Lyndal was speechless for a moment. ‘You?’ Her voice barely carried the short distance between them.
Fayre placed the arrow on the table and looked her in the eyes. ‘Sometimes one must throw open the courtyard door and help history run its course.’ She attempted a smile, but it did not stick. ‘I do not judge you for your actions today, despite the personal cost to me. And I hope you will not judge me for the things I had to do.’ When Lyndal did not say anything, she added, ‘I have shocked you.’
‘A little.’
‘A lot.’
Lyndal nodded. ‘Did you tell me to make me feel better? Or did you tell me to ease your conscience?’
The queen mother thought for a moment. ‘Both.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Might I suggest this conversation not leave the bedchamber?’
‘I think that’s probably very wise.’
A knock at the door made them jump.
Fayre smoothed down her dress before calling, ‘Enter.’
Shapur Wright stepped through the door, his helmet tucked beneath one arm and blood covering his hands. He looked from the queen mother to the bed behind her. ‘I am sorry for your loss, Your Majesty.’ He paused. ‘I ordered all but a handful of defenders north—’
‘Stop,’ Queen Fayre said, cutting him off. ‘This is not on you, Warden.’ Her eyes moved over him. ‘I gather from your appearance that King Edward’s army breached the wall?’
Shapur glanced at Lyndal. ‘They appear to have been let into the farming borough via a secret entrance. The borough has since been secured and the English troops have withdrawn. The merchants insisted on joining the fight.’
Lyndal’s heart lodged in her throat as she waited for a mention of his name.
‘Who let them inside?’ Fayre asked.
‘Cooper Brooke. A farmer.’
‘The farmer my son was conducting business with?’ the queen mother asked.
Shapur nodded. ‘He has confessed to working with Lord Roger Mortimer. He awaits sentencing.’
‘Do you know if Fletcher got his family out of the borough?’ Lyndal asked, unable to hold the question in any longer.
Something in Shapur’s expression made her nervous.
‘I believe his sisters are safe.’
His sisters. No mention of his mother. ‘Where is he?’
‘He was last seen at the east wall.’
‘Last seen?’
Shapur’s face hardened. ‘The dead and injured are still being retrieved. There are many families waiting for news.’
‘Of course.’ Lyndal looked to Queen Fayre. ‘Your Majesty, I wonder if I might—’
‘Go,’ Fayre said. ‘There are no locked doors, I promise.’
One corner of Lyndal’s mouth lifted as she lowered into a curtsy. ‘Much appreciated, Your Majesty.’
It was strange to see the gates between the merchant, royal, and farming boroughs open, people wandering freely back and forth between them. Lyndal knew the most sensible thing to do was to go to the merchant borough, because that was where she had told Astin she would be. But her gut was telling her to go east to the farming borough.
‘I’ll tell Birtle to open the shop up for anyone who needs it,’ Blake said as they headed for the merchant borough. ‘Assuming he hasn’t done it already.’
Lyndal stopped walking.
