Chapter Twelve #2
“Here is my proof,” Thor said to the man, who was bleeding from a ruptured nose.
He held up the scroll for the knight to see.
“A decree by Henry granting me title to the Earldom of Tamworth and Stafford. You also know the former Lady de Tosni—she will tell you that we were wed and that the property is mine. Are you still uncertain about this?”
De Lucera was blowing blood out of his mouth, lying at Thor’s feet. “Nay, my lord,” he said. “I am no longer uncertain.”
“Good,” Thor said. Then he looked to Darius and Clayne. “Put all three of these knights in the vault until I decide what’s to be done with them. Put our men on guard. Once they are in the vault, I want you to gather every Stafford soldier down in the lower bailey.”
“Aye, my lord,” Darius said. “Where is the vault?”
Thor looked straight at de Lucera, who was afraid he’d receive another punch if he didn’t answer. “Gatehouse,” he said, then quickly added, “My lord.”
Darius reached down and yanked de Lucera to his feet.
The older knight was still so woozy that he was having difficulty walking, but that didn’t stop Darius and Clayne from shoving him and his two beaten cousins all the way back to the gatehouse with the help of about fifteen royal soldiers.
Already, the gathering of the Stafford soldiers was beginning as Truett returned with about a hundred men flooding into the bailey behind him.
Darius relayed the commands and Truett went to work.
Shouting could be heard all over Stafford Castle as Thor’s orders were in motion.
Troops were being separated and de Reyne was taking control.
Satisfied that he would have Stafford secured very short, Thor finally returned his attention to Caledonia.
“Well?” he said, smiling at her as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Would you like to see your children?”
He pulled the door open and she moved to climb out, but she was still looking at him in shock over what had just happened.
“You… you hit de Lucera,” she finally said. “My God… You actually struck him!”
Thor helped her out of the cab. “What of it?”
Caledonia seemed genuinely stunned. Dressed in one of the garments that they’d purchased yesterday in Birmingham, an exquisite blue silk, she looked over the castle, the bailey, before finally returning her attention to Thor.
“He had it coming,” she finally said. “God’s Bones, Thor. You have no idea what a bully of a man Cristano de Lucera is. A horrible dictator who breathes cruelty like men breathe air. It is part of him. He deserved what you did to him.”
Thor took her hand, feeling that it was clammy. She was nervous. “You told me that you had nothing to do with the knights,” he said. “But you know de Lucera’s character?”
She shrugged. “I have lived here for many years,” she said. “Of course I am going to know something of the people here, even if Robert did control everything.”
“You should have told me of de Lucera and his cousins.”
She looked at him seriously. “When we first met, there was so much turmoil,” she said.
“We were building trust. We are still building trust. I felt that if I told you what I knew about de Lucera, truly told you, that you might think I was trying to discourage you from taking possession of Stafford. I was afraid you might think it was one more ploy to talk you out of the marriage.”
He could see her point. “Very well,” he said. “But you must tell me everything. I could have walked into an ambush with the de Lucera family.”
Caledonia shook her head. “I do not think so,” she said. “They are men of talk, not action. They are arrogant and nasty, but cowards at heart.”
Thor took the hand he held and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. “But I am not,” he said quietly, a smile on his lips. “But tell me next time if you know something, even if you think it is not significant. Will you do that?”
She leaned against him affectionately. “Of course I will,” she said. “I apologize that I did not.”
“You are forgiven,” he said. “But what about this nun? What can I expect from her?”
Caledonia’s warm expression faded. “She is a tyrant,” she said.
“Her name is Madam Madonna and she was Robert’s nurse.
A former nun. He has always surrendered to her, in every way.
Whatever she wanted, he gave it to her. She not only supervised the children, but she was chatelaine as well.
I was told it was her duty, not mine. I am certain she is inside the keep somewhere.
She would not leave that which she commands. ”
“Then Madam Madonna is about to meet someone she cannot command.”
“She will more than likely try.”
“Shall we find out?”
Thor said it with some enthusiasm, as if he was looking forward to it, and Caledonia broke down in a weak smile. She was about to reply when she happened to glance at the carriage and saw Nicola still sitting inside, looking frightened and lonely. She held out a hand to her.
“Come, Nica,” she said. “We are going to go inside now. Will you come with me? I will need you.”
Nicola climbed out of the carriage and scurried over to them. She had seen her brother pound the hapless knight and was just a little fearful now. She latched on to Thor’s other arm.
“Where is Darius?” she asked her brother. “Where did you send him?”
“He is handling the men,” Thor said. “Have no fear. He will return to you shortly.”
Nicola kept looking around, hunting for Darius, but Thor began to walk, pulling the women along.
They were heading for the square keep, three stories in height, with a flight of stone steps leading to the entry with the biggest door Thor had ever seen.
It was a small, compact keep, and as they approached the stairs, a figure abruptly appeared at the top.
A woman had emerged, followed by other women. Servants, perhaps. She stood at the top of the steps and held out a hand.
“Come no closer until you announce yourself.”
The three of them came to a halt, looking up at a woman dressed in brown woolen robes. She had a tight wimple covering her hair and her face was rosy and wrinkled and completely hairless. But her expression…
That was the stuff of nightmares.
With her eyebrow-less eyes, she stared down Caledonia as if beholding her worst enemy.
There was something in the very air that swirled about her, a dark miasma of wickedness.
Other than those few words, she hadn’t said a thing, but she didn’t need to.
The animosity radiating out of her spoke for her.
As Caledonia looked at the woman, something in her snapped.
It was because Thor was with her and she was feeling brave.
After all these years, she’d finally have the voice that Robert never allowed her to have.
She’d never liked Madam Madonna, not from the moment she first met her, because the old woman had made her feel inferior and stupid.
She’d only been a breeding mare, the woman had said.
Madam Madonna had a gift for making people feel stupid.
And Caledonia had let her.
But no more.
Thor gave her courage.
“You know who I am,” Caledonia said, her gaze fixed on the woman as she let go of Thor. “I am the Countess of Tamworth and Stafford, and this is my keep. Where are my daughters?”
Mother Madonna’s eyes narrowed. “Lady Stafford,” she said imperiously. “You’ve decided to return, have you? There was no need. You are not required here. I thought that was made clear to you.”
It was a nasty thing to say in a long line of nasty things that Madam Madonna had said to her over the years.
In times past, Caledonia would have simply taken it.
She would have lowered her head and kept her mouth shut because Robert forbade her from talking back to the old nun. That had been established long ago.
But no longer.
“Where are my daughters?” she repeated.
The old woman looked at her curiously. “They are of no concern to you,” she said. “Why have you returned? And who are these people you have brought with you?”
Before Caledonia realized it, she was marching up the steps, right up to the woman who was a little taller than she was and about twice her weight.
All of those years of pain and anguish at being separated from her daughters came rushing upon her, and the very barrier that had caused her all of that agony was standing right in front of her.
Without thinking, she shoved the woman back by the shoulders, so hard that Madam Madonna toppled sideways, ending up down on one knee.
Enraged, Caledonia loomed over her.
“Listen to me, you arrogant bitch,” she snarled.
“I am Lady Tamworth and Stafford, descendant of Ceowulf and the kings and queens of Mercia. Robert is dead and I have brought my new husband, the new Earl of Tamworth and Stafford, home. This is his castle now. Not yours, not Robert’s, but his.
You will never again speak to me in that manner or I will have him cut your tongue out. Do you understand me?”
It was a violent, brutal threat. When Mother Madonna tried to get up to challenge her, Caledonia kicked the woman in the knee and sent her onto her arse. Mother Madonna tried to kick her, to fight back, but Thor came up the stairs and grabbed the old woman by the arm.
“Anyone who moves against Lady Tamworth will suffer my wrath,” he said, pulling the old woman down the stairs and to the dirt below.
When she tripped into the dust, on her knees again, he simply stood there and watched her wallow without sympathy.
“Look at me, madam. My name is Thor de Reyne and I am the Lord Protector of our king. I am not Robert de Tosni and I have no respect or regard for you. Am I making myself clear? Your days at Stafford are finished. My wife will be the mother to her daughters now. You are no longer required.”
Mother Madonna’s expression was full of shock and horror. “My-my lord,” she stammered, throwing a finger at Caledonia. “She attacked me. I am allowed to defend myself!”