She should have been terrified. How could this be possible, that she should be standing before the king? It hardly seemed real. Perhaps that was why she was able to stay upright and conscious in his presence.
“I want to get a good look at the woman of whom I’ve heard so much.”
Was he speaking about her? There didn’t appear to be any other women in the room.
The king stroked his short, neatly trimmed, graying beard while he gazed sleepily out at them. His eyelids were so low over his eyes, she could not tell who he was looking at.
Finally, after many moments, he said, “First, I would like to hear your story, Geitbart, about why you had locked Thornbeck, his chancellor, and the captain of his guard in his own dungeon.”
Geitbart cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, I had just cause for my actions. Everyone knows Lord Thornbeck murdered his brother so he could take his place as margrave. And when—”
The king raised his hand, palm out, silencing the duke. “Everyone knows?” The king’s words were slow and deliberate. “Who is this everyone? And why should I care what everyone knows unless they show me proof? Lord Thornbeck is my margrave, and I do not allow unfounded accusations to be spoken against my noblemen. So what is your proof?”
Air rushed back into Avelina’s lungs. She wanted to glance back at Lord Thornbeck but resisted. Thankfully, she had a good view of the duke’s face, which was turning red.
Geitbart’s jaw twitched as he stared straight ahead at the king. He finally licked his lips and said, “I do not have any proof, Your Majesty.”
“And for what reason did you put your peer in the dungeon?” The king suddenly leaned forward in the chair, toward Geitbart.
“Your Majesty, I was trying to save and protect this region from a madman. He very likely murdered his brother, then allowed a woman poacher to unlawfully kill nearly all of the king’s deer from Thornbeck Forest. Then he made that poaching woman’s husband the chancellor and even has given that woman a place in his household, assisting in his bride-selection scheme. And in this selection, with several ladies here who were daughters of dukes and earls and barons, he actually selected a servant girl instead of one of them.”
Avelina’s insides trembled. No one spoke for several moments. Finally, the king leaned back against the chair.
“You are not telling me anything I didn’t know. None of it explains why you locked a margrave in his own dungeon.”
“Your Majesty, I would never want to do anything you would disapprove of. I simply was trying to make sure your interests were served in Thornbeck.”
“No. You were making sure your own interests were served. Had you planned on taking over Thornbeck Castle all along? Or did you only decide to do it after the margrave did not choose your daughter? Guards, take him to the dungeon and lock him up.” He turned to the man standing nearest to him. “Send his own men home to Geitbart and tell his captain that for now, he is in charge of keeping order in Geitbart.”
The duke’s eyes were wide and he actually bared his teeth like an animal, his beard trembling. “I did nothing wrong! Your Majesty, you cannot—you must not do this.” When the king did not respond or even look at him, his voice rose. “Your Majesty!”
Avelina had to look away from the sight of someone so prideful being humbled to such an extent, led away by the king’s guards. But she could not pity him. He had Lord Thornbeck’s brother cruelly killed, along with his unborn child and the child’s mother.
“Lord Thornbeck, did you kill your brother?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“And did you allow a woman to poach deer in Thornbeck Forest?”
“No, Your Majesty, I did not allow it. When she was discovered poaching, she was punished. She has since turned from her lawlessness and is respectably married to my chancellor.”
“And as for Geitbart’s final accusation, did you choose to wife a maidservant over several young—and I imagine fair of face and form—ladies of this realm who were of noble birth?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I did.”
Would he not explain that he had thought she was the daughter of the Earl of Plimmwald?
“And now, I should like to hear from this young woman, Avelina of Plimmwald, is it? Lady Magdalen of Mallin seems to think very highly of you.”
Lady Magdalen. Of course. How else would the king have heard about her? Lady Magdalen and the king must have crossed paths on their journeys.
“Is it true that you pretended to be the earl’s daughter, Lady Dorothea? And that she ran away with a knight in her father’s service?”