Henry nodded. “I know. ‘Tis why I trust you so much. You’re the only man I have ever known who is truly above bribery. You are also a man of honor, and I know you would never walk away from a friend who needed you.”
Sin met his gaze without flinching. “Henry, as a friend, I ask you not to ask this of me.”
“I wish I didn’t have to. I don’t relish the thought of my only true ally so far from me, but I need a man I can trust who knows the lay of the Scots people to lead them. The only other subject who could possibly end this matter is your brother, Braden. Since he’s now married...”
Sin ground his teeth together. He was glad to see his brother wed, but how he wished Braden were a bachelor once more. Braden was the one who knew how to please a woman.
Sin knew war. His home was the battlefield. All he had ever trusted in life not to betray him was his sword, his shield and his horse.
And he wasn’t any too sure about his horse.
He knew nothing of women and their softness, and he had no wish to know aught of them.
“If it is of any consolation,” Henry added, “she is a fetching wench. You will have no trouble siring a child on her.”
Sin narrowed his eyes. He balked at the thought of siring a child. Period. Especially one simply for the purpose of passing on titles and lands that meant nothing to him. “I am not a stallion, Henry.”
“‘Tis not what I have heard from the rumors that circulate through my court. I’ve heard you’re quite?—”
“Does this woman know what you have planned?” Sin asked, cutting him off. He didn’t like discussing anything personal. And most especially not with Henry.
“Of course not. She knows nothing of you. ‘Tis not her concern. She is my hostage and she will do as she’s told or I will see her executed.”
Sin rubbed his hand over his face. He had no doubt Henry would do just that. He also knew who would be asked to fulfill that decree. “You know how I feel about a wife.”
“Aye, I do. But in all honesty, I truly wish to see you wed. I’ve treasured your service all these years, but it has always concerned me that you have nothing in life you value. I have given you lands, wealth and titles, and you spurn them as if they’re poison. All the years I have known you, you have lived with one foot already in the grave.”
“And you think a wife would bring me back over the threshold?”
“Aye.”
Sin snorted. “Then I shall remind you of that the next time you complain of Eleanor.”
Henry laughed so hard, he choked. “Were you any other man, you would be dead for such audacity.”
“And I would say the same of you.”
At least it succeeded in checking Henry’s mirth.
Henry paced a small path in front of Sin and fell quiet. By his face, Sin could tell he was thinking of something long ago.
When the king spoke, his voice was thick with nostalgia. “I remember well the night you held that dagger to my throat. Do you remember what you said?”
“Aye, I offered you my loyalty if you would grant me my freedom.”
“Yea, you did. And I need your loyalty now. Philippe is on my heels trying to wrench Normandy and Aquitaine from my hands. My sons are yapping for their own slices of power, and now this Highland clan attacks the few Englishmen I have guarding my northern borders. I cannot continue to be attacked from all sides. Even a raging bull can be brought low by a pack of hungry dogs. And I am tired of it. I need peace before they kill me. Will you help me?”
Inwardly, Sin cringed as he heard the four words he had never been able to deny. Damn his blackened soul for it. It was the one piece of his conscience that hadn’t been destroyed and Henry knew it.
Sin growled low in his throat. Surely, there had to be a means to escape this wretched event.
And surely he...
Sin almost smiled as the thought occurred to him.
‘Twas perfect, and as insidious as he, himself, was.
“Aye, I’ll marry the wench, but only if you can find a priest who will sanction it.”
