De Wolfe Pack 05 - Walls of Babylon (37 page)

Nicola regarded him a moment. “You are being quite considerate to the man who tried to turn you over to Edward.”

Kenton shrugged. “He was only doing his duty,” he said. “During that time, he treated me with respect and fairness. I am trying to treat him the way he treated me. Moreover, Warwick still holds his sister. He will behave himself until he gets her back.”

Nicola understood what he was telling her, trying to understand the code of honor between knights who served different lords. There was still honor amongst enemies and that was something she respected in Kenton’s attitude. He was a man of solid character. She smiled faintly.

“Even back when we first met and there was so much animosity between us,” she said, “you never treated me with disrespect. You are an honorable man, even with your enemies, Sir Kenton. That is a most admirable quality.”

He smiled back. “I did not treat you with respect,” he said. “I treated you with utter fear, terrified of what you would do if I was not constantly on my guard.”

Nicola smiled and he touched her cheek, gently, as Teague and Tiernan ran up to Kenton, showing him the baby chicks they were holding. As much as Kenton wanted to spend time with the boys and their fuzzy friends, he could not. He had much to do and little time in which to do it. He put a big hand on Tiernan’s blond head, dwarfing it, as he addressed Nicola.

“I must go now to make sure that St. John gathers his men and clears out just as he is supposed to do,” he said. “Are you well enough to go about your duties now? The shock of seeing me has not been too much?”

She grinned. “It has not been too much,” she assured him. “I could deal with the Devil himself today and be perfectly happy and content with it. As long as you are safe, that is all that matters to me, Kenton. All is right with the world.”

He took his hand from Tiernan’s head, gently touching her hand. “Then please go into the keep and remain there whilst I accomplish this,” he said. “I will return as soon as I can and we will sup together. I have not eaten well in a couple of days.”

Nicola nodded eagerly. “I will make sure Hermenia prepares a feast,” she assured him. “Have you see Tab yet? He was in the stables the last I saw of him. He will want to see you very much.”

Kenton nodded. “I will see him when I can,” he said. “For now, go inside, please. I will see you later.”

He bent down and kissed her on the mouth, gently, but quickly he was drawn in by the overwhelming attraction he had for her. A gentle kiss instantly turned into raging lust and he pulled her against him, forgetting about the eggs, and several of them cracked as their bodies came together. He grinned as Nicola started laughing, now with an apron of broken eggs. Kenton kissed her again, swiftly.

“I love you,” he whispered against her cheek. “More than anything on this earth, I love you. Now go inside before you drip all over everything.”

Nicola grinned up at him, running a finger across his full lower lip. “And I love you madly even though you broke my eggs.”

He swatted her playfully on the behind and she continued to laugh as she went inside the kitchens, dripping egg as she went. Kenton watched her go inside, his heart swelling in ways he never knew it could. It was as if every moment brought new emotions with Nicola, stronger and more deeply than anything he knew to exist. He was with her and things were good once more, if only for a short time before he departed again. Until then, he would enjoy the time they had left.

Once Nicola left his sight, Kenton headed out of the kitchen yard, back the way he came, searching for Brome St. John as the man gathered his men in preparation for leaving Babylon.

His body may have been in the inner ward, but his heart, mind, and soul were inside with Nicola.

He was home now, but not for long.

In truth, he was dreading the dawn.

Hermenia and Janet were more than happy to create a lovely meal for Kenton’s return and Nicola herself picked out the cuts of meat for the master’s table. In the close, hot kitchen of Babylon, she selected nearly everything for Kenton’s meal personally, happier than she had ever been. She wanted to spend every single second with him now that he was back but she knew that was impossible at the moment; he still had duties to attend to as there was to be a changing of the guard at Babylon. Kenton had to make sure the transition was seamless. Dropping off her eggs in the kitchen, the broken ones as well as the whole ones, she removed her soiled apron and took Teague and Tiernan out into the hall.

Hermenia had given the boys bread with melted cheese on it and they happily shoved the warm bread into their mouths as Nicola led them out into the hall, which was cold and rather dark at this time of day. She caught sight of Liesl near the hearth, sweeping out the soot, and she quietly told the girl that Sir Kenton had returned.

Liesl immediately asked about Sir Matthew, more than likely on behalf of her sister, but Nicola was unable to tell her anything about the knight. She hadn’t asked Kenton the whereabouts of de Russe or Wellesbourne, or even le Mon or Forbes. She had only been concerned with Kenton and Conor, to a lesser extent, because the plan to free Kenton had rested entirely on the red-headed knight. She knew that Kenton and Conor were safe and that was all she could tell Liesl.

Wanting to remain in the hall in case Kenton should come in, she sent Teague and Tiernan with Liesl up to their chamber. Nicola took the broom from Liesl and resumed sweeping the hearth although her mind was wandering to Kenton the entire time. She thought about his pledge to marry her and wondered if it would be soon. She even found herself thinking on the children they would have, undoubtedly strong sons since she was very capable of producing boys. Coupling, which had been so distasteful to her with Gaylord, was suddenly quite curious and alluring with Kenton. She wondered what it would be like for him to touch her in intimate places, arousing her passion. Simply to think on it made her knees weak.

Grinning at her reaction to the thought of his caress, she continued to sweep the soot out of the hearth, wondering what it would be like to actually be touched by a man she was in love with, by someone she wanted to touch her. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the entry to the keep open or the footsteps that approached her. She had her back to the hall entry as she swept the soot towards a basket they used to remove the ashes so her first clue that someone was standing behind her was a soft clearing of the throat.

“Lady Thorne?”

Startled out of her preoccupied thoughts, Nicola whirled around to see St. John standing there. Her eyes widened in surprise as he smiled weakly.

“Greetings, my lady,” he said. “It is quite agreeable to see you again.”

Nicola heard that same soft tone in his voice, the one she’d heard when he’d offered to let her and her children stay at Conisbrough should she turn Babylon over to Warwick. It was that same sickening tone of interest and warmth, as the man was clearly interested in her personally. She tried not to be put off by it.

“Greetings, Sir Brome,” she said evenly. “I understand that Warwick accepted your offer of Babylon in exchange for your sister.”

His smile faded. “Who told you that?”

She leaned on the broom, keeping it between her and St. John in case she needed to use it as a weapon to chase him off. “Sir Kenton,” she said. “He found me in the kitchen yard and told me what happened. It would seem that he never made it to Edward.”

St. John’s smile was gone completely now. “He did not,” he said, sounding frustrated. “Warwick somehow managed to find us before I could deliver Kenton to Edward. I am sorry if that disappoints you, my lady. I know how you were hoping Kenton would be away from you and away from Babylon, but it seems that is not to be. Warwick has ways of discovering information that leads me to believe… well, it does not matter what I think of Warwick. Unfortunately, now Sir Kenton has Babylon returned to him and it is once again under Warwick’s control.”

Nicola nodded. “I see,” she said. “But all is not lost as long as your sister is returned to you.”

St. John shrugged, a humbled gesture. “I can never thank you enough for offering up Babylon to exchange for her life,” he said. Then, his gaze lingered on her. “My offer still stands, of course. You and your children are welcome to live at Conisbrough for as long as you wish to stay.”

There was that unwelcome offer again. Nicola took a step back from him, resuming her sweeping. “Your offer is kind but not necessary,” she said. “Babylon is our home and I am not leaving. We have endured Sir Kenton before and we can do it again.”

St. John watched her as she swept, thinking she was quite a determined woman to stay in the same fortress with a man she clearly hated. He began to think that it was because she thought his offer to live at Conisbrough to be most improper, coming to stay with a man she barely knew in a strange fortress. Aye, that must have been the reason she rejected him for, certainly, he could think of no other reason.

“My lady, I apologize if I have offended you,” he said. “Please understand that I meant my offer only under the most proper of circumstances. You and your children would be my guests, of course, and guests of Edward, and when my sister arrives, you will have a companion. You have been to Conisbrough and have seen what an excellent place it is. You and your children would want for nothing, I assure you.”

He was being quite chivalrous which made Nicola feel the least bit guilty about carrying on a lie about her and Kenton. She’d done nothing but lie to St. John from the beginning but she’d had no other choice given the circumstances. Still, she felt badly for him in the slightest.

“You are most kind. Sir Brome, but again I will decline,” she said, easing her stiff stance somewhat. “Babylon is my eldest son’s legacy and we are not leaving. If we do, we will never get it back.”

St. John simply nodded. He was finished being polite and gallant. Now, he was going to come to the point and dare her to deny him again. It was time to make his intentions plain.

“You will,” he said firmly. “Because I will get it back for you. My lady, if I may be so bold, you are a widow and I am an unmarried man. I… I would like to offer for your hand if you will have me. I am healthy, have no bad habits that I am aware of, and come from a fine family. I would make an excellent husband and I would help you raise your sons if you will allow me. My lady, what I am clumsily asking is if you will accept my proposal of marriage. I would be honored if you would consider it.”

So he had spelled it out. Nicola wasn’t particularly surprised but it did make her feel even sorrier for him than she did before. Brome St. John was a kind man, and handsome, and she was quite sure he would make a very good husband, but she had absolutely no interest in him. She tried to be gentle in her rejection.

“I am sure you will understand when I say that I cannot consider it at this time,” she said, lowering her gaze. “My husband has only been gone these few months. I have not been a widow for very long and to marry another so soon… I cannot think on such things, at least not now.”

St. John didn’t give up. “I understand, my lady,” he said. “I just wanted you to know… that when you are ready, I would be grateful for your consideration.”

Nicola looked up from her broom. “You are very kind to offer,” she said. “But for now, I will stay at Babylon with my children. This is where we belong and where we shall stay.”

“Is there nothing I can say to convince you otherwise?”

“Nay. I am truly sorry.”

Her words were final and there were no more arguments for St. John to present. He wasn’t happy to leave her at Babylon much less leave her under Kenton le Bec’s watchful eye, but she was making the choice to remain and he would have to respect that.

Unhappy, he turned away from her because she had made it clear that there was no negotiating the issue at this time. But he made a silent vow not to give up; he would give her a few weeks, enough for her to get a belly full of le Bec, and then he would try again. Perhaps then she would be more willing to listen.

“Very well,” he said. “But if you need anything, you know where to reach me. Send a missive and I will come right away.”

Nicola nodded, watching the man go even though she was pretending to sweep. His shoulders were slumped and he seemed quite depressed, and dejected, but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t tell him the truth and she could not accept his proposal, so she would have to leave things the way they were.