Chapter Six #3
Nicola sat down on the opposite side of the table, watching the man wolf down his food.
“Unfortunately, due to the fact that Babylon has suffered through two sieges in close succession, our provisions are quite low,” she said, hoping it didn’t sound like a reprimand because he, in fact, had been the aggressor in one of those sieges.
“We are nearly out of flour and we could use meat – any kind of meat. I do not want to kill all of my pigs this winter because we need offspring to breed more food for next year.”
Kenton, still eating, listened to her seriously. “You are chatelaine,” he said. “What would you suggest?”
Nicola didn’t stop to think that this was nearly the first rational and serious conversation they’d ever had that didn’t involve stolen kisses or anger or harsh words.
He was showing respect for her opinion and she was showing him respect in kind.
It was a calm exchange of information, the first between them.
“Rochdale and Manchester are about ten miles to the west,” she said.
“Manchester has a big market every Sunday where we can purchase a good deal of stores, but I fear with all of these men we are sheltering, we will need an entire herd of pigs or sheep to feed them. We will also need grain for the animals if we can get it. This winter has been difficult so it will come at a premium if we can even find it.”
Kenton was nearly at the end of his meal but it was clear that he was carefully considering the problem.
“Tomorrow is Sunday,” he said. “I am not entirely certain, however, it would be wise to leave Babylon so soon after a siege. Even though Edward’s army has departed, they could still be lurking nearby. ”
Nicola shook her head. “Lurking or not, we must go,” she said firmly. “We cannot wait another week. We will be boiling hides for soup if that happens.”
“The situation is desperate, then?”
“It is.”
He lifted his dark eyebrows at her. “Then tomorrow we travel.”
Nicola nodded, satisfied, but then she began to look around the hall.
Her movements were almost nervous. “There was a chest in Gaylord’s solar that contained coin,” she said, lowering her voice.
“I do not know what has become of it, but I would assume you have it. That is what we must use to pay for the provisions.”
Kenton wiped at his mouth and downed what was left in his cup. “I have it in a secure place,” he said. “I will bring enough coinage to secure what we need.”
Nicola tried not to think about the fact that he essentially stole Gaylord’s money which, at his death, became her money.
She understood the rules of the spoils of war.
Therefore, she simply sighed and tried not to sound as if she resented the fact that he took most of the coinage belonging to her family.
Not all, but most. She still had some tucked away with her possessions.
Seemingly at the end of their conversation, she moved to leave.
“Very well,” she said. “We should leave well before first light tomorrow to make it to Manchester when the farmers are arriving. I want first pick of their wares.”
Kenton eyed her as she stood up. “It is generous of you to worry over our provisions enough so that you should delay your leaving Babylon,” he said.
It was a leading statement. He wanted to see if she had, indeed, been serious about leaving in the first place because it had been on his mind since she’d first spoken of it.
“When did you plan on going to your widowed aunt?”
Nicola came to a halt, looking at him with an expression between surprise and hesitation. She cleared her throat softly. “I… I had not thought on it,” she said. “I suppose I will leave when it is convenient for you to send a few men with me as escort.”
“That could take a very long time. I need my men here at Babylon.”
Her brow furrowed. “How long?”
“I have no way of knowing.”
“Surely we are talking about weeks here, not months or even years.”
He wiped at his mouth and wondering if he was sounding as if he didn’t want her to leave at all.
Part of him hoped she understood that, but most of him was embarrassed that he could even think such a thing.
Since when did he want to keep a woman around?
The answer to that question was very simple but in order to save his male pride, he thought of another excuse.
“I have no one else to be chatelaine,” he said, “at least no one with your experience. At the moment, you are quite valuable to me. I would consider it a favor if you would delay your departure until such time as I no longer have a need for you. Right now, I need you.”
There was a hint of something more in that last statement, something that suggested he needed her for more than to simply run a household.
Nicola caught of whiff of it, like a ribbon of smoke that tantalized and then was quickly gone.
I need you. Was it possible that he did in more ways than she realized?
Madness! She quickly scolded herself. You are mad to believe this knight, the enemy, has interest in you! You should clearly have no interest in him!
Aye, she knew that. God help her, she did. But the giddy beating of her heart and the pull of his deep blue eyes told her otherwise.
“Then… then I shall remain for a time if I truly serve a purpose,” she stammered, wondering why her mouth was so dry. “I would not wish to leave you in a quandary.”
“That is very gracious of you, Madam.”
“But you will provide me with an escort at the appropriate time?”
“If time and situation permits, I will take you myself.”
She felt both better and worse by that statement.
Perhaps she was reading too much into his “I need you” statement if he was willing to personally escort her to her aunt’s.
Fearful to become the man’s whore but not too fearful to become one if she actually meant something to him, her mind was wracked with turmoil and confusion.
Therefore, she simply nodded her head and moved away from the table, passing within close proximity as she did.
Before she could get away completely, Kenton reached out and grasped her hand as she passed by and she immediately stopped, heart beating in her ears and her breathing coming in little gasps.
His touch had that effect on her. As she watched, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly.
“I hope you will not leave,” he confided. “I hope you will choose to remain of your own free will.”
With that, he dropped her hand, stood up, and moved away from the table in the opposite direction.
Nicola simply stood there, her hand still nearly in the position he had left it, out in front of her as if he were still holding it.
She watched the enormous knight leave the hall and out into the entry beyond before disappearing from her sight altogether.
All the while, Nicola simply stood there, her focus still on the last place she saw Kenton, her heart still beating wildly from the kiss to her hand.
Dear God…, she thought, is it really possible that he should want me to remain? And is it equally possible that I will?
Of course she would. She knew she would.
She didn’t want to leave him, either. Nicola fought off a grin, realizing that, for the first time in her life, she was actually attracted to someone and entrenched in the throes of a giddy infatuation.
She’d never experienced anything like it but, as she was coming to realize, thoughts of Kenton were making her feel rather as if she were walking on clouds.
It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
“My lady?”
A soft female voice floated up behind her, distracting her from foolish, silly, warm thoughts of Kenton le Bec. She turned to see Raven standing behind her. When Nicola looked at the girl, the young lass smiled.
“The little lads will be hungry, my lady,” she said. “It is the evening now. We should take them what food we can carry.”
Nicola nodded swiftly; too swiftly, embarrassed she had been caught in reflections of Kenton le Bec.
“Of course,” she said, shooing Raven in the direction of the kitchen yard. “Let us take all we can. Le Bec is going to take me into Manchester tomorrow so that we may purchase more supplies, thankfully.”
Raven scooted well ahead of her mistress, heading for the kitchens.
She heard Lady Thorne’s statement about purchasing more supplies and she had seen the entire exchange between the lady and the big knight known as Kenton le Bec.
Raven and her sisters were coming to suspect that there might be something of an attraction between the pair and le Bec, in spite of his fierce reputation, seemed a far better character than Gaylord Thorne.
Raven, Janet, and Liesl genuinely loved their lady and they had hated Gaylord Thorne for the way the man treated her.
Certainly it was not an ideal situation to find solace with the enemy, but Raven and her sisters found themselves hoping just that.
As Raven and Nicola gathered more food for the boys from the steaming pots of stew, which was by now boiled-down and very thick since it was a few days old, Raven couldn’t help but notice that her lady seemed distracted.
She kept glancing to the walls overhead or looking behind her at the kitchen yard gate as if expecting someone to appear.
Raven knew, just as her lady did, who the woman was expecting to appear.
The powerful form of Kenton le Bec.