"I need to see the duchess and confirm with my eyes that she is still a sane woman. Sometimes I blame myself for marrying you to her instead of convincing her to wait," said Peter.
Peter didn’t believe that Alessandra was happy with Edgar. He didn’t want to hear the excuse that Edgar showed her a different side.
"You may return to Lockwood now, Peter. It’s too much of a hassle for me to travel this far to see you," Edgar said.
Edgar preferred how much easier it was for him to get to Peter in the past.
Peter wondered if Edgar needed to be hit over the head. "I don’t want to be close to you, Edgar. I am quite tempted to pack up all that I own and move again, so I won’t be so unlucky to see you again."
"You’ll only escape me by death," Edgar said, ruining Peter’s dream.
"Prince Tyrion," Peter whined, once again turning to the prince for help. "I am your humble servant. Please help me against this man."
"You know that I am married to his daughter. I would rather it be you that he terrorises instead of me. You appear to speak with the duke quite well, and you should continue to do so. Think highly of yourself for having the duke coming all this way to you," Tyrion said.
Peter’s mouth fell open since Tyrion said a lot that didn’t matter.
"If it were you or the king who came all this way to see me, then I promise you that I would indeed think highly of myself, your grace. Edgar is evil to leave the comfort of his home to find me, all because he wants to punish me for my mistake. I fear I might die at any moment," Peter said, closing to kneeling again.
"Edgar," Tyrion said, turning his attention from Peter. "Duke Collins," he corrected himself after Edgar’s stare. "Do you plan to kill Peter?"
"I might," Edgar answered.
Tyrion smiled as he turned to Peter once more. "You may relax now."
Peter stared at the prince in wonder. This had to be an awful dream.
Peter pointed at Edgar and said, "He said he might kill me."
"Which means there is some uncertainty. I would feel inclined to help you should he have plans to harm you. I promise I will protect you since you are the man who wed me to the woman I love, but there is nothing to save you from now," said Tyrion.
"He torments me over something I did many years ago," Peter argued.
"Is it not a blessing that you are still alive after you tried to scam him? Should you have tried to con me out of my money, I would have taken you and fed you to starving dogs. Do you still not find yourself lucky?" Tyrion asked, his gaze unintentionally making Peter feel small.
Peter thought the church had become uncomfortably hot again.
For the first time in his life, Peter inched closer to Edgar for protection.
"That one right there makes me feel wary," Peter whispered to Edgar.
"Yes, Edgar?" Peter replied.
Peter looked down and noticed how close he was to Edgar. He almost clung to Edgar like a damsel would hold her hero.
Peter backed away from Edgar. This day wasn’t going so well.
Peter peered at Elijah, wondering what the last one was going to do to frighten him.
As if he could read Peter’s mind, Elijah said, "I don’t have an interest in toying with you."
Elijah wasn’t interested in scaring a priest.
Peter had trust issues with the three men. He was certain that aside from Edgar, he would see Elijah or Tyrion again.
"I will write to you if I see anyone who looks suspicious or if I overhear something, but I don’t want my name to be spoken of. I do not need some other crazy bastard coming to me again. I was lucky to survive Simon and you. I want to live," Peter said, though his actions showed otherwise.
"I will keep you alive," Edgar promised.
Peter thought there was some hope for Edgar until he heard the next few words.
"I will not let someone else rob me of the chance to kill you."
Peter wanted to curl up on one of the benches in the church and go back to sleep. It was quite possible that he hit his head on the way here and needed to wake up.
Peter considered the possibility that he was being punished for stopping to look at the game the boys played.
"Don’t forget to write," Edgar said as he walked toward the door.
Peter was thrilled to see Edgar leaving, but he made the mistake of asking, "Did you not come here to pray?"
Peter covered his mouth with his hands.
How could he be so foolish as to ask such a question, which would make Edgar stay longer?
Edgar continued to walk out of the door and responded with, "I did it during the time you spoke with the prince."
Peter slowly moved his hands after seeing the men all leave. He fell to the floor once more, but this time, it wasn’t willingly. His knees were suddenly weak, so he had to sit down.
Peter sighed in relief since he survived an encounter with Edgar. He thought of running away again, but soon came to terms with the fact that no matter where he went, Edgar would find him.
Outside the church, the men walked back to the carriage.
"If you don’t have anywhere to take us, I would like to visit Penelope’s uncle. I am certain you wish to talk with him," said Tyrion.
"I do," Edgar replied.
Tyrion was ready to move on to the next person whose day they would ruin.
They all sat back down in their previous and after Edgar’s orders, the carriage set off for Luke’s home.
"Will we be visiting my grandmother as well? Isn’t she the root of all of this?" Elijah asked, still angered over what was said earlier.
Elijah wanted to have a private talk with Melanie so his younger siblings wouldn’t be the ones to hear what they shouldn’t. He was curious about what more occurred between Penelope and Melanie, as well as what else was said about his mother.
"Melanie will get what is coming to her, but for now, going to the son she adores is enough to give her a fright," Edgar replied.
Tyrion once again stared at the pair, noticing how similar they appeared as they were angry because of matters concerning the duchess.