Chapter Eleven #4
Courtly sighed. She loathed the mere idea.
“I have no choice,” she murmured. “If he sends me and my sister back home, then mayhap he will cease this madness that he has suffered over the past day. Mayhap he will calm down and become himself again. The situation with Maximus has seemed to drive him right to the brink of madness.”
Ellice began to feel a sense of desperation on behalf of her niece. “If you return to Trelystan,” she said softly, “chances are that you will never see Sir Maximus again. Are you willing to risk that?”
Courtly gazed at the woman, her eyes filling with tears.
She simply couldn’t fight them off as Ellice reminded her of the heart and soul she had left back at The One-Eyed Raven.
Her features crumbled and she sat heavily at the feasting table, right in the same spot she had sat the night before with Maximus at her side.
She remembered that night clearly, word for word, and her hand moved over the seat next to her where he had been.
She could still see him sitting there, strong and proud. The sobs came.
“I have no choice,” she wept quietly. “If I do not do what Papa says, he will take it out on innocent people. He may even take it out on you or Isadora. I could not live with myself if he harmed all of you because he was angry with me.”
Ellice was moved by her tears. She remembered another young girl, years ago, with similar tears where it pertained to Kellen de Lara.
Ellice had been so very young when Kellen had chased her last suitor away, a man she had loved.
God’s Bones, but she remembered those tears.
She remembered the pain. Courtly’s sorrow cut her deeply.
“Then you are giving up,” she said hoarsely. “You are letting your father win.”
Courtly shook her head, wiping at her cheeks. “I am doing what I must in order to save those around me,” she said. “If something must be sacrificed in all of this, I would rather it be me than Maximus.”
Ellice watched her niece quietly weep, each tear driving the nails of grief deeper and deeper into her heart.
She had so wanted to help Courtly so the woman would not suffer the same lonely life she had, but Courtly was convinced that she had to obey her father in order to keep those she loved safe.
It was the truth, in fact, and the noblest sacrifice Ellice had ever seen.
She felt so very helpless because she knew she couldn’t help Courtly.
But she knew who could, perhaps the only person in all of England who could.
“Where is Sir Maximus?” Ellice asked. “Where is he staying?”
Courtly wiped at her nose. “In Oxford,” she sniffled. “At a tavern called The One-Eyed Raven. Why do you ask?”
Ellice avoided the question. “When he discovers you missing, he will come here. You know that.”
Courtly shrugged. “I asked him not to,” she whispered. “I told him not to come after me.”
Ellice snorted. “Do you think he will listen?” she said, glancing up at one of the tall, lancet windows at the top of the room when the lightning flashed overhead. “He is more than likely on his way here.”
Courtly looked up at her, disturbed by the suggestion. “I asked him not to,” she repeated, with concern in her tone now. “He must not come, Auntie. It will be a horrible situation if he does.”
Ellice nodded, pretending to agree. “Aye, it will be,” she said. “Mayhap… mayhap I should go and warn him not to come.”
Courtly stood up, her expression eager. “Will you?” she asked hopefully. “I know the weather is terrible, and I would not ask this of you under normal circumstances, but I am afraid of what Papa will do if Maximus comes for me. Papa might even try to kill him.”
Ellice was indeed thinking of riding to warn Maximus, but not for the reasons Courtly was concerned with. Ellice had her own plans.
“I will ride into town and speak to him,” Ellice said. “He must know not to come. He must know… what is happening.”
Courtly nodded her head, deeply thankful for her aunt’s selfless attitude. “Please, Auntie,” she begged softly, “Please go to him. I will be forever grateful.”
Ellice waited until Isadora returned with warmed wine before leaving the hall and heading to her chambers to don clothing that would be somewhat resistant to the terrible weather.
She’d spent so much of her life feeling worthless and restless that to actually have a purpose fueled her with confidence and new hope.
She was going to ride to find Maximus de Shera, that was a fact.
But it would not be to warn him not to come to Kennington.
It would be to tell him that Kellen was sending his daughters back to Trelystan.
Her suggestion would be that Maximus should intercept that escort and take back what rightfully belonged to him.
Kellen, who had to remain in Oxford because of de Montfort’s gathering, might not know for weeks or even months that his daughters had been taken by Maximus de Shera.
By the time he found out, Courtly would be Lady de Shera and Kellen would be too late to do anything about it. Aye, it was a brilliant plan.
For the marriage Kellen had denied his sister those years ago, Ellice would finally make her brother pay.
She would have the last laugh.