Defender of Hearts

by Tanya Bird

  Astin was led away, and Lyndal had no choice but to let him go. He was alive. That had to be enough for now.

  Her eyes went to the gate, where the merchants waited to see what she would do. She knew she had the power to fan the flames of civil war or contain them.

  You’re bleeding, Eda signed, appearing next to her and inspecting her neck.

  ‘It’s nothing,’ Lyndal replied.

  He’ll pay for this.

  Lyndal headed for the gate. ‘He will, but not at your hand.’ She stopped in front of it and said, ‘I’ll not sit idle while you starve. Let me fight this side of the wall first. Go home. Please.’

  The defenders kept a firm hold of their weapons as the merchants looked around, deciding what to do. Slowly, the people collected the dead and began to disperse. Two men came forwards to lift the dead woman off the gate.

  ‘This is our fight, not yours.’

  Those had been her last words before Borin killed her. Now, as Lyndal prepared herself for war, she realised how many others were waiting in the wings—hungry to fight.

  Chapter 35

  Astin sat on the cold stone floor of his cell with his back against the wall, staring at reddened knuckles. He had not had a chance to think through the best course of action—he had simply reacted. Something inside him had snapped. Every violent thought he had suppressed over the years had risen to the surface in one dangerous surge. He knew with certainty that if those men had not dragged him off the king, he would have beaten him to death. For Lyndal. For the merchants. For people like his sister who suffered at the hands of those kinds of men.

  He looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw Harlan. The commander leaned his shoulder on the bars.

  ‘Can’t say I’m surprised,’ he said. ‘I’m more surprised it didn’t happen sooner.’

  Astin tipped his head back, resting on the wall. ‘Bastard had a knife to her neck.’

  Harlan nodded. ‘I get it. Just wondering how you being locked up helps.’

  Astin banged the back of his head on the wall before climbing to his feet. ‘Do you know where she is? If she’s all right?’

  ‘She’s with Queen Fayre, and Eda’s confined to her bedchamber. They’ve put a guard outside her door to make sure she stays there.’

  Astin dropped his head to the bars.

  ‘Even if by some miracle they don’t execute you,’ Harlan said, ‘you’ll never be permitted within a mile of the king again.’

  ‘Probably for the best.’ He took a hold of the bars. ‘And where was Thornton earlier? He wasn’t even there.’

  ‘He did the two most valuable things he could in that situation. He got Queen Fayre involved and removed Eda from the scene. Thornton knows what he’s doing. He would have weighed up every option.’

  Astin pinched the top of his nose. ‘God forbid Lyndal do something sensible like leave with them.’

  Harlan was silent a moment. ‘She’s not here for the crown. She’s here for the merchants. She’s already proven she’ll put them ahead of her own safety when she agreed to marry the king. None of us like it, but we all understand it’s her sacrifice to make.’

  Astin turned and leaned his back on the bars. ‘And now the merchants know about the livestock.’

  Harlan nodded. ‘And we brace for war.’

  ‘And what side will you fight on?’ Astin asked. ‘How do you choose?’

  ‘It’s impossible. For me it’s a daily choice. Which way my sword points depends on who’s most at risk. Then I ask myself what the cost of my choice will be to those around me.’ He shifted his weight. ‘Today you chose to break the king’s nose.’

  Astin exhaled in place of laughter. ‘Best part of my week.’

  ‘And now Lyndal is scrambling to keep you alive because she’s the only one with any real leverage.’

  Astin turned back at the sound of someone jogging up the stairs. A young defender emerged, looking frantically around. He seemed relieved when he spotted Harlan.

  ‘The warden wants you on the north wall at once, Commander. It’s urgent.’

  Harlan straightened. ‘Urgent how?’

  ‘English troops in the thousands a mile out.’

  Astin looked at Harlan. ‘How many wars can one king fight in a day do you suppose?’

  ‘Sit tight,’ Harlan said, heading for the stairwell. ‘We’re about to find out.’

  It should have been unsettling to play across from a woman wearing a blood-splattered dress, but the queen mother was not the slightest bit fazed by Lyndal’s appearance. She had sent Borin to his quarters to calm down, like one does a child, before meeting Lyndal on the terrace. Rain fell hard around them, yet that was no longer a peculiar thing either.

  ‘I have sent for a physician to tend to your neck,’ Fayre said before moving one of her pawns.

  Lyndal touched the superficial cut on her throat, then moved a piece on the board.

  ‘You were right about my son selling livestock to England,’ Fayre said, taking her turn. ‘I looked into it, and then I raised the matter directly with the king.’

  Lyndal said nothing as she took her next turn.

  ‘The problem with these kinds of arrangements,’ the queen mother continued, ‘is that they are difficult to end.’ She moved her bishop. ‘I think my son believed it would win him a new friend, but it seems he has forgotten that it is Edward’s mother and her lover who control England at this point—and they are not looking for new friends.’ Fayre leaned back, regarding her. ‘Do you know any kingdom or country that could survive on forty head of cattle right now?’

  Lyndal shook her head.

  ‘Exactly. The moment this kingdom changed its name, raised its banners, built an army, and dismissed their god, we became the enemy.’

  ‘That’s a lot of enemies at once,’ Lyndal said, moving her castle to the far end of the board.

  Fayre watched her. ‘Yourself included. It seems he knows about your little affair.’

  ‘Yes. I think it’s safe to say the charade is over. Mistakes have been made on both sides, and there’s no coming back from them now.’ Lyndal moved her knight, then sat back.

  ‘And yet we must,’ Fayre said, taking her move.

  Lyndal stared at the chessboard. ‘Your son held a knife to my throat.’ She moved her bishop.

  ‘Which saddens me enormously. I take that as my own personal failure.’ She used her castle to take out one of Lyndal’s pawns.

  ‘Surely you’ve figured out by now that your eldest son is not fit to rule. Every merchant knows it, every farmer, every noble. And now King Edward knows it too.’

  The queen took another piece from the board and looked up. ‘There are English troops waiting north of the wall. I do not believe for one moment they are here to collect a few head of cattle.’

  ‘Then why are they here?’

  Fayre took her turn before replying. ‘They are here to take Chadora.’

  Lyndal swallowed. ‘Will they succeed?’

  ‘Check,’ Fayre said, placing her knight near Lyndal’s king. ‘We have a strong army.’

  ‘An army that’s outnumbered.’ Lyndal’s eyes were on the board. ‘An unfortunate time for King Borin to be out of favour with his people, because their arrival feels strangely like liberation.’ She reached for her castle, paused, then moved one of her pawns. ‘Checkmate.’

  The queen’s gaze fell to the board, her eyes widening slightly. After a long moment of silence, she sat back. ‘Well, look who finally learned how to win.’

  Lyndal waited to see what her next move off the board would be.

  ‘I want you to manage the merchants for me,’ Fayre said. ‘We need them onside for this fight.’

  Fury flickered inside Lyndal. ‘You want me to pacify them until you have the capacity to crush them?’

  ‘I want you to keep the peace until we have the resources to work through this.’

  Lyndal pressed her teeth together. ‘You had the resources. Your son sold them beyond the wall
.’

  Fayre fell silent again. ‘I really admire and respect you, which is why it pains me to force your hand.’

  ‘But you’ll do it anyway.’ She brought a hand up to her neck. ‘Let me guess. If I play by your new rules, you’ll let Astin live.’

  ‘I cannot even promise that now. He attacked the king.’

  ‘Who had a knife to my throat.’ She saw Fayre swallow. ‘Tell me. What is it you want me to do?’

  Fayre tapped a finger on the table. ‘Right now I need you ready to deal with the merchants when the time comes. I need the news of England’s troops contained. If the merchants realise our army is fighting elsewhere, they may take advantage of the situation. And I most definitely need you to stay away from the tower. So I am afraid I must confine you to your quarters in the interim.’

  Lyndal’s foot bounced under the table as her mind worked. ‘I see. Well, I have a request also.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘I would like Thornton to escort Eda to the nobility borough so she can be with my sister and mother while this all plays out.’

  The queen mother nodded her consent, then gestured to Thornton. He walked over to the table, awaiting instructions.

  ‘Please see Lady Lyndal to her bedchamber. Lock the door, and bring me the key.’ She watched Lyndal across the table. ‘We must keep our future queen safe.’

  Lyndal looked up at her bodyguard. ‘Then you’ll take my sister to Wright House in the nobility borough.’ Her eyes returned to Fayre. ‘That’s what we agreed, was it not?’

  The queen mother bowed her head. ‘It was indeed.’

  Rising from her chair and curtsying, Lyndal strode from the terrace. The moment she was inside the corridor, she slowed to walk beside Roul.

  ‘Why did you just agree to be locked in your bedchamber?’ he asked.

  ‘Because the queen mother wants to control the pieces she can, so I’m going to oblige.’ Lyndal glanced over her shoulder to ensure no one was behind them. ‘And you’re going to follow orders because you’re a defender.’

  He glanced sideways at her. ‘What are you scheming in that head of yours?’

  ‘You defenders always think the worst of people. All I ask is that you let me say goodbye to my sister before you lock me up.’

  He kept his gaze forwards. ‘You have five minutes.’

  Lyndal closed her eyes. ‘Five minutes is plenty.’

  Astin recognised the king’s footsteps long before he appeared at the top of the stairwell. Borin paused, looked around, then strolled over to Astin’s cell. The defender rose to his feet, eyes moving over his red, swollen face and crooked nose.

  Borin slapped the bars, then shook out his hand as he began to pace.

  ‘I’ve got an English army ready to descend, nobility asking questions, and merchants one wall over carving weapons out of sticks.’ He glanced in Astin’s direction. ‘And instead of you being out here, keeping me alive, you stab me in the back.’ Borin touched two fingers to his swollen eye. ‘You once told me that your stepfather cannot be trusted.’

  ‘He can’t.’

  Borin stopped walking. ‘To what extent? Is he capable of betraying his king?’

  ‘That man is capable of all kinds of atrocities.’ Astin leaned one shoulder on the bar, no longer caring about standing respectfully in the king’s presence. ‘He’s loyal only to himself.’

  Borin was silent a long moment. ‘He told me he would handle negotiations, so I gave him free rein to come and go as he pleased. Now there are English troops at my doorstep, despite there being no quarrel between us. And now Cooper Brooke is nowhere to be found.’

  Astin almost felt sorry for the king. Almost. ‘What did you give my stepfather to keep this whole thing a secret? What did you promise him? Coin?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Astin exhaled through his nose. ‘And what did he ask for? Because I know it wasn’t money.’

  ‘He wanted a title. Obviously I could not give him that. Handing him a title would have raised all kinds of questions.’

  Astin nodded as the pieces fell into place. ‘So you offered him money in place of power. A man with no conscience or morals. A man with all the information one needs to take control of a small kingdom.’

  Borin’s face slackened. ‘You think he’s working with King Edward to take my kingdom?’

  Astin shrugged. ‘More likely Lord Roger Mortimer.’

  ‘Is no one in your family trustworthy?’ Borin said, stepping closer. ‘Tell me, how long have you been in love with the woman I am to marry?’

  Astin stared past the king. ‘Since before.’

  Borin was silent a moment. ‘You know, if my mother had not shown up, I would have killed you. I would have killed you, and then I would have let her cut her own throat to save me the hassle of orchestrating her death later.’

  Astin calculated the distance between them, wondering if he could reach the man in order to slowly strangle him to death.

  ‘The merchants seem to think the sun will magically shine from her arse when that crown lands on her head,’ the king continued.

  Astin shifted his weight. ‘War has arrived at your door. They’re ready to take everything your father built. I think you have bigger things to worry about right now, don’t you?’

  A crashing noise in the distance made them both look to the small window. Shouting ensued.

  ‘Sounds like the merchants have returned to the gate,’ Astin said. ‘And they’re not coming for me.’

  Borin’s face fell.

  ‘Perhaps they figured out that you’ve sent your army to the wall,’ Astin continued. ‘Smart time to act. If I were you, I’d get back to the castle as quickly as you can.’

  The king’s face hardened as he turned away. Walking to the top of the stairwell, he paused, eyes going to the keys hanging by the torch on the wall.

  ‘You are right,’ Borin said, looking back at Astin. ‘We are going to need every capable soldier on the wall. I think it best I send the prison guards to join the effort, so I am afraid it will just be you and the rest of the criminals here for a while.’ He reached for the keys and tucked them into a pocket. Then, taking the torch off the wall, he stood observing the flame for a moment. ‘I liked you a lot,’ Borin said. ‘I trusted you. So the betrayal stings all the more.’

  ‘I did the job expected of me. I kept you alive.’

  Borin nodded slowly. ‘And now I am forced to find someone else to keep me alive.’ With that, he bent and laid the torch beneath a small wooden stool that sat by the wall.

  Astin took hold of the bars, watching the flames rise to meet the wood.

  ‘I’ll be sure to comfort her for you,’ Borin said before disappearing down the stairwell.

  Chapter 36

  Lyndal paced back and forth past the window of her bedchamber, praying she had done the right thing.

  ‘Tell the merchants it’s their fight now,’ she had told Eda. ‘The king’s army is on the wall, all eyes looking outwards.’

  She had called up an army of merchants, knowing they were hungry for this fight. Now she listened as the gate was ripped apart, as weapons clashed, as pent-up rage flooded into the royal borough. She was done playing these games. This was their fight, and she was handing them the best chance to win.

  Lyndal knew when they had reached the castle gate because the shouting grew louder. Stepping up to the window, she saw a handful of archers atop the castle wall, but only a handful. She had been right. The majority of the king’s army had been sent to the outer-wall, and the king would be hiding somewhere in the castle.

  Smoke drifted in through the open window, tasting of animal fat and ash. There was only one reason the merchants had arrived with torches in broad daylight. She pressed her head against the bars of the window, trying to get a glimpse of the tower, but it was the wrong angle for it. She took comfort in the fact that the tower was filled with merchants, which made it the safest place in the royal borough at that moment. They would not attack thei
r own.

  A horn sounded, long and deep. In the distance, she saw defenders racing along the south wall.

  The door rattled, and Lyndal whipped her head around. She stilled, listening, watching the handle move. A moment later, the door swung open.

  Eda stood in the doorway, pressing pins back into her hair. A little trick Harlan showed me.

  Lyndal stared at her. ‘What are you doing here? You were supposed to return home after delivering the message.’

  And leave you locked in here?

  ‘How did you even get inside the castle?’

  Eda tapped her nose. That one was a little trick Roul showed me. She threw a dress at Lyndal. Put this on. If there was ever a time you wanted to blend in with the merchants, that time is now. They’re tearing down the gate.

  Lyndal stepped out of her dress and into the faded cotton one, stilling when she heard banging below. The merchants had arrived.

  God help anyone who stands between the merchants and the king they hunt.

  ‘I need to get to the tower,’ Lyndal said, rushing out into the corridor and heading for the stairs. She removed the pearl comb securing her hair and dropped it on the ground as she walked. Her hair fell down her shoulders. She glanced sideways at her sister, whose skirts were muddied all the way up to the knee. Her dark hair was pulled back in a single practical plait. No chance of anyone mistaking her for nobility.

  The girls broke into a run when they reached the fountain court. The doors at the far end had a drawbar across them but did not require a key. They were almost there when a voice stopped them.

  ‘If you are planning a visit to the tower, I am afraid you are too late,’ Borin said.

  Lyndal almost tripped at the sound of the king’s voice. She looked back at the fountain just as he emerged from behind it, surrounded by bodyguards. The defenders already had their weapons drawn, eyes moving between the women and the doors behind them. Eda stepped up beside her sister, one hand tucked behind her back. Lyndal did not have to look to know she was holding a knife. What she planned to do with one knife against a small army of defenders Lyndal had no idea.