Page 61 of Forced to Marry the Earl
“The court is no longer in session,” Otto replied automatically, rubbing at his tired eyes. He opened them and started in surprise. “Gaius, my friend. What can I do for you?”
The old knight hesitated before shuffling to the side. Behind him, Otto beheld a young boy of about fourteen years, white-faced and trembling. Otto raised an eyebrow and turned his questioning gaze back to Gaius, who was clad in a rich tunic of pale gold.
“This is Matthew, my lord, one of the stableboys.”
Otto’s mind was racing. Something about the boy looked very familiar. He snapped his fingers. “You look after my horse, don’t you?”
Matthew’s face grew red. “That’s right, milord.” He gave a clumsy half bow.
“Come closer,” Otto ordered. “And stand easy. I don’t bite.”
“Go on,” Gaius prompted.
The stableboy shuffled slightly closer to the dais. His cheeks had recently been scrubbed clean, but there was still a tidemarkof dirt around his neck. He flung a terrified look back at Gaius. “I can’t do it,” he whispered.
Gaius held up a reassuring hand. “Allow me to tell the story for you, Matthew. You can step in whenever you want.”
The boy nodded, evidently relieved.
Otto waited expectantly, but it was the turn of Gaius to grow uncomfortable. The loyal knight dragged his hand through his tufted gray hair and sighed deeply. “May I speak freely, my lord?”
“I would be grateful for it,” Otto replied drily. “It seems many hours since I took my seat up here. Speak freely and speak quickly, pray, for my sake.”
Gaius shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “This was not a matter fit to be heard in the court,” he said eventually, weighing his words. “It is for your ears only.”
Otto gestured around the empty hall, then folded his arms and assumed an expression of strained patience. In truth, he knew Gaius would not trouble him with trivial matters; the stableboy must have committed, or witnessed, some very grave crime indeed.
“It concerns Sir Althalos,” Gaius added.
That got Otto’s attention. He sat up straighter in his chair and beckoned them closer still. “I’m listening,” he said.
Gaius cast a glance down at Matthew, but the stableboy’s gaze was firmly fixed on his shabby boots. “Our young friend here overheard something some weeks since. He thought nothing of it at the time. But today, matters escalated.”
Otto saw a variety of emotions cross over Matthew’s face, the last one being puzzlement. “He means things became worse,” he explained, and with an inward sigh of resignation he rose from his chair, feeling his cramped muscles first complain, then stretch with relief. “I shall come down to you. Let us all speak eye to eye.” He jogged down the stairs and joined them by thetrestle tables, pleased to be upright once again. “Tell me what you overheard,” he said to Matthew.
The stableboy swallowed and Otto thought for a moment he might refuse. But then he spoke up in a high, clear voice. “’Twas Sir Althalos’s men. None of us like them. I’m sorry to say it, but it’s true.” His eyes flickered nervously between the two great warriors on either side of him. Otto waved a hand for him to continue. “Anyway, they were saying how the earl can’t command an army, not properly, not like the old earl.” Matthew stammered out the last few words and Otto clamped down on his instinctive anger for fear it would throw the boy entirely off course. “And that our knights would do better fighting for Sir Althalos.”
Otto looked at Gaius, but he wouldn’t meet his eye, silently confirming the boy’s story. Otto cleared his throat. “And what of our men? What did they make of this?”
Matthew shook his head. “I never heard anything disrespectful against you, milord, not once.”
“Your knights are unswervingly loyal,” Gaius said levelly.
Otto knew a swell of impatience. “Does this tale continue?”
“Aye, milord.” Matthew lifted his chin. “Last night, when I went to check on the horses after dark, Sir Althalos was in the barn talking to three of his men. They were huddled up beneath the hayloft, but I listened hard, and I heard what they said.” The boy swallowed. “One of them was well into his cups. He was laughing. He said that killing the guard was a masterstroke.”
Otto’s mind raced. “The guard outside Traitor’s Gate?”
“I dunno, milord. But he said that Sir Althalos was pulling your strings like a puppet.” Matthew’s cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “I dunno what that means either, milord.”
Otto smiled reassuringly, even as bile rose in his throat. “What happened next?”
“They said how you locking Lady Ariana in the tower played right into their hands for when the Kenmar army arrived. But then Althalos spoke up and said how that were true, but none of it mattered now. That Sir Leon was weak, and he didn’t need him no more. He would go it alone and get twice the prize.”
“Go it alone?” Otto flicked his eyes towards Gaius. “What is he about?”
“Tell him, Matthew,” Gaius nodded encouragingly.
