July 1452, Glynval, England 

Isabel sat in the kitchen shelling peas into a bowl on the table. A bead of sweat trickled down her face while barely any wind was coming through the open door.

"Isabel!"

Her brother called from the front room. As she hurried to finish shelling the pea pod in her hand to see what Thomas wanted, the pot over the fire began to boil over. She jumped up, banging her leg against the table.

Snatching a cloth from the table, she used it to pull the boiling pot away from the fire. As the pot swung forward on its hook, the cloth slipped and her finger touched the pot. She jerked back. Spying the bucket of water she used earlier to wash the vegetables, she plunged her hand into it.

"Isabel!" Thomas yelled again.

He thinks he doesn't have to help with the work, but I should abandon my task and come running whenever he calls. 

She blew on her burning thumb as she ran from the kitchen.

Thomas stood propped against the wall in the spacious front room in their stone house, picking at his cuticles. When he lifted his head, his green eyes fixed on her with a stern look. "Mother was summoned this morning to appear before the court."

"I know that." The court was being held today and a jury of 12 men from their village would decide the penalty for her family's neglect of their duties. 

"The new lord is coming to Glynval. Even if the court is lenient, I've heard he is far from forgiving. What would happen to us? To you?" He says.

Isabel bit back annoyance at her brother's tone. For the past three years, he had stood by, just like the rest of her family, refusing to do any of their required work in the fields, putting them all in this situation.

"I've decided to help with the harvest this year." She crossed her arms as her brother moved closer to her. "We should all help."

"Do you want to end up in the ditches and begging for food? Help with the harvest? It's too late now to start doing your share, little sister." He flung the words at her. 

 Isabel's back stiffened as she prepared for whatever offensive thing her brother would say next.

"We have to fend for ourselves. You're seventeen years old now and well beyond the age of accountability. Maybe you know of someone who might marry you. Do you?"

"No, I do not." She glared back at him.

He continued picking at his fingers, smirking. "But there is someone. Someone who is prepared to smooth over our troubles with the new lord and pay the fines so we don't have to work in the fields."

She knew her brother wasn't concerned for her, he wanted to solve his own troubles by throwing her to the wolves. But which wolf was he planning to throw her to?

A pleased smile spread over Thomas's lips. "I am speaking of Bailiff Richard."

Bailiff Richard?  "He's as old as Father! If you think.... for one moment that I-" She clenched her jaw to stop herself.

"He has been widowed for the past seven years. Surely you've seen him look at you with the eye of someone who is looking for a wife." 

She had seen the bailiff once or twice with a sneer on his face and had been disgusted that a friend of her father's would stare at her that way. Marry Bailiff Richard? She would rather sleep in a ditch and beg for food than marry him.

"You will marry him, because there's no other way." Thomas leaned over her, his eyes cold and dark. "Besides, where will you get a better offer of marriage than from the bailiff? No one else in interested in you." 

"I won't marry him." Isabel spoke through clenched teeth. "If Father was still alive, he'd never force me to marry Bailiff Richard."

Her brother turned his attention back to his cuticles. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Since Father is dead, I'm now the man of the household. And either way, I've already told the bailiff yes."

Heat climbed up her neck and burned her cheeks. How dare you?

 "Don't look at me like that, little sister. I had no other choice. The new lord arrived in town last night, and the judge came this morning summoning Mother to come to the manor house. Something had to be done to help this poor family." He gave her a grin. "Oh, I nearly forgot. Mother wants you to go to the butcher and get us a goose for dinner tonight."

She glared at him then lifted her nose in the air, as if her life wasn't falling off a cliff. At least getting a goose would get her away from Thomas and give her time to think. She jerked the door open and flung it closed behind her.

The pain in her thumb got her attention. She blew on it as she started down the road to the butcher's shop. 

Her family would be penniless outcasts if her mother didn't convince the jury to have mercy on them. But could they hope for forgiveness from the village that resented them for not doing their share of work?

Her family didn't deserve mercy. Father had been a wealthy merchant, providing enough money so his wife and children didn't have to do the harvest every year. But they were left penniless when his ships with supplies and money sank with him on it. Due to the inability to pay the taxes, they were required to help with the harvest and other duties. But her mother insisted her health was poor and she was unable to work and announced that her children shouldn't have to do the work.

For three years, her family avoided their duties and went unpunished, kept safe by the lord who managed to postpone their fines.

But with the new lord arriving, Isabel had a feeling that her family wouldn't be able to avoid paying their fines. Bailiff Richards's offer was proof enough. The bailiff, an old family friend, was using their situation to force Isabel to marry him. She shuddered.

The path to the town was empty and Isabel realized most of the people would be at the court to watch and see how their case played out. She usually stayed away from the trails, but today she would go to see how her family's future would play out. 

Lost in her thoughts, Isabel was surprised to see a form coming up the path. She smiled when she saw her friend Henry, who had a limp due to his right leg being longer than his left. Henry was more like a brother to her that her own blood brothers were. Henry lifted his hand and waved.

At that moment, seven boys crept out from the trees and surrounded him. With a flick of his wrist, the tallest boy sent a small stone flying. Then they all started throwing rocks at Henry, calling him ugly names. Dragging his foot along the ground and snickering, one of them mimicked Henry's limp.

Isabel tried to read Henry's expression, but he stared straight ahead, his jaw set, ignoring them.

"Get away!" she screamed at the boys. She bent and snatched up some rocks of her own. "You leave him alone or I'll-!" She drew back her fist full of rocks and aimed at the taller boy, the leader.

The boys scattered and stopped a few feet away and then formed a circle around her.

She tried to face them all at once and pin them down with her glare. They were younger than her, but the boys were either taller than her, the same height, or close enough to look Isabel in the eyes. The young boys began laughing and sneering at her. 

"Trying to hurt somebody who would never hurt you," Isabel accused. "For shame."

The tallest boy crossed his arms. "My mother says you won't be so high and holy, Isabel Smith, now that our lord is here."

"Yeah! You're just a useless person, stealing from the poor! You and your family!" Another boy said.

She stomped through the circles of boys, staring straight ahead as Henry had done. The boys continued their taunts and insults, but she held her high and pretended to ignore them. They drifted down the road, launching a few insults at Henry as they rounded the corner, their laughter disappearing with them.

Henry was coming towards her. She waited for him to catch up. 

"I'll walk with you," Henry said, giving her a sympathetic look. "Are you going to the court?"

Isabel nodded. "I have to go to the butcher's first to get a goose for Mother, but I thought I might see how my family fares in court first." She tried to look unworried but she couldn't fool her friend. They walked together down the dusty road.

"My mother is waiting for me at home to help her patch a leak but I'll stay with you at the court if you need me," Henry offered.

"No, I'd rather you didn't stay." Isabel's cheeks heated at the thought of her friend seeing her family's name scorned in front of nearly everyone they knew. "I'll be fine. Go and help your mother."

Fear crept up her spine and gripped her around the throat as they came closer to the place where her family's fate would be decided. 

Isabel stopped and faced Henry. "You better go on back home. Give your mother my love." She gave him a little wave and started to turn away.

"You always have a home with us," Henry said.

"Thank you," She waved again as she walked towards her fate.

She would refuse to marry Bailiff Richard and under that law, no one could force her to marry. But by doing so her family would lose the only offer of help they were likely to receive. The lord would get what was owed to him, one way or another. Would the jury order that their house be seized and given to the lord? Or would they think of some other punishment? 

Isabel shivered at the thought of the new lord, Lord John Goodwin. He was getting harder to force from her mind.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she remembered the things she'd heard about him. He couldn't be as frightening as people said. They would soon all find out.