Margo Maguire

by The Virtuous Knight

  “What I mean to ask is…if you had not awakened, would you have started a bairn in me?”

  He made a strange noise and Lucy wondered if he was choking again. She was just about to get up to assist him when his hand shot out and held her in place.

  “By all that is holy, woman,” he snarled, “go to sleep!”

  Chapter Seven

  “I bid ye, Archangel,” Rolf Bavent pleaded dramatically to his masked brother, Gilbert, “heal our champion, our hero, the revered and most holy, George.”

  Gilbert, the archangel, looked up to the cloudy heavens and then back at the mere mortal who asked for a miracle. And he tripped over a log and fell on his rump.

  The children sitting ’round Lucy laughed and pointed at their uncle.

  In spite of himself, Alex smiled at the sight of her, holding the newborn in her arms, her eyes lit with joy as she watched over the children. While the two uncles rehearsed their play, the rest of the adults packed up the camp. The infant was now three days old and its mother had deemed herself ready for travel.

  Alex himself was ready to go, with his belongings—along with Lucy’s few measly items—already tied on Rusa’s back, and he was impatient to leave. They had another day and night to pass before reaching Holywake, and who knew how much time upon the morrow. He’d considered having Lucy ride the mare while he walked, but ’twould take that much longer to reach Holywake. Mayhap two nights.

  He had no choice but to ride with her, unless he wanted to draw out the journey. Remembering their conversation the previous night, and now watching her jest with the Bavent children, it was abundantly clear to him that the less time he spent with Lucy of Craghaven, the better. He needed to put some space between them in order to bolster his resolve.

  Gilbert got to his feet again and resumed his lines, while Lucy skimmed her lips over the infant’s dark head. She turned to one of the other children and gave a wink. The gesture itself was innocent enough, but to Alex, it seemed a slow and seductive move. ’Twas a promise of fiery pleasures and passionate devotion.

  “Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem….” he whispered.

  The actors broke into song when the hero was healed. The children joined in, urging Lucy to do the same. ’Twas apparent that she did not know the words or the tune, but she managed to follow, her voice ringing pure and true.

  The sound washed over Alexander and he closed his eyes to listen to her voice as it rose above the others. He did not think he’d ever heard any music so moving as that of the monks at Cluny, but he knew now that he was mistaken. Her feminine tones reached something hidden deep within, and he believed he could remain there forever, listening.

  Except that he knew such feelings were wrong. He would not betray his commitment to his wife, his Order. Getting hold of himself once again, he turned away abruptly and walked toward the family members who were packing the wagons. He bade farewell to the Bavent brothers in turn, thanking them for sharing their meal and their fire.

  Then he went to Lucy. He extended his hand to assist her, but she handed him the infant instead. It surprised him, and sent a stab of pain, as well as one of unexpected pleasure through him. He’d not held a bairn in his arms since his own son was an infant.

  “Why, you’re quite good at that,” Lucy said once she was standing.

  Alex could not say what caused the tightening in his chest—whether it was Lucy’s smile or the child in his arms. He only knew that it was time to leave. He gave the bairn to its mother.

  “Take care of your lady, Sir Alexander,” Mathilde said. “God be with you, and may he bless you with many children.”

  Lucy beamed at the woman’s benison and turned to say farewell to the others. When she was finished, Alex placed one hand at Lucy’s back, near her waist. With the smallest pressure, he guided her toward his mare and lifted her into the saddle while the Bavent family called out their good wishes.

  Alex said naught, and refrained from looking back, although Lucy leaned to one side and waved until the road curved and the Bavents were out of her view. Then she sighed happily and let her hands fall into her lap.

  Late into the afternoon, Lucy was still thinking about ways that she might join up with the Bavent family again, even though she knew it would be impossible. There were too many reasons why it would never work.

  Still, she knew she could have been very happy with them. Though she would never be a performer, she might help mind the children for their mothers. She could most certainly cook and clean, and help make the actors’ costumes. Emma Bavent had shown her the brilliant masks that would be worn when they performed Saint George and the Dragon, and Lucy could only imagine how wonderful it would feel to be a part of that kind and generous family.

  Not that she would truly belong, but life with the Bavents would be exciting and interesting…visiting new places, meeting new people. If only she did not have to go to Holywake, she’d have asked Master Gilbert if she could join the troupe.

  She became drowsy with the rocking movement of the horse, and fell asleep for a time. When she awoke, she became aware of Sir Alex’s arms around her. Up until now, he’d kept his distance—at least, as well as he was able while they rode. Yet as Lucy awakened, she sensed his beard brushing the top of her head, his heart beating in his chest at her back.

  ’Twas amazingly pleasant to be so embraced, however inadvertently it occurred. Nestling into his body to glean more of his heat, Lucy heard his breathing change. It seemed harsher, deeper. She kept her eyes closed, her body relaxed, and tried to imagine how his embrace would feel if it were affectionately given.

  Sir Alex was a hard man, both in muscle and in spirit. He was fierce, but Lucy felt perfectly safe with him, even when his hands shifted. His thumbs brushed the undersides of her breasts and she felt the tips harden. ’Twas suddenly difficult to breathe. An odd sensation flared at the base of her spine, and heat pooled low in her belly. She felt boneless, just as Elsbeth had described, and she wanted to curl ever more deeply into Alex’s heat.

  He somehow realized she was awake and shifted his body. “We’ll make camp soon, beside the river,” he said.

  Lucy had heard the flow of water nearby, but she’d been too distracted to pay attention to it. She wanted Sir Alex to move his big hands back to where they were, wanted to know if it was his touch that made her feel so strange.

  But he did not. He leaned away from her now that she was awake, and Lucy forced her tired muscles to support her as she sat up straighter. She felt travel-worn and dirty, and her scalp itched. Her stomach growled with hunger. She wanted to ask him to pull her close again, but knew that she must guard her speech or else risk his anger again.

  “I would like to walk for a while,” she said instead.

  Sir Alex did not answer, but pulled up on the reins and stopped the horse’s progress. He dismounted and helped her down, holding her when her unsteady leg threatened to buckle under her.

  “I’m just a little stiff,” she said, embarrassed that he had seen her weakness in its worst form. She was not usually so clumsy, and to a man as perfectly made as Sir Alex, Lucy felt she must seem horribly flawed.

  She started to move away from the knight, but he stayed with her, keeping his hand at her elbow while she walked.

  “Let’s go this way,” he said, leading her away from the road.

  There was no forest path, but the going was fairly easy with Sir Alex to keep her from tripping and falling as she’d done before. They followed the sound of the river in the distance and eventually reached a rocky bank in a bend of the river, where it ran deep and fast.

  Alex looked ’round. “This will do,” he said. “We’re far enough from the road that we won’t attract any unwanted attention.” He took his packs down, then pulled the saddle off his mare while Lucy went to the water’s edge.

  She knelt and scooped some of the fresh, cool water into her hands and washed her face. It felt wonderful after the long, unseasonably warm day riding on the back of Sir A
lex’s horse.

  “Here are your things,” the knight said, coming up behind her. He handed her a package wrapped in one of the Craghaven blankets, then walked away again. Lucy opened the bundle and found several items gathered there. A tin cup, a comb, a sliver of soap wrapped in a thin leather pouch, and a delicate silver chain with a small locket. All these things had been folded inside Lady Elsbeth’s favorite dark-red kirtle.

  Lucy felt a pang of sorrow for Elsbeth and the nuns. They hadn’t deserved their violent end, not even Elsbeth.

  The journey to Holywake was not at all what she’d anticipated. Looking at Sir Alexander as he pulled items out of his pack, Lucy felt fortunate to have such a powerful escort. There could be no doubt that he would keep her safe from the dangers on the road.

  Quietly, Sir Alex walked around the small clearing, gathering firewood. Keeping his back to Lucy, he afforded her a degree of privacy, but Lucy needed more. She had decided to change into the fresh kirtle since hers was filthy, as well as stained with her blood. She picked up her belongings and stood, then followed the riverbank around its curve, finally stopping at a place where she would be able to step into the water.

  She was a good distance from Sir Alex and completely out of his sight, so she slipped off her shoes, then unlaced her kirtle and removed it. Still wearing her linen underkirtle, she stepped into the water.

  ’Twas cold, but since Lucy had felt uncomfortable and sticky for two days, the water felt wonderful. She wondered if she should consider dousing her hair—mayhap her entire body—but the deeper water was rushing too fast and Lucy decided not to risk it since she could not swim.

  Instead, she crouched in the shallows and scooped water into her hands, then washed as well as she could, using Lady Elsbeth’s soap. Moving quickly, she removed her underkirtle and tossed it over a tree branch so that she could wash more thoroughly. Somehow managing to cleanse herself quickly with her tiny piece of soap, she rinsed off and reached for the thin linen garment.

  It fell into the river and was caught up by the current.

  Lucy reached for it and lost her footing, sliding on the slippery rock bottom. Pulled into the rushing water, she struggled desperately to right herself or grab on to something. She flailed her arms and legs ineffectively and could not manage to keep her head above the water.

  She tumbled wildly in the current, sputtering and gasping for air whenever her head reached the surface, certain that she was about to die.

  Alex wondered what was taking Lucy so long.

  They’d both needed a few minutes of privacy, but he’d already removed Rusa’s saddle and brushed her down. He’d found a secure place for Brother Roger’s scabbard, and gone to set a few snares with the hope of catching a hare or two for their supper. And still Lucy did not return.

  The last thing he wanted to do was intrude upon her, but as he stood with his hands on his hips, he began to think he had no alternative. He called out her name, but got no response. He turned to head in her direction, but something in the river caught his attention.

  Driven by dread, Alex did not think twice. He un-buckled his sword belt and jumped over the boulders at the riverbank. Running awkwardly through the water, he dived across the surface and swam in the same direction as the mass of golden hair that had just passed by. His arms cut through the water while he allowed the current to help carry him to his goal, though ’twas difficult to navigate the fiercely rushing water.

  By the way Lucy’s body was tumbled by the waves, Alex could see that she was helpless, perhaps even unconscious. There was naught she could do to help herself.

  He made a grab for her, but the current carried her out of reach. Something heavy knocked into Alex and stunned him momentarily, causing him to lose precious time as well as space, putting distance between himself and Lucy. He sputtered back to the surface and doubled his efforts to reach her, using his powerful arms and legs to propel him through the water.

  Finally, his hand brushed her hair and he grabbed it. Holding on, he pulled her toward him. Her body was deathly cold when he drew her close, but he refused to believe she’d drowned. He would get her to dry land and she would recover.

  And he would never let her out of his sight again.

  He hauled her into his arms and staggered up the rocky embankment, then lay her on the level ground. When he turned her over and pressed the heels of his hands into her back, she coughed up the water she’d swallowed. He repeated the pressure once, then again.

  Alex did not let up until she braced herself on her forearms and started to breathe more easily. Then he turned her over. Carefully, he brushed her hair out of her face.

  She was pale, but the bluish discoloration around her nose and lips was gone. There was a new scrape on her cheek to go with the bruise on her chin, and her eyes were open and vacant.

  “Lucy!”

  He shook her when she did not respond. He glanced down at her chest and saw that she was breathing…and at the same time he realized that she was naked.

  “Lucy!” he said again, taking her chin in his hand.

  Her eyelids fluttered, then closed for a moment. When they opened again, they were focused on him, and the crease between her brows was back.

  “C-cold,” she whispered hoarsely.

  He remembered that her body had been as cold as the snow in winter, but the fear that had driven him had kept him from noticing her lack of clothes.

  “In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.” Making the sign of the cross, Alex lifted her into his arms.

  When he reached the place where he’d left Rusa and their belongings, he knelt and picked up his blanket, then wrapped it around her. Alex knew the air would cool significantly once the sun had set. He would have to make haste and get a fire going or Lucy’s chill would deepen.

  Gently, he set her down on the grass and went to the place where he’d piled wood for a fire. Ignoring his own saturated clothes and the setting sun, Alex made a small fire. Once it caught, he added a few of the thicker branches and fanned the flames until the fire blazed. Then he went back to Lucy, picked her up and carried her to the heat.

  She was shivering, and her eyes were open.

  “What happened?”

  “You nearly drowned,” he said, hardly able to absorb all that had happened since they’d stopped for the night. The woman was a walking disaster, from all her mishaps to her intemperate speech.

  “I slipped,” she said. “And the current caught me.”

  Alex looked up at the sky. No sign of rain tonight. The sky was so clear that the temperature would drop after sunset. He had no tent to sleep in, and no extra blankets. She had to get dry and warm, soon.

  Certain that a hot meal would help her, Alex quickly changed into dry clothes, then left Lucy to check his snares. He found them empty. ’Twas likely they hadn’t been in place long enough to catch anything. Still, he had bread and cheese, and some stew that the Bavents had given him.

  Lucy was asleep when he returned to the campsite. He dug out a small cookpot and poured the stew into it, and once it was cooking, checked on Lucy.

  She was still cold, so he added another blanket to the one already covering her. He could not stop himself from lingering near her, touching her hair, watching her breathe. Kneeling beside her, he wanted to gather her up in his arms and protect her from harm.

  Alex knew that such a thing was impossible. He’d done all in his power to safeguard his wife and son, yet he’d lost them.

  “Lucy,” he said, “you need to eat something warm.”

  She looked up at him drowsily. “I’m not hungry, Sir Alex.”

  “’Tis not for hunger, but for heat.”

  She nodded once and struggled to keep her eyes open. “I’ll try.”

  Alex managed to get only a few bites into her before she succumbed to sleep. The ordeal in the river had sapped all her strength. Worried that she would not manage to stay warm though the night, he rearranged the blankets to make a bed for them both, then
lay beside her and pulled her close.

  He had enough heat to warm her.

  It grew cooler as night progressed, but within their cocoon, Lucy’s shivering subsided and her skin began to warm. They both slept fitfully.

  Alex dreamed of soft curves and sweet-smelling skin, of golden hair that swirled around his wrists and bound him. He dreamed that he buried his nose in that hair and fondled the lush curves of feminine breasts. He felt the smooth skin of buttocks while his fingers dipped into their crease.

  Small sounds of pleasure, bodies moving together—

  Alex awakened to daylight and sprang to his feet.

  He was fully aroused and desperate for completion. In three years he’d not experienced such intense need, and it appalled him to know that he had so little control over his base urges.

  His heart pounded and his breath came in short pants as he looked down into Lucy’s puzzled eyes. ’Twas no more than his male nature that had reacted to her. Yet when he felt her gaze traverse the length of his body, he felt powerful and potent.

  The blanket slipped down to Lucy’s waist. Alex stood rooted to the ground for an instant, reacting to the sight of her breasts, their pink tips pebbling in the cool morning air. His eyes were drawn to the small mole at the top of her breast, and again, he felt an undeniable urge to taste the spot. He swallowed and suddenly came to his senses.

  This was not what he was about.

  He turned away and quickly left the campsite. Determined to remain celibate, he would master this attraction, no matter how comely Lucy was, no matter how intensely he wanted her.

  After an hour spent in prayer, Alex was certain he would have control once again.

  Lucy lay back and wondered what had just happened. The strange sensations that had welled up in her chest took her breath away. Feeling as if she’d been in the sun too long, she sat up again and saw that she was without any clothes.

  She stood and wrapped herself in the blanket, then glanced around the area where they’d slept. Frowning, she saw no sign of her things and realized that her clothes must still be where she’d left them when she’d tried to bathe in the river.