by Carm Nicosi
The knights, William and Byron, stepped out from behind a dressing screen. Isabel started to light more candles, to brighten the chamber.
She answered, “He is in his father’s chamber. Did he say enough to arrest him, and search his castles for the girls?”
William nodded to her, and then told Niles, “You Sir, are under arrest for murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, knowingly impersonating a high official...”
Realizing he had been set up, Niles said, “You deceitful witch. We should have just killed you.”
He jumped on to the bed, lunging toward Isabel. She pulled her feet back, and rolled away from him, coming to her feet on the floor, beside William. The knight quickly stepped between her, and the despot.
With the two knights now between him, and Isabel, but the door right behind him, Niles decided to attempt an escape. He moved into the dark passage, which was suddenly flooded with light, when Angus lit a torch near the next room. With the path to the rear stairs blocked by Angus, Niles ran toward the main stairs, and began to descend. He knew if he could get to the cellar, he might still gain access to the secret passage, and escape to fight another day. Torches were lit in the hall, bathing it in light. William, Byron, and Angus, ran after Niles, with Isabel following. From the top of the stairs, Isabel saw Hyram, one of Brant's top knights, in the hall with his sword drawn, blocking Niles path of escape. Niles had traveled there with three of his knights. Two of them, who had bedded down on the floor in the hall, rose and drew their swords, confused about what was going on. She watched, as Hyram ordered Niles to surrender, but he choose instead to draw his sword. Several of Brant’s Knights, who were sleeping in the hall, followed Hyram’s lead, and surrounded Niles men, who quickly surrendered. Isabel stood transfixed, watching Niles and Hyram circle, amidst the clash of swords. Clearly, the Duke was not going to be taken into custody, easily.
Then, Isabel was picked up from behind, carried into the Solar, and dropped on the bed. She missed the sword fight, that ended with the death, of the most despicable titled Lord, Isabel had ever met. Twas likely a good thing, Brant thought to get her away from the events in the hall, she realized later. The wounds from sword fights she had seen after the fact, were nearly enough to make her wretch. Though, after depositing her safely in his bedchamber, Brant went right back out to watch.
After a while, things quieted down. Byron, who had been in the antechamber, to keep her out of the way, came in to tell her Niles was dead. That was good news to Isabel, who realized the last couple of days, had been long and difficult. She decided to wrap a blanket around her shoulders, and lie down to rest, for a little while. When Ann came in a short time later, her daughter was fast asleep.
When Isabel awoke the next day, she could tell by the sunlight streaming into the room, it was very late. She stretched, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Ann rose from a chair near the hearth, and came to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Well, I see you are not quite going to sleep till the noontide. I came in, when they were cleaning up downstairs to sit with you, but you were sleeping like a babe," Ann said.
"Trapping murderers is tiring work," Isabel told her mother, flippantly. Then, more seriously, she said, "William, Byron, and I, got no sleep the night before last, tipping my hand, as it were, to Niles."
"How could you get yourself involved, in something like this? My God, you could have been killed," Ann chided.
"It is not like I set out, to get involved with murderous thieves, Mother. Avery started all of this. Most of what I have done, was to protect myself, and survive the situation I was forced into," Isabel stated, defensively. "After Nathaniel was born, then he was in danger, too. Do you expect me not, to try to protect my child?"
"It appears you forgot something, while you were fighting criminals," Ann said. In response to Isabel's questioning look, she continued, "The babe. You are still carrying the child. Brant was furious with me, for reminding you of the roots that can cause a miscarriage. Alisa, your husband is really frightening. When I saw you laying there last night, I could tell you are still expecting. Why would you let him think the worst? I certainly, did not enjoy dealing with his temper."
"Somehow, I think Brant is going to figure out, that I did not do what he thought. Niles was livid about Nathaniel. Another child, seemed like it would put me in a lot more danger. When he got notice that I was to be granted control of my resources, Brant made his position clear. He said if I did not return Nathaniel to him, he would knock down my Castles, until he found his son. What do you think his position would have been, if he knew that I still carried his second child?" Isabel posed to her mother.
When Ann just shook her head, Isabel pushed back the blankets, and said, "I had better get up. I wonder if I can find anything to eat around here, still."
Ann stood up, as the women heard the sentry announce guests. She told Isabel, "I will let you get dressed. I believe your husband has a lot of questions. Several of your knights, and a couple of his, rode out shortly after Niles died last night. He wants to know how his men were involved in this, without his knowledge. Oh, and 'what in Hades is going on', I think he said."
"Wait for me," Isabel said.
She got a clean gown from her trunk, and slipped it on. Ann helped her brush her hair out a bit, and tie it up. As they left the Solar together, the sentry was heard, again.
In the hall, Isabel discovered Robert, and Kate, had arrived. Nora met her near the stairs, to ask if she would like some thing to eat, and she nodded in the affirmative. She walked to the table, where a serf explained that breakfast had been served late, due to the excitement during the night. Brant and Robert walked over, and sat down by her at the table.
"Would you like to explain yourself, yet, or is there more to come?" her husband asked.
As Isabel was about to answer him, the door opened. William and Hyram entered, and approached her. As they joined the others already seated at the table, Isabel gave them a questioning look.
Hyram replied, in answer to her look, “They found one of the girls, though she is in rough shape. She had been badly abused. According to the serfs, two others died. However, there are also a couple of girls missing, from a nearby village. Some suspect Niles in their disappearance, too.”
Brant interrupted, “Am I confused Hyram, or are you supposed to work for me?”
“Aye, My Lord,” Hyram answered. “However, when William approached me with orders from the King, it seemed in everyone’s best interest, to aid him. Particularly, when provided with information that Niles, had been a part of the group, that ambushed your father. He and Avery had a similar plan for you. Since I am frequently at your side, if they were allowed to proceed, I would likely be killed, too. While I am not afraid of death, I would like to avoid it, for as long as possible.”
“How exactly, was this alleged plot uncovered?” Brant asked.
The knights looked at Isabel.
“Twas Avery,” Isabel said. “He was showing me off to Niles. They got into the plan to kidnap Esme, then use her to lure you into an ambush. Avery said it would work, just like with your father. He said Niles and his men, could meet up with you, a short distance from your Castle, so your people would not know he was there. When you met Avery’s men, you would be outnumbered."
"We had conflicting information, as to which side Niles was actually on," William said. "Robert and others, said he was gaming Avery, to get information for you. Isabel felt certain, that he was all for Avery besting you."
"I was sure that Niles was working with Avery, because of my father's take on his family," Isabel said. "Edmund believed Niles sire, was a murderer. Right after Lady Gwenivere, and her father, were killed, Niles family claimed to have purchased what was to be her dowry, a few days prior to their deaths. Father swore the son, was worse than the sire. Though, he would not say why."
"There was a good deal of suspicion about Niles for a couple of reasons. Several Ladies he expressed an interest in, turned up missing. Ho
wever, it was not until after Nathaniel was born, that one of Avery's men claimed to have heard Niles speak of the ambush, on your father," William said. "Niles supposedly said, 'Eric never suspected anything, until the end. Since no one knew Niles was there with him, all suspicion fell on Avery'.”
"Unfortunately, the man was in trouble for other crimes. Therefore, he made a dubious witness, against a titled Lord," Isabel said. "Twas only a matter of weeks ago, that a reliable witness against him surfaced. Niles tried to approach some mercenary types, since Avery was gone. Then, we got the go ahead, to set a trap for him."
When they fell silent, Robert interjected, “So you took their plan to kill Brant, and used it to kidnap him?”
“It was a viable plan,” Isabel said, with a shrug. Then, she continued with her tale, “It was pretty clear that Niles intentions with me, were not honorable. My father had the binder, the one I gave you, Brant. Twas about your family, so I went through all of it, for information on the enemy. What I found was fairly shocking. According to the papers, Niles father was the son of the Duke, and one of the Castle Ladies. Your father, was the Duke and Duchess’ child, born four months after the Duke's illegitimate son. So, the family of the older child, hatched a plot to kill the Duke, Duchess, and their son. However, when they initiated the attack, the Duke was able to delay them long enough, for the duchess to escape, through the secret passage, with the legitimate heir. After that, a lot of members of both families were killed, trying to protect, or assassinate, your father. To stop the bloodshed, they came up with a treaty, which gave the older child the title, and about a third of the property. The legitimate heir, got the rest of the property, but not the title. Which worked until Niles inherited. He told me last night, he had the title, he should have the property, too. That is why I went to his Castle. So he would know I had the binder. You see it had diagrams of the locations of all the secret passages, in your families' Castles and Keeps.”
When Isabel stopped speaking, Ann, who had joined the group said, teasing her daughter, “So you had a diagram of the passages. You did not have to go along the wall with a candle, to figure out how to escape from him?”
“No, Mother. I did not have to go along the wall with a candle,” Isabel said, rolling her eyes.
William spoke up, saying, “Anyway, in the last few weeks, we have located a couple of people to confirm the paperwork. They were youths at the Castle, at the time. It has been forty-seven years, most of the people with knowledge of the events, are gone. This situation goes back to the fairly lawless times during Stephen’s rule, where family feuds were covered up as part of the civil war with Matilda. The King wanted confirmation that Niles knew he did not rightly, hold the title. I believe the goal, was to arrange a cover for Nile's death, if he were arrested. Since he decided to fight being taken into custody, and was killed, twill be a simple matter to declare you the Duke, as you should be.”
Since Isabel had pretty much disclosed her part of the story, she rose to go to her son. She lowered herself, with her back to the men, to sit on the blanket covered mat, intended to keep the babe off the cold stone floor. Nathaniel happily crawled to his mother, and she helped him pull himself up to standing. He loved to stand, though he had no balance, yet.
As she played with the affectionate nine month old, she heard one of the knights say, “Things went pretty much as planned, except...,” and he stopped.
Brant asked, “Except what?”
The knight stammered, “Except, well, except your marriage to the Lady. That seems to have gone terribly, awry.”
“Terribly awry?” Brant repeated, with a grin. “You think so?” He lowered his voice, as he leaned forward, and said, “I say again, the child stays here, and she will stay with the child. Do you doubt it?”
Brant stood up, and walked away. That matter was settled, as far as he was concerned.
A while later the knights, William and Byron, prepared to leave. Brant asked them if their business was complete, or if he should expect more of being told to cooperate? In the future, he would expect to be informed of what was going on, if they expected his cooperation. Though, he knew if they did not want to involve him, that might just get him jailed, again. William replied their business was concluded, at least as to Brant's cousin. Then, William offered the advice, that if Brant was determined to keep the Lady, he should be nice.
Chapter 18
Later, the evening meal past, fairly pleasantly. Afterward, Kate kept the conversation going, explaining how they had come here, merely to see if Nathaniel was home. They had not expected to find a cloak, and dagger situation. She then teased Isabel, about all her little secrets.
“Oh, come on, Isabel. Tell me how I get the King to send me, a couple of knights,” Kate teased.
“I am not sure how you would do it. I would just send a parchment, with my grandmother’s family crest on it, and a brief note, including who, and where,” Isabel said. “But only in an extreme emergency.”
“That is all it takes?” Kate asked.
“Well, that, and a hundred pounds from a King's ransom. That gets a pretty quick response,” Isabel answered.
“Where does one get a hundred pounds, from a King's ransom?” Kate asked in amusement.
Isabel laughed, and said, “One either has it, or they do not.”
“Oh come on. You cannot just leave me wondering,” Kate pleaded.
“Twas way too scandalous,” Isabel said. “I cannot tell you. If I did, the King would be sending someone to assassinate me, not to help me.”
Nathaniel was rubbing his eyes, to fight sleep, so Isabel said, "I think I need to get someone into bed. If you will excuse me?”
She rose to take the babe up to bed. When Brant saw his wife walking toward the stairs, he rose, and went to join her. He grasped her arm, directing her up the stairs, into his Solar.
Once there, he told her, "Just so there is no misunderstanding, you may not have the chamber across the passage. You may sleep in that bed."
Isabel laughed, and replied, "I am not sure I like that bed. It seems like, in the past, when I have slept in that bed, I have not gotten much rest, for various reasons."
"You did not appear to be having any trouble sleeping in it, this morning," Brant countered.
"That is true. I suppose I could give it another try," Isabel said.
She turned to get the babe changed for the night, before laying him down in his small bed. Nathaniel was fast asleep, in no time. Brant had left the chamber, probably to go back down to their guests. Isabel was still very tired, from the activities of the last few days, and decided to just get ready for bed. Beautrice had not been in, to see if she needed her to sit with Nathaniel, anyway.
Isabel changed into her night clothes, and was nearly asleep, when Brant returned. His movements around the room roused her, and she watched him as he added wood, to the fire on the hearth. While he removed his tunic, and folded it, he briefly paused to watch the sleeping child. Then, Brant placed the folded garment in his trunk, and walked over to the bed.
Noticing that she was still awake, as he walked to the far side of the bed, he asked, "Did it really take a year, and a half, to get Niles? It sounds like he was involved in enough reprehensible acts, to convict him much sooner."
"Mayhap, not," Isabel answered. "It took a year for me to turn one and eight, though. Besides, Niles played it pretty close to the vest. There were just a couple of his top mercenary knights, who knew of his true nature, and activities. I heard him and Avery, talking about various crimes, and plotting others, but I had not reached my majority. Therefore, I would not have been a reliable witness, in the eyes of current law, especially against a High Lord."
"So this was mostly about you?" Brant asked.
"Well, seeing that I was safe, was one big objective," Isabel said, turning toward him, as he got under the covers. "There really was very little, hard evidence against him, until he started talking last night. However, Niles was also a disgrace to his title. At l
east, in regard to the way he treated me, and suspicions about other women, with the alternative being you. Although, you were an improvement over him, some accounts left them wondering, if it would be a big enough, improvement."
He laughed, and pulled her toward him.
"So, they knew he was a disgrace, but they were not sure if they wanted to make me more powerful?" Brant asked.
She nodded, and replied, "There was some thought, after Nathaniel was born, that if Niles killed you, then they could arrest him, and make him vanish. That would pass the title to the child. The powers that be, decided against that, when I informed them I had grown rather fond of you, and promised to work on your character."
He noticed that Isabel was holding herself away from him. He moved to press his body against hers, and immediately, became aware of her rounded belly. Brant drew back in surprise, to run his hand over the mound.
"You still carry the babe?" Brant asked.
"Aye, My Lord," Isabel answered. "I am still carrying your little revenge. Although, in the interests of seeing that it is not so sweet for you, I do pray everyday for a girl. I think it would be highly amusing, to watch you, trying to defend a Lady's honor," she concluded, laughing.
Brant leaned forward, to place a light kiss on her lips, before saying, "You truly do have an evil bend."
"Look on the bright side. You only have a few months to worry about it," she replied, still amused.
"You would be wise to be quiet, and try to get some sleep, lest you find something other than the babe, in your belly," Brant said, with a leer.
"Aye, My Lord," Isabel said, snuggling her head against his shoulder.
Early the next morning, Brant lay in bed, watching his wife sleep. She said, ‘she told them, she had grown rather fond of him, and promised to work on his character’. That was very amusing, he thought. Before he met Isabel, the women in his life, had always been subservient to him. It never mattered what they thought, or said, he made the rules, and decisions. If any of them, ever told him what they really thought, he certainly was not listening. Laying down the law with Isabel, was a situation where, if she disagreed, things could get ugly. She was praying his revenge, was a girl. Last night when she said, she supposed she could give his bed one more try, he had to leave, to avoid rolling on the floor, laughing. How many women had thrown themselves at him, hoping to get into his bed? He should be angry with her for vanishing, for the past many months. Instead, he was relieved that she was here, and safe. Since Isabel invaded his life, everything had changed. The lewd tarts he had amused himself with, no longer held any interest for him. They just were not her. Somehow, Isabel had stolen his heart. Her, and her supporters, decided Brant was going to wed her, and he had. He did not know what anyone else was planning, but he intended to do everything in his power, to keep her.