Besieged and Betrothed

‘I do.’

‘Then tell me, Sergeant, what exactly is the Empress offering?’

‘A last chance. If you surrender the castle today, you and your men will be spared.’

‘Surrender?’ Her attempt at composure crumbled at once. ‘You said you were here to discuss terms!’

‘I am. Those are better than you might expect.’

‘They’re the same as four months ago!’

‘As I said, better than you might expect.’

‘But...’

She heard the crack in her own voice. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. Under the circumstances, they were the best terms she could possibly hope for. The Empress was under no obligation to offer anything at all. If this man wanted, he could simply storm the walls, capture the bridge and ransack the castle. She didn’t doubt that he could, but an outright surrender? Until that moment, she hadn’t let herself even acknowledge the possibility. If she surrendered now then she’d be failing Stephen just when he needed her, after she’d given him her word, her promise, to hold the bridge no matter what. What would he think of her if she gave up now? How else would she ever repay her debt?

‘And if I refuse?’ She tried to stay calm. ‘What then?’

‘Then the result will be the same. The castle will fall tomorrow and the normal rules of war will apply.’ He paused significantly. ‘Do you understand what that means?’

‘We can defend ourselves.’

‘No. You cannot.’

She caught her breath, fighting the urge to turn tail and run, to flee back inside the castle and hide. She didn’t want to believe him, but something told her she couldn’t simply hide from this man, couldn’t rely on the protection of cold, stone walls. She had a feeling that he’d smash straight through.

‘Then I’ll destroy the bridge.’ She pressed her hands together so that he couldn’t see them trembling. ‘If you try to take the castle by force, I’ll order my men to drop missiles over the walls. We have boulders ready inside. Haword will be worthless to you then.’

‘True.’

‘Then I mean it! If you attack, then I’ll give the order.’

‘I believe you, but I wouldn’t recommend it.’ His voice was just as cold and expressionless as the rest of him. ‘Stephen wants the bridge as much as the Empress does. If you destroy it, I doubt either one of them will be pleased.’

‘He’ll understand.’

‘Perhaps, but what about de Ravenell’s soldiers? They’ve been camped here for months. Do you think they’ll simply give up their chance to pillage once you remove the only cause for restraint?’

She stared at him, aghast. ‘But why would they still risk attacking us? We’ve nothing of any value. I’ll give them anything they want to go away.’

‘Such as yourself?’ He leaned forward, lowering his voice as if he were sharing some secret too intimate to be said aloud. ‘Men have other motives beside greed and revenge, my lady.’

She gasped before she could stop herself. His breath was warm on her cheek, but his words were chilling. She couldn’t deny the truth of them, though she had the distinct impression that he was trying to intimidate her, to frighten her into submission.

‘When do you want an answer?’

‘You have one hour.’

‘One hour?’

‘You’ve had enough time to think, my lady.’

‘Not about this!’

She staggered backwards, appalled. She needed more than one hour! How could he possibly expect her to make such a momentous decision so quickly? It was no time at all! On the other hand, what choice did she really have? If she wanted to save her men, there was only one thing she could do.

He gave a terse nod, as if he knew it, too. ‘I’ll be back in one hour. No longer.’