Chapter 6

The continuous echo of his darling daughters' wailing was beginning to hurt Lord Bedford's ears. It had been three days since he had received the missive from King Henry, and as of since, he still hadn't figured out how in goddamn hell he had come into this predicament. What wrong had he committed to rile King Henry's infamous temper to make the man go to such length to show his displeasure? Surely, it wasn't because he hadn't been paying his tax appropriately. Surely not?

"It's all your fault, Papa!" Calla, his beloved daughter, snapped, pointing a slender finger at him. "It's all your fault. You did it again, didn't you? Not paying your tax?"

Iris, his other darling daughter, the younger one, nodded her head furiously in agreement. "If you were to pay your tax properly to King Henry, then he wouldn't be doing this to us. Us! I can't believe one of us is being offered like some sort of sacrificial animal to that loathsome murderer." She shuddered at the thought of the infamous Lord Aldric Templeton, Earl of Norsewood, warrior of the north. "I don't want to be murdered by that monster like his previous wife. I really don't, Papa. You must do something."

Lady Katherine Bedford, who was sitting to Lord Bedford's left side at the dining table, said, "Indeed, my dear, you must do something. I refuse to allow our daughters to be wed to that creature. I cannot bear to even think of him touching our precious darlings with those…" She shuddered and made a disgusted face. "…bloody, sordid hands of his, let alone…" She trailed off, her eyes on her two beautiful darlings.

Hair the color of spun gold, eyes as blue as the summer sky, cheeks rosy, skin fair and soft, and lips ruby red, they were enchantresses, and to let either one of them get defiled by that barbaric monster was simply inconceivable in Lady Bedford's mind.

Chuckling in amusement, Austin, the eldest of the Bedford's four siblings, said, "What indeed can Father do in this case? It's an order from King Henry. Father goes against him, we're guaranteed to be cut off from court at the very least. At worst, it'll be off with our heads."

"No!" Calla wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't want my head to be cut off. I don't want to."

"Then one of you will have to marry Lord Norsewood," Austin said. "It's that simple."

"But I don't want to be murdered either," Calla said, sobbing severely.

"Dear, you must do something," Lady Bedford said urgently. "Isn't he arriving sometime within the next two weeks?"

At the mention of the next two weeks, both Calla and Iris howled even louder like the pair of spoiled brats that they were.

"Mama, I don't want to be murdered," Iris said, sniveling.

"You won't be murdered, my love," Lady Bedford said.

Charles, the second child, said, "Father, I'm just curious. In the missive, did King Henry specify which daughter is to be married to Lord Norsewood?"

Lord Bedford shook his head. "No, he simply stated one of my daughters."

Charles, being the cunning one of the family, smirked, his eyes twinkling. "One of the daughters, I see."

Calla snapped, "Why are you smiling, Charles. You know we're in a dire situation, yet you find it amusing?"

Charles shook his head. "No, I don't find it amusing. Why would I be when one of my beloved sisters is to be married off to that monster? Not to mention taken to that forsaken land up north."

"I'll surely die of boredom if I'm not dying from murder if I were to be taken there to that godforsaken land," Iris said. "It's so far away from anything and everything."

"Dear, you must do something," Lady Bedford said again.

"Yes, yes, dear," Lord Bedford muttered, his face red from too much ale. "I know, but I just don't know what to do."

Austin said, "The only thing you can do is to give away either Calla or Iris."

"Austin!" Calla shouted across the table. "Just how selfish can you be?"

Charles said, "The missive said one of your daughters, Father."

"Yes, Charles, I know, for I have read that blasted missive countless times," Lord Bedford snapped, slamming his palm on the table.

"You don't get my meaning at all, Father," Charles said, shaking his head in exasperation as if he was the only person in the family who was smart enough to understand the double meaning behind the statement in the missive.

Lady Bedford said, "Get to the point, Charles."

"The missive didn't specifically state Father and Mother's daughters, correct? I mean, Father does have more than two daughters. From my point of view, Father's daughters include his illegitimate ones, too."

With that said, everyone looked at Charles in astonishment.

Charles continued. "Which means Father doesn't have to give away either Calla or Iris."

Lady Bedford opened her mouth in pleasant surprise, her eyes large. She said, "But of course. We don't have to give away either Calla or Iris."

"Does that mean… we're safe?" Calla asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Of course," Charles said.

At hearing this, both Calla and Iris sighed in relief.

Austin said, "There's only one problem."

Charles raised a brow. "And what's that?"

Austin said, "As we all know, Emma and Lucy are two illegitimate daughters Father formally acknowledged and they both are already married off a few years ago under Father's order to make ties with our neighboring counties."

Yes, indeed, Lord Bedford had just realized that himself. He had practically sold off his two bastard daughters in order to profit from the neighboring counties. The flow of goods coming and going between their three regions had indeed tremendously fattened up his coffer, and he did not regret that one bit. Those two girls existed solely to be made use of by him, as were all his other bastard children.

"If only you have another bastard daughter, Father," Calla said. "If only…"

"Your father did have another bastard daughter, my dear Calla," Lady Bedford said. She flicked her gaze to Elizabeth Fairchild, the head maid of the manor, who was standing there like a wallflower, waiting to serve them.

A despicable woman, really, in Lady Bedford's opinion, to have the nerve to seduce her husband just so she could change the station of her deprived life. But of course, Lady Bedford would never allow such an insolent servant to live her life in luxury, despite Lord Bedford having openly pronounced to the world that Elizabeth was one of his many mistresses. A lowly servant was what she was. She'd be serving them until her dying day.

She continued. "Eva, Elizabeth's daughter, that filthy boy Quinn's older sister. But she just had to go and die when she was ten. How disgraceful. It was all Elizabeth's fault, of course. What mother would leave her child in such a state?"

"Yes. Yes. Eva, I remember now," Lord Bedford said. "It's all Elizabeth's fault, of course, to allow Eva to die."

He turned to Elizabeth, who stood there, tears brewing in her eyes at the reminder of her beloved daughter who had died too young from an illness. Indeed, it had all been her fault, to leave Eva and Quinn alone that night simply because this selfish man had locked her in his room so he could have his way with her against her will.

Her knees felt weak, to the point that she could collapse. She, however, managed to hold herself in check. She needed to stay composed, for showing weakness would only lead to more torment, and it'd pleased them, these wicked, selfish lot, and she didn't want that.

If only her family hadn't owed the bastard so much debt. If only Quinn wasn't so frail and sickly, then she'd take Quinn, Maria, and Liam and be on her way from this nightmarish place.

"You hear that, Elizabeth," Lord Bedford said. "It's your fault I lost Eva. If Eva were alive, this troublesome business would be sorted out by now."

"If only that bastard Quinn was a girl," Calla muttered.

Smirking, Austin said, "Well, he is beautiful enough to be one. That face can really make a man's dick hard."

"Austin!" Lady Bedford snapped. "Do not say such a sordid thing in the presence of your innocent sisters."

Charles burst out laughing. "Innocent? Mother, Calla and Iris are far from innocent in the field of sex."

"Charles!" Lady Bedford said through gritted teeth. "Not while we're at the dinner table and especially not when the servants are around."

"All right. All right," Charles said. Turning to Lord Bedford, he said, "But Father, why don't you just use Quinn and pass him off as a girl? It'll solve our problem. Besides, do we really have to honor Lord Norsewood? He's a monster from a godforsaken land without power or influence at court, just receiving a bride from our noble bloodline is considered privileged enough, don't you agree?"

Lord Bedford thought about this for a moment and then nodded his head furiously. "Yes, yes indeed, my dear boy," he said. "That is exactly a very good idea." He turned to Elizabeth and ordered, "Elizabeth, inform Quinn he'll be Lord Norsewood's bride and will wed him when the man arrives."

Elizabeth was stunned. She couldn't believe the gall of this man, of this family. God, but she had worked so hard to protect Quinn so the girl didn't end up like her, being used and abused, and she'd do whatever it took to keep it that way.

Standing her ground for the sake of her only daughter left, she said, "My Lord, Quinn is a boy. How can you pass him as a bride to Lord Norsewood? Have you no shame? It's an insult to Lord Norsewood."

Loud gasps resonated across the dining table as the family turned their eyes in shock at Elizabeth. This was the first time a servant uttered such bold words to the man of the manor—indeed, the powerful lord of this prosperous land.

More often than not, Lord Bedford was fond of showing off his power and using his fists on those weaker than him, and this evening was one of those times. He had been quite stressed since the day he had received the missive from King Henry, and it was high time he let out some steam.

He raised from his chair and marched to Elizabeth. Standing in front of her imposingly in all his fatness, he sent the palm of his hand across her face. The slap was so hard that the noise of the abuse echoed in the room, leading the other servants to involuntarily shrink back in reaction. Across the table, satisfied smiles spread across the Bedford members' faces.

"Listen here, woman," Lord Bedford said. "I'm the lord of this manor and what I say goes. Tell Quinn to prepare himself; otherwise, there will be consequences."

Elizabeth refused to touch her throbbing cheek and bleeding mouth as she glared, her eyes dark and cold. "I will do no such thing. Quinn is our son, your son, your blood. Have you no love for him? No pity?"

Leaning in even closer, he said, his foul breath fanning her skin, "It is exactly that he is my son that he can be of use to me and my family. And nay, I have no love for the boy. How can I when I have yet to lay my eyes on him?"

Indeed, Lord Bedford had never seen his bastard son born from this wench who had awakened his cock all those years ago. She still did, of course, because she was such a beautiful woman. More so than all his other mistresses. Indeed, even more so than his wife.

"You think I'd have any love for the child of a woman who seduced me. Now, whore, do as you are told."

Seething, Elizabeth said, "I will not. To hell with you lot. I will take Quinn and leave this place." She truly had enough. To hell with the consequences. There was no way she'd let this bastard abuse Quinn as he did her.

"Leave this place?" Lord Bedford burst out laughing as he sent his palm against Elizabeth's cheek once again, throwing her face to the side. "And where will you go, huh? The Fairchild still owe me a huge amount of debt. Do you think I'll just let you walk out of here? Just you try. I'll dispatch my men to hunt you down and bring you back and make you work until the day you both reach your last breaths."

"You're a monster," Elizabeth said, tears in her eyes.

"No, the monster is not I, but your child's future husband," Lord Bedford said, grinning.

"Father?" Charles said from the table. "I think I have a better idea."

Turning to his son, Lord Bedford asked, with raised brows, "A better idea? And what is that?"

"I doubt Quinn will agree to the plan easily without making a fuss," Charles said. "Besides, she," he nodded to Elizabeth, "will undoubtedly tell him to run and we'll be left to deal with the consequences."

Lord Bedford nodded his head in agreement.

"Then what must we do?" Lady Bedford said. "Just to be clear, I refuse to give away either Calla or Iris to that monster."

"Yes, yes," Lord Bedford said. "I know, dear."

Austin said, "Then what are you thinking, Charles?"

Charles said, his eyes on Elizabeth, "Use her as leverage. Quinn would do anything for her. Why don't you threaten Quinn using her?"

Lord Bedford was quick to understand his son's intention. He nodded. "Yes, we'll use Elizabeth as leverage." He called to the footmen stationed at the door. "Men, lock her up."

Elizabeth widened her eyes, shock and horror running through her face. "No!"