Page 52 of Heart of the Hunter (Band of Bastards #3)
“B aron Payne is not as cunning as Earl de Clare,” Hunter reported to Hawk about his information-gathering sojourn to the south. He’d been successful on Hawk’s mission, but he’d not found anything solid to link Payne to the jewelry thefts.
It didn’t matter to Hunter whether he found the evidence or not. The fact that he threatened Anora was all he needed to justify killing the baron. But for Anora, it would give her some sense of peace to know whether or not he was the thief or involved in the robberies.
“Clare has been the most powerful lord of the Welsh Marches since before you sprouted hair on your ballocks,” Hawk said, leaning a hip against the parapet as he scratched his chin.
“He didn’t get there, and stay there for more than two decades, by playing the fool.
As much as I don’t trust the man, I can’t help but admire him. ”
“Aye, he is not to be underestimated, but from what I’m hearing, he is playing a dangerous game, as you suspected.
He is building an alliance among the lords to challenge the king’s power in the Marches.
With the rebellion over and relative peace in the Welshes, they fear they will be relegated to the same position of the lords of the realm and lose their exceptional power. ”
Hawk grunted his agreement. “They are not wrong in their fears. The crown gave the Marcher lords autonomy because it was needed to effectively contain the Welsh borders, but with the rebellion quelled and the Statute of Rhuddlan being enforced as the law of the land, the need is not the same.” Hawk rubbed his knuckles back and forth along his bearded jawline, a sure sign of his tension.
“The king will have no choice but to rein in the privileges of the Marcher lords and Clare knows that.”
“Despite all my contacts having the same information, they are still hearing it from someone else, and none of them were witness to any of the conversations. And I could find nothing in Clare’s chambers to incriminate him,” Hunter said, huffing out a breath of resignation.
“He does not communicate anything via missives and insists on face-to-face meetings for anything of importance.”
“He is a wise old dog who does not leave a trail,” Hawk said with a mirthless chuckle. “What about Payne? Did you find out anything more about him?”
“Payne is a braggart,” Hunter said with disdain.
“He doesn’t know when to keep his mouth closed.
He’s boasting to anyone who will listen about his alignment with Clare and dropping veiled threats about Humphrey de Bohun.
He’s making it clear that he thinks Bohun is losing his hold in the Marches and should be careful if he wants to keep his lordship. ”
Hawk narrowed his eyes, and his face clouded with disgust. “What is he saying of me?”
Hunter did not temper his words. “He says the same of you.”
A heavy sigh of frustration escaped Hawk’s lips. “It is as I expected. He knows I am aligned with Bohun and loyal to King Edward.”
“From what I’ve learned of Payne, if you apply even minimal pressure, he will admit his alliance with Clare to inflate his own ego,” Hunter advised.
“Payne brought a man with him to the bawdy house in Shrewsbury earlier in the summer who fit Clare’s description. It proves nothing, but we know they’ve been meeting.”
Hawk nodded his agreement. “Baron Payne will be here on the morrow. I would ask you to lead an extra patrol to guard over the hamlets and farmsteads tonight. I do not trust Payne will not try to do something he will regret, and I have no desire to be caught with our ballocks in our hands again. I just wish we could catch him in the act.”
“That would solve a lot of problems,” Hunter agreed.
“I would like nothing more than to come upon him with a torch in hand. The king could not naysay a sword through the baron’s belly for burning your farms. Bard said this morning you have ordered the patrols increased for those living outside the village. ”
“And each hamlet is to assign a lookout during the night,” Hawk said.
“Someone who can sound an alarm for the inhabitants. The attackers do not want to be seen or caught, and a handful of farmers wielding hoes and axes is likely to deter them. The cowards prefer to ambush the hamlets when everyone is asleep and defenseless. Locks and barricades do not protect against fire set to the thatch roofs.”
Hunter was silent for a long moment as he stared out over the castle wall watching Anora.
His entire being ached for her. He’d been fool enough to think that because he cherished her happiness above all else that he would be able to stay away from her when this ordeal was over.
He’d planned to step aside and let her find a man worthy of her love.
But after last night, after making love to her and holding her in his arms as she slept, he’d become a selfish bastard because he no longer cared if he wasn’t good enough.
He couldn’t breathe without her. He’d never feared death, and he still didn’t, but for the first time in his life, he would not welcome death.
He’d die to protect Anora, but with his dying breath, his only regret would be that he did not get to have another day with her.
“Did you find anything to connect him to the robberies at Frode’s shop?” Hawk’s question pulled Hunter back into the present.
He shook his head as the bile churned in his stomach. “No sign of the stolen jewels. Only a trail of beaten and battered harlots forced to cater to Payne’s sadistic tastes.”
Hawk nodded. “How long do I have before you take the matter into your hands?”
Hunter looked down from the parapets at a long clearing at the bottom of the valley to where Anora was helping Hawk’s daughters practice shooting arrows at targets of straw.
As long as Anora stayed at Hawkspur, he trusted she would remain safe, but as long as Payne was alive, she would always be in danger. “A sennight.”
“I remind you again that my protection only extends so far with the king. If he is not a direct threat to Hawkspur, the king will have your hide for causing a war over a personal vendetta.”
Hunter grunted his acknowledgment but was not swayed. Anora was not safe as long as Payne was alive.
“The girls are never that interested when I encourage them to practice with the bow,” Hawk lamented to Hunter as he turned the subject to lighter matters.
“How many daughters do you have now?” Hunter asked with a quirk of his lips. He noticed Lady Alyce was standing behind the girls making sure no other children wandered into the area.
“At last count, we have four.”
“And sons?”
“Three,” Hawk said, clapping a hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “But in another month, I suspect we will have more of each.”
“You are very tolerant,” Hunter said, watching Anora as she helped one of the girls nock an arrow and position the bow to shoot.
“Aye, well, we know what it is to be motherless. How am I to say no?”
There was truth in Hawk’s words. The first scraggly hints of a beard had been starting to show on his jaw when he met Hawk, but the man had changed the course of his life, and he would be forever grateful.
Hawk had seen something in Hunter that was redeemable and showed him what it was like to be someone other than a thief and beggar raised in brothel.
“They are fortunate to have a home with you and Lady Alyce,” Hunter said, genuine in his praise.
“Lady Alyce is a kind woman,” Hawk said, his voice gentle. “I did not think to ever be a father, or have a family, but I am glad for it.”
Hunter studied his commander as he watched the women and girls below, their laughter and excited voices floating up on the breeze.
Hawk continued to train and lead an elite force of warriors, though he assigned the duty of leading patrols and missions to his more experienced men, Bard being one of them.
He rarely ventured beyond Hawkspur’s borders save for when required for diplomacy.
He no longer experienced the exhilaration of riding out to face danger, sleeping in the forest under the night sky while not knowing when he would return.
Yet, he seemed contented with this turn in his life.
There were strands of gray visible in his black hair, but his face did not look as haggard as it once had.
Granted, it was a time of relative peace in the Welsh Marchers.
Other than a few flare ups by rebels, the rebellion was over, at least for the time being, and King Edward had turned his attention toward Scotland.
But there were Marcher lords with their own political ambitions and Hawk was constantly trying to discern who were his true allies and who aspired above their stations.
“Do you have any regrets?” Hunter asked the words out of his mouth before he could stop them.
Hawk glanced in Hunter’s direction. “No. It was time to focus my talents elsewhere. I am not as fast as I once was, and it was only a matter of time before I paid dearly for my vanity if I continued. There are days that I am struggling to keep ahead of the more experienced trainees. If I met one of them on a battlefield now, my pride says I could still best them, but the reality is I would leave Lady Alyce a widow again.”
Hunter was shocked by Hawk’s confession, but he understood it well.
He was not as old as his commander, but he felt the toll years of fighting and living hard were taking on his body.
Touching a finger to the scar along the edge of his chin, he thought about his own future, and when he would have to admit he was not as strong or quick as he needed to be.
To be fair, he had taken a blade to the face because he had been caught off guard, distracted with thoughts of Anora years earlier.
It had been his first indication that she was a detriment to him.
“If you are asking about being a husband,” Hawk continued, “I have no regrets on that front either.” He smiled and chuckled low in his chest. “Bard sings of men who fall victim to the wiles of enchanting women and put her above all else. There was a time when I scoffed at such romantic notions.” His gaze dropped as he looked upon his wife standing with his daughters in the field below.
“I would give my life before I would let anyone harm one hair on her head. Hell, if anyone even hurts her feelings it takes everything in me not to rip them from limb to limb.”
Hunter let his own gaze drift to Anora. From her actions, he could see that she was demonstrating to the girls on how to stand properly and take aim.
She released the arrow, and it stuck cleanly into the straw target, just on the edge of the square of cloth attached to the center.
He had no reason to feel a surge of pride in her abilities, but he felt it anyway.
Perhaps what he was mistaking as pride was actually admiration for a woman who refused to be deterred from what she wanted.
She had found her way through sheer determination in a world that did not favor women.
It was how she became a goldsmith and what drove her to right the wrongs committed against her.
He turned his attention back to Hawk. “Does Lady Alyce ever push you to the brink of madness, worrying to the point of distraction when she insists on doing things herself?”
“Almost daily,” Hawk answered with a laugh and clap to Hunter’s back. “But if I quash her fearlessness, then she will not be the woman I fell in love with.”
Hunter shook his head, trying to sound indifferent. “You and Red are better suited to having a wife than I ever will be. I may have to leave women and families to the two of you.”
“As if it is ever a choice, my friend.”