Chapter 204: Let Me Help You
"Tabitha!" she screamed.
Henry’s eyes scanned the street until he spotted the narrow line of trees beyond the house. There was movement behind one of them. His body burned with pain.
Livia clung to him, trying to keep him steady as he fought to breathe through the agony. Henry’s gaze locked on the shifting darkness behind the tree.
"Get inside," he ordered her.
"Tabitha!" Livia screamed again.
Henry saw the second arrow. It came out of the darkness with a vicious whisper, cutting through the cold air toward them. There was no time to think. He shoved Livia hard.
She cried out as she fell backward. Henry tried to turn with the movement, but pain tore through his back again. His balance failed him. He staggered, twisted, and came down heavily on top of her just as the arrow struck the ground where she had been standing a heartbeat before. Livia hit the earth with a loud whoosh as Henry’s weight drove the breath from her lungs.
She could do nothing but stare up at him, heart hammering wildly.
"Are you hurt?" Henry demanded through gritted teeth.
The front doors flew open. Tabitha appeared, her face transforming from alarm to horror in less than a second.
"Your Majesty!" She rushed forward, seized the horse’s reins, and pulled the animal across the entrance, placing its body between the open doors and the street. The horse protested with a nervous toss of its head, but Tabitha held firm. "Please," she said, reaching for him. "Let me help you."
Henry tried to rise on his own and failed badly. Livia scrambled up, wrapping an arm around his waist while Tabitha took his other side. Together, they hauled him upright, careful not to drive the arrow deeper. Henry clenched his teeth but he made no sound beyond one harsh breath.
"Inside," Tabitha ordered.
With the horse blocking the line of sight from the street, they dragged Henry through the doorway and into the house. Behind them, the animal shifted restlessly, still serving as the most bewildered guard in London.
Tabitha locked the doors, helped the king into Livia’s bedroom before proceeding to secure the rest of the house.
*****
Lionel knocked on the door of the house where Jane lived in St Clement’s Alley, his face set in grim lines. He had spent the better part of the day carrying out the King’s orders, dispatching royal guards to round up Beaumont’s girls and drag them from whatever corners of London they had scattered into.
But this one, Lionel had chosen to do himself.
Jane.
His indulgence tucked away in a house and enough coin to pretend she had never belonged to Beaumont at all.
The door opened. Jane appeared, and the moment she saw him, her face lit with delighted surprise.
"My lord!" She threw herself into his arms.
Lionel did not embrace her. He stood motionless, stiff as a board, his hands at his sides while her body pressed against him.
Jane slowly drew back, her smile faltering as she studied his face. "My lord..." Her voice softened with uncertainty. "It has been a while. Is everything well?"
Lionel looked at her. She was still beautiful, a woman that had once made men reach for their purses before they remembered they had wives. Her figure still curved beneath her gown but there was polish now. Her complexion had grown rosier, her hair better dressed, her hands softer. She passed for a kept woman rather than a girl once traded from room to room.
He had given her that. The illusion of respectability. And all the while, she had carried a secret ugly enough to sour every kindness he had shown her.
Jane’s gaze flicked past him, noticing the men waiting.
"What have you done, Jane?" he asked.
"I do not understand, my lord."
"What did you do to Livia?" Lionel asked.
Jane’s eyes widened at the name. "I..." she swallowed. "I did not do anything. I told you what happened," she insisted, her voice rising. "I told you she fell."
"Yes," he replied. "You told me she fell while fighting another girl."
Jane nodded quickly, clinging to the statement.
"But you left out the part where you all pushed her."
The colour drained from her face.
"Who is saying this?" Jane asked.
"Livia herself."
Jane’s mouth parted. She reached quickly for tears. "That is a lie...I did not push her. It was the other girls," she rushed on. "They were jealous. You know how they were. Always watching who received attention, who was favoured. Livia came in and everything changed. Men noticed her. Everyone did."
"Did you push her?"
"No."
"Did you stop them?"
Jane faltered. Lionel went cold. He had wanted—God help his stupidity—some explanation that would let him keep the memory of her separate from the truth of what she was.
"Jane," he said quietly.
She shook her head, tears spilling now. "I did not have a choice, my lord."
"There is always a choice."
"Not there." Her voice broke. "Not with those girls. If I had stood against them, they would have turned on me next. I was afraid."
Lionel stepped forward. "In the King’s name, I am arresting you," he said, grabbing her by the arm.
"What... my lord, no." Jane’s voice broke as Lionel tightened his hold on her arm. "Please."
"Let us go."
"No, please." She stumbled as he drew her out. "My lord," Jane sobbed. "Where is Livia? Let me speak to her. Please. I can explain it to her."
The two royal guards waiting outside straightened at once.
"She will not let this happen to me," Jane cried, digging her heels against the floor. "You will see. She will tell you I had no choice."
Lionel’s face hardened. "That is not up to me."
"But she knows what those girls were like. If I had helped her, they would have turned on me too. Please," she whispered weeping as he led her out, her cries following them.
(Brought to you by Mar King 1/3)
