The Concubine (Unexpected Circumstances 5)

“Silence!” Branford bellowed, stifling the neighboring king. “I will hear her words, and you will remain silent while she speaks!”

Nelle looked from Branford to me and then to King Edgar. I examined the expression on Edgar’s face and could see his veiled threat toward her. She shuddered as she turned back to Branford, grabbing onto her knees.

“Speak!” Branford commanded her. He took a step forward and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Speak now, Nelle! What is it you have to say?”

Edgar took a step forward, but Dunstan shuffled ahead, obstructing his path, standing tall and blocking the king’s view of the woman on the ground at Branford’s feet.

“Tell him,” Parnell said as he sneered down at her. “Tell him what you know.”

I could not see his hand but knew it was near the woman’s back. I wondered what he held, grasped in his fingers.

“King….King Branford…” she stammered. “King Edgar has…plotted against you.”

Branford looked slowly over his shoulder to the other king and then back to Nelle.

“How so?”

I could see the poor woman’s hands shaking as she stared down at the hard wooden floor. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally uttered a word.

“It is the tea,” Nelle said softly. “Lady Alexandra’s handmaid gives her a witch’s tea to keep her from becoming with child. The concubine is given it as well.”

And that is when my prayer was answered.

~End Book 5~