Chapter One #2
Summer smoothed out the yellow silk casually. “I saw de Reyne banners in the bailey a few minutes ago.”
Wynter didn’t react. She simply looked at her sister as the woman’s words sank in. Then she let out a shriek of excitement and grabbed for the yellow silk that looked so good against her pale skin and dark red hair. She snatched it right out of Summer’s hands.
“Why did you not tell me this sooner?” she demanded.
Summer grinned. “Because we were busy with your performance,” she said. “I would not dare interrupt Abraham and Isaac.”
That was true. Interrupting one of Wynter’s plays was a mortal offense according to Wynter, so she tried not to appear too annoyed. “But you did see them?”
“I did.”
Wynter shook out the silk. “Then I must dress quickly and go down to greet my guests.”
Summer laughed softly as she collected the soft, white sheath that went underneath the surcoat. “Guests?” she said. “Or guest?”
Wynter tried to look coy but couldn’t quite manage it. As she and Summer broke down into laughter, Autumn went in search of ribbons and pins for her sister’s hair.
“Hurry,” the young girl said. “We must help Wynnie dress before Spring can get to Gage first. You know what will happen then.”
Summer nodded firmly as Wynter began to strip down. “Pain and agony for Spring,” she said. “In fact, I will go and find her to make sure she does not try to corner Gage’s attention.”
Wynter was untying her shift so quickly that she was snagging the ties. “If I see Spring anywhere near him, I’ll…”
Summer waved her off. “I know,” she said. “Spring would do it just to spite you and then cry to Mother because you threatened her.”
Ties released, Wynter yanked the worn shift over her head. “I’ll do more than threaten her,” she said. “I’ll tie her up and leave her for the wolves.”
“Would you really?” Autumn asked, concerned.
Wynter’s pale brown eyes were glimmering with mirth at her baby sister. “Nay,” she said. “Well, not too much. Just a little. Enough so that they chewed her fingers off.”
Summer fled the chamber, a grin on her face, leaving Autumn to help Wynter dress on this most important occasion.
Her job, at the moment, was to prevent the former angel of the Lord from trying to charm the object of Wynter’s affections.
In the competition between Wynter and Spring, such things happened all of the time and Wynter always came out on top.
But that didn’t stop Spring from trying.
Perhaps Wynter really wouldn’t tie her up and leave her for the wolves, but Spring’s fate would be horrific, indeed.
Summer felt it her duty to warn her.
*
“I find that quite… shocking,” John said, a rather stunned expression on his face. “Are you certain of this?”
Boothe was in Ashington’s resplendent solar, one of many chambers at Ashleven Castle that displayed the wealth of the Earldom of Ashington.
This room, in particular, had exotic furs on the floor and expensive tapestries on the wall.
In the center of the room was an oak table, crafted in Milan, which had gold inlayed in the wood.
It was quite magnificent and Boothe had always been impressed with Ashington’s wealth.
The man had been a fine ally of Hart de Reyne.
Boothe was here to ensure that alliance continued.
“Unfortunately, I am,” he said, sounding sorrowful. “My brother… well, I should not like to speak ill of him because he is my dear brother, but the truth is that he tried to take everything from me. I had no choice, my lord. I was forced to banish him.”
John sat next to that golden-streaked table, seemingly baffled. “But that does not sound like Gage at all,” he said. “He has always been the most noble of men. What, exactly, did he do?”
Boothe cleared his throat softly, making a good show of being in distress. “As I said, I do not wish to speak ill of my brother, but…”
“You are the one who has made such allegations against him. I want to know the truth.”
Boothe sensed doubt in that statement, which wasn’t what he wanted. He knew that here, at Ashleven in particular, Gage was well regarded. The earl was fond of him and the man’s eldest daughter had been known to fawn over him.
If he could only get Ashington on his side…
“As you know, my brother was well liked by my army,” he said. “In fact, they were far more willing to follow him than follow me. I was in the stable the other evening and Gage managed to convince some of those most loyal to him to ambush me. It was a difficult fight, but I triumphed in the end.”
John regarded him a moment. “And then you exiled him?”
“Of course.”
“What of the men who helped him?”
“They are being punished,” Boothe said vaguely.
“I suppose I wanted to tell you in case Gage came to Ashleven with lies of what happened at Septentrion. I had no choice but to send him away because he tried to kill me and steal my inheritance. Do not think it gives me any great pleasure to tell you this, my lord. I am greatly troubled by it.”
John was still looking at him with an expression that bordered on suspicion. “Where is de Becque?”
“He sided with Gage.”
“He is gone, too?”
Boothe nodded sadly. “I have lost both my brother and my father’s most cherished knight,” he said, hanging his head. “It has been… difficult.”
John de Thorington wasn’t a fool. The more he watched Boothe de Reyne’s performance, the more he knew that something wasn’t right.
He knew the man’s brother and he knew Laurence de Becque, and both of them were as noble and true as any knight he’d ever known.
He was fairly certain Gage hadn’t tried to take his brother’s inheritance from him and he was more than certain de Becque wouldn’t have been involved in anything like that.
That begged the question as to why Boothe was putting on such a show.
Something had happened at Septentrion Castle, that was for sure.
But what, exactly, was the big mystery?
“Where is Gage now?” he asked after a moment.
Boothe shook his head. “I do not know, my lord,” he said. “When I left, I had some of my men follow him so he did not cause trouble and they said he headed south, so I would assume he went to London.”
“But you do not know for certain?”
“Nay, my lord,” Boothe said. “I do not know if he intends to stay in England. He may head across the sea.”
“Why would you say that?”
Boothe looked at him. “Because my mother was born in Pamplona,” he said. “We have family there. A rather large family. Gage could easily flee England to Pamplona to escape my wrath.”
John’s eyebrows slowly lifted. “Pamplona?” he repeated. “In Navarre?”
“Aye.”
“How did I not know this about your mother?”
“Did you ever meet her?”
John shook his head. “In truth, I did not,” he admitted. “I knew your father for many years, but your mother… she did not live with him and I never met her.”
Boothe knew what he meant. “She did not,” he said.
“She hated England. She hated the climate, the people. She hated everything about it. She gave birth to me and my brother here, as my father wished, but she returned to Pamplona to live in her father’s house, with her family.
A very old family, I might add, the House of de Soto. ”
John cocked his head curiously. “I do not think I have heard of that house.”
“They are the guardians of Vale of Pamplona,” Boothe said.
“The fortress is truly something to be behold. I went there once, in my youth, because my mother’s father asked for his grandsons to visit, and I remember this enormous white castle on a rise overlooking the entire valley.
You’ve never seen such white stone. They used to call it Fortaleza de los Vascones because the Romans lived there in days of old. ”
John grunted. “Not unlike Septentrion.”
“The Romans were everywhere.”
“Indeed, they were,” John agreed. Then he appeared thoughtful. “And you believe Gage will have gone to this place?”
Boothe shrugged. “I cannot know for certain,” he said. “I would be afraid that he might tell my grandfather that I have wronged him somehow. If… if he returns with a Spanish army to oust me from Septentrion, may I count on your support, my lord?”
John hadn’t expected that request. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught up in a battle with a Spanish warlord so he cleared his throat softly and averted his gaze.
“I would not worry about that,” he said.
“I do not know what went on between you and your brother, but I will say that I have known Gage for several years. I do not mean to disbelieve you, but I am having difficulty accepting that he tried to take your inheritance. That simply does not seem like something he would do.”
Boothe wasn’t happy that he wasn’t being blindly and fully believed, but he managed to keep his temper. Becoming offended over a lie he was trying to make believable wouldn’t work in his favor in the end, not when he needed Ashington’s support.
“It is shocking, I agree,” he said. “But I can only tell you what happened. It is your choice whether or not you choose to believe it.”
John pondered that a moment longer before standing up.
“It is unfortunate,” he said. In truth, that was all he could, or would, say about it because the entire situation just seemed odd to him.
“But let us forget about it, for now. I have spent a small fortune on Wynter’s celebration, so please find your way to the hall.
There is enough food there to feed a small army.
Enjoy yourself. There will be many allies here today to participate in the festivities, so may I ask a favor of you? ”
They were heading towards the solar door. “Of course, my lord,” Boothe said. “How may I be of service?”
They paused as John opened the solar door. “Do not tell the allies what you told me about Gage,” he said quietly. “I do not want that subject to be the predominant narrative here today. It is Wynter’s day of birth and she should be the focus, not your brother’s actions. Will you please honor that?”