Warwolfe (de Wolfe Pack Book 0)(56)

Nay, this wasn’t a good thing in the least.

“She wanted to tell you but I told her to wait, my lord,” he said calmly, quickly. “It is not her fault. It is mine. Even now, she did not put the blame on me as she explained why she had not told you, but the truth was that it was my fault entirely. You must not blame her. You and your men were enjoying a rare evening of relaxation and I told her it would be acceptable to tell you on the morrow, as you could not do anything about it last night.”

Gaetan was still enraged, his focus completely on Ghislaine as a hunter would stalk prey. He wasn’t even blinking as he stared at her. Ghislaine stared back at him, trying desperately to remain strong, but the truth was that she was terrified. The was Warwolfe, the Duke of Normandy’s greatest knight, and he had not achieved such fame by being weak.

He achieved that fame by being deadly.

Truth was, Gaetan was struggling with shock and revulsion such as he’d never experienced. Kristoph’s partial finger was bad enough, but in hearing that Ghislaine had known something about her brother she’d not confided in him – even if she’d wanted to but was discouraged by Jathan – told him that she was still not to be trusted. He wasn’t sure he could forgive her for the oversight.

In truth, there was an odd measure of disappointment and hurt mixed up in his outrage. Disappointment in Ghislaine, in himself, and hurt because he was coming to like the woman, just in the slightest. Last night when she’d bested de Russe, he’d found himself drawn to her more than he’d even been drawn to any woman he’d ever known. He’d spent all night seeing her in his dreams and when he’d awoken, he’d even had her ride near him as the army moved northward simply because he wanted her nearby. He didn’t even want to speak with her, as conversation was not usual on a battle march. He had simply wanted her nearby for the comfort it had given him.

Now, that comfort had been damaged.

“My lord?” Jathan said when Gaetan didn’t reply to his explanation. “Did you hear me? It was not the lady’s fault. It was mine. Punish me if you will, but do not blame her.”

Gaetan was still staring at Ghislaine, unblinking, and she was doing the same. But as he watched, he could see tears filling her eyes. She suddenly blinked, quickly, to chase them away, but they returned, playing on his sympathies no matter how hard he tried to resist. He didn’t want to feel compassion for her. He didn’t want to feel anything for her.

But he was.

Damnation… he was.

“What did you tell Lady Gunnora that made her send a messenger to your brother,” he finally asked, his voice quiet and raspy. “Explain this to me so there is no misunderstanding in my mind as to what you have or have not done.”

Ghislaine was trembling with fear, with emotion. “I certainly did not tell her to send a missive to Alary if that is what you are thinking,” she said, her voice quivering. “She asked many questions about your army and she wanted to know if I was your prisoner. I told her that I was your guide and that we were heading north. She told me that Alary had stopped at Westerham the night before and she said he was returning home. I said that we were also heading home as well because she asked and I did not want to tell her the truth. She wondered why Alary did not wait for us but she said no more than that. I can only surmise she believed she was helping when she sent the rider northward to tell Alary that I was behind him. The messenger said that she told him to tell Alary to wait for us to catch up.”

Her words were quiet and she looked him in the eye with every one spoken, which told him that she wasn’t lying. He’d seen his share of liars and they did not stand against him, strongly, as she was doing. In truth, her explanation made a good deal of sense and his gut reaction told him that there was no mal intent involved on the part of either Ghislaine or Gunnora. It was just a miscommunication and a woman who took initiative when she should not have. He looked at Jathan.

“You were sitting with the women last night,” he said. “Did you hear this conversation she speaks of?”

Jathan nodded. “I heard it all,” he said. “Lady Ghislaine never told Lady Gunnora to send for Alary. In fact, she did her best to avoid the subject. Whatever Lady Gunnora did was completely on her own.”

Gaetan had no reason to disbelief his priest. Much like the rest of his knights, he trusted the man implicitly but it was a good thing the man had heard the conversation. Otherwise, Ghislaine would be cast into the shadows of mistrust quite easily. Gaetan had to admit that he was relieved, at least for Ghislaine’s role in all of this. But Lady Gunnora’s role was something else altogether.

The woman acted when she should not have and she had cost Kristoph.

Swiftly, Gaetan turned away from Ghislaine and made his way back to Aramis and Téo, who were standing on the road with the others. His jaw was ticking furiously as he faced them.

“It was Lady Gunnora who betrayed us,” he muttered. “Aramis, you will return to Westerham with five hundred men. Take Wellesbourne and St. Hèver with you.”

Aramis nodded grimly. “What would you have me do?”

Gaetan had no mercy in his eyes. “Burn Westerham and the surrounding village to the ground,” he muttered. “Have half the soldiers confiscate anything of value, including livestock and stores, but the rest of it… burn it. And you make sure Lady Gunnora understands that sending that message to Alary last night was the catalyst. I will tolerate no traitors towards me or my men. She will understand that. What she did cost Kristoph a finger.”