Besieged and Betrothed

I don’t recall the exact words, sir. She just said for you to hurry.’

‘Did you give her my message about Stephen?’

‘Yes, sir, but she already knew. The usurper was called back to Winchester. His army isn’t coming now.’

‘I see.’ He tried not to sound disappointed. ‘What about Sir Guian?’

‘He hadn’t reached Devizes by the time I left, sir.’

‘Good.’ That was one consolation at least. If he rode hard then he could hopefully get there around the same time, or just after. ‘Go and get some rest.’

He curled his hands into fists. That was that, then. If there was no chance of Stephen returning to Herefordshire, then there was no need for him to remain there either. No reason that he could explain to the Empress anyway. None at all except for his marriage—and he still had to ask Matilda’s permission for that. Not that she could do anything about it, he reassured himself. She didn’t have the authority to annul their union, although she could still show her displeasure in other ways if she chose. Sending Sir Guian back and taking Juliana’s home away from her for a start... In which case, he really ought to go and explain.

‘Tell the stables to get my horse ready,’ he called after Mattias as an afterthought. ‘Tell Gervase and Jan to prepare, too.’

‘Just the two of them, sir?’

‘Just them.’

He looked pensively towards the stairwell, wondering what to do next. Matilda, his Empress, needed him—but so did the woman upstairs, from a practical perspective with her father at least. Hadn’t he just sworn an oath to her, too? But Matilda needed him now and she’d asked for him, whereas Juliana... She’d said that she didn’t want him at all. He doubted she’d want comfort from him even when the time came and, in any case, that might not be for a while. William was definitely failing, but it might still be possible to ride to Devizes and back before any crisis occurred.

Matilda’s crisis, on the other hand, was upon her now. As much as he hated to admit it, Robert of Gloucester’s death dragged the battle for the crown even further into the mire. Matilda would need his support more than ever as she decided on her next move. One that would be potentially even more dangerous now than it had been a month ago.

He started reluctantly towards the stairwell, heading after his wife. The last thing he wanted was another confrontation so soon, before either of them had had a proper chance to calm down, but there were things they needed to discuss. He had to tell her where he was going and why. His wife had a right to know, whether she gave a damn about it or not.

* * *

Juliana paced up and down the gallery, trying to walk out her anger. Her whole body was trembling after their argument, her knuckles throbbing from the force of her punch, too. She didn’t feel guilty about that, not after what he’d said about her resembling a stablehand, but she did regret it. After everything Lothar had told her about his parents, she shouldn’t have started their marriage with violence, no matter how furious she’d been, or how much he’d deserved it. As for their marriage itself, she was still in too much shock to make any sense of that. If her father had known of her treachery with Stephen, he could hardly have punished her any more effectively. Marriage! To a man who loved someone else, who saw her simply as part of some game! Even if he didn’t strike her as a man who played games. Even if the other things he’d said had made sense, as if he hadn’t just married her for her inheritance—as if he really were trying to protect her. Was it possible?

A footstep in the stairwell made her swing round at once.

‘Peace!’ Lothar raised both hands when he saw her. ‘I’m not here to argue. I’ve only come to tell you I’m leaving.’

‘Leaving?’ She didn’t know which shocked her more, the words or the violent lurch in her stomach as he said them. Despite their argument she hadn’t expected him to do anything quite so extreme. Nor to give up so easily. She must have been more convincing than she’d thought if he was just going to walk away so soon. Strange that she didn’t feel more relieved about it.

‘Matilda’s summoned me back to Devizes. The Earl of Gloucester is dead.’

‘Oh!’ She froze instantly. ‘I’m sorry. My father said he was a great man.’

‘He was. I’ll pass on your condolences, but I have to go to her.’

‘To comfort her?’ She winced at the note of bitterness in her own voice. She hadn’t meant to say it quite like that.

He frowned slightly. ‘To offer my support.’

‘Of course. It’s never easy to lose someone.’

‘I’ll come back as soon as I can. In the meantime, let Ulf help you.’

She shook her head. ‘He finds it too distressing.’

‘And you don’t?’ He made a movement towards her, slowly as if she were some kind of wild animal. ‘I wish the timing were better, but I have a duty to the Empress. Besides, I need to explain about your father, as well as everything else.’

‘Are you going to tell her about...us?’ She didn’t know quite how to phrase it. ‘Will she object?’

‘That might depend upon how I explain your allegiance to Stephen.’

‘Which I won’t surrender.’ She jutted her chin out stubbornly.