house, before glancing again at Otho who was watching him through wary eyes.
“Well, it didn’t take you long to turn this to your advantage,” Otho said sourly. “Your wits aren’t lacking in any case.” He spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground. “And your fists, neither. Una said you were handier in a brawl than a sword fight.”
Armand was silent a moment. “She’s never seen me sword fight,” he replied.
Otho’s beat-up face showed surprise. “We both did. On May Day.”
Armand shook his head. “Neither of you have ever seen me sword fight,” he repeated and then walked resolutely back to the house.
*
Armand found Una in the solar spreading out pieces of fabric cut in different shapes. The smile she greeted him with dropped immediately from her face when she caught sight of his expression. “What is it?” she asked quickly. Abelard, who had been sat at her feet, slunk away to hide under a table.
Armand looked down at her broodingly. He didn’t want to tell her what Fulcher had said. If a visit from his family could send her into a cold sweat, what would news of one, if not more approaching Northerners do to her?
Then again, he reflected, Una’s reactions weren’t exactly those of a normal woman. An unexpected knock on the door seemingly terrified her more than a band of murderous assassins swarming into their bedroom. She hadn’t even mentioned that night at The Merry Wayfarer since it happened.
She straightened up. “Something is clearly amiss, husband,” she said. “Please tell me.”
Armand took a deep breath. “Fulcher says we were followed from Caer-Lyoness by at least two men,” he admitted. “One of them was definitely Northern,” he added quickly, before she could reply. “I’m hiring more workers for outside the house to keep an eye out for strangers. Fulcher says he saw someone else in our orchard yesterday. It may have been one of them. It may not.”
Una kept her eyes trained steadily on his face. “Is that everything?”
“I just punched Otho in the face. Several times.” He was more surprised by his confession than she was.
“I see,” she said, coming to her feet and closing the space between them. She placed her arms loosely around his waist. “Are you alright?” she asked quietly.
“I’m fine. Your brother’s face doesn’t look too pretty.”
Una hesitated. “Why did you hit him?” Armand didn’t really know how to respond to that. “You don’t want to tell me?” she asked gently.
“I’m not really sure myself,” he answered gruffly, feeling a fool. He wasn’t sure why she was comforting him at this moment. Shouldn’t she be flinging recriminations in his face?
“You’ve been very patient,” she said gravely. “Maybe it’s the culmination of a lot of things.”
And just like that, Armand felt like the worst kind of heel. He had been dishonest, from the start, and Una had somehow mistaken his flippancy for something altogether more virtuous. That advice Bess had given her at The Stone Crow had not been far wrong. He was neither dependable nor a good bet for her in the matrimonial stakes.
He slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. “You give me too much credit,” he admitted, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Sometimes I—” He broke off, unsure how to proceed. She waited patiently for words he was not going to be able to speak. “Una, how did you get taken by Wymer’s forces?”
Una drew back to look at him with surprise. “Where did that come from?”
“It’s been playing on my mind,” he admitted.
“Well, it was quite anticlimactic at the end, in all truth,” she said with a grimace. “My father was dead, as were his most trusted generals. The last of us had been driven to a remote fort in the Braeburn Heights. There was barely anyone in a position to advise me, which turned out to be a blessing. Under siege conditions, we would have lasted a matter of mere days. When we received a request to parlay, I accepted at once. I was offered very generous terms for my surrender - safe passage and a dignified laying down of arms. I was only too happy to agree.”
Armand scanned her face. That she was telling the truth, he did not doubt. He also knew, she must be leaving out a good deal. “I can’t imagine your soldiers would have been happy with that decision.”
“No,” she agreed. “But we were surrounded and vastly outnumbered. They were disillusioned, tired, and hungry and had homes and families to return