Royal Feud

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

she played and sang for hours until she was exhilarated but exhausted. Finally Lucy stepped forward and, over the loud protests of the audience, drew her away from center stage. As the crowd dispersed, Hermione drank deeply from the cup of ale the butler handed her.

"My dear, your performance tonight was superb." Lucy hugged the waist. "Thank you. I hope we can prevail upon you to entertain us again." "I would like that, Lucy."

"Excellent."

Leaving her arm around Hermione's waist, Lucy twisted slightly to welcome Elizabeth and Clare as the other women came to join them. Clare's cheerful face and wide smile caused an answering smile to come to Hermione's lips. The warmth and acceptance she received from the other women overwhelmed Hermione.

"Hermione," Elizabeth said, "your voice is so pure, I felt as if I were listening to an

angel sing."

"Truly, I do not think I have ever heard a more talented singer," Clair added.

"Thank you so much," Hermione said. "I am so glad you enjoyed my music." Delvin approached her and, after a few more words of praise and encouragement, the other women gradually drifted away, leaving the two of them alone together.

"You should be proud of yourself, Hermione." He kept his voice quiet, only loud enough for her to hear. "You faced your fears, and you have emerged triumphant." "Thank you, milord."

She smiled as his words sunk into the arid recesses of her soul. Was it possible that

she would finally be able to throw off the shackles of her past and reclaim herself?

Hermione around

10

This the worst snowstorm I can remember in the last ten years, Hugh said. "T get frostbite." Holding his hands out to the fire, he rubbed them briskly together. "I have instructed the guards to switch shifts every hour. We do not want them to

"Aye. Just so," Delvin replied.

"Milord." Renwold, the steward, approached the fireplace, a deep furrow between

his close-set eyes.

"Aye, Renwold. What is it?"

"The last of the villagers have left the castle. With your permission, milord, I will instruct Cook to serve just soup and bread for supper tonight. "Twill be too difficult for the remaining servants to prepare a more elaborate meal than that."

"That is fine, Renwold. "Twill also help conserve our food supplies in case the storm lasts for more than a day. Have the butler keep a tight rein on the ale and wine today. We do want the men to overi

"Aye, milord. I shall do so."

"That will be all for now, Renwold. Let me know if there are any problems."

"Aye, milord." The steward bowed and left. Delvin turned back to the castellan. "Hugh, keep a close watch on the men. With nothing for them to do today but gamble and drink some altercations may break out."

Hugh turned from the fire, bringing his right hand up to his mouth, stroking his gray beard with his forefinger on one side of his lips and his thumb on the other. "Aye. The men hate to be cooped up inside. I just hope the weather clears tomorrow."

Delvin nodded. With his back to the fire, its warmth roasting his backside while his front remained raw, he surveyed the hall. Most of the knights and soldiers sat in groups at the trestle tables throwing dice. The cacophony of their voices as they hollered when they won or groaned when they lost filled the hall. A few men lounged on their pallets on the floor. Bernard sat at a separate table with his son, Nicholas, both of them absorbed in the game they played together. When it had become clear that the garrison had taken over the hall, the ladies had retired to their solar upstairs.

"Well," Delvin drawled, "since you have everything well in hand here, I will repair upstairs. "Tis beyond time that I go over the accounts. Let me know if anything comes up."

"I shall do so."

On his way upstairs, Delvin ambled over to Bernard's table. When the knight became aware of his presence, Bernard looked up at him, placed both his hands on the table, and started to rise. "Milord, did you have need of me?"

Delvin laid his hand on Bernard's shoulder to keep the man in his seat. "Nay, Bernard. I just thought to see how you are faring against your opponent. I heard tell the lad is a fierce competitor at Alquerque."

Smiling, Delvin inclined his head, pointing to Nicholas, sitting across from Bernard. The ten-year-old had inherited his father's strong jaw and his mother's dark brown eyes. His dark brown hair was messy, as if he had been raking his hands through it. The board laid out between them was marked with five horizontal and five vertical lines with intersecting diagonal lines, resulting in twenty-five points. Nicholas, playing the black pieces, had a considerable pile of captured white pieces lying in front of him.

"Aye, that he is, milord." Bernard shook his head. "I need to keep my wits about me when I play against Nicholas, that I do."

As Delvin watched, Nicholas chortled and took one of his pieces and jumped three of Bernard's white pieces, leaving his father's remaining two pieces vulnerable. Bernard had no option other than capturing two of Nicholas's black pieces, leaving his last

white pieces en prise. Nicholas quickly captured the last white pieces on the board.

"I win! I win!" the boy crowed, holding the two captured pieces high over his head. "Better luck next time, Bernard." Delvin slapped the knight's broad back. "I demand a rematch, me lad." Bernard arranged the pieces back into position on

the board.

"Good luck, Bernard." "Thank you, milord. I am going to need it."

Delvin left them and went up to his solar. After placing the ledger on a table, he pulled up a chair and, resting his chin on his hand, scanned the entries, checking the calculations in his head. Although he employed a clerk to compile the accounts, he needed to periodically review them to ensure the man did not defraud him. This tedious task was something he could seldom force himself to do.

Sometime later the knock on the door jerked him out of the light doze into which he had fallen. "Come in," he called.

Glancing up from the ledger, he saw his mother enter, with Hermione following close behind. Pushing back his chair, Delvin stood as the women walked toward him..

"Good afternoon, ladies. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"Delvin," Lucy said, "I told Hermione how you were at loose ends with this terrible storm, and she has kindly offered to play chess with you to help alleviate your boredom."

Delvin shot his mother a look, only to encounter her wide eyes and pleasant expression. Knowing he had been securely trapped, he gazed at Hermione. She stood slightly behind his mother, her hands twisting into the light brown fabric of her kittle,

"That is indeed kind of you, Hermione." "I will leave you two alone, then." Lucy cast a benign smile at each of them before leaving the solar and closing the door behind her.

"Milord,

you do not really want to play chess, do you?" Hermione gestured at the

paperwork spread on the table between. "I can leave, if you are busy." Delvin studied her uncertain face and gave her an encouraging smile. Lucy's efforts to throw the two of them together had been getting more and more blatant

lately, and obviously Hermione was being made as uncomfortable by them as he was. Making a swift decision, Delvin closed the ledger with a snap. "Actually, a game of chess sounds like a good idea right now. "Twill be much more enjoyable than going over the accounts."

"If you are sure, milord?"

"I am."

Picking up the ledger from the table, he carried it over to a chest stationed along the wall and left it on top. He grabbed a chair and carried it to the unoccupied side of the table he had been using.

"Please have a seat, Hermione, and I will get the chessboard." He placed the board on the table between them, along with a small case. Sitting down, he opened the box and turned it toward her. "You take the white pieces, and I will take the black."

In silence, they set up the chessboard and began to play. Delvin, convinced he would find little challenge in the match, found his mind wandering. He examined Hermione's face as she studied the board. The candlelight bathed her ivory skin in a soft glow. Over the last few days he had observed that she had been eating with a good appetite. As a consequence, her cheeks were no longer as gaunt as when she had arrived at Ishton.

She also seemed to be much more relaxed when in company. Her performances after supper had become the highlight of their evening entertainment. On more than one occasion he had been deeply moved by the power of her voice. Hermione's joy when she sang animated her entire being, making him feel as if he were partaking in her happiness.

Studying her face, he realized that her scars no longer repelled him. Had he simply become accustomed to them with repeated exposure, or had his growing admiration for Hermione made her disfigurement seem immaterial? Suddenly she looked up at him. He noticed for the first time that her intelligent brown eyes were flicked with specks of green and gold.

"Check and mate," she announced, moving her knight into position.

"What?" Delvin exclaimed. They had only been playing for a few minutes; she couldn't possibly have beaten him. He sat up and carefully examined the board. Finally convinced that she had won, he conceded.

"Aye, check and mate, in truth." He looked up at her satisfied smile. "I demand a rematch, " "That will teach you not to underestimate a new opponent, milord." Her voice was

light and teasing. "Aye, indeed it will." He shook his head, giving her a rueful smile. "You take the white pieces this time. I shall take the black."

"I promise you I will be on my guard now. You shall not find me so easy to defeat

this time."

They set up the chess pieces and started a new game. Delvin marshaled all his concentration and needed all of his considerable skill as he battled her over the chessboard. As the afternoon wore on and the number of pieces on the board dwindled, neither could find a way to decisively beat the other. When Lucy returned to the

solar several hours later, Delvin and Hermione were still together, playing intently.

"Children," Lucy interrupted, "Tis almost time for supper. I am afraid you will

have to leave your game and resume it later."

Delvin leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms out over his head. "I do not think there is going to be any winner of this match. Hermione, shall we declare it a draw?"

"Aye, milord. "Tis a draw."