Page 129 of The Champion

Rowena exchanged a horrified look with Fatima who sat beside Alexander, finishing off her bowl of leak pea porridge.

Stryder came in and Swan immediately put down the celery stalk and sat up straight.

“Don’t play with your food,” he said sternly to Alexander who looked baffled by Swan’s sudden change in manner.

Clearing his throat, Swan gave Stryder a fierce glare. “I’ll go now.”

Stryder met her gaze and laughed. “Was he playing the flaming celery stalk game again?”

“Does he do that a lot?” she asked.

“Aye, but it frightens me less when he does it for the amusement of children and not himself.”

Rowena laughed at that.

He moved to kneel down beside Alexander. The boy tugged on his ear until Stryder handed him a small wooden toy.

“Edward!” Alexander grabbed the toy. “Wherever did you find him?”

She saw pain cross Stryder’s brow as the boy kissed his doll. “Your uncle sent him to you. He said to tell you that Edward had missed you.”

Rowena watched Stryder’s face. There was something he was hiding.

“Oh Edward!” Alexander held the knight close. “I thought I had lost you. But that’s all right. We’re together now and we can fight more dragons and...” He glanced to the table where Swan had dropped their vegetables, “celery now.”

While Alexander played with his knight, Rowena pulled Stryder aside. “Where did you get that doll?”

Stryder shrugged as he continued to stare at Alexander playing with his toy. It wasn’t until then that he realized something.

Just how much Alexander favored Damien... Right down to his eyes, which were more brown than amber, but they were close enough in form and color to proclaim Damien as the boy’s father.

He let out a long, drawn-out breath as that realization settled over him.

Now everything made sense. Why Damien had kept Edward. Why he had laughed when Stryder asked if he would threaten the child.

And yet, none of it made sense. If Damien hated him so much, why send his son to him to raise?

Unless Damien was afraid of the Saracens learning that Alexander belonged to him.

Even so, why couldn’t Damien take the boy to his home in Paris? There he had the entire French court to guard the child. And yet, it couldn’t be that simple. If it were, Damien would have taken him home long ago.

There must be a lot more to Damien than he had guessed and, if they were right, and Damien was the Scorpion, then the child could become a pawn of either government to be used against Damien as an Englishman and as a Frenchman.

Poor Damien, but he had to give the man credit. Who would ever think to look to Damien’s most hated enemy to find his son?

It was a brilliant move.

And it warned him just how careful he needed to be of Damien.

“Stryder,” Rowena insisted. “Please tell me what is going on here?”

He took her hand into his and kissed it lightly. “I can’t, Rowena. I’m not sure myself and I don’t want to endanger the child by saying anything more.” He glanced around to the staff who were, for all intents and purposes, ignoring them, but usually that was only a ruse. Servants gossiped. A lot.

And they carried tales and secrets to those who least needed to hear them.

Rowena must have caught his meaning for she nodded and went back to play with Alexander.

Stryder watched the two of them. They were precious together.