Chapter Twenty-One
“Brody?”
It was a gentle winter’s afternoon. Brody was sitting outside of his cottage in the warrior’s village, smoothing the rudis he’d been using since he’d arrived at the Ludus Caledonia. He’d used it so much that splinters were coming out all over the place.
Glancing up when he heard his name, he could see Cam and Isadora approaching. Isadora was carrying their toddler son on her hip, a little lad with his mother’s red hair and his father’s green eyes.
Brody smiled weakly at the pair.
“Well?” he said. “Am I fighting tonight?”
Cam lifted his big shoulders. “I’ve not yet heard,” he said. “I came tae ye about something else.”
“What?”
“Lady Currie came early today,” he said, lowering his voice. “I saw yer lady with her, Lilia. They were heading intae the keep of Caelian Hill.”
Brody lowered the sword, looking at Cam curiously. “Why did they go intae Caelian Hill?”
“That’s what I wanted tae know,” Cam said. “Axel and I followed them because he saw them arrive, too. It’s no secret that Lady Currie wants ye badly, so we assumed she’d come tae speak with Clegg about ye again.”
“And? Did she?”
Cam nodded. “Axel and I slipped in after them and listened from the shadows,” he said. “’Tis no secret I dunna like Lady Currie. She’s spoiled and bold. The more ye deny her, the more she wants ye. In fact, she wants ye so badly that she offered Clegg sixty pounds sterling tae buy yer contract.”
Brody’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Sixty pounds?” he repeated. “Are ye certain?”
“I heard it myself.”
“But I’m not worth that much. No man is.”
Cam grunted unhappily. “She thinks ye are,” he said.
“I dunna know what Clegg has agreed tae because I left before he answered. I thought I should warn ye that it’s possible he’ll take her offer.
The Cal is a business, Brody. If someone offers enough money for ye, Clegg will take it, regardless of his personal feelings. ”
Brody’s jaw began to tick as that possibility settled. In fact, he could feel a creeping sense of unmitigated horror at the very thought.
“But I’m not even fully trained,” he said. “I’ve given my word that I will stay with The Cal for seven years. I’ve not even been here for two months. Why would Clegg take money on a warrior who hasna earned his worth?”
“I have a theory about that, Brody,” Isadora said, bouncing her restless son. “I saw Cam when he came out of the keep and he told me everything. I dunna know if Clegg will take the offer, but I have an idea why Lady Currie made it.”
Brody was disgusted; furious and disgusted. He set the sword aside. “Because she’s mad?” he snapped softly. “She’s mad and she is fixed on me like a hunter fixed on prey.”
“The lady is a hunter,” Isadora agreed. “She’s hunted ye and failed, so she’s become resourceful. Now, she’s going tae buy ye. If she buys yer fealty, ye’re sworn tae her and she can command ye tae do whatever she pleases.”
Brody’s head snapped up. “Is that it? She will command me tae do what I have refused tae do? I’ll still refuse tae do it. I’ll not touch her and I’ll not let her touch me.”
“If she buys yer contract, ye may not have a choice,” Cam said softly.
Brody’s anger was rising. He stood up, pacing in a small circle, pounding a balled fist against his open palm.
“Lilia told me that Laird Currie said that it would only take two pounds tae pay off her da’s debt,” he said.
“I made some money in my most recent fight, but it’s not nearly enough.
If I had two pounds, I’d buy her freedom and I’d bring her here tae live with me so she’s away from that… that witch of a woman.”
“Brody, if Lady Currie buys ye, then ye’ll be taking Lilia back tae her home,” Cam pointed out.
“Dunna ye see? Lilia would be the one in danger. I’ve seen Lady Currie coming tae The Cal for the better part of a year.
She is jealous and spoiled, and I have a feeling she’ll not take kindly tae ye marrying her servant. Do ye know what I mean?”
Brody did. In truth, he hadn’t thought of it that way. Wearily, he rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to think of a way out of this mess.
“Cam, ye and Sir Clegg have been good tae me,” he said. “I have every intention of fulfilling my oath, but I will not swear an oath tae a woman who simply wants tae buy a stallion tae service her. That’s no honorable life for a warrior.”
“I know,” Cam said quietly, extending a small leather pouch to him. “Issie and I have been talking and we’re going tae give ye the two pounds. Ye should take it, pay off her debt, and run. No one would blame ye, Brody. This is an impossible situation for everyone.”
Brody looked at him in shock as he reached out to take the pouch, which jingled with coinage. “Ye… ye would give me the money?”
“Aye.”
Brody looked between Isadora and Cam, stunned by their offer. He peered into the pouch to see that there were, indeed, several silver coins presumably amounting to two pounds.
He finally had the money he’d set out to earn for Lilia’s freedom. Not by earning it, or stealing it, or begging or borrowing it… but by friendship.
By people wanting to help him.
“I dunna know what tae say,” he said. Then, he sat back down on the rock where he’d left his rudis.
“Ye have tae understand… I’ve spent so much time accepting the guilt and responsibility of the men I killed those years ago, of disobeying my da’s command, that the day I met Lilia was the day my life unexpectedly turned around.
She was kind and generous tae me and I fell in love with her.
She means more tae me than ye’ll ever know.
And now the two of ye… offering tae help me.
I suppose I still have trouble thinking I deserve any help, from anyone.
Ye canna know what it means tae me. I’ll pay it back, I swear it. ”
Cam didn’t have time to respond. As he opened his mouth, a voice came out of the shadows.
“Ye’ll have tae take yer lass and hide her, Brody.
” Titus abruptly appeared, coming out from between two cottages and heading towards them.
When he saw their puzzled and perhaps indignant expressions, he held up a hand to ease them.
“Sorry, but I was walking on the other side of these cottages and heard everything. I canna remain silent on this because I’ve seen similar situations at the Ludus Antonine.
Rich women hounding men who dunna want their money, for whatever reason.
Brody, I’ve been seeing Lady Currie since I’ve been at The Cal and she has purchased herself some studly companionship, but with ye…
it seems she wants all of ye, not just a piece of ye. ”
Brody cocked an eyebrow. “Then ye know?”
“I think everyone does,” Titus said. “There’s a certain gate guard tae Clegg’s box who has made sure tae spread the tale of Lady Currie and her demands for ye.”
Brody’s face darkened. “Damn the man.”
Titus nodded, but he didn’t want to get off the subject, so he lifted his hand to beg for patience while he finished.
“If the lady has come tae buy ye as easily as if she would buy a prized stallion, then ye need tae run,” he said.
“Forget about yer oath tae The Cal if that means ye have tae accept a lady’s dishonorable offer.
Take yer woman and run. Hide until this passes. ”
Brody glanced at Cam and Isadora, uncertainty in his expression, before returning his focus to Titus. “I have nowhere tae hide,” he said. “I suppose I could take her back tae my clan in the Highlands, but I havena been home in a long time. I’m not sure I’m welcome there any longer.”
Titus folded his big arms across his chest; he had a very regal appearance, a man who had fine bloodlines. Something about him was refined and noble, but his suggestions were quite surprisingly realistic.
Take yer woman and run.
Perhaps that statement emphasized just how serious the situation was.
“Is that what ye would do?” Brody asked. “Knowing what ye know now, ye’d still run away?”
Titus nodded faintly. “Ye’ve only been here a short while, but I’ve seen enough,” he said.
“Ye never needed tae be trained as a warrior, Brody. Ye already knew how tae fight. Ye said yerself ye only came tae make money. ’Tis true ye gave yer oath, but Lady Currie doesna have honorable intentions when it comes tae buying yer services. She wants a stud, not a warrior.”
“Let her buy ye and then run off afterwards,” Isadora said quietly, watching the men turn to her. “It would serve her right. Let her pay sixty pounds for a man who’s going tae run off. Clegg would have her money and she’d be out not only the sterling, but the man she bought in the first place.”
Cam looked at his wife, puzzled. “What are ye saying, Is?”
Isadora looked straight at Brody. “If yer lady serves Lady Currie, then ye’ll have tae go tae Lady Currie’s home tae get her,” she said. “Why not make it easy and let Lady Currie buy ye? It’ll put ye intae her house and hold, right where ye need tae be tae take yer lady and leave.”
“I have a better idea.”
The four of them turned to see Clegg approaching with Axel behind him, emerging from between a pair of cottages much as Titus had done.
Since the cottages were so closely packed, it was an easy thing to overhear a conversation, even one as clandestine as this.
Clegg and Axel walked up on the quartet, but Clegg’s attention was on Brody.
“M’laird?” Brody asked, somewhat warily. “I’m sorry if ye thought we were being subversive. We were simply discussing the situation with Lady Currie.”
Clegg was wrapped up in his usual fine robes, looking somewhat out of place in the dirt and filth of the warrior’s village. But his gaze was intense.
“I know,” he said, glancing at the group. “I heard what you were speaking of and I think it is an excellent idea.”
“Which idea, m’laird?” Brody asked. “We’ve been discussing several.”