Page 50 of While Angels Slept
Cantia had been watching the exchange on pins and needles. The moment Tevin walked into the room, she felt a sense of relief and joy that she could not begin to describe. It was as if her savior had walked into the room and it was all she could do not to run to him for protection. But in the few short sentences exchanged, she immediately understood where Tevin was leading the conversation. He was trying to help her in a way that no one could dispute, not even Geoff. Being the sharp woman that she was, she would help her own cause. She knewwhat she had to do, and she had to do it quickly.
With a muffled sob, she suddenly put her hand over her face and turned away from them. The soft sob turned into a flood of larger ones, pitiful and deep. It was drama at its very best. Geoff stood up from the desk, his dark eyes wide with surprise.
“What’s this?” he demanded. “Why is she weeping?”
Tevin couldn’t tell if the tears were real or not, but he was thankful either way. It made his reasoning much more stable. He sighed heavily as he looked at his cousin.
“Geoff,” his voice was low with admonishment. “The woman is distraught. You really should have been more considerate. She is in no condition to entertain you.”
Geoff lost all of his smugness. “I did not ask her to entertain me. I simply asked to be shown Rochester. It is my holding, after all.”
“And I could have shown it to you.” Tevin moved towards Cantia and gently took her by the arm. “She was in her chamber for a reason and you really should not have taxed her so. I am taking her back to her room and you will leave her there to properly deal with her grief.”
Cantia was sobbing as if her heart were broken. Tevin had a good grip on her as he led her towards the door. Geoff just stood there like a dolt, watching the scene with a mixture of outrage and astonishment.
“She was fine until you came into the room,” he told his cousin. “Why did she suddenly burst into tears when you appeared?”
Tevin cast him a long look. “She more than likely kept her composure simply not to upset you. But she can control it no longer.”
Geoff’s brow furrowed. “I do not want her to mourn any longer. It has been long enough. She must sup with me tonight and I will have no more weeping. I do not like it.”
The problem was that Geoff meant every word. He was childish and demanding in such ways. Tevin continued with Cantia towards the door.
“Have pity, cousin,” he said steadily. “The woman has lost her husband and her grief has not spent itself. Allow Brac Penden that mercybefore you seek to erase him from her mind.”
Geoff pursed his lips and put his hands on his hips. “I am not attempting to erase him, for God’s Sake. I just want to talk to the woman.”
“There will be other time for that,” Tevin was through the door. “Go entertain yourself elsewhere. Leave Lady Penden to her sorrow.”
Geoff would not be quashed so easily. He went to the door, hovering in the archway with an imperious stance as he watched Tevin gently help Cantia up the steps. “And don’t think that I am not aware that you hid Val from me, either,” he yelled after him. “Do you hear me? Do not hide her from me again!”
Tevin didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. When he was out of sight, Geoff went back into the solar and, in a fit of rage, smashed Charles’ big oak desk with the hearth shovel.
Tevin heard the sounds of crashing furniture as Geoff’s temper tantrum gained speed. But he maintained a steady grip on Cantia as they reached the third floor landing.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” he asked quietly.
She stopped weeping in an instant, the violet eyes turning to him without a hint of redness. “Of course,” she replied, her gaze moving back down the stairwell towards the sounds of anger below. “But thank God you came when you did.”
Tevin didn’t like the sound of her voice. “Why do you say that? Did he move against you somehow? Did he try…?”
She shook her head, winding her hands around his forearm and laying her cheek against his enormous bicep. “He did nothing. In fact, he was quite friendly and curious. But the way he looks at me… I feel as if he is undressing me with his eyes and I want no part of the man. He makes my skin crawl.”
Tevin’s recently abated anger threatened but he fought it. Silently, he took her to the fourth floor, knocking softly on the bolted door. A demanding little voice shouted at him from the other side.
“Go away!” Hunt roared. “I won’t open this door!”
Tevin looked at Cantia, who couldn’t help but grin at her son’s bravery. He fought off a smile as well.
“’Tis me, Hunt,” he said quietly. “You may open the door.”
It was several long seconds before the bolt was thrown, with some effort, and the door creaked open. Hunt’s big eyes peered at his mother and Tevin before he allowed them inside. Tevin lifted an eyebrow when the boy slammed the door behind them and shoved the bolt into its socket.
“You make a fine sentry,” he told the lad. “A man would think twice before crossing you.”
Hunt gazed up at him, his face suddenly slack with surprise. “Really?” he asked, awed. “Did I thound fearsome?”
“Terribly.”
