Knights of de Ware 01 - My Champion Read Free Page A

is there?” she said, popping a sweetmeat into her mouth.
    Duncan scowled at that. He’d been there. He’d seen the anger in El Gallo’s eyes. There was always something an affronted Spanish reiver could do. They had notoriously long memories when it came to matters of revenge.
    “How much was she owed?” Lord James asked around a bite of venison.
    “Five hundred pounds,” Duncan replied.
    Lord James let out a low whistle. “And all this on her word alone?” he said, louder than was polite. “The word of a merchant woman?”
    Duncan’s hackles rose, and he felt Garth’s uneasy regard upon him. His father knew better than to prick him with that point. If there was one thing Duncan couldn’t abide, it was prejudice against commoners. Many a time he’d used his sword to protect a peasant’s head. He admittedly had a weakness for the weak. In fact, Lord James liked to grumble that if King Edward himself were drowning beside a nameless orphan, Duncan just might save the child first. Duncan usually responded with a judicious shrug.
    This time he couldn’t let his father’s attack go unanswered. “My lord, just because she’s a merchant doesn’t mean she’s not entitled to the same justice as—”
    “I’m certain your father means no slight to merchants,” Lady Alyce intervened. “Do you, James?”
    Lord James grumbled into his beard.
    “But tell me,” she continued, “what did the maid collect in payment?”
    “Wine,” Holden supplied. “Spanish wine.”
    “Wine?” Lord James asked. “What would a wool merchant want with wine?”
    Duncan raised his brows. “She could sell it, I suppose.”
    Robert nodded. “Good Spanish wine is a profitable commodity.”
    “She can’t sell it now,” Garth murmured.
    Everyone stared at Garth.
    Duncan stopped mid-bite. “What do you mean?”
    “After all of you…left,” Garth said pointedly, “she dumped the lot of it.”
    The back of Duncan’s neck prickled. “Dumped?”
    “She uncorked the casks and dumped the wine into the harbor,” Garth told him.
    A collection of gasps circled the table.
    “What!” Lady Alyce crowed with glee. “Why, I’ll wager the captain’s face turned as red as his wine over that!”
    Duncan felt all the breath go out of him. The girl must be mad—deliriously, raving mad. It was foolhardy enough that she’d publicly humiliated a Spanish reiver with her royal letters of marque, but to add further insult by dumping out good Spanish wine…that was pure lunacy. Didn’t she know that her slight could bring the wrath of the Spaniards down upon not only her, but the entire village?
    He suddenly longed to throttle the little fool.
    “This could have serious consequences,” Duncan announced, glancing up at his father’s grim face.
    Lord James had obviously reached the same conclusion. “England’s relationship with Spain is strained as it is,” he said. “An incident like this could—”
    “It could devastate trade,” Duncan finished, “to say nothing of the threat to the townspeople. I hope the woman had sense enough to flee. Some of those Spaniards—”
    “They’re bloodthirsty savages,” Holden interjected, his eyes narrowing in memory.
    Lady Alyce gasped and brought a hand to her bosom.
    “Although,” Robert added after a moment of thoughtful silence, “they do make a fine blade.”
    There were nods all around, and a short discussion ensued concerning the quality of the latest steel from Toledo.
    Meanwhile, the cogs began to revolve in Duncan’s head. He had to do something. The village was at risk, and the naïve little perpetrator of the trouble was wandering about like a cocked crossbow.
    “Robert! Garth!” he called out finally, throwing down his napkin like a challenge. “The spring fair begins tomorrow. The three of us will go. You can find yourselves new Toledo swords while I keep watch to see what hives that wench has poked a stick into.”
    “Spring fair,” Lord James harrumphed. “Nothing