Blackstone and Broken Things

Chapter 10

 Why it had not occurred to Ana that introducing her husband to Lord Homles, a man who had become like a second father to her, would be a fantastically horrible idea, she was not sure. But after watching Lord Homles man send Nathan to the ground with one solid punch, she realized that she should have.

"Oh, good Lord! Edward, really!" she snapped, stomping her foot as she flung a hand at her downed husband, glaring furiously at the blind Lord standing unaffected before her.

"I promised Ellena that if I ever met the blighter, I would send him to the ground for all he has done to you." Lord Homles declared, shaking a finger to emphasize his point. "I am a man of my word." He nodded in Ana's direction before turning to his man. "Malcolm, well done. I will see something extra is added to your pay for this."

"Thank you, milord." His man nodded, clearly proud of himself and the job he had done.

Rolling her eyes, Ana turned to Nathan, still on the ground, one hand against his jaw. Slowly, rolling the abused bit of flesh in various directions, appearing to gauge what damage Malcolm had done to it.

"Are you all right?" Ana asked, offering her hand, which Nathan refused with a small shake of his head before getting to his feet. His hand tenderly stroked his cheek as he regarded Malcolm with a critical eye before dropping it entirely.

"Good punch." Nathan nodded at Malcolm, his comment surprising all if the collection of raised brows and slacked jaws were any indication.

"Wait! He can still speak?" Lord Homles questioned, clearly taken at back as his head jerked from where Nathan had spoken to roughly where his man stood. "Malcolm, are you slipping?"

"My Lord!" his man cried in offense, the shock of Nathan's unexpected compliment now directed at Lord Homles and the insult he obviously felt.

"I wouldn't say so," Nathan muttered, giving his jaw a small stretch that resulted in a resoundingly loud pop for the effort. His eyes widened for doing so.

"Well, I would!" Lord Homles grumbled. "Malcolm, there will be nothing added to your pay."

"Edward! Was your promise not that you would put my husband to the ground?" Ana bit, raising to Malcolm's aid as there was nothing she hated more than seeing a job well done and then not seeing it compensated for in equal measure. It had been her lot since before she had married. And while it had always been painfully clear to her, even from a young age, that the world was far from a fair place. If it were within her power, she would see that at least those around her would be treated fairly.

"Yes, but—"

"You are blind and unable to do so. Yes, I understand that. But Nathan did go down. So you will honor whatever agreement you struck with Malcolm, or I will." Ana threatened, knowing Lord Homles loathed taking any bit of coin from her, in large part due to their current financial arrangement but also because he viewed her as the daughter God had never given him and tried to spoil her as such. With the exception of the loan he had provided her to set Blackstone to rights, she had never allowed him to spend so much as a penny on her, at least not that she was directly aware of.

"I hardly think that is necessary." Lord Homles snipped, a look of affront set upon his features.

"The man did do his job. I did go down." Nathan added.

"That is not what I meant. And I was not speaking to you." Lord Homles snapped in Nathan's direction. "Why are you even commenting on this?" Lord Homles demanded, receiving only a shrug in reply from Nathan.

"He does not know, milord. He shrugged." Malcolm informed him.

"Thank you, Malcolm."

Lord Homles had a point. Why was Nathan trying to help the man who had just knocked him into the dirt? Most nobles she knew would have demanded the man be punished in some manner. It would not have mattered that Lord Homles had been the one to order the blow given. In their eyes, Malcolm had dealt the punch, so it would be Malcolm who paid the consequences for it. It was stupid and petty, and she abhorred such short-sighted men. But she was beginning to see that her husband was far from stupid, and if he was petty, she had yet to witness it.