In all, it made for pleasant feasting with the exception of Gaylord’s mad mother having emerged from her closeted hovel in the entry to create an interruption. The woman’s nightly dance had continued in spite of the strange army at Babylon and Kenton had deliberately forgotten about his intention to remove her, mostly because he was fairly certain such a move would upset Nicola and her sons, and he did not wish to upset them. Therefore, he tolerated the old woman who would emerge from her hole near the mural stairs in the entry, dance around a bit, and then hiss and run back into her closet when she saw all of the men gazing back at her. She was such a regular occurrence that men were starting to place bets as to the exact time she would appear. Betting on the crazy old woman was now a nightly happening.
And this night was no different, although the woman with the wild hair had made a very brief appearance before rushing back into her closet and slamming the door. Kenton and his knights were seated at the end of the big feasting table, enjoying the warmth and food and ignoring the mad woman in the entry.Kenton, in fact, had spent the evening watching Nicola, her three female servants, and several male servants provide food and drink to a room full of soldiers.
In evenings past, she had brought her boys to the table and she would sit with the knights, which made for good company because she was smart and witty and made excellent conversation, but tonight she seemed unable to take the time to sit. With the snow and bad weather, even those men camping in the inner ward had come inside to get out of the cold and the damp. The hall was standing room only.
But Kenton ignored the crowd of men as he continued to watch Nicola as she made sure the servants provided adequately to each table. When she finally came near the big table with a steaming pitcher of hot wine to fill the cups, Kenton reached out and gently grasped her arm.
“Lady Thorne,” he said, relishing the close proximity of her as she leaned over the table to pour wine into Wellesbourne’s cup. “Will you not sit and eat with us this night? Surely you must eat at some point.”
Nicola had spent the entire evening avoiding looking at Kenton; she didn’t want to look into that beautiful face and be reminded of what a fool she had been. She didn’t want to be reminded of how badly her heart hurt. But she also didn’t want him to think anything between them had changed so she forced herself to look at him, smiling weakly.
“I will try,” she said. “There are many men in the hall tonight and the servants are quite busy. They need my guidance.”
“But we need your company,” Kenton said, his eyes glimmering at her. “Will you not sit, even for a moment?”
Nicola very much wanted to refuse him but she steeled herself. If she refused, he might think something was wrong, that she was upset with him, and she didn’t want him to think that. She wanted him to think that everything was still rightbetween them and that his attempts to probe her were still in full swing.
Nay, she wouldn’t give in to the pain she was feeling. Instead, she gazed at the man steadily. She wanted him to believe all was still well and that her heart wasn’t shattered in a million little pieces of pain. But it was difficult, oh so difficult. Everything in her body was screaming with anguish as she looked at the man, wishing he had truly been sincere in his attentions. But he hadn’t been. He’d lied to her. Quietly, she set the pitcher down and sat on the bench next to Kenton.
“There,” she said, forcing a smile. “I suppose I can sit for a moment or two. What great plans do you all have for this evening? Will there be another game of chance that I will be forced to keep my children from? They are very interested in the dice, you know.”
The knights around the table all grinned to varying degrees. “Where are your sons?” Kenton asked. “They are usually here with us, demanding stories.”
Nicola shook her head. “Tab seems to have a bit of the sniffles so I put the lot of them to bed early,” she said, although it wasn’t quite the truth. Tab had a stuffy nose, that was true, but she simply didn’t want the boys to be around the enemy knights any longer.She didn’t want them to be around Kenton any longer.“Once one child becomes ill, it runs through all of them, so I am trying to prevent that.”
Kenton accepted her half-truthful explanation without question. “Tab was very proud of the six fish he caught,” he told her. “Why are they not on the menu?”
Her smile turned real in spite of herself. “They were onhismenu, not yours,” she said. “He wanted to eat his fish so I had the cook prepare them just for him and his brothers. Surely you cannot object to that.”
Kenton shook his head. “Not at all,” he said. “I am glad he was able to eat the fruits of his labor.”
Nicola nodded, still with the smile upon her face, as she thought on how to start the next part of the conversation. She’d spent the entire afternoon planning her vengeance against the man and the commencement of that vengeance had to start with knowing his future plans.
Now, she was the one in control because she was wise to his scheme. Now, she would treat Kenton as he had treated her;as the enemy. All she could think of was defeating him at his own game. He would not get the better of her.
It was time to put her plan into action.
“I do not intend to pry, my lord, but for the sake of the provisions at Babylon, may I ask what your immediate plans are?” she asked politely. “The provisions we have, at least the grain that we have, will last for another month, two at the most, so I must plan what I will need if you and your army plan to remain here for the next few months. Since there are so many mouths to feed, I must plan our needs as far in advance as I can. Would you be kind enough to give me any information to that regard?”
It was a perfectly logical and normal request and Kenton took it as such. Had he suspected what she really had in mind by asking the question, he would have thrown her in the vault and left her there. Truth be told, he also would have been extremely hurt by her actions. Instead, he was oblivious. He reached out for his wine cup and drank of the tart, warm liquid.
“We will be here at least through the summer,” he said. “There is much I need to accomplish in that time.”
Nicola was all innocence as she continued her probing questions. “You have not already accomplished it by gaining Babylon itself?”
He shook his head, casually moving closer to her as he leaned upon the tabletop, his arm against hers as he looked over his shoulder at her. “Babylon was only the beginning,” he told her, his voice lowered. “There is more to do.”
Nicola pretended to look both thoughtful and somewhat distressed. “I see,” she said, having trouble looking into his glittering eyes and not feeling her courage waver. She was still desperately attracted to him. “Will you… will you be leaving, then, to lay more sieges? Will you still return to Babylon after you do?”
By this time, the other knights had turned to their own conversation because Kenton was singularly focused on Lady Thorne and she on him. No one wanted to be part of a two-person conversation that surely didn’t include them. Therefore, no one heard what Kenton was saying to Nicola.
“I will always return to Babylon,” he said softly. “I will always return to you. I thought I made that clear.”
It was like a dagger to her heart to her those words.He is lying to you!Her mind screamed.Do not believe him! Be strong!
“Where will you go?” she asked softly, trying so hard to resist his sweetness without trying to appear that she was. His gaze was trying to suck her in as she desperately resisted. “I only ask because… because if you do not come back, I want to know where to look for you.”
He reached over and gently touched her hand, his flesh against hers, sending bolts of heat shooting through her tender body.