Lion Heart (39 page)

I were trembling.

“Marian, my dear niece, you know very well how I play this game, don't you? You see, I understand that there must be certain negotiations, and well, I like to start the game off right.”

He took two long steps from me, past Rob, and he plunged the knife into David's throat.

CHAPTER

I screamed. Blood bubbled fast up David's throat, and his eyes were wide like he didn't know what had happened. Like he were frozen and couldn't move or stop his death from flying swift in. Just like John.

And then Prince John pulled the knife out, and David's body collapsed like someone pulled out whatever made him upright.

Prince John stepped in front of Rob, and I weren't sure if I were screaming or crying or all at once. Men had their hands on me to keep me still, and Rob's hand grabbed for mine, the only thing that calmed me. Rob were very still, looking at Prince John, not breaking his gaze.

“Tell me where the money is,” Prince John said. “Tell me how you got it out and where it's gone.”

“We won't tell you that,” Rob said. “Because you'll use it to kill Richard.”

“Yes, I will,” Prince John said. “This is my country, and whether it's today or sometime in the next year, when you have fat little children, when you think you're safe, I'll see you dead. I'll see you both dead.”

I drew a shaking breath, tears streaking down my face. “Not tonight. You need us to tell you where the money is. And if you harm one, the other won't tell.”

“Hm,” he said. “Or maybe, like your little outlaw said, you won't tell me anyway. Because your faith in my brother's right is so strong, is that it?”

“I've never met my father,” I told him. “I only know that
you
should never be allowed to be king.”

“Well,” he said. “You may be right. But nobody cares what a stupid, bastard girl thinks. So let's make this interesting, shall we? I'll give you until dawn to tell me where the money is. And then I'll kill him. I'll hang him from that tree,” he said, pointing. “So you can watch. So you can remember every detail and take it to your grave. And then I'll kill you too,” he promised.

I shivered.

“And do you know why I'll hang him?” Prince John said, coming close to my ear. “Because you're the weak one. You will break, like you sacrificed me for him moments ago. You will tell me rather than have his death on your soul, won't you?”

My eyes flicked up to his. “If you kill him, I won't say a word. And if you kill me, Richard will be safe, and he will return, and he will flay the skin from your bones.”

His eyes narrowed. “Let's find out, shall we?”

They brought us up in the tower. It had once been a royal residence, but my father had long been rebuilding it to be the strongest prison in the land. The rooms bore the rich signs of their royal past, but also the locks of their future.

They didn't touch me. They left me in a room all night long, alone, and listening to sounds that could have only been Rob. Grunts, short, clipped yells, and then silence. Every so often a man would come to my door and ask where the money were. I never answered, and then the sounds from Rob would start over again.

Once, my eyelids slipped closed, and I saw David behind my eyes, lying dead on the grass. Then the grass changed to snow, and the body changed to John. My eyes snapped open, and for a moment, I gasped for breath, and the vision still burned in my eyes, but it were Rob's body lying crumpled on the ground.

My hands shook, but I folded them in prayer, asking God to protect David like I couldn't in life, to keep John out of trouble, and to protect Rob. It were damned little, but it were all I could do.

The sky had begun to turn blue, the first herald of dawn, and I hadn't heard anything from Rob in a long while.

My heart were drumming in my chest, steady and hard, and it made my whole body shake.

The door opened, and Prince John came in. He grabbed my arm, hauling me up. “Tell me—” He stopped, cocking his head. “Actually, I rather hope you won't tell me. I'm very much looking forward to killing you both.”

“Where is he?” I demanded.

He pushed me out the open door, and I saw another door hanging open down the hall. A knight tied my hands, and Prince John led me down the stairs to stand in the open doorway. Rob were on a horse, being led to the tree, and the rope tied round his neck were thrown over a thick branch. He were bruised and bloody, and water pushed into my eyes and my heart ached.

I looked toward the gate. The pounding weren't my heart now; it were the gates.

“Yes,” he said. “We have visitors. Which means we need to make this very quick, Marian. Tell me where the money is, right now, or I will hang him. Hangings kill people in one of two ways, did you know that?”

He looked at me for some response, but I just stared at Rob.

“The first is the more humane, of course. Often times the fall is so long and sharp that the jerk of the rope pulling tight just snaps the neck.” He snapped
his fingers, and I flinched. “Dead. Just like that. The other is more horrible. They fall, and instead of instantly dying, their windpipe is crushed. They can't breathe. Blood can't drain out of the head, and it's the worst, most awful headache you've ever had.” He leaned close to my ear. “It feels like your head is about to burst open.”

A tear fell out of my eye.

“He's only a few feet off the ground,” he observed. “Just enough to keep his toes from the grass. I don't think it will be enough to snap his neck, do you?”

My eyes closed, and more water rushed out. “Your mother is right outside,” I told him. “You do this, and she will never forgive you. England will never forgive you.”

“I am her
son
!” he screamed at me. “She will side with me, she will protect me, she will start the cheer to proclaim me as king once she hears her precious Richard is dead!”

I glanced at the gate, at the guards, at Rob. “Prove it,” I challenged him. “If she comes in and sides with you, I'll tell you where the money is.”

He sneered. “You think I won't murder you in cold blood with an audience?” he growled. “I'm willing to make it public. My people need to learn the same lesson you do. They need to learn to obey me, and they need to see how high the price will be if they fail.”

Prince John nodded to a knight. “Surround the gate, and open it. Guard the prisoner,” he ordered.

The knights all snapped to attention, a small group surrounding the tree and the rest forming a double wall in a half circle around the gate, their swords drawn. Once the gate were opened, the people there could only come in so far. If they started to push, like rioters were wont to do, they would fall on swords.

The portcullis were raised, and the gate opened.

People started to rush in, but they halted when they saw the swords.

“Make way!” someone yelled, and I saw a carriage pushing up the way. It halted, and people pushed aside for Eleanor to come.

But not just Eleanor.

Suffolk.

Essex.

Leicester.

Norfolk.

Hereford.

Albemarle.

Hertford.

Pembroke.

“Your Graces,” the prince snarled. “What business brings you here?”

“You will stop this immediately, John,” Eleanor said as the men spread out to flank her.

He laughed. “No, Mother. I will not play favorites for you; I
will not excuse treason for you. Your ill-begotten granddaughter's
first
treason was pardoned, and look where that led? I let one traitor go and another grew up beside her. This time I will cut him down and let him stand as a warning to those who would dare oppose my brother.”

“Treason?” she demanded.

“They have stolen the ransom for King Richard's safe return!” He looked at me. “Tell them what you've done! Tell them, and our bargain will stand.”

“They can't steal it,” Essex shouted. “He's an earl of the realm! They raised that money like we all did. It is their own money.”

“Then why take it from the White Tower?” Prince John demanded. “Only a traitor—”

“I know what she did,” Eleanor said, raising her chin. “How do you think she got the money away? I helped her do it.”

“You
helped
her defy me!” Prince John screamed. “How could you?”

“Because she said if you didn't trust her to hold the ransom—to move the ransom—as is her right as a noble, it proved your wrongdoing. It proved that you were scheming against your own brother to steal the throne.” Eleanor drew a breath and shook her head. “I am very disappointed, John.”

“She's setting me up!” he yelled. “She's lying! And you, you ungrateful, coldhearted woman, you'd choose
her over your own son? You're supposed to love me, but all you ever gave me were the remains of your love for Richard. And now you see the face of your favorite in his bastard, and you choose her over me!”

“You promised to let me go,” I told him. “You said—”

He grabbed my hair, pulling me close. “You tricked me, you little bitch! And you will watch your outlaw husband die.”

My blood froze, staring into Prince John's wild, stricken eyes.

“My lord Prince,” Suffolk called, scowling.

Prince John let me go, pushing me back against the wooden rail. I looked down the twenty or more feet to the ground, but guards clapped their hands on me, holding me still.

“Yes, Suffolk,” Prince John said.

“It seems to me this situation has been a grave misunderstanding. Huntingdon is one of us; he has fought in the Crusades and he has acted time and time again in the best interest of this country. Forgive this misunderstanding and let Huntingdon go,” Suffolk ordered. “Such aggression against him would be an affront to the peerage, and one my honor—and that of my fellows here assembled—could not withstand.”

“Not withstand?” Prince John roared. “Essex! You stand here? You agree with him?”

“Yes,” Essex snapped back. “Indeed, it was your
wife
that inspired such passion for his plight,” Essex growled, his face a snarl.