Gaston nodded with some resignation. “I never thought I would see the day where Kenton le Bec would stray from his orders.”
Matthew finished with his boots and stood up. “He has not strayed,” he replied steadily. “He is simply off course a bit. A beautiful woman will do that to a man.”
“Not me.”
“You are not a man.”
Matthew barely dodged the giant fist that came flying out at him. With a grin, he led the way from his chamber as the pair went in search of Kenton le Bec. The man had to be set on course again or bad tidings in the form of Warwick’s wrath could befall him. Matthew and Gaston would try to prevent it if they could.
As the knights passed down the stairs that would take them to the entry level one floor below, they failed to see two little forms tucked back in the alcove that was just outside of Matthew’s door.
Raven and Liesl were hovering there, having heard everything Matthew and Gaston had spoken of. They were young, and naturally curious, and the conversation about le Bec and Lady Thorne did not surprise either of them. Spending as much time as they did around Lady Thorne, they knew she spent a great deal of time with le Bec. And they knew she seemed to like it.
But hearing the knights speak of the attention between Kenton and Nicola, they wondered if they shouldn’t say something to Lady Thorne about it. Perhaps she would want to know that Kenton’s knights were suspicious of their lord’s behavior and that it could cause problems with Warwick. They brought the information to the attention of Janet, who told them to keep their silly mouths closed. It was none of their business, anyway, and if rumors got started, Janet swore she would take a switch to them both.
Therefore, the girls kept their mouths closed, at least to rumors, but when it came to Matthew Wellesbourne, their mouths were anything but closed.
He rather liked it that way.
CHAPTER NINE
“Pull!” Kenton commanded.“If you do not pull, he will get away!”
Teague was trying as hard as he could but the fish seemed stronger than he was. It was only a small pond, one inside the kitchen yard where they kept a supply of fish, but the trout had grown fat in the winter time feeding off of the algae in the pond and they were more than a match for three small boys.
It was cold in the shadow of the keep this day even though the sun was shining and the sky above was a bright blue. The boys were crowded around the pond with a fishing line and hook that Kenton had given them. It all started when Tab told the man one evening over mutton stew that he didn’t know how to fish, nor had he ever been fishing, which prompted Kenton to remedy the situation. Gerik, who could make just about anything, helped Kenton make three fishing lines for the boys to use.
Even now, in the cold of the kitchen yard, Kenton and Gerik were teaching their young captives to fish using the lines. Gone were the days of keeping the boys confined to the fourth floor apartments; that had ended the day Kenton had returned from Manchester with Lady Thorne. The family was allowed free reinabout the castle and Lady Thorne was freely permitted to return to her duties as Lady of Babylon as if she and her family were not prisoners. Much had changed after that day, in fact.
Kenton had changed.
But the knights hadn’t said anything about the obvious change in the man and his attention towards Lady Thorne and her brood. A good example of his change in attitude was the fishing. The Kenton le Bec of old would have never done such a thing and he certainly would not have done it with captive children. But he was doing it now and he had Gerik roped into it. Not that Gerik minded because he could be a rather relaxed character at times. He wasn’t thinking what the other knights were thinking:what has happened to le Bec?But, wisely, no one said a word. No one wanted to enrage le Bec.
As Kenton and Gerik lingered around the edge of the castle pond, supervising, the fishing was going well enough for Tab and Teague but Tiernan hadn’t had a bite since they’d started. The three-year-old was quite frustrated to the point where his mother had to intervene. Bundled up against the cold, Nicola helped Tiernan toss the line and tug on it to lure the fish in. Kenton was helping Tab while the big, bear-like knight was being quite patient with Teague, who became very upset when a fish he thought he caught swam away. He’d tried to pull on it just like Kenton told him to but the fish still escaped. Frustrated, he kept tossing his line into the murky water, hoping to lure it back.
Tiernan, the silent child, was the first one to catch a fish, which utterly discouraged Tab and Teague. Tab was determined not to let his baby brother best him and continued trying very hard while Teague, eventually bored and dejected, left the pond and ran over to the corral where the lambs were huddled with their mothers. He was more interested in playing with a lamb, which he carried out of the corral and ran to show his mother. The little lamb’s legs were dangling as Teague excitedly broughtthe little beast to display to his mother and brothers. When he put the little creature on the ground, the lamb took off running and, delighted, Teague and Tiernan followed. So did Nicola, trying to keep control of her frisky twins.
Now, there was only one child fishing in the murky castle pond but Tab was determined to catch as many fish as he could. He confiscated his brothers’ fishing lines and tried to work all three as Kenton and Gerik helped.
“Pull, lad,” Kenton encouraged Tab again. “But not too hard; you do not want to tear the hook out of his mouth. He’ll get away if you do.”
Tab was biting his lip, concentrating on all three lines. “But he is pulling away from me.”
“Then you must pull harder. Show him that you are in command.”
Tab glanced at the knight even as he started to become entangled in the fishing lines. “He is just a fish,” he said. “He will not know I am in command. He only understands fish things.”
Kenton grinned. “That is true,” he said. “But all creatures understand force. You must show him your force is stronger than his.”
Tab pondered that idea for a moment. “That is what men do, isn’t it?” he asked. “Try to prove their force is stronger than someone else’s?”
Kenton’s smile faded at the simple but true concept of war, and life in general, from the young lad. “That is quite true,” he said. “You are very astute.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means wise.”
Tab liked that thought. He felt complimented, praised even. In fact, this entire afternoon had been filled with something he’d never experienced before– a man taking an interest in him with something as small as fishing. Not even his own father had everdone that. But this big knight, the man who had conquered his castle, was taking a great deal of interest in him and his brothers. That was utterly new in Tab’s world.