More importantly, she was eager to leave.
It stung when she practically told Walter what was going on, but she hadn’t. She was clever enough to tell Walt nothing, though he’d hinted at understanding her plight.
“Are you waiting so eagerly for the king?” Reg asked. “Or someone else?”
Nicholas turned in his spot to stare at his cousin. “Do you want to be thrown out into the dirt today, Reg? Adele and the children may stay until you find them a place to live. We discussed your flapping tongue already, so I assume you don’t care where you sleep tonight.”
“Of course, I care, Nicholas,” Reg whimpered. “’Twas merely a question I asked.”
“Ah, if that is all ’twas, Reg, then my answer is someone else.” Nicholas didn’t look away but dipped his head and stared at him from beneath the ridge of his dark brow. He waited. He dared Reg to open his mouth again.
His cousin went back to slurping his breakfast. Nicholas was about to tell him he’d be wearing the food if he didn’t stop, when he spotted the king entering the great hall. He made his way to Nicholas’ table.
Could this morning get any worse?
He stood up when Richard reached him and gave over his chair. He put one leg over the bench at the king’s left, beside Reg, and straddled it. He kept his back to his cousin and his face to the king. Better he sit between these two fools, than Kestrel having to.
“Nicholas,” Richard said, “I understand you disappeared with Miss Locksley last eve. Where did you go?”
Nicholas set down his cup. He wouldn’t tell him and put Old Walter in any kind of danger. No matter what else Nicholas told the king, Richard was likely to ask Kestrel when she arrived, and their accounts would not match.
There was only one thing left to do.
“What do you mean by questioning me?” he demanded in a low, deadly tone. “I do not give accounts to you about my personal life.”
“I am your king,” Richard replied with a haughty tilt of his chin. “You will tell me what I wish to know.”
“No, Sire, I will not.” Nicholas held his ground. “It is of no concern to you.”
“I will be the judge of that.”
Nicholas leaned forward, close to the king. “You will not be the judge of what I do. Henry Tudor is as close as France and is gathering forces. ’Tis only a matter of time before he comes.”
And then what? What would happen to Kestrel?
“You will die without me, Sire.” He let his voice and his words drift across Richard’s ears. Nicholas wanted to tell him that if Richard wasn’t the last heir to the House of York Nicholas would never fight for him.
Richard glared at him with dark, hollow eyes. “You threaten to leave me. That is treason. I could have you beheaded.”
“Do it. And when Tudor slaughters you and seizes your crown, the moment before you die you will remember this with heavy regret.”
The king appeared to be rethinking his decisions. “I want obedience from you, Commander.”
“You will have it on the field. What I do in my private time is my concern. If you have me followed, I will kill whoever you send.”
“You are barbaric,” the king told him with distaste on his lips.
“I’m many things, Sire,” Nicholas agreed with a glint in his eyes. “But I’m not your prisoner. I will not be treated like one.”
He saw her finally arrive with Elia at her side. Did he want them to come closer?
He stood up and Kestrel stopped for a moment as if to catch her breath.
He saw why she was late. Her rich, sable hair was pinned up all around her head. The long column of her neck was pale in the golden candlelight. Her eyes looked like two oceans of blue-green splendor. Her body was clad in an olive-green kirtle with an over-dress of undyed linen. Sewn around the neckline and cuffs were swirls of gold and dark green.
Had Elia made it for her? It seemed to fit perfectly.
“Ah, here is our cherished guest, Miss Locksley!” greeted the king. She smiled at him and came closer to the table.
Nicholas wanted to hold up his hand to stop her. But he only grumbled. She gave him a curious look and came near to sit opposite him. Elia slipped into the empty space beside her.
“May I be the first to tell you that you look lovely this morning,” Richard said.
“Forgive me for being tardy.” Her gaze was fixed on Nicholas.
How could he be angry when she looked so beautiful? Then he remembered Richard to his left and Reg to his right and his scowl returned.
He would have asked her how she slept, but Reg’s children began to argue. Adele lifted her hand to her forehead and Reg began to slurp his food again.
Nicholas had been patient long enough. He lifted his hand, signaling to one of the servers. “He gets nothing else to eat or drink while I’m here.”
“Aye, m’lord.”
“You are done with breakfast, Reg,” Nicholas told him. “You might as well leave.”
Reg stood up and opened his mouth, but Kestrel began to speak first. With her gaze on Adele and Reg’s brats, she began softly. “Perhaps if he doesn’t eat anymore, he can stay with his family until they are done.”
Nicholas’ eyes opened wide and he stared at her. She smiled.
“Very well,” he grumbled. “As long as he doesn’t speak.”
“You’re generous, my lord.”
She sounded like she was telling the truth. The wide grin she offered him made him smile back at her.
“This is all very interesting,” the king remarked.
“What is?” Nicholas asked, not caring what the king saw between them.
“I have known you for over two decades, and I have never seen you give in so easily to any woman.”
Nicholas smiled, looking at her. “She steals more of my heart each day. Imagine what I will do to the man who tries to
