by Marie Hall
With a sigh, he looked up, scrubbed at his face and nodded his head. "That is what I said. You are correct. I had no right to demand you prove anything. I very much wronged you in doing so."
"Io." Jon stepped up. "You did not say you already knew—"
"I said I did not need such lessons," Io said, tired of it all now. Xavier had admitted he was wrong making her prove something to him. She wanted this whole mess done and buried.
"Yes, but—" Roth started.
"I said I did not need the lessons. Why was my word not good enough? I said I did not need them, and I was dismissed as if I again did not know what I know."
Xavier sighed, leaned back for a moment looking upward, then stood. "You are correct, Io," he said. "Your word should have been enough. I beg pardon for dismissing what you said. I am sorry I heard what I wanted to hear and not what you were telling me."
"It is exactly what you accused me of doing. Told me not to do again," she went ahead and added, seeing as he was being so contrite.
"It is, and it is no more correct when I do it to you. Again, I beg pardon," he said softly, stepping up to her. "It was the poorest of word choices. Prove. And it stands, you have nothing to prove to anyone. I will take more care not to use words I have laid such weight with so carelessly." Io only nodded as he stepped close and took her hands in his. "And I will try better to hear what you are telling me. Your word is good, Io. Even if I am fool to ignore it." He lifted her hands and brought them to his lips. Through the soft kidskin gloves she wore, she could feel the warmth. He lowered their hands then spread them so he could step up and close all distance between them. His lips settled at her temple. "I am sincerely sorry I offended you so, Io. I have no want to make you doubt me, to doubt yourself. You have no reason to."
That he apologized didn't surprise her; he'd willingly done so enough now. But he untangled the mess, figured out what it was making the entire thing so hurtful. That did surprise her. He did make her doubt herself. She didn't want to be here because she knew she wasn't one of them. That her difference could put Xavier in jeopardy. And then to have him not believe what she was saying, to ask her to prove she knew the things she knew. What if she didn't actually know them? And what if he'd believed her and she'd failed? She'd not been able to pin down what bothered her so much. But Xavier had, and he was quick to reaffirm she should trust what she knew. She shouldn't doubt.
His head dipped down more so their temples were touching. "Do not ever doubt yourself, Io, no matter what I might say. Trust you," he whispered and then pressed his lips on her cheek and held them there. "You understand? Always trust yourself."
"Yes," she said, breathing in his scent.
"Have you more, or are we well and reconciled?" he asked, putting one hand in the small of her back and pulling her even closer.
"I am done," Io said, turning her head to listen to the beat of his heart. "We are well reconciled." She heard him inhale and his heart pick up its pace as he held it, then it settled back down as he released that breath.
"Then shall we go on, or do you want to turn back?"
Io jerked back at the question. "Are we not obligated to attend this?"
"We are, but I will take whatever will be had if we miss it. I do not care to take you into a situation if upset will dull your edge."
"No, Xavier," Io said, slipping around him and heading back to the coach. "No, I can do this."
"Can you? Because we are almost there, and there is something I would explain before we arrive."
"I can do whatever you need me to do as your wife," she insisted.
"As my lady?" He helped her in and followed quickly.
"As whatever you need me to be," she said. They sat beside each other the rest of the trip. Io listened as Xavier explained what he needed her to do. He made sure she understood completely, and she made sure she didn't fail in the duty.
Chapter 17
Xavier kept Io in view from the corner of his eye. She'd become a little restless as the discussion grew louder in the hall. He knew she was holding her tongue and struggling to do it, which was odd. He'd tried several times to get her to reveal what she'd learned. But he knew she'd hold information until it was most useful to her.
They were, he explained, once he pulled his head out his arse, trying to see if the threat of a peasant revolt was imminent or not. Both the lords who jointly held the city and surrounding shires suffered small acts, and over the last few months, those grew bolder. The fear that with the king in residence as well as many other nobles could embolden rebel leaders was real. While Xavier knew most such revolts ended as soon as the first sword was drawn, it was often costly in the lost resources and in having to round up, and try to execute those who organized it.
Io had, as he expected, taken to the task in a completely different way than any other. After meeting Lord Hendrix and Lord Chatteum at two previous parties, Io now sat and listened as the lords bickered with court officials and those who'd have to actually do the work to stop any uprising. This was three weeks in the making, and he wasn't sure how much longer she'd hold that sharp tongue before she let loose. He got his answer with the next suggested option.
"Let Lord Brice rout them," Hendrix shouted, banging his fist on the table.
Xavier leaned forward and readied to stand and take the order, but Io put her hand out, blocking him. "I strongly advise against that action, my lord," she said.
Xavier resumed his seat, turned to face her, and asked, "You do?"
"Such an act would only end in death and destruction, but it will not stop the rot which has allowed such discontent to fester here."
"This is no matter to you, woman," Chatteum bellowed.
'It is a matter imperative to me," Io shot back. "For you just requested my husband put his life at risk. You scream to send him into danger. Before I willingly and without protest allow all I care for to be lost to me, I would know the cause is both just and necessary." Io set her hand on his. "This one is neither."
Xavier knew everyone's attention was now on them. And he knew, too, everyone wondered if Xavier, who admittedly loved and adored his wife, would heed her on that or if he'd need more. What they didn't know was he loved her because she always gave more than he needed in most instances. "You perhaps know something you wish to share?"
"I know what I have been told and—" Io started, only to have Chatteum storm over and start raging at her.
"You will shut your mouth. We all know how you go out into the shires and coddle those heathens. That you are stupid enough to believe their lies and even think to stand with them; you are a traitor to the crown," he yelled, spraying them with spittle as he did.
Xavier was on his feet ready to throttle the man, but again, Io's hand stayed him. She, herself, rose to her feet, with the kind of grace he'd known she had from the first days, but he rarely saw because she was always more focused on the goal and not how she looked achieving it.
"Well then let me tell you not what I have heard but what I have seen, with my own eyes," Io said, her voice just a little louder.
"Shut your woman up, Brice," Hendrix yelled. "No one wants to hear her woman's mind."
"I do," Xavier told him.
"As do I," Lord Brock said, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms over his chest. "Please, Lady Io," he said, chuckling when she lifted a brow at him. "Please, Io, speak."
"My lord," Io acknowledged and gave him a small curtsey. "I have a rather damning amount of evidence, I warn, but I think if I but speak of these last five days and what I have been witness to," Io paused as Chatteum started to pound on the table.
"You cannot seriously be entertaining hearing her out?' he asked, causing Xavier to become suspicious of what he feared Io might say. He made eye contact with Roth and nodded for the man to be ready.
"Hold your tongue, Charles," Brock commanded. "My lady."
"In the last five days… Tuesday, I was in Bellefloure Shire. While there, I stopped at a small shop. The prop
rietor, a woman swollen with child, sold me some items, and as I was leaving…" Io turned, looking over the room until she found who she sought. "The reeve and two of his henchmen entered. He did not even bother to wait until there was no witness; he told that poor woman it was time to pay up and—"
"It is his duty to collect taxes," Chatteum yelled.
"Is it is duty to rape women and children?" Io yelled back, and Xavier knew she was about to let loose. "Or does she keep her money purse up her cunt and he has a hook on his prick to fish it out." The collective gasp almost made Xavier laugh. "He did not go in to collect any tax, and had he, I would have given her a number of coins. He…" she pointed at the man now trying to slip out of the hall. "…had that woman shoved down on the floor and his cock out before a minute passed. And as he was shoving up her skirts, he told her he would do her daughter, a girl not even ten years, if she didn't please him this time." Io paced a bit; clearly, the event upset her. "Had I not been there and cracked him over the head with the broom, he would have raped her—raped a free woman of this realm. A woman, who according to her and several others, has been subject to such abuse for months. Ever since her husband was imprisoned for threatening to bring the matter to the magistrate for redress. Because the magistrate is as guilty of abuse of power as the reeve you employ."
"You do not..." Hendrix tried, only to be silenced.
"You will be silent," Brock yelled and leaned forward in his seat. "Interrupt the lady again, and you will lose your tongue."
"Wednesday," Io went on. "I was in Chatteux Riviere, and I watched as those soldiers, charged with the duties of protecting the village, stormed through, taking food and drink, mostly drink, without paying, destroying wares and beating the people who stepped in their way." She paced to where Xavier stood. "Thursday, was Fleur de l'aube, again, those who were supposed to defend those who work the lands and pay taxes were the ones wreaking havoc, drunk and not even mid-day yet. Two of your knights got into a shoving match with each other. The fight sent one into the front post of the iron smith's shop, the post fell in, the entire roof caught fire, and rather than do anything, your knights, men who are supposed to be the very best in chivalry, did not even stop their stupid battle to put out the fire. Had I and my men not done that, the entire center would have burned to the ground, and I will take the people's word you would take burning to be an act of revolt. Fortunately, my knights and soldiers are men of integrity and morals, and the fire was doused with only the loss of two buildings, both of which I have already set in place a plan to rebuild. Shall I tell you more? Or can you not see it is the acts of these lords," Io said with such disdain, even Xavier was chilled, "which have caused this discontent. It will not go if you but punish the people. It will only fester more until you cannot hold them down, and they take to criminal acts to preserve their families, lives, and livelihoods."
"What say you, to the lady's charges?" Brock asked of the two lords now conferring in the center of the hall.
"Her charges are ridiculous," Hendrix stated.
"I have witness," Io announced. "Witness independent of myself, my men and those who were violated."
"You… you… you think to place blame on me for what a reeve does?" Chatteum bellowed.
"He does it in your name," Io yelled back. "And he either does it without your knowledge and you are incompetent, or he does it with your knowledge and you are complicit. These lands are under your management. And from all I have seen, you are not only incompetent, you are a disgrace to your title and the crown which it serves."
"You are no one to pass judgment on me; those peasants, rabble, serve me and..." Hendrix yelled, stepping toward Io threateningly. Io stood her ground, and Xavier held the men in place. Io could hold her own in most situations.
"Those peasants serve the crown; you are nothing more than a blight. The land could manage without you. Without that rabble, the land goes to waste. You, sir, are worthless in your abilities. Those people…" she said and pointed out the window, "…those people out there are worth their weight in gold, for it is they, not you…" She slammed a fist into the table. "It is they who hold this kingdom together, who insure it stays healthy and profitable. Without them," this time she poked the man in the chest with her finger, "you and your ilk would starve."
"You are nothing but a weak woman to lower yourself to defend such rubbish. Do you even have the ability to hold your own lands?" Hendrix said, tossing out the insult because he couldn't possibly defend his actions now.
"I manage my lands; I do it with those who work them. I have no such issues as talk of rebellion or insubordination."
"Because we all know it is Brice who—" Chatteum started.
"It is not because of I," Xavier cut him off before he could think to strip Io of her achievements. "My lady wife manages the lands better, more naturally than I have been witness to. My lands are peaceful and thriving because of her."
"Your boast means nothing, as besotted with her as you are," Hendrix charged.
"My feelings toward my wife give me want to boast, but her actions give me cause," Xavier said, and Io turned and graced him with a smile.
"My lords," Io said, stepping around both Hendrix and Chatteum to face the table where the council sat. "Well enough, you could send your men, my husband, out into those shires and centers and rout a few people who whisper in dark corners about the injustices they are served and the lack of redress for their plight. And without a doubt, by sheer numbers, you would set them down. Perhaps in the melee, a few soldiers and knights will be lost, but you will again restore control to these two… pathetic, incompetent, and I dare say, corrupt… lords. But I predict now, here, you will be back again in a year's time having to again go out and set them down. And through it all, you will see your lands weaken, your wealth fade, and your power to rule stripped. Do not scorch the flower beds, pull the weeds."
"Words wisely spoken, Lady Io," Chancellor Hughes said, and Io again bent her knee to show respect. The five men at the head table leaned in to confer with each other, and Io lifted her skirts and turned her back to return to him.
"Bitch," Hendrix screamed and, blade raised, charged Io.
Io never turned around, but as the man bled out on the end of Roth's sword, he heard her say, "So little of a man, you come at a woman only when her back is turned? Your loss will be a gain in the end."
Xavier watched Roth twist his blade in the man's chest before pulling it free. The man was dead before he found the floor, and Roth sheathed his sword and bowed to the men at the head table, sitting with mixed expression of shock and disgust, before turning on his heel and marching back to the side of the room where the rest of her men waited.
"I see at least half the matter is resolved," Brock announced, and Xavier returned the nod he gave.
"Xavier, might I go now and tell Mary she and her daughter will be safe?" Io asked.
"I will take you, myself," he told her, and before the sun was past midday, he watched Io walk into the little shop filled with little carvings and other woodworkings. The woman smiled warily, but the child rushed at Io and hugged her around her knees.
"You should have fewer troubles now, Mistress. I think your situation will much improve from here on." Io turned and looked at Xavier, who stepped out of the doorway so that Roth and Luther could carry in the woman's husband. He'd wasted away greatly in the dungeons, but he'd held on for his family. Xavier couldn't recall a time he'd been filled with such happiness for seeing others so happy. So much laughing, crying, hugs and kisses went around, it was exhausting, and a week later when word of the child came, it came telling the boy was given the name Brice. Xavier sent the family a grand gift, and Io's smile stayed in place for a week.
Chapter 18
"Xavier, no, no, I cannot, I cannot. No," Io pleaded, trying to either pull him with her or pull free.
"Io, be still, we will do this, and you will see it will be fine."
"I cannot," Io repeated, his calm tone and posture maki
ng it all worse. "I cannot. I do not want to. Take me back." She pulled again, only to have Gerald step up behind her and literally lift her until she was standing next to Xavier.
"Io, there is nothing to worry you. This very first part is only formality, and once it is done, you will probably enjoy it," Jon told her as they all stopped to watch the tall double doors open and a lord and lady step through, the doors closing silently behind them. Only two more couples waited to go before it'd be Io and Xavier entering to be presented to the crown.
"Xavier, have mercy," she pleaded again. Tugging at the barbette under her chin, it strangled her more this time than last.
"Io," Xavier said, dropping his head to look down on her as she leaned against him.
"I do not want to meet him. I do not want him to know me," Io pleaded and heard the people whispering around her. A few had commented out loud it was unnatural for anyone to not feel excited to get an audience with the king. Xavier silenced them with a look, but they again whispered, and she felt his annoyance building. She rubbed her hand over the back of her neck as a draft made her shiver.
"Io, once you are presented, you can find a nice window to hide in," Xavier said, trying to pull her hand down from where she tugged at the barbette. "Settle, we will do this together. You will not be alone." He paused and again pulled her hand down. "You will always have your men, even if the rest of us must behave like normal people."
Io gasped and pulled away, tears burning before spilling over. The sob was almost silent, but he heard.
"Io, Io, settle now." He pulled her to the side of the room and then put her between the wall and his body so she was shielded. "I am sorry; I did not mean that. I know you do not want to meet the king. I know you worry it will change you." He lifted her chin then brushed the tears from her face. "And, Io, it might change you, but I will not let it change you into one of them," he said, lowering his head to brush his lips over hers. "I swear. I will take a whip to you if you show any sign you are becoming like them."
