Through The Leaded Glass (2 page)

“
Jeanne was my wife.”

“
It’ll be difficult to beget
legitimate heirs from Isobel without marriage.”

“
Of course I’ll offer Isobel
marriage. But I don’t have to like it.”

“
Then why do it?”

“ ‘
La grandeur d’un home se
mesure à la parole tenue.
’ “ The measure of a man is but the
strength of his words. The Shelton motto had been ingrained in him
since youth. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for his older
brother. Alex wouldn’t be in the position he was in if Frederick
had sired his sons on the right side of the blanket. “I gave my
word to King Henry that I’d marry within thirty days.”

“
But what about love?”

What did Nick know of love? The man flitted
from intrigue to intrigue like a butterfly among flowers. Alex,
however, was all too familiar with the concept. Which was why that
emotion would never again enter into his marriage. It had hurt too
much when he’d lost it. “Help me prepare for the joust, Nick. I’ll
make swift work of Farley, then return to my keep to discover who
has stolen the ring, and Isobel will never be the
wiser.”

About many things, actually. Other items had
gone missing over the months. A hawk, a horse, provisions from the
pantry… The girth on his saddle had been loosed on three occasions,
as well, and now there was the frayed bridle. And the
ring.

Something was very wrong at Shelton and Alex
was determined to find out who was behind it.

‘
Twas bad enough he had to dance to
the king’s tune; he wouldn’t dance to a thief’s.

Chapter One

Pennsylvania Countryside, Present
Day

Oh lord, get me out of this
mess.

Kate Lawton untangled her curls from the
grommet holes of her green brocade surcoat and surveyed the area
around her.
Ready or not
.

Not.

She adjusted the neckline of the gold shirt
and tossed an over-sized sleeve off her wrist. Her watch snagged on
the lining. Great. Alicia would kill her if she wore a twenty-first
century item with her so-called authentic medieval costume where
anyone could see.

She took flung the watch into the back of her
Beamer with the rest of her modern day trappings. Well, except for
the credit card, cash, and ever-present cell phone she shoved into
her pocket. Those she couldn’t do without. And she was keeping her
running shoes on. They’d be hidden beneath the burgundy taffeta
skirt.

Jolly old England, here I come
. She
made sure she had her ticket, then headed to the castle gate of the
Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, passing a King Arthur wannabe and
his two goth-Guineveres. Merlin stood by a fountain in the market
square speaking to a courtier, a hunchback chatted with a fairy,
and a tavern wench practically spilled out of her costume welcoming
people to the “shire.” People really did this on their days off?
Strange. If Alicia weren’t her oldest and dearest
friend…

Kate dug her cell phone out of her pocket and
called her.

“
Good day to you, fair lords and
ladies.” For all Alicia’s Anglophilia, she sure could butcher an
English accent. “I’m off to the shire and unavailable ‘til Monday.
Please leave a message at the chime.”

Kate tapped the phone off and sighed.
Technology was a wonderful thing—why the hell couldn’t her friend
have decided to abandon this century
after
Kate had caught
up with her? She was already thirty minutes late.

Shaking her head, Kate pulled out the map
Alicia had e-mailed her and looked for the route to the jousting
field along Guildsman’s Way. Alicia had marked a blue banner as
their meet-up spot.

Following the signs, Kate passed minstrels, a
street juggler or two, and more than a few knights in shining
armor, along with hundreds of others in period costume. Any period,
it seemed, that suggested England of yore. Young and old, even
babies, were done up in the spirit of the faire. Kate smiled when a
little girl of about two jumped around waving a pirate’s hook and
grabbing at the plumed hat on her head.

Soon, very soon, that would be her and Emma.
One more office visit to complete the adoption agency’s paperwork
and then she’d be all set for the trip to China next month to get
her daughter.

She took a deep breath and continued down the
road, determined to enjoy today and not live in the future, though
it couldn’t come quick enough.

Guildsman’s Way was filled with all sorts of
shops. Mostly kitschy, but then, what would one want after a day
spent in old time England but a bunch of shields and swords and…
were those lizards? She looked at the sign. Ah, baby dragons. That
was actually a great marketing idea.

The jester juggling medieval cookware through
this crowd, however, wasn’t. He was a disaster waiting to
happen.

Which, of course, was what happened. Kate
almost got conked on the head with a cast iron skillet when the
breeze blew his silver and purple ruff into his face and his
figurative house of cards came tumbling down.

As it was, she half-fell onto a table outside
one of the shops, then almost skewered her palm when it landed on a
bunch of metal-worked jewelry. Rings, circlets, costume pieces in
tarnished brass with bad fake jewels—even a tacky dog collar
choker.

She was about to turn away when she saw an
interesting ring. The dingy brass band was more polished than the
others near it, though the fan of metal behind the stone was banged
and dull. Grime covered the glass emerald and she was surprised by
its weight. If she didn’t know any better—and the price weren’t so
low—she’d swear that enormous gemstone was real.

She slid it onto her finger. It was the right
size. Maybe…

Nah
. Like she’d have any place to wear
a banged-up piece of costume jewelry. She removed it and set it
down, only to plant her palm on top of it when the jester knocked
into her again.

She looked at the ring. It looked… odd. As if
the surface was rippling with different shades of green.

It had to be a trick of the light. She picked
it up, turning it to so the facets caught the sunlight. There was
an engraving inside the band. “
La
something something,
à
la
, something.” Illuminating.

She was about to put it back when the merchant
bowed to her from behind the table. He was dressed head to toe in
orange and brown, complete with an obnoxious feather in his hat
that brushed across her face.

“
May I help you, my lady? I have a
goodly assortment—”

The clang of the jester’s cookware as he
walked away and the wail of a fire engine drowned out the rest of
the man’s words.

“
Shall I wrap that for you or will
you wear it?”

“
What?” She looked at the ring.
“Oh, no, I don’t want—”

“
Nonsense, my lady. Of course you
do. Why the stone matches your surcoat. It’s one of the finest
specimens I have from the late medieval period.” He took the ring
from her and slid it back onto her finger. “And perhaps I could
interest you in a matching necklace and ear bobs?”

The guy was slick, and what the hell… It’d
make a good story. “Earbobs sound painful, but I will take the
ring.” She gave him his five bucks; he’d earned it.

“
Pray, do not miss Captain Drake’s
Golden Hinde
, my lady, on your way to the joust. I’m certain
you shall find other items of interest there. “

“
Uh, sure. Thanks.” Kate doubted
it. One banged up piece of fake jewelry was enough. So was all the
“my lady”ing. Kate Lawton, Assistant Vice President for McGoldrick
Advertising, was through being “
my lady
”ed. That had been
the sarcastic term Jay, her ex-husband, had used every time she’d
wanted to get a job or start a family. Since the divorce, she’d
worked too hard to earn her title and the respect of her colleagues
to be addressed in such an archaic, sexist way. It was her personal
measure of success that she’d earned the career and respect she’d
sought. And now, she was just a few signatures and a plane ride
away from the family part.

Still, when she saw the ship—a
pirate
ship—complete with mast, bow, and gangplank, she decided to stop.
Alicia loved all things pirate and a bribe, er, gift might mitigate
any anger for being late.

Kate crossed the “gangplank,” passing a
“pirate” the size of a refrigerator who would have had no trouble
making someone walk the plank. Sawdust and leather tickled her nose
as she headed toward the bow where a thin, bald man shuffled some
items on a gnarled wood table. He turned at her approach, smoothing
a silver shirt down over purple pants and did the bowing bit
everyone here was so fond of.

“
Good day, m’ lady.” A smile lit
his lined face as he tied a purple bandana over his head. “I am
Master Griff. What can I get for you?”

Another “m’ lady.” Kate stifled a snort. And
what was with all the purple? Official faire colors? “Hello, Master
Griff.”

His weathered skin, with the deep creases at
his mouth, looked as if he really had spent time on the open sea.
The glasses he wore could only be called spectacles, but the
astonishing green eyes that twinkled behind those spectacles were
completely out of character, glittering as if they held the
knowledge of the ages.

“
I’ll bet you want a special item
and I have just the thing.” His gaze raked her from head to toe,
stopping on her new ring. “Yes, just the thing.”

He took a shield from one of the bins behind
him. A dented, tarnished shield, faintly etched around the
perimeter with cloudy glass jewels barely fastened to the surface.
The leather straps on the back had seen better days.

“
I was thinking of something in
better condition,” Kate said. Did she look like she had
Sucker
written across her forehead?

“
I’m sure you were. But—” He jerked
his head and lowered his voice, reeling her in as if he were about
to share the secrets of the universe with her. “Then you wouldn’t
have something special. You’d have just another common shield. This
has some character. It has—” His gaze darted around the dim
interior of the ship as he whispered—”a history.”

Of course it did. “Really.”

He leaned in closer, his voice lower. “This
was a nobleman’s ceremonial shield. The etchings were inlaid with
gold and it was covered in sapphires and rubies.” He slid the
shield across the table, dust bunnies leaping like lemmings over
the edge.

“
Legend says that on the day the
nobleman was to propose to his second wife, the family betrothal
ring was stolen.” He ran a finger along the shield’s rough edge,
his watch band scraping on the metal.

Oh sure,
he
got to wear his
watch.

“
The ring was the family’s good
luck charm, and from the moment it went missing, it was the
beginning of the end for the poor man.” Master Griff rubbed his
chin. “There was a jousting tournament that day. The man competed.
He’d always led a charmed life...”

“
And?” Kate leaned her hip against
the table and crossed her arms, her new ring snagging on a loose
thread.

“
Well, the nobleman didn’t believe
all that nonsense about the ring being a good luck charm, so even
though it’d been stolen, he went ahead with the joust. ‘Course he’d
never lost before, so he wasn’t worried at all.”

“
Let me guess. He lost.”

Master Griff’s smile disappeared. “Yes. To his
sworn enemy. And not only was he defeated, but gravely injured as
well.”

“
Then what?” Despite herself, Kate
wanted to know where this was leading. The guy was good.

“
His injuries ended his jousting
career and his ability to defend the king.”

“
But why lose everything just
because he couldn’t joust anymore? If he was a nobleman, he
should’ve had lands and other means of income.”

“
Ah.” Master Griff wagged his
finger in her face. “I said
he
didn’t believe the legend,
but his people and the lady he planned to marry did. When the ring
went missing, she knew the good fortune was over and distanced
herself from him.” He sighed. “When that happened, others saw the
beginning of the end and abandoned him as well.”

“
Like rats leaving a sinking
ship.”

Master Griff nodded. “And so, with rumors
abounding, they shunned him and his people. The coffers ran dry,
supplies low, and, as a final blow, his young son was found
murdered within the castle walls. The man was left alone, without
income, save a few possessions.” Master Griff pointed to the
shield. “One that you see before you, much the worse for
wear.”

Kate tapped her lips. She’d bet the twenty
bucks this thing cost that there was an identical one beneath the
counter, but what the hell. Alicia loved stuff like this and she’d
get a kick out of the story.

She smiled. “I’ll take it. If the shield isn’t
worth your price, the story certainly is.”

“
And now you have a very special
item. One no one else has.”