murder attack, de Fey and l’Evereux had been left without a guard. Colton and Laurent had run off to protect a lady from a murderous ambush and the two du Ponte knights had rushed to help. At first, de Fey and l’Evereux had aided with the submission of Holderness but when more of de Russe’s men rushed in, they’d been pushed aside.

Now, they were standing on the outskirts, watching everything and also hearing everything. They’d heard du Ponte when he’d caught a glimpse of Lady de Gournay for the first time and they’d further heard when de Russe had refused to relinquish the woman.

Now, du Ponte and de Russe were inside the hall, no doubt arguing over custody of the lady. Most of de Russe’s men were gone, leaving Lady de Gournay with only two knights as protection, one of which was injured. L’Evereux, as dense as he was, still knew a good opportunity when he saw one. He turned to de Fey.

“Why not take her now?” he questioned. “You heard what du Ponte said – he wanted her and de Russe would not relinquish her. If we take her, then de Russe will have no choice.”

De Fey’s gaze tracked the woman as she was in conversation with two other knights, including one who had a knife sticking out of his shoulder. He wasn’t exactly sure how to get to the woman considering she was at the side of two armed men, but his dilemma was solved when she abruptly broke away from them and headed for the great hall.

“Look at her,” he muttered. “She is without an escort now. When she gets far enough away from those two knights, we will confiscate her and take her to du Ponte.”

L’Evereux nodded. “We can reclaim what the ambush took from us,” he said, pulling out a nasty looking dagger from his breeches, a weapon that the gatehouse guards had missed when confiscating his arsenal. “Du Ponte cannot be angry with us any longer. What we lost, we will regain.”

De Fey nodded, ever so slowly. “Move in her direction,” he said casually, “but make no sudden movement. If we do not take custody before de Russe’s men can get to her, our lives are forfeit. They’ll kill us.”

“How do you know that?”

De Fey looked at him like he was the most idiotic man on the planet. “Did you hear de Russe argue for her?” he hissed. “God’s Balls, you fool! She means something to the man!”

L’Evereux had heard the arguments between de Russe and du Ponte but the fact that the woman meant something to de Russe still didn’t register with him. At least, not on a personal level. “He wants her to warm his bed,” he said. “What else is a woman good for?”

De Fey didn’t respond; l’Evereux was a hopeless idiot so he didn’t bother to explain. He had noticed how passionate de Russe had been in the conflict with du Ponte, so he understood that there was something more there, something more than just simple possession. A man who was passionate about a woman would do anything to keep her.

So de Fey started walking, very casually, heading towards the hall because that seemed to be the direction Lady de Gournay was moving in. He could even see her features as their paths drew near to one another. Her brow was furrowed in thought and it was clear that she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. Her mind was miles away, perhaps pondering the recent attempt on her life or even the argument between du Ponte and de Russe.