Page 77 of The Tempest
Fox immediately took off into the tavern, on the hunt for the red-haired pirate queen they’d all seen from a distance, but Sinclair came to stand alongside Payne as he faced off against his brother.
“Let me help you,” Sinclair said in a low voice. “Let me take fight for you. It will be my honor.”
“Nay,” Payne said. “Although I thank ye, I will deal with my brother.”
“If you plan to kill him, let me,” Sinclair muttered in his ear. “You do not want to have his blood on your hands. Not your brother, no matter what he’s done.”
Payne heard his plea. “Nay,” he whispered. “He’s mine. No matter what happens, he’s mine. Ye’ll not interfere. Promise me.”
Sinclair growled. “Payne…”
“Promise me or get out.”
“I promise.”
Cruz and Creston entered the common room, followed by Amir and St. Sebastian, who had heard about the fight at the Black Cock and come all the way from Exmoor’s keep. The classes were still going on at Blackchurch, as usual, thanks to the assistant trainers, and Kristian was still on the lake so he hadn’t heard about the situation yet, but the vast majority of the training hierarchy of Blackchurch was at the Black Cock. Tay blew in finally, after making sure the fighting outside had died away, and he directed the trainers to settle down those still fighting inside because they’d already torn the place up. Reluctantly, the others moved to do Tay’s bidding, but Sinclair never left Payne’s side.
And he wasn’t going to, no matter what he’d promised.
Not oblivious to the swordsman behind him, Payne faced off against his brother.
“Why, Declan?” he finally asked. “Why did ye do this? What devil possessed ye?”
Declan snorted. “Dunna insult me,” he said. “Ye’ve run off and lived here for ten years, yet ye pretend tae be concerned for yer mother, yer father, and yer family. But ye’re no better than me, Payne. All ye care about is yerself.”
“Just because I chose a different path from ye doesna mean I dunna care,” Payne said. “Who was the man ye were fighting with? The one who was carrying my wife?”
Declan gave him a look that conveyed his disgust with his brother. “Yer wife,” he muttered distastefully. “Ye know that the woman tried tae steal everything from the rightful heir tae the House of San Miguel. She’s a thief.”
“How would ye know that?”
“Because that man is now my ally,” Declan said, nearly shouting it. Irritated, he continued. “I met him in Combwich. He’d been following Maudie because he wants his ships back. He also wants that woman ye married.”
Payne’s brow furrowed. “How did he know tae find her in Combwich?”
Declan rolled his eyes. “The bloody Irish told him,” he said. “He paid Kraken’s Horde a fortune and they told him where tae find Maudie.”
“But how didtheyknow?”
“I wouldna know,” he said. “Ask Arnaldo.”
“Arnaldo,” Payne repeated, confirming who the dead man outside was. “That’s the Duc de Tarragona?”
“Who did ye think it was?”
Payne shook his head. “I dinna know,” he said. “But the man who had my wife is lying outside with his body in one place and his head in another. I dunna think he can help ye anymore.”
Declan stiffened, enraged by the news. “No matter,” he said. “I’ve been waiting years for this, Payne. Unless ye’re too much of a coward tae face me alone and ye’re going tae have yer friends rush me. Face me like a man, just the two of us. Let us settle this as brothers.”
Payne gazed at his brother. After a moment, he shook his head. “What have I ever done tae ye that ye’d want tae kill me?” he said, baffled. “Other than the fact that I was born first, I’ve never done anything tae ye. Is it money ye want? Then take it. Take all of it. I’ve no need for it. But ye’ve a mercenary heart in ye, Declan, that’s going tae be the death of ye.”
Declan wouldn’t, or couldn’t, be reasoned with. He’d spent his whole life bitter and resentful, so it was difficult to change that way of thinking.
“It’s a mercenary heart that is going tae get me what I want out of life,” he said. “Not all of us had fathers who insisted we train at the finest English homes or gifted us tae kings.”
Payne mulled that over, a sad expression on his face. “Is that it?” he said. “Ye envy what Da did for me?”
“He did everything for ye.”
