The Knight's Maiden in Disguise

by Ella Matthews

  ‘I will fetch Eirwen and bring him to you.’

  He swallowed, trying to rid himself of the lump that was forming in his throat. ‘Where is he? It is not like him to disobey a direct order from me.’

  Avva smiled, properly this time. ‘I am a good horsewoman. I managed to get him to stop not far from the bend.’

  William was impressed. ‘Yes, you are good. Eirwen seems to have formed a real bond with you—normally he is completely loyal to me.’

  She laughed tiredly. ‘Where will you be?’

  ‘The King likes to make a show. He will be triumphant over this victory. We will not be hard to miss.’

  She reached up and pressed another kiss to his lips. ‘Eirwen will be with you soon.’

  He knew he should hurry and catch up with his fellow knights and his liege, but he watched Avva walk away from him until she was out of sight, her beautiful body swaying with fatigue.

  He turned and trudged after Edward. For the first time in his life, he regretted making the oath that bound his life to that of the King’s. If only he were free to leave, Avva would be in no doubt as to how much she meant to him, about how he was beginning to question his lifelong mission to restore the barony’s wealth. Without Avva, what would be the point?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Avva leaned against Eirwen’s bulk. The cosy stables of the inn the King had decided to stay at were a perfect resting place for the noble animal.

  Her whole body was heavy with exhaustion. The right thing to do would be to return home. There were horses that relied on her for food and, although they wouldn’t die from lack of attention, they wouldn’t be so comfortable without her.

  Then there was William. They’d said their goodbyes and they knew there was no future for them. She should leave before they saw each other again. It wasn’t as if more time together would change their circumstances.

  And yet she couldn’t force her feet in the direction of the path.

  ‘There you are.’ And the decision was made for her. William had found her and she knew she would not be strong enough to leave until he sent her away. ‘You look exhausted.’

  ‘I feel it.’

  ‘Come on.’ He held out a hand and she slipped hers into it. His skin was warm and dry as he tugged her from the stables and out into the courtyard at the back of the inn.

  The sun had set completely while she was dealing with Eirwen. The evening air was cool against her face. The scent of roasting meat and the sound of laughter was coming from the taproom, but, even though the smell was delicious, she wasn’t tempted to let go of William in order to find food.

  ‘I’ve secured you a room,’ said William, leading her to the stairs. ‘I’ll fetch you some food, once you are settled.’

  The floorboards creaked beneath their feet as they made their way up to the top of the inn in silence.

  ‘I’m sorry it’s so small. The King has requested the best rooms for himself.’

  Avva stood in the doorway, almost unable to step into the chamber. It was far larger than any space she had ever had for herself before and there was a bed, a real bed, not a pallet of straw on the floor. A fire crackled happily in the grate, its warmth filling up the room. Two candles burned on a small table. Two! A laugh bubbled up inside her. William turned to her as it escaped, a slight frown across his forehead.

  ‘It’s wonderful, William.’ She crossed the room and lightly touched the blankets on the bed. This was more luxury than she had ever expected to experience.

  He cleared his throat. ‘I’ll return shortly.’

  ‘Very well,’ she said, turning away from him so that he couldn’t see the look of yearning she was sure was spreading across her face.

  He stood by the door for a moment longer. She held her breath, half expecting him to say something more, but presently she heard his footsteps move away and back down the staircase.

  She let out a long breath and sank on to the edge of the bed. The mattress was softer than hay, but not much more—perhaps beds weren’t all they were made out to be.

  A soft knock on the door brought a chambermaid with a bowl of water. ‘Sir William thought you might like to wash, Master Carpenter. He’s provided some fresh garments for you, too.’

  That brought Avva up with a jolt. She was covered in sweat and grime—of course William would expect her to be clean. She must look awful to him, covered in the evidence of her battle. Suddenly, she couldn’t get out of her clothes fast enough. She dumped the soiled garments on the floor and began to wash herself all over.

  The water smelled delightful, a mixture of lavender and another herb she couldn’t identify. It was another luxury after a lifetime of washing in buckets of cold water.

  * * *

  She had dried herself quickly and was just pulling on the clean clothes when she heard William’s heavy footsteps on the stairs once more.

  There was a gentle knock on the door. She swallowed. ‘Enter. Thank you for organising the water. I hadn’t realised how filthy I was until I started to clean myself.’ William didn’t answer, he merely stood in the chamber entrance, a strange look in his eyes. ‘William...?’

  ‘Sorry, Avva. I stopped thinking for a moment there. Here, I’ve brought you some stew.’ He handed her a steaming bowl and a spoon. She took it from him, her fingers brushing the back of his hand as she did so, the brief contact setting off the now familiar tingles along her skin.

  ‘Have you eaten?’

  ‘Yes. The King ordered food as soon as we arrived. When you didn’t join us, I thought perhaps you had already returned to Caerden.’

  ‘I wanted Eirwen to be settled. Perhaps it would have been best if I had left, but I...’ Her words faded away. How could she tell him she wasn’t strong enough to leave him, that it would have to be he who walked away from her?

  William walked across the room and took the bowl from her hands. It was empty, but she had no recollection of eating any of it.

  He placed the bowl on the floor beside them. ‘I shouldn’t ask for this, Avva, not when we have already said goodbye, but I would like one more night with you. Please tell me that you want this, too.’

  Avva reached up and touched his jaw. He’d removed the stubble which had made his chin rough, but she could still feel the soft prickles of his beard beneath her fingertips. She didn’t know what a night with William would entail. So far he had given her pleasure, expecting nothing from her. She wanted to make him feel the way she did, whenever he took her in his arms. ‘Yes, William. I want this last night with you, too.’

  William swooped towards her, his lips capturing hers in a kiss that flew straight to her soul. She responded with a passion of her own. She wanted to feel everything, to experience all the pleasure William could give her and to make him feel the same way too.

  She wanted to map his body with her fingers, so that she would remember what he felt like when he was gone from her life. She ran her hands along the bulge of his muscles, revelling in the way they flexed underneath her touch.

  ‘Take this off.’ She pulled at his leather tunic. It was too thick, too in the way for her exploration. Without breaking the kiss, he pulled the garment from his body and flung it across the room. It landed against the wall with a thud. Hers quickly followed.

  He pulled her down on to the bed. She laughed against his lips as she half fell on him. She felt, rather than saw, his answering smile.

  ‘This needs to go as well.’ She tugged at the rest of his clothes.

  ‘You are very commanding this evening.’

  ‘I want to see you properly.’

  ‘I’m still covered in bruises and...’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ Avva shuffled backwards away from him. ‘I completely forgot you are still injured.’

  William smiled. ‘I can barely feel any pain when you are with me.’ He reached up and drew her back dow
n until she was lying on top of him completely, her legs nestled between his. He cupped her cheek in his hand and began to kiss her again, his lips moving against her softly. This was different from any of his previous kisses—it felt reverential. She arched, allowing him access as he began to kiss down the length of her neck, the graze of his stubble exquisite against her sensitive skin.

  ‘You’re still dressed,’ she whispered, as his lips grazed her collarbone.

  ‘Don’t be impatient,’ he murmured. ‘We have all night.’

  Avva squeezed her eyes tightly shut, William’s words reminding her that they did not have for ever.

  He gently rolled her until she was underneath him. ‘You are so beautiful,’ he said, brushing her hair away from her eyes. ‘From the first moment I saw you, I have been bewitched by your eyes. They are the colour of the sky on a spring morning.’

  ‘That’s very poetic of you.’ She couldn’t help it—she grinned.

  ‘Are you teasing me?’ William growled.

  ‘I wouldn’t tease a brave knight such as yourself.’ She giggled as his fingers dug into her ribs.

  ‘I do believe you will pay for your insolence, Avva Carpenter.’

  She laughed out loud as he pulled her clothes from her body, tickling her as he did so.

  ‘That was unfair,’ she said as she flopped back on to the mattress.

  ‘How so?’

  ‘You know I can’t fight back because I don’t want to hurt your ribs.’

  He laughed, the sound a little unsteady as one of his large hands settled on her stomach. ‘Avva,’ he said, leaning down to brush the underside of her breast with his lips, ‘you take my breath away.’

  ‘Oh, William.’ Her hand stole into his hair and she ran her fingers across his scalp.

  ‘Every time you touch me, it feels so...’ His words trailed off as he traced the curves of her breasts with his fingers.

  ‘I know,’ she said, as her nipples tightened in response to the light strokes across her skin. ‘Please.’ Her hand went to the fabric by his neck, her intent obvious. This time he didn’t argue. His clothes followed hers on to the floor.

  Avva gasped as the warmth of his skin pressed against the length of her.

  His mouth settled over hers once more and she was lost. There was no outside world, only her and William and this room.

  Her eyes fluttered shut as his lips moved over her body, but she forced herself to open them. She wanted to commit everything about this night to memory. She watched as the shadows cast by the candlelight danced across his muscled shoulders. He took a nipple into his mouth and she cried out, sensation flooding through her.

  This time she knew where her body was heading. She whimpered as his fingers brushed lightly against the sensitive skin at the core of her body and then again, as he pressed harder.

  ‘William...this...oh...’

  ‘Relax, my love.’

  His fingers moved again, pushing into her. She couldn’t help herself. Her eyes fell shut as sensation built between her legs, his fingers moving over her and in, setting a delicious rhythm.

  ‘William... I...’

  ‘Shush,’ he murmured, returning his mouth to hers and silencing anything else she had to say with a searing kiss, his tongue moving in time with his hand.

  The pressure mounted as her body tightened in anticipation. She clutched at his shoulder as wave upon wave of pleasure rocked through her, the force of it causing her to arch her back. He groaned into her mouth, the sound prolonging her enjoyment.

  Gradually, the decadent ripples flooding through her gentled and William’s touch slowed.

  Avva had to bite her lip to stop herself from blurting out just how much she loved him.

  William lifted his head and smiled down at her. ‘Are you all right?’

  She nodded wordlessly.

  ‘I’ve robbed you of the power of speech, I see.’

  She smiled. It was true. She couldn’t form any words other than those of love and she didn’t want to ruin this night by telling him of feelings he didn’t reciprocate. Because, although he might desire her and although he might value her friendship, he had never offered her words of love. She would be wise to remember that.

  He placed a gentle kiss against her forehead. ‘Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?’

  ‘No, I don’t want to sleep.’ She wanted to ask him about giving him pleasure. She knew there was more. If he was able to give her pleasure without getting a babe in her, then surely she could do the same for him. Shyness held her tongue and stopped her from asking all the questions that were swirling inside her.

  William pulled the covers around her. ‘I don’t want you to get cold.’

  She threw them over him, too, and he settled down beside her. Silence surrounded them like a thick blanket. It wasn’t how Avva wanted to spend her last night with him.

  She searched around to think of something to say that wasn’t about her overwhelming feelings. ‘How did the King come to be in this little village?’

  William’s lips turned down at the corners. ‘That’s a good question.’ He turned and stared up at the ceiling. ‘We have spies in our camp—they betrayed us.’

  Her problems momentarily forgotten, she propped herself up on one elbow. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, William. How did it happen?’

  William drew one long finger down the length of her jaw, his pupils darkening.

  ‘William.’

  ‘Hmm?’

  ‘Who betrayed you?’

  ‘Oh, yes, sorry.’ He dropped his hand and Avva immediately missed his touch.

  ‘I sent a message with my squire, James, not long after I arrived in Caerden, warning my fellow knights that something was very wrong.’

  ‘They didn’t get it!’

  ‘They did. James followed my instructions exactly. The only problem was, the knights who met James were in the pay of Caerden. They twisted everything. James didn’t stand a chance. Poor lad is devastated.’ William’s eyebrows drew together, Avva reached out a thumb and smoothed the frown away.

  ‘What happened then?’ she asked softly.

  William pushed himself upright, until his back was resting against the wall. Avva took a moment to admire his fine torso before he started talking again.

  ‘James was sent off on a spurious mission, while the King was convinced he needed to head straight to Chepstow without delay. Thankfully, James realised what was happening in time to get a message to the rest of the King’s Knights. They are the men you saw fighting with the King earlier. If he hadn’t got the message to them in time...’ William shuddered. ‘It could have ended so differently.’

  ‘What was Caerden hoping to gain by the ambush?’

  ‘It wasn’t just Caerden, although he seems to have been the major player. It seems some of the King’s Barons thought they could usurp him.’

  Avva nodded. The early years of a king’s reign were always fraught with danger while the new monarch proved himself. It was a dangerous time, but Edward III already had a reputation as a fierce fighter. The way he had defeated his mother, Isabella, and her lover to take back his throne should have shown his doubters that he was ruthless in getting his own way.

  ‘Who would have ruled the country in this plan?’

  ‘They hoped to put Isabella back on the throne and have her rule as regent once more. Now that her lover, Mortimer, is dead there is an opening to be the person behind the throne. A number of Barons thought that person should be them, Caerden being one of them.’

  ‘Caerden was too weak to rule. He thought only of himself. He wouldn’t have lasted long at all.’

  ‘I know, but perhaps with Barwen beside him...’

  Avva winced. ‘That doesn’t bear thinking about.’

  ‘The plan was to ambush Edward as he made his way around the kingdom. Edward change
d his plans quite late in the day and decided to visit Caerden. That would have played well into Caerden’s plans. If he had been the one to murder the King, then he would have been the most obvious candidate to be the power behind the throne.’

  ‘But he didn’t know of the King’s plans to visit Caerden until you turned up.’

  ‘Exactly. My message to the King’s Knights threw the Chepstow plans into disarray again. In the days I was stuck in your loft, the plan changed many times with them trying to decide whether to risk staying in Chepstow or returning to Caerden to meet the King there. I can’t believe that anyone close to the King would betray him like that. He is generous to his followers. Incidentally, the King really is grateful for the role you played today. When he said he would reward you, he meant it.’

  ‘I cannot think of anything I want that the King could grant.’

  ‘Can you not?’ William’s gaze slanted down to her.

  ‘No. Caerden is free from the Baron and his compatriots. We can live in peace. That is all I have ever wanted.’ That and to make you love me, but she knew the King could not make William feel a way that he had repeatedly said was impossible for him so she kept the words unsaid.

  ‘You are very selfless.’

  Avva shrugged away the compliment. ‘Not really. It has been difficult always living under the shadow the barony has cast over the town. I will relish the freedom that comes from my half-brother’s death, as will my younger brothers. So, you see, I am selfish after all.’

  William leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. ‘We will have to agree to differ on this point. Now, you should get some rest. It has been a long day and we didn’t get much sleep last night.’

  Avva’s heart clenched. She did not want to miss a moment of their last night together, but her head did feel heavy and her eyes were stinging with the effort of keeping them open. She lay down, resting her head against William’s body.

  ‘Sleep well, Avva.’

  ‘You, too,’ she said quietly.

  She lay there, listening to William’s steady breathing and enjoying the warmth of his body, and gradually her body drifted off to sleep.