St. John wasn’t in the mood for a polite conversation. He was still lingering on the missive from Warwick and his sister’s predicament, but he remained courteous to Nicola as she all but barged into their conversation.
“Indeed I do, my lady,” he said. “There are unscrupulous people in this world that one must fight against.”
Nicola nodded, pleased he was agreeing with her, but she couldn’t help notice the parchment in his hand. He seemed to be gripping it rather tightly. She pointed to it.
“A missive has come?” she asked. “Could it be about Sir Kenton?”
St. John’s head snapped to her, startled by the question. “Why would you ask that?”
She shrugged. “Because you mentioned to me that, eventually, you would be turning le Bec over to Edward,” she said. “Has any progress been made on that subject?”
St. John looked at the parchment in his hand. He was still reeling from it, still feeling quite shaken by the entire thing. Without his usual control, now weakened by his emotions, he shook his head before he could stop himself.
“No progress as of yet,” he muttered. “We may have an obstacle to overcome first.”
Nicola was genuinely curious. “What obstacle would that be?”
St. John glanced at Saxilby, who vaguely shook his head, indicating he should not speak on the contents of the missive to the lady. It didn’t involve her, anyway, and would more than likely only upset her. But St. John was feeling emotional, and angry, and was unable to hold back his disgust.
“It would seem that Warwick has discovered that le Bec is my prisoner,” he said bitterly. “Somehow, he knows and he has done something unspeakable because of it.”
Nicola was deeply concerned. “What did he do?” she asked, gasping.
St. John turned away from her, looking at the missive in his hand before tossing it onto the nearest table. “He abducted my sister and has now proposed a trade,” he said. “My sister for le Bec. He says that if I do not agree to the trade, he will send my sister back to me in pieces. In fact, I should send le Bec back to him in pieces for what he has done. No man will give me an ultimatum such as that.”
Nicola was genuinely shocked at what she was hearing. “Warwick has your sister?” she repeated, aghast. “That is the most terrible thing I have ever heard. How in the world did he find her? How did he even know you had a sister?”
St. John was quickly becoming distraught again. “I do not know,” he said. “That is what Lord Saxilby and I were discussing when you entered the room.”
Nicola looked to Saxilby, who seemed rather perturbed that St. John had told her of his troubles. He wouldn’t look at Nicola at all. He simply turned his back on them both and went to sit on a chair near the hearth. Nicola watched the man as he seated himself, seemingly ignoring the others in the room. She returned her attention to St. John.
“What are you going to do?” she asked Brome. “Surely you cannot let Warwick harm your sister.”
St. John shrugged, clearly despondent. “I cannot give him le Bec,” he said. “Edward already knows we have him. He is expecting le Bec to be delivered to him.”
It didn’t take Nicola much more prompting to realize two things– that St. John was in a talking mood and that they had drifted onto the subject of Kenton being given over to Edward.She capitalized on it as quickly as she could because this was the information she had wanted all along, the information Kenton wanted to know. It was information Warwick would want to know. Going over to St. John, she put a comforting hand on the man’s shoulder.
“I am so terribly sorry,” she said sincerely. “But when do you plan on moving le Bec? Is there some way that you could put Warwick off?”
St. John shook his head but he was, not strangely, comforted by Lady Thorne’s concerned touch. “I am not sure how it could be done,” he said. “It was my intention to send le Bec to him in a few days, as Edward is moving south through Yorkshire as we speak.”
Nicola looked surprised. “Edward is in Yorkshire?”
St. John nodded. “Aye,” he replied. “He has been for some time. He is gathering men to march on London and we have been told he is moving south and will be at Doncaster by early next week. That is where I plan to meet up with him and deliver le Bec.”
Nicola hadn’t heard any of this. It was true that Babylon was her world and she only functioned within that world without being particularly knowledgeable on the current plans of movements of Edward, but with Edward in the north, he was much closer to Kenton than she could have imagined. The news that he was to be turned over to Edward in a few days in Doncaster was horrifying. Nicola wasn’t entirely sure she could send word to Warwick in time and once Kenton was with Edward, the chances of his escape would be greatly diminished. He would be at the mercy of Edward entirely. Terrified, her heart began to race.
“And… and Edward knows you have le Bec?” she asked. “You have already sent him word?”
St. John nodded. “I sent Edward a missive when I was first told le Bec had been captured at Manchester,” he said. “We knew Edward was in Yorkshire, and the general area, so the messenger went to find him. The same messenger returned a short time ago and was able to deliver the message to Edward personally. That is how we know Edward will be in Doncaster by next week.”
So now it was all explained. Missives had been flying back and forth, missives of Kenton and Manchester and probably Babylon. Missives were flying everywhere, discussing Edward, and Kenton, and Nicola had known nothing about them. Not that she made it her business to know everyone else’s business, but still, much had happened that she had not been aware of. Edward probably knew everything about what had happened with Babylon and with Manchester.
Secrets, and battles, had been revealed.
Oh, God,Nicola thought as she lifted her hand from St. John’s shoulder and began to pace away.What now? What do I do?Quickly, oh so quickly, she began to think of a way to salvage the situation, to send word to Warwick quickly enough. She didn’t have time to go back to Kenton and ask his advice on the matter so she had to think on this one all on her own. She knew she had to get word to Warwick and get it to him quickly; that much was imperative. Edward knew about Kenton and, already, his delivery to Edward had been planned.
“So we must save your sister before next week,” she said, pretending to be very concerned for St. John’s sister when, in fact, it was only Kenton she was concerned for. “I… I have an idea that you may not like but it may be the only thing we can do to save your sister. It would seem to me that if you cannot, or will not, exchange Kenton for your sister, then mayhap we must give Warwick something that is equally attractive.”