Chapter Eight
Westminster’s great hall
“I understand that you wish to see your new property, but I would like you to remain in London for now,” Henry said. “There will be all the time in the world to visit Stafford and Edingale and survey your empire, Thor. For now, I want you here.”
That wasn’t what Thor wanted to hear. He had been the Earl of Tamworth and Stafford for about nine hours and very much wanted to see his lands and property.
He wanted to visit the villages and meet the people.
All of the things he’d watched his father do, a man whom he very much wanted to emulate as a good and right earl.
There was responsibility with that position and he wanted to give it his best effort.
But Henry had his own wants at the moment.
“Your grace, forgive me for speaking up, but there are reasons why I would like to go north now,” he said.
“The lady has been away from her properties for quite some time, leaving the management to knights sworn to her father and to her former husband, and it is very important that I make my presence known and inform them that these are now my properties. I fear that men left to their own devices like that may be stealing me blind, or worse.”
“You cannot know that.”
“That is true, I cannot,” Thor said, his manner more impassioned than usual.
“But keep in mind that these properties have been without a man in command for years. Tamworth died several years ago and Stafford has been gone for two. I feel that it is crucial to make my presence known as soon as possible because there is no knowing what the Edingale or Stafford knights are doing with my lands, my villeins, or anything else that belongs to me. They may have taken everything for themselves, especially with Caledonia away in London. Do you at least understand my concern, your grace?”
Henry did. He nodded reluctantly. “I do.”
He still didn’t seem willing to capitulate, but Thor wasn’t giving up.
He went for the throat. “You may want me in London at this time and I respect that, your grace,” he said.
“Nothing has given me more pleasure than serving you as your Lord Protector. But you know, and I know, that there is nothing happening in London at this time that requires me. Everything is peaceful and there are no pressing matters. I am simply asking for a month or two to survey my new lands and establish my earldom. I will return to you once I have done this.”
Henry eyed him, sighing heavily before taking a sip of the tart red wine that he had provided for the feast that he was currently the center of.
Not the new Earl and Countess of Tamworth and Stafford, but the king.
As it should be, at least in his world. The feast had been going on for about two hours at this point and they’d eaten seven courses so far.
More were coming. He’d had Thor by his side nearly the entire time, a man who was supremely obedient to his king, even to the point of taking him away from his bride.
Now, he was demanding more of Thor’s service when Thor rightfully wanted to see the properties he’d acquired. Not that Henry blamed him.
Moreover, the man was right.
He sighed heavily.
“Very well,” he said, realizing he couldn’t fight him any longer. “If that is your wish, then go north and establish your dominance over any foolish knights who believe your properties belong to them.”
“Thank you, your grace.”
“But once that is done, I expect you back at Westminster immediately.”
“Of course, your grace.” Thor hesitated a moment before continuing. “I intend to take my men with me. I have a feeling I will need their assistance in whatever I am facing.”
Henry nodded, noting de Reyne’s knights at the table just to the left of the dais.
Clayne, Truett, and Darius were a powerful trio, one Henry liked to have at his disposal, but he supposed it wouldn’t be too much trouble to allow them to go with Thor.
The new earl had earned the right to have men sworn to him by his side.
Besides… Henry had pushed hard enough for this marriage, so it made him look foolish to resist Thor’s requests now that he had what he wanted.
“Take them,” he said. “And I will send you with five hundred royal troops to infiltrate your armies. That way, they cannot revolt against you if they are diluted with men loyal to me.”
Thor scratched his head, knowing that was a possibility. “Let us hope they will swear their allegiance to the new earl and that will be the end of it, your grace,” he said. “But I thank you for the additional troops. It is much appreciated.”
Henry gestured to the knights off to his left. “Those three will help you settle your earldom,” he said. “They are quite formidable. But I want them back, too.”
Thor looked over at his men, who lifted their cups in his direction. “The four of us have been together for a long time,” he said. “As I said, I will need them. And we will all come back.”
“Can I not at least keep de Winter with me?”
“I am nothing without Darius commanding my armies.”
Henry made a face and looked away. “Then take him,” he said. “Leave me without anything at all, Thor. You are taking the best men with you, including yourself.”
“But only for a short time, your grace,” Thor said, fighting off a smile at the incensed old man. “I promise we will return. We will always be sworn to you.”
Henry shrugged and turned to complain about the situation to Gage, who had no sympathy for him, and Thor was finally able to breathe a little and speak to his new wife.
But he knew Caledonia hadn’t been lonely.
She and Nicola had been chatting like magpies the entire time, and Thor watched his new wife as she giggled with his sister, a side of her he’d not seen before.
She was… lighthearted. Her expression was very nearly joyful.
Was that the same woman he’d drunk with the night before?
The woman who traveled in the shadows and did as she pleased?
The change was truly astonishing. Caledonia was whispering something to Nicola, and he heard his sister gasp.
“And he was nude?” Nicola was saying. “Dancing in front of you, he was nude?”
“Who was nude?” Thor wanted to know. “What are you talking about?”
When Caledonia and Nicola realized he was listening, they tried to stifle the giggles but couldn’t quite manage it.
“I was telling your sister about Gomorrah,” Caledonia said. “I was telling her about the time I—”
Thor put a hand up. “Stop right there,” he said. “You will not tell my maiden sister about that den of debauchery. My father will be quite unhappy if he finds out Nicola knows something of Gomorrah.”
Nicola was quite titillated with stories of the most notorious guild in all of London. “Did you know that you can pay for anything at Gomorrah?” she said, clearly enraptured by the very idea. “Anything? Men will dance for you and women will feed you. Callie says that—”
“I told you to stop,” Thor warned. “Another word and I will tell Papa, and he will have something to say about it.”
Nicola turned her nose up at him. “Don’t you dare tell him anything,” she said. “There are plenty of things I could tell him about you, but I never have. Are you willing to betray that trust?”
Thor wasn’t. He and Nicola had a special bond and he loved her dearly. But she was also annoying and petulant at times, and his palm fairly ached to spank her.
He pointed a finger at her.
“Fine,” he said impatiently. “But no more stories about Gomorrah.”
“I promise.”
She was lying. He knew she was lying. She knew that he knew that she was lying. But Thor let it go, giving her a final glare before turning to his wine as Caledonia watched the interaction between brother and sister.
It reminded her of her relationship with her own brother.
“Do not trouble yourself, Blue,” she said. “I will not tell her anything more, I promise.”
He looked at her, puzzled. “Blue?” he repeated. “Why did you call me that?”
Her dark eyes were glittering at him. “Because you have the bluest eyes I have ever seen,” she said. “All I can think to call you is Blue Eyes.”
“My name is Thor.”
“As you wish, Blue.”
He snorted softly and shook his head at her impudence. “Have it your own way,” he said. “But I have just been given permission to go north and survey my new earldom. That is good news, don’t you think?”
Caledonia’s smile faded. “Home?”
He could see that she didn’t have the same enthusiasm as he did, and his joy at the situation faded. “Aye,” he said. “Why? Do you not want to go?”
She nodded. But her eyes teared up and she lowered her head, struggling with her composure.
That wasn’t like her, this bold and fiery woman, so concern swept him.
He instinctively put an arm around her shoulders, leaning into her so no one could hear their conversation except his nosy sister, who leaned in also.
“Will you tell me why this troubles you?” he asked softly.
Caledonia was so used to keeping her feelings and thoughts to herself that to have someone ask her—actually ask her—was quite new.
It was also embarrassing. She wasn’t used to having so much attention on her, but she quickly realized something—she liked having Thor so close.
He was big and powerful, yet there was a gentleness about him.
At least, when it came to her there was.
He’d been that way from the start. It was a warm trap of human kindness, but a trap that filled something in her life that had been lacking.
A most tender trap.
“Truly, it is nothing,” she said, struggling to shrug off his concern. “I… I simply have not been home in a while. Will we be going to Stafford Castle, too?”
Thor nodded. “That is where your children are, isn’t it?”
As she nodded, Nicola gasped. “I did not know you have children,” she said. “How many do you have?”
Caledonia was trying to discreetly dab away the moisture around her eyes. “Three,” she said. “Three daughters.”