Chapter Fourteen #2
Most of Edward’s subjects had to make appointments with him in order to speak with him, but his personal guard did not.
At this time of day, Edward was usually in the royal apartments, so that was where the three of them headed.
Truth be told, when Aidric came back from Adelie’s, he had already visited the royal apartments and told Edward’s chamberlain that he wished to speak with him at his convenience.
The chamberlain had told him to return in a short while, and that was what he was doing.
Aidric did not know where Britt or Dirk or Stefan or Bennet were so that they could be part of this meeting, but he couldn’t take the time to hunt for them.
He had a king to see.
By the time the three knights reached the royal apartments, Edward was ready for them.
He usually rested in the afternoon, and had since his return from the Holy Land, because all of that travel had been taxing on his middle-aged body.
He was in a crimson robe, standing over a table with a cup of wine in his hand and reading a dispatch that was on the tabletop in front of him.
Fat tapers burned in the chamber, giving off an acrid smell because there were so many of them.
When the three knights entered, Edward glanced up from the table.
“Ah,” he said. “The three of you are here. Excellent.”
Aidric entered first, followed by Gerard and Orion. “My lord,” he said. “Thank you for seeing us. We shan’t take a good deal of your time, but there is something we must discuss with you.”
“What about?”
“The Archbishop of Cambridge.”
Immediately, Edward’s rather pleasant attitude seemed to vanish. “A pity it could not be a more pleasant subject,” he said. “What has he done now?”
“It is what he wants to do, my lord.”
“What is that?”
“Kill you.”
Edward looked at him to see if there was any measure of jest in his expression. Seeing none, he indicated the chairs around the table.
“I think you’d better sit,” he said. “I think I should, too.”
The knights moved for the table, taking the chairs indicated. Edward sat down, looking at the three of them, wondering if he even wanted to hear what they had to say. Lifting a hand, he motioned for them to speak.
“Now, what’s this about Cambridge?” he said. “What has happened?”
Aidric took the lead. “To explain how we know, my lord, I must go back a few days and start at the beginning,” he said. “I went to Adelie, the dressmaker, in London because I wanted her to fashion tunics with the Guard of Six standard on them.”
Edward nodded. “I saw them at the feast,” he said. “They were magnificent.”
“Thank you, my lord,” Aidric said. “But Adelie did not make them. They were given to us as a gift from a woman whose life I saved whilst at Adelie’s.
Robbers targeted her and I protected her.
She happened to be one of the Seven Jewels of London, however, and she belongs to the Archbishop of Cambridge. ”
Edward cocked his head thoughtfully. “Ah,” he said. “A Jewel, you say?”
“Indeed, my lord.”
“With Cambridge?”
“Aye, my lord.”
“That was the woman in white who came to my feast,” he said. “She was pointed out to me when she entered with Cambridge. She was hard to miss.”
Aidric nodded. “That was her.”
“And you saved her from a robber?”
“Aye,” Aidric said. “Because of this, it would seem that the woman has formed some trust in me. I suppose any man who would save her from robbers is worthy of her trust.”
“Of course,” Edward said. “So she belongs to Cambridge, does she? Seeing a Jewel is rare, you know. Most of them are kept away from the world.”
“I know,” Aidric said. “Believe me, she is worthy of the title. The woman is positively magnificent.”
As Edward and Aidric nodded in agreement, Gerard spoke up.
“My lord, there is much more to the story,” he said.
“The night before the feast, an Executioner Knight came to us and told us that an agent planted within Cambridge’s house had information that would lead him to believe the archbishop was going to use the Jewel to assassinate you by using her new relationship with Aidric.
By somehow seducing him so she could get close to you. ”
Edward looked at Aidric in shock. “You have a relationship with this woman?”
Aidric was irritated because Gerard made it sound as if he’d been withholding information on his connection with the lady.
“I saved her life, my lord,” he said, trying to explain himself.
“That is the extent of it, but she came to me in confidence and told me the same thing our Executioner Knight agent told us. She, too, says that Cambridge wants to use her to get close to me so that she can carry out this assassination. Cambridge phrased it in a way that makes it sound like you want him dead, so he is compelled to defend himself. Strike first, as it were.”
Edward was listening to all of it quite seriously. “And she told you all of this?”
“She did, my lord,” Aidric said. “She confirmed what Perrin de Lohr already told us.”
“Ah,” Edward said. “Perrin. He is a good agent.”
“He is, my lord.”
Edward rubbed his chin thoughtfully, pondering what he’d just been told. “It does seem strange to me that an assassin would confess what she’d been ordered to do,” he said. “That sounds rather inept of her.”
“Or brilliant,” Gerard muttered.
Aidric had to take a deep breath to still his annoyance, but Edward looked at Gerard curiously. “You think she is so brilliant that she would confess what she’s been charged with doing?” he said. “So we are all aware of it and, therefore, on our guard against her? Does that make sense?”
“It does not,” Aidric said firmly.
“It does when you understand the nature of the Seven Jewels of London,” Gerard said, unwilling to retreat from his point of view. “These are women trained in court intrigue. They understand it. They are capable of it.”
“You think so?” Edward said. “It is interesting that you should. You will remember that my father created the Seven Jewels of London, and the only things they are trained in are a man’s pleasure, culture, food, music, poetry, and reading.
I’ve not known them to be trained in court intrigue, nor have I known any of them to take part in it. ”
Gerard didn’t have an answer for him other than to state the truth. “If you are exposed enough to something, you are going to learn about it,” he said in a low voice. “She has spent three years with Cambridge. We all know the man is a viper. Do you not think she has learned from him?”
“Then you are saying that you believe she is capable of carrying out an assassination?”
Gerard shrugged. “Or she will convince Aidric to do it.”
Aidric had had enough. He slammed his hands on the table as he stood up, rattling the entire room. Orion jumped up beside him, throwing his arms around him so he wouldn’t charge Gerard.
“That is enough from you,” Aidric exploded. “You have done everything to undermine my position and my capabilities that you could possibly do, but now you slander my honor. I will not stand for this, de Velt.”
Edward was on his feet, putting himself between the knights. “Gerard, that was uncalled for,” he said. “Aidric’s loyalty is beyond question. Why would you say something like that?”
Gerard’s feral gaze was riveted to Aidric. “Because he has feelings for the woman,” he said. “That makes a man capable of almost anything.”
Aidric was trying to break free of Orion’s grip.
“You bloody bastard,” he said. “At least I wasn’t exiled from the Executioner Knights.
You have to be some kind of lowborn, gutless fool for that to happen.
Clearly, you are already a failure. How does it feel to be called that, de Velt? How do you like being insulted?”
Edward gave Gerard a shove toward the door because if Aidric broke free, there would be blood on the walls. “Enough,” he spat at Aidric, but his focus returned to Gerard. “You started this. Explain yourself before I let both Aidric and Orion loose on you.”
Gerard was in a bad position and he knew it. He was starting to tense up, his cheeks growing ruddy with anger, perhaps even humiliation. He looked between Edward and Aidric, struggling with his composure, but in the end, he knew he’d been wrong. He’d gone too far.
He grunted and lowered his gaze.
“Because… because it happened to me,” he finally said. “Why do you think I was discharged from the Executioner Knights? I am trying to prevent what happened to me from happening to you, St. John. Can you not understand that?”
That seemed to slow down the building rage that was forming in the room, for all of them.
Those few simple words brought both Aidric and Edward to a halt as they looked at Gerard for what was a very personal confession.
When Gerard simply turned away, hoping they wouldn’t ask him to elaborate, Edward spoke softly to Aidric and Orion.
“Lord Hogsthorpe of Lincolnshire was bringing in French mercenaries to tear up England during my father’s reign,” he said.
“Lord Hogsthorpe’s daughter was the captain of his army, the one orchestrating everything.
The Executioner Knights were involved in information gathering and repulsion of the enemy as they landed upon England’s shores.
Gerard, do you want to tell them the rest? ”
Gerard sighed faintly. No, he really didn’t, but he didn’t have much choice now. He’d already unlocked the door of that part of his past and the king had opened the door entirely. He was still staring at the wall when he spoke.