“It is not as you assume. We became... impassioned and I would have lain with her as was her wont but for the condition of our surroundings. She was a virgin and I did not believe it appropriate—”
“So there was no compromising situation?”
“We were abed when he entered. He made accusations...”
John waited. Peter looked back then shrugged.
“You didn’t defend or explain?”
“Why? I realized I was in love with her. She was bound for the Priory. She would never have agreed to marry me. She was a woman with a mission more determined than most men. This way... she had to marry me because her brother said so.”
John leaned back and laughed. And laughed. Just when he started to settle down, he looked at Peter and started all over again.
Peter decided he would count to five and if John could not stop finding humor in a situation that was quite disconcerting to him, he would leave. Five. Four. Three—
“Enough, John!” He glanced toward Tadhg who was looking over at them. “I do not need to air this in front of Tadhg again.”
“He knows?”
“Of course. He’s a smart man. He saw right through my ruse.” John chuckled some more.
“I’m in love with her. I don’t wish to lose her.”
John sobered at his sincere words. “We will offer terms again. See if we can move this along. Get you back to your wife.” John then turned his attention to another man. “Philip!”
The tall man Tadhg was speaking to turned toward John. Tadhg followed him over.
“We’re going to see if we can end this. They must be suffering within. I don’t know why they can be so pig-headed. Emma is surely not so obstinate.”
Philip and Peter exchanged glances. John was remembering the girl he grew up with. Not the stubborn woman she turned into. Her father would have all but ignored her if she hadn’t made an issue on every little thing. It was the only time she was ever given any attention by William FitzOsbern.
“Surely it is her husband who is pig-headed,” Philip offered, trying to be amicable. He knew the truth about Emma, too.
John stood and brushed the dried mud from his mail. “Damn mud. I’ll be glad to get out of here and get a bath.”
Philip raised his hand to halt the assault of the trebuchet just as it was about to launch the carcass of the cow they’d recently devoured over the castle walls. The cow had come from the farm that should have been replenishing the supplies for the occupants inside the castle. The soldiers signaled their understanding, disarming the large machine.
Philip stood beside Peter and the two followed John, fully covered in mail, as they crossed the field to approach the guard who stood high in the tower beside the front gate.
“Hail,” John’s voice held a commanding tone.
The man barely stirred. “Yes?”
“We wish to speak to the Earl.”
The soldier leaned forward slightly. “Are you leaving?”
John laughed and looked around him, his arms extended. “Why would we need to leave? We have everything we need. We haveyoursupplies at our disposal. The Earl!”
The man could be heard yelling down to the other soldiers as the message was relayed across the bailey and within the castle. John turned away, his hands on his hips. “I’m ready to see this end. Let us hope the Earl and his lady feel the same.”
A short time later, another message could be heard making its way back to the guard. Lady Emma was coming.
“John! What are you about? King William robs my husband of power and command, puts sheriffs in places of honor, collecting taxes that are rightfully my husband’s and he expects we should just open the gate at his orders?”
John looked up at the tower guard who effectively blocked any arrow that may be aimed at the lady. “That is how it is done, Lady Emma.”
She pulled at the guard, moving him out of the way so that she could lean over the wall. “John, I must have your reassurance that my men will be allowed to be freed with no repercussion.”
