Dragonblade Trilogy - 02 - Island of Glass by Kathryn le Veque

Author:Kathryn le Veque
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Published: 2012-07-25T05:00:00+00:00

***

Because of the commerce that was dependent upon the castle, Kenneth ordered the gates opened on a limited basis. There were heavy guards posted at the gates, watching everyone coming in and out of the castle. They had searched the castle thoroughly enough that he actually hoped Aubrielle’s attacker would try to make a break for the gates. In a reverse of logic, he thought that if they could not go to the assailant, let the assailant come to them.

Later, in hindsight, Kenneth would curse himself for not being at the gates to inspect the people passing to and fro. He would have recognized Aubrielle, disguised in a heavy peasant cloak and carrying a huge bundle of reeds she had pulled from the fish pond near the castle kitchens. She looked like a dirty, frightened farm girl. It was, truthfully, a clever disguise and no one questioned the small young woman leaving the gates. If only Kenneth could have suspected she would resume her escape attempts, to know how badly he had hurt her, he could have been there to stop her.

But that was the furthest thing on his mind. He was obsessively focused on Lucius, to right the wrongs that he had created. Aubrielle had been correct in every way and he harbored a huge amount of guilt that he had allowed himself to treat Lucius with special consideration. He did not blame Reid in the least for his advice; the decision was his burden alone. Reid, in fact, did not say a word when they cornered Lucius in the knights’ quarters. He obeyed Kenneth’s orders flawlessly. When Lucius resisted, Everett seemed to take distinct pleasure in roughing him up. That seemed to provoke Lucius into more violence and Kenneth found himself subduing his superior officer.

They took the captain to the vault. Much to Lucius’ discredit, he kicked and fought the entire way. What should have been a discreet arrest was a public spectacle and the whole of Kirk was in an uproar because of it. The gossip flew.

In the vault, Lucius loudly proclaimed his innocence. That was natural considering he did not remember anything about the attack. Kenneth had no doubt that the man believed he was wrongly targeted, a victim of his new lady’s hatred. But when he started spouting insults directed at Aubrielle, the knights on the other side of the cell grate could see, without a doubt, how much bitterness and resentment their captain harbored against her. If there had been any doubts in their mind as to who the culprit had been in the first assault, those doubts were erased.

There was no question in Kenneth’s mind what needed to be done. He did not even offer it up for discussion as he had before. The knights knew that, at sunrise the next morning, Lucius would face his ultimate punishment for his attack against the lady of Kirk Castle. Now it was Lucius’ last night on earth and the knights vacated the vault, leaving Lucius to his own morbid thoughts.

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