One
Summer 1378
Delia’s stomach felt sick as she watched her father marry Parnella. The lady who would be the new Lady Dericott was much closer to Delia’s age of fifteen than to her father’s.
Someone tapped Delia’s arm. She turned and shook her head at her brother Berenger. He smiled and winked.
One good thing was that her brothers had all been allowed to come home for the wedding. Her older brothers, Edwin, Gerard, and Berenger, stood around her like a bulwark—although a temporary one, as they’d soon be returning to their training—while her younger brothers, Merek, Charles, David, and little Roland, gathered nearby in a rare show of quiet solemnity.
When the wedding was over, they all walked through the village from the church back to Dericott Castle. Parnella held her new husband’s arm with one hand and her skirt with the other to keep it above the dust of the road. Her head was so high Delia wondered if she could see anything besides the sky overhead.
Mother had died seven years earlier, and though Delia missed her, she had enjoyed the attention of the servants, and she was very close to her brothers. Or at least she had been until a year ago, when Roland was sent away to train as a knight at the age of six, like all her other brothers. Now Delia would have a stepmother in the house and no siblings with whom to commiserate.
By the time they reached the castle, her brothers were restless and had begun teasing each other. Her new stepmother had glanced back at them once, her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together. Delia tried to get her brothers’ attention and held her finger to her lips to remind them to behave, at least until they reached home.
In front of the castle, villagers were singing and waving ribbons tied to sticks and carrying cakes as gifts to the newly wedded couple. Parnella barely glanced at the villagers as they offered wedding cakes. They were poor farmers or villeins belonging to Dericott land, and the cakes were gifts they baked themselves. Delia thanked each one, letting them give her the cakes, stacking one on top of the other. The servants took them as she entered Dericott Castle.
Delia and her brothers waited for Father and Parnella to begin the wedding feast in the Great Hall. Her brothers started a mock sword fight using sticks.
Parnella entered and stood near Delia but refused to meet her gaze. Father leaned toward Parnella and said something, then left.
As he strode away, Parnella’s attention turned to Delia’s brothers. None of them seemed to have noticed she was even in the room. They were yelling and laughing and bragging about who was the better swordsman as they parried and thrusted with their sticks. Parnella’s face twisted into a scowl.
Parnella said not a word, only stared straight ahead. But when Father came back, she pointed toward the brothers, who were still fighting, and cried out, “Look at how they are trying to intimidate me with their violence!”
Father’s eyes went wide. “Stop that fighting this moment! Can you not see you are frightening Lady Dericott?”
“They knew they were upsetting me, yet they persisted.” Parnella took hold of Father’s arm, cowering behind him. “This is supposed to be a happy day for me. Please, won’t you send them away?”
Father’s mouth fell open. Delia and her brothers exchanged wondering glances.
“And the girl too. All she does is stare at me. I know she is thinking malicious thoughts toward me.”
She could only be referring to Delia. Her father’s expression was a mix of perplexity and irritation.
“They will be gone soon, back to the households where they’re being trained as knights.”
“I don’t care! It is my wedding day. May I not have some joy and peace on my wedding day?”
“I am sure my brothers and I meant no harm,” Delia said as Roland and David moved closer to her.
Parnella glared at Delia and made a contemptuous sound in her throat.
“Do not worry,” Father said to his new wife. “They shall cease. Let us all go to the Great Hall for the feast.”
In the Great Hall, Delia and her brothers began talking quietly among themselves. They were quite subdued after their new stepmother’s outburst. Indeed, Delia felt sick to her stomach every time she thought about Parnella’s words. How could they show the woman they meant her no harm?
But as the servants brought out more and more elaborate foods, and as their new stepmother paid them no attention, Delia’s brothers began to talk in louder and livelier tones. Delia thought to warn them not to get too boisterous, but Gerard was in the middle of telling a story and she did not want to interrupt him.
“Then the horse stumbled and Sir Bollivet fell forward, right into the muddy stream.”
Her brothers all burst out laughing, Charles laughing the loudest and slapping his knee in merriment.
“What are you boys talking about?” Father demanded in a loud voice.
“Telling stories about our training,” Edwin said.
Father looked so angry, Delia spoke up. “They aren’t doing anything wrong, Father. Only telling funny stories.”
“They were laughing at me!” Parnella’s face was cold, her eyes intense and dark.
Her father talked in hushed tones, leaning his head toward his new wife, but she interrupted him. “So you will let them ridicule and intimidate me?”
“Of course not. I—”
“Then send them to their rooms. How can you allow it? Insulted and ridiculed . . .”
“Go to your rooms, all of you.” Father’s face was flushed, and not from the wine. “I am ashamed of you for treating your new mother thusly.”
Delia and her brothers stood up and slowly walked toward the doorway of the Great Hall.
“No one was laughing at you,” Merek said, looking directly at Parnella, his voice clear and confident.
“Oh!” Parnella drew back as if he’d struck her. Father glared at Merek.
When they were all out in the corridor and heading for the stairs, Berenger said, “I cannot believe that woman could be so audacious.”
“It makes me worry for you, Delia,” Edwin said, his eyes soft but intent on her.
“No, don’t worry.” Delia tried to look confident and reassuring. “I will win her over. She will understand that we have no grudge against her and do not intend to harm her. I’ll just have to be sensitive to her feeling like an outsider.”
“Sensitive? Even if you kissed her feet you could not please that woman,” Gerard said.
Merek snorted. “If she bothers you, Delia, I’ll come back and stand up for you. I’ll tell Father he can’t let that woman treat you poorly.”
“She certainly doesn’t seem very sensible,” Berenger added.
Her younger brothers looked confused and sad.
“Don’t worry.” Delia bent to hug Roland. “All will be well.”
Gerard and Berenger went to the kitchen while the rest of them gathered in Edwin’s room. Gerard and Berenger came back with roast pheasant and sweet fruit pasties. They all ate and talked and laughed—though quietly.
“I am worried about leaving you here with that woman,” Edwin said.
“I am sure I will be well.” But as soon as she said the words, she realized she was not truly sure at all.
Delia hugged all her brothers that night, surprised that none of them protested or groaned in reluctance at her show of affection.