He shook his head. “The fact that you, an untrained warrior woman, have held me off for an entire month,” he said. Then he started clapping, his eyes glimmering with mirth. “Da iawn, my lady. Well done. You have my respect.”
The wine and his reaction fed her courage. “Then will you call off your attack?” she said. “I want my castle back.”
Much to her surprise, he looked as if he was actually considering it. “If I do, what will you do with it?”
The question puzzled her. “Live there, of course.”
“In peace?”
“If the Saesneg leave us alone, then I will not bother them.”
“But what if your allies call upon you?” he asked. “Will you answer the call if it was to fight against the English?”
“Of course I would.”
The food arrived. Christopher tossed back the flap to admit servants bearing trays of boiled beef and a stew of vegetables. The smell of fresh bread filled the tent almost immediately. Standing over by the cot, wet and dirty, Elle felt her mouth begin to water, and her stomach, so empty these past several days, began to growl and twist. She actually put her hand to her belly as if to comfort her own stomach at the sight of so much food. The smell was making her lightheaded.
And Christopher knew it.
“Would you like to eat, my lady?” he asked.
Elle nodded, trying not to look too eager. But Christopher didn’t invite her to sit down, not yet.
He had a plan.
“Lady Elle, since you seem to know a good deal about warfare, you know that there is never truly a victory in battle, nor is there ever truly a surrender,” he said. “Any battletakes compromise and negotiation, so that both armies know their place. Not everyone gets everything they want, and most especially the losing army. Would you agree with that?”
Poor Elle was starting to tremble. She only had eyes for the food, but she nodded to his question. “I would,” she said. “That is the nature of war.”
“Exactly,” Christopher said. “You have asked for your castle returned to you, and I am willing to do that. With a compromise.”
She looked at him then. She’d been shockingly adept at keeping her emotions in check, but when he said that, her eyes widened.
“You would?” she gasped.
“With a compromise.”
“What is it?”
He went over to the table where the food was sitting, fragrant and hot, and sat down. He still hadn’t invited her to sit. Reaching out, he tore a hunk of meat off the boiled knuckle and bit into it as she watched.
“The truth of the matter is that you are my prisoner,” he said, chewing. “I am the victor and you are the loser. If you do not agree to my compromise, know this—I will imprison every one of your men, strip the castle of anything that suggests the Welsh were even there, and put an army of a thousand English there. None of your allies or enemies could dislodge them, because if you try, I will summon my own allies and have fifteen thousand men at Brython to overrun the countryside. I will punish anyone who attempts to take the castle from me, and I will kill anyone who helps them. Am I clear so far?”
Elle’s trembling was growing worse. “Why are you threatening me?”
He swallowed the bite in his mouth. “Because I want you to know how serious I am about this,” he said. “I have the sensethat you are not agreeable to the English, in any way, and I am telling you that if you do not learn to live and work alongside us, peacefully, you will have a difficult and short life. No one will remember your name after you are gone. Battle is not about killing the enemy with no end in sight. It is always about fighting for your cause but understanding that there is, indeed, an end in sight, and that end is peace. Peace is achieved by cooperation and negotiation. Do you understand me?”
Elle was watching him put more food in his mouth. “I understand,” she said. “What do you want from me?”
“Are you married?”
She shook her head. “Nay.”
“Then you will take an English husband,” he said, chewing. “I will not imprison you or your men, but allow you to live freely at Brython—but you will marry an Englishman, and he will bring his army to the castle as my garrison. You will live in peace and learn the ways of your enemy, as he will learn your ways. It is a compromise.”
Elle wasn’t so hungry or tipsy that she didn’t understand what he was saying. He’d been kind to her, and had lulled her into a false sense of security until this very moment, when he lowered the hammer. She’d foolishly fallen for it. Realizing the tables had been turned on her, for she had thought she was the one being so clever, she widened her eyes and staggered back.
“Nay!” she roared. “I will not!”
