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already, and the guards closed ranks. “What is
England’s great misfortune?”
    Pennington shrugged. “Our king, of
course.”
    Crispin’s back and shoulders tightened. “In
what way is the king England’s great misfortune?”
    Pennington took his time answering. He rocked
back and forth on his feet, swaying his ample, liveried body for a
moment with a shrug before telling them all, “Alas, Leopold of
Austria is no longer in custody of our good King Richard.” He
waited for the surprise reaction he expected to receive and his
face fell when all he was met with were blank stares. “No,” he went
on, “Leopold has handed him over to the custody of Henry, the Holy
Roman Emperor.”
    Aubrey gasped. Jack figured it was bad news.
“What’s the Holy Roman Emperor bloke plannin’ on doin’ with him?”
he asked.
    Pennington blinked and cleared his throat.
“Oh, he plans to give Richard back,” he said without answering Jack
directly then smoothed his hands along his tunic as if brushing off
the dirt of speaking to a peasant. “He has asked for a ransom of
one hundred and fifty thousand marks.”
    Crispin met the news with very little outward
reaction. Aubrey and Jack were not as stoic. Aubrey’s mouth dropped
open and she grasped Crispin’s hand. Jack planted his hands on his
hips and stared at the man as if he were out of his mind. “You’re
not serious, mate.”
    “Oh, I’m quite serious,” Pennington
sniffed.
    “One hundred and fifty thousand marks?” It
was more money than any of them had ever heard of in one sum.
    “Where does he expect this money to come
from?” Crispin asked.
    “From England, of course.” Pennington spread
his hands as if the answer was simple.
    “How?” Aubrey asked.
    “Well now, that’s really up to you, isn’t
it.” Pennington glanced up to Crispin, his eyes hardening to steel.
“Taxes, levies, fine or tolls,” he shrugged. “Whichever methods
work best for you. Extortion if you want to. Every shire will be
expected to do their part. Derbyshire is no exception.”
    “So you’ve come here to ask for more money,
on top of the usual taxes, to ransom an absent king who has let his
realm crumble into uncertainty.” Crispin took a small step closer
to the man. Pennington took a large step back. “Why is Prince John
allowing this ransom to be collected?”
    “Ah. See, there’s the thing.” Pennington
smoothed his moustache. “As great a man as Prince John is, he can
only do so much with the provisions that Richard put into place for
the government of England in his absence.”
    “In other words he is being blocked and
countered by men in London who claim allegiance to the king.”
Crispin laughed mirthlessly and shook his head. “How much is
Derbyshire expected to raise?”
    “Ten thousand marks,” Pennington told him
without pause.
    Jack and Aubrey gaped at the sum. Crispin
darkened even more. “Ten thousand marks is a disproportionate
sum.”
    Pennington shrugged. “Derbyshire is
disproportionately wealthy.”
    Crispin shook his head and pulled himself to
his full height. “I’ll see what I can do about seventy-five
hundred.”
    Pennington laughed. “Ten thousand.
Non-negotiable. Prince John has declared it. You are a friend of
Prince John’s, right?” He met Crispin’s intimidating stare with
unyielding frankness. “Oh, and I’ll be taking some of that upfront.
Whatever you have in your treasury should do.”
    A stab of panic hit Jack’s gut. He might not
have known anything about anything, but even he knew that emptying
the treasury in one go would spell disaster for Derbyshire.
    “The Prince will get his ten thousand,”
Crispin muttered. “When it has been collected.”
    “Of course.” Pennington bared his teeth in
what might have been a smile. “Now show me to my room and have
someone send up some of that fantastic roast boar Buxton always had
ready for my visits.”
    Crispin nodded at one of the liveried
servants along the edge of the