Alysa eagerly waited for bedtime, hoping to sneak a visit with her father, only to learn that Isobail was spending the night with him. Her choice was made; stay in her room and pray.
Very late that night four things took place of which Alysa was ignorant: Guinn became more discontent and dangerous, Moran arrived and entered the chamber beneath hers, Keegan returned to Gavin’s camp with bad news, and Isobail spent an hour making love to a beguiled and drugged Prince Alric.
Sunday morning Alysa was summoned to join Moran for the early meal. She dreaded it, but complied, surprised to find the entire family and all guests present, except for Earnon. Since there was much to do and time was nearing for the wedding ceremony, everyone hurried.
Again Moran was romantic, allowing his intention to be noticed by everyone, and her fears of coerced marriage increased. When they were alone, he tried to embrace her, but she pulled away from him.
“What is wrong, little mouse?” he inquired peevishly. “We have not seen each other for days. Why are you so cold this time?”
Alysa thought quickly and replied, “You have not been true to me, Moran, even when you were home. How can I take you seriously?”
Moran’s face became red with guilt and fury. “What has Kyra told you?” he demanded, a harsh expression lining his face.
“Nothing. I heard talk from servants and in the village,” she replied, and realized she had guessed accurately.
“Talk is talk, Alysa, put no faith in it,” he commanded.
“If it is not true, why are you so angry?” she retorted.
Moran tried to conceal his annoyance. “Surely you realize that men have needs before taking a wife, but they mean nothing.”
“If they mean nothing, why must they be fulfilled?” she asked.
“You are such an innocent, Alysa. If not, you would understand, and forgive such a normal weakness of the flesh.”
“I understand it. Have you forgotten I was taken captive by men with just such weaknesses?”
“Did they harm you?” he asked coldly, seizing her shoulders roughly.
“You are hurting me, Moran! Stop it.” she shouted.
He loosened his hold but did not release her. “Answer me.”
“No, but they would have if I had not been rescued when I was. They were getting drunk and staring at me in a frightening way.”
“Then we must be grateful that Mother bought your release.”
“I am grateful, but that does not excuse your behavior. You vow you love me, then run off to… You know what I mean.”
Thisbe arrived to tell Alysa she had to hurry to dress for the wedding. Moran frowned at the servant’s untimely intrusion, and said, “We will discuss this later.”
“Yes, later,” she concurred, and left him.
Alysa admitted that Kyra’s wedding was lovely, and most appeared to have a good time, including her father. Guinn entertained at the feast, but appeared darkly subdued. Alysa could not help but notice how the bard kept watching Isobail furtively, hungrily. As soon as time and opportunity allowed, she left the Great Hall, hurried to her chamber, and hid from Moran, claiming she was still overwrought from her recent misfortune with the bandits.
In Kyra’s chamber early that evening the young bride burst into tears and confessed her tale to her new husband. At first Calum was furious to learn that she was not a virginal bride, but then he calmed down. “I should have told you before the ceremony, but I was so ashamed and frightened,” the girl lied, weeping convincingly.
“Do not distress yourself, woman,” Calum soothed, for his desire for her was enormous. “Come, I will be gentle with you.”
Kyra knew she had to submit to Calum tonight and other nights, although she had told Earnon she would find an excuse not to do so. She could not allow Calum to become suspicious of her. Earnon had tried to find a way to prevent Isobail from giving her in marriage to Calum, but he had failed, so he yielded for now. They both agreed that in time they would be together again.
To avoid seeing her with Calum, Earnon had remained in his chamber as much as possible since the hasty marriage preparations began. Kyra was not particularly unhappy about this, as she was eager to experience “passion with another man. And, after all, her husband was handsome. She smiled and yielded to Calum’s embrace, covering his face with kisses. “Tell me what I am to do.”
“Do nothing except undress and lie upon the bed. Tonight I will pleasure you. Later, I will teach you all you must know.".
Isobail was duping Alric in a similar manner in the prince’s chamber. As she tantalized him with her skills, she confessed, “I have been slipping a newly discovered herb into your food, my lusty husband. See how beautifully it works. You are getting well. Soon it will be as it was between us long ago.”
With passion and drug-glazed eyes, Alric smiled as he watched her naked figure perform. “This has been a marvelous day, my precious wife. The feasting was fine, but two nights with you can compare with nothing else.”
“Only two nights with me?” she teased. “Nay, my love, we will have many nights together. Your stamina has returned, and we must fulfill your every desire. It has been a busy and tiring day, relax while I tempt you beyond control,” she purred as she worked upon him. Isobail closed her eyes and pretended it was Gavin Hawk who lay beneath her hands and lips, and then her hips, driving him to writhing pleasure and bliss. When Alric was sleeping soundly, she glared at her husband and vowed, That was the last time you will ever touch me, foul beast…
Gavin and his men made plans. Keegan had rested, gathered supplies, then left the camp with Bevan for Cambria to speak with King Bardwyn. Upon his return from his last mission, Keegan had told Gavin that their messengers’ camp had been deserted and the men could not be found. Suspecting treachery, Gavin ordered Keegan to deliver the news to the king personally—they could no longer rely on other messengers to carry the report to the king. To prevent more trouble, Gavin instructed Bevan to accompany him, each man leading an extra horse to make the journey pass swiftly. Still unable to locate Giselde, Gavin was deeply worried about the old woman. He was also concerned about Princess Alysa and Prince Alric. He asked the king to come quickly, but knew that if this was the first message to get through to the king, the preparation and trip to Damnonia would require at least seventeen days.
As he had agreed, Gavin met again with the sheriff, but told Trahern he could not locate Skane and slay him. Gavin suggested that the brigand leader had somehow learned that he was in danger of revolt and gone into hiding. Gavin promised to find the man, kill him, and take over the band. He was pleased to learn that Alysa had played her part well and was safe at the castle.
The Cumbrian Prince was surprised when Trahern asked him to meet with the mastermind behind the rebellion on Wednesday night. He did not need more evidence against Isobail, but he knew he must continue his dangerous ruse until help arrived.
Monday morning the guests departed Malvern Castle, as did the newly married couple. Within an hour Isobail went to Alric’s chamber and handed him a specially prepared drink, telling him it was an aphrodisiac. But recalling the previous reports and suspicions he had had about the food and wine he had been served, Alric declined the offering.
Isobail had reached the end of her patience, and no longer feeling the need for pretense with Alric, returned with Trahern and Earnon. The two men imprisoned Alric’s wrists while Isobail forced the liquid into his mouth, clamping his nose until he was forced to swallow the draught.
He glared at her, outraged. She laughed and said, “There is no more need for caution, dear prince. You are a weakling, and soon you will have little value to me. Then, with great pleasure I will slay you. I alone shall rule this land, and soon others will follow. Trahern will sit beside me.”
Trahern’s worshipful eyes followed Isobail as she spoke and he restrained Prince Alric from shouting for help until the herbal brew took effect. After which, Isobail commanded Earnon, “Make sure his head does not clear again
before I end his miserable existence.” Earnon nodded and vowed to comply.
Alysa allowed Moran to convince her to go riding with him that afternoon, hoping Gavin would see them and snatch her. But he did not. When they returned to the castle, which was shrouded in gloom and darkness, she learned of her father’s relapse. She was beside herself with worry, but learning that Alric was carefully guarded, there was nothing she could do except escape to her private chamber and hold Moran at bay.
At dusk Isobail and Trahern went riding and invited Guinn to accompany them. Out of sight of the castle they dismounted and strolled in a lovely wooded glen. “Look there, Guinn,” Isobail called, pointing deep into the small and secluded valley. When Guinn turned, Isobail stabbed him fiercely, killing him at once. Trahern was shocked and bewildered by her action, until Isobail quickly explained. “He has been spying on me, and learned about us. He threatened to tell Alric everything if I refused to become his lover. Can you imagine such a brazen threat, Trahern? I did not know what else to do.”
“How will we explain his death?” the stupefied sheriff asked. He was becoming concerned about the number of people Isobail had murdered in her quest for the rulership, and the obvious pleasure she appeared to derive from the brutal slayings. It was not safe for a ruler to have so much blood on her hands. Yet he was beguiled by her open declaration about them to Alric and Earnon.
“We will say we were attacked by brigands and they killed him. Do you not remember how we were forced’ to flee for our lives?” she said, watching him closely to insure his compliance. After a few moments of hesitation, he nodded. “Come, we must move into the open, where Skane can see us.”
“I am here,” the brigand leader informed her, stepping from behind a group of dense bushes and joining them.
“You heard all?” she inquired, her tone expressing her annoyance. When he nodded, she shrugged and said, “It was necessary. As you know, Skane, I despise threats and blackmail. You must take the blame for his death.”
“What is my payment?”
“Payment!” she shouted. “You demand payment after what you just took from me! You become too greedy and bold, my hireling.”
“What do you mean?” he demanded. In the village earlier he had heard the crazy tale of Alysa’s kidnapping and ransoming by three bandits, but the tale had not been accurate, so he had dismissed it as rumor. Since Alysa’s capture, he had been lazing around in a camp with his men while they awaited this meeting for new orders. He supposed Gavin was raiding northwest as they had discussed, as he had not seen the Hawk and his small band for days.
From Alysa’s explanation, Isobail leveled her charges against him. “Last week, Skane, on the very night you were to have met with me, you were abducting Princess Alysa Malvern. You intended to sell her to Hengist, but your men disobeyed you. Within two days they brought her home after receiving ransom. I warned you to leave her alone. She is to marry my son.”
“I gave no such orders!” Skane shouted.
“The bandit leader told Alysa as much, and she told me. Where are my jewels?” she demanded, for she had indeed discovered that some of her jewels were missing from the castle, though she had no idea who had taken them.
“I do not have them, and I did not abduct the girl,” Skane argued, her unexpected charge.
“Alysa described you perfectly, Skane. Do you take me for a fool? I paid them at one gate and they released her at another.” She spouted off the false charge, and watched Skane’s cold fury mount.
Baffled, the brigand leader wondered if his three men had betrayed him by selling the young princess to Isobail instead of to Hengist. Or did the girl escape them and only claim as much? No, he decided, Alysa could not ransom herself. This matter was perplexing and infuriating. Was Princess Alysa afraid, he wondered, to expose him to this woman, since it would expose her daring flight? Had she persuaded his three men to take her home for a hefty reward? Did the little beauty expect silence for silence? Whatever her motives, Princess Alysa knew too much now and could be a threat to all of them.
Skane decided that even if Isobail was angry with him, it should be Isobail who dealt with the girl. “All right, I will tell you the truth of the matter. I did capture the wench. She was riding northeast, to Bardwyn I guessed. She was carrying food and extra clothes. I figured you would want her captured so she would not be a danger to your scheme, but I did not order her to be ransomed. I told my men to take her to Logris and sell her to Hengist. No doubt she enticed my men to betray me and ransom her. I will track down the traitors and kill them myself, after they confess the truth to us!”
Isobail did not argue with Skane’s tale, but she was convinced that Alysa was too meek to have actually run away, much less sought out Bardwyn. “Do that, and see that my jewels are returned,” she said. “I told you the girl is promised to my son, and she is eager to marry him. If you thought she was running away, you were mistaken. See that she is not endangered again. If you are losing control over your men, I can easily replace you. Find and return my jewels, Skane, or I will do just that.”
The brigand watched her ride away, and his eyes narrowed. There was something about this matter that did not sit right in his gut. Plus, he did not like the way Isobail was treating him. Perhaps it was time to make his own plans, starting with his own disloyal men…
Tuesday morning Skane and his band rode hard and caught up with Kyra and Calum and robbed them, taking the jewels Kyra had stolen from Giselde, which the bandit assumed were Princess Kyra Ahern’s. The moment the raiders were out of sight, Calum sent a trusty messenger to Isobail to tell her what had happened. But when Kyra begged her new husband to return to Malvern Castle, he refused.
Alysa went riding with Moran again, but was not able to elude him and find a few minutes of privacy. It was difficult to mask her impatience with his words of love and passion. She found herself snapping at Moran peevishly, thinking only of Gavin and wondering how she could get word to him.
For over an hour after their return home, Moran persisted with his wooing. Finally he went to see his mother and related the change in Alysa. Isobail listened, but was distracted by the news about Calum’s robbery.
“Be patient with her, my son. Perhaps you frightened her with your excessive eagerness. She had a terrible experience with those bandits. Give her time to relax. If she does not, I will fix things. We have become friends, and she trusts me. She will obey me.”
Gavin had been taken by the Druid priest to Trosdan’s cave in a distant glen in the royal forest to meet with Giselde. The livid scar on her forehead as she lay abed attested to her serious injury.
“We need no more proof against Isobail,” Gavin told her. “Alysa’s kidnapping seals her guilt. Skane told her about Isobail’s involvement with the marauding brigands. It is good to have a witness against Damnonia’s regent besides myself. But there is nothing more to do except await King Bardwyn’s arrival. Until then I must continue to play this role to protect Alysa and Alric. Your granddaughter wonders why your herbs did not work with Alric, Giselde. She tried to run to Bardwyn herself, to help her father, and that is how she was captured,” Gavin informed the distressed woman. “Could Alric’s illness be the result of a spell?” he asked, implying his budding belief in magic and in her powers. Giselde smiled and replied, “Yea, it is possible, Prince Crisdean. But I do not know how to break it without knowing what kind it is.”
“What about Moran, Giselde? How shall we deal with him when the king arrives? I cannot deceive Alysa once this matter is settled.”
“Let love guide your tongue, Gavin. What more can you do?”
After the two exchanged information, Gavin told Giselde to remain in the cave with her friend, as things were dangerous everywhere. Reluctantly Giselde agreed, then told Gavin how it was possible to reach Alysa even while she was in the castle: the secret passageway.
Twenty
Wednesday morning was stormy, so everyone was forced to remain inside the castle. At such times ir
regular chores were carried out by the servants. Today Leitis turned the eating tables in the Great Hall on their sides so she could scrub and oil their legs. On her knees behind one, Earnon and Isobail did not notice the woman’s presence as they passed through the hall.
Isobail had asked Earnon to explain his enchantment on Leitis, and he had done so, ending with how the spell could be broken. “Only the word Non Rae can end it,” he informed her within Leitis’s earshot.
The head servant rubbed her head as several curious pains knifed through her skull, then vanished. Humming merrily and daydreaming about Piaras, Leitis returned to her task at hand.
That night Gavin pretended to be shocked when Princess Isobail appeared at the prearranged meeting place in the forest. Gavin was glad Trahern had remained at a distance with the horses since he wanted Isobail to speak freely and openly with him. Gavin looked admiringly at her face and figure. “How could I ever forget such a ravishing creature? It seems we have met before, my beautiful lady,” he murmured seductively, “though perhaps you do not remember, since I was masked. I hope you forgive me if I angered you that day. Skane was a fool to order me to rob your group; you could have been injured.”
“You do not mind working for a woman?” Isobail inquired in a husky tone, her bold gaze matching his own.
“Not when she is as exquisite and intelligent as you. I have thought of you often since that day on the road,” he said, his eyes of liquid fire searing her flesh and nearly burning away her wits and control. When he smiled provocatively, temptingly, enticingly—white teeth amidst a tanned face drew Isobail’s eyes to his sensual lips. He knew he was standing in such a way as to call her attention to his well-developed and well-toned physique. He watched her expression glow with rising desire and she licked her lips thirstily, awaiting the taste of nectar from his. From the way her ravenous eyes were examining and devouring him from head to foot, she clearly wanted him and wished they were alone.
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