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Brantinterrupted, “Am I confused Hyram, or are you supposed to work for me?”
“Aye,My Lord,” Hyram answered. “However, when William approached me with orders fromthe King, it seemed in everyone’s best interest, to aid him. Particularly, whenprovided with information that Niles, had been a part of the group, thatambushed your father. He and Avery had a similar plan for you. Since I amfrequently at your side, if they were allowed to proceed, I would likely bekilled, too. While I am not afraid of death, I would like to avoid it, for aslong as possible.”
“Howexactly, was this alleged plot uncovered?” Brant asked.
Theknights looked at Isabel.
“TwasAvery,” Isabel said. “He was showing me off to Niles. They got into the plan tokidnap Esme, then use her to lure you into an ambush.Avery said it would work, just like with your father. He said Niles and his men, could meet up with you, a short distance from yourCastle, so your people would not know he was there. When you met Avery’s men,you would be outnumbered."
"Wehad conflicting information, as to which side Niles was actually on,"William said. "Robert and others, said he was gaming Avery, to getinformation for you. Isabel felt certain, that he was all for Avery bestingyou."
"Iwas sure that Niles was working with Avery, because of my father's take on hisfamily," Isabel said. "Edmund believed Niles sire, was a murderer.Right after Lady Gwenivere, and her father, werekilled, Niles family claimed to have purchased what was to be her dowry, a fewdays prior to their deaths. Father swore the son, was worse than the sire.Though, he would not say why."
"Therewas a good deal of suspicion about Niles for a couple of reasons. SeveralLadies he expressed an interest in, turned up missing. However, it was notuntil after Nathaniel was born, that one of Avery's men claimed to have heardNiles speak of the ambush, on your father," William said. "Nilessupposedly said, 'Eric never suspected anything, until the end. Since no oneknew Niles was there with him, all suspicion fell on Avery'.”
"Unfortunately,the man was in trouble for other crimes. Therefore, he made a dubious witness,against a titled Lord," Isabel said. "Twas only amatter of weeks ago, that a reliable witness against him surfaced. Nilestried to approach some mercenary types, since Avery was gone. Then, we got thego ahead, to set a trap for him."
Whenthey fell silent, Robert interjected, “So you took their plan to kill Brant,and used it to kidnap him?”
“Itwas a viable plan,” Isabel said, with a shrug. Then, she continued with hertale, “It was pretty clear that Niles intentions with me,were not honorable. My father had the binder, the one I gave you, Brant. Twas about your family, so I went through all of it, forinformation on the enemy. What I found was fairly shocking. According tothe papers, Niles father was the son of the Duke, and one of the Castle Ladies.Your father, was the Duke and Duchess’ child, bornfour months after the Duke's illegitimate son. So, the family of the older child, hatched a plot to kill the Duke, Duchess, and theirson. However, when they initiated the attack, the Duke was able to delay themlong enough, for the duchess to escape, through the secret passage, with thelegitimate heir. After that, a lot of members of both families were killed,trying to protect, or assassinate, your father. To stop the bloodshed, theycame up with a treaty, which gave the older child the title, and about a thirdof the property. The legitimate heir, got the rest ofthe property, but not the title. Which worked until Nilesinherited. He told me last night, he had the title,he should have the property, too. That is why I went to his Castle. So he wouldknow I had the binder. You see it had diagrams of the locations of all thesecret passages, in your families' Castles and Keeps.”
WhenIsabel stopped speaking, A
“No,Mother. I did not have to go along the wall with a candle,” Isabel said,rolling her eyes.
Williamspoke up, saying, “Anyway, in the last few weeks, we have located a couple ofpeople to confirm the paperwork. They were youths at the Castle, at the time.It has been forty-seven years, most of the people with knowledge of the events,are gone. This situation goes back to the fairly lawless times during Stephen’srule, where family feuds were covered up as part of the civil war with Matilda.The King wanted confirmation that Niles knew he did not rightly, hold thetitle. I believe the goal, was to arrange a cover for Nile's death, if he werearrested. Since he decided to fight being taken into custody, and was killed,twill be a simple matter to declare you the Duke, as you should be.”
SinceIsabel had pretty much disclosed her part of the story, she rose to go to herson. She lowered herself, with her back to the men, to sit on the blanketcovered mat, intended to keep the babe off the cold stone floor. Nathanielhappily crawled to his mother, and she helped him pull himself up to standing.He loved to stand, though he had no balance, yet.
Asshe played with the affectionate nine month old, she heard one of the knightssay, “Things went pretty much as pla
Brantasked, “Except what?”
Theknight stammered, “Except, well, except your marriage to the Lady. That seemsto have gone terribly, awry.”
“Terribly awry?” Brant repeated, with a grin. “You think so?” He lowered his voice, ashe leaned forward, and said, “I say again, the child stays here, and she willstay with the child. Do you doubt it?”
Brantstood up, and walked away. That matter was settled, as far as he was concerned.
Awhile later the knights, William and Byron, prepared to leave. Brant asked themif their business was complete, or if he should expect more of being told tocooperate? In the future, he would expect to be informed of what was going on,if they expected his cooperation. Though, he knew if they did not want toinvolve him, that might just get him jailed, again.William replied their business was concluded, at least as to Brant's cousin.Then, William offered the advice, that if Brant was determined to keep theLady, he should be nice.
Chapter 18
Later, the evening meal past, fairly pleasantly. Afterward, Kate kept the conversation going,explaining how they had come here, merely to see if Nathaniel was home. Theyhad not expected to find a cloak, and dagger situation. She then teased Isabel,about all her little secrets.
“Oh,come on, Isabel. Tell me how I get the King to send me, a couple of knights,”Kate teased.
“Iam not sure how you would do it. I would just send a parchment, with mygrandmother’s family crest on it, and a brief note, including who, and where,”Isabel said. “But only in an extreme emergency.”
“Thatis all it takes?” Kate asked.
“Well,that, and a hundred pounds from a King's ransom. That gets a pretty quickresponse,” Isabel answered.
“Wheredoes one get a hundred pounds, from a King's ransom?” Kate asked in amusement.
Isabellaughed, and said, “One either has it, or they do not.”
“Ohcome on. You ca
“Twasway too scandalous,” Isabel said. “I ca
Nathanielwas rubbing his eyes, to fight sleep, so Isabel said, "I think I need toget someone into bed. If you will excuse me?”
Sherose to take the babe up to bed. When Brant saw his wife walking toward thestairs, he rose, and went to join her. He grasped her arm, directing her up thestairs, into his Solar.