Chapter Ten

Axminster Castle

“Sorry to appear uninvited or unannounced, Lady Isabel, but I assumed that you would agree to entertain us for the night since my son fostered her a few years ago.”

Isabel had been met in the central bailey by a large party she didn’t recognize until the lord at the head of the party came to greet her. Then recognition hit.

She wasn’t exactly thrilled to see him.

“Lord de Honiton,” she said, forcing a smile. “It has been a long time since we last had the pleasure.”

Lord Jerome de Honiton bowed graciously to her. A tall man with graying, dark hair, he smiled politely. “You are as lovely as ever, my lady,” he said. “Raymond has often told me how much he misses his days at Axminster. He enjoyed it a great deal.”

“Oh?” Isabel said, lifting a disbelieving eyebrow. “I seem to remember a lad who wrote to his father to complain every time he was disciplined, which was often.”

Jerome laughed, as fathers who refused to believe their children were ever a problem do. “He was a curious boy who got into trouble,” he said. “I have accepted that. I am not angry, of course. Your brother did what he thought was best. Raymond has not suffered.”

As if on cue, the young man in question appeared. Coming away from an extremely expensive golden warhorse, Raymond de Honiton smiled at Isabel before bowing politely.

“Lady Isabel,” he said in a lovely, deep voice. “It is an honor to see you again, my lady.”

Isabel’s gaze lingered on the young man who had caused unnecessary trouble during his years as a page. “Raymond,” she greeted him evenly. “What finds you at Axminster today?”

Raymond looked at his father to explain. “Do you see that horse?” Jerome said, pointing to the flaxen-maned warhorse. “We have come from London, where we purchased that magnificent animal in celebration of Raymond’s day of birth. We are simply traveling home, but it is another two days away, so we thought to rest here for the night. I hope it is not inconvenient.”

Isabel shook her head. “It is not,” she said. “How many in your party?”

“Myself and Raymond and about eighty soldiers,” Jerome replied.

Isabel motioned to Eric, who had been standing several feet away. Raymond’s days at Axminster had been before Eric’s time, so he didn’t know the young man or his father. When Eric came on her summons, she introduced him.

“Eric, this is Lord de Honiton and his son, Raymond, who was a page here for a few years before his father moved him to Kenilworth,” she said. “Lord de Honiton, this is Sir Eric le Kerque. He will see to the settling of your men for the evening. Lord de Honiton, you may sleep in the keep, but Raymond will have to sleep in the knights’ quarters.”

Jerome didn’t like that his son was being consigned to the outbuildings like a commoner. “May he not stay with me, my lady?” he asked.

But Isabel shook her head. “I have unwed ladies in the keep,” she said. “It would not be proper. He may stay in the knights’ quarters. It is quite comfortable.”

Jerome understood. Sort of. Proprieties must be observed. But he still wasn’t happy about it.

“Very well, my lady,” he said reluctantly, looking at Raymond. “Just for the night, my son. You will be comfortable.”

Raymond felt slighted. His expression said what his lips wouldn’t. He had been a naughty boy those years ago, with delusions of grandeur as the son of Lord de Honiton. His family was a moderate military force in south Cumbria, but his mother had died at his birth and, as a result, his father had indulged his every whim. Raymond had grown up a spoiled lad, which meant when he came to Axminster, he had a harsh dose of reality because the de Kerringtons weren’t afraid to discipline him.

He still remembered the shame.

Now, years after he left Axminster, he was still being relegated to second best. While his father could stay in the keep, he was being sent to the knights’ quarters. As if he was just a common man. There was a large part of him that knew why he had been given those quarters, and propriety had everything to do with it, since there were several unwed maidens in the keep, but that did not ease his offense.

In his mind, he was being punished all over again.

“As you wish,” he finally said, but his tone suggested he was unhappy. “May my horse at least have a good stall and good food this evening?”

Isabel could hear the same haughty tone from the same haughty young man she’d known those years ago. She hadn’t liked him then and she was sure that she wasn’t going to like him now. But she nodded, turning to Eric, who also nodded.

“Of course, my lord,” Eric said. “Come with me and we shall find the best place for him. He’s quite a magnificent beast.”

Finally, he was being treated with some respect. Raymond headed off with Eric without another word to Isabel. Jerome smiled weakly at his son’s rude departure.

“It has been a long day and difficult travel,” he said. “I am afraid we may not be the most sociable guests.”

Isabel was grateful that she was only going to have to endure one night of Raymond’s return. “Understandable,” she said. “Will you come with me, please? I will show you to your chamber. Tonight, we will feast and you may tell me of any news from London.”

“With pleasure, my lady.”

Plastering a forced smile on her face, Isabel led Jerome toward the keep, keeping up small talk on the weather and the local hunting when what she was really doing was counting the minutes until Raymond de Honiton was gone. Something told her the coming meal might not be so pleasant, considering the company.

Little did she know just how unpleasant.

*

“Remove your travel things and go about your chores,” Mira said as she entered the chamber that the younger girls shared. “As you have seen in the bailey, visitors have arrived for the night and we must prepare. Ines and Primmy, the two of you will ensure the hall is clean and warm and ready to receive guests. Hurry along, now. There isn’t much time.”

Ines and Primrose were moving at lightning speed. They yanked off travel coats and rushed to don aprons. As that was going on, Mira turned to Louisa, Marceline, and Theodora.

“Louisa, seek Lady Isabel and offer your services with our guests,” she said. “She may need you to guide the maids in preparing a chamber. Marcy and Theo, you will go to the kitchens and inform the cook. Tell her that Lady Isabel will want the good wine this evening, the wine that has been shipped from Burgundy last year. If the cook does not require your assistance, then go to the hall and help Ines and Primmy. Go, now.”

The girls nodded, but no one spoke, which wasn’t like them. They were usually full of chatter. They stripped off traveling coats and brushed hair quickly, preparing for work. It didn’t really bother Mira that the girls weren’t speaking to her, not after her conversation with Douglas—or at least if it did, she wasn’t going to show it. With the younger ladies focused, she went next door to the chamber she shared with Astoria and Helen and Davina.

The three of them were in the chamber, removing their traveling clothing and brushing out the dust. While Helen and Davina looked at her and smiled, Astoria soundly ignored her. She was using a horsehair brush to clean the dust off her woolen traveling coat. Mira glanced at the woman, finally rolling her eyes to see that, yet again, Astoria was pretending she didn’t exist. In this case, she truly didn’t care. Astoria wasn’t worth her attention. Therefore, she turned to Helen and Davina.

“You saw the visitors when we entered,” she said. “Helen, I’ve sent Marcy and Theo to the kitchens, but you had better go, too. Make sure the food is generously prepared.”

Helen nodded. “Of course,” she said. “Do we know who the visitors are?”

As Mira shook her head, Astoria piped up. “I do,” she said. “I recognized them.”

All three ladies turned to her. “Who?” Helen asked.

Astoria was carefully hanging her coat on a peg. “It’s Raymond de Honiton,” she said, turning to look at everyone but Mira. “I recognized him riding a big blond horse. He’s grown up since he was last here, but I would not forget him.”

Mira looked at her in shock. “Raymond?” she repeated. “Are you sure?”

Astoria still wouldn’t look at her. “Of course I am sure,” she snapped. “I am not stupid. I remember what Raymond looks like. So should you.”

The problem was that Mira did. She well remembered Raymond de Honiton, a young man who had served as a page at Axminster a few years earlier. He had come as a boy, when Mira was still a young ward, and she remembered the young man who couldn’t seem to understand why everyone wouldn’t move to do his bidding. He would try to give orders and, when no one responded, throw a tantrum. That brought knightly beatings from lady Isabel’s brother, but Raymond never seemed to learn his lesson. In fact, he spent five years at Axminster and hadn’t seemed to learn anything in that time.

One of the things he never learned was that Mira was not interested in him.

Raymond was four years younger than Mira, but he was quite convinced that she was the woman for him. Even as a young lad, he’d followed her around, trying to woo her, and when that didn’t work, he set about pinching her or grabbing her in inappropriate places. He was punished for it, repeatedly, but it didn’t stop him. By the time he was sent to Kenilworth, his assault against her had grown bolder because he had grown bigger and stronger, which made the attacks increasingly frightening for Mira. She could only pray that in the seven years she hadn’t seen him that his time at Kenilworth Castle had taught him that women didn’t like to be groped or pinched, and that the knights of Kenilworth had managed to impart some manners on him.

“Of course I do,” she said after a moment. “I simply didn’t see him.”

Astoria was focused on her now. “What are you going to do with Raymond here?” she said. “He was quite sweet on you. And now Douglas is here, too. Who will you give your attention to, I wonder?”

She was taunting her. Mira kept her composure when what she really wanted to was slap the woman across the face. She knew that Astoria was simply jealous, and the problem was that being kind and understanding about it wouldn’t work with her. She lacked compassion or understanding herself. All Astoria was capable of were the very basic emotions—love, hate, and happiness. Because of it, she was about to get a harsh dose of reality.

Mira wasn’t going to tolerate it.

“My attention and whom I give it to is none of your business,” she said evenly. “I am very sorry if Douglas turned to me and not you. I am sorry if your feelings are hurt. But the lies you are telling the younger girls about me are petty and vile. I suggest you overcome whatever shortcomings you are feeling, because I did not cause them. I have not turned against you. But if you keep up this behavior, then I will turn against you and so will Lady Isabel. I don’t suppose you want to be sent back to your drunken father and an uncle who likes to crawl into your bed at night—do you?”

Astoria was feeling cornered. “You’re a seductress,” she hissed. “Did you lift your skirts for Douglas? Is that what turned his head?”

Mira could see such hurt in the young woman’s expression. She knew she should have been sympathetic, but she couldn’t seem to manage it. Not when she knew there was nothing redeemable about Astoria. There never had been. She’d seen her turn against other girls and taken pleasure in it. Now she had turned against Mira. She was a bully.

And there was only one way to deal with a bully.

“Nay,” Mira said, fixing the woman in the eye. “I did nothing of the sort. I didn’t have to. It’s simply that I’m prettier than you are. Why should he look at a sow like you when he can look at me and find more pleasure in it?”

Astoria’s face turned bright red and she charged Mira with a shriek. Mira forgot her composure and lashed out, slapping Astoria when the woman raised her hands. That brought Helen and Davina, who got in between, separating them. Davina dragged Astoria away as Helen stood in front of Mira in case Astoria decided to charge again. But Astoria was hysterical, weeping with her hand to her cheek.

“She’s going to tell Lady Isabel,” Helen said with regret, looking at Mira. “But do not worry. Davina and I will tell Lady Isabel what we saw.”

Mira wasn’t the least sorry that she’d slapped Astoria. “She’d better learn to behave herself and accept the situation or there will be more where that came from,” she said loudly so Astoria would hear her. In truth, she was angry about the entire ridiculous circumstance and turned for the door. “I have things to attend to. So do you. I will see you later.”

Helen nodded, watching her go with regret. The situation was, indeed, regrettable. She returned her attention to Davina and Astoria, catching Davina’s eye and silently waving her away. Together, they departed the chamber, leaving Astoria sitting on her bed, nursing a stinging cheek and wounded pride.

Very wounded.

In that wound, something began to fester.

Mira wasn’t going to have the last word in this, Astoria decided. What started out as mild jealousy had now turned into something darker. I’ll get her, she thought. Douglas or no Douglas, now it was a situation between her and Mira. Of course Mira was prettier. She was beautiful. Everyone thought so. But no one thought that of Astoria. She was first made aware of that by none other than Raymond de Honiton himself several years ago, when Raymond had eyes for Mira and Astoria had eyes for Raymond. When she tried to press her affections, the boy actually called her ugly.

Now he was back.

And that gave Astoria an idea.