"It appears you forgot something, while you were fighting criminals," Ann said. In response to Isabel's questioning look, she continued, "The babe. You are still carrying the child. Brant was furious with me, for reminding you of the roots that can cause a miscarriage. Alisa, your husband is really frightening. When I saw you laying there last night, I could tell you are still expecting. Why would you let him think the worst? I certainly, did not enjoy dealing with his temper."
"Somehow, I think Brant is going to figure out, that I did not do what he thought. Niles was livid about Nathaniel. Another child, seemed like it would put me in a lot more danger. When he got notice that I was to be granted control of my resources, Brant made his position clear. He said if I did not return Nathaniel to him, he would knock down my Castles, until he found his son. What do you think his position would have been, if he knew that I still carried his second child?" Isabel posed to her mother.
When Ann just shook her head, Isabel pushed back the blankets, and said, "I had better get up. I wonder if I can find anything to eat around here, still."
Ann stood up, as the women heard the sentry announce guests. She told Isabel, "I will let you get dressed. I believe your husband has a lot of questions. Several of your knights, and a couple of his, rode out shortly after Niles died last night. He wants to know how his men were involved in this, without his knowledge. Oh, and 'what in Hades is going on', I think he said."
"Wait for me," Isabel said.
She got a clean gown from her trunk, and slipped it on. Ann helped her brush her hair out a bit, and tie it up. As they left the Solar together, the sentry was heard, again.
In the hall, Isabel discovered Robert, and Kate, had arrived. Nora met her near the stairs, to ask if she would like some thing to eat, and she nodded in the affirmative. She walked to the table, where a serf explained that breakfast had been served late, due to the excitement during the night. Brant and Robert walked over, and sat down by her at the table.
"Would you like to explain yourself, yet, or is there more to come?" her husband asked.
As Isabel was about to answer him, the door opened. William and Hyram entered, and approached her. As they joined the others already seated at the table, Isabel gave them a questioning look.
Hyram replied, in answer to her look, “They found one of the girls, though she is in rough shape. She had been badly abused. According to the serfs, two others died. However, there are also a couple of girls missing, from a nearby village. Some suspect Niles in their disappearance, too.”
Brant interrupted, “Am I confused Hyram, or are you supposed to work for me?”
“Aye, My Lord,” Hyram answered. “However, when William approached me with orders from the King, it seemed in everyone’s best interest, to aid him. Particularly, when provided with information that Niles, had been a part of the group, that ambushed your father. He and Avery had a similar plan for you. Since I am frequently at your side, if they were allowed to proceed, I would likely be killed, too. While I am not afraid of death, I would like to avoid it, for as long as possible.”
“How exactly, was this alleged plot uncovered?” Brant asked.
The knights looked at Isabel.
“Twas Avery,” Isabel said. “He was showing me off to Niles. They got into the plan to kidnap Esme, then use her to lure you into an ambush. Avery said it would work, just like with your father. He said Niles and his men, could meet up with you, a short distance from your Castle, so your people would not know he was there. When you met Avery’s men, you would be outnumbered."
"We had conflicting information, as to which side Niles was actually on," William said. "Robert and others, said he was gaming Avery, to get information for you. Isabel felt certain, that he was all for Avery besting you."
"I was sure that Niles was working with Avery, because of my father's take on his family," Isabel said. "Edmund believed Niles sire, was a murderer. Right after Lady Gwenivere, and her father, were killed, Niles family claimed to have purchased what was to be her dowry, a few days prior to their deaths. Father swore the son, was worse than the sire. Though, he would not say why."
"There was a good deal of suspicion about Niles for a couple of reasons. Several Ladies he expressed an interest in, turned up missing. However, it was not until after Nathaniel was born, that one of Avery's men claimed to have heard Niles speak of the ambush, on your father," William said. "Niles supposedly said, 'Eric never suspected anything, until the end. Since no one knew Niles was there with him, all suspicion fell on Avery'.”
"Unfortunately, the man was in trouble for other crimes. Therefore, he made a dubious witness, against a titled Lord," Isabel said. "Twas only a matter of weeks ago, that a reliable witness against him surfaced. Niles tried to approach some mercenary types, since Avery was gone. Then, we got the go ahead, to set a trap for him."
When they fell silent, Robert interjected, “So you took their plan to kill Brant, and used it to kidnap him?”
“It was a viable plan,” Isabel said, with a shrug. Then, she continued with her tale, “It was pretty clear that Niles intentions with me, were not honorable. My father had the binder, the one I gave you, Brant. Twas about your family, so I went through all of it, for information on the enemy. What I found was fairly shocking. According to the papers, Niles father was the son of the Duke, and one of the Castle Ladies. Your father, was the Duke and Duchess’ child, born four months after the Duke's illegitimate son. So, the family of the older child, hatched a plot to kill the Duke, Duchess, and their son. However, when they initiated the attack, the Duke was able to delay them long enough, for the duchess to escape, through the secret passage, with the legitimate heir. After that, a lot of members of both families were killed, trying to protect, or assassinate, your father. To stop the bloodshed, they came up with a treaty, which gave the older child the title, and about a third of the property. The legitimate heir, got the rest of the property, but not the title. Which worked until Niles inherited. He told me last night, he had the title, he should have the property, too. That is why I went to his Castle. So he would know I had the binder. You see it had diagrams of the locations of all the secret passages, in your families' Castles and Keeps.”
When Isabel stopped speaking, Ann, who had joined the group said, teasing her daughter, “So you had a diagram of the passages. You did not have to go along the wall with a candle, to figure out how to escape from him?”
“No, Mother. I did not have to go along the wall with a candle,” Isabel said, rolling her eyes.
William spoke up, saying, “Anyway, in the last few weeks, we have located a couple of people to confirm the paperwork. They were youths at the Castle, at the time. It has been forty-seven years, most of the people with knowledge of the events, are gone. This situation goes back to the fairly lawless times during Stephen’s rule, where family feuds were covered up as part of the civil war with Matilda. The King wanted confirmation that Niles knew he did not rightly, hold the title. I believe the goal, was to arrange a cover for Nile's death, if he were arrested. Since he decided to fight being taken into custody, and was killed, twill be a simple matter to declare you the Duke, as you should be.”
Since Isabel had pretty much disclosed her part of the story, she rose to go to her son. She lowered herself, with her back to the men, to sit on the blanket covered mat, intended to keep the babe off the cold stone floor. Nathaniel happily crawled to his mother, and she helped him pull himself up to standing. He loved to stand, though he had no balance, yet.