The winter seems to be plodding
along. I hope you’re staying warm. Today my guest is Barbara Bettis and an
excerpt for her story, The Lady in the Forest. In this passage, Henry has
interrupted the wedding celebration at Stonehill Castle to challenge Mortimer’s
right to marry Kate.
[Henry and his two friends]
stalked into the hall where the lord held forth at the high table before the
household left for the chapel. Kate sat at his right, the priest at his left.
“Sir Mortimer.” Henry’s voice
boomed above the din. “Stand and answer my challenge.”
Mortimer lifted his head. “Lord
Henry. Sit, break your fast before I wed my lady.” His oily tone did not match
his hard set of jaw and narrowed eyes.
Henry ignored the words and
continued across the floor. Mortimer rose but before he could speak, Henry
leaped onto the dais.
“You have no right to demand Lady Katherine in
marriage.” It took all Henry’s determination not to glance at Kate.
“I have an order from the king, granting me
this holding and the lady as my bride.”
“I say the order does not exist.” A murmur
rose from the people seated at the lower tables. Calling the lord a liar meant
a fight. But no sounds arose of benches scraping back. Perhaps the soldiers
awaited a signal. Henry stepped closer. “Produce this writ. Let me examine the
seal.”
Dull red moved up Mortimer’s
neck; his nostrils flared.
Henry sucked in a breath of
satisfaction. He had him now. “You cannot. The people of Stonehill have been
mistreated and their lady driven into hiding in fear for her life. You’ve lied
and cheated, and you’ve taken part in a treasonous attempt to overthrow one of
the king’s barons.”
He hadn’t known what to expect
from Mortimer, but it wasn’t the self-satisfied upturn of the man’s mouth.
Dread scraped a cold trail along Henry’s spine.
“You may be another baron and a pet of the
king,” Mortimer said, “but that don’t make you always right, and that don’t
keep you from facing a fight when you accuse an honest man of wrongdoing.”
He motioned to the priest, who
stood and withdrew a section of parchment from a leather satchel beside him on
the bench. It contained no seals.
Henry clenched his teeth. Why
in the devil’s own hell hadn’t he considered the priest as the knight’s
accomplice?
The churchman opened the
document and at a nod from Mortimer, read. “Sir Mortimer of Corbeau, in
gratitude for service, is granted the holding of Stonehill in Nottinghamshire…”
A loud buzzing in Henry’s ears
blotted the words that followed. Satan’s backside! The writ existed. The
parchment was stained and tattered, not the official document often used to
dispense favors, but he’d seen Richard direct a clerk to scratch out such
awards after a battle. They were rough and hurried, yet they carried the weight
of the king’s power.
And they always carried his
seal.
Where was the seal for this
order?
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Reading this excerpt reminded me how much I enjoyed this book, Barbara, and look forward to the next one in the series. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteOh, Mairi, Thank you so much! I enjoyed writing their story.
DeleteThe Lady in the Forest is one of those books you can't put down until your at the end. I loved the story! Can't wait for the next one!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the kind words, Lane. It was such fun to get those two together :)
ReplyDelete