MORIAH JOVAN

To Brìghde’s surprise, Emelisse was sitting in the chair next to the empty lord’s chair. Sir John, standing behind his chair next to Grimme’s, looked entirely furious. The rest of the hall stood behind their chairs, silent, waiting.

Emelisse gave her a victorious, challenging look. Brìghde took a deep breath and, shaking her head at the prospect of a long war with her husband’s favorite mistress, glided to the head table. “Get up,” she said quietly, but firmly. Read more →

“Thank you, Grimme,” she said, smiling up at him.

Grimme returned his little wife’s smile as they stood in the outer bailey at sunrise whilst a company of knights and foot soldiers disguised themselves as villeins moving from town to town looking for a lord to serve. “You’re welcome,” he said warmly, happy that at least one woman in his household was not furious with him.

It had been a week since he had promised Brìghde that he would send for her things and her dog. In that week, he had had to confront each of his women privately. Read more →

It took Brìghde and William a full sennight to complete the inventory of the paramours’ chambers, and Brìghde threw herself into it wholeheartedly not because she wanted to paw through Grimme’s mistresses’ things, but because she had to do something other than attempt to drink herself into a stupor to keep from remembering his brutal rejection of her, and then the fact that he had spoken so vulgarly of her behind her back to his mistresses. All of them.

Friendship.

Brìghde wasn’t Grimme’s friend. She was Aldwyn, a mere replacement for a dear friend he had lost.

She felt completely and utterly betrayed, and what had she done? Kept it to herself instead of punching him in the face. Read more →

Over the next few days, Brìghde was able to establish somewhat of a custom: Arise just after lauds, go to her morning prayer and confession, ride Troy harum-scarum through all of Kyneward without Grimme and Helen, arrive in time for breakfast, get about her inventory, have supper, then exercise a mare. She and Enyo got along famously, as she did with all the other mares but Helen. Helen would still not allow Brìghde alone in her stall with her, but would take the treats she was offered and suffer being petted and told what a good lassie she was.

Brìghde explained to Sir John and William about the circumstance between the mistresses and the merchants. She explained the arrangements she had made for a fresh calculation. She explained that she was now going to take an inventory of the mistress’s chambers. And that once everything was reconciled on the Kyneward books, she would meet with the merchants and reconcile with them. Read more →

Grimme slid Brìghde a stony look at supper when she raised her eyebrow in question. “Well?”

“’Tis done, but do not make me do that again.”

Then she smiled sweetly at him and fluttered her eyelashes.

He dropped his head and started to laugh.

“Have some wine,” she said playfully and filled his goblet from the pitcher sitting in front of her. “Ye’re more amusin’ with a few goblets in ye.” Read more →