Page 85 of The Thornwyck Rose
David ran to his father.
“Please, no, Father,” he whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Seren tried not to cry, but how could she not, watching Ragnar die and then not be there for him in his grief.
But the fifteen-year-old husky Ragnar knocked his two guards to the ground before they could strike.
“He is a liar!” Erik yelled, pushing Ragnar behindhim. “You ask the man who wishes me suffering and dead? He lies to avenge his kin, his aunt Lady Clarisse de Léry!”
Guards approached them with spears, but at Erik’s question, Bishop Thurstan stood with folded hands, stilling all movement in the great hall. “If there is an accusation of unfaithfulness against the woman whose prayers are answered by God, even when she has not pledged her life in a nunnery, as men of the church, we need at least two to three witnesses, Lord Henry, to sanction such an accusation and execution.”
Bishop Alaric nodded. “Yes, your Commander has called out your only witness as motivated against him. Do you have another?”
Henry smiled and let Seren’s hair go. He walked over to Jovin and then called out, “Master Geoffrey de Bramber.”
Seren closed her eyes, finally unable to hold a few tears at bay.
Not Geoffrey.
Not after she’d said what she did in the alcove about if Erik died, the keep would fall to ruin. Her words marred Geoffrey’s reputation, his skill, and his honor. And, he was the former Commander of the Guard. All knew he wanted his rank back, especially as a noble’s son.
Her gaze shifted to David; he’d watch his friend-brother and his mother die that day.
Erik scoffed and gritted, “He is?—”
But Geoffrey stepped forward and interrupted him. “I am here, Commander de Montfort, and though I also wish to see you dead so your rank can be returned to me, I am a man after the Lord’s heart.” He came up to the dais, stared Henry in the face before turning to face the men of the church. He bowed at the waist.
“I do not believe bearing false witness to be a righteous method to obtain that which I selfishly want when it involves the innocent.”
“Careful, Master de Bramber,” Lord Henry said.
“I was there at the alcove at Briarwood,” Geoffrey continued without looking back at Henry, “waiting for themto come as planned. The lady was erratic, angry at Commander de Montfort for saving her instead of her children after Lord Henry’s false attack, as a good Mother would be.”
The bishops nodded in agreement.
“It was then, Commander de Montfort executed Lord Henry’s test of loyalty against Lady de Thornwyck in her erratic state, but milady stepped away from him and asked if he was going to kiss her or whisper in her ear. He said, ‘Whisper.’ She replied, ‘Good.’ For if it was the former, she made a vow to God to be a faithful wife.” He paused. “And from what I have seen,thatshe is.”
Bishop Thurstan dipped his chin. Bishop Alaric sat back in his chair, tilted his head as he stared past Geoffrey to the Marcher Lord behind him.
Lord Henry growled. “You agreed with Captain de Léry when we spoke in the council chamber.”
Geoffrey turned around. “You told me it was to get rid of dogs. Lying to remove pagans from your court is one thing,”—his gaze flicked to Erik and Ragnar—“but lying to remove your divinely favored wife is another.”
He pointed at Seren. “I shall not have God’s hand against me in battle for causing her to bleed.” He leaned in and whispered, “Do what you wish to me for that.”
Henry’s nostrils flared.
Geoffrey was a noble’s son, a second son, but still a noble. He wouldn’t have been able to do much to him, not like he could manipulate Jovin, whose family had fallen from grace, or Erik, who was nothing but a Norseman in a Norman’s clothes.
“Dismissed,” Henry gritted.
Geoffrey and Jovin returned to their positions along the wall in the Commander’s corner, leaving Henry standing alone, fuming on the dais, with his son’s grip on his sleeve. Henry pushed David off.
David sucked back his tears and slid closer to Seren.
The guards with blades at her neck did not move, and Seren stayed on her knees.
Bishop Thurstan spoke.
