Henry stared at him a moment before raising a droll eyebrow. “Is that why you called me here? To inform me that we can control Henry if we are to hold his bastard daughter hostage? Honestly, Owen, I forbid you to waste my time with such nonsense.”
Owen shook his head. “I have simplified the matter a great deal, but it is far more complex than that,” he suddenly paused, a dull gleam coming to the black eyes. After a moment, he lazily reached for the half-empty bottle of wine. “What if I tell you we can undeniably defeat Henry if we hold the girl?”
“I would say you were mad.”
Owen smiled faintly, watching the garnet liquid as it spilled into his chalice. “Tell me, my lord; if you rebel against Henry, who will lead his armies against you and against me?”
Hotspur drew in a long, vague breath. “Richmond le Bec, I suppose. He’s second only to me in the chain of command; but you know that already, do you not?”
“Would you fight Richmond?”
Henry’s irritation with the conversation faded. After a long moment, he looked to his hands. “The man is like a brother to me.”
“But would you fight him?”
Hotspur pondered his gloved hands a moment longer. “’Twould not be a pleasant task, but one that I would engage in if necessary.”
Owen studied the man’s expression, seeing the pain at the thought of waging battle against le Bec. He quaffed deeply from his chalice. “Tell me this, if you will; if Richmond le Bec were not leading Henry’s armies, what chance would the monarch have against your forces and mine?”
Hotspur snorted softly. “Very little, I should think,” sighing sharply, he met Owen’s gaze again in a return of weak annoyance. “What is this about, Glendower?”
Owen met his gaze, pausing a moment purely for effect. When he spoke, his voice was low.
“Because I am to understand that Richmond le Bec is in love with Henry’s bastard daughter,” he said. “If we can acquire the girl, we can not only control le Bec, but we can control Henry because he will undoubtedly be pained with a double stake in all of this. Not only will he be haunted with the knowledge that his daughter is our prisoner, but he will have to deal with the fact that his greatest knight will not lead the crown armies against the faction who holds his beloved hostage. Am I making myself clear?”
The color was gone from Hotspur’s face as he stared at Owen, feeling the shock of the situation as it penetrated deep into his veins. “Richmond loves the girl? But…. but you said she’s at Whitby. She’s a nun?”
“Richmond delivered her to the abbey sometime last week after the home where she was raised fell under siege.Presumably he moved her to Whitby for safety’s sake,” Owen poured his shaken companion more wine. “Apparently, Richmond has practically raised the girl. You are aware that he’s spent a good deal of his time at Lambourn, seat of the Earl of Berkshire.”
Henry nodded slowly, taking a healthy drink of alcohol. “William de Lohr and Richmond have been friends for many years. In fact, I visited years back and…,” he suddenly paused, his brow furrowed. “I do not understand. What does Lambourn have to do with Henry’s bastard daughter?”
“The girl was raised there by the earl and his wife. Her name is Arissa.”
Hotspur’s eyes opened with surprise. “Arissa de Lohr isHenry’sdaughter?” he boomed. “God’s Teeth, I had no idea! All I can recall of her is a thin child with black hair and…. you say Richmond is in love with her?”
“Undoubtedly,” Owen watched Henry Percy’s reaction to the revelation, casting David a lingering glance before returning his focus to the English knight. Unwilling to give the man time to recover from his shock, he intended to drive his desires to the forefront and he rose from his chair, bringing his fist to bear on the old tabletop. “Help me, Hotspur. Help me obtain the girl and thereby guarantee Henry’s defeat. If we have her, we can drive England to her knees. There is no opportunity for failure, I tell you, but I need your support. Will you do this for the peace of England and Wales? One insignificant girl is all that will be compromised to assure two countries their right to live in harmony.”
Hotspur was staring at him, his dark eyes dull with the concept. After a moment, he sighed heavily. “If Richmond loves her, I cannot be a party to her misery.”
“Would you rather meet him on the field of battle?”
“I already told you I would not.”
Owen’s harsh manner subsided somewhat as his gaze lingered on Northumberland’s heir. After a moment, he relaxed into his chair once again and pondered the embers in the vizier. “Would you have him fight for your cause?”
Hotspur raised his eyebrows wearily. “That would be preferable, but he would never go against the crown. He and Henry are very fond of one another.”
“Would you wager to say that he loves his king more than the black-haired girl residing at Whitby?”
Owen’s subtly-phrased blackmail settled and Henry turned his astonished gaze to the Welsh prince, a heavy understanding of the man’s motives filling him. He scratched his stubbled chin as he pondered the statement. “Are you suggesting that I use the girl to force Richmond to fight for our cause?”
“I am told he would do anything for her.”
Henry Percy licked his lips in nervous thought. He was well aware of the time Richmond spent at Lambourn and it suddenly became clear to him as to why; he had been in love with the skinny little girl graced with a glorious mane of black hair, a girl he knew to be Henry’s daughter. Or mayhap Henry had sent him to Lambourn to watch over the girl and somewhere during the process Richmond discovered that he had fallen in love with the royal bastard. Whatever the case, it was abundantly clear that Owen spoke the truth. Richmond had spent the majority of the past eighteen years residing at Lambourn for no apparent reason… until now.
Hotspur held a good deal of love and respect for his friend. But his politics differed greatly from those of Richmond, and he had cemented a weak loyalty with Henry the very day Richard II had surrendered his crown. The Percys and their allies had been staunch supporters of Richard and it had been difficult to stomach their monarch’s defeat. But as a vow to assure England’s peace, he and his father had pledged support toRichard’s cousin, Henry, and for the past two years it had been a brittle alliance at best.
With a cold stab of reality, he realized that he hated Henry more than he loved Richmond. Although he did not take delight in betraying his friend, the opportunity to defeat the distrustful English monarch was worth the risk of Richmond’s hatred.
