Once He Loves (Medieval 3)

Briar had not. She stared, startled by the revelation, and not quite sure what to make of it.

“She married my father and destroyed him, although I take some blame for that. Do not mistake, I was not innocent in the matter. She cast her lure, but I was quick to take the bait. My father never forgave me. He was blind with love for her, and did not want his face pushed into the reeking truth. Aye, lady, my life was a ragged thing, until I met Lily.”

He smiled, and it was a smile at once sweet and sad, and suddenly he did not look so much brutal as tired.

“’Twas Lily who gave me the strength once and for all to break with Anna, for even though I had not seen her for many years, she had remained a part of my mind. Hatred for her, and myself, had worked on me, eating into me.” He leaned closer, as if confiding in her. “I know what hatred is, Lady Briar.”

Briar tried to meet his eyes and could not. He knew. He had looked into her heart and read it so well, as if she had told him exactly how she had spent the last two years of her life. Radulf knew. And it was a terrifying thought…but it was also a relief.

Her own voice came out a little hoarse, but still strong. The loss of that final strand of her dark plot had not diminished her, if anything it had strengthened her and set her free.

“I have learned there were many who had reason to hate Anna, or wish her out of their way. She played with the emotions, my lord, and sometimes that is a dangerous thing to do.”

“Aye, Anna enjoyed danger,” he said, thoughtful, frowning a little. “Some men are more vulnerable inside than others, and because of that they are more likely to strike, to kill rather than to wound. But I did not hurt her, lady. I did not need to. I had Lily, and I had put Anna’s evil behind me. You must look elsewhere for your murderer.”

Ivo shuffled his feet, and Radulf glanced at him questioningly.

“You have someone in mind, de Vessey?”

“Miles, Lord Radulf.”

Radulf stroked his chin, and the red stones in the black ring dazzled in the candlelight. “You see Miles in the role of Anna’s murderer? Would he kill a woman?”

Ivo’s face turned grim, but there was resignation there, too. As if the extent of his brother’s evil was so well known to him, it had ceased to surprise him.

“Miles would cut a woman’s throat as easily as he would snuff a candle, my lord. If she threatened him, or he felt he had made a mistake in joining with her, then he would kill her. If he was tired of her, or she had made him angry, or inadequate in some way, then he would kill her. My lord,” and his voice was so heavy with bitterness that Briar tightened her grip on his hand, “if a woman failed to smile at Miles when he smiled at her, he would kill her.”

“He has cau

sed you great suffering,” Radulf said, and there was understanding in his voice. “’Tis time you dealt with your brother, Ivo.”

“I know it, lord. That moment is fast approaching, and I think even had I wanted to, I would not be able to avoid it. I must fight him, and this time the fight will end with one of us dying.”

Briar made a little sound, but neither man glanced at her. They were intent upon each other, and the words Ivo had just spoken.

“I think I would prefer it if you lived, Ivo,” Radulf said with grave humor.

“So would I,” Ivo agreed, “but Miles is cunning, and he has no conscience. He has always beaten me before.”

Radulf grew intent. “But not this time. You are ready for him now, Ivo, and you will give no quarter. You will destroy him.”

Ivo nodded, but Briar felt his uncertainty like a dark cloud about him. Jesu, did he really think he would die? Was that why they were here, so that he could give her into Radulf’s keeping? Suddenly she knew it to be true.

“I would ask something of you, my lord,” he was saying now. “I wish to wed the Lady Briar as soon as possible. I need to keep her close, and I can only do that if she is my wife. But if I do wed her, if I show him by doing that how much I treasure her, then Miles will hunt her even harder. And if I am dead, my lord, if I can no longer protect her from him, then I beg that you will take her into your care.”

“Ivo,” Briar whispered, longing for him to stop speaking as if he were already cold and in his grave. It would not happen, it would not! Not if Briar had anything to do with it.

Radulf smiled. “I know that desperate feeling well, de Vessey. Aye, marry her on the morrow. We will have the wedding here, and then we can make a celebration of it. That should show Miles you expect to live a long and happy life, and do not even think of failure. Does that suit you, Lady Briar?”

“I will not wed just to be safe, my lord,” Briar said, her face stiff with the effort not to cry.

“Briar,” Ivo murmured, and turned her to face him, ignoring the interested stares of Radulf’s men. “Miles hates me, and he knows you are my weakness. Wed me, please. Let me protect you and the babe. Let Lord Radulf protect you. I need to know you are safe.”

She gazed unflinchingly into his dark eyes. “Will you tell me what is between you and Miles, if I agree?”

He didn’t want to, she could see he didn’t want to, but he would. Resignation drained his face of emotion. “Aye, demoiselle, I will tell you all. I swear it. I should have trusted you before. Between us there can be no secrets.”

Secrets.