Shadowmoor (de Lohr Dynasty #6) (6 page)

Daniel shook his head. “What about the taxes you mentioned?” he asked “Surely you can purchase food or men with them?”

Etzel looked embarrassed. “Lord Bramley steals everything he can get his hands on and the villagers are so frightened of him that they give him all they have and more besides.”

Daniel was starting to get a very unpleasant picture of what had been going on at Shadowmoor for the past four years. The abducted child was only the latest in a string of offenses. He sat forward, his elbows on the table as he considered the situation. He knew he shouldn’t involve himself in any way, but the truth was that he was already involved. He became involved when Gunnar ran to him for help. Still, he’d done his duty and saved the boy, but that didn’t solve the problem. He had saved the child only to have Bramley abduct him again, or worse. He was starting to feel a great deal of sympathy for Etzel and his lovely daughter and struggling not to. It wasn’t his problem.

But that didn’t seem to matter much because Daniel had an innate sense of right and wrong, and of wanting to help those in need. These people were definitely in need. Perhaps it was the knight in him that wanted to be chivalrous, or perhaps it was the de Lohr who had, for generations, fought for right and good. In any case, in just these few short minutes he had spent with these people, he knew it would be difficult to walk away from what they were facing on a daily basis.

He wondered if he could do any good for them.

“Well,” he began, drawing in a deep breath. “The facts are these – Roland Fitzroy says he is a nephew of the king but the truth is that he is not. His sister, and his sister only, is the bastard daughter of King John, which makes Roland a non-blood relation, if at all. Truth be told, I wonder if he is even who he says he is. He could simply have told you that to lean on you and steal your lands. He could be just a greedy man who has confiscated Bramley Castle, taken the name, and concocted a story about him being a relation to Henry. Nothing has been proven with regard to his relation to the king.”

Etzel nodded. “That is true,” he said, “but, as I said, I have been unable to send a missive to Henry to discover the truth of it. And how would you know so much about Lord Bramley?”

Daniel scratched at his chin again, pensively. “He told me,” he said. “When I would not return your son to him, he told me who he was and threatened me. I threatened him right back.”

Etzel’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You did?” he said, both appalled and thrilled. “What did you say to him?”

Daniel’s gaze drifted to Liselotte, sitting politely silent as the conversation went between her father and their guest. When Daniel looked at her, however, she smiled rather shyly and averted her gaze. Daniel’s attention lingered on her.

“My family name is de Lohr,” he said to Etzel. “Have you heard of it?”

Etzel’s brow furrowed in thought. “I am not sure,” he said. “I think I may have. Something to do with King Richard?”

Daniel nodded. “My uncle, Christopher, was King Richard’s champion,” he said. “My uncle is also the Earl of Hereford and Worcester and High Sheriff of the Marches. My father is the Earl of Canterbury and controls several garrisons in Sussex and Kent. Between my father and my uncle, they have tens of thousands of men at their disposal, enough to overrun Bramley and wipe him from this earth. Bramley didn’t seem to like my promise that I would do just that.”

Etzel stared at him, stunned. “Tens of thousands of men?” he repeated. “Is your family so powerful?”

Daniel nodded, a modest gesture. “All that and more,” he said quietly. “They are champions for justice and, in this case, it seems as if a great injustice has been perpetrated upon you by a fool. I will send word to my uncle, whose seat is much closer to Shadowmoor than my father’s is, and ask him what he knows of Roland Fitzroy. I will further ask him to send men for protection for Shadowmoor until this situation with Lord Bramley can be settled.”

Etzel had no idea what to say. He looked at his daughter, who was equally astonished, before returning his attention to Daniel and shaking his head.

“But…,” he started, stopped, and started again. “My lord, your offer is most gracious. Incredibly gracious. But we are not your responsibility in any way. I could never repay your father and uncle for any services they provided us and we certainly cannot provide for any army to be stationed here. We can barely provide for ourselves.”

Daniel could see that it was an embarrassing admission for the man, refusing such generous help. But Daniel waved him off.

“My uncle’s army travels with their own provisions and a quartermaster,” he said. “You would not be expected to provide for them with the exception of shelter. And, certainly, no repayment is expected. I offered, did I not? That means this will cost you nothing.”

Etzel was still looking quite stunned. Sickened, too, as if overwhelmed by everything Daniel was telling him. The man was genuinely speechless for a few moments as he tried to process everything.

“But why?” he finally asked. “Why would you do this for people you do not know?”

Daniel glanced at Liselotte, whose astonished expression was much like her father’s. “Your circumstances of cruelty from Lord Bramley leave you shocked to realize there is still some good in the world,” he said. “What I offer, I do because it needs to be done. I do it because it is the right thing to do and I expect nothing in return. Clearly, this is none of my affair and I could just as easily leave tomorrow and you would never see me again. That is more than likely what I should do because what is happening at Shadowmoor is none of my affair. But the fact remains that I saved your son from a man who is systematically attempting to destroy your family and your life. I did not save him to let him fall back into Fitzroy’s hands at a later time, so in a sense, I have made your problems my own. I did it the moment I told Fitzroy that I would not turn Gunnar back over to him. So, you see, your problems have, in a small way, become my own because now Fitzroy, or Lord Bramley, or whatever he calls himself now sees my refusal to return Gunnar to him as an insult. I am now his enemy as well. Does this make sense to you?”

Both Etzel and Liselotte nodded. “It does,” Etzel said. “It makes a good deal of sense and I must apologize that you find yourself involved. It is not your war to fight.”

“It is now,” Daniel said, cocking at eyebrow at the man to emphasize his point. “Therefore, I will send a missive to my uncle regarding the situation and ask for aid. I will also have my uncle send word to Henry to relay Fitzroy’s activities against Shadowmoor. In addition to my uncle, I will also send a missive to the Earl of Wrexham for aid because he is just a few days to the north and aid will arrive faster. My family is allied with the earls of Wrexham, the House of de Wolfe, so they will send what I ask for. Soon enough, this place will be overrun with soldiers and knights, and that idiot Fitzroy will be too fearful to strike against you any longer. We shall take Shadowmoor back for you, l’Audacieux. Have no doubt.”

Etzel could only sit there and stare at the man. Then, as Daniel watched, he broke down in tears. “It is the answer to my prayers,” he sniffed, embarrassed at his display of emotion as he struggled to regain his composure. “Since Lord Bramley came, I have prayed for divine intervention to help us with the man. And now God sends it in the form of a single knight. I can hardly believe it.”

Liselotte quickly went to her father to comfort him, putting her hands on the man’s shoulders as Etzel struggled. She was close to tears herself as she looked to Daniel.

“My lord,” she said softly. “What my father says… we have indeed prayed for help. We did not know how or where it would come from, but we believed that it would come someday. Yet, what my father has not told you is the toll it has taken on our family and our people. Starvation and little hope have made Shadowmoor a dismal place. My own mother took to her bed last year and has not risen; she remains an invalid, praying for death because she is so miserable. When my younger brother was abducted, we did not tell her for days for fear of what it would do to her and when we finally told her… she has not been the same. It is my hope that Gunnar’s return can bring some life back into her, and now with your magnanimous offer of aid… you are truly an answer to prayer. We are forever in your debt.”

Etzel regained control of his composure enough to nod, wiping sloppily at his wet face. “What she says is true,” he said. “We are in your debt, always willing to be of service to you and your family. Although I have nothing to pay you with, no money to speak of, I would gladly give you my daughter’s hand in marriage. It is the only thing I have of value. Liselotte is a good girl with many skills. She is not rich, of course, but she would make a fine and dutiful wife.”

Liselotte’s eyes widened to the point of bursting from her skull while Daniel, equally as shocked by the unexpected offer, was left scrambling for a reply that didn’t sound like an insult. What shocked him more, however, was the fact that he very nearly agreed to the proposal right on the spot. Liselotte was an unearthly beauty and he felt drawn to her as he had never felt drawn to a woman in his life, not ever, but the fact remained that he had only known her for a few minutes at best. Perhaps the only thing he felt for her was a great appreciation for her beauty and nothing more. In any case, he had to bite off an immediate reply, fearful that he would get himself into trouble. He did so want to agree based purely on superficial reasons.

But he couldn’t.

“That is a very generous offer, my lord,” he said, sounding a bit rattled. “Of course, if I was in the market for a wife, I would accept your offer without question, but alas, I am not. I do not intend to marry, at least not any time soon. But I would be more than happy to find your daughter a husband if you are in the market for one – mayhap a knight who could bring his army with him and provide protection to Shadowmoor. I know many fine knights who would fill this role, in fact.”

Liselotte, who had thus far remained silent and polite throughout the conversation, could no longer remain so.

“I do
not
need for you to find me a husband, my lord,” she said, sounding righteously insulted. Then she looked at her father. “And you should not have made him such an offer, Papa. See how uncomfortable you made him? What a terrible thing to do to us both. You made it seem as if you are desperate to make me his burden and that is not fair.”

Etzel seemed genuinely surprised by her reaction. “I did not mean it so,” he insisted, looking between Daniel and his daughter. “I simply meant that you are the only thing of value I have. You are very valuable to me, Leese. You know that.”

Liselotte shook her head at her father in frustration and turned away, moving away from the table and back over to the fire pit where Daniel’s clothes were drying. She pretended to tend to them when what she was really doing was making sure Daniel couldn’t see the flush to her cheeks, a flush of great embarrassment and humiliation. So he didn’t want to marry her; she did not blame him. She wasn’t worth marrying but at least he had the tact not to say so. No man in his right mind would think a penniless maiden was worth marrying. Still, she was quite mortified by her father’s suggestion, hoping Daniel wouldn’t rescind his offer for assistance because of it.

But rescinding his offer was the furthest thing from Daniel’s mind, in fact. He watched Liselotte move away from the table to tend to his drying clothing, trying not to make it obvious that he was staring at her, concerned for her reaction to her father’s tactless proposal. She was offended, he could see that, but he clearly hadn’t meant to offend her. He wanted to make amends.

“She is more than likely the most valuable thing in all of Yorkshire and, I would suspect, the most beautiful maiden in all of Northern England,” Daniel said, loud enough for her to hear him. “If I was the marrying kind, I would accept your offer with great glee. In fact, I have never had a finer offer in my life. But the truth is that I do not even have a home. I travel constantly and that would be no life for a wife. Women want a home and children, and I could not provide that. It is a sorrowful thing to admit.”

Etzel sighed with relief, happy he’d not offended the man with his offer of marriage. “You understand that I had to offer,” he said. “She is the only thing I have of value.”

Daniel’s eyes drifted to Liselotte as she knelt next to the fire. He could see her profile with her upturned nose against the firelight. “She is the most valuable thing in all of England,” he said, quietly now. “But I am wholly unworthy of her.”

“You will tell me if you change your mind.”

“I will.”

They fell silent after that, drinking the cheap ale in their crude wooden cups, each man pondering the unexpected course the future had taken. Daniel, for certain, was feeling a bit of excitement at the future because he now had a purpose. He was a man who thrived on purpose, and on a challenge, and he considered the immediate future both of those things. Moreover, he was a man who loved to deal out justice, which Lord Bramley was sorely in need of. Once the man realized that the House of de Lohr had taken over Shadowmoor, he would think twice before continuing with his harassment. But, it seemed, the trick would be getting a missive past Lord Bramley’s men, who evidently watched the roads. Indeed, that would be the key.

As Daniel engaged Etzel in a conversation about all of the roads leading south, Liselotte was closely listening. She could hear just enough conversation to make sense out of it and it was clear that her father and Daniel were plotting to get a message through Lord Bramley’s net. It was something her father had not dared in years but now with Daniel’s arrival, there was renewed hope. Perhaps something could really be done. But she was distracted when a couple of serving women brought in the freshly baked loaves of bread from the outside oven, so Liselotte turned from eavesdropping on the men’s conversation to serving up the evening meal.

Mealtime at Shadowmoor was a bit different because one of the key components, the flat stale bread used for a plate or trencher, was noticeably absent. Trenchers were made from precious bread and since food was relatively scarce, Liselotte had a stack of reusable clay plates at her disposal. She had made them herself out of heavy gray clay found on the banks of the River Aire, not far to the west, that had been shaped into flat rounds and baked in the bread ovens until they were very hard. An old woman whose family lived at Shadowmoor, on the outskirts of the walls, had shown her how to fashion the plates. She was an old lady who had seen much hardship in her life and knew how to deal with it.