THE WARLORD (18 page)

"But your father was not given the opportunity to harm Kenric?"

"Nay, the king must have suspected Kenric's danger," Helen said. "Kenric was called away to train at court soon after Mother died giving birth to Guy."

Helen fell silent and began to pace. Tess leaned against the cold wall, her senses numbed by Helen's tale. No wonder Kenric was so ruthless. She felt a moment of intense sorrow for the child forced to grow up resented and hated by the only family he could call his own. How could
a man
show compassion when he'd known none in his own life? Tess shook her head in defeat. What was she thinking? It didn't matter if she pitied him or not. That lack of compassion would be the death of her people, when he seized Remmington.

She thought of the gentle way Kenric could kiss and caress her,
then
imagined his blade at her neck instead. Think
of the women he raped as he holds you in his arms at night, how he slit their throats afterward
. He would return soon, would doubtless want her in his bed soon after. How would she be able to bear his touch when every time she closed her eyes her mind was filled with the picture of innocent babes falling beneath his sword?

Tess shuddered, remembering how she'd welcomed his caresses, how she'd reveled in their lovemaking. The man she'd made love to was one of her creation, one she'd only imagined. In truth, she'd lain with a murderer. The Montagues had created this vile monster, the man who might one day be called the Butcher of Remmington. Her rage focused on the man responsible for her husband's upbringing, the one who had turned an innocent child into a soulless devil.

Tess rose and caught Helen by the elbow, gently but insistently pushing her down onto the chair. She clasped her hands behind her back and took up Helen's task of pacing, her voice amazingly calm considering the chaos of her thoughts.

"You must despise Kenric for causing your father such heartache and preventing Guy from assuming his rightful title."

"Why, I believe I do," Helen agreed readily. "The king placed his evil seed in our home and—"

"
Enough
!" Tess bellowed. Helen scooted as far back as the chair would
allow,
her eyes wide. Tess resumed her pacing. "The words 'evil seed' will never be spoken in my presence again. It is wrong to blame a child for the sins of his parents. It is wrong to seek revenge on the man who had no control of his destiny, for a sin he didn't commit.
That
is what your priest should have taught you, Helen, though it sounds as if he had not a drop of Christian charity in his pious blood. Doubtless your father greatly influenced his thinking."

Tears began to cloud Tess's eyes as she imagined the cold, lonely childhood Kenric had surely endured. She swiped them away angrily, knowing she could never allow herself to pity him.

"The sin does not lie on Kenric's shoulders," she said, hating Helen's father more than she'd hated anyone in her life. "And his blood is no more tainted than yours or mine."

Tess stopped her pacing and stood directly in front of Helen, though Helen continued to stare off into space, her face pale. Tess leaned forward, trying to regain her attention. "Are you listening to me, Helen?"

Several moments passed in silence. Tess was about to repeat her question when it was answered by another voice.

"I do not believe she is."

"Oh, dear Lord," Tess groaned. Swaying slightly, she prayed that her ears deceived her. She closed her eyes, unable to find the courage to turn around and face her husband.

"I wish to speak with you in our chamber, wife." Kenric's voice was strained, as if he knew he'd be yelling if he talked any louder. Tess knew that was not a good sign. She bowed her head, clasping her hands behind her back to hide the way they shook.

"Now, Tess!"

Kenric turned on his heel and stalked out, slamming the door shut behind him. Both women jumped several inches at the sharp sound then Helen began to sob.

"He heard everything!" Helen wailed, wringing her hands in terror. "He will beat me for telling, I just know he will."

Tess stared blankly at the door. If she'd tried to imagine the worst end to her conversation with Helen, this would surpass it. What else could possibly go wrong? A strange calm settled over her, a numbing sense of peace too welcome to resist. Gazing down at Helen's tear-streaked face, she managed to give her an encouraging smile.

"Do not worry, Helen. He is sure to spend his anger on me."

Helen looked horrified, her eyes reflecting her pity. Tess patted her hand reassuringly,
then
walked toward the door. She was just reaching for the latch when the door shot open. Kenric reached inside the room to grab her wrist and yank her into the hallway.

"You are hurting me," Tess said breathlessly, tugging against his painful grip. She was nearly running to avoid being dragged down the tower steps. Kenric's long, angry strides and her own quick, choppy steps nearly set her teeth to rattling.

Kenric stopped so abruptly at the foot of the steps that Tess crashed into his back. So did the two soldiers trailing close on her
heels.
Kenric reached over her shoulder and shoved the guards away.

"You have not learned the meaning of the word.
Yet."
Tess's guards retreated several steps when she opened her mouth to reply. Fortunately an interruption turned the baron's attention away from Tess.

"Milord!"

Kenric spun around to face Simon.

"Just where have you been?" Kenric bellowed. He pulled Tess forward, as if the sight of her was sufficient excuse for his charge. "You dare let her out of your sight?"

"Milord, there was an urgent matter requiring my attention in the lower bailey," Simon explained.

"There was an urgent matter requiring your attention in my sister's chamber," he roared. Simon winced and bowed his apology. Kenric brushed by him with Tess towed in his wake. "I will deal with you later, Simon."

"Baron, please," Simon pleaded, scurrying to keep up with Kenric. "I must speak with you concerning my message.
Most urgently."

Kenric threw open his chamber door then slammed it shut in Simon's face. "Later!"

Tess nearly stumbled to her knees from the force propelling her into the room. Trying to put space between them, she moved closer to the fireplace. He was going to hurt her. He'd just promised as much. Tess clenched her jaw and tried to calm her racing heart. No matter what, she would not shame herself by pleading for mercy. This man had none.

"If you kill me, the MacLeiths will have grounds to annul the marriage and you will lose all
claim
to Remmington." Pointing out the truth was not begging. Considering Kenric's strength and size, surviving his beating was unlikely. She tried to meet his gaze but instead caught sight of his hands. Her gaze remained locked there, watching them flex. "The MacLeiths needed me alive too, though Gordon forgot that fact when he was angered. You would do well to remember it, milord."

Tess refused to look higher than his shoulders, afraid of what she might see in his face. He'd taken the time to remove his armor, but he still wore the quilted black tunic that acted as padding beneath the heavy chain mail. He'd not tarried long before seeking her out. The faint aroma of leather and horses drifted across her senses, a reminder that he'd probably ridden hard to reach Montague before nightfall. She wondered if he could smell her fear.

"You want to die, don't you?"

"By your hand?" she asked tonelessly.
"A quicker end, I trow, than the one Gordon planned for me.
I stood up for my people when he would abuse them and turned his anger toward me instead. The price was to be my death. You would beat me senseless or to death for gossiping with your sister. There seems little honor in that end."

"Gossiping?" Kenric's snort sounded like a growl of impotent rage.
"You idiot.
I don't give a damn what my sister told you."

"I find that hard to believe," Tess said boldly, incensed by his lie. Why else would he be so angry? She decided she had nothing left to lose by asking for the truth. "Did Helen speak the truth? Did you really slaughter women and children in
Wales?"

"I did not bring you here to talk about what I did in
Wales. You are here to explain your own actions."

An innocent man would have denied the charges to his last dying breath. She was sure of it. Avoiding the question was almost the same as answering it.

"I did nothing but ask your sister a few questions," Tess said quietly. He'd never denied what he was. She did that for him, convinced herself that he was worthy of her affections. He was no less handsome now that she knew the truth. Aside from his anger, she still couldn't see the darkness in his soul. He was, indeed, unlike any evil man she'd ever known. She'd married the Devil himself.

"I am talking about the trouble you caused in my absence," he corrected. "What Helen told you is of no significance."

She shook her head, unable to let him change the subject so easily. "You think it insignificant that your sister accuses you of murder?"

"What I did in
Wales or anywhere else is none of Helen's concern. Nor yours," he added tersely. "You will tell me why three of my soldiers are busy weaving reeds in the great hall."

"They were being stubborn. Those three—"

"Silence!"
The word cracked across the room like a whip. He pointed to a chair near the fire. "Sit down!"

Tess decided it would be best to obey. She slid into the chair and absently rearranged her skirts, wondering how on earth she could manage to get an annulment. Uncle Ian never should have allowed this marriage to take place. It was doubtful he would have agreed, had he known more about the Baron of Montague. Tess's brows rose as a new idea took shape. An English priest would not annul her marriage, but a Scottish priest might be persuaded to see things her way.

Kenric took a step forward but stopped abruptly, turning to stare sightlessly out the chamber's narrow window with his hands clasped tightly behind his back. "You will never take it upon yourself to punish any of my men, ever again, for any reason. Is this clear?"

"But I—"

He turned to glare at her. "
Is this clear
?"

Tess
nodded,
dismissing the matter as she unconsciously rubbed her chin. Escaping Montague would be even easier, now that she knew the lay of the castle and its routines. Yet Uncle Ian's lands were more than a week's journey away and the shortest route would take her within half a mile of
Remmington
Castle
. It would be a journey as dangerous as the one to
London.

"My hounds are missing from the hall. Are you responsible?"

Tess nodded again, thinking she would have little problem with a horse and supplies. She'd already figured out how to make her way from the fortress with both.

"Did you threaten to cut off the toes of the kitchen staff?"

Another distracted nod.
After the annulment, a convent would be the perfect place to repent for the sins she'd committed these past few months. And the ones she had yet to commit in order to end this marriage. In a convent she would never again be gulled by a handsome face that hid a black heart. She would be safe. Her people would be safe. Relieved that she had a new plan to bolster her hopes, she turned her attention to the conversation at hand.

"Did you requisition one-tenth of my holdings' provender without my permission?"

Tess's eyes widened, wondering how he'd found out about that so quickly. She nodded uncertainly.

"Are you responsible for the fire at
Derry
Town
's tithing barn?"

"Aye, but—"

"
Yea,
or nay!"

"Yea," she
whispered,
a sense of dread gathering in the pit of her stomach.

"Did you charge one of my soldiers to carry out your orders when, in fact, I left Simon in charge of you?"

Tess looked surprised, her nod not quite as certain.

"And did you disobey Simon's charge by wandering off into the woods, knowing it was possible to stumble across a band of MacLeiths who are surely waiting for such a golden opportunity?"

"I am guilty of defying Simon about going to the woods, for I knew the risks," Tess admitted, absently twisting a fold of her skirt. "Yet I also know that Martha is old and may not live through the winter. No one has shown an interest in learning her healing skills, and no one knew where she gathered her herbs and medicines. I can take her place and tend the ills and injuries at Montague, should Old Martha fall ill, but I had to know where she finds the ingredients for her potions."

"So you risked your life and that of my men on the chance that a woman might die?" Kenric's tone was condescending and he rolled his eyes. "There were others who could have gone with Martha. I received word that you have maimed some of the servants," he continued briskly. "You will give me the names of those so punished and your reasons."

"None of the servants have been maimed or harmed in any way," Tess said defensively. "I would not actually inflict such a punishment, but after the fire at
Derry
Town
, the kitchen staff readily believed my threat to remove their toes. That gave them an incentive to serve up the fresh provender as edible meals instead of disgusting slops."

"You never threaten a punishment unless you are ready to carry it out," he told her in a clipped voice. "Did you order my soldiers to strip the buttery to the walls, simply to make a cleaning easier for the servants, knowing you took my men away from their duties on the training grounds?"

"You make it sound so—"

The reason for his anger suddenly crystallized in Tess's mind. He'd learned of everything she'd done in his absence and, amazingly, he was angry.

"Answer!"

"Aye!"
Tess's angry bellow surprised Kenric. He was astonished when she stood up and took a bold step forward, planting her hands defiantly on her hips. "And I would hear some word of praise rather than listen to my accomplishments being shouted out as criminal charges!"

"Praise?"
Kenric sputtered. He pointed again to the chair. "I did not give you permission to stand!"

"I did not ask it." Tess tossed her braid over one shoulder with a sharp nod to defy him openly, her temper ignited beyond caution. "Had I guessed what was going on at Montague, known that you were ignoring your duties as lord for a reason, I would not have worked my ringers to the bone these past weeks trying to regain ground that was lost through your neglect. Aye, I will never again interfere in your household, milord. Your soldiers can go back to living like pigs and sleeping amidst their own garbage in the great hall, right alongside the rats who come to feed on the remainders of their meals."

"You dare accuse me of neglecting my duty then refuse your own?" he asked ominously. "I think not
. '
Tis your duty to see to my household, and well you know it.
'Tis not your duty to interfere with my soldiers or to overstep your authority.
You will indeed continue the duties that are yours as my wife, without complaint."

Tess opened her mouth to disagree but realized just in time that she needed to continue overseeing the household affairs to gain another opportunity to escape. Her short nod of agreement was mutinous.

"If you have any other explanations for what you've done in my absence, I would hear them now."

Explanations he would tear apart to make her look the culprit? Not likely. Tess shook her head, glaring at the floor so he would not see her anger.

"You have done nothing but defy me from the moment we wed," Kenric said quietly. "Look at me, Tess."

She met his gaze boldly. His eyes were almost black, the lines of his face etched by a harsh scowl. Aye, he clearly intended to punish her for working like a draft horse, for doing things he should have done himself long ago. The thought was infuriating. Yet she knew the anger would give her the strength she'd need to withstand the punishment. He needed her alive, she reminded herself.

"Had any one of my men endangered so many lives, or done half what you have done these past weeks, I would see him tied to a post and flogged. If any had died as a result of his foolishness, he would die as well. By luck alone, none have suffered harm by your actions." He gave her a moment to consider his words. The smooth, utterly calm expression on his face was more frightening than any harsh look or word. "I will not order you flogged, or even do the deed myself. Your back was laid open by a whip only weeks ago and another flogging would surely kill you. But this time I cannot ignore what you have done. This time you will be punished."