Chapter 543: Mockery and Doubt
"But if you think I know nothing of war, then I’m afraid you don’t know me at all."
Isabell’s words were delivered as a cold provocation, aimed directly at the notion that she had less right to respect and status in the frontier because she wasn’t a knight or even a common soldier who had fought against the demons. Anyone who heard her frigid tone should have given pause before pushing further, but neither Baron Hanrahan nor his son Bastian had any intention of paying her the slightest bit of respect.
"I’m sure that your husband has told many stories to you and your children," Bastian said, laughing heartily and shaking his head. "About his valiant battles against... what is it that they still have in Blackwell County? Stunted Rat Demons? I’m told that they grow as large as cats and create great chaos when they gnaw on ropes," he said, nodding sagely with a furrowed brow as if these ’stunted rat demons’ were truly a grave threat before his mock concern crumbled in another wave of laughter.
Immediately, the hall broke into laughter as the people at the low tables finally let loose. While their future lord wasn’t known for his acts of bravery fighting against the devious and stealthy cat demons, he still wore a tunic trimmed with the fur of a demon he’d slain with his own sword and that was more than any soft, sheltered merchant from the safe lands to the east could say!
Not everyone at the high table, however, felt comfortable joining in the laughter and after a few moments of intense embarrassment, Hugo Hanrahan felt compelled to speak up, before things could become worse than they already are.
"Brother," Owain’s hawk-nosed Steward said. "I think you misunderstand, Master Isabell. If you had visited Blackwell County with Lord Owain and I, you would have learned that..."
"Oh, shut up, bastard," Bastian sneered. "You don’t have to run and hide behind every woman’s skirts like they’re your mother. At some point, brother, you have to become a man worthy of being called a knight and speak the truth, even when it’s something a soft-hearted woman doesn’t want to hear!"
Sitting across the table, Isabell and Tiernan shared a brief look with eyes that flicked from Bastion to the worn-down figure of Hugo at the end of the table. It seemed as though Owain and Sir Rian were only the latest in a long line of people to shove down the scholarly knight and his foundations in Hanrahan Barony were even weaker than they’d initially expected.
In negotiations, Hugo Hanrahan had never impressed either guild master with his insightfulness or ability to generate useful solutions to points of contention, but he had impressed both of them with his keen mind for organizing facts and figures.
More importantly, as Lord Owain’s Steward, he had access to an incredible amount of useful information, he just needed someone to support him enough to put his talents to use. And, since the lords all seemed determined to dismiss him because of his lack of fighting prowess, Isabell and Tiernan saw an opportunity to step into the gap his current superiors had created by offering him a bit of much-needed support.