Giddy was furious. “And the men would do your bidding only because they know you shall reward them,” she seethed. “I know what you’ve done, lady. I know that you are not as pure as you want everyone to believe.”
Gavriella’s eyes widened. She was about to wrap her hands around Giddy’s neck but her father was on his feet, grasping her by the arms and pulling her away.
“Nay, Gavy,” he said. “Go, now. Prepare for our guests.”
Gavriella yanked herself from her father’s grasp. “How can you keep her here, knowing how she treats me?” she demanded. “Why do you keep her here, Father?”
Merek waved her off, giving her a feeble push towards the chamber door. He didn’t want to talk about the situation, or deal with it, and he headed back to his chair as Giddy stood up and brushed herself off. This was the Merek they’d been dealing with since Giddy had arrived – apathetic, befuddled, weak.
Very weak.
Infuriated, Gavriella focused on Giddy.
“Your days here are numbered, wench,” she said. “Do not become too comfortable. As soon as I find out where you really came from, I’ll throw you out myself.”
All Giddy had to do was put her hands on Merek, possessively, and the message was clear. Unless Merek dismissed her, she wasn’t going anywhere. And she probably wouldn’t leave even if he did. She had a good thing going and she wasn’t going to let it go so easily.
Enraged, Gavriella quit the chamber and slammed the door.
She met Lukas when she was halfway down the stairs.
“Is he –?” Lukas began.
Gavriella cut him off. “He’s with that… that whore,” she said, close to tears because she was so angry. “I told him about the army. He’s expecting you.”
She pushed past him but he grabbed her before she could get away completely. “What happened?” he asked, genuinely concerned. “Why are you so upset?”
Gavriella was trying to stave off the tears. “Lukas, how can we get rid of that woman?” she asked. “It is bad enough here with my father the way he is, but she makes the situation so much worse. What can we do?”
Lukas sighed heavily. “I have tried, my lady,” he said. “Your father wants her here.”
Gavriella shook her head in frustration. “I have been hearing the same thing since I returned from London,” she said. “Mayhap I could give her some money to go away. Mayhap that’s what she is after, anyway. I have a very bad feeling about her, Lukas. She is after something.”
“I know,” Lukas said quietly. “I feel the same way. If I wasn’t such an honorable man, possibly she could meet with an accident and we could be done with her. But so far, she’s really done nothing but keep your father company. She’s not stolen anything that I can see, and she hasn’t done anything treacherous.”
Gavriella wasn’t satisfied. “She’s rude and insufferable,” she said. “I am going to offer her money to see if she will go away.”
“If your father finds out, he may become angry.”
Gavriella looked at him. “My father and I have been at odds for some time now, Lukas,” she said. “One more thing will not make any difference. But I do apologize for being short with you. That woman has me up in arms. My father is waiting for you and I am off to ensure the knights have a soft bed and a clean chamber.”
Lukas smiled faintly at her. “Your efforts are appreciated,” he said. “And do not let Giddy get the better of you. That is what she wants. You are far better than she is and she knows it. Do not let her use that against you.”
Gavriella took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm. Lukas was like the big brother she never had, always kind to her, always protective. There had never been anything romantic between them, not even before he married his wife. Gavriella had simply never felt that way about him. He was more like family and that was the only way she would ever look at him. In any case, she was glad to have him around.
He was the one stable thing around this place.
“Thank you, Lukas,” she said. “I do not know what I would do without your kindness. I will not let her get to me.”
“Good,” he said. “I’d better see to your father before that cow comes looking for me. And you must see to those chambers. Make haste, my lady. The de Wolfe army approaches.”
Gavriella nodded and continued down the stairs, pushing Giddy out of her mind. She had other things to focus on. Men to bed, food to provide. All in a day’s work as the chatelaine of Falstone.
Little did she know what, however, she would soon be facing.
Her stars were about to change.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Look to the east,” Gareth said. “A storm is coming in. See it?”
Andreas was astride his muscular war horse, the one that had replaced the horse he’d had for eighteen years who had fallen in battle three months ago. The horse’s name had been Otho, a gray beast missing one eye, but he’d been hell in a fight. Oddly enough, it hadn’t been a weapon that killed him – he’d simply seized up in the middle of a fight and dropped dead, leaving Andreas pinned beneath him. It had taken his father, his brother, and several men to lift the horse enough so he could be pulled out from underneath.
Andreas missed that horse.
He was still getting used to the Belgian charger he now rode, the one as dark as a moonless night. The horse was gorgeous, young, and powerful, but Andreas felt like all he did was wrestle the beast to keep him controlled. The horse seemed to have the same disposition in battle or out of it – vicious and edgy. He swung that big head around and knocked men down with ease, a particularly valuable trait in a fight, but not so much when they were simply riding along and not trying to kill anyone.
It was Cassius who had named the horse The Hammer, but it was Andreas who felt like he was the one being hammered every time he rode the damned thing.
“I see it,” he said after a moment, cuffing The Hammer on the side of the neck when the horse threw his head once again and bashed into Gareth’s horse. “That means snow. We must get to Falstone before the weather lets loose. I do not want to be caught on the open road with a snowfall.”
Gareth agreed with him. “Should I send a man ahead to tell them of our imminent arrival?”
Andreas was looking ahead at Falstone in the distance. “I want you to look at the location of the castle,” he said. “Is it fair to say that from their position, they would be able to see our approach?”
Gareth was young and eager, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew what his brother was getting at. “Aye,” he said sheepishly. “So they already know we’re coming.”
Andreas fought off a grin. “They do,” he said. “But that does not mean you cannot send someone ahead to give them exact numbers so they know where to position everyone. From the looks of it, the castle isn’t terrible sizable. There might be some logistical issues.”
Gareth nodded. “Agreed,” he said. “May I ride ahead?”
“You may.”
Flashing a smile that looked very much like their father, Gareth spurred his horse onward, thundering down the road that was a mixture of mud and ice. As he charged off, another knight rode up to take his place.