Dragonblade Trilogy - 01 - Dragonblade (28 page)

The general shook his
head. “We cannot even get close to the king. What makes you think we can get
close to de Lara’s wife?”

Hamlin paused as he
poured his wine. “Your men will have to be clever and swift.  I care not how
she is taken, but get her. If we hold her, we hold the kingdom.”

The general cast him a
long look but did as he was ordered. More men would need to be dispatched, more
spies to watch de Lara’s every move and wait for an opportunity. It wasn’t
going to be easy, if such a thing was even possible at all. 

***

“I do not care if you
and your entire fleet of servants are up all night,” Toby said pointedly. 
“This keep will be clean by tomorrow morning.”

She was facing off against
a huffing, puffing Wallace.  It was pouring rain outside, loud thunder and
bright lightning.  But the thunder in the sky was nothing compared to the storm
brewing in the great hall of Harbottle. Lady de Lara was now chatelaine and
Wallace was having a difficult time with the transition. It was unexpected;
more than that, Wallace was offended. His insult against Toby’s determination
was a volatile combination.

“We have more
important things to attend to, my lady,” he was trying not to show disrespect
to the woman he liege had recently married. “We are still repairing damage from
the siege and I hardly think that scrubbing the keep is a priority.”

“I will decide what
the priorities are,” she snapped. “I am in charge here. You will do as you are
told.”

Wallace’s leathered
face tightened with fury. “I take my orders from Lord Tate.”

Toby lifted an
eyebrow. “When you are inside this keep, you take them from me. This is now my
domain and the sooner you understand that, the better we shall get along. This
keep is an embarrassment and I intend to see it cleaned from top to bottom.”

“There is no
embarrassment to this place, my lady.”

“Are you going to help
me or not?”

“I have more important
things to do.”

“Then get out.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Get
out. And stay out.”

Wallace opened his
mouth in outrage but Toby was already moving towards the hearth. A long iron
poker stood propped against the wall and she grabbed it, wielding it like a
weapon.

“Did you hear me?” she
barked. “If you are not going to do as you are told, then you will get out.”

His brow furrowed and
his teeth bared, preparing for a very sharp retort that would perhaps be not so
polite. But Toby swung the poker at him and smacked him across the thigh, not
hard enough to do damage but hard enough to sting.

“Out!” she yelled.

When Wallace didn’t
move fast enough, she took another swing and the old priest jumped out of the
way, making his way very quickly towards the keep entry. Toby followed on his
heels, swinging the poker again and catching him across the buttocks.

“Out!”

Wallace shot out
through the entry door as if the devil himself was on his heels.  He was
half-way down the stairs when Toby appeared on the landing, leveling the poker
in front of her.

“And stay out until
you can learn to obey my wishes!”

Wallace ran across the
bailey and disappeared somewhere in the vicinity of the knight’s quarters. Upon
the battlements near the gatehouse, Tate and Kenneth had been given a marvelous
view of the last few seconds when Wallace ran from the keep with Toby chasing
after him. They both watched Wallace scurry across the ward and out of sight as
Toby stood on the entry landing, holding a very large fire poker and
threatening him. After a few moments of stunned silence, Kenneth looked at
Tate, whose storm cloud eyes were riveted to his wife. He seemed quite
unconcerned about the entire incident.

“Hmmm,” he muttered
casually. “I was wondering how long it would take for Elizabetha and Wallace to
come to blows. I see that I did not have long to wait.”

He looked at Kenneth,
whose head was lowered. Upon closer inspection, the man seemed to be shaking.
Tate peered even closer and realized that Kenneth was far gone with laughter.
The normally stoic and unflappable knight was red with mirth. Realizing that it
was indeed a very comical scene, it was a struggle for Tate to keep a smile off
his face.

“Stop laughing,” he
commanded quietly. “For I must go confront my wife and if I remember your
laughter, it will be impossible for me to keep a straight face.  Stop it, I say.”

Kenneth took a deep
breath and lifted his head, struggling to focus. “Of course,” he said, though
it was in an oddly strangled tone. “It was not the least bit humorous.”

“Aye, it was, but I
doubt Elizabetha will think so and I have no desire to feel a blow from that
poker. You may see me running out of the keep with an angry woman on my heels.”

Kenneth couldn’t help
it; he busted out into muffled guffaws and Tate slugged him weakly on the
shoulder before making his way back down to the bailey. Crossing through the
mud and rain, he mounted the steps to the keep and took refuge inside the dark,
stale entry. Immediately, he spied Toby in the great hall ahead of him. She was
without the poker and speaking with Althel and another old servant. Young
Edward was also standing with her, listening intently. Tate walked upon the
group.

“Greetings,” he was
focused on his wife, although Edward responded to his salutation.  “I do not
wish to interrupt, but may I have a word, madam?”

Althel and the old
servant immediately stepped away. Edward was a little slower, not realizing
Tate had meant a private word with Toby but understanding the matter quickly
when Tate cast him a long look. The young king disappeared as Tate focused on
his wife.

As he gazed at her, he
could hardly believe they had been married an entire day.  It seemed as if he
had never been without her yet he could still hardly believe she belonged to
him.  He’d met the woman a week ago and already, she was indelibly a part of
him.  When she smiled he reached out and pulled her against him, kissing her
gently.

“I have not seen you
since dawn,” he murmured, kissing the end of her nose. “I had to come and see
you again.”

Toby’s entire body
tingled with the thrill of his embrace, her heart swelling with joy at his
words.  She, too, was finding it difficult to believe that they were married,
that this man who had abruptly transformed her life was now her husband. Last
night had been another glorious night of exploration and lovemaking. It seemed
like a dream but it was a dream she was glad never to awaken from. She never
knew she could be so happy in spite of the highs and lows of the past several
days. It was like walking on clouds, every minute of every day.

“I am glad that you
could not stay away,” she wound her arms around his neck. “It all seems quite
empty without you.”

He kissed her again,
nuzzling her cheek. “I think you are doing well enough at keeping yourself
occupied,” he said, pulling back to look at her. “You are busy enough to chase
Wallace from the keep. I have never seen the man so terrified.”

She lifted an eyebrow
at him. “He would not help me clean the keep. So I told him to get out and stay
out until he could learn to obey my wishes. I refuse to live in squalor and
that man seems content to.”

Tate sighed. “He is
used to running Harbottle his own way. You must give him time to become
accustomed to you.”

“He says he takes
orders only from you.”

“I will rectify that.”

“Please understand
that I am not trying to dominate the man, but he must learn to take orders from
us both.”

“Agreed.” He leaned
his forehead against her, closing his eyes a moment to relish the feel of her
against him. “So you intend to clean this keep, do you? You have quite a task
ahead of you.”

“I know,” she snuggled
against him, delighting in his powerful warmth.  She fell silent a moment
before speaking again. “But there is another task that is far more important to
me. Will you hear it?”

He opened his eyes and
looked at her. “I believe I already know it.”

She pursed her lips,
toying with the ties on his tunic. “I must return, Tate. You know this. Every
day I delay there is more chance of someone stealing our sheep or ransacking
what is left of the manor. I do not want to lose what we have left. I must
return to see what pieces I have to pick up.”

He sighed again,
rubbing his cheek against her forehead. Then he released her, taking her hand
and leading her over to the massive table. Sitting her on the bench, he took a
seat beside her, straddling the wooden plank.  He took her hand, holding it
warmly as he thought on what to say.

“And I have priorities
as well,” he said, studying her features in the firelight. “I was supposed to
leave for London five days ago.  But instead, I have seen a siege and a
marriage that has me slightly off track.  Every day I delay, Edward could be in
jeopardy.  I have a mission to complete. You have known this since the day we
met.”

She smiled weakly.
“You came for money for Edward’s cause. You ended up with a wife.”

He grinned.  “I will
take the money, of course, but somehow that seems rather insignificant by
comparison.”

“What do you mean?”

“The wife was by far
the better deal.”

Her smile broadened
and she lowered her gaze modestly; she was thrilled and flattered by his
compliments. It was enough to make her feel giddy but she managed to keep her
head.

“Then, may I ask, what
seems to be the most pressing in your view?” she asked. “Of course I would say
that my wants are most important to me, but I also realize that you have far
larger issues at hand.  I am only worried about a small parish in
Northumberland while you are worried about an entire country. What will we do?”

He watched her as she
spoke, noticing how her nose crinkled when she asked a question. She had the
most amazing face and he was in danger of becoming swept away the longer he
looked at her.

“Well,” he grunted,
shifting on the bench and pulling her between his legs. “I am destined to take
Edward and head for London at some point; however, we are safe for the moment
so I am not entirely inclined to move from this haven. Secondly, I suspect that
when I do go, you will be no less determined to return to Forestburn and I do
not want you returning there alone. In fact, I do not want you out of my sight.
So I would imagine that we should take a day and ride to Forestburn so you can
at least assess the damage and assure the town that all is as it should be and
that you are still in charge.  With your father’s death, however, there is no
more lord mayor of Cartingdon.”

She lifted her
eyebrows in agreement, trying not to think on the fact that she was both
fatherless and motherless. It brought inherent sorrow. She tried to stay
focused to the issue at hand.

“My father was mayor
for many years,” she said softly. “The people of Cartingdon will not soon
forget him. For now, I think it wise that they see me and know that they have
not been abandoned. I will secure a few of the local farmers to tend our sheep,
mingling them with their own stock and splitting any increases in the herds,
which will take care of the problem of our sheep for the time being. I will
also need to scavenge the ruins of Forestburn for anything salvageable.”

“Do you think you can
accomplish this all in one day?”

“I do not know. Can
you at least give me two?”

He nodded after a
moment. “I suspect I can. We will go tomorrow.”

She smiled gratefully.
“Thank you.”

He returned her grin,
giving her a squeeze and kissing her cheek. “My pleasure, madam. Is there
anything else we should discuss before I take my leave of you and return to the
bailey?”

“One more thing.”

“What is that?”

She looked at him,
hesitantly. “When you leave for London, will I stay here?”

His smile faded as he
gazed into her almond-shaped eyes. “You will be safe here.”

She took a long, deep
breath, lowering her gaze. “How… how long do you expect to be gone?”

“I do not know.”

“Are you going into
battle?”

“Aye.”

She sat there, looking
at her hands, before falling against him and burying her face in his shoulder.
His big arms enveloped her, his face in the top of her head.  As the flames in
the hearth snapped and smoked, he rocked her gently in the weak light of the
hall. He knew what she was feeling without benefit of words; mostly because he
was feeling the same thing himself. There was already a longing for her in his
heart that he could not begin to describe.

“I could not bear if
it something happened to you,” her voice was muffled against his shoulder. “I
have lost my entire family. I could not survive if I lost you as well.”

She could feel him
sigh into the top of her head. “I am sorry to cause you such fear,” he said
quietly. “But I have a destiny to fulfill and so does young Edward. A man is
ruling England who has no right to the throne. I must make sure that the
rightful king takes his place and that the threat of Mortimer is vanquished.”