Chapter Fifty-Seven #4
Relieved beyond words, Dustin simply nodded and rested her head on her hand.
Her daughter was safe and Christopher was coming for her; she should have been thrilled, but she was so spent that she could not manage it.
There was naught to do now but wait for her husband and pray the corpse in the closet wasn’t discovered before he arrived.
“What if John asks for Dennis?” Gabrielle asked, washing her hands in the basin.
Dustin shrugged wearily. “We have not seen him.”
Gabrielle nodded silently, her stomach twisting in knots. She was so terrified she could hardly think, but she would have to trust God that everything would work out as it should. Wooden with shock, she sat next to her friend and the two of them passed the afternoon in stunned silence.
*
Ralph was in fits. He had run from the bailey, through the length of the castle and up a flight of stairs before he allowed himself to slow down and catch his breath. Without a knock, he plunged into John’s chambers.
“There is an army approaching,” he announced severely.
John nearly fell off his chair in haste to rise. “An army? Richard?”
Ralph nearly choked over his words. “They are flying your brother’s banner, as well as de Lohr’s and Burton’s.”
John’s eyes bulged to the point where Ralph thought they might pop from his skull.
“All three?” he gasped. “How on God’s earth is it possible that the three of them are here?
Why, Dustin has only been here a mere three days and it ’twould be impossible for my message to have been received in London, and then have the armies mobilized.
” He was starting to shake, an early sign of the fits he was famous for.
“And it would have been impossible to rouse de Lohr and Burton so quickly. Ralph, I do not understand any of this.”
“Nor do I, sire, but the fact remains that they are here,” Ralph said grimly. “I have sent men in search of le Londe and have already set to mobilizing our troops.”
John, twitching, nodded unsteadily. He had not expected them nearly so soon and was totally unprepared. He thought he had ample time, time to use Lady Dustin, time to control her, time, time, time….
“How far out is the army?” he asked.
“Mayhap four hours, according to our patrol,” Ralph replied, smelling the battle that was to come. “They are moving quickly.”
John’s lip jerked unconsciously; he moved to the window as if he could see the approaching army for himself. His frazzled mind was working furiously, formulating a rapid plan of action.
“I am leaving this place, Ralph,” he said. “I will take Dustin with me.”
Ralph shook his head. “I must disagree with you, sire. She would serve us better here. If you take her, there is a chance that she could be wrested from you in the open. ’Twould be best to keep her at Nottingham.”
John quivered a moment before whirling on Ralph. “Then I take the child.”
Ralph shrugged. “To what avail? I would wager to say that as valuable as the child is to de Lohr, his wife is more valuable.” He was, for once, calmer than his liege. “I would suggest keeping them both here. De Lohr will think twice before destroying Nottingham if we use his family correctly.”
John’s eyes narrowed. “Correctly? What do you mean?”
A smile tugged at Ralph’s thin lips. “Simply tell the man you will kill both the child and his wife if he launches an attack. Put Lady Dustin up on the ramparts with a crossbow to her back so he can see for himself that we mean what we say. I would wager to say that he will reconsider any hostility on that basis.”
“But what of Richard?” John wanted to know. “He wants his property back regardless of what we do with Lady de Lohr. So we kill her? So what? He will surely attack us then.”
Ralph shook his head. “You will have to trust that de Lohr, and Burton for that matter, will convince Richard otherwise,” he said. “How fortunate for us that Richard’s two strongest knights love the same woman.”
John looked dubious. He was more afraid of his brother than de Lohr or Burton, and prayed he was wise enough to use his advantages.
He also prayed that Ralph was right and that Richard would not attack Nottingham if de Lohr and Burton convinced him otherwise.
At any rate, an army was approaching and preparations must be made.
“Find le Londe,” he growled, resuming his twitching and pacing. “The man is in charge of my army, is he not? He had better be on the ramparts or I shall castrate him myself.”
Ralph nodded, feeling amazingly confident in the face of mayhap the greatest army ever assembled. The king, his Defender and the king’s premiere general were bearing down on them, yet he found his apprehension somewhat easing. He knew that he and the prince held the advantage.
“I shall seek Lady de Lohr as well and make sure she is well taken care of,” Ralph said.
“See that you do,” John snapped, his mind moving beyond his prisoner and ahead to more pressing concerns. “But I want her displayed blatantly when the army closes in to avoid an instantaneous attack. When they see her, surely they will stop any advance and give us a chance to press our advantage.”
“As you say, sire,” Ralph replied steadily.
As he marched down the cool corridor toward Lady de Lohr’s rooms, he felt distinctly omnipotent. It was obvious to him who held the true power in England, and it wasn’t the king.