Page 4 of Retribution

“When did we receive word?” Aidric demanded. “Why was I not informed immediately?”

“Because you’ve not slept in two days because of Edward’s arrival and you needed the rest,” Dirk pointed out. “Ever since you’ve assumed the role as our lead, you’ve been working yourself to the bone, man. I do not think I ever saw Torran work as hard as you have to ensure every move the king makes is as smooth as it could possibly be.”

Aidric drew in a long, thoughtful breath. “Torran is our leader,” he said quietly. “He may not be here today, or yesterday, or even last month, but he is still the leader. Kent assumed his duties for a while, then Jareth, and now that they are both with their families at present, someone had to take the helm. I have been with the Six the longest.”

“True,” Dirk said. “But you assume the role of leader of the Six easily. Britt and I are grateful for it. It means we do not have to.”

Aidric smirked. “Worthless whelps,” he muttered, but quickly sobered. “Now, tell me why you’ve only just awoken me if de Velt is on our doorstep. I should be the one to greet him.”

Dirk and Britt passed glances. “There is a welcoming party already,” Britt said. “Some of our newer members are waiting for him to ensure he is a worthy addition to our collective.”

Aidric suddenly came to a halt, looking at the two of them in ominous confusion. “Explain this to me,” he said. “What do you mean by that?”

As Dirk fought off a grin and averted his gaze, Britt answered. “Orion and Stefan are preparing to greet de Velt as knights should,” he said. “You know that Stefan is a de Lohr and he has known de Velt his entire life. They are friends. Orion is from the north, where his family are allies of de Velt. It is only a good-natured beating they intend, Aidric. Do not be so concerned with it.”

Aidric’s eyebrows lifted. “Good-natured…?” he repeated. He couldn’t even finish. “You do realize they are about to descend on the knight known as Manmeat, do you not? Do you know why they call him that?”

Dirk snorted, unable to control his humor now, as Britt struggled with a grin. “Ah,” he said. “Manmeat. The man who makes meat out of others. The human butcher. Aye, we know. Orion says he is going to call him Manny.”

Even Aidric was fighting off a grin after that one. “Christ,” he muttered. “He is going to annoy the hell out of Gerard de Velt, a grandson of the legendary Jax de Velt, and we are going to be picking up pieces of Orion from now until Christmas. And why does he have to make a nickname out of everything? Poor Bennet is called Cheppy by everyone now and that is exceptionally undignified for a man of his stature.”

That was a true statement. Bennet de Birmingham, another newer member of the Guard of Six, was an older knight with a powerful reputation. He’d once been in command of Chepstow Castle, which was how the nickname “Cheppy” had come about. He hated it, but thanks to Orion, it had stuck.

“Leave it to Orion to make a man feel wanted,” Dirk said drolly. “He is going to do the same thing to de Velt and de Velt is going to tear him limb from limb until he realizes that foolish nicknames, harassment, and assaults are the way Payton-Forrester shows his affection.”

“Then we had better make sure no blood is shed,” Aidric said. “Hurry, lads. Orion’s life may depend on it.”

With that, they picked up the pace, rushing through the corridors of Westminster, past the doors to the royal apartments, past the chambers where the king held audience, until they came to an exit disguised as a wall panel. It was a secret entrance, and exit, for the king, and they tripped the latch and spilled out into the ward beyond.

The night was cold, a blanket of diamond-stars smeared across the sky. Somewhere near the horizon, a half-moon hung nestled in the darkness, casting a tiny amount of silver light as the three knights made their way to the west side of the palace. The abbey was off to their right as they headed from the king’s chambers to the general area of the Jewel Tower. That was where the cloister was, and several outbuildings with multiple purposes, including the chamber where the Guard of Six gathered. Equipment was stored there as well as tools of their trade, and it was to that chamber that de Velt had been directed.

And Orion was waiting.

They could only hope they were in time.

CHAPTER TWO

Unfortunately for Orion and Stefan, their attempts at an initiation for de Velt did not go as planned.

Orion was at the head of it, as he always was. He’d spent the early part of his career with the Guard of Six as a virtual outsider, only accepted in the heat of a crisis, so he was rabid when it came to ensuring any new members were, indeed, worthy of that which he’d worked so hard to achieve. He didn’t want this to be an easy path for anyone and he was going to make sure of it.

Gerard de Velt, however, had other ideas.

Weary from a ride that had taken him about two weeks, which was faster than it should have considering he’d been in the north, he had been sent to the Chamber of Six, which was the gathering room for Henry’s personal guard. A knight from the Guard of Six had met him in the torchlit ward when he’d been about halfway to his destination, a man who had introduced himself as Bennet de Bermingham. He was an older man, with dark hair that was graying around his ears and temples, and he politely asked Gerard about his journey and assured him that his presence was welcome.

Except…

A couple of members of the Six, newer members from families Gerard was well acquainted with, were planning on issuing some kind of test so that he might prove he was a worthy addition to the group. Gerard seemed to think that was rather humorous and he appreciated that Bennet had warned him, but he made no move to protect himself as he headed straight into the corridor that was indicated.

That was where things got dicey.

Since Gerard was prepared for what was coming, he knew enough not to strike to kill. The men weren’t trying to destroy him, but simply test his mettle. That was what Bennet had insisted, anyway. But that didn’t mean Gerard wasn’t going to teach those knights a lesson. They intended to assess him, did they?

He intended to turn the tables.

The first sign that something was amiss was a body flying out at him in the darkness. As soon as he entered the corridor, Gerard caught movement off to his right. Rather than turn and face it, he took a giant step backward to the entry door and the body went sailing past him. Before the figure could move away from him entirely, however, he stuck out a big, booted foot and kicked whoever it was. The man went crashing into the wall and a grunt of pain filled the air. He heard the man cursing, then, abruptly, another big body was blocking the path in front of him and hands were reaching out. Possibly for his neck, but it was difficult to know for certain, so Gerard dodged the hands and lashed out a booted foot. He caught the figure somewhere in the middle of the torso and that man, too, staggered back. But when he tried to regain his footing and charge, Gerard stepped outside completely and slammed the door in his face.

All the while, Bennet simply stood there and shook his head in disapproval.