by Marie Hall
"She cannot be gone again."
"I do not think she is, Mistress," Xavier reassured her, even if he needed a few of his own. If Io wasn't in the tunnels, he'd have to concede she did run. Though, why she would, he couldn't say. First, though, he'd make sure she was gone before he gave into the same fears gripping her friend. "Mistress, where is Thomas?"
"Searching the dungeons."
"Fetch him and set him to getting our guests properly settled." The expression on her face made him rush to add, "That they stay out of our way until we find Io."
"They would be out of the way, buried in a hole," Roth muttered, and Ann nodded in agreement.
"I would more welcome a ban of churl than them," Ann said before turning to face Xavier directly. "They are not really here to take Io from us, are they, my lord?"
And there, the deeper cause for everyone's upset. "Let them try, mistress," Xavier said then headed toward where he hoped to find his wife.
Io hissed as her knuckles scrapped the rocks as she dug at the spot between the tunnel wall and the plates that bolted the iron gates to them. Damn her willingness to agree to not have access to the keys now. She'd already be halfway to Sir Jon's if she could get out of the house. She knew the man would hide her until the king gave up trying to take her from this house, until Xavier convinced him she was wanted and needed here.
If they couldn't find her, they couldn't take her. She knew that, as she'd hidden once when they came to escort her to a new house. They'd looked for only two days before leaving, though they came back within a month, and that time she was removed. A month could be enough time for Xavier to tell them he didn't want her to go. And if need be, it could be enough time for her to figure out where to go of her own will, if Xavier couldn't or wouldn't have her in his house.
She went back to trying to chip away at the plate. If she could get it loose, she could maybe slip between the bars.
"Io, those bolts are as long as my arm," Xavier said, his voice soft and relaxed. But she continued to try, even as the futility of it couldn't be denied. "You will not dig them loose." He reached in and pulled the rock she used from her grip.
The tiredness she felt took hold, and she leaned forward into the corner created by the wall and gate. Tears splashed down on the top of her bare foot. "They heard I was unbearable; they have come to take me someplace else."
She felt Xavier's fingers pulling on her arms, and she couldn't muster the strength to resist.
"I do not know what they have heard, though I cannot think they have heard anything unkind," he said as she leaned against him and his arms wrapped around her warmly, securely. "And I shall tell you like I told Ann, they can try to take you from us, the eight or twelve of them there are, but…" He forced her around and then back against him. "I think it would take only a few of the grooms to vanquish them." She had to smile at that. "They brought no army, Io, and it will take that to remove you from this house."
"No, Xavier." Io pulled back and looked up at him. "They said they are here on the king's command; they are members of the royal court. They can take me. They said… Lucas said."
"Io, you must not go straight to the worse thoughts."
"They said they are here to take me." She felt his arms tighten around her more.
"Roth told me what they said, and yes, if I thought something happened that would give the king cause to remove you from me, I would be concerned. But nothing has happened."
"They said," she insisted. She couldn't have him denying again what she knew. Last time, it had almost cost her her life.
"Balbroke is a snipe, and but for those who pant at his feet and keep him from blundering around like the fool he is, the brevity of his intelligence leaves me suitably underwhelmed. Whatever he might have said, I am sure it is less factual than it sounded. Can you not allow me to hear them before you try digging your way out? I think it will be less dire than you have concluded."
"If it is not?"
"If it is not… where did you think to go, once through here?"
"To Jon or Ian, maybe Mark."
"Then if it not, I will give you the key and let you be on your way." He reached out and tried shaking the bars. "They are not taking you from me, Io."
Chapter 18
Xavier tipped his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose. His head already hurt, and the sun hadn't even been up an hour. Again, Io was refusing to leave the bed. Again, he'd no will to try to force her. He'd somehow convince her, tonight, to go with him to the spring festival tomorrow. And he'd do it without letting her cry about how it'd be the last thing she'd ever do in this house.
Balbroke had indeed come with a message from the king, and while it was worded like a request, Xavier knew it to be a command, and he knew it was sent with Balbroke to ensure Xavier didn't again make excuses. The king wanted them at court. He'd wanted it for some time, and each letter Xavier received shifted the welcoming invitation close to a royal order. Each time, though, Xavier was given a reprieve as his replies included the dealings of serious matters as well as hints to Io being less than fit to travel.
Now, though, it seemed no excuse short of death would be allowed. Xavier would travel to court, and Io, despite her refusal, would go with him. The last three days saw her try every method from raging, violent tantrums to her crying herself sick. Witness to it all, the twelve men, two of whom held prominence at court, and of course, all of Xavier's house who, as he expected, put the full blame for their lady's discontent on those twelve men.
One too many times, one of the knights from Balbroke's group thought to criticize too loudly both Io's behavior and Xavier's handling of it. Fights broke out and injuries were had. Not until supper, when, again, someone went to criticizing Io for not being at the table, did Xavier finally feel he'd had enough and he let those sitting only as guests in his house know how it'd be for them while in the company of Io.
"Your lack of protocols and your lady's lack of manners does not speak well of you, Xavier Brice," Balbroke started.
"Given what we have seen of her, I would think it prudent of him to keep her hidden. They say madness in women is carried into her sons," Whitby taunted. The response was quick and physical. Lucas had the man knocked out of his chair and on the floor before another word was uttered.
"Has madness infected the whole of your house, Brice?" Balbroke blustered. "Let up my man. How dare you?"
The smaller gathering Xavier arranged was supposed to help mitigate these sort of things, but at least this time, it wouldn't be a full-fledged brawl with tables and benches flying. There were only twenty men in the room, at the table. But all of Balbroke's men were present.
Xavier pushed back from the table and stood, nodding at Lucas to let Whitby up. Clearing his throat, he waited until he'd everyone's attention. "Let me make something as plain as it might be understood," he started, then catching Balbroke's eye, went on. "No one in this house is afflicted with anything, least of all the Lady Io. It is not madness on her part, not hysteria, or even childishness which causes her to behave as you have witnessed. It is fear. No, more than that; it is pure terror. There is no worse fate she might imagine than being forced to leave this house, and it is that fear which she rails against now. Which I will promise you she will rail against, even as we reach court. She does not want to go. She does not have any reason to want to be at court, she sees no purpose, no benefit, and if truth be told, she resents the idea she can be commanded to appear."
"What woman does not covet an invitation to court, more so an opportunity to be seen by the king?" One of the knights in Balbroke's part scoffed.
"Lady Io," four of his knights replied in unison, causing mutterings around the table.
"Beg pardon, Brice," Rigatos said. "But for what reason does your lady wife fear leaving this house? She must leave it sometimes; does she not oversee some of the matters on the lands?"
"Of course, it is not simply leaving. Io comes and goes and oversees almost all matters on my holdings,
with great effectiveness. But that is by choice, hers. When you came and told her you were taking her from her ho—" No, he wouldn't even give them that. Let them understand that Io didn't accept certain concepts, and because of that, she understood things far differently than most. "Taking her from this house, you brought to the surface something she has feared from the very day I was sent to collect her from Druhmore. A fear that marriage and letters from a king and all the reassurance in the world cannot drive from her."
"And what fear is this that holds a woman in such a vice?" Balbroke asked with almost a hint of compassion in his voice.
"Mostly, that she will be the reason someone who is trying to hold onto her dies."
"She resists companionship, still," Lucas said, retaking his seat as did Whitby. "Not as violently and determinedly as she first did when she was given into Lord Brice's care, but she is still a woman who would rather have no one than have someone who might come to harm because of her."
"How sad," Rigatos said, again muttering around the table. "How is it then, so many of you are so quick to her defense? If she so standoffish, how does she come by this loyalty?"
"Because for two years, we..." Roth started, only to go quiet when Xavier set a hand on his shoulder. He didn't think the man would say anything harmful, but Xavier didn't care to have known gossips carrying tales back to court, especially if Io would be there to have them get back to her.
"Lady Io is not standoffish, not in any manner. In fact, she is perhaps the warmest, most caring person I have ever encountered. Her compassion and thoughtfulness for those around her is what lends to this loyalty." He looked around the table now, trying to evaluate the men who didn't yet know Io, but who would be getting a very abrupt introduction to her as they traveled together. He saw compassion and curiosity. No doubt, to them, Io was some impossible-to-conceive enigma. A woman who didn't want the prominence of a court visit, who didn't strategically cultivate friendships and yet who compelled hardened men of war to defend her from the smallest slight. They'd learn soon enough, Io was unique. Her beginnings made her so. "It is to that," Xavier went on. "I want to speak. To give warning." Again, all eyes were on him and all faces showed a seriousness that came when an experienced man gave warnings. "These men, and those who will travel with us, they will act out of loyalty, more, though, they will act out of duty, a sworn oath to protect their lady from all things which might harm her. They defend her, vigorously; they are hers to command. They will stand against anyone whom they deem a threat to her, and that includes me."
"You?" Balbroke sputtered. "You allow, encourage, treason in your ranks?"
"None here would commit treason, you—"
"Ansel," Xavier snapped before insults flew again. "I have charged certain men with protecting Io from all harm, and as I must admit," he said, dropping his head and giving it a shake, "there have been times when it was my own actions which most endangered her. They will stand against me, if I again fail myself to act in lady Io's best interest. So know they would have no hesitation to stand against any of you."
"That seems unwise to allow your men to come between you and your wife," Whitby remarked, and Xavier didn't care for his tone or his look.
"We do not come between them. We only stand by our lady," Roth informed them.
"Well, enough if the matter is marital discord, no one interferes at all. But when Lord Brice cannot see a danger for the position he holds or for the duties he is committed to," Lucas did seem to be choosing words carefully, and Xavier left him to finish his explanation, "these men will step in, determine the danger, and if need be, they will put an end to the threat."
"It sounds as if this has already happened here? Perhaps the reason for your caution at the gates when we arrived?" Rigatos asked, like a diplomat, but also like someone hoping to gather information.
"Last summer, someone came through the gates and held a knife to Lady Io's neck, as well, kitchen servants tried to poison her." Xavier wouldn't elaborate. It was a thick bone for them to chew on and carry home, but it was far less than what he knew he'd be discussing with the king in coming days. "I did not see the lapse in security because it was the very same security used everywhere and for years, nor did I see the dangers from servants because it was not my duty to consider them, even after my wife tried to express concerns. Now when she has those, she seeks out these men."
"That keeps you a rather neutral lord," Balbroke said, appreciation for the way it worked in his tone, not that he'd enough sense to implement such measures himself, but…
"Until he is signing death warrants," Luther added with an ominous tone.
"Know it now; I will not stop anyone who acts to protect Lady Io. I will not judge them, nor allow a judgment of hast or excessiveness afterward when caution or restraint at the time may have brought harm to my wife."
"Your wife is so delicate then, she cannot take insult or criticism?" Whitby sneered, leaning and sticking a chicken bone between his teeth.
Xavier's men burst out laughing, chokingly repeating the word 'delicate' and laughing more when they paired it with Io's name.
"You are so little a gentleman you must insult a lady?" Xavier shot back. "No, Io is not some frail, delicate creature who must be protected from her own shadow. But she is sometimes slow to her own defense. If she cannot mitigate a conflict, she will avoid it, unless it puts others in harm and then, I assure you, she can be quite deadly."
"You speak like you have wed some mythical creature. Are you so enamored of your own wife? No wonder you have been put to pasture." Whitby's sneering tone didn't bother anyone. Especially not Xavier, who only raised a brow at the man.
"Seems quite fitting a man should be satisfied with his wife; a house is much settled when this is the case," Rigatos said thoughtfully. "I do hope we will have a chance to actually meet the lady."
"Do you plan to carry her to court in a trunk?" Balbroke asked then laughed at his wit, or what he thought of as wit.
"I am sure you will have plenty of opportunity to get to know Lady Io as we make ready for travel. As it is, tomorrow, she and I will be attending a small festival in the shire, and after that, I am sure she will have need to make arrangements for what she wants done while we are gone."
"Well, then," Whitby said, raising his cup, "To meeting this… lady."
Not liking his tone, it was only Balbroke's group who acknowledged the toast. And gaining promises no blood would be shed overnight, Xavier headed to his chambers.
Io sat up when she heard the door open and close, smoothing down the covers, which she'd only straightened a short time ago, she waited. Xavier didn't take long. He came through the bedchamber's doors pulling his shirt over his head, so he didn't see right away, she'd cleaned up both the room and herself. But when he'd finished brushing the hair from his face and took a moment to look, mostly at her, she didn't miss his appreciation or his relief.
"I have decided to go with you," she said with all her churned up courage.
"To the festival?" Xavier asked, bending to shove his britches down and kick out of his shoes.
"To the festival," Io confirmed. Though she knew she'd be forced to go with him to court, she didn't have enough in her to speak her consent. She waited, thinking Xavier had more to say. But he didn't. Rather, he crossed to the bed, lifted the covers and slid in beside her. "It pleases you enough, that I will go?"
"I was pleased enough that I did not come in to find you taking up the whole of the bed and hoarding all the covers," Xavier said rather flatly. Only the way he tried now to not smile gave Io any clue what he was about.
"Oh, you horrid man," she said as she reached back, grabbed a pillow and hit him with it. A small struggle ensued, ending when Xavier dragged her into his lap and wrapped her in an inescapable embrace. "I think I will go without you now," she pouted, only to be shaken by his laughter.
"We will go together, you scold," he said, placing a hard kiss on her mouth. "And we will have the most fun that can be had."
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br /> "We will go, but as to fun, I cannot speak," Io told him. She didn't really want to go out and have to see people whom she cared for now, when she might not see them again, ever.
"Oh, we will have fun," Xavier insisted. "Because if we do not, I will thrash you."
"You cannot thrash me for not having fun," Io tried to inform him, only to find herself rolled facedown over his lap. She was quick to put her hands back to protect her rear.
"I can, if I command you to have fun, and you do not, then I can thrash you," Xavier said, his palm smoothing up the back of her leg. "I think you might even insist I do." His hand continued up and, without trying, brushed Io's out of the way. "I think," he added, squeezing first the right then the left side and then smoothing back down the other leg. "You might even want a taste of what you will get if you do not obey me." This time, she felt his nails softly scratching the back of her knees. "Should I thrash you now, my love, to ensure you remember to be an obedient wife on the morrow?"
"Xavier," she moaned as his hand was again sliding upward.
"Do you need a thrashing?"
"Xavier, please."
"Please? You must tell me what you want." His fingers strummed on top of her arse softly.
"I-I want…" Damn, but she couldn't say it. No woman in her right mind would say such a thing. Or perhaps no lady would. "Xavier, a thrashing, yes?"
His soft chuckle reverberated through her, and the dampness she already felt on her thighs grew. "I should thrash you, my lady?"
As she looked back over her shoulder, she caught his eye, "Nicely, my lord," she commanded.
Again, he chuckled, but before she could turn back, he lifted his hand and brought it down a little too smartly for her liking.
"Ow, Xavier, that was not nicely." Though the sting was already gone and only a bit of heat remained.
"It was not? I think it was, as this…" he brought his hand down harder, and when Io tried to roll away, he rolled her back, "…might be." He was rubbing circles, easing away the pain again.