"My lady?" The tone was droll. "What, may I ask, are you doing?"
Pressed against the stone wall as far as she could go, the small figure refused to budge. "Jumping!"
Kirk did grin, then. "With a rope around your waist?"
"I did not want to fall before I was ready!"
"I see." He leaned lazily against the windowsill, the humor of the situation apparent. "And when will you be ready?"
The dark head twitched. "Soon. Sooner still if you do not go away and leave me alone."
Kirk snorted softly, glancing to the ground below; nearly three stories up, it was a severe drop and he could see his men gazing up with interest. In fact, the two knights that had accompanied him, Sir Corwin Martin and Sir Niles de Worth, were directly below and he waved weakly in response to their inquisitive expressions.
"I do not plan to leave," he said, simply to goad her. "In fact, I have a rather good view of the entire event. I plan to watch."
On the small ledge, the tiny figure shifted, pressing herself even closer to the wall. "Then I shan't jump. I shall stay here until you leave."
The rope was still in his grasp. With a wicked grin, Kirk tugged on it, enough for her to feel it. "Come on, lass. It's been a long time since I have seen a good jumping."
She squealed as he tugged. "Stop it! Stop it, I say!"
Kirk could hardly hold back the giggles, tugging more firmly on the rope. "Do not be shy, lass. Go ahead and jump."
She screamed and he was forced to bite back great guffaws of laughter. "Damn you for tormenting me, you brutish fiend!” she howled. “Stop pulling on the rope!"
He continued to tug mischievously. "Please?"
"Nay!"
"I promise I shall applaud loudly. I shall even throw money if it's particularly gruesome."
"Stop pulling!"
He did, but not before he gave the rope one final tweak. "Then come in here if you are not going to jump, you naughty wench. How dare you taunt me with promises of blood and pain."
The dark head shifted, turning toward him. Kirk's smile faded when he beheld features more beautiful than anything he had ever witnessed. Delicate, porcelain beauty with eyes of the brightest blue. Eyes that were currently blazing with fury.
"Let go of the rope, you beast," she hissed. "I am coming to the window and if you had any intelligence, you would run for your life!"
He continued to stare at her, so mesmerized by her beauty that he hardly heard the threat.
"Come back in here." He wondered why his voice sounded so peculiar. Moving to the edge of the window, he extended his hand. "Come along, Mara. I shall help you."
A well-shaped black brow lifted. "How did you know my name?"
"Your sister told me. Come back in before the rain begins."
Bright blue eyes dared to glance at the threatening sky. In fact, she could smell the imminent storm. But his outstretched hand somehow fed her stubbornness and Mara frowned, very slowly inching her way back to the window.
"Put your hand down," she grumbled. "I shall not accept it. I can do this alone."
He raised an eyebrow, drawing his hand back but not removing it completely. Her skirts were in her way as she crept along the ledge and he found himself watching her footing very carefully.
"Were you really going to jump?"
"Of course," she said boldly. "I still might if you plan to force me to travel to Anchorsholme Castle."
"I do. Jump if you must."
Her frown deepened, out of place on her lovely face. "Then untie the rope from the bed. I am going to go through with it."
He shook his head. "I am not going to untie anything. If you truly wish to jump, then unfasten the rope around your waist."
She stepped on the edge of her surcoat, tugging it carefully from beneath her slipper. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a nasty, disagreeable man?"
"Constantly."
"And this Irish accent; it offends me. Why did you not simply stay in Ireland where you belong?"
"Because my family has served the House of De Cleveley for three generations,” he said patiently. “I had no choice but to come to England and associate with stubborn English females like yourself."
She scowled, taking her focus off the ledge for a brief moment. "I do not like you."
"Good."
"Mayhap you did not understand me clearly. I really do not like you. I loathe you. In fact, when my sister is married to de Cleverey, I am going to make sure that you are reduced from captain to scullery maid."
"The name is de Cleveley. And I am too hairy to be a scullery maid."
Her surcoat was caught beneath her feet again but neither one of them realized it until it was too late. Before Mara could deliver another insult, she lost her balance and plunged from the ledge.
Instinctively, Kirk snatched the linen rope, holding it tight. About ten feet below him, Mara gasped and twisted.
"Stop moving, lass!" he commanded. "I shall pull you in, but you must stop moving!"
Clutching the rope, Mara's voice was tight with fear. "I... I did not tie it about my waist very well! It is slipping!"
A bolt of panic surged through Kirk, entirely foreign to the usually calm man. It was difficult to maintain a cool, steady motion while reeling in the rope; he did not want to jerk it in his haste and end up losing her altogether.
"I have almost got you." His voice was calm. "Just a little further and I have got you."
He could hear her fearful grunts, struggling to control his own apprehension. Hand over hand, he was nearly to the point where he could reach down and grab her when Micheline suddenly bolted into the room. Her scream of terror was almost enough to cause him to lose his grip.
"My God!" Micheline cried, plowing into Kirk in her attempt to catch a glimpse of her sister. "Mara, darling, hold on!"
Bright blue eyes gazed up at the two concerned faces several feet above. "Misha, I am sorry!" she cried, a far different attitude from the belligerent girl of moments before. "I should not have been so difficult and I swear if God allows me to live, I shall never do anything so stupid again! And I shall go with you to Anchorsholme, I promise!"
Kirk very nearly had her. "God is not pulling you from your death, my lady, I am." He paused in his struggles. Stepping on the rope to hold it steady, he held out a hand as far as it would go. "Take hold, lass. Take hold!"
Mara could feel the tie around her waist loosening. Struggling to keep hold with one hand, she tried to reach him but missed by an inch. Feeling the rope as it continued to unwind, she gripped the linen fearfully with two hands again.
"I can't," she moaned. "I shall fall!"
Kirk knew how terrified she was. He was terrified, too. Resuming his pull on the rope, he reeled carefully. "It's all right, I shall pull you up." He heard a shaken voice, hardly aware that it was his own. A couple of more tugs and Mara let out a piercing scream.
Kirk watched as the rope spun away from her waist, leaving her free and dangling several stories above the bailey. She was nearing panic, her gasps of fright heavy as her hold slipped.
"My hands!" She looked up at Kirk with those brilliant eyes. "They are wet. I can't hold on any longer!"
She was just beyond his reach. Feeling a real surge of desperation, Kirk was about to make another attempt at grabbing her purely for the fact that he knew his time had run out when Niles and Corwin came storming into the room. Kirk caught sight of his knights, feeling a burst of hope.
"Hold the rope," he ordered, releasing it to Niles' strong arms. Throwing himself across the windowsill, his massive hands reached with desperation for the dangling lady.
"I can't hold on," Mara cried again.
"Aye, you can." He could touch her but he couldn't quite get a grip. "Niles! Pull, man, pull!"
Someone had him by the legs. Hanging from the window, it gave him the reach he needed to grab her by the wrist just as her grip failed. Mara shrieked as the rope fell away, her slender wrist straining under Kirk's iron hold and th
e undue stress of her dead weight.
Somehow, he made it back onto the windowsill. He had Mara by two hands now, hauling her up with him. She was gasping, panicked and weary, and he pulled her through the window and into his massive arms.
They were both panting, shaken. It took Kirk a moment to realize he was clutching her tightly, never more relieved of anything in his entire life.
"You're safe now, lass," he murmured into silken dark hair. "I have got you."
Micheline extended her arms, trying to take Mara from Kirk's embrace. "Mara darling!" she cried. "Thank God you're safe. I thought I was going to lose you!"
Mara was clutching Kirk with a death-grip. After a moment, the bright blue eyes appeared from the safe cozy of his neck. "Never," she whispered, holding out a hand. "I am so sorry, Misha. Please forgive me."
Micheline clutched the hand tightly, kissing the small fingers as she looked to Kirk. "My lord," she said breathlessly. "We are forever in your debt. No price shall be too great to ask in reward for saving my sister's life."
Kirk found he could hardly respond. The greatest reward of all was nestled in his embrace, warm and soft and trembling. But he nodded faintly, setting Mara to the ground before he grew too comfortable with the feel of her in his arms. She collapsed against Micheline, the two sisters holding each other tightly.
Kirk glanced up at Niles and Corwin, noting that the knights were fairly shaken as well. Drawing in a deep breath to regain his composure, he struggled not to appear too unnerved by the whole event.
"Since you promised your sister that you would accompany her to Anchorsholme Castle, Lady Mara, I shall hold you to your vow." He was already moving to the chamber door. As if trying to escape the unfamiliar emotions that had just occurred. "Since you are not packed for the journey, I shall give you until tomorrow morning. Considering the weather is worsening, I suspect we would do well spending the night at Haslingden."
Mara looked up from her sister's breast long enough to lock gazes with him. Before she could offer a measure of thanks, he quit the room with his knights in tow. Staring at the empty doorway, Mara was left to ponder the annoying, heroic appearance of Sir Kirk Connaught.
CHAPTER TWO
"Has she said a word to you?"
The weather had worsened since leaving Haslingden that morn, the addition of a nippy gale making life generally uncomfortable. The sky overhead was gray, the smell of rain pervasive and sharp. Astride his muscular charger, Kirk refused to glance at the wind-whipped young lady riding several paces behind him. "Not a word."
Niles, however, did look at her. Swathed in a heavy cloak that was both too large and too worn, Mara was watching the muddied road pass beneath her mare's hooves. With a shake of the head, Niles returned his attention to the bleak landscape.
"Not even a word for saving her life?"
"Nothing."
"Ungrateful wench. You should have let her fall."
Kirk chewed on his lip as his steed plodded along, refusing to reply to Niles' cruel statement. "We should see Ormskirk in another hour. We shall find a clearing to pitch camp and be gone before sunrise. Hopefully we shall reach Anchorsholme by the nooning meal."
Niles nodded, passing the information to the men-at-arms. To Kirk's left, Corwin let out a nasty burp.
"Good Christ," he gurgled. "I can still taste this morning's meal. Disgusting as it was, barley gruel."
"Considering the poverty of the keep, we were fortunate for that." Niles cast a disgusted glance at Corwin. "What about the powder Lord Edmund’s physic gave you? Doesn't that settle your stomach?"
"I used it all." Corwin was struggling not to wretch in front of the ladies. "Yesterday, in fact."
Niles shook his head. "For a man who has spent his entire life in the saddle, I find it extremely peculiar that your stomach has not grown accustomed to the sway of a horse."
Corwin puffed out his cheeks as another strong burp rocked him, discreetly passing it off. "The sway of the horse, the sway of a wagon, makes little difference. Any movement makes me ill." He was suddenly overtaken with another burp, so loud that the men-at-arms snickered.
Kirk was rattled by the sound, distracted from the thoughts that had plagued him most of the day and night. Thoughts involving the ungrateful, foolish, alluring Lady Mara. Forcing himself back to the world at hand, his deep voice rumbled with impatience. "We have ladies with us, Corwin. Control your repulsive habits."
"I cannot help it, my lord," he said sullenly. "You know how travel affects me."
"I know all too well." Kirk cast the auburn-haired knight a long glance. "But I ask that you control yourself just the same."
The journey progressed silently, aside from the various sounds emitting from Corwin's body no matter how hard he tried to suppress them. The weather, strangely, was now threatening to clear, wisps of sunlight filtering through the clouds. On the outskirts of Ormskirk, Kirk spied a sheltered clearing and immediately called a halt. Men-at-arms rushed the pasture, establishing the site as Kirk moved to the ladies.
"We will camp here for the night, ladies," he said, looking down from his tall charger. "We shall rise early and be at Anchorsholme by noon."
Micheline nodded submissively while Mara eyed the busy soldiers. She had no intention of sleeping in the wet grass. "The weather is damp, my lord," she said, turning her bright blue gaze to him. "Micheline's health has always been delicate."
He met her steadily. "There will be a warm fire and adequate bedding. I am sure the lady will fare well."
As he feared, a willful eyebrow lifted. "An inn would do better. Micheline is, after all, the intended of a baron. Would a decent room not be more suitable to her station?"
She had a point. Kirk looked at Micheline who, sensing his attention, immediately flushed. "A sturdy tent will do very well, my lord. An inn will not be necessary."
Mara turned to her sister before Kirk could reply. "Ridiculous, Misha. Do you remember that bout with the chill two months ago? Why, you have only just recovered. Moreover, you are to be married to a wealthy man and there is no reason why you should not be provided with the comforts befitting his station."
Micheline's blush deepened, her plain blue eyes fixed on her sister. "Please, Mara," she hissed, refocusing on Kirk's intense gaze. "An inn is not necessary, my lord. A pitched shelter will do quite nicely."
Mara opened her mouth but Kirk blotted out her response. "As you say, Lady Micheline." He ignored Mara's frustrated expression. "Lord Edmund has sent along his very own travel bedding for your comfort."
He reined his horse in the direction of the camp when Mara's voice stopped him. "I would hardly call dusty furs and molding linens appropriate comfort." She made sure Kirk was looking at her when she spoke. "My sister deserves the best."
"And she shall have it."
"I am speaking of a warm inn."
"And I am not." The stone-gray eyes cooled. "This discussion is ended, Lady Mara."
Mara and Micheline watched him trample through the winter grass, gesturing to a few men and sending them running.
"You should not provoke him, Mara," Micheline said softly, eyeing the soldiers that had been left to watch over them. "He has been exceptionally patient with you. Not to mention the fact that he saved your life yesterday."
Mara looked away stubbornly. "I would not have been forced out onto the ledge had he not threatened to break my door down. ’Tis his own fault that I almost fell to my death."
Micheline sighed. "'Tis your own willfulness that almost cost you your life. And it would make my life considerably easier if you would learn to control yourself. I have enough to worry over with thoughts of a new husband."
Mara cast her sister a long glance. "I am in perfect control, Misha. And I was perfectly correct in asking Sir Kirk to take us to an inn. You deserve proper lodgings, as a future baroness."
"I am not speaking of that in particular, but everything." Micheline's gaze moved to the distant camp, a weak fire beginning to smoke. "Really, Mar
a. I simply do not have the strength to deal with your bold nature or Sir Kirk's resulting anger."
Mara followed her sister's gaze to the glowing encampment. She could see that Kirk had dismounted his warhorse, head-and-shoulders taller than the rest of his men as he stalked the camp to make sure everything was proceeding orderly. His men practically bowed at his feet, making haste to carry out any order or request.
"His anger is of no concern to me," she said, watching the activity. "Especially when I am correct."
Micheline's expression suggested nothing but impatience. "Correct or no, you must learn to curb your mouth. If not for yourself, then for me. Please consider my position; how would it appear for the new baroness to have a hellion for a sister?"
Mara did not reply for a moment, the bright blue eyes suddenly growing distant. "Do you recall the last time you visited an inn, Misha?"
Micheline blushed with the change of subject, lowering her gaze. "Not a word, Mara. I refuse to...."
"Father used to make you dance for money to feed his gambling habit." Mara wasn't listening to her sister's protests. "And he would leave me outside, on the street, pretending I was an orphan and begging for more money. Do you remember?"
Micheline refused to answer. Met with silence, Mara turned to her sister. "Do you?" When Micheline nodded weakly, Mara's expression softened. "That is why you do not want to go to an inn, isn't it? They hold nothing but bad memories for you."
Micheline sighed deeply, avoiding Mara's knowing stare. "The smell of ale and sweat still makes me vomit," she murmured, sickened by the painful memories. "The only reason father did not prostitute me was because he knew he could get a better price for a virgin bride."
"But in the end, he used you to pay off a gambling debt as if you were a commodity."
"To Monroe de Cleveley," Micheline finished quietly, "as a bride for his only son."
Mara observed her sister's pained expression. She had been young enough not to mind begging, her aggressive nature having served her well. But Micheline, just over the brink of womanhood, had been embarrassed to display herself like a common trollop. Dancing for drunken soldiers, or singing in her piercing soprano for the few coins they would throw. It had been a shameful way to grow up, better left forgotten. But not before Edward le Bec bestowed one final act of humiliation by using his eldest daughter to settle a substantial gambling obligation.
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