Nicola didn’t think that would last, at least not by the knight’s standpoint. The reality was that someone had to serve the meals, which Liesl and Raven usually did. So did Janet. Keeping her girls from the knights and fighting men might prove difficult, but she would do her best to protect them. She sighed and stood up, stretching her legs as she walked across the room to the narrow lancet window.
The countryside beyond was green and moderately cool in the fall air. The breeze was chilly but she stood there a moment, letting it caress her, forgetting for a moment that she was captive in her own castle. But then again, she had been Gaylord’s captivefor many years, so it was something she was accustomed to. She had resigned herself to the state of her life so many years ago that it was difficult to think of it any other way.
She heard one of the girls gasp behind her and she turned around. Standing in the doorway was a big blond knight. He eyed her appraisingly.
“Lord le Bec will have a word with you, Madam,” he said.
Nicola had no intention of arguing, though her heart was pounding in her chest. Before she could make it to the door, the twins were up and ready to do battle.
“You leave my mother alone!” Teague spoke with his terrible lisp.
Tiernan didn’t even speak; he simply ran at the knight and began punching his leg. The knight just stood there as Nicola calmly pulled her son aside and whispered something in his ear. Then she murmured something to the other twin and both boys turned back, pouting, to their toys. With a deep breath, she winked at Tab to reassure him and left with the knight. She could hear Tiernan crying as she walked towards the stairs and it nearly broke her heart. For the second time that day, their mother was being taken away.
Raven had been right; there were several knights gathered in the great hall. It was a long room with a huge hearth at one end and the colors of the House of Thorne flying from the open beams. The blond knight silently indicated a man standing next to the hearth and it took Nicola a moment to realize she was looking at le Bec without his helm.
She hadn’t recognized him. He sported a head of short, spikey dark hair, standing up from dirt and sweat. He had pieces of his plate armor off and as she approached him, she was terrified anew by the size of the man. He had a neck like a tree trunk.
Le Bec was studying the stone carvings of the hearth. Nicola stood a respectful distance away, silently, waiting for him to acknowledge her. After what seemed a small eternity, he looked at her with deep blue eyes. The mere expression on his face made her feel as if a bucket of cold water had just been thrown on her. She could almost taste her fear, but she would never let him know it.
“Lady Thorne,” he moved from the hearth towards the long table that sat in the middle of the room. He perched his bulk on a corner and looked at her. “I am pleased that you did not lie to me.”
“My lord?”
“Your husband. His body was in the crypt.”
“You know my husband on sight, my lord?”
“I know all my enemies on sight.”
“I was not aware you had ever met my husband, my lord.”
Kenton nodded faintly. “On two occasions, once at a tourney and once in London.”
Nicola didn’t know what else to say. She simply stood there, feeling dumb and scrutinized. “If that is all, then I shall return to my children, my lord.”
“That isnotall.”
He let her stand there for several more long, drawn out moments. Eyes lowered, she could hear the sounds around her. For the number of men in the room, it was eerily quiet. She knew they were all staring at her and she resisted the urge to snap at them.
“Babylon is mine,” Kenton said after an eternal and uncomfortable pause. “And with that reasoning, you and your household are also mine. Now that Gaylord is accounted for, it is time for you to be dealt with.”
Her head snapped up. “What does that mean–dealtwith?”
His face was like stone. “Exactly that,” he said. “I’ve no use for a pampered lady about the place. Babylon will be a military installation from this day forward.”
He had succeeded in stirring her indignation. “Allow me to put your mind at ease, Sir Kenton,” she said sternly. “I am not, as you put it, a pampered lady. I am a functional part of this house and hold and run it quite efficiently.”
Kenton didn’t doubt for one second that she was not as capable as she said she was. He sensed a strength in her that set her apart from other noble women he had known and it was oddly intriguing. But he had a decision to make, strength or no.
“I’ll harbor no nursery here with miniature ruffians running about,” he said. “Your children have no place here.”
“They were born here. They have more right to be here than you do.”
Over her left shoulder, Kenton could see Conor fighting off a smile. Gerik and Ackerley stood well off to the side, shocked that the lady prisoner should speak to their liege so. Kenton sighed softly and crooked a finger at her, beckoning her towards him. Wary but unwilling to disobey, Nicola moved forward, stopped, then kept walking when he motioned her closer. She brushed up against his massive thigh when he finally stopped beckoning. Inches from him, she could feel his hot breath in her face and it was wildly intimidating and strangely curious all at the same time.
“Madam,” Kenton’s voice was low and quiet, “I have battled the most powerful armies this world has to offer and I have no intention of fighting with the likes of you. I will tell you this one time only; you will cease this insolence or I will toss you and your children in the vault and throw away the key. Is that, in any way, unclear?”
She struggled between fear and indignation. “Forgive me if I have been insolent, my lord,” she said. “But I would like to know when the truth has been considered insolent.”
