by Kris Tualla
The same guard who threatened her earlier was still on duty, but Higgins appeared in the archway which Lady Avery and Askel had just passed through.
“Sir Hansen!” he called out. “I have a message for you!”
“Hold a moment,” the knight replied.
Jakob took Lizzy by the arm and pulled her in front of the other guard. “Do you remember what this girl said to you when she approached you before?”
“Yes. She wanted Higgins.” The guard sneered. “I told her to take her business elsewhere.”
Higgins was close enough to overhear them. He looked at Lizzy. “You wanted me?”
Lizzy was not sure she should speak.
“Go on,” Hansen urged gently.
Lizzy swallowed her fear and looked up at Higgins. “I wanted ye to carry a message to Sir Hansen for me.”
Higgins’ brows pulled together. “What message?”
Hansen drew her note from the breast of his tunic. “This message.”
Higgins read the note, then handed it to his fellow Beefeater. “And you did not consider this important enough to fetch me?” he growled.
The other guard read the note and blanched. “I never saw this.”
“You never saw this because you were a fool,” Jakob accused. “You assumed you knew her business when in truth you did not. And your foolishness put the Lady Avery’s life in danger.”
Higgins’ cheeks darkened with fury. “Can you imagine how Queen Catherine will feel when she learns about this? Her chief lady-in-waiting put in danger by your stupidity?”
“I—I am sorry,” he stammered.
“You will be plenty sorry, and that’s certain,” Higgins stated. “Go. You are released from your duty.”
Lizzy wanted to stick her tongue out at the retreating Beefeater’s back, but refrained. At the least her sense of justice was served.
“And now for you, Lizzy.” Sir Hansen’s words pulled her attention back to him. He held out his hand. “This is one way that I am able to thank you.”
Lizzy held out her palm. She could not believe her eyes when the tall knight dropped three silver coins into it.
“Three quid?” she yelped. “Are ye sure, Sir?”
Hansen chuckled. “If I thought you could keep more without being robbed of it, I would give you more.”
“Thank ye, Sir.” Lizzy pulled at the neckline of her dress and tucked the coins inside her corset. “I am grateful enough.”
“If you ever need anything, Lizzy, please ask.” He looked at her kindly. “I do mean that.”
Lizzy grinned at the big, handsome man. “I shall always be at your service as well, Sir. And the Lady’s.”
§ § §
Once Lizzy was on her way, Jakob turned to Higgins. “What message do you have?”
“This.” Higgins handed him a folded paper.
Jakob broke the seal and unfolded the brief missive.
Return my ships,
and then I will return your wife.
“The hell I will.” Jakob crumpled the note.
Higgins narrowed his eyes. “Is something amiss?”
Jakob considered the Beefeater. “Not for me. But the man who kidnapped my wife and now makes demands will not live to see another sunrise.”
“Lady Avery was kidnapped?” Higgins’ gaze ricocheted to the path of the retreating guard and back to Jakob. “Bloody hell.”
Jakob clapped a hand on the guard’s sturdy shoulder. “But I have taken my wife back, and when he returns for her, he will find me in her stead.”
“God have mercy on his soul.” Higgins chuckled and crossed himself. “Because you, Sir, will not.”
§ § §
Avery sat near the fire in the drawing room of the house which she and Jakob were given inside the Tower of London’s wall. Emily, her maid, washed Avery’s wrists with warm water and a stinging soap, while Bergdis sat nearby. Askel crouched beside Jakob’s mother and translated their sparse conversation.
“I have a salve made from oil of lavender and beeswax, my lady,” Emily said softly. “It will sooth you and keep the wounds from festering.”
“Thank you, Emily.” Avery sipped the wine that Emily heated for her with the fireplace poker, and her voice was somewhat restored as a result.
When her husband walked through the door Avery flinched. The look on his face was murderous.
“What has happened?” she asked.
“Do you mean in addition to that thieving liar kidnapping you, binding you, and holding you hostage in a filthy, abandoned house after killing his abettor in cold blood?” Jakob snarled.
Askel murmured into Bergdis’ ear and her eyes widened.
Then Jakob pulled the crumpled paper from inside his tunic. “Now he threatens me. He says if I return his ships, he will return my wife.”
Avery’s indignation surged. “He did not!”
“Oh, indeed he did.” Jakob handed her the cryptic note.
“His ships?” Avery looked up at the furious knight, her own rage ignited. “He dares to call them his ships?”
Jakob sat in the chair closest to hers. “I am taking this matter to Catherine immediately. But before I do, I want to piece together how this situation came about. Tell me everything that transpired this afternoon.”
Avery pulled a steadying breath. “After I arrived at the Albergar I examined the ledgers with Captain Montero in his office on the ship,” she began. “He said the purser was not feeling well and unable to join us.”
“I would place a wager that Gonzales is the ship’s purser.”
Avery frowned. “How would he procure such a job on one of my ships?”
Jakob shrugged. “It could be easily accomplished by applying for the position under an assumed name and with someone who did not know his face.”
“Of course.” Avery’s shoulders slumped. “The captain would have hired him, not Gustavo Salazar.”
Jakob nodded. “I am certain he did exactly that—with the purpose of searching you out and extracting his revenge. What happened next?”
Avery glanced at Emily who was wrapping her salve-soothed wrists with strips of linen. Her maid told her how distraught Askel was that he had been duped into leaving his post, and she hated to mention it again. But she must.
“When we finished, I went to look for Askel but he was gone.” Avery did not dare look at the valet.
“Then the dead man approached you? On the dock?” Jakob pressed.
“Yes. He told me that you were injured and Askel had gone to assist you.”
Askel was still translating for Bergdis, and from what Avery could hear he was giving an honest account.
Poor man.
Avery hoped she persuaded Jakob to go easy on his valet—after all, she was as convinced as he was by the tale.
“Did he know Esteban?” Jakob asked.
Avery shook her head. “Based on their brief conversation in my presence, Esteban met him at the dock and offered to pay him to take me to that house. But when we got there, Esteban shot the man instead.”
Jakob snorted. “The only witness.”
“Yes. He said as much.”
Jakob stood. “I am going to speak with Catherine.”
Avery looked up at him. “And then?”
Jakob took a deep breath. “Esteban will sleep on the ship to avoid raising any questions about his activities. But at some point, he will return to that house.”
Yes, he would have to.
Avery shuddered at the thought of what he might have done to her.
Jakob pulled his hunting knife and sheath from a cabinet and strapped it to his leg. “When he does, I will be there in your stead.”
Bergdis gasped softly and said something to Jakob in Norsk.
Jakob considered his mother and his expression softened. “Mamma, jeg er en ridder, og det er min plikt å beskytte dronningen og hennes hoff.” Then he turned to Avery. “I told her that I am a knight, and it is my duty to protect the Queen and her court.”<
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Avery nodded. “God be with you, husband.”
§ § §
Jakob was ushered into Catherine’s presence immediately. As a knight in her service he deserved that privilege, and as the husband of the queen’s dearest friend he always had his sovereign’s ear.
Jakob told Catherine what had transpired late that afternoon, explaining why Avery went to visit the ship, and then how Askel was deceived and pulled from his sworn duty.
“But a girl who works the docks, shall we call it, saw Lady Avery being led away by an unsavory man. She followed them, and then came to the Tower to tell me.” Jakob laid a hand against his chest. “Unfortunately she was threatened and sent on her way.”
Catherine scowled. “So the whore came to tell what she observed, and the guard rebuked her?”
“Yes he did, your Grace.”
“How did you come to know about your wife’s dangerous circumstance?”
“Lizzy—the whore—waited for anyone she recognized to enter or exit the Tower and carry her message. As fate would have it, I was the first person she came across.”
“Thanks to our Father God for that.” Catherine crossed herself. “Has the guard been dealt with?”
“Higgins relieved him from the rest of the day’s duties, but it is your decision whether additional consequences are due,” Jakob deferred.
“I shall speak to the king and seek his counsel, but I do believe there must be discipline of some sort. Who can know what other unpleasantness might be averted if handled correctly.” Catherine considered Jakob. “What about the whore?”
“When all danger was passed, I rewarded her for her persistence.” Jakob flashed a wry smile. “Three pounds sterling.”
Catherine huffed. “That was certainly generous, Jakob, considering her situation.”
“I owe her everything, your Grace,” Jakob softly reminded the queen.
Catherine nodded absently and Jakob thought she was finished with their audience. “What will you do now?”
“With your permission, your Grace,” Jakob began. “I shall go find the miscreant, and I shall kill him.”
Chapter Ten
Jakob walked back toward the abandoned house and considered his options. First, he could wait outside the house and kill Esteban in the street; but that plan ran the risk of one of the Albergar’s many drunken sailors noticing and misguidedly coming to Esteban’s aid.
The second option was to wait inside the front door. While efficient, Jakob had no desire to sit for the rest of the night in the company of a dead man with half a head.
That left the option of waiting for Esteban in the same room where he imprisoned Avery. While not the quickest path to resolution, at the least Jakob would be able to see the look on Esteban’s face when he discovered Jakob in Avery’s place.
“This time he will not escape my wrath,” Jakob mumbled as he climbed the stairs. “He will receive the very end that he has worked so long and hard to earn.”
Jakob closed the door to the room and decided that waiting behind it would give him the best advantage. Once Esteban opened it and stepped inside the room to search for his prey, Jakob would push the door closed behind him. After allowing the Spaniard the briefest moment of recognition and realization, Jakob’s blade would find its home in Esteban’s severed heart.
While he waited for the hours to pass, Jakob got up from his seat on the hearth and paced the length and breadth of the small room to keep his thigh from stiffening. Though there was no fire in the fireplace, the room was still less chilled and damp than the city’s smoke-clogged canopy.
He heard the church bells chime the hour. Though the night would be long, Jakob would not risk missing this encounter.
February 14, 1520
Esteban walked down the Albergar’s plank an hour before sunrise. He carried a flask of watered wine and a cloth tied with hardtack biscuits. While he wanted Avery to be miserable, he had no desire for her to be dead.
Unless her pompous knight of a husband decided to refute Esteban’s claim, of course. Then the pair of them would deserve that outcome. And Esteban had no qualms about giving it to them.
Only after I sample the lady’s attributes, of course.
Esteban smiled. He imagined throwing back those expensive skirts, spreading her unwilling legs, and mounting her with vigor. He would force her to respond against her will, stroking in and out relentlessly until she cried out the pleasure she was unable to deny.
His smile widened.
I believe I will do so no matter how the knight responds.
Esteban adjusted his trousers, his arousal at the punitive idea confirming the plan.
The house looked the same as it had yester eve, empty and non-descript. Esteban wrinkled his nose at the memory of the dead man crumpled on the floor inside the door. He probably should drag the body to the back of the house so he would not have to step past it every time he came.
He opened the front door. It scraped across the floor on its sagging hinges and making an annoying sound. Esteban lifted it when he shut it, hoping not to draw any attention from the street. Even though the carousing city was done in for the night, one never knew who might be lurking and looking for trouble.
The man lay where he fell.
Esteban set down the comestibles, grabbed the man by the feet, and dragged him to the back door of the structure. At this point there was no trail of blood to point to the corpse, so he simply shoved the body out the back door and left it as it fell.
“I hope you made your peace, you poor stupid bastard,” he mumbled. Then he pulled the door closed and threw the latch.
He returned to the front room and retrieved his supplies. As he climbed the steep stairs, he chuckled.
Time to visit the lady.
§ § §
Jakob heard the front door open. He silently took his position behind the room’s solid portal and pressed his ear against it. He heard Esteban grunting and guessed that he was moving the dead man. When the back door below him opened and subsequently closed, Jakob believed that his assumption was correct.
Now Esteban was climbing the stairs.
Jakob drew a slow, bracing breath and pulled the knife from the sheath still strapped to his leg. He grew calm as the years of his knight’s training set in. As slow smile lifted his cheeks.
Come and receive your due, you pile of Spanish shit.
The latch wiggled.
“Have you missed me, Avery?” Esteban trilled.
He stepped into the room, now lit by a candle he did not put in place. “What—”
Jakob leaned his bulk against the door, forcing it closed, and shoved Esteban from behind. The former majordomo stumbled forward before he caught himself. He spun to face Jakob, bristling like a homeless cur.
Surprise and fury warred across his dark features. “You!”
Jakob held up his knife. “How dare you try to take anything from me?” He kept his tone low and menacing as he stepped forward. “You are nothing. You are no one.”
Esteban pulled a knife of his own. “Come and get me, you arrogant ass. I will show you who I am.”
Jakob chuckled; a deep, menacing sound.
Esteban’s expression shifted briefly, just enough for Jakob to see the man’s fear in the candle’s light.
“You ask me to chase you, little man?” Jakob figured that the Spaniard’s pride would be his downfall and chose his taunting words to provoke it. “Because you only attack women and unsuspecting idiots?”
Esteban growled and leapt toward him, knife extended. Jakob twisted to the side and brought his fist down on the back of Esteban’s head.
Esteban sprawled flat on his belly, his face hitting the planked floor. When he rolled quickly away from Jakob, blood gushed from his broken nose.
Jakob stepped closer and kicked him in the soft side of his core as hard as his uninjured left leg allowed. “Stand up!”
Esteban rolled again. This time he hit the wall.
“I said
stand up!” Jakob bellowed his anger. “Or do you choose to die like the dog you are?”
Esteban used the wall to help him clamber to his feet. He hesitated just a moment, then screamed and launched himself at Jakob.
The knight was ready.
Jakob deflected the blade with one arm while he used the force of Esteban’s hurtling body to drive his own blade deep into the Spaniard’s chest. He felt the jarring rasp of bone as it slid between Esteban’s ribs.
Esteban gasped.
Blood gushed over Jakob’s hand, still gripping the knife.
Esteban dropped his knife. He glared at Jakob with a stunned yet livid gaze.
“Damn you to hell,” he whispered.
“Wait for me there,” Jakob growled. He yanked his knife from the other man’s chest and stepped back.
Esteban dropped to his knees, his life’s blood spurting from the gash in his shirt.
Jakob leaned down and murmured in his ear, “I must warn you. It will be a very long wait.”
With a moaning groan Esteban slid sideways and sprawled senseless on the floor.
Jakob wiped the blood from his knife on Esteban’s trousers before sliding it back into its sheath. Then he pulled a crucifix from his tunic, kissed it, and crossed himself.
Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.
§ § §
“Is he dead?” Lizzy asked. The whore had sidled up to Jakob the minute he stepped into the pre-dawn street.
“Yes.” Jakob looked down at the girl. “Do you sleep?”
“I’ll go now. But I wanted to make sure.”
Jakob nodded. “Go. It is done, and all are safe.”
Lizzy grabbed his still-bloody hand and kissed it. “God bless ye, Sir.”
Then she disappeared into the fog.
Jakob limped up Tower Hill; in spite of his best efforts, the damp cold and forced inactivity over the last several hours conspired to stiffen his right thigh. His next task was to assign a group of servants to retrieve the two dead men from the abandoned house and bring their bodies to the fortress.