“Nay, but the castlefolk are wary of me in my new position as maid to both of the lord’s daughters. They know not the extent of my authority, and so do my bidding without question.”
“And how do you like serving his daughters?”
Mildred snorted. “Two more haughty, self-centered bitches you never met. ’Twas no favor Lord Warrick did me with that position, but to be fair, I doubt he knows how truly spoiled his daughters are. They brag readily enough that he is never here to correct them, and you and I know why that is so.”
“Aye, his damn war with Gilbert and heaven knows who else. Has aught been said of when he will leave again?”
“Do not sound so hopeful, my lamb. He needs be present for you to work your wiles on him to better your own lot. Does he leave soon, your load will not be lightened the while he is gone.”
“Nay, ’twould be cut in half. I could easily live with that.”
“And what if he thinks to stick you back in the dungeon instead, to assure you will still be his prisoner when he returns?”
That was a distinct possibility, and without the guarantee that she would have John Giffard again as a guard. But the alternative, to actually try and entice that man…she did not care to think on it yet,couldnot.
She stood up in agitation, saying, “Best I leave ere we are found out and both punished.”
Mildred protested. “This is the women’s floor. He is not likely to come up—”
“He did last eventide,” Rowena cut in as she headed for the door. But there she stopped, and it was a moment before she turned to ask with a thoughtful frown, “What did you mean, ’tis his nature now to have revenge?”
“Have you heard naught about what occurred here sixteen years ago?”
“Warrick made mention of another holding Fulkhurst long ago. Is that what you speak of?”
“Aye. Lord Warrick was not here at the time, was fostered with another lord, or he would no doubt be as dead as his family.”
“Was it a siege?”
“Nay, treachery. As I was told, a baron, Sir Edward Bainart by name, coveted Fulkhurst, as well as the Lady Elisabeth, Warrick’s mother. Bainart called himself friend to the family, his desires unknown to them, and during one of his visits, he acted to have what he wanted. He waited until all slept, then sent his own small band of men to dispatch the Fulkhurst men-at-arms and any servants who thought to interfere. He then sneaked into the solar and murdered Warrick’s father in his own bed, with the Lady Elisabeth as witness. The stupid man thought she would be too afeared to give him trouble after that, but he had not counted on how much she had loved her husband. She reviled him most foully before his men, enraging him so that he gave her to them, all of them; and, ignorant churls that they were, they killed her through their rough handling. Warrick’s two sisters, one younger than he, one older, thought the same fate would be theirs and jumped off the parapet together, the one dying instantly, the other broken of body, but lingering nigh a week in horrible pain ere she died, too.”
Rowena knew now wherein Mildred found sympathy for Warrick. “I wish you had not told me this.”
“’Tis wisest to know your enemy, and a simple question can bring a wealth of information when you are in a room full of gossiping women. Lord Warrick was only six and ten when the news reached him that Fulkhurst was in the hands of another, his family all dead. ’Twas another six months ere he learned the full details, and twice during that time attempts were made on his own life. He was, after all, still heir to Fulkhurst, though without the aid of king or an army of his own to win it back. Bainart knew this and so dismissed Warrick as a threat. He did not know of Warrick’s one remaining resource, a betrothal made in his youth and still in effect. He was too young to do aught about it then, but the very day he was knighted, he rode straightaway to claim his bride, and with her dower lands to supply men, and additional aid from her father—”
“He won back Fulkhurst?”
“Aye.”
“And killed Bainart?”
“With his own hands. But that was not enough. His inability to act immediately to avenge his family had allowed his hate to fester for those two years. Fulkhurst had declined in prosperity because many of the servants had been maimed or killed under Bainart’s rule. What Warrick had won back was a sorry estate.”
“And so Bainart’s other properties became targets,” Rowena guessed.
“Exactly. It took three years, but in the end, all of Bainart’s holdings were added to Fulkhurst, doubling it in size. Lord Warrick lost his first wife and took another during that time, with an eye to increasing his resources in the second marriage, but with a more comely maid than his first wife had been.”
“Had he new enemies by then, that he needed an even larger army?”
“Nay, but he had made a vow that no one would ever do him an ill again without paying for it tenfold. ’Tis a vow he has kept ever since, and it has earned him a reputation of swift retribution for all trespasses. ’Tis a vow that has involved him in one war after another, year after year, for he will not let the slightest offense pass.”
“’Tis what finally turned him into the cruel monster he is today,” Rowena remarked bitterly.
“Nay, how he is today is how he was from the day he learned of the destruction of his whole family. ’Twas his grief and despair that changed him from the boy he was to the man he is. They say there is no comparison between the two, that the boy was kind, loving, full of mischief and the joyous exuberance of youth.”
“And the man is cold, heartless—”
“But now you know why, and I doubt not that if he changed once, he can change again.”
