In The King's Service

In spite of these impediments and distractions, Blaidd kept an eye on the man as well as he could and discovered Throckton didn’t appear to do anything remotely suspicious. If he was planning rebellion, he was being very careful about it.

Still, there were things that made it difficult for Blaidd to dismiss talk of traitorous plots completely. There was the man’s astonishing fortress, for one thing, constructed with as much expense and care as if he was expecting a war any day. The garrison had to number a hundred at least, and they were well trained and well armed. Blaidd had spent years with fighting men, and these were some of the finest soldiers he’d ever seen. Men that skilled and well trained didn’t come cheap.

A lord could, of course, plead the necessity of guarding his land, but few put so much of their resources into it. Where was the man getting the money to pay for his soldiers, their weapons, and this castle? To be sure, the estate looked moderately prosperous, but even so, it didn’t seem possible that Throckton could afford such a fortress and provide for so many soldiers unless he had another source of income.

Yet the man himself was so friendly, so pleasant….

His father would tell him to utterly disregard that; nevertheless, Blaidd found it hard to accept that a man could be so hospitable and encouraging to a courtier of a king he despised and hoped to ruin.

The other thing Blaidd had come to realize, although it had nothing to do with his mission, was the unusual position of Lady Rebecca in the household. By rights, and as the eldest, Lady Laelia should be the chatelaine, overseeing the food and linen and everything else in and about the hall and apartments. However, those tasks seemed to fall solely to Lady Rebecca. Keys jingling as she moved, she went from the kitchen to the storeroom to the buttery with seemingly tireless energy. She gave orders to the servants and spoke with the merchants who came to sell their goods. She apparently organized everything.