Her Knight Protector

by Anne Herries

  She stopped and looked back at him, head high, eyes proud and as cold as his own. ‘You order me to leave all that I love and I shall do it for the sake of those I care for—but do not think to bend me to your will, Uncle. The law makes me your property, but not your serf.’

  She walked out, leaving him to glare after her.

  Alayne put an arm about her waist as they walked up the stairs to her chamber together. ‘You must not abandon hope, dearest. Alain will not let you go so easily. He will petition the King. You are the heiress to a great fortune in England. If Richard made you his ward, your uncle would be forced to give you up.’

  Katherine smiled wanly. She knew that Alayne was trying to comfort her, but she believed that it was her fortune that had brought Baron Grunwald hurrying to claim his rights over her.

  Katherine was his ward, which meant that he had control of her fortune. He could refuse her the right to marry anyone and keep her inheritance for herself. And if she died, it would be his…

  Katherine prepared herself to say goodbye to the family she loved. She saw the anger and rebellion in Marguerite’s eyes as they embraced.

  ‘We should kill them all!’ she said fiercely. ‘Father should not let them take you like this.’

  ‘To kill them would be murder. My uncle was clever when he came with only a handful of men. Sir Ralph could not slay them in cold blood, nor would I ask it of him.’

  Katherine kissed her cheek. She went to Alayne, saw the tears in her eyes—but they had said their goodbyes earlier and merely embraced. Sir Ralph stood in angry frustration as she made her curtsy to him.

  ‘Forgive me, daughter. I feel that I have failed you.’

  ‘You could not do otherwise, sir. Tell Alain that I shall always love him. Whatever happens to me—my heart will remain with him.’

  ‘You are brave and true, Katherine. Keep faith. This does not end here. I swear on all that I hold sacred that we shall meet again in better circumstances.’ Sir Ralph’s hands curled at his sides in frustration and she knew that he resented his powerlessness to stop her uncle taking her away from Banewulf.

  ‘Come, Katherine. I shall brook no more delay.’

  Katherine turned as her uncle’s harsh command summoned her. She gave her hand to a young squire who came rushing to help her mount her palfrey.

  ‘Say the word and I will kill him, my lady!’

  ‘No, Edward,’ she said recognising him as one of Alain’s retainers. ‘There shall be no bloodshed this day.’ She looked for Maria, who was riding pillion behind one of the Baron’s servants. At least Katherine had not been forbidden to take her faithful friend with her. She smiled at Maria, but said nothing as she rode out of the courtyard in the small cavalcade.

  It was some hours before Katherine realised that they were not heading towards the coast, but further inland.

  She spurred her horse forward, turning her head to glance at her uncle. His face still wore the same cold expression it had earlier and his eyes showed no emotion as she spoke to him.

  ‘Are we not going to France?’

  ‘We shall go to Grunwald when I am ready.’

  ‘Where are we going?’

  For a moment she thought he would refuse to answer, but then he inclined his head. ‘Very well, I shall tell you. We are going to inspect the property Philip of Rotherham left to you, niece. As your guardian it is my duty to make sure that the lawyers do not cheat us.’

  ‘Why should they cheat me, Uncle? Sigmund, who was my uncle of Rotherham’s steward, wrote me a good honest letter. He is drawing up an inventory for the lawyers to sign. All is as it should be.’

  ‘You may leave me to be the judge of these things, Katherine. You can know nothing of the matter. Property is a man’s business.’

  Katherine was silent. Angry words tumbled in her head, but she was wise enough not to let them flow out of her mouth. She had suspected that it was her fortune that had brought Baron Grunwald to England. He had ignored Sir Ralph’s letter when he thought her merely a troublesome burden, but now he was here to claim her inheritance, not for his niece but for himself. When he spoke of property being a man’s business, he meant that it was his! He would use it as he saw fit.

  And she was powerless to stop him! Had she been a man she would have fought for her rights, but a woman had few rights and must rely on her guardians to keep her and her lands safe. She did not believe that she was safe with Baron Grunwald, for he had shown no warmth or feeling towards her. She was merely a pawn in the game he played. Alive she might prove of some use to him, but he would gain much more if she were dead.

  Katherine realised she must be very careful. If she appeared to accept him at face value she might find a way out of this dangerous situation, but if he became angry…

  But, no, she would not allow herself to think like that. Sir Ralph was no longer a young man and he had been forced to give her up to the Baron, who had the law on his side—but Alain would not let this go. She knew that he had done much to help Richard, both in the Holy Land and in his attempts to regain his throne. Surely the King would do something to help him now? If Katherine and her lands were made a ward of Richard’s court, the Baron harmed her at his peril.

  She dropped back in the cavalcade, watching her uncle riding ahead, and suddenly a picture came into her mind—a picture of her father and uncle riding together away from the castle of Grunwald. Katherine had been watching from the battlements, looking down on them. A tingling sensation started at the nape of her neck—something was not right.

  The memory was so vague that she found it impossible to be sure—but she thought she recalled her uncle riding slightly lopsided. Now why had that been? Katherine tried to remember, but it eluded her at first. It was such a long time ago and so many things had happened to her since, but now it was beginning to come back to her. It had been a warm sunny day and she had climbed to the battlements to look out at her father’s land, which she knew they would soon be leaving. She had noticed particularly that her father’s back was straight and tall in the saddle while her uncle…her uncle Robert of Grunwald had a hunched shoulder and leaned sideways.

  She remembered now! Her father’s brother had a deformity of his back! He was not quite a hunchback, but there was something wrong with his right shoulder.

  Why had she not remembered that when she was at Banewulf? She had only seen her uncle a couple of times, but she remembered him speaking to her father…something about wishing he had a straight body so that he might journey to the Holy Land.

  ‘But I need you to be here, Robert,’ her father had said. ‘You must stay and look after the manor.’

  ‘In truth, it is all I am fit for—but I shall do the best I can.’

  This man was an impostor! Katherine was almost certain of it. His back was as straight as a board and, now she thought of it, he was probably older than her uncle of Grunwald, who had been several years younger than her father.

  Katherine felt chilled. How could he have fooled Sir Ralph so completely? He had papers proving his identity, a document from the King of France—but how could they know the papers were genuine?

  Yet Sir Ralph was not a fool. The papers might be genuine enough in themselves…and that might mean something had happened to the true Baron Grunwald.

  Katherine went cold all over. Whoever was behind this elaborate ruse had gone to great lengths to get Katherine away from de Banewulf. He had chosen his moment well, after both Stefan and Alain had left their father’s manor, and he had not risked using force, but stolen her by cunning.

  How could an impostor hope to get away with stealing the fortune Philip of Rotherham had left to her? There must be people who knew the real Baron Grunwald, who would confirm Katherine’s belief that her uncle had had a deformity of his upper back.

  If she had only recalled this at Banewulf, then Sir Ralph would never have given her up. For the moment she was alone, Katherine realised. She could rely on her own wits to keep her alive and nothing else.


  Chapter Nine

  ‘This waiting irks me,’ Alain confessed to Bryne as they drank wine together. ‘Ravenshurst keeps me kicking my heels at his pleasure, but I must do my best to settle this business for Katherine’s sake.’

  ‘He hopes to drive the price up,’ Bryne said. ‘For my part I would consign him to the devil and rid myself of that cup. It hath brought nothing but trouble to you and her.’

  ‘Katherine has spoken in much the same tone,’ Alain admitted. ‘But I believe it belongs to Christendom, Bryne. I do not think we have the right to forget it ever existed.’

  ‘You are a man of high ideals,’ Bryne said and looked grim. ‘Few could live up to them—take care that Katherine does not suffer for your pride.’

  ‘You think I would allow harm to come to her from this?’ Alain looked at him hard, for the accusation was a harsh one. ‘If she means so much to you, why did you not claim her as your own? I would have stepped back at the start if you had made your feelings plain.’

  ‘I love Katherine more than she will ever know,’ Bryne replied. ‘But she loves you. I would not seek to press my claims when she hoped for a word from you.’

  ‘You are a good man,’ Alain said sincerely. ‘Can you forgive me for taking her from you?’

  ‘She was always yours,’ Bryne said and smiled ruefully. ‘Besides, I have it in my mind to return to Venice. I find England too cold and wet after the sunshine of Italy and shall make my life there. I wait only to see you wed to Katherine.’

  ‘If this damned business was settled, that might be sooner rather than later,’ Alain said. ‘What do you imagine is behind his plan to keep me waiting here?’

  ‘I wish that I knew,’ Bryne said. ‘I would swear he is up to some mischief, but we have no option other than to wait until he makes his move. At least we know that Katherine is safe at Banewulf.’

  ‘I thank God for it,’ Alain said. ‘Were she not, I would suspect that Ravenshurst hoped to lure me here to spring some trap of his own. However, it would take an army to wrest her from my father’s house…’

  Had there been an opportunity on the journey, which took two days, Katherine would have tried to escape, but the man who called himself Baron Grunwald guarded her well.

  They stayed at an inn for one night, and two men stood guard outside the door of her chamber the whole time. Maria brought food to her, for the Baron would not allow her to eat downstairs in the common parlour, and she told Katherine that the guards had been changed twice so that they remained alert.

  ‘I offered to bring one of them wine,’ Maria told her. ‘For I could have drugged it and helped you to escape, my lady. But he raised his hand to me and told me not to try my tricks on him.’

  ‘Did he hurt you?’ Katherine looked at her in concern. ‘Be careful, Maria—this man is ruthless, whoever he may be.’

  ‘So you have noticed it, too,’ Maria said and nodded her head. ‘I did not know what was going on until we were leaving Banewulf, but it did not take me long to realise that this man is not your uncle of Grunwald, Katherine. He is a base impostor and has stolen you from those who love you by treachery.’

  ‘Be careful,’ Katherine warned her, a finger to her lips. ‘We are unprotected, Maria, and might be disposed of for less reason than a hint of suspicion. We must tread warily until we discover what he wants from me.’

  ‘He means to rob you of your inheritance and then…’ Maria’s eyes were dark as she looked at her mistress. ‘I shall kill him rather than let harm come to you, Katherine.’

  ‘I would discover just what their plan is,’ Katherine replied and looked thoughtful. ‘I do not believe that my inheritance is the whole. I think this was a clever plot to steal my father’s discovery.’

  ‘You think that they want…?’ Maria stared at her in horror. ‘What will they do when they discover it is left behind in the strongroom at Banewulf?’

  ‘It is perhaps fortunate for me that it is,’ Katherine replied. ‘Alayne asked me what they should do with it, and I told them Alain would decide its fate, for I could not. Once I saw how my supposed uncle behaved towards me, I was determined that he should not have it. And if in truth he is not my uncle…’ She felt a thrill of fear. ‘I think he must be in league with the Lord Hubert of Ravenshurst. The Baron has tried to abduct me, to steal the treasure from me—and to murder Alain. But this time he has succeeded by cunning where he previously failed.’

  Maria’s face was ashen with fear for her mistress. ‘They will make you send for the treasure. They will threaten your life if you do not.’

  ‘But they cannot kill me, for they must know that they would never get their hands on what they seek if I died—and Alain will not let this matter rest. He had already sent to Grunwald to find out what was happening there. I believe he will discover the truth—and then he will come to find me. I must believe it, Maria, for if I do not I am lost.’

  ‘But he went to London to talk with the Lord Hubert…’ She stopped and shook her head, afraid to go on because it would bring her mistress pain.

  ‘Yes, I know what you cannot bring yourself to say,’ Katherine told her. ‘It was clearly a trap—but Alain will not fall into it. He will survive and he will rescue me.’ He must come for her! She could not give up hope or she would die of her grief.

  Maria looked at her dubiously, for she did not have as much faith in men as Katherine. There was not a knight in Christendom worthy of her darling in Maria’s opinion, for her love blinded her, making her overprotective. She had begun to think that Sir Alain might just be worthy and he had sworn eternal love, but he should never have gone away and left Katherine to his family’s care—and they should not have given her up so easily! Maria was angry, as she would always be angry whenever someone gave some hurt or neglect to her chick. However, she said nothing, for she knew that Katherine was in danger. They both needed to be on their guard and to keep their wits about them if they were to escape with their lives.

  Maria would watch and listen, and if she suspected they meant to harm her darling she would kill them—the impostor and the Lord Hubert of Ravenshurst, if he should give her the chance. Her own life was nothing. She would give it gladly for the girl she loved.

  ‘It was a trap,’ Alain said to Bryne after reading the urgent letter from his home. ‘Ravenshurst drew me here and then sent his creature to my father. His papers were good enough to fool anyone who did not know the truth, but I have received a disturbing report from Grunwald. Katherine’s uncle disappeared some weeks ago, and his body has recently been discovered. He had been murdered, robbed of his jewels—including the ring with the seal of Grunwald, which is the proof of his rank. This man who claims to be Katherine’s uncle is an impostor. And he may be a murderer…’

  Bryne saw the way his mouth hardened and understood what he was feeling, for his own rage was hard to bear. ‘They will not kill her, Alain,’ he said gruffly. ‘For to do so would expose them as rogues. You have proof that Grunwald is dead. You can stop them from stealing what is rightfully hers.’

  ‘I care little for her inheritance,’ Alain said. ‘It is not that they want, though they will take it if they can—but if she is harmed…’

  His eyes were dark with fear for her. Bryne smiled oddly. His own feelings for Katherine were strong and deep, and when he’d asked her to be his wife he would have been happy to be accepted…but things had changed. She was promised to Alain, and he would do all he could to see her restored to him.

  ‘We shall find her and take her back,’ he promised.

  ‘I have kicked my heels here long enough,’ Alain said and smote the wall with his fist as his anger raged inside him. What a fool he had been. He should have married Katherine and made her safe before he left her. ‘We must leave for France as soon as the tide is favourable.’

  ‘That is probably what they expect you to do,’ Bryne told him. ‘They want you to waste your time looking for her while they force her to give them what they want.’

 
‘My father says the cup is still in his strongroom. Katherine is so stubborn. She may refuse to give it up and then…’

  Bryne gripped his shoulder. ‘Courage, my friend. I think we must use our wits here. It is possible that they are elsewhere.’

  ‘At Ravenshurst?’ Alain frowned. ‘I believe it could withstand a siege of several weeks—it is a stout castle, I am told.’

  ‘Perhaps—and yet this man who claims to be Baron Grunwald…might he not want to try to claim her inheritance also?’

  ‘You think he might take her there?’

  ‘It is possible. Ravenshurst does not know that her uncle of Grunwald’s body has been discovered. No doubt he imagines himself safe from discovery.’

  ‘That is true, for it was hidden in a cave, and it was only chance that took a huntsman there in pursuit of a wounded beast. I believe you are right, Bryne. If he took her to Grunwald he would run the risk of being exposed for what he is, an impostor—no one will know that he is not who he claims to be at Rotherham. If my father was fooled, then so will others be.’

  Bryne nodded. ‘Rotherham is neutral ground. This man might not trust Ravenshurst enough to meet at the Baron’s keep—and in that lies your hope, Alain.’

  ‘You mean…’ A wry smile touched Alain’s mouth. ‘We must pray that you are right, Bryne. Thieves often fall out over how to divide the spoils—and if the cup is still at Banewulf, Ravenshurst will be furious. He has Katherine, but not that he most desires.’

  ‘Send word to your father and brother,’ Bryne advised. ‘I shall take my men and go to France to make certain how the land lies there. But first I shall seek an audience with the King, for you must be prepared for any tricks these ruthless men may practise, Alain. If one of them should force her to a marriage, you must have Richard’s signed warrant to make that marriage illegal. If she becomes the wife of one of them she is lost to you forever.’

  ‘If…’ Alain’s eyes burned with anger. The thought of Katherine wed to another, being forced to submit to him, was such agony that he could scarce bear it. ‘She would rather die. I know her, Bryne. She would never consent. I think she would resist them to the end.’