Page 99

Northwood Castle

“I have come looking for my son but I am told he is not here.”

In the lavish keep of Northwood Castle, and specifically in a hall on the entry level of the keep, William was facing a big man who put his arms around him and hugged him tightly.

He’d known the man the better part of his life and several of his children had married several of the man’s children, but when Paris de Norville put his arms around William and hugged him, William simply stood there and didn’t respond.

He was far too angry to do so.

Paris felt the man stiffen up in his arms and he squeezed him tighter for it. The more William resisted, the more Paris squeezed until he ended up squeezing so hard that William grunted.

“Release me, you idiot,” William snapped softly. “I am in no mood for your foolery.”

There wasn’t a day, a time, or a place that Paris couldn’t give in to foolery of any kind. He cupped William’s stern face, looking him in the eye.

“Nay, Tommy is not here, but why take that out on me?” Paris said, his blue eyes twinkling as he dropped his hands. “Is he supposed to be here?”

William sighed heavily, a weary sound. He began to pull off his heavy leather gloves, aiming his body for the nearest bench. He was so weary he had to sit down or fall down. The gloves ended up on the tabletop as he plopped down at the feasting table that stretched nearly the length of the chamber.

“I am too old for this, Paris,” he muttered. “Far too old.”

Paris came around to sit at the end of the table, next to him. “You do look much older than I remember,” Paris said, just to get the dig in considering they were both the same age. “What is the matter with you, William? Why are you here looking for Tommy?”

William rubbed his good eye before looking at the man.

He was still quite handsome at his age, a man who had been blond and fair in his youth, but that blond hair had turned to gray a long time ago and Paris refused to admit it.

He still insisted he had blond hair even though everyone could see he clearly did not.

Such was the proud, arrogant man that William had known all of these years, but Paris was also his dearest friend in the world.

Beneath that vain exterior beat the heart of gold, with the wisdom to match when Paris was feeling particularly cooperative.

At the moment, William desperately needed that cooperation.

“I have trouble,” he muttered. “Bring me food and drink. You and I have much to discuss.”

Paris was usually glib, sometimes inappropriately so, but he could see by the expression on William’s face that something serious had happened, indeed. He sent a servant for refreshments before returning his attention to William. His manner wasn’t so glib as he faced him.

“Tell me what has happened,” he said quietly. “Why do you look so exhausted?”

William groaned in response, leaning forward to wipe his hands over his face. “Northumbria is dead.”

Paris’ eyes widened. That wasn’t something he had been expecting to hear. “Northumbria?” he repeated. “De Vauden is dead?”

“Aye.”

“What in the hell happened?”

William looked at him. “He had departed Wark and was returning to Kyloe Castle when he was set upon by reivers,” he said.

“Edmund was killed in the attack and his body was returned to Wark. Even now, it is in the vault, awaiting return to Kyloe. You know that Tommy is betrothed to the Northumbria heiress.”

“I know.”

“Paris, she is a murderess.”

Paris’ face twisted in shock. “She’s what ?”

William nodded unhappily. “De Vauden has saddled Tommy with a daughter who has murdered the two men she was betrothed to before her betrothal to Tommy,” he said.

“This is all my fault. When Northumbria came to me and wanted to negotiate a marriage between his daughter and my youngest son, I was quite thrilled for Tommy. He will inherit the Northumbria earldom, and you and I both know it is the largest earldom in the north. Of course I took the offer. Why wouldn’t I? ”

Paris was hanging on his every word. “ But ?”

“But I never insisted on meeting the daughter before I agreed,” he said, sounding despondent.

“But I should have. God, I should have. The woman is a nightmare, Paris. She tells Tommy that she is a tempestarii who can control the weather. She cuts her arms and smears her blood on the walls, on her bed, and tells him that it is her blood that controls the weather. She does it every time she wants attention from him and the more she cuts, the more distant he becomes. She is mean and demanding, and certainly not sane. But that is not the worst part.”

Paris was beginning to feel the horror that William was; it was bleeding out of the man, in every direction. “But a murderess , William? Truly?”

William nodded. “Adelaide’s own nurse told Tommy that Adelaide killed the two men she was previously betrothed to,” he said.

“You want to know why I am so exhausted? Because I have just come from Kyloe Castle where I informed the majordomo that Edmund de Vauden is dead and Adelaide is now in control of Northumbria. I spoke to the man privately and when I confronted him about the truth behind the men Adelaide had been betrothed to before Tommy, the man looked as if he’d seen a ghost. He became pasty and pale, and refused to give me a straight answer.

I would have thought that mayhap the old nurse was lying until the very end of the conversation when the majordomo begged me not to repeat what I had heard to Adelaide if I valued Tommy’s life. ”

Paris was staring at him with his mouth hanging open. “My God,” he hissed. “The majordomo was terrified!”

“That is my opinion, as well.”

“He is terrified of Adelaide!”

“I could see it in his eyes.”

Now, Paris was worked up about the situation and Thomas’ fate. “What will you do?” he demanded. “You cannot let Tommy marry this… this killer .”

William eyed him. “Listen to me, Paris,” he said quietly.

“As much as I do not relish the idea of Tommy marrying that woman, we must look at the bigger picture here. If Tommy does not marry her, Edward will surely marry her off to any number of his Savoyard favorites and we will have a French bastard in command of the largest army in the north. If that happens, it throws all of us into jeopardy– our security, our families– everything.”

Paris was looking at him in both understanding and horror, an odd combination. “God,” he breathed. “So you do intend to let Tommy marry her.”

“And then I intend to arrest her for murder,” William hissed, pounding his fist on the table.

“Patrick is the Constable of the North, Paris. Edward himself gave Atty that title and I will arrest Adelaide on their wedding night and throw her in the vault at Berwick. It is an unbreachable jail and with Patrick as her jailor, she will rot there. Consider it justice for those poor men she murdered.”

Paris didn’t like the plans, but he understood them. “Then Tommy is the Earl of Northumbria, unopposed and safe from the murderess.”

“Exactly.”

Parish grunted. “God’s Bones, William,” he muttered. “You were correct when you said you had trouble. And Tommy? How does he feel about all of this?”

A servant approached the table at that point, placing wine, cheese, and fruit in front of William. Neither man spoke until the servant left the hall completely, and when he was gone, William spoke quietly.

“He agrees with me,” he said. “When Tommy marries Adelaide, he becomes the Earl of Northumbria. I believe I may even be able to have the marriage annulled based on Adelaide’s behavior.

I am sure the majordomo isn’t the only one who knows what crimes that woman has committed.

I am sure there are many others who will attest to her evil.

The church will not allow Tommy to remain married to a woman of such wickedness. ”

Paris was struggling to digest everything he’d been told. He watched William drain nearly half of his cup of wine before cutting up the tart, white cheese and feasting on it.

“You are taking quite a chance with your son’s life, William,” he said quietly. “But I understand why you are doing it.”

William glanced at him, mouth full. “And you disagree?”

Paris shook his head. “It is not that,” he said. “I do agree with you completely. If Edward plants a French nobleman as Northumbria, then our lives will be hell.”

William swallowed the bite in his mouth.

“I do not like that Tommy is in the middle of this but, as I said, it was of my own doing,” he said.

“I never met the girl before agreeing to anything and Jordan believes Edmund simply wanted to be rid of his daughter. When he first brought her to Wark, he dumped her off and fled home like a coward. That should have been the first indication that all was not well.”

As William ate, Paris poured himself a measure of the sweet, red wine and took a healthy swallow. “And what does your wife think of your plan to go through with the marriage?” he asked.

William lifted his big shoulders. “She is not happy about it, but she understands,” he said.

“There is no pleasing alternative to this, Paris. Either Tommy marries the witch or one of Edward’s favorites does.

I have not lived all of these years, building an empire, only to see it threatened by a Frenchman. ”

Paris shook his head. “That is a very real possibility if Edward discovers the Northumbria heiress is unwed.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

The weight of the situation was settling on two old knights who had seen much in their lifetime.

Power and politics and battle had always been their stock and trade, so this latest issue was nothing new.

It was simply uglier than most, and the pair had the ability to overlook the emotion in the situation and focus on what needed to be done.

William began cutting up an apple, his thoughts lingering on his missing son.