Silence No More

09. Ambrose Versus Ambrose

Icy silence. Icy, utter silence. That was what filled the room of the inn right then and there.

It should have been familiar. Something I was used to by now. But the way Mr Ambrose was staring at the innkeeper and the delivery men behind the old fellow spoke of an entirely new kind of danger.

"What. Did. You. Say?"

"Aye, right?" The innkeeper nodded, giving a sigh of envy, apparently completely oblivious of the murderous gaze my dear husband was directing his way. "This many presents just to win a girl's heart? What a lucky lady that must be!"

"Indeed." Mr Ambrose's fingers twitched in a decidedly homicidal way. "So...very...lucky..."

"Ah, well." Shrugging, the proprietor jabbed a thumb at the rest of the people in the room. "Listen to me chatting away. The long and the short of it is that most of my rooms are already full. So if you wanna stay, I'm afraid you're gonna have to share, guv."

"Share."

"Yes."

"Share a room with the people who are taking wedding presents north."

"Um...yes?"

I acted on instinct. In a flash, I leapt forward and grabbed Mr Ambrose by the coat tails. In my humble opinion, a murdered innkeeper would delay our travel north considerably.

"Thanks!" I beamed at the innkeeper, doing my very best puppy eyes. "But, as you see, we're a newly married couple, and well..." I held up Berty, praying for him to do the puppy eyes as well. My son did not disappoint. "Is there really no way we could possibly be alone? We'll share a room, of course."

"Um, well..." The proprietor scratched his head. "I mean...I suppose if you two will share anyway, I might just as well ask two of the others to vacate their rooms and share with their travelling companions..."

"Why, that would be amazing! Thank you very much!"

And before the poor fellow could get out another word and possibly damn himself to a long and painful death at my dear husband's hands, I snatched a key from his grasp, tightened my grip on Mr Ambrose and dragged my hubby off towards the stairs.

Only, I had made one tiny, bearded oversight.

"Karim!"

I froze in place as Mr Ambrose called out his bodyguard's name. He wouldn't...

My husband glanced at the people filling the room and gestured at the massive Mohammedan. "You know what to do."

He absolutely would! Damn and blast!

"Yes, Sahib!" Inclining his head, Karim whirled around and stalked out of the room.

"Um..." I cleared my throat. "What did you just order him to do?"

Mr Rikkard Ambrose could do a deadpan look like nobody's business. "Water the horses."

"Err...right." I cocked an eyebrow. "And did you tell him to water the flowers out front and weed the garden, too?"

"How did you guess?"

Don't choke him! Don't choke him! That's overreacting. And, oh, you've also got your newborn baby in your arms.

What the heck was Karim going to do?

Remember Lilly, what you don't know can't hurt you.

Right then, I heard an ominous crunching noise from outside.

Well...it probably can't.

"Let's go upstairs, shall we?" I hurriedly suggested. "I suddenly feel really tired."