The Eternal Shadow

Chapter 4

IV

Guy had always been quick to take offence. If he detected any hint of being slighted, his anger knew no bounds.

How strange then that he should come to serve a man who enjoyed abusing him at every opportunity.

It had not always been this way; Vaisey had made sure to build Guy up before indulging in his taste for malicious humour, doing all that he could to make his boy as beholden to him as he could be before slowly chipping away at him. Luckily for Vaisey, Guy's ambition and thirst for power (tied to his desire to regain his lands) was stronger than his urge to retaliate.

Most of the time.

There had been a few occasions where Vaisey had overstepped the mark, when the timing had been wrong, where he'd read Guy incorrectly, underestimated the force of the man's temper and overestimated his ability to talk him down and sooth the barbs. Even the strongest rock can break if you chip away at it long and hard enough. Fortunately, Guy had always held back at the critical moment knowing that the death of his master would mean his own. His desire to end the man lessened when contemplating the noose that would await him for doing so.

Still, as Guy joined his master and the family Cavendish to dine at the court of Prince John one evening, nobody could tell just how close he was to breaking point once more.

He'd had a terrible week.

Firstly, despite all best efforts he had to admit that he was getting nowhere with Natalia Cavendish. The evening she had allowed him to escort her back to the banquet hall had been promising, they had talked for a while and Guy was sure that he had made a good impression upon her. He knew that he was not the most eloquent of men but figured that he was not entirely devoid of charm... and then there was the matter of his looks...

He was aware that he was an attractive man and knew when a woman was stirred by him, he might not be able to read people as well as Vaisey but he could tell when a woman looked at him in that way. The problem was that although he could recognise attraction, he could not recognise affection or in this case the lack of it. He assumed that the two came together, a fallacy that came back to bite him for although Natalia showed signs that she found him attractive, she did not seem to find him worthy of her affection, showing no interest in him other than as yet another man wishing to court her.

Then there was the matter of Prince John. As pleasant as it was to be at his court, they were not there for grand banquets and fine music, they were there on business. The problem was that Prince John didn't seem to realise it (or didn't seem to care, more likely) and fobbed them off endlessly. This put Vaisey in a bad mood and as much as Guy often disliked Vaisey in a good mood, he always detested Vaisey in a bad mood.

It was on a break from Vaisey's vicious temper (rubbing gingerly at his stinging cheek where Vaisey had let out his frustrations on him) that he discovered something that threatened to push him over the edge.

He had become a subject of court gossip.

He and Francesca Cavendish.

He was mortified...

and extremely angry.

That they could think such a thing...

It took him every ounce of self-control he had not to go over to the group of nobles who were gossiping about him and show them just what he thought of their conversation but first he would find Vaisey - it wouldn't surprise him if this was his fault, the old man had most likely come out with some flippant remark and now he was a laughing stock.

Just as he was about to storm off to confront him, he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of the man himself stood talking with Lord Cavendish and his family. As Vaisey then looped his arm through Francesca's, looking pointedly at Guy, his smug toothy grin directed at the knight, thoroughly enjoying yet another opportunity to torment him, Guy's suspicions were confirmed. Guy froze on the spot trying to get a grip on his anger, his fingers curling into fists, his face like thunder. He then looked to Francesca, who squirmed uneasily, her eyes wide in alarm looking confusedly at her sister and her father in hope that they would do something about this man who was not so much escorting her as forcing her along to the banquet hall.