Trial By Fire

Chapter: Three

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"We're taking her and leaving," Wat hissed, not pausing in his pacing of the area where the three travelers had been tossed pending the return of the lord of the manor. They'd been told that the lord and lady had gone hunting and would not be back for awhile. The guards at the gate turned them away, refusing to let them inside the courtyard to wait. It was then that the fight had begun, landing them where they now were; a fight that both Wat and Geoff had entered into with enthusiasm while Kate stood to one side. "I don't care if she even looks decently taken care of."

Kate sighed and cast a worried glance at Geoff. The cut on his brow was still bleeding and he'd not said a single word since the fight upon their arrival at Adhemar's home. He ignored Wat's angry words and jerked away from her when she went to tend him. That left her with nothing to do but watch Wat pace. "We should have sent word back that we were coming."

Now Geoff laughed, a harsh sound, and looked up. Disillusionment played heavily upon his face. "Most peasants don't strut up to the gates and demand to be let in to see the lord, then take exception when they are refused. I'm not surprised they decided to hold us, though I'd hoped for a better reception."

The pen they were in was at the far end of the manor, backed up against the tall wall of the building and guarded by several of the men who'd fought Wat and Geoff. Kate turned slowly, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone she recognized. "They didn't have to beat you, Geoff."

"I haven't been in an honest-to-God fight like that in years, Kate. It was bracing."

She snorted at the light of enjoyment that came into his gaze. "It was childish. The best path would have been to be respectful and accepting of waiting. Did it really make a difference to wait inside? No. Inside, outside. No difference. " Strolling to Wat, she put a hand out and snagged his arm, stopping his strides back and forth. "You've been an innkeeper, Wat. You know how to act or you'd not be as successful as you are. What happened?"

It was an honest query. Sure, she knew Wat was volatile at times, but to come here and let his temper blaze before even seeing Jocelyn? They didn't even know yet if Jocelyn and Miles were well.

Regret flickered for a moment as a shadow upon his features, then slipped away. "I lost my temper. Those arrogant voices, the very idea that Jocelyn willingly wed him...."

Kate opened her mouth to answer when a child's voice carried to them.

"It is you! Kate!"

Miles ran across the grass and Kate almost wept at joy of seeing him. She'd missed the boy. He evaded capture from two of the guards and climbed the fence surrounding the area with an agility Kate remembered well. Miles had always been able to shinny up a fence or tree in seconds. Behind him trailed two dark haired little girls who laughed as they watched him. He fell from the top of the fence, picked himself up and launched himself at her, the force nearly sending her sprawling.

She collided with Wat, his arms going about her, bracing them. Kate embraced the boy. "Miles."

"Come out of there, Master Miles," one of the guards said sternly.

"Go play soldier," Miles retorted. As an insult, it was feeble, but the guard recoiled and stalked off around the front of the manor. The remaining men seemed unconcerned with Miles' behavior, returning to their posts.

Miles released Kate and sat on the ground, looking at Wat and Geoff with enthusiasm. "I remember you, Wat, but I don't know him." He pointed at Geoff. "Are you a friend of my mom's too?"

Wat removed his arms from around her and Kate felt a mild chill from the loss. It felt like she'd lost more than just the warmth of his arms. Quickly, she sat beside Miles. Glancing up at Wat, Kate found his regard upon her, something more than friendship revealed in a single second before he covered it over. In that second, Kate realized the depth of Wat's feelings.

Confused, she turned her attention on Miles, trying to convince herself she'd hallucinated. Wat did not have feelings for her. He couldn't. Not when he'd regaled them with tales of his pretty Millie who lived in the town where he'd bought his tavern. She was seeing things that weren't there.

But what if....

Geoff knelt. "Indeed I am. In fact, I knew your mother before she married your father."

"Which one? My real dad or my new one?"

Geoff's expression went blank and then he gave a shaky laugh. "A good question. Both, actually. I knew them both, and your mother. And Christiana and Wat and Kate...."

Miles laughed, grinning. He waved a hand at the two girls. "These are my sisters. Ana and Genevieve."

With a polite nod, Geoff acknowledged both girls and they nodded back. "They're very pretty."

"Mom thinks so too. She says 'they look like their father, thank God.'"

Kate began to laugh. She could almost hear Jocelyn's voice. Her friend would say something like that, although Kate rather thought Miles hadn't been supposed to hear that. "Who'd she say that to?"

"Chrissy. Chrissy didn't agree. She argued that their mother was thought to be very beautiful and any beauty came from her." He scooped up a rock and tossed it in the air, then caught it. "I don't think Chrissy likes my new dad. She always frowns when she thinks he can't see her." He glanced at the girls, then leaned close to Kate and whispered, "I like him though. He gave me a horse, a great big one, and he lets me go riding with him."

Wat joined them on the ground, stretching his long legs out and crossing them at the ankles. "And your mother, does she like him?"

The boy frowned in thought, then shrugged in an unconcerned manner. "I guess. She spends a lot of time with him in their chamber, even in the afternoon and she's always giggling when she comes out. I think they play chess."

Kate exchanged an amused glance with Wat and Geoff. Chess indeed. She rather suspected it was another sort of game those two played. If Jocelyn giggled, then she must be well. "I'm sure they do play chess. Your mother likes that game."

"Yeah, I know." He looked around the pen and tossed the rock towards one of the guards, who deftly sidestepped with a little smile. "So, why are you in here? Why aren't you waiting in the hall?"

"They like fresh air," came Jocelyn's voice from the far side of the pen. She stood there in a mauve gown and surcoat, her hair covered by a matching cap and a smile stretching her lips. She looked very pleased.

Beside her, was Adhemar. Kate gave him a quick glance up and down and saw him little changed in ten years save what one could expect. He said nothing, letting Jocelyn do the talking.

"Go and play Miles. You'll have time later to see them." Jocelyn waited. For a second, her son looked inclined towards mutiny, but then he sighed and left the pen, taking his new sisters with him. When they had gone from the area, Jocelyn's smile faded. She went to the guard at the gate. "Why are they in here?"

"They demanded entry to the manor, my lady. The redhead --"

"You knew very well that I had visitors coming, Fitz."

"My lady, they're dressed like peasants."

"Do we not allow peasants into the manor these days? You let Roland in easily enough."

Adhemar crossed his arms, still unspeaking.

"They were belligerent. For all I knew, they were assassins."

Jocelyn shook her head. "And you're an idiot."

Kate became fascinated by the expression on Adhemar's face. For the most part, it did not change, yet there were tiny differences that indicated what he felt of the conversation. First a gentle lift of one brow and then the pursing of his lips and finally a twitch that indicated humor.

"Would an assassin simply walk up and demand entry? I think not. One intent upon a silent killing would come in under pretense, make himself invisible in the manor and then strike and fade away into the outside. Really, Fitz. Here I thought you were a soldier."

The dark haired Fitz turned to his employer. "My lord...."

"Release them immediately. You've no cause to hold them." Jocelyn rested one hand on the fence.

"My lord!"

Adhemar raised his gaze from the ground and shrugged. "Your lady gave you an order Fitz. Why do you hesitate?"

Kate got to her feet, along with Wat and Geoff. They stood together, arms touching. The gate was opened for them, Jocelyn moving to meet them. One by one, she hugged them and made some remark about how they looked. She paused the longest at Geoff.

"You, Geoff, don't look the same to my eyes as you once did. It has been so long."

"Too long, Jocelyn." His eyes closed briefly at her embrace. "You look as beautiful now as you did the day I left."

Jocelyn hooked her arm through his. "Why Geoff, you flatter me."

"Not undeservedly, my lady."

She walked him towards Adhemar and stopped before him. "I trust you all remember Nicholas Adhemar?"

Geoff was the only one to comment and he did so with the tact he'd once shown at tournament. "A knight known for many noble victories upon the field."

"And many dishonest victories, as I'm sure you all also remember quite clearly," Adhemar remarked, studying each of them in turn. The frank mention of the past shocked Kate a little. "You would be Master Chaucer, since I've been told the red haired man is Wat. This woman is Kate. Yes?" His brows raised in question. A polite conversation, making certain he knew their names.

The absurdity of that was not lost upon Kate. A decade earlier, they were beneath his notice and now he deigned to learn their names.

"Yes." Geoff nodded. "She is Kate, a blacksmith. He is Wat, a tavern owner and I'm Geoffrey Chaucer. Storyteller."

The last word was given an extra emphasis, one Adhemar acknowledged with a low murmur.

"Then you must entertain us during your visit. Jocelyn adores a fine tale and I believe Germaine would be glad for a break in that duty."

"Duty, my lord?" Geoff disentangled himself from Jocelyn's arm and took a step towards the man. "The telling of a tale is not a duty, but a labor of love."

Kate watched with interest as the Geoff she remembered from years ago began to slip back into place. It was a subtle shift, yet there none the less. Perhaps good could come from this visit besides the joy of seeing old friends.

"To tell a tale worthy of the audience, one has to consider the characters and the plot and a myriad other--"

Adhemar held up a hand. "We'll look forward to your labor, Master Chaucer. There's no need to explain it to me." The look he favored Geoff with was one of interest. "You wouldn't be the Chaucer who wrote The Book of the Duchess, would you?"

Geoff smiled, obviously pleased that someone recognized his name in a literary capacity. "Why yes. I am that Geoffrey Chaucer."

"Entertaining," Adhemar drawled, taking Jocelyn's hand in his and walking towards the front of the manor. Jocelyn had no choice but to follow and Kate saw the man's head bend to hers. Whatever he said caused her to jerk from him and run forward. She reached the door long before they, the panel slamming shut behind her.

Kate gave a gentle tug on Wat's arm and they followed their host.

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Geoff hated to admit it, but Nicholas Adhemar was a fine host. Each of them was given a servant to assist during their visit and a handsomely appointed private room. Geoff marveled at a manor house that contained so many bedchambers. It was a sign of staggering wealth to have such privacy, not that he'd doubted that the man was wealthy. Or was, rather. His first wife had quickly gone through his funds it was told.

Jocelyn had asked him to share a short tale with the household after dinner that night and he was more than ready. There were several he wished to tell. Leaving his room, he went in search of Kate. After a long while, he began to wonder just where she'd gotten herself off to. She was not with Jocelyn and Christiana, nor was she with Wat or Roland or the children. Turning on his heel, he asked directions to the blacksmith's cottage.

He found her there, with Count Adhemar being a gracious host in showing her around that area. His man was in town taking care of accounts, so she'd have plenty of time to peruse the work area. It was already arranged for her to join the smith if she chose.

Geoff waited just outside the room, growing quickly bored with the detail the two showed one another in their discussion. He'd have to talk with her later. Shaking his head, he returned to the manor.

By the time the afternoon had passed and the evening meal commenced, Geoff had worked himself up into what his friends would remember as his usual state of storytelling arrogance. This was something he knew and loved. Geoff could work a crowd like few other men. Getting up into the center of the room, stationed before Jocelyn and Adhemar, Geoff began to tell a tale.

He scarcely noticed when Wat shoved his chair back and stalked from the hall, nor did he notice Kate following soon after.

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"Wat! Wait!"

Glancing behind him, Wat found Kate running to catch up with him. Deliberately, he slowed his pace, giving her time to reach him. His blood was boiling and that was the only way to describe how he felt. Was he the only one who hadn't been seduced by Adhemar already?

Jocelyn mooned over the man, giggling and smiling goofily, much like she had with Will and Miles enthusiastically spoke of his 'new dad'. Roland and Christiana seemed ready to forgive him all ills now that he'd provided for them and their children and Geoff was in there expounding some ridiculous tale with relish, acting like he was back at tournament, for God's sake! And Kate....

He studied her as she approached. Truthfully, she didn't look too taken in. In fact, her expression was filled with annoyance.

"You walk so fast, Wat, I can't keep up."

He stopped, glancing around them and finding the courtyard was deserted save for the two guards at the gate. They had freedom to speak honestly. "What of you? Are you complacent now too?"

She looked up at him sharply, eyes flashing anger. "I come out here to see if you're alright and you light into me?"

Wat shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kate. I don't mean...it's just...he...they..." Wat let out a frustrated growl. "Seduction. Of all of us."

She laid a gentle hand on his arm. "Calm down. No one's seducing anyone."

"He is. Don't you see it yet?" Wat spread his arms, indicating the house and the grounds, then the cottage Roland and Christiana lived in. "Don't you? He's working on us all. Jocelyn's eating from his hand, though I suppose Miles doesn't know any better."

Her other hand rested on his chest, rubbing soothingly. "He's being a father that Miles needs and treating Jocelyn rather well."

He rolled his eyes. "Christiana and Roland. Their children. Geoff."

Kate blinked. She pursed her lips, glanced away and blinked again.

Wat raised his hand, pointing a finger up towards the night sky. "Ah-hah! You feel so too."

"Geoff enjoys attention." It was not an excuse, only a statement. Kate let her hands drop from him and crossed her arms. "I do think it, a little. But only a little. I don't see the grand scheme you do, but then I never have thought like you." Taking a few steps to the left, she shook her head. "I don't think he means us ill this time, Wat. I think he's older, like all of us, and he's paid for how he was. He's trying now to make amends for those things he did."

Stretching out an hand, he took her arm and led her over to one of the carved wooden benches that sat under the walkway of the defensive wall. They sat together, side by side, hips and thighs wedged together, a cozy position, their heads bent together as they continued their conversation.

Kate absent-mindedly took one of his hands in hers, twining their fingers together. "Have you spoken to Jocelyn alone yet?" At his negative nod, she continued. "She's not complacent, Wat. She's doing what she has to in order to survive. It was either Adhemar or one of several other choices who make me shudder to consider. Adhemar really was the best choice she could have made. She's taking this marriage cautiously. It may look as though she's all sweetness and light with him, but that's not how it is."

"Then how is it?" Her fingers along his palm tickled just a little and he gently eased his hand from hers. It would be too easy to forget that she was Geoff's while they sat so close. Holding her hand was not something he needed to be doing. For that matter, he shouldn't even be pressed up to her like he was. "Explain it to me, because it seems like no one is even fighting him. We're going down like...like deer transfixed before the hunter."

"She has to keep a strident voice in the household daily, or she'll lose whatever privileges he's allowed her. She's terrified of not having a voice, Wat and that makes her behave in the way she promised him she would."

"What promise?"

Kate sat back against the wall, leaning her head back and staring at the sky. "She made a bargain with him, she said. He'd keep her in the life she wants and, in public, she'll play the loving wife he's never had. They have private conflict. According to her, she'll never bring their private ills forward into the open for all to see because that would be breaking her promise to him."

Wat was silent for a moment. "I need to speak to her."

"No one's stopping you."

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees and staring at the ground. "How did you and Geoff come about?" He half expected her to tell him it was none of his business, but she only gave a soft chuckle.

"Like a dam bursting. I think we were both so starved for affection we didn't think."

"It sometimes happens that way."

"That it does. And when the flood waters go down, what's left?"

He had no answer to her question and they sat in companionable silence for a long while, listening to the noise of merriment from the hall.