Sir Matthias glanced up at her. “You should go back inside.”
The pain in his words strengthened Sapphire’s resolve, but that wasn’t what he needed. She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.
After a moment, he held her close and laid his cheek against her hair.
“I hate my grandfather,” she whispered. “I’m sorry he did this. That he brought fear and pain to your family.”
“Our family,” Matthias said.
She held him tighter. “I don’t know what to do. I want to strike back, to make him hurt as much as he’s hurt us, maybe more.”
Sir Matthias touched a finger to her lips. “Those are Rashalee’s words. This is how She gets in. We must pray to Dracor for justice.”
Sapphire was already tainted by Rashalee, but she would not sully her husband. Whatever she did to strike back at her grandfather, she would not involve him. And she would strike back.
Sapphire stroked Sir Matthias’s cheek as she stared up at him. “Even now you have such faith.”
“Especially now. It’s not faith if you only have it when it’s easy.”
“What do we do to see justice served?”
Matthias laid his hand over hers. “Perhaps you’ve given me what I need to heal the man that attacked you. If not for the goodness in him, then for the justice in his testimony against Lord Carsons.”
It would be the thug’s word against her grandfather’s, and Lord Henry Carsons would use his title, wealth and privilege to cast doubt on the other man. Sapphire knew too well how her grandfather worked.
Still, she said nothing as the shadow lifted from her husband. Sapphire followed him back into the house, and Sir Matthias knelt beside the dying man. The Knight of Valor whispered a prayer to Dracor, followed by another. A hint of the golden light shimmered over Matthias’s fingers, and he touched it to the thug’s forehead.
The man moaned and writhed as if the healing spell caused him pain.
Sir Matthias sat back on his heels and shook his head. “He’ll live to see the sun rise, but I don’t know if he’ll ever open his eyes again.”
“You did what you could.” Leanne laid a hand on her son’s shoulder. “More than most would.”
Sir Matthias glanced up the stairs. “How are the kids?”
“Resting. We’ll have you take another look at Celena in the morning. She’s a strong woman, but it’s still not good to have that much of a fright.” Leanne’s hands shook as she sat down and closed her eyes.
Sir Matthias sat beside his mother and called the golden light. This time, it was bright enough to illuminate the whole room.
“Don’t you dare,” Leanne said. “I’ll be all right, and I want to remember what happened in the morning. Figure I’ll be recounting it all to a bunch of Knights of Valor.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Some hired thugs broke into my home and threatened my family.” Leanne folded her arms over her slim chest. “You bet I’m telling the Knights what happened.”
Sapphire admired the woman’s courage. Touching a hand to her own throat, she wondered how much she’d remember in the morning.
Leanne fixed her gaze on them as she laid one hand over Sir Matthias’s and the other over Sapphire’s. “Now you two need to start talking. And you can begin with the truth behind your rushed marriage.”
Sir Matthias studied his mother, and his gaze slid over to Sapphire. He wouldn’t say a word without her permission. Not even to his mother. But as he’d told her before, this was her family now, at least for the moment, and they deserved the truth.
Sucking in a deep breath, Sapphire told Leanne everything. How she suspected her grandfather of murdering her parents, how he’d tried to marry her off to a man suspected of killing his first wife, and how she’d turned to Sir Matthias for help.
Help Sir Matthias had given her.
Sapphire kept her voice monotone, emotionless, as if she were reading off the cargo register of a transport ship. Easier to feel nothing than to admit how her grandfather had shattered her life.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Sir Matthias said. “But we are married. She is my wife.”
“All I’ve ever wanted for my children is for them to be happy.” Leanne kissed her son’s cheek. “Go on outside and see what your father found. He’d be back already if there was nothing.”
Sir Matthias nodded and jogged out the door.
Sapphire watched him leave, a thick lump in her throat. By the gods, she didn’t deserve him.
Leanne turned her sharp gaze on Sapphire. “He’s a good boy. A good man. Whatever else happens, I want you to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“That you’ll try not to hurt him. That once you have what you need from him, you’ll let him down gently.”
Sapphire didn’t want to let him down at all. But he wasn’t hers and never had been. Never would be. “He only married me because-”
“I know what he agreed to, but I also see the way he looks at you. The way he smiles at you. And the way he couldn’t heal a man because of his feelings for you.”
The lump in Sapphire’s throat nearly choked her. “Do you really think…”
“Matthias uses pretty words all the time. When it comes to what he feels, look at his actions.”
Sapphire considered how easily she’d convinced Sir Matthias to marry her. How he’d been patient and gentle with her in the bedroom, waiting for her to be ready rather than rushing her. Remembered the way he’d introduced her to his family and friends. The way he held her at night.
More than anything, she wanted Leanne to be correct.
But Sapphire also knew how tainted by Rashalee she was.
Chapter 19
The sun had yet to crest the horizon when a pair of mounted Knights of Valor in full armor thundered into the yard. Sir Matthias squeezed Sapphire’s hand, then he and Ryland pushed away from the table and went out to meet the men.
Sapphire watched from the window as Sir Matthias told the Knights what had happened, then showed them the bodies. The younger of the two Knights turned away for a moment and composed himself before turning back.
She understood. It was a sight she’d never forget.
After several more minutes, Sir Matthias led the two Knights of Valor up to the house.
They bowed to her and Leanne, then led Leanne into the other room where they took her statement. Sir Matthias sat beside Sapphire, but he remained silent, not lightening the moment with an amusing story as he so often did.
After several minutes, the Knights of Valor returned, and Sapphire followed them back to the parlor.
They asked her what had happened, and Sapphire recounted the events as she remembered them. The younger Knight took notes as the older one questioned her.
“You were the one that sent the distress call?”
“Sir Matthias gave me the vial and told me what to do if there was trouble. When I saw the men surrounding him outside, I used the vial.”
“You said the bandit mentioned your grandfather?” the older Knight asked.
“He did. Something about my grandfather rewarding him well. I tried to convince him my grandfather wouldn’t honor his word, but the man wouldn’t listen. He also seemed unaware that Sir Matthias is a Knight of Valor.”