“Please, Garren,” she was beginning to cry. “Come with me. Leave them here.”
Garren could feel her fear. “I cannot. Please, go. I beg you.”
Derica would not argue with him, though she desperately wanted to. She looked at the men threatening her husband, hating them with every fiber her small body possessed.
“Then if you are to fight him, allow him to regain his armor,” she said strongly. “You are fully protected and fully armed.There is nothing honorable about fighting a knight without his protection.”
Garren took his eyes off his opponents in an attempt to hush her, but de Claare spoke first.
“The lady knows something of knights,” he said. “Have you, perchance, had much experience with them?”
Torres and a few men surrounding them snickered lewdly. Derica could feel her anger outweighing her fear.
“My father and uncles and brothers are knights,” she growled. “The House of de Rosa is well known for their fighting.”
De Claare’s smile vanished. “De Rosa?” he repeated. “You are of the House of de Rosa?”
“Bertram de Rosa is my father.”
The knight was clearly puzzled. He looked at Garren. “You married into the House of de Rosa?” he asked, incredulous. “Le Mon, could it be that your loyalties have changed?”
“They have not.”
“But you married your enemy’s daughter.”
“I married a woman whom I adore. And our marriage is none of your affair.”
De Claare and his knight were confused. They wanted Garren in the worst way, yet they were unwilling to provoke the wrath of de Rosa. Anyone who supported John Lackland, as Leicester and Norfolk did, knew of the warring de Rosa clan. To attack a member of that clan, even a daughter’s enemy husband, would cause problems and it was a chance de Claare did not want to take.
With a long look, the knights backed away. Sheathing their swords, they quit the inn without another word. Garren stood, sword still in hand, watching the door to make sure they did not return. He was not surprised the de Rosa name had held such weight with them.
“Come on,” Derica said quietly. “Let us return to our room. They will not come back.”
Garren’s eyes lingered on the door a moment longer. When he turned to follow his wife up the stairs, she was already half way to the top. Entering their room on her heels, he closed the door quietly and bolted it, wondering what he was going to say to her in explanation to she had just heard. He prayed that she would understand.
Carefully, he set his weapon against the wall. “Derica,” he began hesitantly. “I know you heard things that might have confused you. I would like to explain, if you would allow me.”
Derica stood by the window, peering through the oilcloth as her husband had done earlier. “I think they have left.” She let the oilcloth fall back and looked at him. “I told you once that it didn’t matter to me if you were a spy or not. It still doesn’t.”
He felt more relief than words could express, but she deserved to know all of it. He sat down on the mattress and motioned her over. When she came close, he pulled her down onto his lap and held her tightly, just for a moment.
“Whether or not it matters, you deserve to know all of it,” he said quietly. “Few people know what I am about to tell you, simply because my life would be in jeopardy if the truth were widely known. But as my wife, it is your right.”
Derica curled up on his lap. “Is it awful?”
“That depends.”
“Was my father right about you being a spy, then? Did I unwittingly lie for you?”
He paused. “Aye.”
Surprisingly, she wasn’t upset by the knowledge. He was being honest with her, for better or for worse.
“I have been in Richard’s service for many years,” he said. “In my younger days, I fought for him in France as well as in England. I fought for him against his father, against hisbrothers, and in support of both his father and his brothers. Sometimes royal families have a strange sense of loyalty.”
“Go on.”
“Some time ago, I went into the service of William Marshal. William is not only Richard’s chancellor, he is his most ardent supporter. In doing so, he retains experienced knights like me for tasks he considers vital to Richard’s rule.”