Brome would not be discouraged. “Mayhap,” he agreed vaguely. “But we will not know until we see what le Bec has to offer. It is my suggestion that we mobilize the men and move out as quickly as we can. If le Bec is already marching to Rochdale and Manchester, then we must keep the element of surprise on our side. He will not know we are coming until it is too late.”
Lord Saxilby couldn’t disagree. In fact, it was a perfect opportunity to regain Babylon and defeat one of Warwick’s best knights. They had failed in their first attempt to regain Babylon. God willing, they would not fail in their second.
Interrogation of the messenger an hour later revealed that Gaylord Thorne had not been at Babylon throughout the successive siege, which begged the question as to the man’s whereabouts. Surely he knew his castle has been compromised. But neither Brome nor Lord Saxilby could give any consideration to the missing Gaylord Thorne. They had a task to accomplish and little time to do it for time, it would seem, was of the essence.
Lord Saxilby gave great thanks for the loyal Lady Thorne and her half-frozen messenger.
*
“My lady?”
Kenton’s voice was soft, coming from behind. Bent over a bin of rye grain that seemed to have a bit of mold on it, Nicola gasped with the surprise of his unexpected appearance. He had cornered her down in the storeroom of Babylon, the vaults beneath the keep, and there was no one around. In the cold and dark dampness, she could only see Kenton’s face in the torchlight.
“God’s Bones,” she muttered, patting her chest as she tried to catch her breath. “You gave me a start.”
Kenton smiled faintly. “I asked the cook where you were and she told me,” he said, trying to see what she had been looking at. “What are you doing down here?”
Nicola was nervous, extremely nervous. She’d spent the past three days avoiding him, pretending she was working, or with her sick children, who now all had sniffles and running noses, and she’d seen very little of Kenton even if thoughts of him had been heavy on her mind. Try as she might, she couldn’t seem to shake him and the betrayal she felt from the man had eaten a nasty, rotted hole into her soul. But now, here he was, and they were alone. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she struggled not to look at him.
“The rye grain,” she said, pointing to the basket at her feet. “There seems to be some rot on it. I was trying to see if we can salvage it.”
He took a step closer, his gaze on the big basket of grain. “Oh?” he said, sounding concerned. “Is this isolated or is there mold on other grains as well?”
Nicola took a step away from him as he came closer. She didn’t want to be within arm’s length of him should he try to grab her. “Just the rye, I believe,” she said. “If we can scrape it away, it may be salvageable.”
Kenton wasn’t a fool. He could see that she was moving away from him. He’d hardly seen her over the past three days and was coming to think that she was avoiding him, although he had no idea why. He had been wracking his brain with their conversations since returning from Manchester, trying to see if there was anything questionable or offensive he’d said to her that might make her avoid him. He honestly couldn’t think of anything and the separation from the woman was starting to wear greatly on him. His army was prepared to depart Babylon and he at least wanted to bid the woman a private farewell. Hewanted that memory to hold on to, to sustain him, to give him something to look forward to upon his return.
Already, he missed her.
“I am sure that under your expert guidance, it will be saved,” he said, eyeing her and noticing that she would not look at him. It made his heart hurt in ways he never imagined it could. “My lady, may I ask a question?”
Nicola was still looking at the basket of grain. “Aye.”
“Have I done or said something that would cause you to avoid me?”
Nicola was startled by the question but just as quickly, she felt cornered. Cornered and angry and guilty. Swiftly, she shook her head.
“Nay,” she said, stammering and moving away from him even further. “I… I have been busy and my children are ill. There is much on my mind.”
Kenton sighed. He didn’t believe her for one minute and his heart sank. “Nicola, please,” he begged softly. “I must have done or said something. It is clear you do not wish to be around me and not knowing what I have done is eating at me. Please tell me. Whatever it is, I apologize profusely. I would never do anything to knowingly hurt or offend you.”
He had managed to push her a little too far with his gentle words. Her anger surfaced and she tried to move away from him further but ended up stumbling over a bushel of grain. When he reached out to prevent her from falling, she lashed out at him savagely and smacked his head away.
“Do not touch me,” she hissed. “Leave me alone!”
Kenton stood there, looking at her with an expression of naked confusion and desperation. “What have I done?” he pleaded. “Won’t you tell me?”
Nicola shook her head furiously and before she could stop them, the tears started to come. Embarrassed, and feeling pain she’d struggled to push aside, she tried to turn away from him.
“Please go,” she whispered. “Go away and do what you must do in order to carry out your orders. Just… leave me alone.”
Kenton could see the tears and each droplet was like an arrow to his heart. Pricks of agony that he couldn’t help and he couldn’t stop. But he didn’t move. “What did I do to upset you so?” he asked again. “Nicola, won’t you tell me?”
She sniffled, trying to discreetly wipe away tears. “There is nothing to tell, Sir Kenton,” she said. “I asked you to go. I would be grateful if you would oblige me.”
Kenton knew one thing: he wasn’t leaving, not until he knew what he had done to upset her so. He’d never felt such desperation or angst in his entire life. He’d never felt such emotion over a woman and therefore truly had no idea how to gracefully handle what he was feeling. As she stood there and quietly wept, Kenton sat heavily on a barrel behind him. He wasn’t leaving until he knew.
“I am not a man given to emotion, Nicola,” he said softly. “I have seen much war and death in my lifetime, of those close to me, enough so that I have learned to dull my feelings when it comes to another human being. I thought I was doing quite well until I met you but now I see that I am a weak fool when it comes to you. Right now, I cannot breathe for all of the pain I am feeling, knowing that I have somehow hurt or offended you. Clearly, I have done something and you will not tell me what it is. I am not leaving until you do.”
