Page 76 of Lucie
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Deceit
Grabbing him by the arm, the battle lord helped his son get to his feet. His legs were a bit wobbly, but after a few moments Lucien managed to stand on his own.Yulentook a deep breath to calm himself. With everything that had occurred these past couple of hours, he felt weak-kneed himself. He needed time himself to re-center and re-focus,but he doubted he would have that luxury. Not now.
He glanced back down at his wife. He didn’t need Iain to tell him she was resting more comfortably. He’d known it seconds after Lucien’s blood began to suffuse itself into her system. Somehow, he’d been able to feel it, like a flood of warmth, easing away the pain. That small reassurance had been enough to allow him to leave theclinic in order to tend to the growing threat outside the compound’s walls.
“You okay?” he asked his youngest again.
Lucien answered with a crooked smile and an honest, “Yeah.”
“I think Iain can take over from here. I want you with me whenPechardarrives.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get to the bottom of allthis. I’m going to find out why the man lied to me, and then I’ll demand to know what part he has in all of this.”
Lucien raised an eyebrow. “You think he’s complicit?”
“Damn right, I do. Come on. Need my hand?”
“I think I can make it.” Lucien took a couple of tentative steps and paused. “Okay. I’m good. Slow, but I can manage.”
They tooktheir time moving into the main dining hall. Lucien stopped just past the doorway and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest, making it appear as if he were taking a stance.Yulendidn’t question him why. Neither of them wanted anyone else to know how weak the battle prince was, least of all the emissary.
Mastinentered from the side door.Pechardwas usheredin, flanked by two of the battle lord’s men. The second eyed Lucien, and by his questioning glance toYulen, it was clear he knew something was up, but he wouldn’t say anything until they could talk in private.
“Cole, have a couple of men fetch Luc’s battle garb from the clinic and have it cleaned.”
Again,Mastinlooked at Lucien, and realized the young man wore onlyhis pants and tunic.Yulenadded before the man could speak, “Have them also clean and bring back his weapons when they’re finished.”
Giving a nod,Mastinhurried out.Yulengestured for the soldiers to make the emissary sit on the floor. The rest of them remained standing in a circle around him, preventing him from escaping if the man tried to make a break for it.
“What’s this all about,D’Jacques?”Pecharddemanded.
“This is about your duplicity in what’s been happening,”Yulenstated. There would be no more diplomacy from him. This man was his enemy now. He waited until his second re-entered the dining hall and joined them before continuing. Perching his hands on his hips, he glared at the emissary. “You lied to us about not ever havingthe virus.”
“I did not.”
“Yes, you did,” Iain corrected. He strode into the room, never taking his eyes off of the emissary, and pointed a finger at the man. “You’ve had the virus. It took me a while to figure out howAttygot sick, when we didn’t come into contact with anyone else. It’s because you’re a carrier, aren’t you?”
“There’s no one left aliveat Green River, is there?”Yulenpushed. “All of this was a ruse to get me and a large number of my men away from AltaNovis, wasn’t it?”
Pechard’sface reddened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What either of you are talking about!”
Lucien walked over to join them, having grown strong enough to be able to stand on his own. “I saw you and that fakeD’Jacquesexchange looks. You two knew each other.”
Yulencontinued. “What was the plan? Was it something the two of you cooked up together? Or is there a third person in on this? Is someone waiting to hear back from you?”
The emissary continued to give them heated looks, but he refused to say anything else.Yulensighed and gripped the hilt of his sword. The movement was notlost on the man, and his face went from red to bleached white.
“Here’s what I think was supposed to go down. That fakeD’Jacques, whatever his real name is, was to cause as much chaos as possible. By claiming to be me, and slaughtering innocents, you wanted to destroy the treaties formed betweenMutahand Normal. Or maybe you hoped to rile up other battle lords who’d heard of mebut never met me, and have them eventually declare war on me and my compound for betraying their trust.
“While he’s doing that, you were to lure me away from AltaNovis, leaving my compound with fewer men to protect it. You knew the Bloods were in this area. You probably also knew they’d takenWhiterock, and you were hoping we’d fall victim to their ambush. But in case they didn’tmanage to overcome us, you hoped you could pass the virus along to as many of us as possible. Make us too sick to defend ourselves.”Yulenbent down to stare him in face. “One small problem with that. All the men I brought with me, with the exception of my son and wife, already had the virus. That left you in a quandary, didn’t it,Pechard?”
The emissary remained mute and defiant.
“What were you two cooking up? To defeat me once and for all? To claim AltaNovisfor yourself?”
