He had more respect for the woman than she had ever shown him.
“Come along, le Bec,” Saxilby broke into his thoughts. He knocked on the door and pulled it open when the guards on the other side threw the bolt. “Let us walk this vast complex and speak on things that do not involve warfare. I have a farm outside of Norwich, by the way. I breed war horses. Do you know much of horses?”
Kenton nodded. “I know enough.”
“Then we will talk about horses for the time being,” he said, leading Kenton from the room. “Soon enough St. John will be here and his conversation will not be so pleasant. He will want to know things. You had better prepare yourself.”
Kenton didn’t care about Brome St. John’s arrival. He was only concerned with Nicola’s arrival and why she was coming, what she had to say to him. He was eager to see her but on the other hand, he was wary to see her. God, he should hate her. He should utterly hate her for what she did. But he couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it. Was he too forgiving or was he just foolish? Truthfully, Kenton had no idea. Perhaps he was neither.
Perhaps he was simply in love.
Stupid, but in love.
*
Babylon
Nicola was inthe three small rooms she shared with her family. Her sons, as well as the serving women, were watching her shuttle things from the wardrobe to her bed where she had an open satchel. Conor was watching her, too. Several days after his near-death beating at the hands of Conisbrough soldiers, he was up and moving quite ably. And he never left Nicola’s side, notfor a moment. St. John had permitted it even though he didn’t believe that Conor had been Gaylord’s knight. There was just something about the relationship dynamics between the lady and the knight that were off somehow, leading him to believe that all was not as she was telling him.
Nicola knew this. She could see the doubt in St. John’s eyes when it came to Conor, but to his credit, he never said anything. He permitted Conor to escort Lady Thorne about in a fortress that was full of unfamiliar soldiers. Nicola was grateful for St. John’s generosity and she was further grateful that the man was polite enough to keep her informed about what was happening where it pertained to le Bec and Warwick. He’d sent a missive to Conisbrough several days ago asking for the status of Kenton, and had received word back that Kenton was, in fact, alive and at Conisbrough.
The news had brought tears to Nicola’s eyes although she refused to let anyone see that reports on Kenton le Bec made her emotional, so the tears of relief she had shed for him had been done later in the privacy of her rooms. The realization that Kenton was alive had been overwhelming for her, overwhelming in the sense that she was vastly relieved and deeply happy. But the realization he was also a prisoner frightened her. She was gravely concerned for him. More than anything, she was desperate to see him.
After St. John received the missive informing him that Kenton was, indeed, at Conisbrough, Brome immediately made plans to depart Babylon and return to his garrison. He’d been away from it for weeks now and was anxious to return, which worked in Nicola’s favor since she was eager to go with him. With a schedule that had them departing at dawn the next day for Conisbrough Castle, Nicola spent the evening in her chambers, packing her satchel, while Conor stood at his postby the door and the boys, with too much pent-up energy, were running through the rooms chasing each other.
“But… I do not understand, my lady,” Janet said as she helped Nicola pack. “Why must you go to Conisbrough, too? You are not a prisoner and it is not your home. Why is Sir Brome taking you with him?”
The servants, as well as her sons, were in the dark regarding the reason for her traveling to Conisbrough. Nicola had purposely kept any information of Kenton from them, mostly because she was feeling guilty enough for what she’d done and she also wasn’t one to share her private life with those who served her, so she’d simply kept quiet about it. Her serving women knew enough about her feelings for Kenton, whether or not she wanted them to, and she’d reached the point where she simply didn’t want to speak of him or share anything about him. At least, that had been her mantra for the past several days, ever since they had spoken of the confrontation between Wellesbourne, de Russe, and Kenton regarding Kenton’s failure to comply with Warwick’s orders. Therefore, in the past few fragile days, nothing about Kenton le Bec had been mentioned to either the servants or to the boys. Nicola simply didn’t speak of him at all.
But the same rules didn’t apply to Conor. De Birmingham knew why she was going to Conisbrough because she had kept him apprised of the information St. John was giving her. He was accompanying her to Conisbrough, as she had requested it of St. John, and the man had naturally granted her request. He always granted her request, whether or not he wanted to, and Nicola was fairly certain he didn’t want the big red-haired knight along with them, but he was submissive to the lady’s wishes and Nicola didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it.
Janet’s question hung in the air as Nicola continued packing her satchel, mulling over what to say and how, precisely, toanswer. She’d never admitted to anything between her and Kenton, not ever, and she wasn’t going to start now, which would make explaining away her visit to Conisbrough to see Kenton rather difficult. Still, she had an idea and when the curious silence for her answer became excessive, she spoke.
“I am going to Conisbrough Castle because I have asked to go,” she said. “It would seem that Sir Kenton is a prisoner there and I have a few things I wish to say to him.”
The mention of Kenton being a prisoner brought horror and excitement to the women. “And Sir Matthew, my lady?” Raven gasped eagerly. “Is he a prisoner, too?”
Nicola glanced up at the dark-haired lass. “I do not know,” she said honestly. “I was only told that Sir Kenton was at Conisbrough and it is my intention to speak to him about a few things, not the least of which is the tomb his men smashed in the chapel.”
The servants knew about that but the younger boys did not. Instinctively, Nicola and her serving women looked to Teague and Tiernan to see if either one of them found interest in their mother’s words. But there was no interest. Tiernan was under one of the beds, making a tent with a blanket, and Teague was over next to Conor, putting his wooden soldiers into Conor’s open palm. Seeing that the twins were oblivious, Nicola continued in a softer tone.
“In any case,” she said, shoving the last of her items into the satchel, “I will be at Conisbrough for a few days, mayhap even a few weeks. It will be your task to tend to the children during that time. I will leave them in your care.”
Tab, who was watching his mother seriously, spoke. “I want to go with you, Mam.”
Nicola shook her head. “That is not necessary,” she said. “Sir Conor is going with me. I need you to stay here and protectyour brothers. You are the head of the house and hold now, Tab. Teague and Tiernan are your responsibility until I return.”
Tab frowned, looking over at Conor, who was dutifully holding his hand open while Teague put tiny toy soldiers and little spears into it. “I must go and protect you,” he insisted. “I will go!”
Nicola shook her head patiently, stepping away from the satchel as Janet and Liesl tied it up. “Your brothers need you here,” she said. “I need you here, Tab. If you go with me, I will be terribly worried about your brothers. But if I know you are here watching over them, then they will be safe. That is all I can ask for.”
Tab was very unhappy that his mother was denying his request to go with her. It was more of a demand, anyway, but regardless, she was refusing him. Frustrated, Tab wandered in her direction, brow furrowed, feet shuffling. He kicked at the wooden floor.
“I want to see Sir Kenton, too,” he finally muttered.
Nicola could see that he was disappointed more than anything. She put her hand on his slender shoulder. “I will tell him that you wanted to see him,” she said quietly. “I am sure that will make him happy.”
Tab looked up at her. “Will you ask him when he is coming back?”