by Jody Hedlund
“The servants are awakening,” he said. “It won’t be long before we’re discovered.”
I sat up and realized that he’d divested himself of his jerkin and covered me with it for warmth. The jacket fell away, and I shuddered at the damp chill that permeated the pantry. His fingers hesitated against the leather. I could see from the anxiety in his expression that he thought it best to put his clothing back on. But when I shivered again, he tucked the jerkin back over my arms.
The voices outside the pantry grew more distinct, and Bennet jumped to his feet just as the door opened. “There they are,” came a shout. Within seconds, the pantry entry and landing were crowded with servants and guards. Behind them, I caught sight of Bennet’s mother and Lady Elaine. I also was surprised to see Grandmother, who leaned heavily upon her maid’s arm.
I tried to scramble up, but my feet caught in my tangled skirt. Bennet caught me, and gently assisted me, steadying me with his hands upon my waist. Of course, it was at that precise moment that Lady Windsor and Grandmother pushed to the front of the crowd.
Although Grandmother was dressed in her traveling clothes, her face was ashen and she coughed into a kerchief. Her runny eyes narrowed on Bennet’s hands upon my waist and then his jerkin clutched over my chest.
“This isn’t what it appears,” Bennet rushed to speak through the descending silence.
“I think this is exactly what it appears,” Grandmother said in her usual clipped tone. “Lady Sabine turned down your offer of marriage yesterday, and so you followed her down here to the pantry and seduced her so that now she’ll have no choice but to marry you or face ruination.”
I gasped at Grandmother’s implications at the same time Bennet’s protests filled the air.
“So you did not follow her down here?” Grandmother asked, and then coughed again.
I glanced at Bennet. How had he known I was in the kitchen? How had he happened to show up at the same time? Unless he was following me . . .
“Yes,” he said, meeting my gaze with a pleading one. “I admit. I did follow Sabine down to the kitchen—”
Lady Elaine’s dramatic gasp at the back of the crowd was followed by murmuring among the gathered servants.
“But,” Bennet rushed to explain, “I only followed her because I wanted to apologize for hurting her feelings earlier.”
“Or to lock her in the pantry with you.” Grandmother’s tone was weak but still blunt.
I could only stare at Bennet, my suspicion growing with each passing second. Had he orchestrated the entire night to his advantage?
As if reading my mind, he shook his head. “You have to believe me, Lady Sabine. I didn’t plan any of this.”
“Then how did you happen to get locked inside?” Grandmother was unrelenting in her inquisition. “Did you perhaps order one of your guards to secretly follow you down and barricade the door behind you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Sometimes desperate people take desperate measures,” Grandmother said. She was clinging to her maid, clearly too weak to be out of bed.
“I’d never do anything that might compromise Lady Sabine’s reputation.” Bennet’s declaration rang with sincerity. “She can attest to the fact that I attempted on more than one occasion to free us from the pantry.”
I removed his jerkin and pushed it against his chest. “You needn’t have resorted to such underhanded measures.”
“I didn’t. You have to believe me—”
“You have left Lady Sabine with no choice now,” Grandmother said. “We shall have to arrange the wedding today.”
“That’s not necessary, Grandmother,” I said. “Nothing happened between us.”
“Even if that is true, your reputation is ruined.” Grandmother’s lips pressed together with a determination I knew couldn’t be swayed. “We would have a difficult time finding anyone else willing to marry you after this.”
I glanced to the crowd watching the proceedings with wide eyes, some filled with accusation and others with mere curiosity. Even if I was innocent, from this day forward people would always question my reputation. They would always wonder what had really happened between Bennet and myself.
Resignation hardened Grandmother’s eyes. I knew what she wasn’t saying. My chances for finding a suitable husband were already severely limited. And now my compromised reputation would make matters worse.
“I don’t need to get married,” I started. Grandmother broke into a cough and hunched for several seconds. Concern pushed me toward her, but she straightened before I could reach her. For the first time, I wondered why we hadn’t moved to a private place to discuss matters. Why were we continuing this conversation so publicly? Unless that was part of the plan to force my hand as well. How could we retract any of our decisions in the midst of so many witnesses?
Grandmother’s fierce gaze bore into Bennet again. “You will do the right thing and marry her today.”
“No, Grandmother—”
“If Lady Sabine will have me,” Bennet interjected, “then I’ll marry her at once.”
I shook my head in protest.
Bennet didn’t give me the chance to speak. “Even though I didn’t mean to harm her reputation this past night, I regret that I have still done so inadvertently. As a result, I have every intention of doing the honorable thing for Lady Sabine by marrying her. I could do nothing less.”
Even if Bennet hadn’t orchestrated our time locked in the pantry, I didn’t want to marry him. I didn’t want to marry someone who was doing so only out of obligation to save his family’s estate or out of honor to save my reputation.
“To prove that I had no intention of trapping Lady Sabine into marriage, I will wed her under one condition.” Bennet’s voice gained strength, and his gaze begged me to believe him. “There must be an agreement that she will retain control over her wealth and lands. I don’t want a single silver piece from her coffers for Maidstone.”
His declaration pushed against me with such force that I sagged against Grandmother. Murmurings arose again from the crowd. His eyes sought mine. “If Lady Sabine agrees to marry me under that one condition, then I would be honored to take her as my bride.”
The earnestness of his tone told me he wasn’t capable of the accusations Grandmother had leveled at him. But if he hadn’t planned the unchaperoned night together, then who had?
“Very well,” Grandmother said. “Lady Sabine accepts your condition.”
Surely Grandmother hadn’t been scheming again. A faint glimmer in her eyes suggested that perhaps she had been and that she’d gotten exactly what she wanted.
“Grandmother,” I started, but an urgent shout in the hallway stopped me.
“Sir Bennet!” A breathless guard pushed his way through the gathering. His eyes were wild and his expression frozen with fear.
Bennet stiffened, and he reached for his sword before realizing it wasn’t there—likely left behind in his chamber.
At the sight of his master, the guard bowed.
“What tidings do you have, my good man?” Bennet asked in calm voice that belied the concern that turned his eyes inky.
“We’re surrounded, sir.” The proclamation drew several sharp exclamations.
Although I didn’t understand the tidings, apparently the soldier’s news wasn’t a surprise to Bennet. “You’re certain?” he asked in the same level tone.
“Aye.” The soldier straightened only to reveal his shaking legs. “The rising sun has revealed an army camped outside the walls of Maidstone.”
I sucked in a breath.
“Perhaps they come in peace?” Bennet asked.
The soldier shook his head. “They’re heavily armed, and they have siege engines.”
I didn’t have to be a soldier to understand what a siege engine meant. Maidstone was under attack.
Chapter
12
BLACK SMOKE FROM BURNING THATCH CHOKED ME AND stung my eyes. It rose in thick billows from a burning ba
le of hay that had been flung into the bailey by Lord Pitt’s siege works outside the castle and had landed upon one of the stables.
Even so, I fought on, my sword connecting with another enemy attacker. On the battlement, the clank of iron against iron ricocheted in the air around me, along with the shouts of the men engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
The fight was a diversion. That I knew well enough. Lord Pitt’s army had erected a scaling ladder with the hope of drawing us away from the portcullis where his battering ram was hard at work. I could feel the outer curtain wall shudder every time the heavy logs made a connection.
Lord Pitt thought he could keep us busy fighting off his men on the battlement so that we wouldn’t have the resources to defend the gatehouse. But he’d underestimated me and my sword skill.
I parried a blow and sliced my opponent in a weak spot at his armpit close to his heart. As the lifeblood oozed from him, he toppled backward and fell into the outer bailey, landing with a definitive thud against the hard-packed earth. If he hadn’t died from the wound I’d inflicted, he’d surely met his death upon impact—hopefully a swift death that would put him out of his misery.
As much as I hated taking a life, I was a battle-hardened soldier. I’d been trained to fight since I’d gone to live with the Duke of Rivenshire. Even so, my gut churned with each of Lord Pitt’s men that plunged to their death at the tip of my sword. The outer bailey was littered with lifeless bodies. If only I’d figured out a way to prevent the siege, then I could have prevented this needless, wasteful loss of life.
Two more of Pitt’s soldiers rushed at me. My breath came in bursts and my muscles screamed in exhaustion, but I readied myself to continue the fight for as long as it took for Lord Pitt to realize he was losing men on both ends of the battle.
I’d only kept a handful of my men to fight with me on the battlements and had dispatched the rest to the gatehouse to rain down arrows, rocks, boiling water, and anything else that could do bodily harm. Lord Pitt’s army wouldn’t breach the walls anytime soon. I wouldn’t relinquish Maidstone that easily. Hopefully he’d learn that today.
As though Lord Pitt had heard my thoughts, the long bray of a trumpet sounded. Within moments, Pitt’s men on the battlements were retreating, their plate armor and boots clanking in their haste. They shoved at each other for the chance to descend the ladder first, especially as my men began to chase after them.
“Let them go,” I ordered. I’d had enough bloodshed for one day. Besides, there was something to be said for showing mercy. One never knew when one might need it in return.
My men reluctantly obeyed, lowering their swords and shouting insults at the enemy. Inside my helmet, my breath echoed from the nonstop exertion, and my body was sticky and hot from the heat of battle. My mouth was parched, and my skin stung with the cuts I’d sustained.
Nevertheless I raised my eyes heavenward and breathed a prayer of gratefulness that we’d survived our first major skirmish. Some might even say we’d won. But deep inside, I suspected that the war had only just begun.
My footsteps echoed loudly in the empty hallway. I knew I ought to stay with Grandmother in her chambers. She was confined to her bed, her cough growing worse by the day. I felt terrible for believing she’d conjured up an illness to prevent us from leaving Maidstone.
The fact that she hadn’t pretended to be sick made me wonder if I’d been wrong to think she’d been behind the plot to lock me in the pantry with Bennet. Perhaps no one was to blame. Perhaps it had merely been an unfortunate accident.
Whatever the case, the conditions within the walls of Maidstone were far too severe to think about an arranged marriage. Bennet was too busy overseeing his soldiers and defending the castle to have time to sleep, much less consider a wedding.
The temporary postponement was just as well. Perhaps in the interim, I’d find a way to release him from his obligation to me. I hated the thought of him agreeing to marry me because he felt he had to. I was surprised by how much I longed for him to desire to be with me simply because he wanted to.
I made my way down the hallway toward the winding tower stairway. The keep was absolutely silent, which made the noises on the outer wall even louder. I could hear the shouts of the fighting men and the crash of large stones flung against the wall from a trebuchet’s long arm and pouch.
Bennet had ordered all the women and children to remain in the keep. Even if the thick, solid walls kept the enemy at bay, there was still the very real possibility of danger from a flying missile, arrow, fireball, or whatever else the enemy lobbed over the castle wall with the catapult.
Even if Bennet had already been storing extra provisions in the event of an attack, we were all very well aware that if the siege lasted too long, we would face starvation. After four days of attack, already our meals were being rationed. I was thankful we had plenty of water from the deep well inside the inner bailey.
Although I wasn’t supposed to leave my room except at mealtime, a strange need had driven me up into one of the keep’s corner towers each day. I’d learned that by ascending to the top, I could climb onto the roof and peek through the narrow crenels in the parapet. From there I could see the entire castle grounds, including both the inner and outer bailey.
I told myself I wasn’t going up to look for Bennet and assure myself of his safety. But every time I ascended, I couldn’t rest, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move until I’d located him among the men on the wall guarding against and fighting away the invaders.
As I turned and started down the hallway that would lead to the west tower door, low, harsh voices stopped me. The conversation emanated from the room Bennet used as a study. Although the door was mostly closed, I could hear clearly enough.
“You can’t go out there,” Bennet was saying. At the sound of his voice, relief surged through me, and I sagged against the wall, pressing a hand against my chest, giving it permission to resume normal pace. He was safe. I could rest easy until my next trip to the tower.
“I’m going,” came another voice, a raspy one. “This is all my fault. And I cannot let it go on any longer.”
It had to be Aldric, Baron of Hampton. Bennet’s ensuing lack of denial spoke louder than words. He blamed Aldric for the attack against Maidstone. But he apparently didn’t want Aldric to join in the fighting.
“I’ll offer myself in a duel to the death,” Aldric spoke again, more firmly.
“Exactly what will that accomplish?” Bennet’s voice held a note of irritation, as though he were speaking to an ignorant child. “You can throw away your life in a duel, but Lord Pitt will still want the silver we owe him.”
“We’ll give him all of the west lands bordering Maidstone up to the river.”
“And then, when we’ve given away our lands, what shall we give all of the other lords who come calling for their payment?”
A groan was followed by the creak of a chair. I peeked through the crack to see a dark-haired man lowering himself into the desk chair. His unkempt appearance was similar to the man I’d seen the first night of my visit—the one Bennet had escorted from the great hall.
“You’re in no condition to fight,” Bennet said after a minute, his voice gentler. “At least not today.”
“I haven’t consumed any beer all week,” Aldric said, “not since the morning the siege began.”
“Then you’re off to a good start.”
“Stop treating me like I’m helpless.”
Bennet was silent again. Finally, I heard him sigh. “Fine. You may come out and tend the wounded. But that’s all for now. Until I have the opportunity to see you in action and evaluate your strength.”
The chair scraped across the floor as Aldric unfolded his hulky body and stood. Although Bennet was tall and strong, Aldric was bulkier and several inches taller. His face was scruffy and unshaven, and his hair was long and in need of a trim.
“You cannot tell me what to do.” Aldric’s voice had a menacing growl. He stood unmoving for a
moment, and then he lunged so suddenly that I jumped.
The move didn’t appear to surprise Bennet. He had his sword unsheathed and braced flat against Aldric’s chest. “I’m in charge of Maidstone now,” Bennet said evenly, in spite of the volatile situation. “I will be the one making the decisions until you prove you’re capable of leading again.”
Aldric’s chest heaved in and out, and I had the impression that he was releasing deep, silent sobs. Bennet lowered his sword and clasped Aldric on the shoulder and pushed him back into his chair. He held him there, waiting, until Aldric’s heavy breathing slowed.
“I’m glad you’re free of the poison of drink, brother,” Bennet said softly. “But the fight is growing more difficult each day. And I don’t want to put you at risk . . . until you’re ready.”
Aldric nodded. “It’s bad, then?”
“At night I can hear them digging a tunnel under the west wall. In spite of what we drop on them—hot oil, boiling water, fireballs—we can’t stop the work.”
“How many days before the wall collapses?”
“Four days, maybe five at most.”
“Then what?”
“We retreat to the inner curtain and see how long we can hold them off there.”
My heart sank at the news. I hadn’t realized, perhaps hadn’t wanted to acknowledge, the truth. This was war. And Grandmother and I were caught in the middle of it.
“Should we surrender first?” Aldric asked through a shaky breath.
“If we do, we risk losing everything.” I could hear what Bennet didn’t say. Not only would they lose Maidstone, but they’d lose all of the treasures housed within. “But if we hold out and fight,” Bennet continued, “then at least we have a chance of keeping what’s ours.”
Again silence settled over the brothers. I leaned against the wall, my mind spinning. I might not be able to take up arms and fight, but certainly my money could help.