God help him, he had such a mess on his hands that he didn’t even know where to start. William knew he had to get Christopher and Peter and David out of Norwich and he had to make apologies to Old Daveigh. But he found himself praying that his agents following Sean and Christin would catch up and wrangle Christin away from Sean. And given there was some emotion involved now with Alexander and Christin, he seriously wondered if Sean was going to survive.
So many unknowns.
The danger, for England, is already here. It is right under your nose.
That’s what the spy had told Christin. William hadn’t been wrong when he told the king that he was his own worst enemy.
The danger, for England, was John.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The Cock and Bull Inn
Dereham
Christin had been conscious since nearly the moment they’d left the town of Norfolk.
She’d started to fight as she became aware, thinking it was Gerard who held her, but Sean had whispered in her ear and she’d calmed down immediately. He’d begged her to be still and cooperate and he promised to get her out of this alive, but that was all he would say. Christin knew exactly what was going on and she could see that she was surrounded by at least twenty or more of the king’s soldiers, so fighting and trying to flee would not have been in her best interest.
Therefore, she would have to trust Sean.
The party had ridden very hard and fast until sunset when the horses needed to be rested, so they’d stopped at the village of Dereham where Sean had paid for a room at The Cock and Bull, a large and crowded establishment in the center of town. Sean had pulled her off of his horse, heaving her over his shoulder as he headed inside and took her straight to a chamber at the top of the stairs.
All of the manhandling was all for show because the king’s men were spreading out in the common room below and Sean didn’t want them to think he was showing Christin any mercy. The fearsome Lord of the Shadows wasn’t capable of mercy or kindness, and Sean had to project that image. For all the king’s men knew, the woman meant for Robert FitzRoy was being closely, if not cruelly, guarded by de Lara.
That’s exactly what Sean wanted them to think. As soon as they entered the chamber and he shut the door, Christin turned to him with big eyes.
“What now?” she hissed. “Sean, what is going on?”
Sean held up a hand to silence her. “We need to make a show for the guard,” he said quietly. “Remember the night of the feast and the rather awesome act you put on?”
She sighed sharply. “Clearly, it did not work if I am still being taken to FitzRoy.”
Sean nodded. “It worked,” he said. “But John decided your breeding and name was worth your horrific manners. Now, I want you to scream and cry when I tell you to. Understand?”
She nodded, lifting her shoulders in a gesture suggesting she really didn’t know what he meant, but she soon would. Suddenly, he tossed a chair into the door, rattling it, and smacked his hands together several times, loudly. It sounded like slaps against flesh.
“Scream,” he murmured.
Christin did. Loudly. She cried and screamed, pleading for mercy as Sean grinned at her antics. She picked up the chamber pot, empty, and tossed it to the floor for good measure, crying loudly.
It was the performance of a lifetime.
All the while, Sean stood back by the door and laughed silently until he finally held up his hand for her to cease. She did in an instant and they both stood there a moment, listening to see if any of John’s soldiers had come up to the chamber to listen to the ruckus. With no sounds on the landing outside of the door, Sean moved to the other side of the chamber, pulling Christin with him.
“If I know Sherry, and I believe I do, he is not far behind us,” he whispered. “Cai saw everything that happened and undoubtedly told him, so I will find Sherry and anyone else who happened to come with him.”
Christin frowned. “If you are going to find him, why can you not take me to him? We can slip out without being seen, can’t we?”
Sean shook his head. “Above all else, my position with the king must remain solid,” he said. “There must be no hint in the minds of anyone that I am anything other than the king’s most loyal subject, so I cannot take you to Sherry and I cannot allow you to escape. In fact, we are going to go to Bishop’s Lynn for a reason.”
“What could that possibly be?”
“Because you are going to meet Robert Fitzroy.”
She stiffened. “I will not meet him and I will not marry him. Have you lost your mind?”
Sean shook his head. “I have been thinking about the situation in detail and of the only possible solution to it.”
Christin threw up her hands. “The solution is to return me to Norwich,” she said, trying to keep her voice a whisper so no one would overhear. “I must return!”
“So the king can abduct you again?” he said. “So you can return to Lioncross and spend the next several years fearful of being abducted by the king, or of your sister possibly being abducted? Think, Christin. Running does not solve the problem.”
She was trying not to become upset or panicked. “We did try to solve the problem,” she murmured. “I made a fool of myself at the feast last night because you said I should and it did not work. It did not deter him.”
Sean was quite for a moment. “How long have you been an agent for The Marshal?”
“For nearly two years.”
“And in that time, you have accomplished some fairly unsavory tasks.”
“Aye,” she said honestly. “It was my duty.”
“I know,” he said. “Scream again, by the way.”
“What?”
“Scream again so they still think I’m brutalizing you.”
Christin did, howling and begging for mercy, enough to make Sean chuckle again, until she quieted down. He nodded in approval.
“Now,” he said. “On to my point. Have you ever been tasked with killing a man?”
She nodded, somewhat solemnly. “I was, once.”
“Did you accomplish it?”
“Aye. Why do you ask?”
Sean’s dark blue eyes glimmered. “Because the problem in this entire situation is Robert FitzRoy,” he said. “Think about it – he’s the crux of this issue. If you eliminate him, John will no longer need a wife for his son.”
Her eyes widened. “Eliminate him?” she said. “You mean kill him?”
He nodded slowly, seeing that she understood what he was getting at. “Treat him like any other mission,” he said. “Get close to the man and make sure he does not live to see the morning. Break his neck, suffocate him with a pillow, or push him down the stairs. If you do not, you will never be free of him or his father.”
Christin could see exactly what he meant and it was actually quite brilliant. Sean saw something to the situation that she did not – how to end it for good. “Why didn’t I think of that?” she muttered, mostly to herself. “This time, the mission will be my future.”
“Exactly. It is in your hands. Are you brave enough?”
Brave? Of course she was. Christin had been born brave. But something was troubling her. “Is FitzRoy an active participant in all of this?” she asked. “What I mean is, did he ask to marry me?”