“Jess will do it,” Torston said. “I do not want you leaving Harringham’s side. Stay with him no matter what.”
Morley simply looked at him as if he wanted to say something but he bit his tongue. When Torston was certain the man wasn’t going to pipe up with more of an argument, he turned to Jess.
“Go,” he said. “Hurry and select a few servants to help watch over Harringham. Then, go to the gatehouse and make sure the posts are set before coming to me in the armory.”
As Jess nodded and fled, Torston wasn’t far behind him.
Morley watched him go but remaining with Lionel was the last thing he had in mind. He waited, quite impatiently, until Jess returned with a couple of servants who helped in the kitchens and around the keep, men who Morley knew well. They were strong and obedient.
Lionel was back at his table now, rolling out maps of the borders and planning his offensive against Douglas Kerr, and Morley ordered the two servants to stay with Lionel to prevent him from leaving his solar. Morley put the key to Lionel’s solar door in the palm of one of the men and told him to lock the door behind him. The plan was to lock Lionel in, at least for now.
At the moment, Morley had something even more difficult to face and he couldn’t worry about a squirrely old man.
Leaving Lionel planning his master campaign, he rushed to the suite of rooms occupied by Lady Lilia. The iron door to the first chamber was open and he charged through.
“Antonia?” he shouted. “Antonia, where are you?”
Antonia appeared shortly from the second chamber, followed by Lilia and her two women. All of them were looking at Morley with great concern, for the man never shouted.
But these were unusual times.
“You,” he reached out, grasping Antonia by the arm. “You must come with me now.”
Antonia didn’t like being grabbed and pushed at him. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “Have you lost your mind? Stop touching me.”
Morley didn’t listen. In fact, he grabbed her by the elbow and dug his fingers into her flesh. “I must speak to you now,” he hissed. “We have a tremendous problem on our hands.”
Antonia was trying to pull free of his grip. “I haven’t time for you now,” she said. “Supper is a short time away and Lilia must be property dressed, but we…”
Morley cut her off. “Torston will not be there,” he said, his voice low. “Lady Alyx has been abducted by the Scots and he is going after her. If ever there was a time to inform Torston of how he is to behave or suffer the consequences, now is the time. You must go to him this very moment and explain things.”
Antonia looked at him with shock. “He is…?” She stopped herself, looking as if the concept were outrageous. “Lady Alyx was taken by the Scots?”
Morley nodded as he began dragging her to the door. “And if you do not explain things to Sir Torston, all will be lost,” he said. “Regardless of the lies we told Alyx, Torston does not know what we told her. She clearly never said anything to him because we would know by now. He would have confronted one of us about it. Therefore, he is going off to save her. They will reunite, she will forget everything we told her, and Torston will go about seeking to destroy this betrothal. I cannot be any clearer than that.”
Antonia’s expression held a moment of horror before she abruptly hardened, steeling herself against what she’d just been told. Her jaw flexed dangerously.
“Where is Sir Torston?” she asked in a low voice.
“The armory in the bailey, near the gatehouse.”
“Then the armory will be our destination, as well.”
“I will not go with you,” Morley said. “He still trusts me. If we are to keep an eye on him to ensure he obeys, then I will need to remain trustworthy in his eyes. If he considers me the enemy, it will be much more difficult to follow his actions.”
Antonia nodded, eyeing the man with some contempt. “You would be useless in a confrontation, anyway,” she said. “You always were weak.”
It was an insult, but Morley was used to them. “Even so, I was instrumental in getting you what you wanted. Never forget that.”
Antonia didn’t reply. The situation with Torston was coming to a head and she was ready. Smoothing at her wimple, she headed out of the chamber, followed by Morley. They reached the stairs and descended together, but that was where their association ended.
Once they reached the bottom, they went their separate ways.
Standing in the chamber door, Lilia was watching. She had heard everything, as had the other two women. Now, the situation was about to become critical and she felt a great deal of apprehension.
When Morley and Antonia faded from her sight, something urged Lilia to follow Antonia. Call it a hunch, or a flash of conscience, or impulse. Whatever it was, she intended to obey it.
She turned to Rosalie and Gwen, behind her.
“I am going with Lady Antonia to see if I can be of some assistance,” she said quietly. “You say here and bolt the door.”
Lilia quickly left before the ladies could give her any argument. She didn’t want them holding her back when she felt strongly that she needed to be with Antonia when she laid down the rules of the betrothal to Sir Torston.
Rules and consequences.
The stakes in this great game that Antonia was directing were about to be raised.
Dyl, hiding out in the foyer of the keep, had watched Torston and Jess flee Lionel’s solar. Men were going in and out, and he knew that somewhere in the middle of it was Lionel. Great Caesar was in his solar and there was evidently much going on.
But Dyl needed to see him.
His grief over his father’s death had come in waves. He’d spent the vast majority of his time in the chamber he shared with his father, crying over his father’s clothing, sleeping on the pillow his father had died on. But then he had moments of calm, like now.
He’d found his way down to Lionel’s solar.
Lionel had been busy, with Torston and Jess and Morley. Dyl waited until Morley left the solar, too, because he didn’t like the man. The majordomo made him uncomfortable. When Morley quit the solar, Dyl finally summoned his courage. He didn’t know who the servants were who had been summoned to the chamber, but he was afraid Morley would return soon.
He had to make his move.
Dyl entered the solar just as one of the servants was trying to lock the door. But Dyl shoved it open, frowning at the servant who tried to lock him out. He darted into the chamber, away from the man, knocking over a chair as he did. He bounced right into Lionel’s table as the man was marking up a beautifully drawn map of the borders. Lionel nearly lost his inkwell when Dyl smashed into the table.
“Dyl!” he said harshly. “What is the meaning of this?”
Dyl looked at Lionel, appalled at the way he’d entered the chamber. He was embarrassed, hoping Lionel wouldn’t throw him out.
“I talk to you,” he insisted. Then, he pointed to the ceiling, indicating the chambers above. “I heard things. In the lady’s chamber? I must tell you.”
Lionel may have been mad, but he retained enough cognition to understand what Dyl meant. There was the little matter of planting a spy in Lady Lilia’s rooms and with everything that was happening, Lionel had nearly forgotten. For something he’d been so adamant about, it had quickly left his mind.
But now, it was back.
Grabbing the young man around the back of the head, Lionel pulled Dyl down so that they were face to face. There was no more than an inch between them.
“You have come to report to me,” he said quietly. “That is a very good boy. What did you hear, Dyl?”
Dyl’s speech was slow, but he was trying to put his report into words. “The lady,” he said. “She has a hat on her head. She said Lilia must marry Torston or a son is dead.”
Lionel wasn’t able to follow him too much. “Lilia must marry Torston or a son is dead?” he repeated. “What does that mean?”
Dyl was frustrated
with his lack of articulation. “A boy,” he said. “Torston’s boy.”
Lionel’s eyes widened. “Torston’s bastard is dead?”
Dyl shook his head but he wasn’t sure how to explain it. “He will be killed.”
“But why?”
That wasn’t what Dyl meant. He tried another way to explain. “The lady isn’t Lilia,” he said. “She very bad.”
Now, Lionel was becoming frustrated. “But what about the Scots, lad?” he demanded. “Did she say anything about the Scots?”
Dyl was confused. “No Scots.”
“Not a word?”
Dyl shook his head. “She say the son will be killed and Lady Lilia isn’t Lilia. No Scots.”
He wasn’t making much sense. Exasperated, Lionel let him go and sat back in his chair. “That means nothing to me,” he said. “If you cannot tell me she is allied with the Scots, then you are useless. Go, now. I must get back to planning my siege.”
He waved his hand at him, dismissing him, and Dyl backed away from the table, frustrated and upset that he hadn’t been able to tell Lionel what he’d heard. A bad lady trying to force Torston to marry a woman that wasn’t his betrothed – that’s what he was trying to tell Lionel, but that’s not what came out. He had no idea what Lionel meant about the Scots, either. He tried to speak again but Lionel banged on his table, scaring him, so Dyl backed away completely.
Distraught, he fled the solar, fearful to tell another living soul what he’d heard.
The information never made it to anyone else.
“Sir Torston? May I have a word with you?”
Torston was in the armory of The Lyceum, a rather large chamber built into the great wall that housed a good deal of weaponry that was well maintained by meticulous soldiers. Torston insisted on it. When he heard the female voice, he turned to see Lady Antonia standing in the doorway. Disinterested, he turned back to the shield he’d been inspecting.
“You are not permitted to be here,” he said.
“I realize that, but this cannot wait.”
“It will have to.”
Lady Antonia didn’t answer right away and Torston assumed she had gone until he heard movement behind him. Turning toward the sound, this time with the shield held up between him and whoever was sneaking up behind him, he saw that Lady Antonia had not departed.
The woman was right behind him.
The look in her black eyes was intense.
“It cannot wait, my lord,” she said. “I will come to the point. Rumor has it that you wish to break the betrothal with Lady Lilia.”
Torston didn’t react. But inwardly, he was already enraged that such a private matter would have reached Lilia’s ears. He tried to think back to who he mentioned it to – Jess was one person – and instantly, he knew how the information got around. The next time he saw Jess, he was going to throttle the man.
But he kept his composure.
“That is between Lady Lilia and me,” he said steadily. “You are not involved.”
Antonia bowed her head, as if to demure. “Forgive me, my lord, but it is my business,” she said. “You see, I am Lilia’s guardian and nurse. She has been my charge since she has been a small girl. Her family entrusted everything to me, so the matter of her betrothal is, indeed, my business. If the rumors are true, I will tell you now that we will not agree to the dissolution of the betrothal in any way. This marriage will go forward.”
Torston’s jaw flexed faintly. “It would be easier for you if you agreed.”
“We will not.”
“That is unfortunate. If there is a way to break it without your agreement, I will find it.”
“You are so determined, my lord?”
Torston put the shield down. “Since you are asking, I will tell you,” he said, annoyed with the terse woman. “I do not know Lilia. My father made this pact and I had nothing to do with it. That was a long time ago. My father has since died, I have become a seasoned commander with a career and a future, and that future does not include marrying a woman I do not know.”
“You already have a lady in mind, I assume? Lady Alyx?”
He almost confirmed that but thought better of it. He wanted to keep Alyx’s name out of this. “It does not matter who it is,” he said. “I will choose my own wife. Surely Lady Lilia has had other potential suitors, men she had more in common with? She is an heiress. I would imagine she would attract some very fine suitors. If this betrothal is broken, I am sure there are a dozen other men who would do much better than I.”
But Antonia shook her head. “Because of the betrothal, we turned away anyone of interest, so are no potential suitors,” she said. “If this betrothal does not go through, Lilia will be without a husband and without options. She has saved herself for you, Sir Torston. She has expected to marry you since she was nine years of age. It is unfair and unchivalrous to simply dissolve that which has been in place for years. We have been depending on it.”
That was probably true. Torston knew that was true but, still, he wanted no part of it. “If it is money that concerns you, I will buy out the contract,” he said. “I have accumulated my own money over the years. I will give it all to you if you will dissolve this betrothal.”
Antonia shook her head. “We would not be so cheaply bought,” she said. “Lilia has been looking forward to this marriage, Sir Torston. It is her right. Lest you forget, her father accepted your father’s offer knowing full well you were a man of, shall we say, lesser reputation. Lord de Weese was doing you a favor.”
Torston’s eyes narrowed. “Lesser reputation? Be plain, woman.”
“Your bastard son, my lord. Do you forget that the House of de Weese raised him, hiding his true identity from the world?”
Torston’s jaw was ticking furiously. “So you bring the boy into this,” he growled. “I have taken care of him. I have sent money regularly to Elmington House to pay for his food and clothing. It is not as if I dumped him on the House of de Weese and expected them to tend to his every need without compensation.”
“You did not dump him, my lord. But he is your mistake and we graciously covered it up. You are indebted to us because of it.”
Torston’s gaze lingered on the woman a moment before turning away, wandering over to the wall where a collection of spears was neatly arranged. There was also a table that contained parts to repair the spears, like strips of leather and tools. He planted his buttocks on the edge of the table, folding his arms thoughtfully.
“I should have never sent him away,” he said after a moment. “But I was young and foolish. It is something I deeply regret. I should have kept him here with me. How is the lad?”
“He is well. For the time being.”
Torston looked at the woman, puzzled. “For the time being? What does that mean?”
Antonia’s black eyes glittered. “I will be plain, my lord,” she said. “If you seek to break this betrothal, the lad will not survive.”
Shocked, Torston stood up from the table. But the moment he took a step in Antonia’s direction, she held up a swift hand.
“Kill me and those watching over him will kill him for certain,” she said quickly, watching Torston’s features tense with rage. “You see, my lord, we had to anticipate all possible choices in this matter. Given that this has been a nine-year contract, it was quite possible you had no intention of going through with it, so we had to prepare for that possibility. Marry Lilia, as you are supposed to, and your son will remain healthy. But break the contract and you will never see or hear from him again. And you must keep me healthy and solvent because I am the one who controls your son’s minders. They only take their orders from me. Is this in any way unclear?”
It was clear. God help him, it was clear. When she said she’d prepared for all contingencies, she had. She was smarter than he’d given her credit for.
“You bitch,” he finally hissed. “Who are you that you would threaten a child simply to make sure Lilia and I are wed?”
“It
is very important that you marry her. So important that I would kill to ensure it. If you do not believe me, then test me. You will not like the results.”
“If he dies, you die.”
“If I die now, you will never know where he is. His minders are under instructions to kill the lad if they do not hear from me in a fortnight.”
Then he must be close by, Torston thought. She wouldn’t risk her leverage like that. But he didn’t say what he was thinking because he could see that Lady Antonia was not a normal lady. There was something very shrewd and deadly in those black eyes. More than any nurse or guardian he had ever heard of. Finally, he shook his head.
“Does this marriage mean so much to you, then?” he asked in disbelief. “There are thousands of eligible bachelors in England. Why is it so important that Lilia marry me?”
Antonia’s manner didn’t ease. “Because you are a de Royans,” she said simply. “You are from a fine house and it is an excellent match. A prestigious one. Lilia has been counting on this for nine years and I will not see her disappointed.”
That made some sense, but Torston had a hunch that there was more behind it. There seemed to be such desperation in Lady Antonia’s eyes, even more than her determination that Lilia and Torston should wed.
She was shrewd.
But he was shrewder.
Quickly, Torston sized up the situation. Antonia said she was going to send word to his son’s minders in a fortnight. All Torston had to do was agree not to break the betrothal until she sent that message and then follow the messengers to find his son. Once he had the boy, the threat against him would be reason enough to break the betrothal. He was certain the church would side with him in the matter since the House of de Weese was willing to kill a child in order to ensure a marriage happened.
Lady Antonia had just dug her own grave.
Torston could wait her out.
“Very well,” he said after a moment. “I suppose I have no choice in the matter.”
A flash of triumph crossed Antonia’s face. “I am glad you see my point,” she said. “And this also means you will stay away from Alyx de Ameland.”
“She is the daughter of an ally.”
The Centurion Page 27