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Wulfric walked silently to the door. The queen turned her head to look at him with a questioning look in her eyes, but he simply shook his head and put a finger to his lips. He did not want to disturb Anna and the King. In fact, it was a good thing, that she was distracted by King Jonathan at the moment. He wanted to confront Lewinus on his own and he could not if Anna knew where he was going.
The hallway was lit by torches by every other door but was still cast in darkness. He hurried down it and turned the corner towards the hallway where he knew Lewinus was staying. He knew that Anna had placed him as far away from her own chamber and the royal chambers as possible given his status.
It was time that Lewinus understood once and for all to leave Anna alone. Wulfric could not for a moment believe that he would actually be able to kill him. He, Wulfric, was a far better soldier than Lewinus had ever been. The only reason he had been able to beat him up was because three of his friends had been holding him down.
The image of Lewinus standing above him with a knife and not his raised fists flashed before Wulfric’s eyes and made a cold pit form in his stomach. But Lewinus would be alone this time and Wulfric needed to show him that he was not afraid of him. That he would protect Anna no matter who she chose, but that she had chosen him.
He could not help but smile at the thought. They would get married as soon as possible. Start a family. The boy with golden hair and brown eyes – he would be a reality. Their first son. They could name him Valdemar if Anna liked it.
The smile was still on his lips as he turned the doorknob to Lewinus’ room. It was locked. Wulfric kicked it a couple of times, hoping that Lewinus would wake up terrified by someone breaking into his room. It was only what he deserved.
The door gave in on his third kick and he was able to enter the room. It was not dark as he had thought, both several candlesticks and the fireplace were lit, making the room only semi-dark. Lewinus had not been in bed but had been sitting in a chair by the window in only a shirt and leggings. He jumped to his legs as he saw Wulfric.
“Rosenkranz,” he said in a surprised voice, that to Wulfric’s satisfaction also had a touch of fear.
“You’ll leave her alone from now on. You’ll never talk to her, never even look at her, and if I so much as think that you have been contemplating harming her, I will kill you,” Wulfric said calmly.
This was enough. He needed Lewinus out of his life, as fast as possible. And he needed the bastard to understand it once and for all.
Lewinus did not have time to respond as the sound of bare feet running down the hallway reached them. The moment after Anna showed up in the doorway.
“Wulfric, get out of there,” she said panting.
“No, this ends now. He’s not to interfere with our lives ever again...”
“You don’t understand, he’s going to kill you,” Anna pleaded with him, tugging on his arm to get him out of the room.
“Not if I kill him first,” Wulfric said.
“Be reasonable, please,” Anna said and tugged his sleeve more fiercely, But Wulfric held his ground.
“Get away from him. You’re mine, you’re my fiancée,” Lewinus said much closer than Wulfric had expected him to be. He sounded like a spoiled child and nothing like the noble man that he actually was.
That was it. Wulfric punched him in the face with his right fist and used his left arm to push Anna behind himself. Nothing was going as planned.
“She’s not yours. You threatened her until she gave into you, that’s the only reason she agreed,” Wulfric said while he tried to keep Lewinus away from Anna.
“You’re going to be mine. We will be the most powerful couple in the kingdom. I will be the most powerful Lewinus to have ever lived,” Lewinus said as she tried to reach for Anna behind Wulfric’s back.
“Get a grip, Lewinus!” someone shouted from the door and Wulfric saw King Jonathan come rushing to his aid, trying to grab one of Lewinus’ arms to contain him. He got a hold of the left, but not the right.
“Why would you go talk to him alone?” he said as he struggled to hold on to Lewinus’ left arm, as Wulfric reached for the right.
“I was only going to talk to him,” Wulfric shouted out of breath as they kept fighting Lewinus. He was more like a wild cat than a man. Impossible to keep down and both biting and scratching if he was not able to get in a blow or a kick.
“Calm down,” Wulfric said and threw him to the ground. Both he and King Jonathan sat down on Lewinus immediately.
“You can’t do this. You can’t do this. She’s mine now,” Lewinus said.
”Calm down, Lewinus,” King Jonathan said. “Clearly, she’s not yours.”
Lewinus seemed to relax for just a second. It was clearly enough to get King Jonathan to relax as well, which made it possible for Lewinus to get a leg free and kick King Jonathan in the groin. He almost fell over moaning with pain.
Wulfric heard the queen cry out and heard her run to help her husband away. Lewinus was quick to take advantage of the fact that he only had to fight Wulfric now. Even though Wulfric was larger than him, Lewinus was still both strong and athletic. Wulfric tried to throw himself on top of Lewinus but the other managed to turn him around and Wulfric felt himself being pushed towards the floor. He was kicking his legs but was not able to hit Lewinus.
Lewinus was ready to punch him in the face, but Wulfric moved his head just in time, meaning that Lewinus jammed his hand into the wooden floor. Wulfric was sure that he could hear bones breaking. Lewinus moaned with pain, but it did not seem to make him calm down, only anger him more.
“I’ll get you, I’ll get you,” he whispered through gritted teeth. “She’s mine. I’ve won her.”
“She doesn’t belong to anyone,” Wulfric said in a strained voice.
Wulfric tried to throw Lewinus off him and get up again. He felt that he was succeeding when Lewinus lifted himself a little but too late Wulfric realized that Lewinus had only made the movement in order to reach for his knife that was hidden in his boot, standing by his head at the side of the bed. Wulfric watched the shiny piece of metal glint in the semi-darkness of the room. He heard Anna’s scream and felt a momentary pain in his chest. Then he died.