Davyss was watching him as he pretended not to care when the truth was that he cared a great deal. Jonathan and Lady Elizabeth Bigod was a subject of gossip up through the king’s court, something that embarrassed his brother, the Earl of Wolverhampton, but the king had been surprisingly sympathetic.
Roger Bigod, however, was not.
“She was in a contract marriage with an old man,” Davyss pointed out with disgust. “Bigod wanted his niece to marry the Flemish warlord simply for the money and military support when the truth was that she would have been much better off with a de Wolfe.”
“Davyss, please.”
Davyss knew he should shut up, but the entire situation had him outraged. “Lady Elizabeth loved you, Wolfie,” he said, slamming a gloved fist into an open palm. “She should have been allowed to marry the man she loved, but instead, Bigod tossed her into a ship and sent her across the sea to her betrothed when he discovered your affair, and he is punishing you by sending you to do menial work. It simply isn’t fair.”
“Fair or not, that is his decision.”
Davyss couldn’t understand why Jonathan was being so blasé about it. “You should go back to Warstone Castle and serve your brother,” he said. “Mayhap that is where you belong, on the Welsh marches where you can be of better use instead of wasting away in Norfolk’s arsenal.”
Jonathan caught sight of Eric as the man headed toward them from the northern side of the city where he’d evidently been. “If you want to know the truth, I have already considered that,” he said. “I might go home again. Or I might ask Douglas if I can accompany him back to Lioncross Abbey.”
“Your brother would not be disappointed if you did not go home?”
Jonathan smiled thinly. “I take orders much better from others,” he said. “No one likes to have your brother ordering you about, especially since we are twins and it is only by virtue of my birth order that I am not the earl.”
Davyss could see his point. “I’ve never met your brother,” he said. “Does he look like you?”
Jonathan shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “We have the same coloring, but Robert is shorter than I am. He is a trained knight, but he was better at diplomacy like our father was. He was never a warrior.”
“But your younger brother is.”
“William is a god. You know that.”
Davyss grinned. “I’ve not met him, either.”
“Pray it is not in battle, for you, young de Winter, would lose.”
Davyss chuckled, patting the gorgeous broadsword strapped to his side.Lespada, it was called, the hereditary weapon of every firstborn male in his family line. The sword was well over one hundred years old, but it looked new from the good care it had been given.
“Nothing can defeat Lespada,” he said confidently. “Not even your great brother.”
Jonathan lifted an eyebrow. “You think so, do you?” he said. “I would like to see that. Should I arrange it?”
Davyss looked away, pretending to be uninterested. Of course he wasn’t willing to fight the great William de Wolfe. But it was easy to be brave when he was hundreds of miles away from the man. No chance of running into him.
Unless his brother arranged it.
“Why waste our time?” he said. “Look; there’s le Kerque. I wonder where he went?”
Jonathan grinned at Davyss’ change in subject. “I do not know,” he said. “But I have a need to speak to him.”
With Davyss standing guard as the women continued to barter, Jonathan made his way over to Eric, who was carrying a sack of something in his arms. He intercepted Eric before he could get to the women.
“Le Kerque,” he said. “I wanted a moment to speak with you, but we’ve not had the chance since leaving the castle. Can you spare a moment?”
Eric nodded, shifting the sack in his arms. “Of course,” he said. “What is it?”
Jonathan lowered his voice. “Yesterday when I was instructing the men,” he said, “I was incredibly disrespectful to you, and I would like to apologize for that. I have no excuse other than I was frustrated at the time and let it show. It will not happen again.”
Eric clearly hadn’t been expecting the apology. After a moment, he smiled. “Unnecessary, de Wolfe,” he said. “You were correct. I do hold my sword poorly.”
“You hold it in a way that is comfortable to you. I should not judge that.”
“You were right in instructing the men not to hold it that way.”
