They crossed into the inner bailey and Remington was nearly run over by a reckless wagon driver. Arik snatched her against him to prevent her from being crushed, but she suddenly turned into a fighting cat and roughly yanked herself away from him. She couldn’t stand to be held by a man, any man for that reason.
The wagon passed and Arik looked shocked. “I apologize, my lady, if I offended you. It was just that….”
Remington shook her head, backing away from him. “It was not your fault, truly. I just…I must return.”
She spun on her heel and raced back into the castle, leaving Arik confused. There was suddenly someone beside him.
“What happened?” Gaston asked, watching Remington disappear into the innards of the castle.
Arik lifted his shoulders. “Nothing at all…I think. Oh, hell, I do not know. She had come to speak with you about her sister and I happened to pull her out of the way of a speeding cart. She acted as if I tried to take advantage of her.”
Gaston sighed slowly, long and deep. “Her son told me yesterday that Sir Guy used to beat her, quite severely I gather. She fears men in general, I think, so it would be best to tread lightly around her until she realizes we are not a threat. That goes for the sisters, too.”
Arik crossed his arms. “Then I was right with my first observations. That woman has been terribly abused. The boy, too? And the sisters?”
“From what I understand, all of them to some extent,” Gaston answered unemotionally, though that was far from the truth. He found that he was quite emotional about it, although he had no right to be.
“This bothers you,” Arik stated.
Gaston looked at him, seeing that Arik was studying him curiously. “’Tis no concern of mine.”
Arik did not believe him for a moment but he let it slide. “The fact remains; what do you intend to do with the lady and her sisters? With Stoneley locked away in prison for the rest of his natural life, his wife and her family are in question.”
“There is no question. She will stay here and remain chatelaine,” Gaston said flatly. “And her family stays with her.”
“The old man runs the castle, Gaston, not Lady Stoneley,” Arik pointed out. “You could keep him on and get rid of the rest. They are of no use.”
“Why are you so eager for me to order them away?” Gaston asked curiously. “In the first place, where in the hell would I send them? Lady Remington told me that they have no family and nowhere to go.”
“Untrue,” Arik countered. “She told me that the manor house, occupied by her father until his death, stands empty not eight miles from here. You can send them there and they would be away from the fortress.”
Gaston crossed his arms and faced Arik. “Why are you so intent for them to leave Mt. Holyoak? In faith, I have not given it much thought, but I see no reason why they cannot remain.”
“I am only thinking of them, Gaston, truly,” Arik said. “Think on it, man– within the month you will have nearly double the soldiers you already have, trainees and recruits. This place will be turned into one massive training ground literally crawling with men. Now tell me, how safe do you think four women will be against over one thousand men? And I have grave doubts that we should retain any serving wenches, as well.”
The thought had indeed occurred to Gaston and he saw the truth of Arik’s words. He could leave orders for the women to be left alone, threat and intimidate all he could, but it would not prevent a truly lustful man from obtaining his ends. He would die for his actions, of course, but the fact would remain that the actions occurred nonetheless. And he couldn’t allow that to happen to Remington or to any of them.
“I have a few weeks yet to make my decision,” he said, looking away from Arik. “As for now, I will seek out my lady and see what she wished to speak with me about.”
Arik snorted, amused. “Since when do you seek a woman out?”
Gaston was not amused in the least. He eyed Arik, his jaw ticking, and his knight received the silent message loud and clear. Clearing his throat, he turned and disappeared into the crowd of laboring men.
*
Nicolas had chargeof the castle as the others toiled in the sun outside. It was his duty to coordinate the watches and keep an eye on the keep in general, and he went about his duty with the usual eagerness. He was an extremely intelligent boy, if not a bit rash, and was most competent in his duties.
He kept wandering by the solar where Jasmine and Skye were holed up. He would pace, eye the women, and continue on his way. This routine had been going on for most of the morning until Jasmine and Skye had grown quite irritated at his attention. Twice, Jasmine told him to go away, but he had ignored her soundly. Angered, she and Skye set forth a plan of action.
And it was for revenge, too. After all, he was the reason Rory was holed up in the vault like a common prisoner and they sought to make amends for their sister. They reasoned that the action coming from them would be forgivable; were Rory to exact her own revenge, the Dark Knight would most likely banish her from the keep forever.
It was an easy plan; the next time Nicholas wandered by the door, they would douse him with a bucket of water for his troubles. Skye stole a bucket from the kitchens and filled it full with water from the cistern, escaping back to the solar undetected.
Giggling and snorting, they waited in the shadows by the open door for Nicolas to make his appearance.
He did, like clockwork. As soon as he appeared Jasmine let the water sail at him with all of her might, completely soaking his head as if he had dunked it completely under water. Her aim was perfect and they squealed in triumph as he sputtered and gasped.
“What was that for?” he roared.
