The Duke of Tremont

Chapter 26

Author’s note: Much thanks to Sterling Dragonfly for her wonderful editing! Also, Brian gets pretty abused in the next few chapters so consider yourself warned.

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Jonathan paced back in forth in his tent as he addressed his advisors. “Where do you think they’ve taken him?” he asked.

“My guess would be Lakeview Manor, Your Majesty,” Ben spoke up. “I am sure the Duke and Duchess are still there, as well at the army, since they have not engaged us yet.”

“You know the area, as well as the manor house, Ben. What are the chances of a rescue?”

Ben shook his head and grimaced. “I wouldn’t risk it, Majesty. They will see us coming and Duke Brian would be dead before we could even get close.” Michael reached out and grasped his husband’s hand tightly as he spoke.

Jonathan ran a hand through his hair. “Damn!”

“He is a valuable hostage. Chances are they will keep him alive,” added Bishop Vic.

“It’s what they will do in between that worries me,” Jonathan replied, with a slight quiver in his voice.

The bishop moved to Jonathan’s side, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I’m afraid we have no choice but to wait.”

Jonathan nodded, “I should go and talk with Justin.”

“Are you sure he’s up to it?” asked Ben with concern.

“No,” sighed Jonathan, “but he is a strong young man. Once he gets over the initial shock, he’ll want to know our plan.”

“I will come with you, then,” said Ben.

“Good,” replied Jonathan, “I will need your support when Justin finds out there is no plan for now.”

“That you will,” replied Ben with a small smile, as the two men made their way out of the tent.

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It was late at night by the time Christopher and his men rode up to Lakeview Manor with their prisoner. Brian was pulled roughly from his horse and dragged into the house.

Duke Sapperstein, Duchess Claire and Father Ronald stood in the entrance way, in hastily donned robes. “What is so important that it could not wait until morning, Christopher?” asked Father Ronald, who was appalled that his nephew would disturb the ‘king’ and ‘queen’ from their slumber.

“Yes, I hope you have a good reason for interrupting our rest,” added Claire.

Christopher smiled. “Our scouting trip proved to be very fruitful, Uncle and Your Majesties. I have returned with someone whom I think will be of great interest to all of you.” He turned to his men. “Bring in the prisoner.”

The three gasped as Brian was pulled into the room. “Brian!” Claire practically laughed with glee. “Oh, dear brother, you don’t know how happy I am to see you.” It was obvious from her tone that she was happy to have such a valuable prisoner and it had nothing to do with being reunited with her youngest sibling.

“Of that I have no doubt,” replied Brian, not bothering to mask his sarcasm.

“Where did you capture him?” Sapperstein asked Christopher, ignoring the exchange between his wife and her brother.

“He was riding alone with Lord Justin, not too far from their camp. They were ridiculously easy to catch.”

“So where is Lord Justin?” Sapperstein moved closer to Brian, as if to examine him more closely. He noted how his brother-in-law tensed at the mention of Justin’s name.

“I thought it perhaps more prudent to separate the two of them,” replied Chris. “I let him go so he could deliver the news of Duke Brian’s capture to the king in person.”

Sapperstein nodded, his eyes meeting Brian’s with a cold and glittering gaze. “An excellent plan, young Christopher,” replied Sapperstein, not removing his eyes from Brian’s. “Still, he would have made an excellent prisoner as well.”

Brian shuddered at the look in Sap’s eyes, and for the first time since his capture, felt real fear for his situation. “You leave Justin out of this, you bastard,” Brian ground out through clenched teeth.

Sapperstein backhanded him across the face so quickly he didn’t have time to flinch, “You’ll show some respect. After all, I am the King of Balybonne,” Sap taunted.

“You are the king of nothing, Sap,” Brian yelled. He suddenly broke free from his captives and grabbed the front of Sapperstein’s shirt with his still tied hands. “You will be nothing when my brother is through with you.”

“Stop him,” cried out Claire. “Let go of my husband, you filthy degenerate!”

Brian winced at her words but refused to loosen his grip.

The guards finally pulled Brian back and Sapperstein made a show of straightening out his robe. “Take him to the cellar,” he spoke to the guards, “and perhaps give him a lesson on how to be a polite houseguest on the way.”

Sharing a cruel smile, the two guards pulled Brian out of the room.

“Well, you have proven yourself a very valuable asset to our little venture.” Sapperstein turned his attention to Christopher. “We shall have to make sure you are duly rewarded.”

Christopher inclined his head. “It is a pleasure to serve you, Your Majesty.”

“Perhaps once we conquer Pennington, we shall be able to reunite you with your would-be bride. Would you like that?”

“I can think of nothing I would like more.” Christopher smiled.

Sapperstein moved and held out his hand to Claire. “It has been an eventful night, My Lady. Shall we retire?”

Claire took his hand. “Of course My Lord.”

He smiled down at her. “We’ve a busy day tomorrow. We must make plans for our newest prisoner.”

“That we must,” returned Claire as they made their way back upstairs.

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“What do you mean, we must wait?” Justin sat up in his cot where Mel had been tending to him. “Are you crazy? Do you know what they will do to him? We cannot wait! We must rescue him now!”

“Justin,” Ben admonished the young man, “you mustn’t speak to the king in that manner.”

Justin stood up quickly. “ I will speak to him in any manner I choose, if it will help to save Brian!” he shouted petulantly.

Jonathan remained silent, waiting to see how Ben would handle the upset young man.

“Think, Justin.” Ben approached, laying an arm across his shoulders. “You know they have him at Lakeview. Their whole army must be camped around the manor. How could we possibly rescue him? He is a very valuable hostage, he should be safe for the time being.”

“Unless…” The king finally decided to join in the conversation.

Both Ben and Justin regarded him. “Unless what, Majesty?” asked Ben quietly.

“Justin, earlier you said you could not feel Brian any longer,” Jonathan paused and turned away. “Could that mean that he’s…he’s…” Jonathan could not continue and could not look back at the other men.

“No,” Justin replied softly. Seeing that Jonathan’s pain mirrored his own, he moved to the older man and placed a hand on his shoulder. The king turned to face Justin. “He is alive,” said Justin with a quiet conviction. “I would know it if he was otherwise. It’s just that he has shut off our link. I think to protect me, but what he does not realize is that it only makes me worry more.”

Jonathan offered the young man a small smile. “That sounds like my brother.”

Justin ducked his head. “I am sorry, Your Majesty, for speaking to you so rudely.”

“It is all right. We are all upset about Brian. I am sorry for getting so angry with you earlier.”

“I deserved it. We both should have known better than to leave the camp alone.” Justin yawned and swayed a bit on his feet.

“Whoa!” exclaimed Jonathan as he caught the younger man by his shoulders.

Mel rushed over, “I gave him something to calm him and help him sleep. It is beginning to work.” She and Jonathan led Justin back to his bed.

Once he was settled, Jonathan leaned over Justin, who tiredly contemplated his lover’s brother. “He will be all right, won’t he?”

Jonathan’s heart twisted and he leaned over to place a gentle kiss on Justin’s forehead, as if he was one of his sons. “I will do everything in my power to make it so.”

“I believe you.” Justin’s eyes closed and he was soon asleep.

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Brian awoke to find himself in a dark, windowless room, hanging by his wrists. He rested his cheek against the cool stone as he realized he was chained with his face to the wall. The guards had taken Sap’s suggestion to heart and had taken turns pummeling him until he had passed out.

It seemed as though every bone in his body ached and his head was throbbing. He attempted to pull on his bonds, but to no avail. The manacles held tight to his wrists and the chain held tight to the wall. He could only concentrate on keeping all his weight on his legs to ease the tension in his arms. It was not an easy task when all he wanted to do was sink to the floor and sleep.

His head shot up and he craned to look behind him when he heard a door open, filling the room with light.

“Well, well, Brian,” spoke a familiar voice. “We are alone at last.”

Brian turned his face with great effort and addressed his brother-in-law. “I did not realize that you desired to be alone with me, Sap.”

Sapperstein moved to Brian and ran his hand down Brian’s back and over his rear end. “There is much you do not know about me, dear brother.”

Brian bucked wildly, trying to shake the other man off. “Do not call me brother. You are nothing to me, and do not touch me like that again.”

He felt his captor move away and he breathed a small sigh of relief, but it was short lived when the other man spoke to him again. “Why, Brian, I thought you liked the touch of another man. Is that not the way young Justin touches you?”

Brian shuddered. “Why are you doing this to me? What is this place?” He hated that he sounded so frightened, but this new development had taken him by surprise. He had no idea what Sapperstein’s plan was, or what all he was capable of.

“Do you like this place? I had a portion of Lord Craig’s wine cellar made into my own special chamber. It is where I come to play with my special boys. It‘s not quite as nice as the one at my own home, but it does the trick.”

Sapperstein punctuated his sentence with a noise that could only be the snap of a whip, and Brian’s blood ran cold in his veins. “You had better not touch me, Sap, or you will pay dearly.”

“Just who do you think is going to stop me, Brian? Only a very few of my most trusted men even know of this room.” He moved closer and whispered in Brian’s ear, “We are all alone.” Brian began to shake as Sap ran his hands down his body again. “Do you know how long I have waited for this? What torture it has been, wanting to take you this way since I first laid eyes upon you so many years ago. You are so beautiful, strong and proud. It shall be a pleasure to break you.”

“Please, no,” Brian whimpered.

“Yes,” Sapperstein replied as he replaced the whip in his hand with a knife, holding it against Brian’s cheek and then moving it slowly down to cut away his clothes.

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Bishop Vic slept in the cot beside Justin’s. Mel had informed them that the young man would most likely sleep until morning, but he did not want Justin to wake up alone.

It was only but a few hours after going to sleep that the bishop was awakened by a loud scream.

“Brian! No! Oh God, No!” Justin leapt from his bed and was searching for clothes to pull on.

Bishop Vic quickly moved to his side. “What is it, son? What are you doing?”

“Where is my sword? I need my horse! I must get to him!” Justin spoke frantically as he continued to race around the tent.

King Jonathan lifted the flap to the tent. He had been lying sleepless in his own bed when he heard Justin‘s cries. His eyes quickly moved to Bishop Vic’s, but the other man simply shrugged. “Justin, stop it!” he said sternly as he entered the tent.

Startled, Justin stopped pulling on his tunic and stared at the king, tears welling in his eyes. “He needs me,” was all he could say.

“There’s nothing we can do,” replied Jonathan, fighting back his own tears.

“Oh, God, Brian,” Justin sobbed out as he collapsed onto the floor in a heap.

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Sapperstein opened the door to the chamber and addressed the guard he had posted outside. “Take him to Lord Craig’s chambers,” he said tersely, as he wiped the sweat from his brow. “And then inform my generals that we march in two days.”

The man nodded and moved into the room as Sapperstein smiled one last time where his brother-in-law now hung limply from his place on the wall. “Good night,” he said softly, as he made his way to his own bed.

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