Rise of the Defender (99 page)

     The tears were real this time. “But I have
to talk to you.” Her lips were trembling. “Please, Chris. Just for a moment.”

     His features did not soften, but he did not
reply right away. He continued to gaze at her for a moment. “What, then?”

     She sniffed and cleared her throat.
“Deborah told me what happened. What are you planning on doing with her
husband?”

     His brow rippled at the mention of his
sister’s husband. “First and foremost, I have sent for a priest to annul the
marriage,” he told her. “After that, I have yet to decide what to do with
Master Olmquist.”

     Dustin forced her fear down. She reached
out and grasped her husband, wanting to touch him so he would know her
sincerity.

     “Please do not annul the marriage,” she
begged softly. “They love each other so. They only did this because you were so
cold this afternoon and they feared you would deny them.”

     He cocked an eyebrow. “What they did was
disobedient and wrong, Dustin,” his voice was so low he was growling. “Whether
or not they love each other is not the issue but the fact is that I cannot
allow such blatant insubordination. 'Twas my decision to make; not theirs.”

     Dustin shook her head. “The decision has
already been made,” she sighed, suddenly very tired. He read her fatigue and
helped her to sit on the stairs.  She gazed up at him. “Why did you violate the
monastery?”

     He raised an eyebrow as he sat on the stair
below her. “Because they had no legal or moral grounds to grant them
sanctuary.”

     “What?” she asked, confused and outraged.
“They had every moral and legal right, Chris.”

     He shook his head. “Deborah and Gowen were
not fleeing death, nor great harm nor famine, nor were they in any imminent
danger of being separated or imprisoned. They requested sanctuary on purely
groundless reasons.”

     “Since when is love a groundless reason?”
Dustin said quietly. “They did what they did because they were afraid of you.
And because Deborah is pregnant.”

     His gaze lifted, meeting her wide gray
eyes. She held her breath, knowing the next few moments would determine his
reaction, waiting and wondering what her husband was going to do.

     “She
is
?” he asked. He pulled off
his helmet and it went sailing, angrily, to the bottom of the stairs. A mailed
hand raked through his damp hair. “Christ in Heaven, I cannot believe my ears.
Dustin, she's
pregnant
?”

     “Aye,” Dustin reached out and touched his
face, hoping to soothe him. “As am I. She and Gowen are madly, deeply,
hopelessly in love with each other. Now tell me, husband, if the situation were
reversed and it was you and I acting out the roles, would you have stopped at
nothing to make me your own? She carries his child, Chris. Surely you can
appreciate that.”

     He was fuming. “Appreciate it? Damnation, I
should spill his innards this very minute!”

     “But you won't,” Dustin said steadily. “He
is the father of your future nephew, Chris. And Deborah's husband.”

     “Damnation,” he spat, his big body tensed
as if he were contemplating some horrible action. Then he looked at her. “You
knew about this all along, didn’t you? You even...even
approve
of this
disgrace.”

     “'Tis no disgrace to love someone and to
want to have children,” she replied calmly. “What's done is done, Chris. They
are married now and the child will not be a bastard.”

     He did not look at her, his expression hard
as he stared off into the dimness of the abbey. She watched his face,
continuing to stroke his hair lovingly and hoping beyond hope he was
reconsidering his stance.

     The truth was that Christopher knew he
should be furious, but he could not seem to bring himself to a rolling boil.
Had he not loved Dustin as he did then his fury would be out of control and
Gowen would surely suffer a painful death. Yet because of the feelings he held
for his wife, he understood and could not bring himself to be overly angry.

     Still, he was enraged because they had
taken matters into then own hands but he knew now why they had done it. And he
furthermore knew there was no way he was going to annul the marriage.
Everything now suddenly made sense; all of the pleading, begging, the clues his
wife had given him that he had been too narrow to see. As always, he saw what
he wanted to see.

     After several long minutes, he simply shook
his head and she slipped up behind him throwing her arms around his neck and
pressing her face against the side of his head.

     “Be merciful to them, my lord,” she
whispered in his ear, sending chills up his spine. “Imagine if it were we who
were separated, subject to our fate by the decision of another, afraid yet so
desperately in love that we did not regret our hasty actions. If there was a
chance I was to be taken from you, would you not do everything in your power to
keep us together? That is what Gowen did. Do not fault him for loving Deborah
overly.”

     After a moment she felt his huge gloved
hand grasp her arms gently, and she felt him sigh. “I am given little choice in
the matter,” he muttered.

     She kissed his ear softly. “Please, Chris.
Let them be happy.”

     He closed his eyes at her touch, his mind
torn between the issue at hand and her closeness. “Lady, your reasoning and
wisdom improve by the day. Soon you will be as wise as your husband.”

     “Who do you think I learned everything
from?” she smiled, kissing his ear again. “I love you, Chris.”

     He squeezed her arms around his neck. “Where
is Deborah?”

     “In her room,” she replied. “I told her to
wait there for me.”

     Christopher sat broodingly another moment,
trying to remember when his life went so out of control. He was unused to
anything other than perfect obedience and order, but within the past year, he
felt as if his command over something as simple as his family was slipping
away. Not with David, but with the women - Dustin and Deborah were giving him
fits.

     “I would go see my sister's husband now,”
he said in a low voice, gently unwinding her arms and helping her to stand.

     “Can I come? Please?” she asked.

     He kissed her cheek. “Nay, sweetheart. Go
see to my sister, as I am sure she is in desperate need of reassurance.”

     Dustin dared a little smile. “Then you will
not annul the marriage? You will let them be?”

     He tried to glare at her, but his heart
wasn't in it. “Aye, I shall leave them be. But they live here, under my roof,
where I can protect my sister. And to hell with Gowen if he does not approve.”

     Dustin smiled broadly and kissed him. He
relented his hard stance with a throaty chuckle and kissed her again.

     “You have a heart as big as a lion,
husband,” she said softly. “Surely there is not a more understanding, generous
man on this earth.”

     “You have cast a new understanding on the
term Lionheart,” he said, his eyes warm. “'Tis usually a phrase to describe
fierceness and bravery. But you have always seen through me, haven't you? You
are the only person in this world who can read me like a book.”

     “Not always,” she admitted. “You can be
mightily unpredictable. And frightening.”

     “Speaking of frightening,” he raised an
eyebrow, “why did you fight with Jeffrey like that? You know the man was only
doing his duty.”

     “I have done worse to him,” she shrugged.
“And he has hit me back on occasion.”

     “He’s done
what
?” her husband
responded sharply.

     She laughed softly. “Mother gave him
permission to discipline me if needed and, on occasion, he has. Did you think
you were the first person to spank me?”

     He frowned severely. “Of course not, but I
never imagined Kessler was the enforcer.”

     Dustin shrugged. “Father did not have the
heart, so mother put Jeffrey in charge of dispensing punishment.”

     Christopher shook his head. “Amazing,” he
mumbled. “Go upstairs, now. I shall join you later.”

     She kissed him again before retreating up
the stairs. He watched her, waiting until the door closed softly before
retreating to the sub-level of the abbey.

     Dustin was nearly weak with relief as she
made her way back to Deborah's room. She knew Deborah would be ecstatic with
the turn of events, and Dustin was thrilled that the newlyweds would be living
at Lioncross. She and Deborah would go through their pregnancies together, and
their children would be constant companions. She was full of dreaming of the future
as she mounted the stairs and passed into the second floor corridor, her heart
and mood soaring with joy.

     Deborah's door was closed and she knocked,
softly calling her name. Receiving no answer, she lifted the latch.

     Four stories below her, Christopher heard
the scream.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

     “Jesus Christ, she has slit her wrists,”
David hissed as he struggled to stop the bleeding from Deborah's arm.

     Christopher was bent over his sister's
other arm, tying a tight tourniquet in an attempt to stop the blood flow. He
did not answer his brother as he concentrated on his task, making sure Gowen
was applying tight pressure to the wound he was tending. In the corner, Dustin
was sobbing loudly.

     “Is she going to die?” she asked anyone who
could answer.

     No one could, in fact, answer her. Deborah
had been bleeding for quite some time and Christopher was unsure if his sister
was going to survive. His heart twisted with remorse for the actions that had
driven his sister to the brink of despair, yet he regretted nothing. If he had
to do it over again, he would have changed nothing but for the fact that he
would have explained things to Deborah and not assumed that she understood his
reasons.  He felt guilty although he tried not to.

     “Where did she get the goddamn dagger?”
Edward wound another piece of linen around the wrist David was securing, but it
was bleeding rapidly.

     “It is hers,” Christopher replied, checking
his sister's condition by lifting up an eyelid.

     “Lower the head of the bed, Chris,” Leeton
said. “And keep her arms up. The blood needs to stay in the vital areas.”

     Christopher nodded and between him and
Leeton, they lowered the head of the bed while the others kept Deborah's arms
aloft as they tried to control the bleeding. In the corner, he could hear
Dustin crying.

     “Jeffrey, get my wife out of here,” he said
softly, not looking at her.

     “No, please,” Dustin pushed against Jeffrey
as he came to her. “I would stay here. Deborah needs me.”

     “We are doing all we can for Deborah,”
Christopher told her, trying to be gentle. “Please go and rest, sweetheart. Let
us take care of my sister.”

     Next to Christopher, Gowen was weeping
quietly. He was holding Deborah’s arm as Christopher and Edward bandaged it.
Dustin's eyes fell on him and she forced aside her grief to focused on the
anguished young man.

     “Gowen,”  she pleaded softly, “please come
with me. Let them work in peace.”

     He shook his head, dirty and disheveled
from the night's events. “I shall not leave her to die alone,” he whispered.
“She needs me now.”

     Dustin looked at Christopher and saw that
his expression was grim.  She curbed her hysteria, presenting a calmer picture.

     “I do not want to go, Chris,” she begged
quietly. “Please let me stay.”

     He did not reply, seeing that she was
easing somewhat after her initial shock. He knew that she certainly wouldn't
rest if he sent her away; indeed, she would be much worse off with worry.

     “Sit down, then,” he replied hoarsely. “Sit
down and be still.”

     Dustin obeyed and Jeffrey took position
beside her like a huge watchdog. Sir Nicholas and Sir Guy stood in the doorway,
watching with great concern as their comrades struggled to save the life of
their liege's sister.

     “If Burwell were here, he'd have her under
control,” David muttered, distraught. “Jesus, why did she do this?”

     “Fear,” Gowen answered quietly, staring at
Deborah's white face. “The baron drove her to it.”

     Tension of another kind filled the room.
Dustin's eyes went to Christopher, who was focused on his sister. Even though
her husband had been harsh with his sister, even she did not believe he was
responsible for this disaster. Anger filled her, her emotions surging from one
volcanic peak to the next.

     “That is not fair, Gowen,” she said
fiercely. “Christopher did nothing of the kind.”

     Gowen looked up at Dustin and she could
read the irrational grief. “He might as well have put the dagger in her hand
himself,” he said. “You know how unbalanced she has been lately. Of course he
drove her to this with his cruelty and his arrogance.”