“So, my father, Lord Glynval, was able to accompany us back here. He was also able to explain to Duke Theodemar the treachery that Claybrook had enacted in England. Armed with this knowledge, along with Duke Wilhelm’s message, he had already been preparing to set out the next morning when I arrived with the final details. We decided to set out a few hours later, instead of waiting until morning.”
“I am thankful you did.” She entwined her fingers in his and pressed the back of his hand to her cheek.
He had to take a deep breath to refill his lungs before going on. “Duke Theodemar supplied me with a horse, and my father had brought my own mail hauberk and sword from home. While traveling here, we received word of where to join forces with Duke Wilhelm and his men.”
She had been staring into his eyes with a sleepy, content expression, when her eyes went wide with horror and she screamed. Colin turned as a raised sword came straight at his head.
He ducked and the sword struck his shoulder. Colin raised his own sword and hit Claybrook’s wrist, for it was Claybrook who had struck him. The sword fell from Claybrook’s hand. He lunged for it, but Colin placed his booted foot on Claybrook’s shoulder and pushed with all his might. The kick sent Claybrook sprawling backward.
Claybrook’s sword slid across the floor. Colin glanced behind him as Margaretha snatched up the weapon.
“Stay back,” he told her.
Claybrook was slow getting up and Colin thrust his sword against his chest. He could easily kill the villain, and he had fantasized many times of doing just that, of running Claybrook through. But somehow, his thirst for Claybrook’s blood had melted away, replaced by a much diff erent desire — for Margaretha’s respect.
“I will not kill you,” Colin said, “even though you don’t deserve mercy. But as a wise person lately reminded me, I need to leave room for God’s vengeance.”
Claybrook was not wearing armor, and the tip of Colin’s sword was pricking his skin through his shirt. He yelped like the coward he was, then lay back on the floor. His face was gray and he was breathing hard. “Who poisoned me?” He kept his eyes closed as he spoke. “If not for the poison, I would not have been so easily defeated.”
“But you still would have been. Good always conquers evil in the end.” God had decreed it to be so since before time.
“What will you do to me?” Claybrook opened his eyes and gazed up at him.
“That is up to Duke Wilhelm. I am done with you. Duke Wilhelm can take you to his king and have you punished. There are certainly more witnesses to the crimes you have committed here. But if you ever again set foot in England, I shall make sure you are given the welcome you deserve.”
Colin shouted for Duke Wilhelm. Within moments, he was striding down the corridor with one of his men. “Good work,” Duke Wilhelm said. They hauled Claybrook to his feet and dragged him, none too gently, down the stone steps toward the dungeon.
Steffan and Wolfgang were staring, their mouths open, at Colin and his sword. He winked at them as he put the sword back in its sheath.
Shouts resounded from the courtyard and Margaretha ran to the window to look out.
“Father’s knights are returning with prisoners. We have won!” She turned to him, her face lit with a big smile.
He came over to the window to join her, stepping around Adela and Kirstyn, who were still sitting on the floor. The men outside were shouting jovially and celebrating.
“It is over, then.”
“Which one is your father?” Margaretha asked him.
“That one there,” Colin said. “He’s wearing a black surcoat with the red and yellow chevron from our coat of arms.”
“Oh yes, I see him. And there is my father greeting him. Isn’t it wonderful that they are friends? Things seem to have worked out so perfectly in the end, didn’t they? Even though they started out so badly.”
“Very true.” Things had not started out well, but now . . .
Margaretha’s gaze shifted to his shoulder. “Did Claybrook’s sword hurt you?”
“I barely felt it. The chain mail protected me.” He used his fingers to brush back a curl that had worked out of her braid and dangled by her temple. Her hair was as soft as silk. His heart started to speed up.
One of Duke Wilhelm’s knights appeared at the top of the steps. Margaretha’s little brothers spoke to him in excited tones.
“They’re asking,” Margaretha explained, “if it is safe for us to come out now.”
The knight must have affirmed that it was, because the boys bolted out the door, whooping, and Margaretha’s two sisters also left.
Suddenly, he was alone with Margaretha.
Margaretha was thankful Colin was only wearing the long mail tunic and not the hard metal plates of armor like Valten wore in jousting tournaments. She could snuggle close to him. But did she dare? They were alone, but anyone might come into the solar at any time, as the door was open. She smiled up into his blue eyes. “You said you had more to say to me. How long do you think we have before we are discovered?”
“Not long, no doubt.” He stared at her lips. “We should make the most of it.”