Blood of the Righteous

Brothers' Resolve

Gabriel knocked on Eleenia's door. "El, please let me come in."

"No! Go away!"

He knocked again. "El, please! I want you to go talk to Sir Marcus. Maybe you'll like him."

A loud crash of something ceramic hit against the door. "Damn it, Gabriel! Even if I were to like him, I don't want someone else telling me how to live! You don't understand!"

Gabriel gave an exasperated sigh. "You try."

David walked over and gently knocked on the door. "El, please let me in."

"Why?!?"

"I have something that might help you."

The latch on the door turned and Eleenia opened the door. She immediately threw herself on her bed and began to sob.

David sat on the edge of the bed. He sat the large book he carried on the floor. "Eleenia, look at me. Look at me!"

She rolled over and sat up. Her eyes were bright red and wet with tears.

David grabbed her trembling hands. "El, I promise you that you won't have to marry Sir Marcus."

El and Gabriel both stared at him astonished that he would make such a claim.

"Over the last four years, I've killed men for less than the honor of my sister. If worse comes to worst, I'll sneak into Sir Marcus' room and slit his throat while he sleeps. No one will ever know I was there."

Gabriel gasped. "David! You wouldn't!"

David turned to him, murder in his eyes. "Yes, I would, I can, and I will. But first..." He picked up the large book. "This is the most recent copy of Aragil law. Look through it. See if we can find a legal way out of it. You may not like Sir Marcus, but his life is now in your hands."

Eleenia threw herself on David in a hug. "Thank you, David. I owe you everything."

"Buy me a cold creamed whiskey and we'll call it even."

Eleenia laughed a little through her tears. She immediately grabbed the book, looked through the table of contents, and thumbed her way to a specific page. After reading a few minutes, her eyes went wide. "That's it! Listen! If a woman is promised to a man by the local lord, another man who wants her hand can issue a challenge, which will result in a martial contest of a joust. If the joust is inconclusive, the battle will continue with the sword. Now listen to this part. If no suitor will issue a challenge, the woman can also be championed by her father or an older brother!"

They both looked to Gabriel hopefully.

"I am not that good of a jouster, but if it comes right down to it, I'll do it."

El slumped in relief. "Thank you, Gabriel."

"But, first I am going to go talk to Sir Marcus. I am going to try to convince him to renounce his claim. David, I would like you to come with me. He doesn't like me and he might react violently."

David smiled. "Want me there to keep you from getting your hind end kicked?"

"No, I want you there to make sure I don't kill him. And in case he is with his friends and there are more of them than I can handle."

"So yes, you want me there to keep you from getting your hind end kicked." David slugged Gabriel playfully on the shoulder. "I would be honored, Brother Gabriel, Knight of the Holy Defenders, to be thy second, and thus keepeth thou from getting thine holy ass kickethed."

Gabriel laughed. "Come on, we better go soon. Sir Marcus is a heavy drinker, and with the spread they had at that feast, we want to make sure he can still think clearly."