Harman prayed not.
“My lord, when it happened, why did you not summon the Constable of the North?” he asked. “Why not punish de Soulis for what they did?”
Merek looked at him in anger. Then defeat. That defeat moved on to confusion. “You would not understand.”
“I understand that your daughter was attacked,” he said quietly. “But I also understand that you did nothing about it. Why?”
Merek suddenly slammed a fist against the table, rattling everything upon it. “You will not judge me,” he boomed. “My daughter bears the shame of that attack, not de Soulis. It is my daughter who shamed the House of de Leia and summoning the constable to punish de Soulis? It would be useless. The House of de Wolfe is caught up in the troubles on the borders right now and this would be considered a personal matter, so I would plead my case, which everyone would hear, only to be denied.”
Harman didn’t agree with him. “Then you do nothing to help her?”
Merek glared at him, teeth clenched. “To help her is to let this incident fade away as if it never happened,” he growled. “To help her is to let this lie. It will be forgotten, eventually.”
“But you have an army…”
“I have an army of eight hundred men,” he shouted like a man who had wrestled with this exact question too many times to count. “I cannot take Hell’s Guardhouse with only eight hundred men. It would be futile and I would lose many men in the attempt. What happened to my daughter was… unfortunate. Of course I am outraged. But I am outraged that she allowed it to happen and to punish de Soulis would mean starting a war with him that I cannot win. And he knows it.”
Harman was at a loss. He simply couldn’t understand the man’s perspective of his daughter’s participation in an attack. “My lord, I do not believe your daughter allowed anything to happen,” he said. “I was told there were several men who abducted her from the village. She had no control. But is certain that de Soulis knows about the child and now he wants it. Mayhap he even did this deliberately. Even if you will not seek vengeance for what has happened to your daughter, surely you will not let them take her or the child.”
Merek seemed to calm unnaturally fast, but he still looked like a man who was struggling with the weight of the world on his shoulders. “She is not here,” he said, sounded exhausted. “The child is not here. I have sent them both away so there is nothing to be concerned with. They are gone and this situation shall pass. It will be forgotten. Things like this always are.”
Harman though that Merek was relying quite a bit on the hope that the situation would just go away by itself. But given what he had heard from the de Soulis father and son, he wasn’t so certain that was the case.
He just wasn’t sure what more he could say.
“I have come here to warn you about their plans, my lord,” he said. “I hope that I did not waste my breath. Your daughter and the child need your protection, not your apathy. Do you truly wish to see John de Soulis get his hands on your daughter and grandchild? You know his unsavory reputation. You know what the man is capable of.”
Merek simply nodded. “It does not matter,” he said. “She is gone and the child is gone. I thank you for your concern, Harman.”
Harman couldn’t help the disgust he was feeling as he looked at Merek. “My concern is for myself, too,” he said. “I will bring my wife to Falstone and you will protect us from de Soulis. The man intends to kill me because he has involved me in the situation. I know things that I should not know.”
“Then fetch your wife and return at another time. But for now, you will go.”
Harman was being dismissed. Baffled at the man’s reaction to the situation, he did as he was told and left Falstone Castle, wondering if fear of the strength of de Soulis was truly outweighing de Leia’s sense of responsibility to his daughter.
I have sent them both away so there is nothing to be concerned with.
That was only one concern of many in this dangerous situation. Sending his daughter away could have meant anything, anywhere, but he was clear that de Leia thought that would solve the entire problem. Was the man truly living in such denial? But Harman wasn’t going to try to figure him out. He’d done what he’d come to Falstone to do – the rest was up to Merek de Leia.
And God.
Harman made his way back to Deadwater on the little pony he’d had for twenty years. It had been a foal when he’d first come into possession of it, given to him by a man in payment for treatment Harman performed on the man’s wife. It was a sturdy little pony and Harman treated it like one of the family. The animal had its own room attached to Harman’s cottage where the little beast was kept warm and fed well.
Harman and his little pony made it home in time for supper.
Two days later, however, the door to his little cottage burst open at dawn.
Harman’s wife, who had been preparing a morning meal at the hearth, shrieked when the heavily armed men entered the little cottage. Harman was with his pony, feeding it, but he heard the commotion and came inside to see John sitting at his table while Nicholas had stolen the loaf of bread Harman’s wife had made for their meal. He was shoving it in his mouth when Harman entered the common room.
“My lords,” he greeted, clearly displeased at the chaos they were creating. “You are always welcome in my home. Will you break your fast with us?”
He was politely inviting them to a meal. As if he had any choice. John yawned, putting a leg on the table and scattering the utensils that were there, as Nicholas continued to stuff bread in his mouth.
“I was told you went to Falstone a couple of days ago,” John said casually. “Undoubtedly, you know my men are watching this village. And you. They knew you went to Falstone. Tell me what you discovered and mind you leave nothing out.”
Harman came to stand by his wife, who was very nervously cooking their meal. “I asked about the children born there during the spring, as you instructed,” he said. “I came away with some interesting news. It seems that Lord de Leia sent his daughter and the child away.”
Nicholas frowned. “Away?” he repeated. “Away where?”
Harman shook his head. “I asked, but no one could tell me,” he said. “I was only told that they had been sent away.”
Nicholas’ frown turned into a scowl as he looked at his father. “Why would he do that?” he demanded. “He was not supposed to send them away!”
John was far calmer than his son. In truth, he didn’t seem all that surprised. “So de Leia rids himself of his daughter and the bastard child,” he said thoughtfully. “To a nunnery, I wonder?”
“Or mayhap there is a grandmother, somewhere, to watch over them,” Harman suggested.
John looked at the old man. “And you know nothing about de Leia’s family or allies that might take in a daughter and her child?”
Harman shook his head. “I received the impression that Lord de Leia kept the girl… confined, shall we say,” he said. “She was not free to run about, probably kept locked in a chamber until the child was born. Once it was delivered, Lord de Leia sent them both away.”
John stroked his chin. “I wonder why,” he said after a moment. “A dutiful father would keep his child with him, protecting her.”