Even his own wife.
Chapter 54
It was well past dawn on the archery field when William struck his first bull’s-eye of the day under Jenefer’s guidance.
He grinned at the cheering onlookers while the other five archers grumbled.
“All it takes is practice,” Jenefer told them as William loped toward the target to retrieve his arrows. “Soon you’ll all be hitting bull’s-eyes.”
They’d been practicing for the good part of the morning. After a night of troubling dreams involving Lady Alicia, Jenefer had risen from her bed at first light, snatched up her weapon, and lit out alone for the archery field.
Shooting always relieved her anxious brain. Each successful launch of an arrow restored her sense of control. Centering her mind—on her form, her bow, the wind, the target—kept her thoughts from straying. There was nothing as satisfying as the thunk of an arrow lodging in the straw. Sending a shaft spiraling into the bull’s-eye felt like a small victory.
She’d hit three bull’s-eyes when a group of curious onlookers began to gather. William had spotted her and quickly collected his fellow archers so they could watch what he claimed was “a master at work.”
But Jenefer had quickly tired of being a spectacle. She’d invited the archers to the field to begin giving them instruction. Now that she knew it was unlikely Morgan’s men would be fighting against her uncle’s forces, there was no reason not to mold them into the finest archers possible. After only a few hours, she could see improvement.
“That’s enough for today,” she decided. If they practiced too long, their arms would be useless on the morrow.
But that wasn’t the only reason she wanted to leave the field.
The nightmares disturbing her slumber all night had centered on Lady Alicia and the harm she might do to Morgan. But she was more worried about Miles, who was small and helpless. She knew Bethac would protect the child with her life. And Feiyan could fend off an attacker. But neither of them could keep the lady from demanding that her own son be brought to her. And Jenefer feared what a neglectful mother might do with an unwanted child.
As the men collected their weapons, she slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder and made haste toward the nursery.
She could hear Miles’ wails as she climbed the steps. But they weren’t coming from the nursery. Her heart dropped. The babe was in Morgan’s bedchamber.
Trying to stay calm, she lifted her hand to knock.
Then she hesitated at the door. What if Morgan was inside? She couldn’t stomach seeing the reunited couple in bed together, with their beautiful child nestled intimately between them.
But something in Miles’ voice sounded wrong. Not his usual plaintive wailing, his cries were full of distress, desperate screams that were suddenly muffled, as if someone had…had smothered them.
Her thoughts went wild with panic. Privacy be damned! She burst in the door.
Lady Alicia was bent over the bed with one knee on the pallet. She’d seized the coverlet in both fists and was pressing it down over the squirming bulge stop the bedsheets. She had a horrific expression on her face. An expression of cold, calculated drive. Without compassion. And utterly soulless.
For an instant, Jenefer was too shocked to move.
In the next instant, though Alicia never shifted her gaze from the bed, her features were transformed as if by magic. Her icy mask suddenly cracked into a fretful pout, and her eyes widened in childlike concern. Even the determined pressure of her hands became tender caresses as she slipped the coverlet down from Miles’ red face.
“Morgan, I’m so glad y—”
“What are you doing?” Jenefer demanded, jarred from her daze.
Once Alicia realized it wasn’t Morgan at the door, her innocent manner quickly turned to hostility. She picked up Miles and gripped him to her chest, almost like a shield. He arched his back and writhed in her arms.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped. “You’re supposed to be gone.”
Jenefer paid no heed to Alicia’s words. She was more concerned about the babe’s welfare and getting him out of the woman’s grasp. What Jenefer had seen might have been her imagination, but she didn’t think so. Miles’ mother had been trying to suffocate him.
Jenefer’s first urge was to attack, to forcibly snatch Miles away. But she was unnerved by the crazed unpredictability in Alicia’s eyes, a look that said she wouldn’t hesitate to toss the babe out the window before surrendering him to Jenefer.
So Jenefer subdued her warrior instincts and fought her impulse to fight, even though Miles’ distraught wails were tearing at her heart. Instead she took a cautious step inside the room.
“Why don’t you let me calm him?” she asked.
“Get out!” Alicia barked.
Startled, Miles screamed.
Jenefer gulped. Fear sent a cold shiver through her blood. She dared not leave the babe alone with this madwoman.
She tried reasoning with her. “Once he’s quiet, we can talk,” she said, managing a sympathetic smile. “Who can think while Miles is wailing like that?”
“Miles?” Alicia scowled.
Jenefer silently cursed herself for her slip. “Allison. I meant Allison.”
Alicia squeezed the squealing babe closer to her. His arms waved in helpless protest. She was apparently deaf to his cries.
“You stay away from him,” Alicia sneered. “And stay away from Morgan. I won’t have you sharing your nasty lies with him.”
Jenefer flushed. If Alicia knew what else they had shared, she’d be livid.
But that was in the past. Now Jenefer’s only concern was keeping his son safe.
Alicia narrowed her eyes to glittering slits. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to steal the infant from me.”
“Nay, I only—”
“You think by laying claim to the infant, you can have his father.”
“’Tisn’t true.”
“You think if Morgan believes your filthy lies,” Alicia bit out, “you can get rid of me and take my place.”
Her grip tightened around Miles’ chest as she spoke. Jenefer could hear him struggling, coughing between his wails, and she knew she was going to have to take action, regardless of the risk.
Alicia gave her an ugly, twisted grimace of a smile. “I’ll see the babe dead before I let you get your conniving hands on him.”
Jenefer’s heart plunged into the pit of her stomach.
Left with no other choice, she was forced to resort to her warrior ways. She whipped an arrow from her quiver.
Chapter 55
Nothing could have prepared Morgan for the standoff he stumbled onto when he followed his son’s cries, up the steps to his bedchamber.
His wife was clutching their screaming child tightly in her arms. Her eyes were wild and glittering.
The babe’s face was ruddy. His fists shook in desperation. His anguished sobs were interspersed with sputtering as he gasped for breath.
As for Jenefer… She wasn’t trying to comfort the child. To his horror, she had a loaded bow aimed at Alicia’s throat.
His first mad thought was that his hostage had outwitted him. She might not threaten an innocent babe to gain her release. But she may have no such qualms about intimidating Alicia.
It wouldn’t work, of course. One stride would put him within reach of Jenefer. One blow of his hand would disarm her.
But in the blink of an eye, Alicia made him see the situation in a completely different light.
“Morgan!” she screamed, her face dissolving into terror. “Help me!”
She pointed a trembling finger of accusation toward Jenefer, who was already lowering her bow.
“She tried to harm our son!” Alicia cried. “I-I found her in our bedchamber. Sh-sh-she was smothering him! She meant to kill him!”
“What?” Jenefer said, incredulous.
Alicia turned on her in dismay. “How could you do such a thing? To an innocent c
hild?”
Jenefer’s jaw dropped. Her weapon hung limp from her hands.
“Morgan!” Alicia barked. “You must send her away! This instant!”
Morgan narrowed his gaze at his wife. He felt like a film had been lifted from his eyes. He seemed to be seeing her clearly for the first time.
Alicia was mistaken. There was no way Jenefer had tried to kill his son. The lass had had plenty of opportunity to do so if she so desired while he was asleep in the nursery.
Besides, Jenefer loved the lad. She might not have intended to bond with him, but she had. She’d vowed no harm would come to him. And she’d proved to be a woman of her word.
Alicia, on the other hand, filled him with doubt. She made him question her loyalty.
“Morgan!” she screeched. “You can’t let her near our child again! He’s our son! Our firstborn!”
He held up his hand. “Alicia—”
“She’s right,” Jenefer answered before he could reply. “He should be in his parents’ care. Not mine.” Despite the strength of her voice, he could see the hurt plea in her wet eyes. “But you must believe me. I’d never do anything to hurt the wee lad.”
He did believe her. In fact, he believed her over the woman he’d been wed to for two years.
Alicia must have seen the change in his eyes. She gasped. “She’s lying! I saw her myself.”
Jenefer had no answer. She only entreated him with her gaze to trust her.
Morgan decided to give Alicia one last chance, the benefit of the doubt. “Perhaps ye only thought she was tryin’ to harm him. Perhaps she was tryin’ to give him comfort.”
Alicia hissed, “I know what I saw.” She tempered her tone, and her voice quavered as she begged him, “Please, Morgan. I don’t want her coming near our precious child. Ever again.”
“I won’t,” Jenefer choked out. “I won’t come near him. I swear. But Morgan, don’t leave him alone with her. Please.”
The sincere concern in her dewy eyes troubled him.
“How dare you!” Alicia shouted at her. “What are you insinuating?”
“I’m leaving,” Jenefer murmured, making a hasty exit before she could burst into tears.
“Come, Alicia,” Morgan said when she had gone. “Let me see if I can quiet him.” He was eager to take his son out of the hands of the woman who had suddenly become a stranger to him.
Alicia readily surrendered the child. Too readily.
The tension left Morgan as he cradled his traumatized son in his arms. He murmured reassurances to the wee lad, soothing him with gentle touches.
“You don’t believe that wench, do you?” Alicia asked. “Because she’s only trying to steal you from me, Morgan.”
“Steal me?” He shook his head. “And why would she do that, Alicia?”
“Why else?” she said, looking at him as if he were daft. “For your wealth, your position.”
Under his tender care, the bairn’s sobs softened. With a relieved shudder, the lad finally relaxed against his chest.
“Wealth and position.” He lifted a brow at Alicia. “Is that why ye pursued me?”
“What?” She seemed surprised at the question. “Me? How could you think such a thing?”
A day ago, he wouldn’t have imagined it. Now it seemed a painfully obvious assumption. What didn’t make sense is why she had left.
“You know I don’t mean us,” she continued. “I mean that vile, wicked, scheming maidservant.”
“The one who thinks she can steal me by killin’ my son?”
She looked rattled, but only for a moment. She turned toward the window. “It seems mad, I know. But who knows how her depraved mind works?”
He’d been asking himself that very question about Alicia. Now that he had his son safely in his arms, he could press her for answers.
“What happened that day, Alicia?” he asked. “The day ye disappeared?”
Her voice was brittle. “Are you doubting me now?”
“Tell me the truth.”
Even now, he wanted to believe the best of her. He could even find it in his heart to forgive her if she’d be honest with him. Perhaps the responsibility of a child had frightened her. Perhaps she’d run away out of fear. Perhaps she’d invented this abductor, “Lionel,” because she was ashamed of the truth.
“I’ve told you the truth,” she insisted. “I was taken by an English lord and held prisoner at his keep.”
“Lionel?”
“Aye.”
“And if I send someone to seek out this Lord Lionel?”
She shrugged. “You can do as you please.”
“He’s not real, is he?”
“Of course he’s real!” Her expression dissolved into tears of anguish. “You don’t believe me. How can you not believe me? I was abducted. I was held at an English keep. I escaped and came here. And that witch—the one who’s put all these ideas into your head—was trying to kill our son!”
That last part he didn’t believe for an instant. And if Alicia had lied about that, she’d probably lied about everything else.
“She’d never do that,” he said.
There was an edge to her voice as she said, “I know what I saw, Morgan.”
“What you think you saw. But what about the things one doesn’t see? The things we only assume to be true?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He gazed down at his weary son, who was drifting off to sleep. He didn’t think he’d ever loved anything as much as he loved this wee bairn. To think the lad’s own mother might have abandoned him…
“I’ve been thinkin’ lately about how easy ’tis to make a man believe a thing when his heart is vulnerable.”
Misunderstanding him, she whipped around. There was a satisfied glimmer in her eyes. “Exactly! Which is what that wench has been doing. She’s been poisoning your mind.”
The blood curdled in his veins. He couldn’t bear to listen to more lies falling from Alicia’s lips. He couldn’t believe he’d ever been fooled by her wide-eyed, scheming ways.
“That day ye disappeared,” he mused, “I believed ye were dead. But I ne’er saw your body. And I believed ye were in that wooden box lowered into the grave, though I ne’er saw the proof.”
“Godit was clever. She—”
“But what I keep askin’ myself is how this Lionel managed to steal ye away while Godit was swaddlin’ my bairn and deliverin’ the bad news to me. He couldn’t have managed it alone—infiltratin’ the castle defenses, stealin’ ye from the childbed, carryin’ ye off while ye were carryin’ on and fightin’ for your life.”
He saw her visibly gulp.
Chapter 56
Alicia seldom panicked. She had a quick answer for everything. And she could switch from innocent angel to avenging devil and back in the blink of an eye.
But she felt the walls rapidly closing in. Morgan was getting too close to the truth. And like a stubborn hound, he wouldn’t let go of the bone between his teeth, the bone that cursed wench had handed him.
Morgan continued to pressure her. “So I’m guessin’ Lionel had help. How many were there? One? Two? Three extra men?”
She licked her lips. “I…I don’t remember.”
He nodded, but she could see the doubt in his eyes.
She pressed her fingers to her brow. “I think…I think I may have fainted.”
“But when ye roused… I mean, it must have taken a fortnight to travel all that way.”
Damn Morgan! His dogged persistence sent a bolt of rage through her. He’d backed her into a corner. Even her usual attempts to elicit protectiveness in him weren’t working.
But like a cornered cat, her best defense was a strong offense. It was time to unsheathe her claws and bare her teeth.
“I don’t remember, Morgan!” she burst out tearfully. “And ’tis cruel of you to make me try. That wretched woman has turned you against me. Your own wife. The mother of your child. How could you?”
To her horror,
not a muscle moved in Morgan’s face. For the first time in her life, he was completely indifferent to her suffering. And that frightened her more than she cared to admit.
She wanted this life back. She wanted to be Morgan’s wife again. She wanted the prestige. And the wealth. And the power.
But if she couldn’t rely on his compassion and his protection, there was a chance she could get tangled in the web of her lies. And that meant there was a chance Morgan would uncover her two murders, despite her giving him a false name.
It was all that bloody wench’s fault.
She turned her rage on Morgan. “You told me you’d sent that witch away. You lied to me.”
Morgan’s brows collided. “I said I’d taken care of it.” Then his mouth twisted. “But I can’t send her away.”
She blinked. “What? Why?”
“’Tis a matter of honor,” he said. “I vowed to keep her here, under my protection.”
Her eyes flattened. Honor. Of course. It was his stupid honor that made Morgan so predictable. And so easy to play.
“And you won’t break that vow? Even for me?”
She already knew the answer.
“I cannot.”
“Cannot?” she asked. “Or will not?”
“Ye know they’re the same thing.”
Alicia felt her stomach coil as her best laid plans went rapidly awry. Nonetheless, she made one final, desperate effort to cling to what she had. Crossing her arms in challenge and proudly raising her chin, she delivered an ultimatum. “’Tis either her or me.”
Morgan’s face turned to stone. “Don’t do this, Alicia.”
She’d finally found a foothold. And she’d be damned if she was going to budge.
Morgan moved one hand up to hold the back of the infant’s head. “If ye leave, I won’t let ye take the bairn.”
She’d never wanted the child in the first place. But she was sure Morgan was only bluffing. Trying to manipulate her. “Her. Or me.”
Bride of Fire Page 25
