Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

September

Year of our Lord 1222

Berwick

O n the bustling city center of Berwick, an armed escort bearing the colors of black and red, with a fearsome boar on the center of the standard, made its way down High Street towards Woolmarket Street. There was a carriage in the midst of the escort, heavily fortified and also painted black and red, while several knights rode the perimeter. It was a large collection of knights for such a small escort.

But some of those knights were from Berwick.

Cole de Velt was one of them. Commander of Berwick Castle, he had received advanced word that his mother and youngest sister were heading into Berwick to go to the merchants along Woolmarket Street. He and his brother-in-law, an enormous and powerful knight by the name of Anteaus de Bourne, were waiting for the de Velt escort as it crossed the bridge near the castle. He hadn't seen his mother or brother, Julian, in a while and greeted his brother amiably as he met the escort.

These days, it was anyone's guess if Julian would be amiable in return, but he was.

Fortunately.

Cole, an enormous man with the same dual-colored eyes that all of the de Velt men had, grinned at his younger brother by eighteen months. They had an excellent and close relationship, something he treasured, but he also knew that over the past few years, Julian had changed somewhat. Gone was the quiet, efficient, and somewhat under confident knight.

Replacing him was a man with a heart of stone.

Not that Cole blamed him. Julian still hadn't gotten over the death of their father, something he blamed himself for, every hour of every day. In the days following that terrible event, Julian emerged with a massive guilt complex. He was convinced that he had been the cause of Jax's death and nothing anyone could say could convince him otherwise. Something in that sense of responsibility had knocked the warmth out of him, a warmth that Julian had always had. He had been the gentle brother, the kinder brother, but no more.

Something had changed in him on that terribly and dark day.

Even as Cole greeted him with a smile, Julian hardly met his eyes.

But that was normal.

As they rode into town with normally quiet Anteaus keeping up a steady stream of chatter to Ashton de Royans, who had accompanied Julian, Cole found himself looking at his younger brother. All of the de Velt sons followed the same physical structure that their father had– they were enormous men, though each had varying talents and physical attributes. For Julian, though he was shorter than his eldest and youngest brother, it was his strength that sent him apart. The man had the strength of Samson. His brothers would tease him that even his muscles had muscles. He was a physical specimen of perfection, a knight of the highest order who had worked very hard for that physical perfection. He was fair, much like Cole was, with their mother's dark blonde hair, which Julian shaved on the sides of his head while leaving the top a little longer.

But his eyes…

That was where Julian stood out. He had the two-colored eyes that all of the males in his family had and almost the exact same splash pattern that his father had, only instead of having a muddy brown left eye and a half-brown right eye, the brown color of Julian's right eye was pale, very nearly the color of a topaz. That bright green burst was still very prevalent in his left eye, so big that it nearly covered the entire eye. Looking at the man, a first glimpse would make it seem as if he had one topaz-colored eye and one green eye.

It was an interesting look on an uncommonly handsome young knight who was, unfortunately, quite self-conscious about it. For that very reason, Julian had always had difficulty looking men in the eyes. Not because he was shifty or ill-mannered, but simply because he knew how he looked.

Unthoughtful men and women had commented on it enough times.

"How goes it at Pelinom these days?" Cole said, simply to break the silence between them over Anteaus' chatter to Ashton. "How are the harvests coming along?"

Julian's focus was on the roadway ahead. "Well enough," he said. "I'm setting aside about a third of it for you and your garrison. You should be well-supplied through the coming winter."

"Thank you," Cole said. "Cori will be pleased to hear that. She also says I do not do enough for you in return, so if you'd like me to send loads of fresh fish your way, all you need do is say so."

Cole was referring to his wife, Corisande, a woman his world revolved around. Julian cracked a smile.

"I hate fish," he said. "You know I hate fish."

"I know you do, but Mother does not."

Julian made a face. "She has the cook bake fish and it stinks up the entire castle," he said. "She will not let me ban fish, but I will not make it easier for her to cook it by accepting your loads of fish. Think of something better to send me."

Cole chuckled. "I have a large herd of sheep to the north," he said. "I could cull the herd and send some your way."

"I accept."

Cole grinned and Julian mirrored the gesture, actually looking his brother in the eyes. He seemed to loosen up a bit, simply by his expression, and Cole nodded his approval.

"That is what I like to see in you," he said. "Like the Julian of old."

"What do you mean?"

Cole snorted softly. "I thought you might have forgotten how to smile, you do it so rarely anymore."

Julian's smile faded. "I have not forgotten."

"And you love me still?"

"Of course I do."

Cole's smile faded as well. "Good," he said. "Because I have something I must speak to you about, but not in front of Mother."

Julian looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

Cole glanced over his shoulder to make sure there was no one within earshot of them, or at the very least, not paying attention to them. He lowered his voice.

"I received a missive last week from de Lohr," he said.

"Christopher?"

Cole nodded. "The Earl of Hereford and Worcester himself," he said. "It was about… Cassian."

That was the magic word with the de Velt family. Cassian. It was a subject so painful that it was rarely brought up and certainly not in front of Kellington. Cassian de Velt, the youngest de Velt son, had been serving at Lioncross Abbey Castle on the Welsh Marches for many years. He'd been sent there to foster at a young age but ended up remaining because it was well known that he was in love with one of the de Lohr daughters, Brielle.

Of course, Jax had never faulted Cassian for staying where his heart was, but shortly after Jax's death, Cassian disappeared on his journey north to pay his respects to his father. Both Cole and Christopher de Lohr had sent out scouts and soldiers to search for Cassian when he never showed up at Pelinom, but no trace of him had ever been found. Not only had Kellington lost her husband, but her youngest son, as well.

The de Velt family was still reeling from the blows.

That was why Cole didn't speak the name of his youngest brother lightly. Julian was looking at him with great curiosity and perhaps even great dread. He knew Cole wouldn't tell him until they had more privacy but he couldn't wait that long. Anything to do with Cassian had his great interest.

"What is it?" Julian finally hissed, pulling himself out of the escort and pushing his brother to the side of the road as the escort continued towards Woolmarket Street. "Tell me this instant, Cole. What about Cassian?"

Cole let the escort pass by, making sure the wagon was far enough away, before he answered. "I'm not quite sure how to tell you this and I'm certainly unsure how to tell Mother," he said. "But de Lohr wrote me on a serious matter."

Julian's dual-colored eyes were blazing. "God, what?" he said. "Have they discovered something about Cass? Have they located his body?"

Cole shook his head. "Nay, not that," he said. "It has nothing to do with his disappearance, but more a personal matter. Something very personal to Cass."

"What are you talking about?"

"Brielle," Cole said simply. "We all know that Cass was in love with Brielle de Lohr. They have loved one another since they were quite young."

"I know. And? "

"And it seems that Brielle gave birth to our brother's bastard," Cole said quietly. "A boy she has named Maxim."

Julian's jaw dropped. " What? " he hissed in shock. "My God… are you certain?"

"That is what de Lohr says."

"Cass has a son ?"

"It seems that he does."

Julian closed his mouth, reeling with shock. "Holy Mother of God," he finally breathed. Then, his brow furrowed. "But this birth could not have been recent. How old is the boy?"

"Six years of age."

Now, Julian's brow furrowed. " Six years of age?" he repeated, aghast. "And Hereford is just telling us now?"

Cole could see his outrage. Truthfully, he'd had plenty of his own until he read de Lohr's reasons and his wife had helped him to see the logic in it. He held up a calming hand.

"He explained that they have been keeping it secret from everyone," he said. "They have told everyone that Max is merely an orphaned relative, so no one knows he is Brielle's son. For Brielle's sake, they have simply been trying to keep the child's identity secret but, evidently, the boy looks exactly like Cass. He even has his eyes. He felt that he could no longer, in good conscience, keep the child's existence from us any longer. He felt it was our right to know. It was time."

Julian understood, sort of. His initial shock cooled as he thought on the younger brother who had vanished those years ago. Truth be told, that sensitive knight in him hurt very much for his missing brother and always would. It had always been his father and Cole against him and Cassian. They'd always stuck together. But Cassian's disappearance right after their father's death had been an incredible shock that, to this day, still had him feeling it deeply. Any mention of Cassian and Julian could feel his heart begin to pound. The hurt was still fresh.

And now… now, Cassian had evidently left a son behind.

He could hardly believe it.

"So Cass has a son," he finally muttered, struggling to calm emotions he usually kept quite buried. "Who else knows other than Cori?"

Cole shook his head. "No one," he said. "But Cori says that we must tell Mother. It is her right to know."

Julian turned to watch the escort as it faded down the road, thinking of his mother and the pain she had endured to lose both a husband and son in such a short amount of time. The woman was a rock but even rocks could crack and Julian was very protective over her to the point of hovering. Ever since he'd spent his last night with his mother and father, vigilantly standing watch over them, his protective instincts towards his mother were nearly out of control.

"She will want to see the lad," he said after a moment. "But I do not know if that is such a good idea."

Cole was watching the escort, too, and in particular, that big carriage that held his mother and sister. "I agree," he said. "De Lohr says the boy looks just like Cass. I am concerned that it will be too painful for her, but Cori seems to think it will bring her comfort. A young lad in the image of the one she lost."

Julian looked at him. "Will it be of comfort?" he said. "Because I do not even know how I am going to feel if I see the lad. If he looks just like Cass, how can that not hurt? How can we not look at him and feel our loss to our very bones?"

Cole didn't have an answer. Like Julian, he wasn't sure if they could see the child and not feel those blows of grief. But for their mother, it would be worse– she was strong, stronger than any woman he'd ever known save his own wife, but the loss of her husband and youngest son all in the space of a year had put dents in her proverbial armor. Seeing Cassian's son might blow the armor off entirely.

Or not.

There was only one way to find out.

"I do not know how we will feel," he said after a moment. "The only way to know for certain is to see the boy for ourselves. Then we can decide if we should inform Mother."

"When do you want to do this?" Julian asked.

"As soon as possible. I probably will not be able to sleep until I see him."

Knowing there was a de Velt son out there had them both thinking the same thing. They were both eager to see the boy and dreading it. But Cole worried about his brother in particular; Julian, who had hardened so terribly since the death of their father, who pretended to be as cold and calculating as Jax de Velt had ever been. Perhaps he was in a sense, but inside that iron exterior beat that same tender heart he'd always had.

Something Julian tried very hard to ignore.

"Come along," Cole finally said. "Let us join Mother and Addie in town. There's a stall towards the river that makes the most remarkable fish pies that I have a craving for."

"I hate fish pies."

Cole snorted. "I know."

Julian looked at him, seeing he was being teased. That was the normal dynamic between Cole and Julian, but it had never been malicious. In fact, Julian took comfort in it. He loved his brother a great deal. Putting aside the revelation of his brother's bastard son for the moment, he spurred his steed after the escort with Cole following close behind.

And he was determined to avoid the fish pies.