Chapter Twenty-One #2
Mira wasn’t thinking about any of that as she followed Isabel to the turret.
She could hear Isabel muttering the entire way up those narrow stairs.
Once she hit the wall, she quieted, however, because the men were about twenty feet away from her.
Mira came up behind Isabel, who, when she saw the young woman, tried to turn her away.
But Mira wouldn’t go. She thought Isabel might need her support.
They were hissing at each other, arguing in mostly sign language, when Douglas caught sight of them.
“Lady Mira?” he said. “Lady Isabel? What are you doing here?”
Mira didn’t know what to say. When Isabel turned to look at Douglas, Mira discreetly pointed at her and shook her head, hoping that would give Douglas a hint that something was amiss. He saw the miming and was smart enough to realize that Isabel wasn’t pleased about something.
He braced himself.
“Lady Isabel, may we be of service?” he asked.
Isabel thrust her chin up, something she was very good at doing. “I’ve come to see Lord de Honiton,” she said as she moved toward the men. “Am I interrupting some conclave? Something that, as Lady of Axminster, I should be part of?”
There was that imperious tone again, one that left no doubt as to who was in charge of Axminster.
It was Isabel. There was no substitute. She was furious that the men were up on the wall, gathering, and she was not included, but she was more furious that Jerome might have called the meeting specifically to leave her out of it.
“Was this your idea?” she said to him. “This meeting, I mean. Was it your idea?”
Jerome was clueless about her question. “My lady?”
Isabel wasn’t going to let him play stupid.
“Clearly, you went back on your word to me that I could announce our betrothal, because the servants tell me that you are demanding fish and fowl and eel in celebration of the fact that you are about to become the Earl of Axminster,” she said, growing louder as she went along.
“I can only assume you are now trying to run Axminster without my input by gathering my knights. Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”
Jerome was taken aback. Eric had found him with his men in the central bailey, making arrangements to send Raymond home, when Eric had come upon him and very kindly offered to show him some of Axminster’s points of interest.
It seemed like a nice enough gesture.
As Eric had explained, it was going to be Jerome’s property soon enough, so he should get a look at what he was acquiring.
Given that Jerome was thrilled with Isabel’s offer, which had most definitely been spreading around, he’d readily agreed.
He thought it quite sporting of Eric to take him around Axminster, which he had visited a few times in the past but had never been given a detailed tour of.
He’d been so eager that he hadn’t even considered Isabel’s thoughts on the matter, and when Douglas, Jonathan, and young Davyss joined the tour, he felt important.
Douglas and Jonathan had some good insight into Axminster’s defensive features.
Jerome had been so swept up in a glimpse of his future castle that Isabel’s rather angry appearance had him completely off guard.
But he wasn’t going to take her scolding.
He didn’t like bold women, and Lady Isabel was one of the boldest he’d ever seen.
If they were to be married, then she would have to understand her place in his world.
She wasn’t going to give him orders and she certainly wasn’t going to embarrass him in front of his men.
A storm was brewing.
And it was about to get ugly.
*
He had to get her off the wall.
Douglas never thought that Mira would be an unwelcome sight, but at this moment, her appearance, and that of Isabel, was not only unwelcome, it was also dangerous.
They had de Honiton where they wanted him.
Like a sheep to the slaughter, Jerome had been more than willing to follow Eric to the wall for a guided tour of the land around Axminster.
When Douglas, Jonathan, and Davyss had emerged from the keep a short time later, they could see Eric and Jerome on the northern wall.
Eric was waving his arms around, clearly describing the landscape to the future Lord Axminster, but more importantly, the place he’d chosen to explain the land was where the parapet of the wall was low for strategic reasons.
It was also where the walls were built next to a drop-off that plunged down the side of a hill and into the River Ax.
The perfect spot if you wanted to push someone over the side.
But it was also a perfect spot for a not-so-skilled man, or cunning man, to make a mistake and fall over himself, so the three knights had headed up to join Eric as he gave Jerome the grand tour.
They had tried to be as amiable as possible, within believability limits, in helping Eric explain the structure and defenses of Axminster.
Eric was sharp when it came to the history of the castle and its abilities as a fortress, and that was where his education as a knight could shine.
The truth was that he had been training royal troops for quite some time, so there was a good deal of merit in his knowledge.
It was simply his applicable skills that were in question.
Douglas, as he listened to Eric, could only imagine how good the man must have been in his youth.
It was clear that he knew a great deal, and Douglas found it a sad thing indeed that a knight like Eric, someone who had been part of Henry’s army, should find himself in the position he did today. How far had the mighty fallen.
It just didn’t seem fair.
All that aside, Jerome didn’t seem to have a clue that his remaining life was being measured in minutes.
Douglas and Jonathan had discussed it briefly as they approached the wall and decided that Douglas should distract Eric while Jonathan did what needed to be done.
The problem was that, at this moment, Eric and Jerome were standing close together as Eric pointed out a rather large farm to the north.
In fact, the two of them had been standing rather close together since the knights joined them, which was going to make it difficult for Jonathan to accomplish his task.
Somehow, they were going to have to get them separated, but the addition of Mira and Isabel threw a rock into those plans.
Now they had women to deal with.
And one of them was particularly angry.
“Well, Jerome?” Isabel said again. “What do you have to say for yourself? I make you a generous offer and you are already taking advantage of me?”
Jerome struggled between defiance and surrender.
“My lady, I do not think anyone could take advantage of you without suffering your wrath greatly,” he said.
“I will admit that our bargain has me quite pleased, so mayhap in my excitement, I said more than I should have. But it was not malicious, I assure you. I was not attempting to overstep.”
That wasn’t a good enough excuse for Isabel.
She scowled at the man. “How could you not realize you were overstepping when you are telling my servants that you are to be their new lord?” she said angrily.
“My offer to you was fair and just, but your lack of respect for me is clear. Mayhap I should rethink my offer if this is how you keep your word to me.”
Jerome’s slightly submissive stance changed quickly. He stiffened and his eyes narrowed. “We have struck a bargain,” he said. “You cannot go back on it.”
“And you made a promise as part of the bargain that you have already broken,” she said. “Quite honestly, you have broken our bargain completely.”
Jerome’s frown grew. “I have done no such thing,” he said. “What difference does it make if the servants know I am to be their new lord now, tomorrow, or next month? It will happen. I see no reason to keep it from them.”
That was the wrong thing to say to Isabel. “You will keep it from them because I asked you to,” she said. “I was to tell them.”
“I still do not see what difference it makes.”
Isabel was starting to turn red around the cheeks. “Is this how you treated Raymond’s mother?” she said. “Lying to her to get your way and then breaking promises? Because if that is who you truly are, Lord de Honiton, I will be forced to revoke my offer.”
Jerome advanced on her, and it took everything Douglas and Jonathan and Davyss had not to posture, to show that they were there to defend Isabel to the death.
They didn’t want him to be suspicious of them, so they had to stay still when they were positively aching to throttle the man.
In fact, Eric started to move, but Jonathan held out a hand to him, stilling him.
Enraged, but essentially helpless, Eric was forced to stand there as Jerome put himself in front of Isabel in a threatening manner.
“If you revoke your offer, then everything I told you prior to our bargain will stand,” he said in a low voice. “I suggest you not threaten me in such a way. It will not go well for you.”
Isabel wasn’t frightened in the least. In fact, he only succeeded in stoking her smoldering fury into a roaring blaze.
“Now I see why Raymond was the way he was,” she hissed.
“He came to us a child with little discipline and as the years passed, we found him to be a lying, vindictive, and shallow young man. No amount of punishment could change his character because, clearly, he has taken after his father, a dishonorable man.”
Jerome smiled thinly. “I would rethink your words, Lady Isabel,” he said. “The one thing I will not tolerate is a woman who does not know her place. And you shall know yours if I have to beat it into you every night for the rest of your life.”