Dark Deceptions: A Regency and Medieval Collection of Dark Romances(152)

“Get out of here,” he told the group. “Go back to your duties and stay out of my way. All but my knights, you will remain.”

The senior soldiers filed out silently, quitting the chamber and eventually the keep altogether. Keller waited until he heard the entry door shut before looking at his three knights.

“I am having a serious difficulty grasping this,” he said, rubbing at his eyes in an exasperated gesture. “I cannot fathom how you let that man escape. Well? I am waiting for an explanation that makes sense because right now, all I can see is three massive failures standing before me. How on earth did you achieve your current posts when you were capable of such failure?”

Aimery, with a swollen nose and two black eyes, spoke softly. “It was inexcusable, my lord,” he agreed. “I apologize for myself because I should not have let my injury slow me down as it did. I should have….”

George cut his brother off. “He could hardly see, my lord,” he told Keller, watching his brother’s indignant expression. “He fell down twice running behind me and the third time, he was in the kitchen yard and slipped in the mud. He went right into the butcher block and knocked himself giddy. D’Einen had already passed through the postern gate at that point so I ordered several soldiers to pursue the man so that I could help my brother. The failure is all mine, as I should not have returned to aid my brother. I am willing to accept your punishment.”

Aimery’s mouth was hanging open in outrage as he glared at his brother. “It was my fault,” he declared, turning to Keller. “You must punish me first.”

George scowled at his brother. “Shut your pie hole, you fool!” he hissed. “You were in no condition to capture d’Einen, so I am the one who must be punished! It was my fault!”

“It was my fault!”

William opened his mouth to shut them both up but Aimery threw a punch at his brother and they both went down, tumbling over a table and crashing to the ground. William began yelling at them, moving to pull them apart, as Keller just stood there and rolled his eyes. He realized, to his surprise, that he was very close to grinning at the foolery of the Ashby-Kidd brothers. He’d seen them pull this kind of idiocy before and he’d always yelled at them, frustrated at their behavior. But at this moment, all he could feel was amusement, especially when Wellesbourne began tossing them about.

“Enough!” William roared, grabbing George by the neck and throwing him off his brother. “Sweet Bleeding Christ, Aimery, get off the damn ground. What is the matter with you, behaving like that?”

Aimery was furious as William yanked him to his feet. “George only backed off the pursuit of d’Einen because of me,” he insisted angrily. “It is not right for him to take the blame when it was clearly my fault.”

Keller put up his hands. “Shut your mouths, all of you,” he snapped. “God’s Bloody Rood, what a stable of knights I have. Throwing punches and demanding to be blamed for a failure? I have half a mind to lash you to the vault and beat you all senseless. Yet as much as it would give me hours of endless joy to do that, I must refrain. The fact of the matter is now that d’Einen has escaped us, we must locate him. That is our task at hand.”

George and Aimery managed to calm themselves, but it was a struggle. William slapped George on the head and directed the young man across the chamber, well away from his brother. When William was sure they weren’t going to charge each other again, he turned to Keller.

“As I told you, I have sent scouts out to pick up d’Einen’s trail,” he said quietly. “But I must ask this question; do you truly care if the man is returned? If he is gone, then the trouble he creates is gone, including the threat to your wife and her sister. Nether will be a more peaceful place, one would hope.”

Keller, too, was calming after his initial rage. The antics of the Ashby-Kidd brothers had managed to loosen him a bit. In fact, he was coming to appreciate these men who served under him. They were competent in spite of what he had said, and they were genuinely dedicated to his service. He’d spent the past two months trying not to get close to them, to let them into his world and into his thoughts, but he was coming to think that the wall he’d put up around himself to protect his damaged heart had been too big a wall. It was lonely being isolated like that. Chrystobel had already succeeded in knocking down some of that wall. Perhaps he needed to lower it further to include the men that served him. Especially Wellesbourne; he suspected the man would make a fine friend. With a heavy sigh, he turned away and sought out the nearest chair.

“And I would agree with you except for one thing,” he said, easing his big body onto the oak frame chair with the rigid back. “It is my fear that d’Einen has gone off to rouse trouble against us. His father mentioned that he was friends with a local lord. What if he goes to that lord and manages to rouse the man against us? At least if he is locked up in the vault here at Nether, he cannot create trouble.”

William agreed, somewhat. “I still say he’s better off away from Nether,” he said, scratching his blond head in a weary gesture. “But I will tell you what the scouts say when they return. Mayhap he has not gone too far and capturing him will not be an issue.”

Keller sat back against the chair, shifting when the wound in his back pained him. He shifted around a few more times until he could find a comfortable position.