Lion Heart

by A. C. Gaughen

  His eyebrows lifted. “You’re talking different.”

  I tightened my arms round myself. “It wasn’t like I didn’t know how to talk before. Eleanor made me practice—but that’s a later part.”

  He nodded, waiting for me to continue.

  “He moved me round, and then one night he told my guards to kill me. One tried, and David killed him to save me.”

  “David was one of your captors,” he said dark.

  I nodded. “But before he tried to kill me, Prince John said Richard wasn’t coming back.”

  “Which is the only way he’d try such a thing,” Rob said, cutting the pork hard. “Coward.”

  “I had to tell Eleanor,” I told him. He nodded. “It took a few days to send word to her, but she met me at Winchester—”

  “Winchester?” he asked. “You were with de Quincy?”

  I nodded. “He did me a great service, sheltering me until the queen came.”

  He frowned. “Go on.”

  My eyes dropped. “From there, I went to Bristol,” I said soft.

  “Bristol?”

  I nodded.

  “What was in Bristol?”

  I looked up at him, swallowing hard. “A ship. Bound for Ireland.”

  He stopped cutting, looking at the food.

  My mouth were dry. “I thought—I thought maybe running from Prince John would keep you safe. Would keep me safe,” I said, and he looked at me, his eyes hot and full of things I didn’t know to name. “I thought I could leave, Rob, I thought I could forget you, and forget the person I’ve become because of you. I thought—I thought so many things.”

  His throat worked.

  There were water filling in my eyes. “I couldn’t,” I told him. “I heard Eleanor were in trouble—was in trouble—and I knew I couldn’t leave. Leaving doesn’t keep you safe. Leaving doesn’t do anything but keep us apart,” I told him. “I know that—” I kept on, but he stopped me, tugging me into his arms. Slow and careful, he pushed the hair off my face and tipped my mouth up to kiss him.

  I closed my eyes and the water fell, but it didn’t matter, not when I were hidden in Rob’s love.

  “My lord Sheriff, step away,” I heard, and Rob’s mouth left mine so that we could both turn and see David, his sword half-drawn.

  Rob glared at him. “Sir?” he asked.

  “David, what are you doing?” I demanded.

  “My lady, I cannot allow him to dishonor you in such a way! The queen mother—the king!—would demand my life for less.”

  There were giggles around us, but David were fair serious.

  “He may already demand your life for keeping his daughter captive,” Rob snapped.

  David’s face went pale, but he didn’t move or relent.

  “She is—” he started, and my eyes went wide. “A lady of the court,” he finished, nodding a touch to me. “The daughter of a king. You will not put your hands on her in such a manner.”

  Rob let me go, but he were still glaring at David. “She’s my betrothed, sir.”

  “I am?” I asked.

  “Then you should be more mindful of her reputation.”

  Rob crossed his arms.

  “Oh, for Heaven’s sake, what reputation do I have left?” I asked them. “I fell to my knees in the house of God covered with the blood of several men, and yet I’m not meant to kiss the man I have always loved?” I demanded.

  Rob looked at me. “When did that happen?” he asked, turning to me—but still keeping his big, strong arms that I very much liked crossed round me crossed over his chest.

  David sheathed his sword in full. “When the queen mother was attacked,” he said. “My lady defended her valiantly.”

  And then I found I were Lady Huntingdon, I tried in my head. It were the most important thing to tell him.

  “Was that part of Prince John’s plot against Richard—to steal the ransom money? I can’t believe he’d attack his own mother—though I suppose that would put suspicion off him.”

  I shook my head. “No—they were vagabonds seizing an opportunity. Well, I believe so, at least. I believe Prince John will steal the money, but he’ll wait until it has all been gathered. He can’t do much without a very expensive army.”

  Rob glanced at me. “And the nobles. His only power is that which they grant him.”

  My mouth opened to tell him I were one of those nobles, more than he knew, but I said, “And then we made our way up here. And he—he found me in Oxford,” I told him soft, looking round to make sure there weren’t others listening to me.

  “Prince John?” he asked, leaning to me.

  I nodded.

  His hand gripped the cutting knife. “What did he do?”

  I shook my head, putting my hand on his. “Nothing, Rob.”

  Rob looked at David. “He wanted to hurt her,” David said grave. “But no one would watch him do it. And she herself turned him away.”

  The tears were in my eyes again. “Which is why he came here,” I whispered. “He must have left me and come straight to do this. To kill you. To kill our people.”

  He looked full at me. “He didn’t get me, Scarlet. And this wasn’t something he did because of you. He did it because he’s a vindictive, evil man. It wasn’t something you could have stopped, my love. Not ever.”

  My shoulders raised up. “Your turn,” I told him. “Tell me what’s happened here since I left.”

  He nodded, but looked at the food. “Come,” he said. “Let’s get everyone fed, and maybe we can steal a moment to speak.” He glanced at David. “Alone.”

  David frowned.

  CHAPTER

  Rob and I worked with the rest of the people of Nottinghamshire until well after dark. Within a few hours we weren’t finding any more bodies, which were a relief.

  Rob opened the castle to anyone without a home to return to, and we brought as many blankets and pallets as could be found and stuffed to the Great Hall, feeding everyone what we could. It were strange listening to Rob give orders. He’d grown comfortable as the sheriff. He were born to it.

  And I didn’t tell him that those orders were now mine to give. I liked listening to him do it, confident in himself and his role.

  I were sitting with Bess and some girl she knew, playing with the other woman’s daughter, a sure-footed tot named Molly. The girl stomped around us with glee, reveling in her newfound ability to walk, and Bess tensed, hissing breath out over her teeth.

  “Bess?” I asked, lurching forward.

  The pain passed, and she laughed. “Just a rather hard kick,” she said. “I swear, he’s stronger than his father.”

  “He?” I asked.

  Her shoulders lifted. “I don’t really know. Some days all I wish for is a little boy, with John’s eyes and shoulders, and every day he grows, it will be a little less like John died,” she said, her voice hushing on the last word. “Then other days, that sounds like torture. And I hope for a girl.”

  Her friend squeezed her hand.

  “Much wants a girl,” she said, sniffing. “He’ll be thrilled, either way, but he wants a girl. Some days—I know he looks at you lot, and wonders how he can be a good enough man if he’s not like John, or Robin Hood. And that’s not fair,” she said, wiping a sudden tear from her eye. “It’s not. He’s a wonderful man all on his own.”

  I nodded. “He is.”

  She nodded hard. “Good. You tell him that, will you? He loves you.”

  “I will,” I promised. “Come—you should rest, and I won’t let you sleep on the floor in your state.”

  She nodded again, wiping away more tears, and her friend and I both conspired to pull her up gentle. I went and found an empty room—though a boy came in and I kicked him out, so maybe the chamber hadn’t been very empty—and even with my awkward hands, I untied her dress and served as her maid to change her for bed.

  “Thank you,” she said when I were done.

  I nodded, my mouth opening. I frowned, not sure how to say the w
ords. “I’m sorry, Bess,” I managed. “I’m so sorry. I got him killed.”

  Her shoulders jumped a little. “On my worst days, Scarlet, I blamed you. And Robin, and Much. Everyone there. But it’s not your fault. Prince John killed him. That’s all.” Some pain came to her again, and I eased her onto the bed. “I’m just lucky he didn’t take Much this time around. It was him that burned the city, wasn’t it?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “I doubt we’ll be able to prove that, but I know it was.”

  “That’s what I thought. So now . . . now I just pray he won’t have the chance to hurt my baby, Scar.”

  Unsure, I touched my fingertips to her belly, and she pressed them there. I felt something move, and I shut my eyes. “No one will hurt that baby, Bess. I promise.”

  Tears leaked out the side of her eyes. “Is that a promise you can keep?” she whispered.

  I nodded. “Yes.” I tried to smile. “If nothing else, John will haunt me all my days if I don’t.”

  She gave a tiny half laugh and nodded. “Will you tell Much where I am?” she asked.

  “I will,” I said.

  She relaxed onto the pillow, as much as she could in such a state, and I left her, closing my eyes. God, I prayed that were a promise I could keep.

  I found Much and told him, and he quit the hall in a breath, telling me Rob had gone down to the treasury. Smiling after him, I went down there. It weren’t much—just a heavily locked room deep in the rock the castle had been built on. But the door were in splinters on the ground and the room were empty, not including Rob, sitting in a chair. The other chair and the table were broken too.

  He had a coin in his hand, and he were staring at it, looking just as broken as the table.

  “Rob?” I called.

  He looked up. He drew a deep breath and held up the coin. “All that’s left,” he said. “All the county’s money. All the tax for the ransom. This is it.” He flipped it and caught it. “You asked me what’s happened here since you left, and it has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Being the sheriff, imposing a tax that breaks my people even though I want my king home more than most—these months have been brutal. I’ve never felt so responsible, so aware of the sacrifice I’m asking them to make. And while I was trying to keep everyone alive, they came and stole our money. The people will be dead anyway, and I’m just a fool.”

  “You’re not a fool, Rob.”

  He shook his head, looking down, leaning over his knees. He were broken. “It doesn’t matter if I am or I’m not; the people don’t have the money left. They’ll starve as it is.” He held up the coin again. “This is all that stands between us and Prince John, Scarlet. Our overlord just stole our damn money so he can beat us within an inch of our lives.”

  “Not our overlord,” I told him, looking at the splinters on the floor.

  “What did you say?” he asked.

  “Prince John isn’t our overlord anymore,” I told him.

  I looked up at him. Our eyes met, and held, and I didn’t know if I could say the words.

  “I am. I’m the Lady—” I faltered, looking down again. “Of Huntingdon.”

  “But you can’t be,” he said, and he sounded so confused it hurt. “Richard would have had to . . .” He trailed off, and I looked up, still hugged against the door, nervous to come into the room full. “And Eleanor would have asked him to do it the moment Prince John imprisoned you. Hell, she probably wrote to him from Nottingham.”

  “Rob,” I said, coming forward.

  He stood up before I got to him, and picked up the chair he’d sat on and heaved it against the wall, shattering it.

  I jumped back. “Rob!” I yelled.

  “Dammit, Scarlet!” Rob yelled back. “All this does is place you squarely in his sights. Now you’re the one who won’t pay the tax. You think he won’t bury you for that?”

  “I think he will try to kill me just about every which way he can,” I snapped back at him. “With or without a title. The only thing it changes is that maybe, if we have enough alliances, we can stop him. We can be more powerful than he is.”

  His jaw worked, muscles twisting and bumping out, and he shook his head. He walked close to me, and I watched him, wary. He touched my cheek, and his lips pressed against mine, almost dry. I tilted my head, and he kissed me better, deeper, but he didn’t touch me anywhere else. I raised my arms to put them around him, but he broke the kiss and stepped away from me. “Good night, Scar.”

  Frowning, I watched him walk away from me.

  I went to the Great Hall to sleep with the others, but Rob weren’t there, and it weren’t easy. Everywhere around me, I saw the death and pain that had brought us to this point.

  I saw Ravenna, soaked in her own blood on the dais. I saw Rob in a gibbet. I saw Gisbourne and Prince John and the ridiculous excess of the feasts at Christmas that led these people to starvation now.

  It were the dead of the night when I woke up, going out to the courtyard. It were a warm spring night with bare any breeze, and I crossed the way, going to the spot by the bailey that I remembered too well.

  Someone had pried up the rocks that had been darkened with blood, and now the rocks there were too bright, a pale gray compared to the darker ones around them. Mismatched.

  I stood there, looking at the place where John had died, until my legs started to sway, and I went back inside to sleep until the sun rose.

  “My lady,” David called, shaking my shoulder. “My lady?”

  Allan started playing some music damn close to my ear, and I frowned, opening my eyes. “Christ, Allan, stop that,” I snapped, putting my hands on the strings. I glanced around at the other, still-sleeping forms on the floor. “People are trying to sleep.”

  “My lady, the Earl of Winchester is here,” David told me. “We thought you should greet him.”

  “David thought,” Allan corrected.

  “Yes, no one would accuse you of thinking, would they?” David drawled.

  I sat up. “Very well. Where’s Rob?”

  “Just left for the gates. He didn’t want us to wake you.”

  I frowned at that, and stood.

  Running quick for the city gates, I caught up with Rob as Winchester and a small company of knights came through. He and Winchester shook hands, and they both stared at each other with solemn faces. He turned, and I saw Essex behind him.

  Christ. It were like three men all practicing how to scowl together.

  Coming closer, I tried to straighten myself. I were still dressed like a man, not quite looking the lady. For Winchester and Rob I didn’t think it mattered much, but I were still fair sure Essex didn’t like me.

  “Your Grace,” Essex said, sighting me first and bowing. Winchester followed suit, and Rob looked at me like he didn’t know me anymore. After a moment, he bowed too, and it stung.

  “My lords,” I said, dipping to them, which I’m sure looked fair foolish in breeches.

  “We couldn’t spare many men from the queen,” Winchester said, looking between me and Rob, “but I brought what I could. And Essex volunteered to help.” Winchester clapped Essex on the shoulder, and Essex looked stern at this.

  “I wrote to Winchester for aid,” Rob explained. His throat worked. “After they burned the city. Before . . . everything.”

  Winchester’s eyes darted between us. “And we have knights to help you recover. As I said, not many, but surely any hands will help.”

  Rob’s mouth tightened, and he looked at me.

  Because I were the noble now. I were the one in power, not him. “Thank you,” I told them. “Any help is needed. I’m still waiting for the Nottinghamshire knights to return from the prince’s company.”

  Winchester grimaced. “That won’t go over well.”

  I lifted my shoulders. “Little does.”

  “I was sorry to see you leave Oxford so quickly,” Essex said to me. “I hope your wound is much improved.”

  Rob’s eyes cut sharp to me at this, a
nd he crossed his arms.

  “Yes,” I said flat. “Thank you. Come along, we will feed you and get to work,” I said.

  They nodded, leading their men into Nottingham. I went toward Rob, but he turned to Essex and began speaking with him.

  Winchester offered me his arm with a gentle smile. “My lady,” he said, dashing his head.

  I took it, though I felt silly. “Your aid is very much appreciated,” I told him.

  He shook his head as we started to walk up to the castle. “Think nothing of it,” he told me. He lifted a shoulder. “Besides, the queen told me to alert you that she will come as soon as she can. I figured it was an excellent way for me to see Margaret again.”

  This made me smile. “Why haven’t you married her already? You’re an earl; surely her father would agree. And you both are absolutely terrible at hiding it.”

  He grinned like a child. “I know. She has asked me not to ask for her hand until her brother returns from war. She believes—correctly, as I understand it—that her father would certainly agree, and press for a quick marriage as well. She doesn’t want to be married without her brother, if she can avoid it. And I confess, I would do just about anything she asks.”

  I looked at Rob. “You’re a very good man, Winchester.”

  He smiled at me, but we began walking through the worst of the city, and his smile left him. “This is Prince John’s handiwork?” he asked.

  “Not that he will admit it, but yes.”

  His throat worked, and we were quiet for the rest of the walk.

  CHAPTER

  That afternoon, the knights were making fast work in the city, and Winchester, Rob, Much, and I talked about what to do about the tax.

  “We can’t tell them,” Much said. “It will break the people after all that they’ve lost.”

  “They won’t be surprised,” Rob said. “We had barely a quarter of the amount we were called for. But that’s all the people had, and now that’s gone too.”