“What?”
“That your name, and your brother’s name, and now your cousin’s name all end the same,” she said. “Brenton, Creston, Royston. Is there a reason for that?”
He gave her a half-grin. “It is a tradition among de Royans males,” he said. “All of our names end thus. My father’s name was Quinton. Brenton’s father’s name is Juston. It has always been that way.”
She looked at him curiously. “Does that mean our sons will have to have similar names?”
“If I want to hold my head up in public, it does,” he said. “Do you mind?”
She chuckled. “Of course not,” she said. “But we will have to think of some names in case the child in my belly is a male. Or do you already have a name selected?”
He shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “I thought we would discuss it when the time came. Why? Do you?”
She thought a moment. “Not particularly,” she said. “But give me time. I will think of something you can be proud of.”
“Good lass,” Creston said. She turned back to her dishes with a smile on her face and he watched her for a moment, hating to dampen her good mood, but he knew he had to. It was time. “Sweetheart, put the bowl down and come over here for a moment. I wish to speak with you.”
Without hesitation, Ophelia set the bowl down and picked up a rag to dry her hands as she came over to her husband. He pulled a chair out for her and she sat, leaning back on the chair and putting her hands on her belly.
“It feels good to sit,” she said. “I fear that I am starting to become overwhelmed with this belly. He is becoming larger.”
Creston smiled at her, leaning over to kiss her on the temple. “That is good,” he said. “That means our son is growing healthy and strong. He will be here soon.”
“Not too soon,” she said, rubbing her stomach. “Now, what did you wish to speak of?”
The moment had come and Creston reached out, taking her hand and caressing her fingers. “I wish to discuss the reason my cousin and de Lohr are here,” he said. “I’m sure you’ve been wondering.”
Ophelia shrugged. “Not particularly,” she said. “I was simply glad to meet someone who is part of your family. Why? Has he come for a reason?”
Creston lowered his voice. “He brought news with him,” he said. “I wish to discuss it with you because, eventually, you will be involved.”
She was curious. “Oh?” she said. “What is it?”
Creston took a deep breath, thinking of where to start. There was so much to tell her, and since the situation implicated her grandfather, he wanted to be gentle about it. The last thing he wanted was to upset her in her condition, but if she became upset, that couldn’t be helped.
She had to know.
“First, I must ask you a question,” he said after a moment. “Before your betrothal with Cecil fell apart, had you been in much contact with your grandfather?”
Ophelia shook her head. “Not really,” she said. “There was never any reason to. We did visit him on occasion when I was small, but not too often.”
“Then you do not know that some pirates burned his town a short time ago?”
She had to think on that. “I think I remember hearing of it,” she said. Then she nodded firmly. “Aye, I did. I was down on the waterfront and there were several businesses being rebuilt.Someone told me there was a fire, but I did not know that it was because of pirates.”
Creston nodded. “Evidently, it was,” he said. “Lia, I am going to present this situation to you as it was presented to me, because we do not know anything for certain, but we are fairly convinced in our conclusions. Convinced enough that we must act.”
“Act? On what?”
He squeezed her hand gently. “Brenton and Myles were in London last week,” he said. “They were in a tavern when they came across a man bearing a missive from Louis of France. The missive, which is in the possession of St. Denis now, contained a message from Louis to St. Denis thanking him for supplying France with men and money for their conquest of Gascony. Do you know anything about the fight for Gascony?”
Ophelia’s brow furrowed. “I think I heard something about it,” she said. “Cecil spoke of it, once. Louis and Hugh de Lusignan invaded Gascony, and Henry had to send men to fight them.”
“That is correct,” Creston said. “Only Gascony fell to Louis. Henry lost it.”
She was listening carefully. “And St. Denis helped Louis retake Gascony?”
Creston shook his head. “That’s just it,” he said. “He did not. You see, Blackchurch is simply a training ground. We do not take sides. We are not political. We do not align ourselves with any cause, so the fact that there is a missive thanking St. Denis for doing just that very thing, an act against King Henry of England, makes it an extremely dangerous situation for Blackchurch. If Henry were to find out about this missive, he would lay siege to Blackchurch and probably destroy us. It would mean the end of Blackchurch as we know it.”
