Page 36 of Forbidden Noble
Until Clara read in her soft voice the end of the letter where his sister had stopped, “Astorre, you’re the new lord and Duke of Modena. Always model your grandfathers. They were good men. I’m dying now happy to know you weren’t here to see any of this. Please protect your sister who did.”
The dam that held his heart and soul together inside his body began to crack. He decided right then to follow what his mother advised.
He’d never sniffle over any of this ever again. He straightened like a general. “Olivia, what do you want to do with Max Fionalli?”
Olivia crossed her arms as she thought about this. “Want?”
Clara handed him the letter back and her small touch made him at ease when he asked his sister, “What is it you want?”
Olivia raised her nose in the air and said, “Have him arrested and brought to the Lord’s Justice.”
“For what?”
Olivia stood stiffer. “He knew he was banished from here. And my word was law.”
Part of protecting Olivia was ensuring she had her wishes granted. He nodded. “I will at once.”
He took Clara’s hand. "We meet in an old throne room that never held a throne." His family's duty was to sit in as arbitrators.
Olivia's mouth turned hard. “Then when he tells you his lie, that he loved me, I will come out behind the tapestry and take over.”
She would be able to say her piece in the traditional place of justice. "Done." If only he had the power to protect Clara as easily from himself.
Olivia departed to go to the advisor spot of old where she’d listen for her cue.
For a second, Clara stood still and just stared at him. He waved for her to join him and head to the throne room. “Clara, come with me.”
She joined him and asked, “What are we doing?”
They rushed through the great room and headed toward the back, but up the stairs. In medieval times the prisoner would have been marched through the great hall full of knights to see the lord commander. Now there were workers who at any time could use the hall, but no knights. “We’re acting as judge and jury today.”
Her eyebrows lifted but whatever she was thinking, she kept to herself.
He entered the old room that had the lord's chair higher on a dais than everyone else’s. The lady's seat was to the right, and slightly lower than his. This room was made of carved marble and well-maintained as it was still in use, a thousand years after being built.
He remembered his grandfather that his mother’s letter mentioned.
His grandfather had lived a long time and though he'd died less than a year before Astorre's parents, it was his investigations that ultimately exposed his son's traitorous plans. This place still had his long shadow. Unlike his father, everyone spoke well of his grandfather.
Astorre walked to the old chair and brushed against it as memories of his grandfather making everyone at ease, even while in charge, settled into his head. He would do his best to emulate him.
Clara interrupted his musing when she stared down at her seat like it was a strange foreign object. “Let’s not judge based on the actions of youth. Maybe Max is here for a legitimate reason.”
With her clear thinking and intelligence, she was worthy of her seat. He’d never done anything to earn the title of lord. He helped her sit to his right as she was his best counsel. “You and Olivia will handle the justice part when I give the signal.”
Shouting came from the hall. He jumped into the seat that didn’t deserve him as Clara asked, “What’s the signal?”
Men grunting overshadowed her question. He nodded at Clara as the doors were flung open and eight guards entered with Max in the center being carted in as a prisoner.
Astorre settled in his seat and pretended to be like his grandfather, the one he’d been named after. When Max was centered and placed below him, Astorre sat back and said, “Max Fionalli.”
Max fixed his clothes as if in total control. “Why am I being arrested?”
Astorre held Max’s gaze and the urge to fight him hand-to-hand hit him. His sister was not a toy in a man’s game to better himself. “You’re charged with conspiring against Montelino Bay’s best interest.”
Max’s face went white but he shook his head. “No.” He took a step forward. “I’m here to see…” The guards flanked him and he stopped coming toward Astorre and finished, “an old friend…not conspire.”
He heard the whisper of the tapestry where his sister hid behind his chair but then all was quiet. His spine stiffened and he hoped no one else had heard. He had to get Max to repeat what he'd said in Gibraltar. He pressed his thumb to his chin. “So you have zero interest in being lord here?”
