Arissa thought a moment before replying. In her opinion, he couldn't play because he might become injured and she would surely die if anything happened to him. Especially now that their relationship had passed to heights she had never believed possible. But she refrained from mentioning the truth, a secret far too precious to divulge.
"Because.... well, he simply cannot." She gathered her skirts. "I must talk to him."
Penelope and Emma watched her trudge toward the field. Emma leaned toward her friend. "She’s afraid he will injure himself."
Penelope nodded. "Poor Riss. In love with a man she can never have."
Emma nodded slowly. "I wonder if she will forget about him after she joins the convent."
Penelope cast her a long glance. "Would you?"
Emma met her gaze before returning her attention to the field. "Poor Riss," she repeated.
Arissa marched to the edge of the turf, sending a soldier running for Richmond. He was in the center of the field, whacking the life out of the small leather ball. When the soldier approached him and uttered a few words, his head snapped to Arissa with dizzying speed. Immediately, he relinquished the ball to another player.
He jogged towards her, clad in a simple tunic, hose and knee-high leather boots. It was extremely rare to see him out of armor at any given moment, but to be without protection in a public forum was nearly unheard of.
Arissa watched him approach, thinking him to be far more glorious without his armor; his shoulders were exceedingly broad and his waist narrow. When she remembered the feel of his lips against hers, the tenderness in his magnificent touch, her cheeks flushed anew. She could still scarcely believe it.
And neither could he. Although Richmond was trying to maintain a neutral expression as he approached her, it was extremely difficult. He hadn't seen her for over an hour and was desperate to taste her again. Her soft expression told him of her very similar thoughts, weakening his control further.
"Is something amiss, my lady?"
She gestured at the stick in his hand. "What do you think you are doing?"
He cocked an eyebrow. "That should be fairly obvious."
She frowned. "I do not want you to play. 'Tis a rough sport and you might.... well, you should leave the playing to the soldiers."
A shadow of a smile played on his lips. "What you mean to say is that I am too old and might injure myself."
"I did not say that. But I certainly do not want you to hurt yourself."
The smile escaped and his mouth curved. "Riss, I have been playing this game for years. Moreover, you have watched me play this game for years," he took a step closer, leaning casually on his stick. ”Kitten, if you start showing an over amount of concern for my welfare, people might become suspicious."
She gazed up at him, suddenly uncertain. She refrained from glancing about to see who might be watching them. "I did not mean to....oh, Richmond, I do not want you to play this silly game. It is too rough!"
He scratched his chin nonchalantly. "Yourconcern is touching, Riss, truly. But you worry overmuch. Now, return to Penelope and Emma and if I discover you have told them of our.... uh, conversation this afternoon, I shall blister your lovely bottom. Is that clear?"
She pursed her lips wryly. "If you can catch me, my lord."
He cocked a serious eyebrow. "What happened between us is not fodder for gossips, Riss. You shall never know how serious it is."
She relented somewhat, her features softening. "I do indeed realize how serious it is. They shall not hear a word from my lips."
His eyes glittered. "And delicious lips they are. I should know."
Tad suddenly ran past, cracking the leather ball so hard that the sound made Arissa wince. Her gaze as well as Richmond's followed the young knight.
"Why is he still here?" she asked quietly.
Richmond sighed, toying with his stick. "Your father spoke with Lord de Rydal and it was decided that Tad would take his leave discreetly after the Stick and Ball game rather than to be abruptly hustled from Lambourn. Lord de Rydal was concerned that Tad not appear as an unwelcome element whom your father is eager to be rid of, instead, allowing the knight to leave with the majority of his pride intact."
She watched Tad handle himself aggressively on the field; he was a large man and quite strong. Bartholomew tried to intercept the ball and was sent to the ground.
"Watch yourself, my love," she murmured, turning her attention to Richmond once more. "I am afraid of what he might attempt."
Richmond clutched his stick, slinging it over his shoulder. "Have no fear. I have had experience with the Tads of this world."
Slanting him a frustrated glance at his careless attitude, Arissa turned away and prepared to rejoin her friends. He called to her softly.
"Are you to reward the winner of this match?"
She shook her head. "We haven't enough ribbons for the entire team."
His expression did not change, but his eyes roared with intensity. "I was not speaking of ribbons. And I most certainly was not speaking of the entire team."
She blushed madly, as giddy excitement filled her. "In that case, I shall reward the winner. Whatever he desires."
The corners of his mouth tugged. With a bold wink, he turned and strolled across the field to where his team was in the final throes of practice.
Arissa returned to Penelope and Emma. Regine, her hands full of food, had joined the group. Her mouth loaded with custard, she kept up a running conversation regarding Tad and his talents. Emma, her face red, listened silently as Arissa took position next to Penelope.
"Daniel's already fallen twice," Penelope lamented. "I wish he would not play."
Arissa sighed, watching as the marshals separated the teams and sent them to opposite sides of the field. Her father's team was represented by Richmond, her brother, Daniel, and nine other soldiers from Lambourn and Richmond's personal corp. The opposing team was comprised of soldiers and knights from visiting households.
Lady Maxine and Carlton joined The Horde as the match was readied. William stood near the edges of the turf with several other nobles, including Ovid de Rydal, no doubt issuing gentlemanly wagers before the game began. Just as the marshals were leaving the field, Lady Maude and Lady Livia strolled up on Arissa's group.
"Arissa, dear, do you think it wise to observe this sport?" her mother said gently.
Arissa turned to her mother, a plump woman who had once been exceedingly lovely. Once, when she had been Regine's age, she had overheard her father telling Richmond that the only reason he had married Maude was because she had been so lovely to behold. The woman had the intellect equal to that of a door.
"Why not, Mother? I have watched before, numerous times."
Lady Maude glanced to the field. "'Tis simply that you are to join the cloister next month, and watching a sport based upon such brutality might.... well, it might...."
Lady Livia finished her sentence, as was usual. Oft times, Maude had difficulty finishing a line of thought. "It might adversely affect you, my lady. Now that you have come of age, your emotions have matured and it might upset your delicate balance."
Regine leaned against her sister's ear. "It might make you lusty."
Arissa choked on her next breath, coughing indelicately into her hand in a desperate attempt to keep from laughing. Unfortunately, she knew Regine was right; her mother thought that viewing a host of thinly-clad men might stir her innocent juices, feelings a virgin bound for the cloister should not experience. But Arissa had spectated numerous Stick and Ball games and was surprised that her mother would wait until now to voice her concerns.
Arissa took a deep breath, swallowing the last of her cough. "I understand your concern, Mother, but I would have you understand mine. This will most likely be the last Stick and Ball game I ever witness, and I should like to enjoy it if I may. Does this displease you?"
Maude and Livia looked to one another. When Livia shrugged faintly, Maude returned her attention to her daughter.<
br />
"Nay, dear, it does not. But control yourself as a well-bred young lady should."
Arissa smiled, kissing her mother on the cheek. Even if the woman was dull, she was loving and sweet. "Does this mean you will not allow me to play?"
Maude looked shocked for a brief moment; when the younger girls began to giggle, she realized Arissa was jesting and her stunned expression relaxed into a smile. "You naughty child, take your seat and I shall not hear another word from you."
Snickering, Arissa perched herself on a collapsible stool. Her mother, convinced that Stick and Ball was a ruthless sport offensive to a refined woman's taste, offered her farewell to the group and retreated to the castle with Lady Livia on her heels.
But the fact that Maude publicly condemned the unruly game did not prevent her from finding a convenient window by which to watch the bloody spectacle. She would rather die than admit her fondness for a game where loosely-clad men engaged in bone-jarring combat. Half-naked, sweaty males warmed her aging blood.
The game got off to a rapid start. A no-holds-barred melee, the sounds of sticks against leather and sticks against flesh filled the air. The two teams were blended together so tightly that it was difficult to make out any particular individual until the crowd broke in chase of the loose ball.
As usual, Richmond was at the head of it, using his skill and strength to work the ball down the field towards the enemy's goal-line. He and Daniel made an effective team, passing the ball between them and keeping their opponents confused. Arissa and Penelope watched, pride shining on their young faces, as their respective men displayed their power.
"Daniel loves this game," Penelope sighed dreamily. "He’s entirely skilled, don’t you think?"
"Just a moment ago you did not want him to play," Arissa reminded her, her gaze riveted to the field.
Penelope shrugged. "I do not. But he’s rather good at it."
Regine, finished with her food and wiping her hands on her satin surcoat, moved to sit on her sister's lap. Arissa grunted when her baby sister, outweighing her by twenty pounds, deposited herself on a tender thigh. Beneath them, the leather and wood chair creaked dangerously.
In spite of the groan, Arissa did not utter a word of protest; Regine had sought comfort on her lap for as long as either could remember, a display of the true fondness between them. Soon enough, she and Regine would be without each other and Arissa swallowed the emotion she felt as she wrapped her arms about Regine's thick waist. Soon enough, these affectionate moments would be no more.
Unfortunately, Regine's body blocked a good portion of her view and she strained to peer around her sister as the game progressed.
Richmond was the first man to gain a score, much to the delight of the crowd. Even the Lambourn soldiers on the battlements roared their approval and Arissa smiled, watching Richmond's modest grin as his teammates congratulated him. She was so focused on him that she failed to see Tad's malevolent expression, waiting impatiently in the middle of the field for the game to resume.
One score to add fuel to his already-raging fire. Tad's mood served to deepen his sense of retaliation against a man who seemed intent to make an example out of him. Whereas Richmond was playing a game, the heir to Goring Hall viewed Richmond's score as a personal insult.
When the match commenced once more, it did so with a vengeance. Richmond and Bartholomew took charge of the ball again, stealing it from a de Becket soldier and rushing it nearly the entire length of the field before an opposing player managed to snatch it from Richmond and carry it in the opposite direction.
Like a group of naughty boys, the grown men gave chase until the soldier was unceremoniously tripped, by Daniel no less, and sent to the ground. In a mad swarm, a host of men descended upon the hapless player and nearly crushed him in their haste to regain the ball.
The first team to gain five points was the winner; therefore, there were no time limits. As the afternoon progressed and the lively game continued, Lambourn's team managed to gain three points and was close to gaining their fourth thanks to Richmond's deft skills. At times the game bordered on a melee, but it was a good-natured violence if such a thing was possible. The crowd yelled themselves hoarse all in the name of merriment.
And The Horde was no exception. As Emma and Penelope cheered themselves ill, Arissa realized her legs were growing numb with her sister's weight and she was seriously considering asking her sister to remove her person. She took her eyes off the field long enough to shift her deadening bottom on the stool when she suddenly heard her friends gasp.
"Richmond's been hurt!" Penelope cried.
Arissa stood up so fast that Regine fell to her knees. In a panic, she saw that the game had come to a halt and the two teams were huddled in a tight crowd in one corner of the field. The officials and the earl himself were making their way onto the turf.
"Dear God," Arissa breathed. "How.... how do you know it was Richmond?"
"He was running with the ball when a group of men pounced on him," Emma said urgently. "He’s the only man who has not risen to stand."
Arissa did not wait. She pushed through the crowd of spectators hovering at the edge of the field and made her way onto the trampled grass. The entire game had come to a halt and an uneasy silence settled as she picked her way across the partially-destroyed earth. She could see her father's concerned expression as he gazed down at the injured player and it fed her panic all the more.
"Father!" she called out. "What's happened?"
William saw her approaching and abruptly moved toward her. "Richmond's been injured, Riss. Nothing to worry over."
She could feel the color draining from her cheeks. "Nothing to worry over? I must see him!"
"There is nothing to see. His men will take care of him," he grasped her by the shoulders and turned her about. "Return to your friends, dearest. The game will be resumed in a moment."
"No!" she dug her heels into the soft earth, twisting away from him. "I want to see Richmond!"
William sighed heavily, his meaty hands on his hips. "Arissa, he does not need your bothersome presence. You shall only interfere. Now be a good lass and do as I say. Return to Penelope and Emma."
Bothersome. Arissa's eyes filled with tears and she obediently turned away from her father, a man with little patience and even less understanding. Although he never meant to be deliberately cruel, he conveyed a callous attitude nonetheless. Sniffles turned into soft sobs as she walked away and, somewhere above the noise of the crowd, she thought she heard Richmond's voice.
She couldn't make out his words, but it was a distinct relief simply to hear him speak. At least he was not unconscious, or worse. William's insensitive command echoed in her ears and she fought the urge to go to Richmond in spite of her father's orders, knowing that he was most likely correct in his assessment of her presence. Still weeping, she continued on her way until a loud shout stopped her.
It was Richmond.
He was on his feet, parting the group of men that were surrounding him. His nose was bloodied and there was a nasty cut over his left eye, and he appeared to be leaning heavily on Daniel for support. He looked weary and beaten.
Her father's words forgotten, Arissa turned on her heel and closed the gap between them.
"Are you badly injured?" she demanded softly, her misty eyes wide with concern.
He smiled weakly, touching her cheek. "Nay, kitten. I just need a bit of a rest, ‘tis all."
In spite of the fact that she couldn't hope to support a man of his size, she slung his other arm across her small shoulders and put her arm around his waist, determined to help him walk.
"I shall tend you myself," she said firmly. "It looks as if you may require a stitch over your eye."
William moved beside them, scrutinizing Richmond closely. "I saw what happened, Richmond. I have already lodged a stern protest with the officials."
Richmond waved him off, his ears ringing and his head spinning. "'Tis merely a game, William. No need for protests.
"
"What happened?" Arissa demanded, looking to her father.
William's face was hard. "Tad de Rydal. He hit Richmond across the face with his stick."
Arissa's mouth opened in outrage as Richmond nodded his head gingerly. "Right on the mark, too. I shall wager he’s broken my nose."
Arissa's eyes were wide at Richmond as she studied his beautiful face, now swollen with injury. She turned to her father. "You must dismiss him from Lambourn this instant, Father. Surely you cannot allow him to remain after what he’s done."
William nodded sharply. "Certainly not. He’s all but ruined your birthday and I shall not have it. I shall not have it, I say!"
He turned abruptly on his heel and marched back across the turf, shouting at the officials and players alike. Satisfied that Tad was already on his way home, Arissa patted Richmond tenderly.
"I shall take good care of you," she whispered.
He gazed down at her dark head, his eyes watering with the pain in his nose. "I know."
* * *
The Stick and Ball game was all but forgotten as Arissa and Daniel took Richmond into the castle. Although his head was clearing somewhat, he had trouble navigating the stairs and teetered dangerously more than once. Daniel had to practically carry him to the bower he usually occupied on his visits to Lambourn.
Penelope and Emma had followed them from the field and stood hovering nervously as Arissa and Daniel settled Richmond in the massive bed. They were eager to help Arissa tend Richmond's wounds when Mossy suddenly entered the chamber, a dilapidated bag clutched in his ancient hands.
"Out!" he waved at the cluster of people. "All of ye, out! I cannot tend the man with the gaggle of ye hanging about."
Emma and Penelope leapt out of the old man's path, moving obediently towards the door. Daniel was shoved aside as Mossy dumped his bag on the edge of the bedrug. He peered closely at Richmond's face.
"Heard what happened," he muttered. "De Rydal vengeance for beating him in the archery competition, eh?"
Richmond did not flinch as the old man touched his swelling nose. "Among other insults dealt. And just how did you find out about my injury so quickly? Did your bubbling cauldron whisper my name?"
Timeless Tales of Honor Page 46
