War faced the enormous, dark-eyed knight. “Suffolk,” he said. “I was born there.”
“And your family?”
“My parents are gone,” he said. “I have two younger brothers who serve Henry.”
“Did your father serve Henry?” Kieran asked. “I do not seem to remember a knight named Herringthorpe.”
War shook his head. “My father was never at court,” he said. “He preferred the quiet life of the countryside, though he had endless ambition for his sons. That is how I ended up at Blackchurch.”
“Did your brothers?”
“One did, one did not.”
Kieran nodded in understanding. “And your mother?” he said. “Was she born in Suffolk, too?”
War shook his head. “Northumberland,” he said. “She was part of the de Percy family.”
William spoke up. “You mentioned she was from Northumberland but I did not have the chance to ask you her family name,” he said. “De Percy, is it? I know the family well. Mayhap I knew her.”
You knew her intimately well, War thought. He also realized that if he gave William his mother’s name, William might begin to suspect that War wasn’t simply a new ally. He might suspect that he was much more than that. That information could do one of two things– it could either put William on his guard, given the fact that War undeniably looked like him, or it might make him immensely curious to discover the truth. Perhaps War didn’t need to tell William anything at all.
Perhaps the man would figure it out for himself.
It was a chance, he found, that he had to take.
There was some part of him that wanted to be acknowledged.
“Her name was Jane,” he said, looking William in the eye. “Jane de Percy.”
William didn’t react but Kieran did. “I knew Jane,” he said, surprise in his voice. “We all knew Jane. A lovely woman. I’m very sorry to hear that she has passed on.”
War nodded, tearing his eyes away from William to look at Kieran. “Thank you,” he said. “It has only been a few years. I do miss her, though I fear she might be angry that I buried my father at Bamburgh and not in Suffolk with her.”
“Then you must bring her north,” William said. “She was from Northumberland, after all. She deserves to be buried where she was born.”
“True,” War said. “You… you knew her, also?”
It was a leading question, but William didn’t hesitate. “I did,” he said. “When I first came to Northumberland, I met her at a feast. She was the youngest of three sisters and, as I recall, the loveliest. And her sisters were very protective over her.”
War smiled faintly. “I would believe that of Aunt Emelie and Aunt Bridget.”
“They were quite adept at chasing away young knights.”
War chuckled, as did Kieran and those within ear shot, but there was nothing on William’s face that suggested he’d just had a massive revelation that War might be something more to him. In fact, War was studying the man’s expression quite intently when Clement suddenly spoke up.
“My lord,” he said, addressing William. When everyone looked at him, his focus turned to War. “Since we are speaking of parentage, it should be noted that Sir Warwick is in mourning. His father passed away at Bamburgh just a few days ago and though he more than likely will not tell you, I will. Sir Edmund was a great man and deserves to be remembered well.”
All eyes turned to War with some shock. “Forgive me, War,” William said sincerely. “I did not know. You did not have to come to Castle Questing so soon. I would have understood.”
War wasn’t thrilled that Clement had spoken up and, given the man’s envy for Bamburgh’s command, he wasn’t certain that it wasn’t some ploy to make War look weak and emotional in front of these titans of the north. But more than that, War was perturbed that Clement had taken the attention off of Jane de Percy and William’s potential memories.
He smiled weakly.
“It is the way of life, my lord,” War said. “My father had been ill for some time, so it was not unexpected. But… I will miss him.”
William smiled faintly. “Of course you will,” he said. “Are you sure you would not rather return to Bamburgh and then come back when the time is better?”
“I am here now, my lord. My father would have wanted this.”
