Chapter Twenty-One

“We’re sorry, Mira. Can you ever forgive us?”

The soft plea came from Primrose, the most delicate of the younger wards of Lady Isabel. All of the wards, Mira included, were in the ladies’ solar that was used for their lessons. Rather than hide in their chambers in fear because of the upheaval at Axminster, Davina and Helen had instead forced the younger girls back into their routines, so Mira found them all in the solar completing their poetry lessons. She’d only come to check with Helen and Davina before heading to the kitchens to see to the evening meal, but Helen and Davina had pulled her into the chamber and the younger girls—Ines, Marceline, Louisa, Primrose, and Theodora—needed little prompting to apologize.

They’d all heard the terrible truth about Astoria and her lies.

Truth be told, Mira wasn’t in a particularly forgiving mood. She was very hurt by what the girls had done to her. But, on the other hand, Astoria had been a master manipulator, so she really didn’t blame the girls too much. Astoria had managed to push everyone around with her demands and lies. Mira listened to Primrose, Ines, Louisa, and Theodora’s apologies, and then Marceline’s sobbing plea. Because she was crying, Primrose started to weep, and Mira gave up on her inclination not to forgive them immediately. They were genuinely remorseful, young as they were. She hugged both young women and assured them that they were, indeed, forgiven.

Standing by the open door as all of this went on, she caught a glimpse of Eric as he left the main solar and headed outside. She also saw Jonathan and Davyss enter, only to be quickly ushered into the main solar by Douglas. He didn’t see her, but she took a moment to gaze at the man, feeling her heart swell with joy and pride. A man who would protect her and love her, something she’d never hoped for in her life. Not like this. She’d always planned to be married but never hoped for fondness in the union.

Love.

Though she’d never been in love, she suspected that’s what she was feeling.

It was like a whole new world.

“Mira?”

Someone was calling her. Breaking from her thoughts of Douglas, she turned to Helen, who was standing a few feet away. The young woman smiled at her.

“Did you hear me?” Helen said.

Mira shook her head. “I confess, I did not,” she said. “I saw Douglas and became deaf and blind to all else around me.”

Helen grinned. “I am very happy that you have found such joy,” she said. “We all are, truly. In fact, the girls were wondering if we would all be invited to the wedding.”

Mira went to her and took her hand. “It would not be the same without you,” she said. “Especially you, Helen. And Davina, too. You were kind and supportive from the moment you found out, no matter what Astoria said or did. I shall never forget that. You are true friends.”

Helen put her arms around Mira, giving her a hug. It was a sweet moment between them, and a friendship that had endured a great deal as of late. But Davina and Primrose interrupted because Primrose wanted Mira to hear the poem she had written, so the girls gathered around, embracing one another, smiling and listening attentively to Primrose’s poem of a garden of flowers that talked to one another and magically danced with the fairies at midnight. It was meant to be sweet and humorous, and there was a good deal of laughing going on.

There was joy and friendship once again.

And that was how Isabel found them.

“Ah,” she said as she entered the solar. “I see that we are all a happy family again.”

The young women turned to Isabel in surprise. “My lady,” Mira said, releasing Helen and going to her. “I was told you were sleeping. Were you disturbed?”

Isabel shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “I found that I simply could not sleep, so I came to see to my young wards. What were you listening to?”

Mira pointed to Primrose. “Primmy has written a wonderful poem,” she said. “Would you like to hear it?”

Isabel nodded. “Indeed, I would,” she said. “You may continue, Primmy.”

Primrose was always intimidated by Isabel, so her voice quivered a little as she recited her poem about the magic flowers. When she was finished, Isabel clapped politely, praising her imagination and critiquing it ever so slightly. As stern as Isabel could be, she was usually quite supportive when it came to the creative endeavors because she wanted to encourage them.

On the heels of Primrose’s poem, Theodora was convinced she had one that was just as good, about a fox and a dog who became friends. Isabel took her usual chair in the chamber, but she took Mira by the hand as she sat down. She simply sat there, holding Mira’s hand as Theodora spoke of the fox and the dog who were enemies and then friends. Mira glanced down at Isabel more than once, smiling at the woman, who smiled in return. Perhaps there were unspoken apologies in those gestures for the turn the night had taken, for the struggle Mira had gone through, and smiles of gratitude that she had emerged without serious damage.

Of course, Mira couldn’t have known that Isabel was holding her hand for a deeper reason. She knew that the young woman had murdered a man in self-defense. She held her hand because of the terror Mira had felt, a silent gesture of solidarity and support. A gesture of relief because the night could have so easily have gone differently. It could have been Mira wrapped up in a shroud, stored in the very vault she had been killed in. So many things could have been different.

But they weren’t.

And Isabel was grateful.

Primrose and Theodora’s poems led to more recitations from Ines and Marceline, and finally Davina, who was very good at it. Poem writing and recitation was something all young women needed to learn and perfect, something Isabel considered a great virtue. It signified elegance and education. Looking around the chamber, she couldn’t have been more grateful that life at Axminster had settled back down again. No matter if she’d had to sell her soul to do it, there was peace.

And would be for a very long time, if she had anything to say about it.

“Lady Isabel?”

A servant had slipped in unnoticed and now stood at Isabel’s right elbow. She glanced up to see one of the kitchen servants who had been at Axminster since the time of Isabel’s mother.

“What is it, Bets?” she asked.

The servant was older, with a rosy, shiny face and no eyebrows. She bent over to whisper to her mistress.

“Lord de Honiton has asked that we make special dishes tonight since he is to be our new lord,” she said. “He wishes to have fish and fowl, and eels from Axmouth. He has instructed that someone go to the port to buy them. Shall we do this, my lady?”

Isabel looked at the woman as if she’d gone mad. “He said… What did he say?”

The kitchen servant was well acquainted with Lady Isabel’s temper and it was a struggle not to cower. “He said that he is to be our new lord and—”

Isabel was out of her chair, her hand silencing the rest of the servant’s explanation. “That is enough,” she said. “Nay, we will not buy eels in Axmouth. What did the cook have planned for supper this evening?”

“The rest of the beef, my lady.”

“Then what is what we shall have,” Isabel said, storming off toward the solar door. “Where is Lord de Honiton now? Did he actually come to the kitchens?”

“Nay, my lady,” the old woman said fearfully. “He sent a servant.”

“Then he must be somewhere on the grounds,” Isabel said. “I will find him, and when I do, he will not go around telling anyone he is to be the Lord of Axminster again!”

She stomped out. Mira, who had still been standing next to the chair, watched the woman go with concern.

“I am not entirely sure she should go alone,” she said to Helen, who had come to stand next to her. “When she is that angry… sometimes she says things she does not mean.”

“Go with her,” Helen said, also the slightest bit fearful of Lady Isabel’s temper. “Find Eric. Mayhap he can keep her calm.”

Mira nodded quickly. Leaving the chamber full of young women and their poetry, she dashed out after Isabel.

The woman wasn’t difficult to track. She was cursing up a storm as she passed through the inner gatehouse, into the central bailey beyond. She was nearly halfway across the bailey when she caught sight of something on the walls and came to an abrupt halt. By that time, Mira had caught up to her.

“Lady Isabel,” Mira said. “Would you permit me to summon Sir Eric? Mayhap he can help you straighten out any misunderstanding with Lord de Honiton.”

Isabel pointed to the wall. “Lord de Honiton is up there with Eric,” she said. “Douglas and Jonathan and the de Winter knight are with them. Why are they all up there? What in the world are they doing?”

She was stomping off again, making her way to a turret that had narrow spiral stairs that led to the wall walk. The walls of Axminster were particularly tall, taller still at this point because on the other side of the wall was a cliff. The twenty-five-foot wall was tripled in height between the top of the wall and the bottom of the cliff. It could be dangerous because, like many walls around England and Scotland, there was a minimal lip, which could give an enemy trying to scale the walls something to grab on to should they throw grappling hooks.

But if someone fell over the side, it would surely kill them.

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.”

Isabel stiffened. “And you probably would,” she said. “You came to Axminster yesterday under the pretense of being an ally. You pretended to be kind and amiable when the truth was much darker. Although I am sorry that your son was killed, it does not give you the right to behave as you have. The truth is that your son was killed in the course of attacking a weaker woman. He paid for it with his life. Instead of accepting that your son is responsible for his own death, you have blamed everyone else for it. You have threatened those you feel responsible to get what you wanted and, fool that I am, I let you. Now, the fact that you would break our bargain and fail to see the gravity of your actions tells me everything I need to know about you. You are not worthy of the earldom of Axminster, Lord de Honiton. I would rather give it to a pig than a worthless bastard like you.”

Stinging words that should have been said much sooner in the situation, but Isabel had been trying to keep the peace. She had been trying to keep de Honiton from harassing Mira, Douglas, and anyone else he felt was involved in the death of Raymond. But that had been a mistake. Clearly, a very big mistake.

She was finished placating a fool.

But he was a combative fool.

After that, Douglas would swear that everything moved in slow motion when the truth was that events happened so quickly that he barely had time to react. For a man of action like Douglas was, his reflexes often saved his life, but in this case, things had moved too quickly for him.

Before he realized it, they were in a fight.

He and Jonathan and Davyss were standing several feet away from Jerome and Isabel, too far away to stop the man from slapping Isabel across the face. Her head snapped sideways and she stumbled back, stepping on Mira, who scrambled to get out of the way and ended up tripping. As Mira fell back and quickly crawled out of the battle zone, Isabel brought up a fist and clipped Jerome on the side of the head. As he reached out to grab her, she kneed him in the belly. Her hands were moving as quickly, and she slapped at him several times before he got a grip on her arms to stop her.

Meanwhile, Eric was rushing to save her.

But Isabel didn’t need saving. She was using her hands and knees to pummel Jerome, who had his head down so she wouldn’t hit his face. He was trying to push her back, away from him, but she just kept coming. Her movements were almost frenzied, as if she were terrified what would happen if she didn’t gain the upper hand, but that meant Jerome couldn’t open his eyes. He didn’t see that his right foot was nearly on the ledge.

But Douglas did.

He’d been so busy watching Isabel throw herself at Jerome that he noticed the position of the man’s foot too late. He shouted, but Jerome thought he was shouting at him. Out of corner of a peeped-open eye, Jerome saw Douglas move and knew the man was coming to help Isabel. Jerome could survive an angry woman but knew he couldn’t survive the knights who served her. In an effort to move away from Douglas, and Eric, he stepped sideways and his foot bumped into the low lip of the wall. It was enough to cause him to stumble.

Over the wall he went.

But it wasn’t just him. Jerome was holding on to Isabel, and they went over together. Eric, who was closer to Isabel, screamed her name and grabbed for her, managing to get hold of her ankle, but Jerome’s body weight had pulled her over the side. Eric refused to let go of Isabel, which meant he also went over the side as Douglas managed to reach out as a last-ditch effort and grab Eric’s booted foot.

The boot came off in his hand.

Jonathan and Davyss grabbed Douglas before the momentum could take him over the side, too, and the three of them watched in horror as Jerome, Isabel, and Eric fell to the base of the wall, down the side of the cliff, and continued to the very bottom of the rise.

It was all over in a matter of seconds. As they remained frozen, staring at the bottom of the cliff, a scream brought them back to reality.

Mira had seen everything.

She had been witness to the fight, the fall, and Douglas nearly going over the wall after them. As terrifying as that was, the very real fact was that she’d just seen the death of Isabel, a woman she loved dearly, and she began to wail in horror. Douglas scrambled away from the ledge and went to her, half walking, half stumbling, and pulled her into his arms.

“Wolfie! Davyss!” he hissed, both arms around her and a hand over her head, holding it against his chest. “Get down to the base of the hill. Find them. Take men with you. Go!”

Jonathan and Davyss rushed past him, heading for the turret stairs, as Douglas picked Mira up and cradled her against his broad chest.

“I’m so sorry, love,” he said, feeling as bad as he possibly could. “My God… I am so very sorry you had to witness that.”

Mira was weeping loudly, her arms around his neck as he held her tightly. She couldn’t even speak. Horrified and sickened by what he had just witnessed, Douglas took Mira down the stairs, carrying her toward the keep in a weeping, heaving mess even as the castle around him came alive with men rushing out to see what had become of Isabel, Eric, and Jerome. Douglas and Jonathan and Davyss hadn’t been the only ones to see the fall—other sentries on the wall had seen it, too, and word had spread like wildfire. All of Axminster was in chaos as the main gatehouse opened, purging men and horses onto the road.

All the while, Douglas held Mira tightly and carried her to the keep.

There wasn’t anything he could say. There wasn’t anything he could do. He’d gone to the wall with his comrades in arms, preparing to rid Axminster of a viable threat for the sake of a woman who had become a good friend, but somehow, the fingers of fate had twisted up that plan and spit it out as a jumbled mass of pain and suffering.

He could hardly believe it.

Maybe this was their punishment for planning the death of Jerome, or mayhap this was simply a way to put Isabel and Eric at peace. If they could not be together, there was no point in living. They were together in death as they could not be in life. Douglas wasn’t going to try to rationalize what he just saw. All he knew was that he was heartbroken by it. Absolutely heartbroken.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Not in the least.