Margaretha sighed and looked away again. Her gaze moved over the winter-dead landscape. “Do you see this land, Val?” she asked. “This is what my soul would be should you leave me. I would be as dead as the ground in winter. Therefore, I have nothing to lose if something happens to you. And an old woman with a weapon can be a deadly thing, indeed. Remember that.”
Val pulled his horse to a halt. They were nearing the army and he didn’t want their conversation overheard. “Am I really hearing this correctly?” he asked. “Are you truly telling me that if Henry does not absolve me of Canterbury’s death, then you will go on a killing rampage to punish him?”
“No one will suspect an old woman.”
Val was stunned. Margaretha hadn’t reined her horse to a halt when Val had and was continuing to plod forward, so he spurred his horse and caught up to her quickly, blocking her.
“Is that how you would have others remember the House of de Nerra?” he hissed. “A son who was blamed for killing Canterbury and a mother who went mad because of it? Because that is not how I wish to be remembered. If you are serious about this, I will have Dacian put you in irons right now. I will not let you spout threats against Henry and possibly get us all killed when I am quite sure this situation will be amicably resolved. I know you are frightened, Mother, but you must be reasonable. I need your level head. I want to return home when this is all over and marry Vesper and have those grandchildren you so badly want, but I must have your promise that if anything happens, you will not follow through with this insane threats. Promise me!”
He boomed the last two words and Margaretha jumped in spite of herself. That cool exterior she was projecting suddenly fractured as Val’s anger was unleashed. She looked at her son, trying not to appear startled by his shout. After a moment, shemerely nodded and looked away again but that wasn’t good enough for Val. He bent over, grabbing her by the arm.
“Say it,” he hissed. “Promise me you will do nothing.”
“You are hurting me.”
“I do not care. Promise me.”
Margaretha was stubborn but she wasn’t foolish. Moreover, she had always been willing to give in to Val’s wishes, no matter what they were. As difficult as it was for her, she surrendered.
“I promise.”
Val released her immediately, looking over at Vesper, who had listened to the entire conversation. She didn’t look surprised by it; in fact, she looked as if she understood. Something about those beautiful hazel eyes conveyed understanding in Margaretha’s position.I have nothing to lose if something happens to you. Val cocked his head at her.
“I do not have to worry about you, do I?” he asked quietly. “You will behave yourself, will you not?”
Vesper nodded, but it was reluctantly. “I will do what you wish me to do.”
“Then go back to Selborne.”
“Anything but that.”
He started to get mad but the ridiculousness, the seriousness, of the situation overwhelmed him and he just ended up laughing about it. It wasn’t a humorous laugh, either– it was one of disbelief and frustration. But the truth was that, all things considered, he knew he was a very fortunate man to have two women so devoted to him. Brave, bold women who would do anything for him, including kill for him. As foolish as it was, he was touched by it deeply. Men should be so lucky to have such rabid devotion in their lives. When he thought he’d lost everything– his reputation, his freedom– perhaps he hadn’t really lost anything at all. Perhaps those things he’d taken for granted had been the better part of him all along.
The love of not one good woman but two. It gave him the strength to face what he must.
“Very well,” he said, knowing there was nothing short of having them taken back to Selborne in ropes that would force them to return there. “Then stay close to me. We have already wasted too much time. The king is waiting.”
Vesper and Margaretha didn’t leave his side the entire ride to Winchester.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Near Winchester Castle
“Iwonder ifHenry knows.”
It wasn’t a question as much as it was a statement. De Morville, riding in the lead of the group as Winchester Castle came into view against the dark morning sky, hissed irritably.
“Of course he knows,” he said. “Everybody knows. We have spent all of this time hiding in tiny villages and sleeping in beds that had families of bugs crawling all over them so we could stay out of sight but, still, people in these towns were speaking of Canterbury. Of course Henry knows. Everybody knows!”
Stubbled, exhausted, and feeling a great deal of remorse for his actions of that terrible night in December, le Breton’s dark-rimmed eyes peered out from beneath the heavy cloak he wore.
“Val has already been to Winchester,” he muttered. “He has already told Henry what has happened. He said he would. I should have never listened to you when you said we had to hide. We should have come to Winchester immediately.”
Hugh yanked back on his horse’s reins and reached for his broadsword with the intention of going after Richard, but Reginald FitzUrse stopped him. “Nay,” he said, putting himselfbetween the two men. “Richard is right. We should have come to Winchester right away. We should not have delayed as we did.”
Hugh sucked in a deep breath, struggling to calm his frayed nerves. “We needed to think on what to do,” he reiterated again. “All of you believed it to be the right course of action at the time. It was far better for us to take the time to stay out of sight and decide a course of action.”
“Look at us,” William de Tracy spoke. He lifted his arms beneath his worn cloak as if to make an example of himself. “We stole these clothes, sold our fine horses, and now we find ourselves on beasts that we should be eating rather than riding. No one would suspect that we are four of Henry’s knights and that is how we planned it but, still, we find ourselves riding to Henry. Richard is correct; we should not have panicked and gone into hiding. We simply should have gone to Henry to tell him what had happened. We did this for him, did we not? He should be glad for what we did. If we believed he ordered us to kill Canterbury, then we should have run back to him to announce it.”
