“Aye,” he said, nodding his head and running a weary hand through his hair in thought. “I suppose it does look that way.”
“I’ll stay at the blacksmith’s shop in town,” said Winter. “I’ll finish the work on your sword there. If you don’t have the answers I want to hear by the time the sword is completed, then I am sorry, but I will be on my way back home to Whitehaven.”
“You want to stay in town?” He shook his head furiously. “Nay, I can’t let you do that. It isn’t safe.”
“Let her go, darling,” said Victoria, walking up and slipping her hand atop Martin’s arm. “After all, she is used to being with commoners. Let her stay where she is most comfortable.”
“My guards will go with you,” said Martin.
“I’ll take Nairnie, Wallace, and Josef, but no one else,” bantered Winter.
“Fine,” he finally agreed, not wanting to take the chance of losing her altogether. I’ll have the town blacksmith come here for the duration of your stay, and you can use his shop. And I promise you; we will be married!”
* * *
“Follow Lady Winter and make certain she doesn’t see you,” Martin told his squire as soon as Winter and her small entourage headed out the castle gate. “Watch to make sure no one gives her trouble getting settled in the blacksmith’s shop in town.”
“Aye, my lord,” said Rock. “But isn’t it risky leaving them there alone? I know the men might be able to protect her, but they are not fighting men – just tradesmen.”
“I’ve had Sir Gawain select two guards from the castle who will be dressed like townspeople and stationed in town to keep an eye on her. I’ll not let anything happen to Winter.”
“Aye, my lord,” said Rock, hurrying toward the stable.
“Report back to me, anon, as soon as they are settled in.”
“I will, my lord,” called out Rock with a wave of his hand.
Martin felt furious at the course of events of the day. One minute he was happy and about to marry the lady he loved. Then, the next moment, all hell broke loose with a lady from his past insisting he marry her instead. He was sure Victoria was naught more than a strumpet and a liar.
He saw his past lover across the courtyard, laughing and flirting with every soldier in sight. The boy whom she said was their child was with the nursemaid in the shadows. She acted as if the boy didn’t even exist. He needed to get to the bottom of all this, but not now. Right now, his head throbbed like he’d taken a hammer to it. Perhaps, a few minutes to think was what he needed.
Making his way back to the keep, he purposely stayed in the shadows and avoided Lady Victoria. What was happening here? Now he was slinking around in the shadows of his own castle like a thief in the night? Something needed to be done to remedy this situation quickly.
He made his way back to his solar and headed to his secret room. Entering, he sat down and fiddled with the escape wheel on his clock, not able to get it to work correctly. He thought of Winter and the way she was skilled at her chosen trade. That impressed him. He’d never met a woman like her before and hell if he was going to lose her now.
“Are you still playing with time?” His father entered his secret room, having known about it since he’d built it.
“Hello, Father.” Martin didn’t bother to look up. He used his small hammer and tinkered with the pivot rod.
“I heard Lady Winter has left you.”
“She’s staying in town for now until I can get rid of Victoria.”
“Don’t let a woman leave you if you really care about her, Son.”
“She’s not going to leave me. It is just temporary.”
“Ah, like your mother and me. I understand,” he said with a smile and a nod. “You can wait with me. I’m sure both women will return soon.”
Martin’s hand froze in place. His father’s words were like a knife to his heart. He didn’t want to be like the old man, addled and always hoping for miracles. Frustrated, he threw down his tools and got to his feet. His hand slammed down on the table, causing the pieces of the clock to jump. “I’m not going to lose her, Father. And you need to stop saying Mother is coming back because she isn’t. She’s gone! Did you hear me? Mother is married to someone else now and she, as well as your daughters, will never return to Castle Heaton. It is time you accept that. It’s over for you, Father. But not for me!”
He stormed out of the room, leaving his father standing there gazing off into space.
* * *
“Lady Winter, you should have stayed at the castle,” said Wallace once they’d entered the small shop of the town’s blacksmith.
“This will be fine,” said Winter, looking around the unpleasant, dirty shop. It stank, and there was soot everywhere.
“My lady,” said a man, walking from the back room to greet them. He had a travel bag thrown over his shoulder. “My name is Hubert. Everything in my shop is yours to use.”
“Thank you, Hubert,” she said, carefully placing the sword on the anvil. It was wrapped in a blanket.
“I’ll be on my way now. I can’t believe I actually get to work at the castle.” The man left the shop with a smile on his face.
“And I canna believe a lady is goin’ to be workin’ and livin’ in this cesspool,” grumbled Nairnie, brushing off a chair with her hand. “Ye dinna belong here, Lady Winter.”
“There’s only one room in which to sleep and a pallet on the floor instead of a bed,” announced Josef, peering into the antechamber and crinkling his nose. “This is making the smithy at Ravenscar look better by the minute.”
“Lady Winter will use the pallet. We’ll sleep outside,” said Wallace.
“What about Nairnie?” asked Winter.
“I’ll use this old chair and pray it doesna break.” She sat down on the chair and it creaked under her weight.
Winter’s heart sank. After living at the castle and working in a smithy of her dreams, she wondered if she’d been too quick in making her decision to leave. “The sword is almost finished. We won’t be here more than a few days,” she told them. “Josef, get our things from the cart. Lord de Grey was kind enough to lend us the horse and cart for the duration of our stay. Please see if there is room at the stable to keep it.” She dug into a pouch at her side and handed him a few coins. “Pay the stablemaster well, so he’ll watch that it won’t be stolen.”
“Aye, my lady,” said Josef, heading away.
“I’ll start work on the sword. In the meantime, Wallace, can you take a walk down to the butcher and baker’s and buy us something to eat?” She handed him coins as well.
“I will, my lady, but I agree with Nairnie. You don’t belong here. Go back to Castle Heaton.”
“Nay! I made my decision. I won’t go back as long as Lady Victoria is still there.”
“Lady Winter,” said Wallace, “We don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen. Now, the faster I can finish the sword, the sooner we’ll all be able to leave.”
Nairnie got off the chair and grabbed a broom from the corner and started sweeping. “Ye didna have to leave the castle. I told ye I had a vision that ye and Martin will end up together. Why are ye so stubborn, lass?”
“You also saw your own death recently and, thankfully, that proved not to be true. I am very grateful that you share your visions Nairnie, however, I like to take my fate into my own hands.”
“Hrmph,” snorted the old woman, sweeping faster and faster.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Winter.
Nairnie stopped sweeping and leaned on the broom. “If ye really wanted to take yer fate into yer own hands, ye’d have stayed at the castle and made sure Victoria kept her claws off of Martin.”
“Mayhap so,” she said, unwrapping the sword and running her hand over the blade in a loving manner. It was becoming smoother each time she used the polishing stones on it. She would work on the hilt today. “If Martin really wants to marry me as he claims he does, then he
will find a way to get rid of Victoria so we can continue to be together.”
“What about the bairn, lassie? Lady Victoria will never be out of his life if he’s sired her child.”
“Martin doesn’t believe it’s true,” she told Nairnie, feeling selfish, but hoping the boy was not his. “But if it is his son, I am not sure I’ll be able to cope with the fact. It doesn’t seem as if Lady Victoria wants her child. If Martin marries me and Victoria decides she wants the boy raised by Martin – I am not sure I’ll be able to accept it.”
“Yer sister, Autumn, has five orphans she has taken under her wing. Would it be all that bad to accept the boy?”
“I don’t know,” she said, caressing Martin’s sword, wishing it was him she touched instead. She’d only had one night of bliss with him but wanted more. Perhaps she should take matters into her own hands and get Victoria out of there as Nairnie suggested. If only she had a way to do it.
Chapter 17
After having had the worst night’s sleep in her life, Winter started to rethink her decision. She’d put one of her blankets down atop the dirty pallet, but kept worrying about fleas or bedbugs all night long. If she’d had an hour of sleep, she’d be surprised.
She yawned and made her way out to the main room where Nairnie was already washing down the furniture. Wallace and Josef were cleaning the ashes from the overflowing cold hearth.
“Why is everyone up so early?” asked Winter.
“We canna stay here under these conditions,” Nairnie complained. “Lassie, ye need to make amends and go back to Martin.”
“I agree,” said Wallace. “Town is not the place for a noblewoman.”
“I’ll just finish the sword quickly and, in a day or two, we can all go back to Ravenscar. Then I’ll return home to Whitehaven to live with my brother, Rowen.”
“Just like that, ye’re goin’ to let that strumpet push ye out of the castle?” asked Nairnie with a puff of air from her mouth. “I thought ye were stronger than that, lass.”
Winter looked down to the sword and ran her hand over the flat edge. If she worked quickly, she could probably finish the sword today or tomorrow. They would be able to leave here soon. But did she want to return to Ravenscar and Whitehaven? Her head told her to go home, but her heart told her to go back to Castle Heaton and stand up for what she wanted.
“You might all be right,” she said. “I’m still not sure, but I will think on it. I’ll finish the sword quickly and take it to Lord de Grey. Then, we’ll all be able to leave here.”
“What about that woman?” asked Josef.
“The strumpet,” added Wallace.
“I won’t let her scare me,” said Winter, straightening her spine. “Martin said he didn’t want her and I believe him.”
“Then you’ll go back to Castle Heaton and marry Martin?” asked Wallace.
“I can’t answer that,” said Winter. “It will depend on Martin. He might decide to marry Lady Victoria after all. Let’s get to work. Josef, I’ll need you to cut the wood for the hilt while I prepare the guard. Wallace, start up the forge.”
“Start up the forge?” asked Wallace, confused. “But you’re done with the forge and just need to polish the sword and apply the handle and guard. What do you need fire for?”
“I’m going to put my mark on this sword, just like I’m going to put my mark on Lord de Grey. Nobody is going to send me away from the man I intend to marry.”
“Make up yer mind, lassie,” scolded Nairnie. “Are ye goin’ back to Castle Heaton or no’?”
“I think . . . I think, mayhap, I will. I need to find out if I’m in love with Martin or not, and that is the only way to do it.”
Winter smiled and released a deep breath. She felt better now that she’d made her decision. Her head had been clouded and confused, but now it was all clear to her. What she had to do was find a way to get Victoria away from Martin. And in the process, she had to find out if she was in love with Martin and wanted to become his wife, no matter what circumstances arose.
* * *
“Tell me again why you disappeared for two years and just now decide to tell me that I have sired a child?” Martin asked Victoria over the meal in the great hall. She sat next to him, smiling and batting her eyelids, apparently happy to be seated in the Lady of the Castle’s chair. She didn’t, however, seem to pay any attention to her child.
“I left with your mother and sisters and then continued on to Cornwall while they went to France.”
“Yes, I know that part. You broke our betrothal and accepted Baron Dinham’s offer of marriage.”
“You know I couldn’t stay. Not after what your father did. It wasn’t safe here. He might have accidentally killed me next.”
“You are spouting nonsense. No wife of mine would ever have to feel frightened with me by her side to protect her. Besides, the death of my brother, Albert, was an accident and not my father’s fault.”
“That isn’t how your mother and sisters saw it. It drove your mother into the arms of another man.”
Her words made Martin want to strike out, or yell, but he bit back his remarks and tried to keep a calm composure. “How is my mother faring?” asked Martin, missing her as well as his sisters. He hadn’t heard a word from them since they left. “And how about my sisters, Juliana and Susanna?” he asked. “I miss them every single day. My poor father has gone daft and keeps thinking they will return.”
“All I know is that the church granted the annulment of your parents’ marriage because your father was said to be insane. Your mother then married a baron from France.”
Martin’s stomach clenched at the thought of his mother with another man. This wasn’t at all what was supposed to happen to his family. His eyes roamed over to the nursemaid across the room, holding little Martin. His son. He didn’t want his family torn apart someday. If he had a child, he wanted to be the best father he could ever be.
“I’d like to see my son, now,” he told Victoria.
“That can wait. I have something to discuss with you first.” She looked up over the rim of her goblet, taking a drink of wine. “I think we should hold the wedding right away. If not, people are going to start calling your son a bastard.”
“No one calls my son a bastard!” Martin got up and stomped down the dais stairs. Crossing the room, he stopped in front of the nursemaid. “Let me have my son,” he commanded, holding out his arms.
The woman glanced over to Victoria who had run after him and was right behind him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Victoria nod. The woman handed over the little boy, but he started to cry. He kicked and squirmed in Martin’s hold, and it was very uncomfortable. Martin turned and handed the boy to Victoria.
“Here, take him,” he said, pushing little Martin into her arms. The boy continued to cry, holding out his arms to the nursemaid instead.
“Mama,” said the boy, reaching for the nursemaid.
“Take him, Glynnis, please,” said Victoria, sounding eager to get the boy away from her.
“Did he just call the nursemaid, Mama?” asked Martin, feeling his blood boil.
“Why, I don’t know. I didn’t hear it,” said Victoria, trying to play dumb.
“He did call her that. I heard it,” said Martin. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Victoria.”
Her eyes opened wide, and she looked back and forth. “Whatever do you mean?”
“You spend so little time with your son that he thinks the damned nursemaid is his mother.” Disgusted with everything, Martin stormed away and headed for the stable.
“Martin! Where are you going?” cried Victoria. “We need to plan our wedding.”
“Never,” he called over his shoulder. He saw his squire leaning against the well, flirting with the daughter of the reed. “Rock, let’s go,” he called out.
Rock hurried over, following him to the stable.
“Where are we going, my lord?”
“Tell the stablemaster to saddle our horses. We a
re going for a little ride to town.”
* * *
Martin rode to town with Rock at his side. Thoughts of Winter and Victoria and also little Martin filled his head and confused him. He wasn’t sure what to think anymore. All he knew was that he needed to make sure Winter was all right.
“We’re going to check on Lady Winter, aren’t we?” Rock asked.
“Aye,” Martin answered, saying nothing else.
“Are you going to check on the status of your sword as well?”
“Aye,” he said again. “My brother is rotting away in the dungeon of Dunbar Castle and I need to take action. I should have done it much sooner. I also need to figure out what to do with my Scottish prisoner.”
“And what to do with Lady Victoria,” Rock added.
“Oh, I’ve already decided that. She’s leaving, and Lady Winter is coming back to the castle anon.”
“I see. I didn’t know you’d already made arrangements for Lady Victoria’s departure.”
“I haven’t. Not yet. But I will.”
“I thought Lady Winter said she wouldn’t come back to the castle as long as Lady Victoria was there. How are you going to handle that?” Rock’s constant barrage of questions was getting under Martin’s skin.
“Stop asking so many bloody questions so early in the morning, Squire.”
“I just thought mayhap you had a plan.”
Martin turned and glared at Rock. “It’s not that simple. If you have a plan, I’d love to hear it.”
“Why not marry one of them and keep the other for a mistress?” asked Rock with a sarcastic smile. “That would solve the problem, and you wouldn’t have to get rid of either of the women.”
Martin groaned. “Remind me never to ask your opinion again.”
They got to the blacksmith’s shop and Martin hopped off his horse. “Watch the horses, Rock. I’ll be right back.”
“Aye, my lord.”
Winter's Flame (Seasons of Fortitude Series Book 4) Page 15