by Abby Gordon
“Don’t insult my brother,” snarled Rose.
“Nice kick,” Geoff complimented her.
“Thank you,” she smiled back.
Little Mark Gray huddled next to his mother while John Black sighed.
“Seriously, Joan,” he complained. “Can’t you be still and quiet—”
“Oh, shut up! Perhaps if you’d spoken up to defend Papa, we wouldn’t be here. Where is that woman?” Joan demanded, getting to her feet. “She did all this to me. How dare she treat me this way? When my father’s friends hear about this, they will deal harshly with her. Locking me up like this? Who does she think she is? You tell that bitch I want to see her and that if she doesn’t –”
“Back me up,” Mary told the reunited siblings as she drew her blade.
“Joan, –” John started, seeing the knife.
“Shut up,” Geoffrey ordered, drawing the sword he’d been given the night before. “And don’t question my ability to use this. You’ll be dead before you draw breath.”
Eyes wide, John snapped his jaw shut.
“You don’t frighten me,” Joan bluffed. “Get that bitch down here and—"
Staring at the girl, the same age as her she’d been told, Mary felt a rage building in her. Who did this chit think she was? Everyone around her is worried the Root will determine their guilt and she’s acting like this was all done to torment her alone.
Stalking the other girl across the room with the most threating expression she could muster, Mary backed Joan into a corner and held the knife to her throat. Geoff stepped closer to John to keep him away. Rose stood between them, ready to help either.
“Don’t come near me,” Joan yelled. “Help. Someone, help me. She’s going to kill me.”
Several Roses of three branches crowded into the room.
“John! Help me,” screamed his sister.
“Why would he help you when he wouldn’t help Celeste when she was being served up to Edmund?” demanded Mary. “A degenerate if there ever was one. And John believed Edmund over your cousins. If I needed help, he’s the last one I would call on.”
“Why you—” John protested.
“Quiet,” Geoffrey ordered, pressing the point of his sword against John’s chest.
“What would you know of Edmund?” Joan demanded.
“To my shame, he’s my bastard cousin,” answered Mary. “But to your shame and jeopardy, you made the mistake of calling Root Anna a bitch.”
“What?” demanded the Roses.
“This little fish is mine,” Mary told them, a warning in her voice. “Root Anna saved my life in many ways. I will defend her name as if I could wear the Rose.” Focusing on the fuming girl, Mary stared her down. “You are a spoiled child who is so self-indulgent you don’t realize the danger you and your brother are in.”
“We had nothing to do with what Father did,” she protested.
“No?” Mary questioned, tilting her head. “So you say.” She glanced at the door and smiled. “George, is there another room near the middens? This brat needs to be taught a lesson on how to address Root Anna.”
“Ah, Lady Mary,” the man responded, rubbing his hands together. “There is one just opposite where we put those other three.”
“Excellent,” Mary smiled at him. “Will you take Joan then? I’ll find and tell Root Anna what’s happened, and she can decide when and if we release her or not.”
“You, Lady Mary,” George stated, taking control of a stunned Joan. “Are a girl after me own heart,” he winked at her. “I like the way your mind thinks.”
Delighted at the man’s approval, Mary grinned at him, then smiled at Geoffrey and Rose. “Thank you for the back-up.”
The youth stepped away from John and sheathed his sword. “My pleasure, Lady Mary.”
“We had better find Root Anna,” suggested Rose as Joan rediscovered her voice as George and two others took her away. “Before that one shouts the manor down.”
Laughing the three of them left the room and Dickon locked the door behind them.
Celeste stumbled down the stairs and through a door, finding herself in the rear garden. Going to the nearest bench, she sank down, taking deep breaths and trying not to vomit. She retched in the bushes anyway.
“When did it happen?” Anna stood a few steps away. Her eyes studying, but not unkind. As if she understood what Celeste was going through. She moved forward and smiled. “With Edward. When were you with him?”
“September,” she whispered. “There was a pause in the rain, and we went riding…” Blushing, she ducked her head and gathered her cloak around her. “I should not speak of such things to you, Lady Anna.”
“Who else can a woman talk to of such things if not another woman?” wondered the Root. “Especially one who is going through it herself.”
Celeste stared at her. “You are… but you rode all the way from London. How could you risk it? And aren’t you just married?”
Anna smiled, came to her and took her arm. “Walk with me a bit. Let me tell you a story about a wild Welsh warrior and a girl taught and trained in everything but how to deal with her heart.”
Arms linked, they moved slowly through the gardens.
“I arrived in London in the spring. Three days later, Walsingham took me to the queen as an extra means of protection for her.” She shook her head. “I think it was as much to protect me as her. We were walking in the garden when birds were startled through the hedge by someone on the other side. My first reaction was to protect her. I just missed Owain’s brother Griffin with my dagger.”
“You threw a blade at him?” Celeste’s eyes widened.
“And before I could do anything further, Owain had a blade at my throat.”
Celeste stared at her. “And yet you’re married? And seem happy?”
Laughing, Anna nodded. “I never thought I’d feel such happiness. Such love for anyone. It wasn’t easy for us. We had some misunderstandings.” She grimaced. “Mostly because I was terrified to tell anyone who I was. Owain is so brilliant though,” she smiled. “He figured it out the first day. At least about Catalan. He kept pushing at me to tell him my secrets. He wanted me to prove that I trusted him.”
“You didn’t trust him?”
“Celeste, my family was massacred. My Protector was able to get me to Gascony, her home. Trust? I didn’t trust anyone except the Roots and a few others.” She sighed and lifted her face towards the pale sun. “I wanted to tell him. Oh, how I wanted to.” The faint smile of woman thinking of the man she loved curved her lips as her eyes nearly closed. “And he was very persuasive.”
“Too bad Edward didn’t think of that,” Celeste muttered. “He used threats.”
“From what the two of you have said, and not said, I gather he was very angry and upset that you didn’t simply agree with him when he told you about your father.”
“The man was impossible,” exclaimed the younger woman, shaking her head.
“Did you suspect you might be pregnant then?”
“I did,” Celeste whispered, nodding. “I nearly told him then, but he snarled at me, reminding me that I was no longer a maid, that I’d been with him first and I should think of what Edmund would do to me when he realized I wasn’t a virgin on our wedding night.”
“That alone would make a woman faint at the altar,” muttered Anna.
“It did frighten me,” agreed Celeste. “But now, what do I do? Should I try to talk to Edward? Or tell him I think I’m carrying his child? It’s just I know it’s a terrible thing to admit but,” she sighed. “I don’t want him to be with me if it’s only because I’m with child.”
“Don’t tell him yet,” Anna advised. “That seems to cloud men’s judgments. You’ve seen Owain just since we arrived. If he could devise a way for me to be flown on a bird to Wales, he would do it. Or wrap me up in silk until the babe is born,” she chuckled, a hand on her lower abdomen.
“Have you been ill?” Celeste wondered, suddenly needing to
discuss it with a sympathetic woman. “I’m not always sick, but my stomach churns and my head aches. I’m so terribly tired all the time and I don’t feel like myself at all.” She turned to the Root. “I’m scared because my mother died when…” She shook her head, eyes closing. “The worst thing to say to you. Especially with what my father did. I beg your pardon, lady.”
“Sh, now,” crooned Anna, leaning into her briefly and patting her hand. “I felt light in the head often at first. And, yes, I wanted to sleep the day away. And I couldn’t, can’t,” she smiled, “decide if I want to eat or not. And then I’ll want just one thing and nothing else will do.” She laughed, throwing her head back. “I think the Roses tore London apart looking for chestnuts for me. Chestnuts and honey. Owain acted as if he was giving me a diamond from the queen’s own chest.”
“Oh, I feel better,” sighed Celeste. “I’ve been wanting the spiced bread we only have at Christmastide.”
Looking at each other, they grinned and relaxed as they walked. Celeste considered the day so far.
“Sir Godfrey was very poorly treated and abused by the Elders. I’m glad his loyalty to your family has been rewarded in some small way.”
“What do you think happened in York that so many were swayed by four men for so long?” Root Anna asked her.
“At the time, so many were trying to recover from illness or tend those who had been ill,” Celeste started slowly. “The lies were started and as they were uncontested, they were accepted. Looking back at it all, I can see how the fear increased and cowed many into believing there was nothing to be done. There was no hope. It was so bad that when Edmund came this spring not even Edward protested being replaced by a bastard.”
“If he had, they would have killed him,” Anna stated mildly. “Or possibly threatened you to keep him quiet.”
“What?” Celeste gasped, not having thought of that.
“That’s what they did with Sir Godfrey after they killed their fathers and replaced him as captain. But the spring before the Catalan massacre, they burned his house anyway.” Anna frowned. “That would have been about the time they received my father’s letter.”
“Oh, my God,” breathed Celeste. “Making sure no one of courage and honor would speak against them.”
“That letter and more are probably in the chests. We’ll find what we need.” She shrugged. “I can claim Justice as I will,” Anna told her, linking their arms and resuming their walk. “But I must still know the truth. Have the facts and evidence. I am Root, not a tyrant.”
“Evidence,” breathed Celeste. “I know I had to, but will God forgive me for giving you the evidence to execute my father and uncle?”
“I had sufficient evidence for that after I killed my cousin Marco before the flames could reach him in Rome,” Root Anna told her. “He had found proof linking all four Elders to the Sons of Scion, the Spanish captains and the Pope.” She smiled sadly. “He wasn’t sure which Primaries were involved though. At least, he did not know all of them. He just began killing them, their heirs and their captains as he worked his way from Spain to Rome. Before he reached Perpignan though, something sent him traveling to Rome. Marianna was his sister,” Root Anna added softly. “Their parents had died several years before.”
“Oh, no,” Celeste whispered. “If he’d gone there, he might have seen her.”
“Aye,” she nodded. “Hours away from her, from hope for all of us, and he changed course.”
“Where was he during the attack?”
“He’d gone to Tripoli. His first time representing the Root. I’ve no idea what he did or where he went for those two years. I imagine, like me, he went a little mad with grief. I did what Alicia told me but there was little life or light to my soul.” The Root took a deep breath and focused on Celeste. “Now then, what shall I do with you? And your cousin?”
“My lady, I cannot tell you,” Celeste shook her head. “We have both of us been shamed before York by those we thought would protect us before all.”
Putting an arm around her shoulders, Root Anna smiled. “You need to talk to Meggie about what didn’t happen that night,” she suggested as they returned to the manor.
“What didn’t happen?” Celeste was puzzled.
“Yes, Owain and Phillipe seemed quite amused,” chuckled Anna.
“Who is this Phillipe?” Celeste asked. “He kept a hand on my cousin.”
“He was my Protector’s brother. He is a Gascon Rose and one of the finest men I know.”
“Does he always put hands on maids he doesn’t know?” wondered Celeste.
“No, actually he doesn’t,” murmured the Root with a smile. “But perhaps he has found something he needs as much as your cousin does. Which would possibly solve her problem, but not yours.”
Celeste gazed at her in wonder. “With all you must worry about, you concern yourself with us? The daughters of the men—”
“The women who had the courage and strength to step forward with the truth,” Root Anna spoke over her. “Now, tell me truly, do you love Edward?”
“God help me, I do,” Celeste whispered. “But after the past fortnight I don’t think he loves me. He said what he did but disappeared. No one who knew him would give him word and—”
Root Anna stopped on the path. Celeste halted as well, uneasy at the expression on the other woman’s face.
“So Sir Jasper could leave York unnoticed, Sir Edward confronted his father and Edmund. He and Edmund fought. Other men joined in. One named Denby hit him from behind.”
Celeste gasped.
“His father declared him a traitor and had him put in chains. He was kept for that fortnight in one of the cells here. I’m hoping George’s sense of justice put Talbor in the cell he found Edward in.” Root Anna smiled. “Knowing George, he probably dumped several chamber pots in as well.”
“He was a prisoner?” Celeste breathed. “Oh, my poor Edward.”
“Freeing him was the first thing we did upon arriving. But he did disobey my order in the Minster,” frowned the Root. “Not to mention his way of stopping the marriage was quite shameful and unnecessary.”
“That’s what I mean,” Celeste told her. “How can he say he loves me if he would shame me like that?”
“Men are not accustomed to examining their feelings. In his mind, the purpose was to keep you from becoming Edmund’s wife. I would imagine the site of you that near to the bastard was too much for him after everything else and all he could think of was to speak up and get you away.”
Celeste listened and frowned. “But still,” she muttered. “To shame me that way? And disobey you?”
“True,” agreed the Root, then smiled. “Mary and Rose said they had a chamber for themselves on the third floor and there was room enough for you if you wanted to be with them. I imagine it would be good for Meggie as well. I certainly don’t want the two of you with the rest of the families.”
“That would be wonderful,” Celeste replied. “My aunt was still in her room when we went to my uncle’s manor. She became hysterical when we arrived. The Heirs were rather direct with her, forced her onto a horse and then into the room with my brother and sister, and Ellie Gray and her children.”
“Mm,” hummed Anna. “And what to do with them,” she sighed.
“Ellie was only married to Elder Gray eight years ago,” Celeste told her. “Her son is just six and her daughter four.”
“Is she a relation in anyway?” inquired Anna.
“No, she came from Leeds,” answered Celeste. “I’m not sure of her background. She was Gray’s fifth wife.”
“Five?” Root Anna wondered, her eyes widening.
“And the only to survive childbirth,” Celeste elaborated. “I don’t think it was a marriage she wanted as she was only fifteen. She is a good housekeeper. I’ve heard few complaints about her management of Gray Manor.”
“Good,” came the nod. “So, do you have a problem with staying in the chamber and not meeting Edward? Trusting me
to discover his intentions?”
That caught Celeste by surprise, but she nodded. “Perhaps it is cowardly,” she reflected. “But I think it better if I not see him after this morning. Was it really only this morning?” she frowned. “So much seems to have happened.”
“After the next few days, I think I will take to my bed until spring,” sighed Anna.
“Do I,” Celeste started and hesitated. “Would it be all right if I not see anyone else either?”
“Such as? Who do you not wish to see?”
“This sounds horrible, but my brother and sister.”
“Mm, he was a bit self-centered in the Minster, but why your sister?”
“Joan was indulged by our father as our mother died giving birth to her. I’m almost surprised no one has come to you about her.”
“I have been busy. I wasn’t sitting idly by the hearth sewing while you were fetching the journals,” chuckled Anna, entering the manor.
“I didn’t see any dead bodies,” her husband commented from nearby. “So that was a given.”
“You know me so well,” she grinned at him. With a groan at her pun, he shook his head as Rose and Mary appeared. “Rose, Mary, will you take Celeste and Meggie to the chamber you mentioned? It may be snug with four of you, but I think the two of them will feel better for your company.”
“Of course,” Rose smiled, then glanced at the blonde at her side. “Do you want to tell her?”
“I did it, so I guess I better,” Mary stated.
“Did what?” Anna wondered.
Mary took a deep breath. “I nearly killed Joan Black. I drew my knife, put her against the wall and put my knife at her throat.”
Anna stared at her in astonishment as Celeste groaned. “Mary,” Anna whispered. “Why did you do that?”
“I could handle her tantrums and screaming, but when she called you a bitch, I simply could not handle anymore from her.”
Owain chuckled and patted her shoulder. “Well done.”
Anna was still staring. “What happened?”
“Geoffrey drew his sword to keep her brother out of it,” Mary explained. “She wanted his help. I asked why when he’d believed a degenerate like Edmund and would have let Celeste marry him.”