“Then I am glad to find you here,” Jareth said. “How’s the outpost? Quiet?”
Hugh nodded. “For the most part,” he said. “There are some politically opposed families in the area that must be watched so they do not get into a tangle, and there are also pirates who roam the waters this time of year, so I’m told.”
“You haven’t seen them?”
“Nay,” Hugh said. “None of them. Too bad, too. I was hoping to have a little party with one or more of them.”
Jareth smirked. “I can only imagine the hospitality you would show them.”
Hugh laughed. “Only the best,” he insisted. “But let us speak of other things. I must know why all of you are here. And where are Torran and Kent?”
“Torran is the Earl of Keddington now,” Jareth said. “Surely you knew that.”
Hugh nodded. “I remember hearing he had married well,” he said. “And Kent?”
“He married a woman from the Welsh marches and has chosen to stay there for the time being,” Jareth said. “In their absence, we are joined by Orion Payton-Forrester and Stefan de Lohr. Of course, you know them.”
Hugh hadn’t caught sight of either one of those men because he’d been focused on those from the original Guard of Six. But the mention of Stefan and Orion saw the smile vanishing from his face.
“I know de Lohr,” he said as if the name left a bad taste in his mouth. “They are kin to the Earl of East Anglia, a man who tries to rule over my brother’s lands any chance he gets. Stefan, I’ll not speak with you at all, do you hear me?”
Stefan hadn’t, so Britt had to tell him what had been said. That had Stefan rolling his eyes. “No great loss,” he said. “I like Davyss better than his idiot brother, anyway.”
Hugh heard him. His dark eyebrows flew up in outrage. “Is that so?” he said. “Just for that, everyone can have wine but you. Oh, and Payton-Forrester. That bastard still owes me money from a game of chance at The Pox over three years ago.”
The Pox was the infamous tavern on the banks of the River Thames. It was a gambling hall, but also a drinking hall. Every fighting man in England had been there at one time or another because not only could they find a game of chance there, any time of the day or night, but The Pox also had the finest food around. Odd for such a seedy place. Orion, much like Stefan, didn’t care much for Hugh.
“I paid you and you know it,” he said loudly. “And I wouldn’t drink your wine if it was the last drink in England. If you’ve had your grimy fingers on it, then it’s probably rank.”
That only succeeded in making Hugh angrier. “Youneverpaid me.”
“I paid for your meals and your room for four days and nights,” Orion said. “You agreed it was payment enough.”
“I never did!”
Orion started to charge forward, jabbing a finger at Hugh. “Then let us settle this here and now, you cheat,” he said. “Davyss de Winter’s pissy little brother will not call me a liar and emerge unscathed.”
Britt and Stefan held him back as Jareth and Aidric pushed Hugh back into the gatehouse. “Come,” Jareth said, trying to distract him. “I’ve come here with a question I need answered. Do not let Orion distract you.”
Hugh didn’t appreciate being pushed around, but Jareth was doing a good job of it because he was quite strong. He wasn’t the tallest man around, but he had a strength that rivaled that of Samson’s.
“What question?” he said as they entered the bailey of Bristol Castle. Digging his heels in, he came to a halt. “Stop shoving, Jareth. What question do you have?”
“What do you know about Aphrodite’s Feast?”
That wasn’t a question Hugh had been expecting. A bit bewildered by the rapid shift in focus, he furrowed his brow and looked at Jareth strangely.
“The Feast?” he repeated. “Why do you ask?”
“Just tell me what you know.”
The subject seemed to have Hugh properly distracted from Orion, because his entire demeanor changed. “It’s a fantasy world,” he said. “It’s a place of beautiful women, wine, and song. It’s a place where a man can have anything he wants for a price.”
“Then you’ve been there?”
“Of course I’ve been there,” Hugh said. “Why? Are you heading there now? I will go with you if you are. But Payton-Forrester isnotinvited.”
Hugh didn’t seem at all distressed talking about it. In fact, he seemed eager to go. His words, his explanation of Aphrodite’s Feast, mirrored Henbury’s. Jareth scratched his forehead, trying to figure out how to phrase the situation he found himself in.
