He fell like a stone.
“Now,” she said breathlessly as she turned to Kevin. “Will you please release my father from your vault? He has done nothing except fail to pay your toll. I will pay you right now if you will only release him.”
He was looking at her in surprise, but the blue eyes were glittering. There was some humor there at a woman who had the wherewithal to bash a man in the skull like she had and then act as if it were all quite ordinary, as if she did it every day. She may have been tiny, but she was fierce.
He took a closer look at her.
“If I do not, are you going to smash a lute over my head?” he said. “What did you say your name was again?”
“Juliandra ferch Gethin.”
“You speak English perfectly.”
“My mother was English.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “That explains it,” he said. Someone else crashed over the table near them and he reached out, grasping her by the elbow to pull her away. “This room is deteriorating and I have no desire to get caught up in it, so for your own safety, come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“You came here to discuss your father. I suppose I should give you the courtesy since you protected me from those fighting soldiers.”
He turned and walked away. Greatly surprised that he should be concerned for her, with a touch of humor on top of it, she held out her hand to Megsy, quickly motioning the woman with her. She scooted after Kevin as Megsy limped after them both as fast as she could move.
They departed the hall and ventured into the cold, crisp night, with a clear sky above and a blanket of stars strewn across the heavens. Kevin had big legs, as powerfully built as the rest of him, but they moved very quickly for not being particularly long, and Juliandra had to run to keep pace with him.
There was no chance for Megsy to keep up, but Juliandra saw the old servant following at a distance. She knew that Megsy wouldn’t go far even if she lost sight of her. On they went into the keep, that enormous structure with the turrets at the top.
Kevin took the wooden stairs to the entry at the first level and Juliandra followed. Before she entered, her last look at Megsy showed the woman barely halfway across the bailey. More concerned for the release of her father at that point, she entered the cold, dark keep, catching sight of Kevin as he disappeared into a doorway near the entry.
Juliandra followed.
She walked into a chamber that smelled heavily of smoke and tanned hides. Looking around, she could see that there was an array of hide-bound furniture in the richly furnished chamber. There was an iron bank of tapers dripping fat onto the floor, but it gave off a good amount of light. As she stood by the door and looked around timidly, Kevin went over to a large table that was neatly stacked with vellum.
“Close the door,” he told her.
Juliandra shut the door, although she wasn’t entirely comfortable doing so. It wasn’t proper for her to be alone in a room with a strange man, but Megsy was probably already within earshot, so she took some comfort in that. As if a crippled maid could save her from the powerfully built knight over by the table. It was a false sense of security, but she held on to it.
The more she looked at him, the more imposing he became.
He was looking over some sheets of vellum on his table, finally lighting a pair of tapers on the table so he had more light with which to see. He was on the second sheet when he came to a halt.
“What’s your father’s name?” he asked.
“Gethin ap Garreg, my lord.”
Kevin continued reading what was in front of him for a moment before finally speaking. “Your father refused to pay the toll at the toll booth on the Guilsford Road,” he said, eyes on the vellum. “He was turned away and then he tried to run across a field to get around the toll booth.”
Juliandra sighed heavily. “I know,” she said regretfully. “His manservant told me. He said that Da refused to pay for a road he had been traveling on his entire life, so he tried to go around and was captured for it.”
Kevin glanced up from the vellum. “You do realize that I do not keep all of the tolls.”
She cocked her head curiously. “I do not understand.”
“I give half of them to the local churches to feed the poor,” he said. “Half of those tolls support those who cannot support themselves. I do not keep all of the money.”
By her expression, it was clear that she hadn’t known. “That is generous of you,” she said. “There are many poor along the Marches, for I see it daily. I give alms to the poor myself nearly every Sunday. I did not know that was what the tolls were for.”
He was still looking at the vellum. “Your father knew,” he said. “My men reported that they told him and he still refused to pay.”
Juliandra was becoming increasingly embarrassed for her father’s behavior. “He does not attend mass,” she said. “Ever since my mother died, he will not go. He says there is no God. It probably would have been better had you not told him what the tolls are for.”
Kevin finally set the vellum aside and looked at her. She was truly a beautiful little thing, with long, curling hair the color of a bay horse and eyes that were the brightest shade of green he had ever seen. A delicate, ethereal beauty, to be sure, and far too fine to live in the overgrown villages of Wales.
He’d never seen finer.
Being that he was a chivalrous knight, the first thing that came to his mind was the fact that she didn’t seem to have any male protection with her. He’d seen the limping servant, but no soldiers. No man for protection. A lass this lovely deserved a man by her side, for safety at the very least. He didn’t like to see women alone.
But as he admired her beauty, something else occurred to him.
Being Welsh, she knew the area. She knew the important nobles and the part they played in local politics. Perhaps she even knew the two warlords who had come to Wybren the first day he had occupied the castle to tell him he wasn’t welcome. But based on the report from his men, he had to deliver some bad news to the lady and he was certain she wasn’t going to take it well. It was clear that she was concerned for her father. Her presence here was proof of that alone.
He could have made it easy for himself. He could have lied to her about her father so she wouldn’t think he was responsible for the man’s death. He wasn’t, in truth – according to the report from his men, Gethin ap Garreg had been responsible for his own death. But he was certain his daughter wouldn’t see it that way.
Still… lying to her about it went against everything he stood for.
Kevin wasn’t the wily type. He wasn’t slick or conniving like some of his fellow Executioner Knights, nor was he subversive unless it was in the line of duty. He was the honest, upstanding, stalwart member of the group. Their conscience. But something told him that the woman standing in front of him was valuable. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did. Perhaps she could help him if he could make a friend out of her. But given what he had to tell her, he wasn’t sure how he could do that.
He took a deep breath.
“The toll booths, the court on Tuesdays, they are all part of bringing order to this region,” he said. “I believe that starving children should be fed and that money should come from the community. I believe that the unjust should be punished and that men who are wronged should have their moment to prove their innocence. Those are my beliefs, my lady. That is what I explained to old Lord Breidden when he asked me to assume command of his property. He wanted the Welsh to be treated fairly and I agreed. He did not make this decision lightly, nor did I. Do you understand me so far?”