The Agents of William Marshal Volume I: A Medieval Romance Bundle, page 27
That was something of a relief to hear him say that, even though she had already known it. They’d proven it. This task, which could have been so utterly terrifying, was made far easier knowing that these men would protect her at all costs.
“I know,” she said, smiling timidly. “It is just that this… I have never been involved in anything like this. It is quite frightening. How do you do this on a regular basis? You must have nerves of steel.”
That brought laughter from the group. With a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye, Maxton reached out and clasped her hand.
“It takes practice, believe me,” he said. “You will do fine. Know that we are all there to help you and protect you, so simply complete your duties as normal and everything will work out as it should. In fact, we must discuss what will take place at the feast so we know when to act. What can you tell us about the schedule for the day?”
Andressa knew this; she’d been part of the feast day for the past four years. “In the past, the king has arrived later in the morning and the mass begins. The bells will call the faithful to Sext, the midday prayers, and the bishop will perform mass. At the conclusion, he will perform the act of Communion for the worshippers.”
“And the king is to have his own special wine,” Maxton clarified.
She nodded. “Aye,” she said. “Of course, the king would demand his own wine as it is, so this is nothing new. It will be my task to ensure the king receives the poisoned wine, only I will make sure he does not. But the sisters will think otherwise.”
Maxton was still holding on to her hand; he squeezed it. “Good girl,” he murmured. “Then what?”
Andressa was having difficulty focusing on his question because his hand, so big and warm, was holding on to hers. Her heart was beating firmly against her rib cage, thrilled by his touch.
“Then the king, the bishop, and the Mother Abbess will retire to her private solar for the feast,” she said. “It will only be for special guests, this feast. The Mother Abbess has never opened the feast to all those at St. Blitha, so they will dine in her solar.”
“Maxton,” William said. He’d been listening to everything and a thought had just occurred to him. “How do you intend to catch the nuns in the act? As it is, they are guiltless women until you can prove they tried to poison the king. How do you intend to do that?”
It was an excellent question and everyone looked to Maxton for the answer. He glanced up at his friends, seeing their curiosity, before finally looking at William.
“Simple,” he said. “You will be attending this mass, will you not?”
William nodded. “Much like the de Lohr brothers and Gart, the king knows me on sight, also. I will be attending the mass along with them.”
“And I will assume you will be attending the feast.”
“I’ve not been invited, but I’m sure I can find my way to the table.”
Maxton released Andressa’s hand and stood up, facing William. “Then that final step will be up to you,” he said. “It is you who will ask the Mother Abbess to drink from the king’s wine. If she refuses, it will be because she does not want to drink poisoned wine. She will be the only one, along with her cohorts, who know it is poisoned and when she refuses to drink it, you will ask her why. Press her. As far as I am concerned, a refusal is as good as a confession.”
William liked that answer. In the end, he would be the one arresting the king’s assassins and look like a hero. Anything that brought him glory in the end was well received.
“Excellent,” he said. “And Lothar shall know it is I who foiled his plot. Perfect. And you will be nearby to arrest the other nuns?”
“When Andressa points them out, we will move on them as soon as you move on the Mother Abbess.”
“Wait,” Andressa spoke up before they became too excited over the idea that the nuns wouldn’t resist their arrest. “The Mother Abbess has a staff that she carries with her, always. As I told Maxton, it has a blade at the end of it, a very big blade, and she is not afraid to use it. You must treat her as you would treat any other killer – she would show no hesitation in using her blade against you.”
William smiled faintly at her concern. “My lady, I have been a knight longer than you have been alive,” he said. “I believe I can defend myself against your Mother Abbess. Besides, Sean and Kevin and Cullen will be in the solar with me because they will be accompanying the king. They can assist me in apprehending the Mother Abbess. But where will her minions be?”
Andressa shook her head. “That is something I do not know,” she said honestly. “I will have to locate them and point them out to your men. Last year, they joined the Mother Abbess for the feast, but the year before, they did not. Therefore, I do not know if they plan to join the feast this year.”
William considered that. “Then we must have eyes on them at all times,” he said. “But let me make this clear, young woman – you are to have no involvement in apprehending these women. I am perfectly happy to use you as a spy, but not as a martyr. You will go about your duties as usual. You will help my men identify the nuns involved in this plot, and nothing more. Is that clear?”
Andressa nodded solemnly. “It is, my lord,” she said. “And I am grateful.”
William grinned at her. “You are doing quite enough, and it is we who are grateful,” he said. “In fact, I told Maxton that you would be rewarded when this is all over. Has he told you that?”
Andressa shook her head. “Nay, my lord,” she said, looking to Maxton in surprise. “A reward?”
Maxton could see that she was puzzled by the thought. He ended up crouching down beside her again. “You are helping us save the country,” he said softly. “Without you, we would still be fumbling around in the dark, trying to figure this all out. Don’t you understand? You have made everything possible and you deserve as great a reward as we can give you.”
A reward. Andressa had never even considered such a thing and, even now, she simply couldn’t comprehend what he was saying.
“I…I do not even know what I would ask for,” she said. “I do not do this to be rewarded.”
Maxton smiled. “That is why we are eager to reward you,” he said. “You are doing this because it is the right thing to do, not because you will gain something from it. Is there anything you can think of? Anything at all.”
She considered his question very carefully. “Would… would a new pair of shoes be too much?”
William chuckled and Maxton did, too, at her sweet and simple request. “You would not want something more?” he asked. “Say the word and I shall ride to Chalford Hill Castle, remove your aunt, and restore your inheritance. The Marshal shall supply the army and no man, or woman, can stand against it.”
Her eyes widened. “You… you would do that?”
“Aye, I would do that. For what you have done, every man in this room would do that.”
She stared at him a moment longer before tears began to fill her eyes. “It is too much,” she whispered. “That is far too much to ask.”
“Nonsense,” William said firmly. “If that is what you wish, consider it done. When the Mother Abbess has been arrested, you will have seen your last day at that abbey. Won’t she, Maxton?”
Maxton had a smile playing on his lips. “I would say so,” he replied, feeling the least bit self-conscious because he suspected what most in the room were thinking – there was more than simple chivalry involved in his declaration. “The day after the feast, I will muster an army and ride to Gloucester. Your aunt will be arrested for stealing your inheritance and you may assume your rightful place as the heiress to the Culverhay fortune.”
Andressa’s hands flew to her mouth as tears popped from her eyes. She was so grateful that she could hardly express herself.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “It all seems like a dream… I cannot believe you should help me so.”
Maxton’s expression was gentle, something completely out of character for him. But with her… it was easy. “You are unaccustomed to someone being kind to you,” he said. Then, he winked at her. “You had better get used to it.”
Before she could reply, several servants appeared at the solar door bearing food and drink. There was also a servant bearing parchment and quill, and with the situation more or less settled, the knights began to disburse as the food was brought into the chamber and placed upon a table near the hearth. The knights broke into small groups, quiet conversation among them, as Maxton pulled Andressa to her feet and, collecting her chair, took it over to the table so she could sit.
Now, it was just Maxton and Andressa at the table as the others wandered away. The servants had left behind boiled beef, boiled carrots and peas, a soft pottage of cheese and honey, bread, butter, and a steaming pitcher of hot milk with honey and cinnamon in it. Andressa picked up a spoon, her eyes big on everything in front of her, before she delved into the cheese pottage. Once she tasted it, she couldn’t shovel it into her mouth fast enough.
“What do you plan to do once you are back at Chalford Hill?” Maxton asked, reaching over to pull the parchment and quill left on the table in his direction. “It has been four years since you have been there. Surely you have great plans.”
Andressa’s mouth was full of more soft cheese. “I do not know,” she said honestly. “I never thought I would return, so I do not know what I will do.”
“Well,” he said casually as he began to sketch out Andressa’s map in the ashes from memory. “The first thing to do is find someone to help you manage it.”
“Why?”
“Because you are to deliver a child soon. The infant will take much of your time. What will you do with your empire?”
She hadn’t thought of that and a hand moved to her belly, timidly touching it. She spent so much time avoiding touching it, avoiding acknowledging it, that it seemed strange to feel her belly, firm and rounded.
“Everyone will wonder about the father of the child,” she said, swallowing the bite in her mouth. “How can they know the truth? I am sure they all know I have been at St. Blitha for the past four years. They will know that I have not married.”
“Why not?” he asked, concentrating on drawing the chapel exactly the way she had. “Do you really think anyone at Chalford Hill has kept watch on you?”
Andressa thought about that as she pushed the cheese away and moved to the beef. “Probably not,” she conceded. “In truth, I do not know anyone there any longer. I was gone for eight years and when my parents died… I am sure my aunt has brought in her own servants and maids. I am sure I do not know anyone there any longer.”
“Then they would not know that you left St. Blitha, say, a year ago and married,” he said, scratching out the old abbey walls. “They would not know that it was your husband laying siege to Chalford Hill to regain it for you.”
She stopped chewing. “Husband? But I have no husband.”
He looked up from the parchment. “You have me.”
“You are not my husband.”
“I would like to be.”
Andressa almost choked with what was left in her mouth. She had to quickly grab at the cup of hot milk Maxton pushed in her direction and slurp it to push the beef down. When she was finished coughing and sputtering, she looked at him with utter shock.
“Maxton,” she hissed. “Are you mad? Why should you want to marry me?”
He set the quill down, a smile tugging at his mouth. “Because you see me in a way no one else does,” he said quietly. “You have called me kind and generous from the start of our association. You see me through the eyes of someone who does not know of my past, or of the things I’ve done. No one has ever looked at me that way before, Andressa. I never thought to marry, but if I did take a wife, I would want her to look at me the way you do. You only see the good in me and that makes me want to be the best man I can possibly be. If you have such faith in me, then mayhap I should have faith in myself.”
It was, perhaps, the sweetest thing Andressa had ever heard. Not only that, it solved her question of whether or not she was good enough for Maxton, something she’d been wrestling with from nearly the start of their association. But she was still overwhelmed with it all; everything was happening so quickly.
“You are the kindest and most generous man I have ever met,” she murmured. “Oh, Maxton… you cannot know how happy your words make me but, clearly, you are a blind man. Can you not see what I am? I surrendered myself to a man who was not my husband and now I am paying the price. I have been a laundress at an abbey for four years, working my hands until they bleed, eating crusts and berries and anything else I can steal in order to survive. I live like an animal. Are you sure that is the kind of wife you want?”
His smile broke through and he reached out, collecting her cold, slender hand. “If you are willing to see the best in me, then I am willing to see the best in you,” he said. “I told you that you are not the only sinner between us and, as for the rest, you did what you had to do to survive. That tells me that you are stronger than you know. I would be proud to have such a woman by my side.”
“Even though you have only just met me?”
“I do not need days or months or even years to tell me what my heart already knows.”
Andressa stared at him a moment longer before tears of joy pooled in her eyes. “And you are certain of this?”
“More certain than I have ever been.”
She blinked and the tears spilled down her cheeks, which she quickly wiped away. “Then if you are certain, I would be honored,” she whispered. “More honored than you will ever know. But tell me one thing.”
“Anything.”
“You are not offering marriage simply because I am the rightful heiress to a rich fortress, are you?”
He laughed softly, flashing is big, white teeth. “I can promise you that I am not,” he said. “In fact, I would take you with only the clothes on your back. Regaining Chalford Hill for you… it is yours, Andressa. It will always be yours.”
She was enchanted by his smile, his words, feeling such hope and joy swell in her that she could hardly contain it. It seemed surreal, all of it. But in the same breath, nothing had ever seemed so right or so true. It was glory beyond imagination.
It was to be hers.
“And yours,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I will share all that I have with you, for always. But… will you do something for me?”
“All you need do is ask.”
She squeezed his hand again, that big and strong thing, trying to put her thoughts into words. “When I was young at Chalford Hill, and when I was fostering at Okehampton, no one called me Andressa,” she said. “My parents only named me Andressa because they hoped I would be a boy. They wanted to name him Andrew.”
“You are most definitely not a boy.”
She giggled. “Nay,” she agreed. “But because they wanted a boy, they called me Andie from birth. I was always known as Andie until I came to St. Blitha. It reminds me of better days. Days I never thought I’d see again.”
He brought her hand to his lips, kissing it sweetly, and he didn’t care who saw him. “I am happy to call you Andie if it pleases you,” he said. “But know that I think your name is quite beautiful. Like you.”
Andressa’s cheeks flushed a dull red, the most color Maxton had ever seen in them. It gave her such a glow, a hint of the true beauty this woman possessed. He was still holding her hand when she lowered her head and continued eating.
All with one hand.
It was the best moment of his life.
CHAPTER TWENTY
St. Blitha
It was a cold, misty morning, much colder and denser than the day before, but the Mother Abbess and her attendants were up before dawn, preparing for the day. With the feast day on the morrow, there was much for them to do.
They had a traitor in their midst.
“Is she awake yet, Sister Petronilla?” the Mother Abbess asked. “Is she at her duties?”
Sister Petronilla was over near the windows that overlooked the garden. She peered out, trying to see through the mist that had settled. The sun was just rising, turning everything a lighter shade of gray, like a mystical land the color of silver.
“Aye,” she said after a moment. “I see her and some other women over near the kitchens.”
The Mother Abbess sighed faintly as Sister Agnes adjusted her wimple. “And you are sure what you saw last night, Sister?”
Sister Petronilla turned away from the window. “I am certain,” she said. “I was watching the postern gate to ensure she returned from Lady Hinkley’s. There was a man with her. I could see him standing outside the gate when she came through.”
“And she had no laundry from Lady Hinkley?”
“None that I could see, Gracious Mother.”
The Mother Abbess finished fussing with her wimple and made her away across the floor, looking from the windows just as Sister Petronilla was doing, seeing Andressa across the misty yard as she worked with the other nuns. Because she was so tall, it was easy to spot her among the other women.
“So Andressa has a lover,” she said, but there was an icy edge to her tone. “A lover who must have killed Douglas when the man strayed too close to her. Do you suppose that is what happened, Sister? Mayhap Douglas stumbled onto something he should not have heard and was killed for it.”
Sister Petronilla lifted her shoulders. “Andressa spends far too much time wandering the city,” she said, disgust in her voice. “She has more freedom than anyone else because of her duties as the laundress and she has taken a lover because of that freedom. She has taken advantage of your generosity, Gracious Mother. Something must be done.”
The Mother Abbess was calm, unnaturally so, as she watched Andressa go about her tasks. “Something will be done,” she said as she turned away. “She will understand her place in all things or The Chaos will swallow her, too. It is something we must do. Bring her to me.”
Sister Petronilla left her post at the window, a smug expression on her face because she was happy to summon Andressa to face the Mother Abbess’ punishment. She wasn’t happy about Andressa joining their exclusive group as it was, so the fact that the woman had proven herself unworthy was quite a joyful thing for Sister Petronilla. As she quickly left the Mother Abbess’ solar, the Mother Abbess turned to Sister Agnes and Sister Dymphna.
