De Wolfe Pack 05 - Walls of Babylon (22 page)

Heroics often went beyond mere battlefield behavior. Heroics were in the character of men and in their sacrifices.

Kenton had sacrificed his safety for the sake of his men.

Now, all his men could do was pray.

Babylon Castle

“Mam, are there more battles to come?” Tab asked, looking up at his mother with his big green eyes. “Will we have more fighting?”

In their fourth floor chambers at the top of Babylon’s keep, Nicola was watching the activity in the inner ward down below. Raven was over by one of the little beds with Tiernan, who was still sniffling and sick, whilst Janet and Liesl were looking out of the windows as well, watching the bustle down below just as Nicola was. None of them particularly liked what they saw.

It was the morning after the breach of Babylon and Edward’s banners were once again flying high from the battlements. The day was clear and bright, but to Nicola, it was the most desolate and horrible day she could have ever witnessed. A night of fighting had seen Babylon fall back into the hands of Edward’s supporters, but all she could think of was the fact that she had betrayed Kenton and his men. She didn’t even know what had become of Conor, the man left in charge when Kenton had departed. All she knew was that it had been a nasty battle, all night, and she had watched it all from the safety of her room.

As morning dawned, she stood at the window, pale and gray, wrapped in a heavy cloak against the cold morning temperatures and wondering what her treachery had brought them all. It was her hurt and anger at Kenton that had compelled her to send the missive to Conisbrough before she thought the entire thing through. Hurt and anger and fear that she was about to be preyed upon by a man who had made it clear to his comrades that his only intent was to use her. Now, all she could feel was deep regret and sorrow that she hadn’t confronted him before she acted. She should have asked Kenton about his hurtful words and, at the very least, allow him to explain himself.

But she didn’t.

I love you….

Those were the last words he had spoken to her, not knowing that the wheels of betrayal were already in motion. Now, guilt threatened to consume her as she viewed the results of her treachery against Kenton and his men.

In the end, she was the one to win the battle for Babylon but there was no joy in that victory, only sorrow.

“I do not think there will be any more battles,” she finally said, putting her hand on Tab’s blond head. “I think the battles are over for now.”

The serving women heard her, Janet and Liesl standing by the other window that faced east. They, too, were feeling uncertainty and guilt about the entire situation. They were well aware that their lady’s missive to Conisbrough had started this trouble and they were further aware that it was Lady Thorne who had opened the postern gate to let the enemy in, but they said nothing about it. It was not their place to question their lady even though their hearts, like Nicola’s, were heavy. So much death and destruction. Over on the bed with Tiernan, Raven was sniffling so much that Nicola finally looked over at her only to see tears in the woman’s eyes.

“Raven?” Nicola asked with concern. “Why do you weep?”

Raven shook her head, wiping quickly at her eyes. “It… it is nothing, my lady,” she said. “I… I suppose I am simply frightened by the battles. We have seen much.”

Liesl and Janet were looking at their sister with varied degrees of concern and disapproval. Liesl, the younger and more foolish one, spoke.

“She weeps because she is in love with Matthew Wellesbourne,” she said accusingly. “She is in love with an enemy knight and she is afraid for him! She thinks he is dead!”

Raven’s head shot up and she hissed at her sister as Janet tried to calm the pair. “Quiet, both of you,” Janet scolded. “Lady Thorne does not need to hear any of this foolishness.”

“Shut your lips!” Raven snapped at Liesl. “You are jealous because he only looks at me and not you!”

Janet turned Liesl around and shoved her towards Nicola and Tab. “Silence!” Janet barked. “Go stand somewhere else. You will speak no more!”

Grumbling and mumbling, Liesl wandered away, towards one of the boys’ little beds, and began fussing with the linens as if straightening out the bed when the truth was she wasn’t doing much good of anything. She was only trying to keep her hands busy and her mind off of her sister’s hateful words before she said something they would all regret.

Nicola eyed the young serving woman with some concern, suspecting there might be more to the story than she was being told. It seemed to her that Janet and Raven were both quite nervous about it. After a moment, she returned her attention to Raven.

“Is this true, Raven?” she asked quietly. “Do you love Wellesbourne?”

Raven shook her head, but her lower lip was trembling. “I… I tried to stay away from the knights just as you said, my lady.”

Nicola shook her head. “Yet you did not,” she replied. “Do not lie to me. I know you did not stay away from them. So it’s Wellesbourne, is it? I do not suppose there will be any Wellesbourne bastards running around come winter, will there?”

Raven flushed a dull red, hanging her head in shame. Liesl, too, was fairly red-faced and she kept her head lowered where Nicola could not see her disgrace as well. Janet, feeling mortified on behalf of her foolish and loose sisters, cleared her throat softly.

“I am sure there will not be, my lady,” she said, eyeing her sisters. “If there are, then be assured I will send the child and its mother back to my mother, where both will be tended. I would not permit them to remain here and shame the House of Thorne.”

Raven, humiliated by her older sister’s words, was unable to control her anger. “There may be other bastards, too,” she snarled at Janet. “You cannot point all blame at me. I am not the only one who has been warming a knight’s bed.”

Janet was aghast. “How dare you say such things in front of Lady Thorne,” she hissed. “Shut your silly mouth, girl, or I’ll send you back to Mother this very day.”

Raven would not be silence. “I heard Wellesbourne and de Russe speak of other women who give themselves over to the knights,” she said. “You know I have. I told you about it and you told me not to tell!”

Janet lifted her hand to slap her sister but Nicola stopped her. “What is this she is speaking of?” she demanded, moving closer to Raven as she sat on Tiernan’s bed. “Raven, what do you mean? Who were Wellesbourne and de Russe speaking of?”

Infuriated, ashamed, and with little tact, Raven turned her guarded gaze to Nicola, “You, my lady,” she said, her voice quiet and trembling. “I heard them speak of you but Janet told me not to tell you.”

Shocked, Nicola looked at Janet, who was very close to boxing her sister’s silly ears. “It was foolish talk, my lady,” Janet explained, trying to downplay the importance of such gossip. “Raven and Liesl overheard the knights speaking of you. It was simply gossip.”

“It was
not
simply gossip!” Raven insisted. “They were speaking of Lady Thorne and Kenton le Bec, and they were concerned that le Bec was paying too much attention to Lady Thorne, so much so that they were fearful that Warwick would discover his interest in Lady Thorne and send her away!”

Nicola’s mouth popped open in surprise as Liesl, behind her, spoke up. “It is true, my lady,” she said. “We heard them say that Sir Kenton had orders from Warwick that he was not fulfilling because he was smitten by you. They said that they were going to speak to Kenton about you but I do not know if they did.”

Nicola stared at Liesl in horror, digesting what she’d been told. “How would you know such a thing?” she asked, her voice oddly hollow. “How in the world would you hear these men speak of me?”

Raven lost some of her indignant stance. “We… we were near Matthew’s chamber and heard them speaking,” she said, refusing to admit that they had deliberately been listening in. “Both Matthew and Gaston speak rather loudly and we couldn’t help but hear them. It seemed to me that they were going to tell Sir Kenton that he must follow Warwick’s orders or he would be in trouble.”

Nicola blinked, somewhat stumped by the information. “In trouble with Warwick?”

Raven nodded. “Because of you.”

“How long ago did you hear this?”

“Just over a week ago, my lady. Not very long at all.”

Just over a week ago.
The words, all of them, were tumbling around in Nicola’s head and she labored to make sense of everything, like pieces to a puzzle that did not yet fit together but somehow, someway, she began to suspect that all of it had something to do with that terrible day when she heard Kenton dismiss her as something to be used. The timeline seemed close enough;
just over a week ag
o. Weren’t Wellesbourne and de Russe in the solar with Kenton when she heard the man speak those terrible words? She thought she may have heard their voices and she knew that Kenton was speaking to his knights, but she hadn’t known who, exactly, he had been speaking with.

What if it had, indeed, been Wellesbourne and de Russe confronting him about spending an abundance of attention on Lady Thorne and threatening to go to Warwick with the information?
What if…
what if Kenton had merely told them he was using her so they would not tell Warwick of his behavior? What if Kenton had lied about his true intentions towards her, lying to his knights so they would not betray him or his feelings to their liege?

What if he was simply defending his true intentions towards her to throw them off the scent?

Oh, God….

Heavily, Nicola sat on the bed behind her. The truth was that her knees gave out and she simply plopped down onto it. There had been no conscious choice to sit. Her knees would no longer hold her. She sat there a moment, gripping the edge of the bed, wondering if her act of betrayal had been based on Kenton trying to keep the two of them together.
Warwick would send you away.
Kenton didn’t want her to be sent away.

He was trying to keep them together.

I love you….

Nicola could hardly breathe through the horror she was feeling. Dear God, was it possible? Had he truly only been trying to throw Wellesbourne and de Russe off his trail? Why, oh why, hadn’t she confronted him about his words? Why hadn’t she asked him to explain himself? Instead, she had believed the worst and her feelings of pain and betrayal had taken over her common sense. She had betrayed the man who loved her.

Whom
she
loved.

Aye, she loved him. She couldn’t remember when she hadn’t. Now, her treachery had cost her everything, including the man she loved.

Dear God… what have I done?

Forcing herself to breathe, to think, Nicola stood up from the bed unsteadily. She had to go downstairs, to see to the status of Babylon and to see what her act of betrayal had done to Kenton’s men. She suddenly felt quite protective of them, as misplaced and late as those feelings were. Smoothing at her hair, her mind wandering to thoughts of Kenton and the degree of damage she had done to him, she moved for the chamber door.

“Thank you for telling me what Wellesbourne and de Russe had said about me,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. “But it truly doesn’t matter what they think now, does it? Babylon is back in the hands of Edward, where it belongs, and it is time for me to assess the situation. I will also procure some food for the boys while I am gone, but you will remain here and bolt the door. Do not open it for anyone but me. Is that clear?”

Janet, Raven, and Liesl nodded fearfully but Tab came up next to his mother and clutched her hand.

“I will go with you,” he said.

Nicola was momentarily forced away from her tumultuous thoughts, gazing down at her son and thinking his offer sounded very grown-up. “There is no need,” she said. “I will return as soon as I can.”

Tab was serious. “But you may need protection,” he said. “I will protect you.”

It was a sweet thing to say and Nicola couldn’t help but smile at her brave boy. “Protection from what?” she asked. “These men are loyal to Edward. They will not harm me.”

Tab remained quite serious. He went to the door and opened it for his mother. “Come along,” he said. “I will escort you. We do not know these men and they could be cruel.”

“If they are cruel, then I do not want you where they are. I want you here, safe.”

“If they are cruel, then I will defend you.”

There was no arguing with him, as his mind was made up. Fighting off a grin at Tab’s chivalrous behavior, Nicola obediently went to the door just as her son had asked. When she quit the room, Tab followed her onto the dark landing beyond and shut the door behind his mother. He was the first one down the stairs as she followed.

The third floor of the keep was very quiet, as it had been since Kenton and his men had departed, and the smile faded from Nicola’s face as she was once again reminded of his absence and of what she had done. Gazing into the two empty chambers on this level, the ones that the knights had once used, left her feeling sick and hollow. At some point, she simply couldn’t look at the rooms anymore; the longer she stared at them, remembering who was once in them, the more sickened she became.

Nicola and Tab made their way down the great staircase to the entry level below, their senses heightened and their manner cautious. The hall to their left and the solar straight ahead seemed to be empty and they couldn’t hear any voices, nor any sounds except those coming from outside. Quickly, Nicola hurried through the dark, smelly hall and to the alcove at the far end that led to the kitchen where she found Hermenia out in the yard bent over a steaming pot of grainy porridge. When the old cook saw her mistress, she crowed with delight.