"Two," he replied, then immediately regretted it. Charles grimaced as Anne began to speak, berating herself for what had happened. He cared for the woman-- that much was clear and obvious even to himself, but that did not make him any more capable of dealing with an emotional outburst like that.

"Enough of that, you hear me? Ned's been wanting to find some leverage on me for months now, and you just happened to be a convenient way to do it. The men I sent with you have been in enough scrapes, they're the ones who were on the watch."

He dropped into his chair, eyes on Anne, intending for that to be the end of the conversation.