Invidia by E. H. Schutz

Author:E. H. Schutz
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-03-03T03:00:00+00:00

That afternoon, Katharine left the manor in much the same way she came, only in far higher spirits. Upon her return to Tisbury, she noted a great crowd in the vicinity of her house and pushed curiously through it. Once she made it through, she saw that the Earl of Wiltshire and the insufferable Squire Weymouth, as well as several other finely dressed men, stood in her front garden, speaking to each other earnestly, as yet another man tried unsuccessfully to disperse the crowd. Katharine chose to address him.

She approached him and demanded hotly, “Would you care to explain this ado in my garden?”

The man looked her up and down and replied dubiously, “This is your garden?”

Katharine nearly snarled at him. “Yes, damn you! My name is displayed quite prominently!” She pointed at the iron sign.

The man ignored her and turned toward the scrum of men a few feet away. “Milord, this woman here says she is the smith.”

The crowd of men dispersed, leaving nothing but empty space between Katharine and the earl. He glared at her. “Smith, you have shown yourself to be an enemy of the Godly and an obstruction to righteousness.” He gestured to two stout men near him. “Bind her and look to Weymouth for instruction.”

As the men advanced upon her, Katharine considered running, but realised that she would not make it far as the crowd pressed in from all directions, and an attempt might result in immediate injury. Instead, she raised her voice so that the whole crowd might hear her. “On whose authority do you detain me?”

“God's,” replied the earl, and he turned on his heel and walked away.

The men who had been charged with arresting her were kind enough to not handle her terribly roughly as they walked her toward a carriage, but Katharine would hardly have noticed any pain as her mind swam with confusion. Finally, she noticed John's kind face a few feet from her.

“Feed the kitten, John. I'll not be gone long, I hope.”

The baker nodded solemnly at her. “I will, Katharine, and I will see what might be done to right this.”

Katharine nodded at him in return as she was pushed into the carriage with more force than was truly necessary. Her last thought before the blow came to the back of her head was that she had forgotten to tell Helena about the plot against the Queen.

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