“Please what?” I asked quietly.
“You must understand she has no more rights than if he had brought a lamb with him to slaughter for the feast. Do you think I could tell him not to slaughter his own lamb? Do you think I could punish him for eating it?”
My gaze dropped to the ground, and I felt a single tear as it escaped from my eyes and fell across my cheek. The girl was nothing to him—not to Branford or to Sir Leland—not a person, just a commodity to be used and cast aside when no longer needed. Branford brushed his thumb gently against my cheekbone. I thought he was about to speak, but before he had the chance, I heard rapid footsteps, and Ida was suddenly with us.
“Branford, do not be angry with Alexandra,” Ida said as she came up. “It was entirely my fault. I didn’t know Lady Sawyer would want to chat, and I can hardly walk away from my future mother-in-law. Alexandra was only alone for the shortest of times, but still it was my fault, not hers.”
Branford froze for a moment, his eyes going wide as he looked first to his sister and then to me. He took a step backwards, releasing me from his embrace. Obviously, before that moment he had no idea Ida had not been with me when the girl was accosted or that I had been in the barn with those men without a chaperone. I watched as the realization came over him, and his confusion turned into the tyrant’s black rage.
“You…you were here…with them? Alone?” As Branford roared out the last word, both Ida and I took an involuntary step backwards. “While they were…were…”
Branford huffed sharp breaths through his nose, and his eyes went dark and narrow as he stared at the ground in front of his feet. He did not seem able to complete his sentence though he tried several more times. I stood silent and still as his hands clenched and unclenched from fists to wide, spread fingers. I did not dare wonder what he was thinking any more than I dared utter a sound. Slowly, his head rose and his dark emerald eyes met mine. I wanted to reach out for him, but his anger was still too raw and unfocused.
“Come with me,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Branford, maybe you should—”
“I am talking to my wife, Ida!” He growled his response. “You and I will discuss this later.”
With that as Branford’s final words to his sister, he took me by the hand and began pulling me behind him. I nearly had to run to keep up with his long strides as he crossed the field and entered the castle gates, growling deeply under his breath. I should have known he would be angry. If I had a thought in my head, I would have cautioned Ida against mentioning it, but I had not thought of it in time. Now he was obviously infuriated with me, probably with her as well, and it occurred to me that he was taking me back to our rooms where we would be alone. For a moment, my mind flashed to several nights prior when he had similarly dragged me to our chambers in his anger.
Sunniva was not attending the tournament, so there was no one to protect me from his anger or support me for my infringement. My chest tightened in panic.
“Branford, please,” I said quietly. “You are scaring me.”
“I am scaring you? I am scaring you?” he yelled. He slammed his free hand into the door of our borrowed chambers and pulled me through, closing it loudly behind us. As he stalked to the other side of the room, I started to follow him, but he held out his hand. “Stay where you are. I do not trust myself right now.”
I took in a sharp breath and stopped moving. My chest was still tight, and I was trying to keep the tears behind my eyes from collecting and falling. I reminded myself of Branford’s promise—he said he would not harm me. I knew he had meant it…at least, at the time, he had. Branford paced in front of the fire for a moment and then turned sharply back in my direction.
“Do I need to assign a guard to you?” Branford bellowed. “For the love of God, Alexandra! Not five minutes beforehand, I had told you not to wander on your own, and to find out you were alone…with Sir Leland, that son of a…”
I could not help but let out a cry when Branford’s hand suddenly flew out, and everything that had been on the table near the fire crashed to the ground. He kicked out with his foot, toppling the table and smashing it against the wall. He growled out a long, feral sound before grasping the mantle above the fire and rocking back and forth against it. I watched his knuckles turn white as he dug his fingers into the wood.
I didn’t know what to do, so I stood by the doorway with my back against the wall, trying not to breathe. I was afraid he would start ripping the entire room to shreds, and I was not entirely sure I shouldn
’t flee from his presence altogether. If I thought it would have helped instead of likely making it worse, I might have done so.
A moment later, he was rushing across the room. I cringed against the wall as he brought both his hands to either side of my head, effectively caging me between them. I braced myself, but for what, I did not know.
“God, Alexandra.” Branford dropped his hands to my shoulders and then pulled me forward. He held me tight against his chest with his hand in my hair, resting his head on top of mine. He growled once, and then his voice softened. “If anything happened to you, I don’t know what I would do.”
I felt his fear quaking inside of him as his anger slowly decreased in its intensity. I didn’t speak but reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, relinquishing myself to him. I didn’t know how long we stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms, but it felt like a long time. I pressed my face against his jacket and inhaled his scent.
Branford leaned back and moved his hands to the tops of my arms, pushing me away from him a little.
“You frightened me,” he said as he looked down at me. He reached up and brushed my cheek and neck. “To know you were so close to them when they were…”
He sucked in a sharp breath and pulled me back against his chest.
“If they had touched you in any way…God, we’d be at war now! Do you realize that?”
“War?”
“Yes, Alexandra! War!” Branford pushed away from me as his anger resurfaced. He spun around and kept his back to me as he leaned against the mantle, attacking the structure with his fingers clawing into the timber. “I would have slaughtered every one of them for touching you! By the end of the day, their kingdom would have heard of it and would be preparing to march against us! I am so close—so close—to being ready to attack Hadebrand directly. War on another front right now would destroy all of my plans!”
“I did not know,” I said quietly. Branford moved to sit on the edge of the bed and placed his head in his hands. His fingers circled his temples, and he sighed deeply. He refused to look up but only sat on the edge of the mattress and shook his head. I stayed where I was, for I could still feel the heat of his ire as it radiated off his skin, and I did not wish to be any closer to its source.
“You will be assigned a guard,” he said. His tone left no room for any kind of rebuttal, and I was not about to offer one. “When I am unable to be at your side, you will be accompanied at all times. Is that clear?”