The Rose Red Bride JK2 (19 page)

Her brother, though, neither shared her pleasure nor acknowledged her words. Erik did not ease his stance and the air fairly crackled between them.

‘Twas then that Vivienne recalled that Alexander had put a price upon Erik’s head.

“She has doubtless been harmed already!” Alexander said to Erik, his anger clear. “You broke your pledge to me, Nicholas Sinclair, and I will see my sister avenged.”

Vivienne blinked in confusion before she remembered that Alexander thought Erik to be his brother, Nicholas. Clearly there were many misunderstandings to be resolved! She stepped forward and raised a finger to explain the truth to all involved, for surely that was the best way to diffuse the tension.

Erik shoved her behind him with such vigor that she nearly tripped on her hem. “And you will have to hew me down to reclaim your sister, unless you pledge her safety.”

“Put your blade aside,” Alexander bade Erik grimly. “The lady is safe with us, and you cannot fight us all. Save yourself from injury and come peacefully.”

“There is no need for such hostility, for you see, all has been resolved.” Vivienne said cheerfully but the men ignored her. “I can explain, if you will simply sheath your blades anew.”

Alexander did no such thing. He dismounted, then moved Erik’s sword aside with the tip of his blade. “She is my sister,” he said quietly when Erik might have protested. “It is my intent to defend her honor, thus you may be certain that she will be safer in my company than in yours.” He then offered Vivienne his own hand, his gaze unswerving from a silent Erik. “Are you injured, Vivienne?”

“No, of course not.”

If anything, Alexander looked more dour. His fingers closed tightly around her own. “And have you been to a chapel to exchange your nuptial vows, as Nicholas and I agreed you would?”

Vivienne looked between the two men who regarded each other with stony expressions. “No,” she admitted. “But we have pledged a handfast...”

“Lammergeiers do not handfast!” Alexander roared, his eyes snapping with anger. “We wed, in chapels, with the blessing of priests, and thus our children are legitimate in the eyes of God and men.” He jabbed his sword in Erik’s direction. “Our agreement was that you and my sister would wed!”

“And so it was,” Erik said softly. “The lady and I chose another course.”

Alexander drew himself taller, though he was still shorter than Erik, and spoke through gritted teeth. “I granted you the chance you asked of me, I showed you the honor of my trust, and in return, you have betrayed both me and my sister. You have forsaken my hospitality, despoiled my family name and treated my sister with dishonor.”

“I did what I know to be right,” Erik said.

“This is not right. You owe compense to Kinfairlie, that is what I know to be right.”

It was evident that the two of them would not resolve this matter by themselves. Vivienne stepped between the pair and raised her hands. “Alexander, you do not fully understand and I am certain that once all is explained, you...”

“I understand all that I have need of understanding!” Alexander said, and pulled Vivienne roughly to his side.

“But Alexander!” Vivienne was determined to intervene. “There have been injustices wrought...”

Alexander turned a cold eye upon her. “The injustice in this case has been wrought against you!” He was still furious, and that he was angered on her behalf did little to reassure Vivienne.

He took a shaking breath, then studied her face. “I care only for your future, Vivienne,” he said more quietly and she nodded, knowing this to be true. His voice dropped lower. “There is injustice here that cannot go unpunished, for I will do no part to encourage our land’s descent into lawless chaos.” He held her gaze. “Unless, against all odds, you are yet a maiden.”

Vivienne flushed crimson and found nary a word upon her tongue. Indeed, the entire company seemed to hold their breath, so interested were they in her reply. Despite Alexander’s low tone, all seemed to have heard his words. A dozen men, familiar and unfamiliar, watched her with undisguised fascination.

Vivienne turned to meet the vivid gleam of Erik’s gaze. He said nothing, his gaze unblinking and without judgment. What did he wish for her to say? She felt the hilt of his father’s blade pressing against her ribs and guessed that he did not trust her kin.

And there was good sense in that. The truth would condemn Erik in her brother’s eyes, and she feared that Alexander would have his vengeance before his temper cooled.

“What will you do to him?” she asked, not looking away from Erik.

“I would not sully a woman’s ears with the details,” Alexander said, his manner ruthless. “But no man who despoils a sister of mine will ever soil a maiden again.”

Vivienne felt the color drain from her face, for she believed that Alexander would do as he threatened. His reputation as a competent judge and firm upholder of the law was justly earned and she knew he would not waver from the strict letter of the law.

And Erik had broken his pledge.

But unless she had already conceived - which seemed unlikely - Alexander’s punishment would ensure that Erik would not be able to conceive the son necessary to win back his daughters and Blackleith.

She held Erik’s fate in his hands. And he merely returned her stare, demanding nothing of her, expecting nothing of any of them.

It was, after all, what he had learned to expect from those who surrounded him. Vivienne’s heart clenched that she, she who wanted so much to aid him, could be the one to ensure his failure simply by telling the truth.

She could lie. It was against her nature to tell a falsehood and she knew she would do it badly, but Vivienne refused to betray Erik.

“I am yet a maiden,” she declared with vigor, feeling her cheeks burn even as she held her head high. “For I have been unclean these past days.”

Another man pushed back his visor and Vivienne recognized her Uncle Tynan. “Speak plainly, Vivienne, for much is at stake! Do you mean that your monthly courses have begun?”

Vivienne nodded, willing for Erik’s sake to bear the shame of confessing to such a thing before a company of men.

“Swear it,” Alexander demanded.

Vivienne swallowed. “I swear that I am yet a maiden.”

The man began to whisper immediately, though Erik’s eyes narrowed. Vivienne turned away from the censure in his gaze, guessing that he did not like that she lied.

Surely he understood though that a small deception in this circumstance was less costly than the truth might be.

Alexander was not as readily persuaded as Vivienne had hoped, his doubt more than clear. He studied her, his skepticism clear, and she knew that he would have liked to have asked her sisters for verification of the timing of her bleeding.

Vivienne feared that he might demand to see the blood, here and now, and spoke hastily to keep him from making such a request. “Only a barbarian would have bedded a woman in such a state, after all.”

Erik’s lips tightened to a thin line and he averted his gaze. Vivienne hoped that he feigned a greater disgust with her than he felt.

“And what of you? Did you bed the lady?” Alexander demanded of Erik.

Erik seemed to have been struck to stone, so long did he stand in watchful silence. “I stand by the lady’s word, of course,” he said finally, his words taut.

Still he did not so much as glance at Vivienne. Perhaps he believed her lie, and was disappointed that they had not wrought his son as yet. She yearned to confess the truth to him, that she did not yet abandon their quest, that she did not bleed, that the pledge she had made to him to bear his son was more binding that this lie she had sworn to be truth to her own brother.

She had a terrible sense that he might not believe her.

“Every soul knows that only monsters are wrought during a woman’s time,” Alexander said.

Erik granted Alexander a scornful glance. “And even barbarians such as myself have no desire for misshapen children.”

Alexander snapped his fingers and moved with decisiveness. “Seize him then!” He grasped Vivienne’s elbow and turned to march back to his steed. “We ride for Kinfairlie without delay!”

“But Alexander!” Vivienne struggled against her brother’s grip, only managing to shake free when she was trapped between Alexander’s destrier and Tynan’s black stallion.

Tynan studied her, his gaze as avid as that of one of his ravens, and Vivienne fought the urge to fidget. “If this man has not injured Vivienne, then there is no reason to pursue the matter,” he said with care.

“He has broken a pledge to me, and must face the consequence of that,” Alexander insisted.

“Unless Vivienne chooses to wed him now,” Tynan suggested. “Indeed, such a course might ensure that no malicious tales stain her repute.”

Alexander heaved a sigh, then turned his attention to Vivienne. “If you insist upon it, I will not protest this match,” he said and her heart leapt. “Though surely you must know that I would counsel you against it. You can wed better, Vivienne, than to a man whose tongue so readily utters a lie, better than to wed Nicholas Sinclair.”

Once again, the company turned their attention upon Vivienne.

* * *

Here was Vivienne’s chance to wed Erik honorably!

But Vivienne did not want a marriage devoid of love, and one glance in Erik’s direction was all the evidence she needed that he still loved his late wife Beatrice. He regarded her coldly, almost certainly doubting her ability to provide him with his son.

It was clear that Vivienne had not loosed that woman’s grasp upon his heart, though admittedly she had had little time to do so. She supposed she should have been glad that Erik had known such a potent love, one that endured forever as the love in all great tales did, but she was ashamed to find herself disappointed.

Vivienne turned away, fighting the tears that stung her eyes. The fact remained that she could not bear the prospect of her choice costing Erik all he held dear. Erik’s reasons for desiring a handfast were wrought of such good sense that she would not, could not, compel him to abandon them.

His daughters deserved better.

But neither would Vivienne abandon her pledge to Erik. She had vowed to try to bear his son and she meant to keep her word. If so doing meant that she could not wed honorably, that seemed to Vivienne to be a small price to pay for the security of two little girls.

Which left her with several tasks. First, she had to ensure that Erik was left whole, so that he could conceive a son, and then she had to ensure that he was free to do so. As much as she hated to deceive her brother and uncle, Vivienne could not condemn Erik’s daughters to whatever fate Nicholas might find for them.

The sorry truth was that Vivienne would have to tell her own family another falsehood. Her mother had always said that one lie necessitated another, and it was no consolation to find such advice to be true.

Though truly, Alexander’s conviction that Erik was Nicholas might prove most useful.

Vivienne did not so much as glance Erik’s way, lest Alexander guess her intent. She shook her head and shrugged. “He has neither injured me nor returned me for ransom, so his deeds give him more credit than you do, Alexander.”

Her brother flushed. “You speak the truth in that,” he admitted gruffly.

“And you are far from innocent in this matter,” she continued, earning her uncle’s nod of agreement.

“I would suggest it prudent that Vivienne be privy to any future discussions for her marriage,” Tynan suggested.

“I thought you loved him,” Alexander said in a whisper. “When he came to me and pledged his ardor, I thought the reason you found all other suitors unacceptable was that you yet loved Nicholas Sinclair. It seemed perfect that he now holds Blackleith, and I meant only to ensure your happiness.”

“You thought wrongly, Alexander,” Vivienne said, relieved that she could reply without actually lying. “I could never love Nicholas Sinclair, for he is cunning and deceptive. I regret only that I did not denounce him for his deeds to all of you when he ceased his courtship.” She looked at her brother and uncle, hoping her expression was resolved. “I will not wed Nicholas Sinclair.”

Alexander and Tynan nodded approval of this sentiment and Alexander flicked a finger, indicating that his men should collect Erik. “We ride for Kinfairlie with all haste!” he repeated.

“I recommend a halt at Ravensmuir this night,” Tynan said with his usual calm manner. “The horses are tired from this day, and it is both closer and better provisioned for feeding the company.”

“And I will ride onward,” Erik said. His eyes were narrowed, his expression impassive. “You have no need of my presence since all has been resolved so amiably.”

Vivienne knew that she did not imagine the weight he granted to that last word. She understood then that he meant to find another maiden to provide his son.

What if it she had already conceived? It would be months before she could be certain, unless she bled. She knew that Erik was only prepared to leave her because he believed her own lie. Oh, her falsehood already made trouble beyond compare!

“Surely, you too should rest at Ravensmuir...” she began, though Alexander interrupted her.

“It is not resolved at all, not with regards to you,” he said curtly, easing his horse toward Erik. “Still you broke your word to me, still you lied to me about your intent, and still you must answer for your transgression in my courts.”

Erik eyed him grimly. “Still you have my coin, which should be sufficient to see the matter resolved.”

Alexander straightened and Vivienne knew he did not like to be so challenged before his own men. “In my demesne, my will is done,” he said with quiet authority. “And I have declared that you will appear in my court to answer the charge against you.”

“And as a freeman, I say that I shall not do so.”

“I have the right to pursue you and I have the right to ensure that you face justice in my courts.”

Erik’s lip curled. “And I have the right to deny the whim of a nobleman who would sell his sister for so paltry a price.”

Alexander raised a finger in anger, but Erik drew his blade so quickly that the man beside him was wounded before Alexander uttered a sound.