Midnight Eyes by Brophy, Sarah (well read books .TXT) 📕

as he gently extracted his arm from her tight grip. “There is nothing I can do. Imogen won’t let me help, and I have been summoned to London by the king. I must go.” He awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. “Perhaps it is for the best. Perhaps the distance will help Imogen deal with all that she needs to deal with,” he finished lamely. The platitudes lacked conviction even to his own ears.

She shook herself free from his hand and glared up at him accusingly. “I don’t like it, and no good will come of it,” she muttered darkly, then, with her head held high, walked into Imogen’s chamber.

Robert felt his own shoulders slump wearily.

“I don’t like it either, Mary,” he whispered into the darkened hall. “I don’t like any of it.”

“Can you think of anything I might have left out?” Robert asked as he looked to where Gareth lounged in a comfortable sprawl on the chair by the hearth.

“Well, you did fail to mention anything about exactly how many logs should be on the main hearth at five in the afternoon, but other than that small oversight, I must say I found you disturbingly thorough.” He gave Robert a lopsided smile. “I shouldn’t have to think for the entire time you are gone.”

Robert grimaced. “A bit over the top?”

“Only a shade. Don’t worry, it is only an old Saxon Keep, it will be fine. You have left me to look after entire armies with fewer orders so I’m sure that I can manage one small Keep with such a wealth of information at my disposal.”

Robert stood and walked to the window. “I never felt quite like this about any of my armies.” He clenched his fist and thumped it down on the ledge. “Damn. I don’t like this, Gareth. It just doesn’t feel right.”

He looked out the window at the land that had come to mean so much to him, and couldn’t shake the terror that had lodged itself inside of him, that somehow he was in very real danger of losing it all. It wasn’t rational, but everything suddenly seemed under threat.

He took a deep breath. He had to concentrate on countering any threat, not on his fear of losing everything.

“You think that the summons is part of some kind of plot against you?” Gareth’s voice might have sounded reasonable and calm, but Robert could well hear the thread of steel that ran through it.

Robert shook his head. He turned and leaned his hip against the window ledge, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Who knows? It might just be as entirely innocent as it sounds. Perhaps the king is preparing for more wars and simply wants to hire me and my men as mercenaries.”

“Are we still for hire?”

Robert shook his head decisively. “The only battles I’m going to fight from now on are going to be for the express purpose of protecting what is mine, not to help our greedy little monarch grab more of this island.”

Gareth smiled faintly. “You make him sound like a fat little boy chasing after sweetmeats.”

“Well, you must admit there are certain similarities.”

“An impressive boy.”

“The sweetmeats aren’t exactly insubstantial either. Any child would have to be a little impressive to want them.”

They both smiled for a moment, but their smiles faded quickly as the ever-present worry returned.

“And if the summons isn’t just an innocent request for a pet warrior?” Gareth asked quietly.

“Then there is going to be some serious trouble,” Robert said grimly, visions of looming disaster crowding his head. “That’s why I have left you in charge.”

Gareth lifted an eyebrow sardonically. “Well, I suppose I am more than amply qualified to deal with trouble. After all, I’ve spent a good deal of my life making it, so spotting it shouldn’t be hard. Your home will be safe with me.”

“That isn’t what concerns me now. Everything I’ve said thus far boils down to one solitary task, and if you don’t succeed at that task, then I’ll kill you, even if I have to come back from the grave to do so.”

“I almost believe you would too,” Gareth said with a dry chuckle, “and that can only mean one thing: Imogen.”

Robert’s jaw tightened painfully. “She is all that matters to you from now on. You protect her, you keep her safe, and to hell with the rest of the world. Is that understood? I don’t care what you have to do, or how many heads you have to break to do it, just see that it’s done.”

Gareth let out a low whistle of admiration. “You really do love her, don’t you?” he forced himself to say, deliberately ignoring the pain he had no right to be feeling about another man’s wife.

For a second, Robert almost forgot to breathe. He had never heard it said out loud before and it seemed strange to hear it now. Strange, but so right at the same time.

He had to clear his voice before he could speak. “Yes, I love her. I love her more than life itself.”

Gareth looked down at his hands. “If it’s any consolation, I think she also loves you.”

“Then keep her alive so that she can tell me herself someday,” Robert said harshly, his emotions too raw to say anything more.

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure.” A sudden wolfish grin flashed over his face. “I might even make her life a little more comfortable by disposing of a messenger or two. There seem to be enough of them about at the moment that one or two less of the little buggers will hardly be missed.”

Robert smiled faintly. “Be my guest.”

“I’m going to enjoy myself.” He paused for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face. “Actually, while you’re in London you could stop the messengers entirely by destroying the source. After all, Roger Colebrook is a creature of the court. He’s bound to be slithering around our monarch somewhere if you look close enough.”

“I could put his