“Father Andrew would not lie on his deathbed. He would not condemn his soul like that,” Finn insisted.
“And Lander thought he was justified in spreading a deathbed confession he supposedly heard?” Ruddock asked, fighting to contain his anger.
“You made sure he paid for that, having his tongue cut out so he could say no more,” Finn accused.
“How dare you accuse me of that when it was you who sold me to the Wolfen Tribe and made me their slave… made me a barbarian. So watch your lying tongue, old man, or I’ll cut it out myself.”
“Ruddock,” Sorrell cautioned, seeing the anger that had fired to a rage in her husband’s eyes about to erupt.
“Leave us,” Ruddock ordered, casting a scowl at his wife. “And do not argue with me on this.”
Sorrell nodded, understanding there came a point where it was between father and son, and swiped the tankard off the small table before leaving the room.
“Now you lie,” Finn accused once Sorrell was gone. “I never sold you to those savages, you joined them of your own accord and showed your true colors by attacking a Northwick troop, brutally killing all but two, yet leaving both cruelly scarred. Then when your savagery became too much even for the barbarians, they sent you away. That’s when I knew you had to be stopped and I offered a reward for your death.”
“You believed I could do such horrible things, Father?”
“At one time no, but when you joined the barbarians and I found out you raided with them, I wondered if a barbarian was your true father and you had embraced your true heritage.”
Ruddock turned away from him, shaking his head, then looked back with disbelief at his father. “I rode with them to win my freedom.”
“So you dishonor yourself and raid with the barbarians?”
“Do you recall what you said to me when I was young and on a hunt with you and suffered an injury that would have left it nearly impossible for me to get home on my own?”
Finn nodded. “I told you that a Northwick is no coward and would do anything to survive.”
“I am no coward, Father, and I did what I had to do to survive. What I didn’t think I would survive was your betrayal, and not to me, to your wife. My mum isn’t here to defend herself against these atrocious lies, but I am. And I will get to the truth, for I know without question that your wife, my mum, would never have laid with another man. She lived to love you and only you, and you are a fool if you believe otherwise.” He walked over to the side of the bed and glared down at his father, staring boldly up at him. “When I find the person responsible for these lies, I will kill him with my bare hands, and then, old man, I will come for you.”
“Unless the devil gets me first,” Finn spat.
Concern for her husband had Sorrell pacing in front of the hearth in the Great Hall. She wished she could hear what father and son discussed, but Ruddock would tell her. If not all at first, then eventually.
“Something troubling you, my lady?” Erskine asked, glancing around. “And why isn’t Blodwen in attendance?”
“All is well, Erskine. I impatiently wait for my husband and Blodwen tends me well and is presently seeing to a chore I set her to.”
“I am glad to know that, my lady. Is there anything you and Lord Ruddock might need?” Erskine asked.
“No, we won’t be needing anything. We go for a walk in the woods. I’m curious about the healer there. Do you know of her?”
He bobbed his head. “I know of Sage, though I’ve not met her. The women seek her out. If it is a good healer you need, my lady, Wilda is a skilled one.”
“I will keep that in mind should the time come I need one.”
“Is that all, my lady,” he asked and went to grab the tankard off the table by Sorrell.
Sorrell snatched it up before his hand reached it. “I do need one more thing, Erskine, a small sack to hold this tankard.”
“As you wish, my lady,” he said and summoned a servant with the flick of his hand to see to the chore, then gave a respectful nod to Sorrell and turned to take his leave.
“Erskine,” Sorrell said and the man turned. “Are you responsible for the keep’s accounting?”
“Aye, my lady I record it all and report it to Erland monthly.”
“And who sees to all the other accounting?”
“Erland, my lady. He keeps excellent records of all that goes on.”
Sorrell smiled. “I learned something about the keep already.”
“A good start, my lady. Now if you need no more from me—”
“Go,” she said shooing him away as the servant returned and placed the tankard in a small sack. “I did not mean to keep you from your chores.”