Reg told the guards to quiet him. One of the fourteen holding him punched him in the gut.

  “Richard!” Nicholas shouted again. “Stop this. Let her go and I—”

  The guard struck him again, this time thanks to the king’s silent order.

  His cousin called another witness against her. No one stepped forward.

  Nicholas looked at Charlie. “Let her go or I will kill you.”

  Charlie didn’t seem like he was going to defy him, despite Nicholas’ poor odds of getting out of this alive if he tried—Charlie uncurled his fingers, took his hand away, and winked at his commander.

  It was all Nicholas needed to unleash the thing it took fourteen men to subdue. They’d taken his sword. He didn’t need it when he let out a shout and took two men down with his fists and elbows alone.

  Reg and the king bolted to their feet. People started running. A woman screamed when he yanked a sword free from one of the men who went down. Armed, he cut through any guards who lifted their swords to him. There were seven. The other seven who had been holding him sheathed their blades and held up their hands in surrender.

  Charlie cut down two of the guards who held Kestrel and was fighting the third when Nicholas leaped over the table separating him from them and jammed his sword into the guardsmen’s back. He pushed the man away before his body hit the floor and took his wife in his arms.

  “Find my cousin and bring him to me,” he ordered Charlie.

  “Aye, Sir.”

  “And Charlie.”

  “Aye, Sir?”

  “You are now my first in command. You will sit at my table from now on.”

  Charlie smiled. “Aye, Sir.”

  “Go.”

  Elia hurried to them and took Kestrel from his arms. “Oh, my dearest girl, my dearest girl,” she cried. “Are you hurt?” What can I get you?”

  They were the same questions Nicholas would have asked her, so he waited for her reply.

  “Nicholas,” she said softly. “Get me Nicholas.”

  He hadn’t wept since he was seven. And he wouldn’t begin now, but he came close. He stepped forward and pulled her gently into his embrace. “I am right here, my love.”

  “You saved my life yet again, Sir Knight,” she cried in a muffled voice, with her face pushed into his léine.

  He didn’t like that she had seen him kill again. It was a difficult thing to forget. And now, he thought as Charlie and his men returned with Reg, he was going to kill one more. “Come, love. Let Elia take you to our room.”

  “No, I wish to stay here and see what happens to Reg.”

  “Why would you care about such a thing? Unless you wish to see me end his life—and knowing you, I do not think ’tis that.”

  “It isn’t. I want you to remember that he has a wife and children.”

  “I would be doing them a courtesy,” he countered.

  “That is not for you to decide, Nicholas,” she said softly.

  “Do you hear this?” he called out to Reg, who was the one being held back now. “My wife, the woman you brought witnesses against, pleads with me for your life. This woman, whom you were more than ready to see burned alive, asks me to remember your wife and children.”

  Nicholas’ gaze went dark. “You are not worthy to stand before her.”

  In two strides, he reached his cousin and punched him hard enough to break his nose. “You were always sorry I wasn’t killed along with my family. I had what you wanted. The king’s favor. You sicken me. I let you live because of her. But you will take your family away from Scarborough. As far away as you can get. I will give you a fortnight to go. If I see your face after that, I will kill you. Do you understand?”

  Reg nodded, holding his bloody nose.

  “Get him out of here.”

  “My lord,” Charlie said, staying behind. “We have the king also.”

  “Let him go. He is still your king.”

  He returned his attention to his wife. “How was that?”

  “Very good.” She smiled and moved closer to him. “Now I think I will go with Elia to our room. I would like to rest.”

  “Of course,” he said and handed her over to his head maid with a kiss to his wife’s head.

  He stayed in the great hall helping his men clear it of the dead. After that, they drank to Kestrel’s safety.

  “I had no intention of letting anyone hurt her, my lord,” Charlie told him. “I relieved one of the guards holding her. I killed him just beyond the hall. I knew it was only a matter of time before you broke free and killed them all.”

  Charlie raised his cup to him and seeing him, his men did the same.

  “What did you do with the king?” Nicholas asked.

  “He is locked in his house. I have four guards stationed at the door.”

  “Good. I want to speak to him.”

  “I thought you would, my lord.”

  Nicholas gave his first in command a curious look and then smiled at him. He smiled at them all. Then he left to go speak to the king.

  *

  “I was afraid Nicholas would be hurt or killed,” Kes told Elia in the library. The women sat in the chairs with warm mead spiked with Scottish whisky in their hands. “I couldn’t even see him there were so many man…”

  “The king knows how fearsome Nicky is. And still those men were not enough.”

  Kes was quiet for a time, thinking about it all and how Nicholas had gone wild over her and killed seven men where they stood.

  She wasn’t against what he had had to do. He was the kind of man needed in the fifteenth century. If he wasn’t a well-abled warrior, she would have been dead twice now.

  The truth of it was that she loved that he could fight so well. She loved that though he could be a merciless savage, he was also kind and thoughtful once a person got to know him. She’d seen how he’d treated Jonathan at Walter’s.

  “You did well raising him, Elia,” Kes told her friend. “He’s a good man.”

  “Aye,” Elia smiled. Her cheeks were pink, adding more color to her eyes. “But Edward was a good father to him. He is the reason Nicholas chose to be a knight, besides his other titles. He is an extraordinary man, and you, my dearest, are an extraordinary woman. You are meant to be together.”

  “He is extraordinary. You’re right about that. Did you see him break free of all those men? It was like watching Samson. He fought with emotion and steadfast determination. I almost loved watching him.” She smiled and Elia nodded.

  “Meant to be.”

  “You say your father was…is like him. You had a finger pointing your way. You are fortunate.”

  “I didn’t feel fortunate. I felt cursed. Cursed to know there was at least one good man out there and he was my father. I had this great role model to show me what I wanted and there weren’t many more men like him by the time the twentieth-first century rolled around.”

  “What made him different?” Elia asked.

  “I don’t know,” Kes told her honestly. “But Mr. Green—hmph Sir Gawaine of the Round Table read my lineage back only on my father’s side before he gave me the brooch. After my mother died, my father threw himself into his work. I didn’t see him all that much. But I heard him crying some nights for my mother. He loved her. I thought that was how all men loved the women they were with. I was wrong. I was beat over the head with the truth until I lost hope of ever finding a really good man.”

  The door opened and Nicholas stepped inside. When he saw her, he smiled as if she were the only thing he ever wanted to see again.

  “Are you well?” he asked tenderly, coming around to her chair.

  “Yes. I wasn’t hurt, just frightened. I needed some quiet time. Is everything under control outside these doors?”

  “Aye. I spoke to the king.”

  “And?”

  “And if I refuse to fight for him at Bosworth Field, he will not show up. Meaning he will not die there.” They both said the last together.

  History would be changed.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  They reached camp outside of Leicester early in the morning. It had taken a sennight to get here since leaving Scarborough. Nicholas missed Kestrel and hated having to be here to fight for a man who had tried to have his wife burned for being a witch. Richard had listened to lies because her last name was Lancaster. He’d shown no mercy to Nicholas’ wife and, for that, Nicholas would show him none.

  But he had to pretend that he would. He trained with his men, as he did now, and sometimes ate and drank with them when they were home, while Kestrel spent time with Elia and her other dozens of friends, none of whom were stately, though she had gotten along well with Elizabeth. He wondered if she missed him.

  He leaped to the right and avoided Charlie’s blade and William’s sword coming from the other side. William was Charlie’s best friend and second in command—and sneaky.

  Good. Nicholas liked it. He swung his sword and the force of his blade striking William’s sent the soldier’s blade flying.

  Kestrel had told Nicholas about her friends in the future, Lilith, Kim, Constantine, and Jack. Nicholas wasn’t happy that she had lived with two men, but it was over five hundred years from now. The world had changed. There were airplanes and HDTVs, and virtual reality gadgets, video games, and so much more that he couldn’t wrap his head around it all. He would never have believed what she told him of her time if he didn’t know her.

  But he did know her. In less than a month, he’d been through more with her than with anyone else in his life. He knew how she reacted to things, what made her laugh and smile, and what annoyed her.

  Charlie’s sword came at him but there had been too much hesitation. Nicholas swung left then right, and then ending the session with an upper cut swing that sent Charlie’s blade end over end into the dirt.

  “That was very good,” Nicholas told them.

  “Good?” Charlie asked with an incredulous laugh. “In all six sessions, we didn’t last longer than a few breaths against you.”

  “A few breaths is better than what the king’s guard had in my great hall a few days ago,” Nicholas quipped, sheathing his sword. “You both fought well, and you will not be fighting me, so I have no doubt you will both come out alive in whatever battle you fight.”

  They all laughed together, knowing he was correct. If they could last a few breaths with him, they could win the battle.

  “You will remember to stay near me tomorrow,” he told them. “All will be well.”

  He didn’t tell them about pulling them out of the battle. He trusted Charlie but he didn’t know the rest enough to trust that word wouldn’t get back to the king. This had to be perfect.

  “Aye, Sir,” they both agreed.

  They were his friends, loyal and trustworthy with much, so far. Nicholas decided he liked having friends and thought about going back home when everyone returned and inviting Lord and Lady Thomas FitzRoy, and Claire, the laundress, and her seven brothers to sit at his table. Kestrel would enjoy Claire and Lady FitzRoy’s company.

  When the battle was over, he expected to keep Scarborough, since he hadn’t fought against the victor. But if not, he had enough to build his own castle and live comfortably with Kestrel and Elia and anyone else who wanted to join them, wherever they chose. Still, he liked living in Scarborough.

  He wondered what kind of man Henry Tudor was. They were about the same age. Would the new king throw him in some dungeon and forget about him?

  He saw Richard, resting on a short wall, watching him as he approached.

  “You truly are unbeatable,” the king told him when Nicholas reached him. “And magnificent to behold when you are at war.”

  Nicholas bowed his head and walked past him. Richard caught up.

  “Why did you not kill Reg?”

  “Because my wife asked me not to.”

  “She makes you weaker.”

  Nicholas cast him a sneer. “If you see it that way, that is your choice, Sire.”

  “His was the first accusation to reach my ears against your wife,” the king admitted.

  “I thought as much,” Nicholas told him, not surprised by this news.

  “Henry declared himself king today by right of conquest,” Richard also informed him. “He is confident.”

  Nicholas looked at Richard and nodded. “He is.”

  “If I lose, whoever fights for me tomorrow commits treason and will lose his lands.” Richard stared at him. “Swear you will not abandon me.”

  “I will not.”

  The king, a bit shorter than Nicholas, moved closer. “I will stay near you on the battlefield tomorrow, Nicky.”

  “Aye, stay close, but also fight to keep yourself alive.”

  “Of course.” The king laughed a haughty laugh. “I do have skills, you know.”

  “Of course.”

  They reached the camp and Nicholas blended in with the men, eight thousand strong. Another three would be here by morning. Tents were erected in rows and the rows went on almost endlessly. If Richard couldn’t win with all this, that was, as Kestrel would say, Richard’s problem.

  He prayed she and Elia made it safely to Elizabeth and her mother. He was thankful the young sister of his heart had contacted him. She had written that she loved him, and was sorry for betraying the House of York, but soon, both houses would be united and there could finally be peace. Aye, Nicholas wanted that for the first time in his life. He’d fallen in love with a Lancaster and joined with her. He wanted Elizabeth to know that he fully supported a union between her and Henry. He contacted her back to tell her, for she had given him her location and was but a day away. He told her he was sending his wife and Elia to her. They would explain his decision. If they continued onward to the town north of Bosworth, which was Elizabeth’s plan, he would meet them when they arrived.

  Richard’s forces were ten miles from the battlefield. There was already word from runners that the Tudor army was also waiting and ready to fight.

  Tomorrow morning then.

  They headed out two hours before dawn. At any other time in his life, Nicholas would have welcomed the day and the passion for battle he possessed. He would have thrilled in the thought of killing his enemy.

  But not anymore. He wanted to live in peace, to love his wife and raise their children. He was going to see to it today.

  They arrived to find that the king’s other three thousand men had already arrived and were engaged in battle with the Reds.

  Nicholas needed to get the king on the field, where he would have been if none of this witch nonsense had happened. Nicholas would have fought for him and the king still would have died. Nothing would be changed.

  “I do not do this for you, but for the House of York,” he told the king while watching the fighting with his garrison before they rode out onto the field. “As my fathers did before me, I will fight to keep it alive.”

  Richard smiled genuinely for the first time in days. “You never failed Edward. You will never fail me.”

  “Never,” Nicholas said, concealing his disgust. “For York!”

  “For York!” Richard shouted and flicked his reins. Nicholas and Charlie flicked theirs as well. But the rest of the men held back. The king didn’t notice when they entered the fray.

  The smell of blood enticed Nicholas’ senses and, for an instant, he wanted to fight the Reds and kill them all.

  He saw a rider approaching. He wore gold armor including a helmet with its visor down. A yellow scarf waved like a pennant from his spear. Lizzie’s. It was Henry Tudor.

  Nicholas turned his horse to the king. “You no longer have my support, Richard. I will not kill you, but I will not fight for you anymore. Fight to keep yourself alive.” He dismissed Charlie and his first in command retreated with the slightest of smiles.

  “What?” Richard shouted, wide-eyed. “No! You betray me? You betray your fathers! I will live and find your wife, and see that every man who wants a turn—”

  A thump resounded through the clash of swords around Nicholas. He stopped and turned to see Henry’s spear sticking out of Richard’s chest, the yellow scarf now red with the king’s blood.

  He looked at the new king as sunlight splashed over his golden armor. Mayhap there would be peace.

  *

  Kes waited in the town hall where Henry Tudor sat the night before after going over the latest plans for the war.

  Kes was a bit star-struck by him. This guy started the Tudor Dynasty, which included Henry VIII, Mary Tudor, also known as “Bloody Mary”, Queen Elizabeth I aka The Virgin Queen. Huge historical figures. She’d been happy to know, once she’d met him, that he was a nice enough guy, as far as kings went. He’d listened to her and Elia and when they’d told him what they knew, that Nicholas would not lift his sword on the battlefield unless it was to save his own life, he remarked how fortunate Nicholas was to have such beautiful confidants, Kes especially being odd in appearance with her hair worn loose around her shoulders and her eyes like oceans waiting to be explored. He’d spent an hour with them and appeared quite happy when Elizabeth had joined them. They seemed quite taken with each other and Kes had to pinch herself twice to believe she was watching history unfold.

  He’d gone off to battle this morning vowing not to harm Nicholas. Kes prayed that her husband stayed his course.

  Her husband. She’d never thought she’d have one. Never thought she wanted one. But here she was trying to save him from fighting against the wrong man.

  She didn’t rest but paced the floor in the town hall like a pendulum, lulling her friends to sleep.

  When she heard the sound of clinking armor and mail outside the window, she knew men had returned. But whose men were they?

  “We return victorious!” Henry shouted from outside.

  Kes hurried to the window. When she looked out, she saw Nicholas strung to four ropes tied to his four limbs.

  “King Richard is dead!”

  “Long live King Henry!” the crowd shouted back.