Medieval 03 - Enchanted

with
Ariane’s marriage to me,” Simon retorted. “I am
already content. Therefore, there is no cause for argument with
Baron Deguerre. He collects warriors in vain.”
    “Does he? Or does he merely bide his time
until word arrives that Geoffrey the Fair has been challenged by
Simon the Loyal and Geoffrey has been slain for his meddlesome
mouth?”
    “Deguerre will wait for that word until ice
forms in hell,” Simon said. “I can’t be bothered
swatting every dung fly that buzzes about the stable.”
    Dominic looked at the squires and curtly gestured
for privacy. The boys withdrew to the relative shelter of the
stairwell.
    “Simon…” Dominic began, then
sighed. “By the Cross, I had hoped it wouldn’t come to
this.”
    Tensely Simon waited, guessing what was troubling
his brother.
    “Let me send for Lady Amber,” Dominic
said finally. “She will scry the truth or falsehood of
Geoffrey’saccusations. Then there will
be an end to his trouble-making.”
    “No.”
    Simon’s flat denial was unexpected. It took a
moment for Dominic to respond. When he did, he was as blunt as his
brother had been.
    “Why not?” Dominic demanded.
    “I don’t want to put Ariane—or
Amber—through the agony of Learned scrying.”
    It was only half of the truth, but it was the only
half Simon planned to discuss.
    “God’s teeth,” Dominic snarled.

“Amber would put an end to Geoffrey’s lies.”
    “What lies?” Simon asked
distinctly.
    Dominic couldn’t hide his shock.
“Geoffrey says he is Ariane’s paramour!”
    “Nay. He merely insinuates it.”
    “But—”
    “Have you or anyone else seen any sign
whatsoever that Ariane has been less than faithful to
me?”
    Breath hissed out between Dominic’s teeth in
a vicious curse. His gauntleted hand smacked down on the stone
parapet.
    “Have you?” Simon demanded coolly.
    “Jesus and Mary,” muttered Dominic.
“Of course not! Since Geoffrey arrived, I have no doubt of
where and how that swine has spent every waking moment.”
    “With Sven as a constant, unseen
shadow.”
    “Aye.”
    Simon shrugged. “Then there is no
problem.”
    “Do not play the lackwit with me,”
Dominic said angrily. “I know full well that your mind is
even quicker than your sword.”
    Simon didn’t respond.
    “Geoffrey is bragging from battlements to
bailey that he has lain with Ariane,” Dominic said.
    “He has.”
    Dominic was too stunned to speak.
    “My wife and I spoke of the past once, and
only once,” Simon said. “I have permitted no talk of
the past since that night.”
    “Ariane told you Geoffrey was her
lover?”
    “She told me that Geoffrey had forced her in
Normandy.”
    “Forced her?” Dominic asked.
“Rape?”
    “Aye.”
    “And Baron Deguerre still thinks of Geoffrey
the Fair as his son?” Dominic asked in disbelief.
    “Aye.”
    “Wasn’t the baron told?”
    “He was told,” Simon said
neutrally.
    “And?”
    “It happened the night Ariane was informed
that Duncan of Maxwell rather than Geoffrey the Fair would be her
husband,” Simon said. “Geoffrey says that he was
summoned to her sitting room, shared a final cup of wine with her,
and found himself seduced.”
    Dominic’s eyes narrowed. “He was
believed?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?” Dominic demanded bluntly.
    “There were traces of a love potion in
Ariane’s jeweled perfume bottle. The bottle was found in her
bed, along with the blood of her lost virginity.”
    “Ariane told you this?”
    “She told me that Geoffrey was responsible
for her lost virginity. The details came from Geoffrey. He
remembers the event with great…relish.”
    Dominic swore. He could well believe that Geoffrey
enjoyed taunting Simon.
    “What does Ariane say to his
accusations?”
    “We do not speak of the past.
Ever.”
    “God’s blood,” said Dominic
fiercely. “What a fine basket of eels this is!”
    “Aye.”
    “What do you believe happened between
Geoffrey and Ariane?”
    Simon said not one word.
    “By all that is holy,” Dominic said in
a low voice. “ You believe
Geoffrey .”
    For long, tense moments Dominic searched
Simon’s face with glittering grey eyes that closely matched
those of the Glendruid pin. Then Dominic swore wearily and looked
away.
    “Killing Geoffrey will not change the fact
that I was not Ariane’s first man,” Simon said evenly.
“Nor will I put the future of Blackthorne Keep at risk for a
past that cannot be changed.”
    For a time there was only the wind and the