Chapter Fifteen #2
Jack stepped forward, positioning himself next to Bella’s father, together shielding her.
The nobleman scowled at Jack before fixing his gaze on Lord Redesdale with naked contempt.
“You were remiss in not sending word of your daughter’s return,” he sneered.
“I had to hear from a servant.” The word servant flicked off his tongue with disdain, as if expelling a disease from his body.
Bella’s father stepped forward. “No more remiss than the king not sending me word straight away that she had been attacked on the road.”
Jack could feel the tension between Bella’s father and Lord Percy. He still could not believe the sudden change in Lord Redesdale and wondered why he clearly regarded Lord Percy with such loathing.
Lord Percy’s eyes narrowed on Lord Redesdale. “How dare you reprimand the king?”
“I will when his folly pertains to my daughter,” Lord Redesdale shot back.
Lord Percy gave pause. Then a cocky smile slowly spread his lips wide.
“I will not lie, David. Even though you chased away the messenger I sent the last time I called for your support, I came here expecting a vastly different reception. Scottish peasants attacked your daughter. You should be at Berwick Castle as we speak, begging King Edward to retaliate.”
Lord Redesdale gestured to Jack. “Brother Peter witnessed the attack. He is convinced those responsible were not peasants, Scottish or otherwise.”
Lord Percy scoffed. “And you believe a Scotsman over the judgement of our king?”
“Brother Peter is a man of the cloth,” Lord Redesdale said, his tone firm. “He has no reason to lie.”
Jack stepped forward to show his support for Isabella’s father. Still, Lord Percy did not bother to glance his way. He stared hard at Lord Redesdale. “Coward,” he spat. “If my daughter was attacked, and her virtue assaulted, I would see those guilty brought to justice!”
Jack’s eyes widened at his words. Narrowing his gaze, his blood boiling inside him, he drew closer to Lord Percy. “I told no one of her near rape. I intentionally left that detail out, thinking it would distress Lord Redesdale unnecessarily.”
“How dare you address me as your equal,” Lord Percy sneered at Jack, his lip curling with disdain. “I will not stand here and listen to your lies and accusations!”
Images of fine swords and tattered clothing flashed through Jack’s mind. “I hadn’t accused ye, but I am now,” Jack snarled. “Those were yer men, dressed to look like peasants!”
“Prove it,” Lord Percy hissed.
Jack canted his head to the side, eying the lord with deadly intent.
“We have several of the attackers’ blades in our possession.
I’ve no doubt ye’ve others just like them in yer armory.
” Jack lashed out, seizing Lord Percy’s tunic in his grasp, and slammed his body into the wall.
He shot a sidelong glance at Percy’s men, but Quinn and the Redesdale guard had them surrounded.
“Are you threatening me with violence? What of your vows, Brother Peter?” Lord Percy sneered.
A slow smile curved Jack’s lips. He pressed his forearm hard against Lord Percy’s throat, then leaned close and whispered in his ear.
“I’m not a monk.” From beneath his robe, Jack produced a dagger, the tip of which he jabbed against Percy’s throat.
“I’m a thief. My sins are many, and I don’t mind adding yer murder to the list.”
Lord Percy’s eyes narrowed. “You are one of the masked bandits who stole the girl from my men.”
Jack shrugged. “Ye aren’t in a good position to make accusations.”
“Brother Peter, release him!”
Jack glanced over his shoulder at Lord Redesdale, who stood behind him. “Forgive me, my lord, but I would rather not.”
“Obey my command,” Lord Redesdale ordered Jack.
Jack hesitated, his eyes flickering between Lord Percy and Lord Redesdale. There was a deadly gleam in Bella’s father’s gaze that convinced him to step aside and let him deal with Lord Percy himself, although to be safe Jack kept his dirk at the ready.
Lord Redesdale’s scowl deepened. “You ordered your men to attack and rape my daughter. Didn’t you?” he said, his voice soft and deadly.
Lord Percy spat on the ground. “She is the daughter of a commoner, a whore whom you have mourned for the last five years when you should have been at court paying homage to your king!”
Jack watched as Lord Redesdale’s eyes sparked with fury.
“My king?” Lord Redesdale said, as if he could not believe Lord Percy had dared to speak those words.
Jack watched Lord Redesdale’s hands curl into tight fists.
His chest heaved. “My king!” Bella’s father’s voice thundered off the high ceilings.
He raised his clenched fists in the air, threw his head back and bellowed, “He killed my wife! My heart,” he cried, beating his chest with his own fist. “He is no king!” Lord Redesdale seized Lord Percy, throwing him to the floor and straddling him.
He pulled his fist back and slammed it down, hammering Lord Percy’s face again and again.
Blood gushed from the nobleman’s nose and mouth, splattering the wall.
Lord Redesdale snarled and grabbed Lord Percy’s tunic with both hands, lifting his bloodied head off the ground.
“I denounce him,” Lord Redesdale snarled in his face.
“Do you hear me? I denounce King Edward!” Lord Redesdale’s chest heaved as he stood, dragging Percy toward the door. “Get out of my house!”
One of the Redesdale guards grabbed Lord Percy from his lord’s hands and tossed him at the feet of his men, who lifted him up and carried him from the hall. But before the door closed behind them, Lord Percy shouted, “I will see you drawn and quartered!”
The door slammed shut with a resounding boom.
Jack’s heart pounded as he watched as Lord Redesdale walked over to the hearth.
He now understood the shame that had been torturing Lord Redesdale for so many years.
His wife’s blood was on King Edward’s hands, and he had, at last, voiced his fury, calling out the king for his treachery.