“Kestrel.” He moved closer to her and leaned in. “Please understand how fantastic your story is. Believable as you make it sound, ’tis impossible.”
“No. It’s not impossible because here I am. I was almost six hundred years away and then I was here in a moment, in the middle of a bloody fight. How do you think I got here, Nicholas? You were staring right at me. Where did you see me come from?”
“A trick of the light.”
She sighed. “You’re not a stupid man.”
“My thanks.”
“You’re afraid, I under—”
He laughed, but he was insulted. “What am I afraid of? The future?”
She shook her head. “That people will think you’ve aided a witch.”
He stopped laughing. “I could lose the castle, my rank, and mayhap some other people who live here.”
She covered her mouth with her hand. “I understand. I will be extra careful. I wouldn’t want to cause anyone harm.”
“Aye,” he said softly, “You seem to have a very kind heart.”
Her eyes seemed to grow rounder, bluer. “You have been very kind to me also.”
“So then you don’t mind being tossed over my shoulder?” he asked playfully—but his low, deep voice was evidence that she made him burn everywhere, especially in his belly.
“I mind it so much that if you ever do it again, I’ll run a dagger through your heart while you sleep.”
He felt his heart pumping. He heard it, loud, strong. He liked that she did this to him. His mouth hooked into a half-smile. “How will you get to me in my bed while I sleep?”
Instead of answering him, she looked into his eyes with a teasing glint of her own. “You might discover the answer to that if you’re not careful.”
He lifted his brow and let out a little laugh. “You tempt me to haul you over my shoulder and take you to your room.”
“You had better lock me in if you do.”
He laughed. He actually tossed back his head and laughed. He hadn’t done so since the night before he rode to the Tower to find the boys gone.
“May I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“What’s with you and Reg? He’s your cousin, right? You let him and his family plus one, live here. I know he’s a snarky little creep, but he really irks you. Why?”
His laughter faded. What could he say about his cousin? “His father was my only living relative after the attack. Reg was five and the master of his house. He was a jealous child and made my life miserable when I had to visit his family. When the king gets here, you will see Reginald de Marre disappear up the shoot of Richard’s arse. He’ll go quickly, so be watchful.”
“If Reg was up King Edward’s arse, would you mind?”
Nicholas gave her a scowl. She knew the correct questions to ask. “No.”
She looked around his library and leaned in to whisper, “What did Richard do that you hold such strong feelings toward him?”
He sat up straighter and looked into the flames. He’d never spoken of it to anyone else. He wanted to tell her. “Edward had many children, mostly girls, one of whom is favored by Henry Tudor. His only two sons, Edward V and young Richard of Shrewsbury, aged thirteen and not yet ten, were very dear to me. Whenever I was home, I spent most of my time with them. I loved the girls as well. But I hardly saw them. My only consolation when Edward died was that his son would reign in his place.”
The fire crackled and he blinked.
“Go on,” she urged softly.
“Richard had them put in the Tower to study all the formalities of the coronation, which was to take place. I had been home twice in the months the boys were there. They had not been happy but they knew their duties and they did what their uncle, Richard, told them to do. None of us knew how hard at work he was at having Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville declared bigamous and thereby having Edward’s children declared illegitimate. Edward loyalists rose up in the streets against Richard. He had stolen the crown from young Edward. He had been named the princes’ Protector and if what he had done wasn’t bad enough…” He stopped to run both his palms over his face. “I went to visit them just a few hours after the declaration and they were already gone. They have never been found. I fear they are dead, and that their Protector is responsible, but I have no proof.”