Tender is the Knight (10 page)

Shaken, Thomas could only shake his head. “I have served you for twenty years, my lord,” he muttered. “You think now to tell me that there is more to the feud between you and the House of
d’ Vant than the submission of their aggressive nature?”

“Surely you have always suspected.”

“How could I, my lord? I knew what you told me. If there was more to it, I was ignorant.”

“Be ignorant no longer but ask me no more for I shan’t tell you.
At least… not at this moment. Now, send word to Miguel and make haste.”

Thomas could sense mystery and confusion in the earl’s cryptic statement. 
The House of d’ Vant and the royal family are intertwined.
He wouldn’t ask any more about it. Even with his daughter involved, he knew it wouldn’t do any good. Perhaps it was another one of those subjects, like his dead wife and the king and the earl, that was best left buried in the annals of time.  He didn’t even want to know.  All he knew was that he had been ordered to locate a pirate.

A pirate to destroy
the peace treaty.

CHAPTER FIVE

“I had no idea St. Austell was such a large fortress,”
Ryan said as Dennis escorted her around the exterior of the enormous keep. “You have seen Launceston; it is relatively small compared to all of this.”

Dennis had his wife politely by the elbow, trying to help her steer clear of debris, dogs, and men as they strolled through the inner bailey of St. Austell.  There were two walls, one smaller ring inside the larger ring, and the keep sat off-center in the middle of the inner wall area.  It was indeed a vast area when compared to Launceston’s tall motte and relatively small acreage.
  But the whole of St. Austell was of mass destruction as work continued furiously on the north side of the outer wall.

“If you think this is large then you should see the fortress where I fostered,”
Dennis said. “It is called Norham Castle, or Northwood to the locals, and it is as vast and big as you can imagine.”

Ryan
listened with interest. “Where is it?”

Dennis pointed a finger towards the north. “Near Scotland,” he said. “I was there for twelve years before I earned my spurs.”

“Scotland,” she said with some awe. “I hear there are savages there.”

He chuckled. “No more than anywhere else,” he said. “There are those that believe Cornwall is the ends of the earth, you know. They say there are creatures and vast mysteries here.”

She grinned. “The only creatures I have seen in Cornwall are those of the human male persuasion,” she said dryly. “I have never seen anything mysterious. Have you?”

He shook his head as they headed into the kitchen yard. “Nothing,” he said. “I am disappointed. I have rather been hoping for a dragon since I was a young boy but, alas, it looks as if I shall never have the pleasure of killing one.”

“There are none in Scotland?”

He laughed. “
None that I have seen,” he said. “Believe me, when I was squiring at Northwood, we tried desperately to find them.”

S
he was enjoying his sense of humor. In fact, the stiff knight she had first met those few days ago was turning into a rather animated storyteller.  He was relaxing around her company, more and more, and his personality was starting to emerge. 

“
We?” she repeated. “You and your friends?”

He nodded. “I squired with a group of lads at Northwood,” he said. “
William, Paris, Kieran, Michael, Marc and I all squired together. I was the only one to return home; the rest of them stayed to serve Lord de Longley. In fact, William is now the captain of Northwood’s army.  A better warrior you will never see, even at his relatively young age.”

“How old is he?”

“I would guess he has seen twenty years and eight.”

“Are you much older than him?”

He shook his head. “Three years at most.”

She cocked her head. “That would make you
thirty years and one.”

He looked at her, smiling. “You know mathematics?”

Ryan
nodded proudly. “The earl taught me.”

His gaze moved over her lovely face and amber eyes. “It would appear that you are an accomplished woman, Lady
d’ Vant.”

She grinned at him, liking
the sounds of her title.  Truthfully, she was coming to accept the fact that she belonged to him.  A few days ago, it made her ill to think on the fact but at the moment, she was satisfied by it.  Dennis seemed to be the only thing about the entire situation that was even remotely pleasing.

But the smile faded from her face as her gaze beheld the kitchens of St. Austell.  Like everything else, they were a mess. There was debris and pieces of skin and animals all over the place,
bones and rubbish in piles, and a buttery that was nearly half-collapsed. A little old man and two burly male servants bustled about, and Ryan could see that they were making dough for bread.

The bread was being kneaded and rolled out on a filthy
stone and Ryan could see the dirt and grit getting into the dough. She winced as one man dropped some of the dough to the dirt, picked it up and brushed it off slightly, and then continued with what he was doing.

“Oh… God’s Bones,” she hissed softly. “What on earth are they doing?”

Dennis looked at her. “What do you mean?”

She watched the men a moment.  Then, she looked rather beseechingly at Dennis. “May I start my chatelaine duties now, my lord?”

He smiled. “I told you to call me Dennis in private,” he said softly. “Have you forgotten?”

She smiled, embarrassed. “Nay,” she replied. “I… I suppose I am still becoming accustomed to addressing you so informally when we have known each other such a short amount of time.”

He was forced to agree. “You do not have to do anything you are uncomfortable with, but know I would be most pleased to have you call me by my name.” He winked at her before turning his attention to the kitchen workers and lifting his voice. “This is Lady d’ Vant. She is now chatelaine over St. Austell and her word is law in the keep and kitchens, even over mine. Is this understood?”

The old cook and his two helpers paused in what they were doing to listen to Dennis’ speech before nodding firmly.
The servants were just becoming used to Dennis’ leadership, although he was liked and respected much more than his father had been.  He may have been rather quiet, and fairly non-aggressive for a d’ Vant, but they all knew what the young knight was capable of in battle. In that aspect, he was more feared than his father had ever been.

Confident the servants understood the chain of
command, Dennis turned to Ryan and nodded his head at her, giving her permission to begin her role as lady of the keep.  Ryan didn’t hesitate.

“Is there more flour for bread?” she asked the old cook.

The man nodded, pointing towards a big wooden barrel behind him.  Gathering her cloak so it wouldn’t brush up against anything and either catch on fire or become soiled,  Ryan made her way over to the barrel and lifted the lid to look inside.  Strangely, the barrel was lined with linen to keep out the vermin and the lid was rather snug. It protected the flour admirably.  The flour itself wasn’t the best grade but it was acceptable.  She tightly closed the lid and turned back to the cook.

“Throw out that dough you have been working on,” she said, gesturing to the big pale lumps on the table. “From now on, you will scrub these surfaces before you make bread and keep the dough clean.  I will not have dirt and vermin in my bread.  If you do not know how to accomplish this
, I will be happy to show you.

The old cook looked at her with a mixture of fear and curiosity before nodding his head. “I will do my best
, my lady.”

She was willing to take the man at his word, at least until he proved her wrong. She began to look around, noting the organization of the kitchen, how ingredients were stored, and the condition of things like the knives on the tables.  She began to inspect spoon, implements, and peer inside cups.

All the while, Dennis was watching with growing apprehension.  He didn’t know what the cook had done with Bute’s head and found himself praying that she would not find it during the course of her inspection.  He watched her as she curiously inspected the kitchen, making her way in the direction of the big bubbling pot of goat stew right out in the middle of everything.  They could do nothing to hide that.  His apprehension soared.

Dennis he
ld his breath as Ryan noticed the pot cooking away.  She peered at the contents and sniffed at it.

“What is this?” she asked the cook.

The old man eyed Dennis with a fearful expression before going to her side. “Stew for supper, my lady.”

“What kind of stew?”

The cook hesitated. “Goat, my lady.”

Ryan
looked more closely at it before gesturing towards the large iron spoon on the table a few feet away.  “May I have the spoon, please?”

The cook handed it to her as Dennis clapped a nervous hand to his forehead. He couldn’t help it. He watched as
Ryan stirred the stew, inspecting the ingredients.

“What is in this besides the goat meat?” she asked.

“Beans,” the cook told her; he was beginning to sweat. “Beans, carrots, and turnips.”

Ryan
stirred it a few more times before lifting a spoonful to her mouth.  She blew on it, sniffed it, and then took a taste.

The men cringed; Dennis actually closed his eyes briefly, tightly, appalled on her behalf.
He knew he should stop her, distract her from the stew at the very least, but he didn’t want to make it obvious that he was attempting to get her out of the kitchen.
God, if she only knew….

“It is very good,”
Ryan said, smacking her lips. “It needs more salt.”

The cook was trembling.
“Aye, my lady.”

Ryan
took another taste before handing him back the spoon. “What is your name?” she asked.

“Ruggles, my lady.”

“My husband is taking me to the port,” she said. “When I return, I would like to supervise the evening meal.  You and I will discuss my expectations for the kitchen at that time.”

“Aye, Lady
d’ Vant.”

With a brief smile,
Ryan gathered her skirts again and made her way back to Dennis, who had removed the nervous hand from his forehead and was now smiling wanly at her.  Ryan didn’t notice his nerve, however; she was more focused on the trip into town.

“Shall we go?” she asked.

Dennis nodded, taking her elbow as he turned her in the direction of the outer bailey.  He passed a long look at the cook as they went, silent implications to the man and the fact that any remains of Bute needed to be put well out of Lady d’ Vant’s reach.   Wiping the nervous sweat from his brow, the cook rushed to the task once the lord and lady were out of his sight.

The day was growing clear as the morning fog rolled out.  Dennis took
Ryan towards the stables, which happened to be in proximity of the knight’s quarters, and Lyla and Riston were waiting for them.  Dennis saw Riston standing with Lyla, inflamed because he had told the man to stay out of Ryan’s sight until he could tell her what had become of her goat, but Riston knew of Dennis’ displeasure and quickly excused himself as Dennis and Ryan approached.  He was in a bad spot because he could not leave Lyla alone yet he had been told to stay away from Ryan.  Dennis and Ryan watched Riston run off.

“Where is he going?”
Ryan wanted to know. “Will you bring him back? I want to inquire about Bute.”

Dennis watched the knight disappear behind the stables. “I am sure that is where he is going right now,” he said, trying to skirt the subject.  He focused on Lyla. “There is your cousin, safe and sound.  I am sure she is very glad to see you this morn.”

Successfully diverted, Ryan greeted her cousin.  Lyla, in fact, was vastly relieved to see her cousin and clung to her from nearly the moment they came together in a happy embrace.  She kept looking at Dennis, remembering his threat about not mentioning the goat, only to be met with his steely gray gaze. After glaring at Lyla implying severe punishing should she speak on the forbidden subject, Dennis sent a soldier running for the stables to tell the grooms to bring around mounts, listening to the chatter going on between Ryan and Lyla.  Neither woman seemed to have any shortage of things to discuss.

As Dennis politely stood off to the side and waited for the horses, he caught the attention of one of his sergeants and asked the man to put together an escort that would take them into town.
  As the man went to carry out the task at hand, Dennis turned back to his wife.

His wife.
  Honestly, he could still hardly believe it.  It had only been a few days but it still didn’t feel real to him. The first two days of their marriage had been full of upheaval and shock, but today the situation seemed to be easing somewhat.  Where it not for what happened to the damnable goat, it would be perfect, but with that hanging over his head, he knew they couldn’t truly move forward.  The more he watched Ryan interact with Lyla, her sweet little voice or the silly way she had of giggling, the more enamored he could feel himself becoming, and the more guilty he felt for not being honest with her about the goat.  Already, he felt as if he was being a terrible husband.

The sounds of horses roused him from his thoughts and he turned to see the grooms emerging from the stable yard with horses in tow.  But coming up behind the horses was his sister, mounted, and Clive directly behind her, also mounted.  Dennis could feel himself tense up as Charlotte, impatient behind the plodding horses, spurred her charger around them and sent Dennis’ charger into a frenzy.   This upset the palfreys and soon, all three horses were jockeying around nervously as the grooms tried to control them.

“I hope this means you are taking your wife back where she belongs,” Charlotte said, indicating the excited horses.

Dennis’ jaw ticked. “She belongs here, with me,” he replied steadily. “Where are you going?”

Charlotte’s gaze moved between her brother and his wife before finally focusing on Dennis.   There was great animosity in the pale gray depths.