"Aye, ye should have."
Sudden terror knotted Letia's heart. "I want everyone to leave us alone." She waved her hand toward the window. "Why must all these strange men be here? And it won't stop at them. They will have families to join them. More mouths to feed!"
"It could be worse. What of all the castles that greedy men have besieged? Think of the baron's sister-by-law when the raiders killed his brother. Had the baron not been here, she would have had nowhere to go."
"You are right. I am forever being selfish and wanting things to be easy."
"Phah. Never have you thought of yourself first. You sacrificed your honor to keep everyone in this castle safe."
Letia held Aubrey close in her arms for most of the day. Servants brought food up to the solar, and she relied on Sybilla to see that the noon meal was as Letia had ordered it. She felt caged in the room. Though to be honest, she was glad not to be in the Scot's presence.
What a coward she had become in such a short time. But on seeing Leofwan, Edmund, Raik and his men walking the ramparts, she nibbled at her lips. Why, when Raik stopped to gesture at something and speak, the men nodded as if they agreed with everything he said. She gritted her teeth, regretting she was not there to overrule any foolish order the Scot was likely to give.
Aubrey's lips relaxed on Letia's nipple after finishing his afternoon feeding. He sighed and stirred, well content. She eased him to her shoulder and covered his back with a soft blue blanket. It took naught but ten pats afore he puffed out a burp against her neck. A handful more of little sucking sounds and he was deep in sleep. Still, she was reluctant to put him down.
"Come, now. 'Tis too late to be biting your lips and guessing what happens below."
Maud clumsily patted Letia's head as she started for the closed door. Finding Freki's big body stretched out in front of it, she stopped and looked at him, her hands on her hips.
"Call this big beast away. You need to bathe afore Lord Raik sends for you." She shook her head and muttered, "Seems strange to call him lord, it does."
"I'd as soon be as I am. Mayhap he will leave me alone in disgust."
"Nay. A sweet smelling woman can sway a man far more than one reeking of spewed milk and babe's piss."
By the time Letia's bath water arrived at the solar, Maud had everything prepared and waiting. Letia gently sponged the babe's face and slipped clean garments on him without awakening him. Now, swaddled and in a wooden cradle close enough to the hearth to be warm, his little mouth nursed in his dreams.
Though Letia had said she'd as soon meet Raik with her smelly clothing, she sighed with pleasure when she lowered herself into the warm water. She was tired, her mind distraught with worry over what would happen when they again met.
"'Tis sorry I am, sweets. I failed to note we had used the last of your lily soaps."
"No matter. We had far more pressing things to worry about than my favorite soap. Heather will do as well."
Letia blinked and shook her head to erase the memory of preparing Warin to lay at rest in the marble tomb and Aubrey's birthing so soon after. She dipped her fingers in the pot of soft soap, closed her eyes and spread it over her neck and arms. She worked up a fragrant lather before using a bathing cloth to work the soap over her body.
Maud washed Letia's hair and back while she bathed her legs and feet. They were rinsing her hair when Freki growled and stalked over to the door. Without a scratch or call to enter, it burst open. Startled, Maud dumped the remainder of water over Letia's head. She gasped and scrambled to cover her chest with the bathing cloth.
"Father Paul agrees..."
Raik's deep voice faded to a halt.
Freki silently stalked toward him, low to the ground. His lips bared strong, vicious teeth in a snarl. Raik ignored him and stared at Letia, her hair streaming over her face, fumbling with the cloth. As he took in the cradle and the bedchamber door standing wide, his lips tightened.
"Do ye not ken what stay within yer chamber means, Lady?"
"I am within my chambers, Lord Raik. We have always used the solar for bathing."
Raik's eyes narrowed but he did not look at her. He fixed his gaze on Freki.
"Maud. The screen propped against the wall gives far more privacy when put to use. See to it."
Freki's guttural snarls became even more menacing as he advanced another paw toward the towering man in armor. Raik stood his ground.
"Lady?" Maud whispered. "Do ye not think it best to call off the beast?"
Letia knew she should. She did not. It gave her too much satisfaction to see the man held at bay. Besides, as both man and beast advanced on each other, she was not certain which one had control.
Raik's gaze locked on the huge black beast, but from the corner of his eye, he noted the lady held the sopping cloth over her naked breasts with one hand while gesturing frantically with the other for Maud to hurry with the screen. Her motions caused the cloth to slip and near bared her left breast to his gaze.
And to the three men behind him.
He scowled and glanced to see Cormac, Leofwan and Edmund dutifully stared at the floor. It was near his undoing. In that wee matter of time, he near missed seeing the dog's intent.
Freki, his mouth slavering, leaped.
The beast's teeth slashed out at Raik's throat.
Raik threw up his left forearm to protect his neck from Freki's snapping teeth. The dog latched on to his mailed wrist, holding tight. He snarled and shook Raik's captured arm like a big bone tossed to him to savage. Raik right arm struck the dog's chest under its forelegs. Grunting and using all his strength, Raik heaved the beast backward. The two crashed to the floor, the noise resounding off the stone walls.
Raik rolled, straddled the dog's torso and gripped it with his knees. He slammed his right arm on the dog's neck to pin its head to the floor.
The men's feet came close, tensed and ready to spring should he need aid.
The dog's nails scraped his chain mail. He growled back with his own bestial sounds, keeping the dog pinned while he stared into the yellow eyes. Freki, unlike most dogs, held his gaze and did not look away. Raik increased pressure on the dog's neck until the massive jaws opened and released his arm.
Letia cried out, no doubt fearing he would kill the dog.
"Nay, lady. Lord Raik will not hurt yer little pet." A chuckle rumbled through Cormac's voice. "He is showing him who the fiercest beast here is."
Raik ignored them as he stared into the dog's eyes forcing it to make contact; challenging and showing it he was not afeared. He lessened the pressure holding the dog down. Leaning forward, his nose near touched the dog's snout. His hand flew up and fiercely clamped the flesh aside the dog's neck, imitating the bite of a larger dog than Freki.
"Ssst! Ssst!"
Raik kept repeating the threatening sounds, lowering his tone until it was little more than a soft breath coming from his lips.
Freki's ears twitched. He whined, low, then calmed. The yellow eyes softened.
Raik released his fingers and eased his forearm from the dog. Slowly, he came to his feet. Freki lolled on his back, his neck and belly unprotected for a few heartbeats, before he shook his head, flipped on his side and heaved up, looking confused.
"Go to yer mistress." Raik pointed to the screen.
Freki swung his head to give a warning glare to the other men. After a few grumbling sounds, he sought out Letia.
"Lady, we will wait in the hall for the count of sixty. Return to yer chamber and clothe yerself to go afore yer people. 'Tis near sundown."
He strode over to the cradle and crouched down to peer at the sleeping bairn. Such a soft wee bundle. Silky black hair stuck straight up on the bairn's head. His little rosebud mouth worked as if he sucked still. Raik reached out to caress the tiny cheek with the back of his fingers.
"Do not!" Letia burst from behind the screen clutching a green robe tight to her chest.
Raik ignored her and continued to marvel on the softness of this
tiny boy.
"By what name is he called?"
"Aubrey. After my father." She edged forward, looking ready to spring at him if need be.
"'Tis a fitting name. He will be proud of it."
He snapped his legs straight and studied her. Little did she resemble the elegant Lady Letia who visited Raptor and Hunter Castles. Nor did she resemble the heedless spitfire who dared send arrows streaking from the battlements. Nay, her hair straggled wet and dripping over her ears, soaking her robe. Her eyes were not fierce but filled with fear as she tried to slip between him and the cradle.
Good. She would do anything to protect her young. He might have need to use that weakness. He nodded and gave a curt reminder.
"Dinna forget. To the count of sixty."
Freki padded over to stand beside her. His lips started to quiver into a snarl.
"Ssst!" Raik pointed a demanding finger at Freki's nose.
The big, black jaws clamped together. Satisfied, Raik nodded again and left the room. The men followed.
Letia did not miss how Raik nodded at the dog—and at her. Why, the man thought he controlled them both. She huffed in disgust then shivered in turn.
Such fear had coursed through her when he stared at Aubrey's face. And hair. Had he sensed 'twas his son? She gathered her sleeping babe to her breast and held him tight.
"Come, lady." Maud grabbed the cradle and hustled toward the bedchamber. "Best we get on the other side of that door afore he returns. Humpf. He would likely strip naked in front of us and think naught about it."
"He would think, all right. But it would be that we relished the sight of him."
"Well, now. I would not close my eyes, mind you. 'Tis not oft I have the pleasure to see a proud tarse."
Letia did not care to chance such an event. "Saints, Maud. How could you think that?"
"I am not in my grave, Letia." She grinned. "Uh huh, even at rest, that one's sex stirred fond memories of my youth."
Letia shook her head and tucked Aubrey in his warm bed, then sat on a low stool to towel-dry her hair. Maud combed out the tangles and brushed it to fall in dark curly waves down her back.
Neither spoke. Both were aware of the men in the connecting room. Each time Raik spoke, Freki made low, warning noises. Hearing his squire removing his armor, and knowing his clothing soon followed, Letia blushed. What she had seen of him when she sewed his wounds, and what she had felt of him in the dark, flashed in her mind.
Strange, though, that it was his unseen back she pictured. His broad shoulders would taper to lean, taut buttocks and muscled legs sprinkled with dark, manly hair. When she heard a splash as one foot entered the tub, she knew he straddled it. Her face heated. She pictured the heavy ballocks she had caressed swinging between his thighs,
'Twas a good thing Maud was combing her hair, for if she saw Letia's face, she would believe her beset by fevers.
"...no need. This cloth will do well enough." Raik's voice.
He had declined to wait for a servant to bring a fresh bathing cloth? The same cloth that she had intimately rubbed over her body was now doing the same on his. Letia swallowed.
The men's voices blended, but bits of sentences were clear.
"...dislike the haste." Raik's voice again.
"...a battle on yer hands, if ye...afore the evening meal..." A chuckle sounded in the man's voice. Surely, that was the pleasant one called Cormac who escorted her to the room.
Bits of laughter followed like men do when they tease another's temper. A loud splash, as if Raik had surged up from the tub, caused Freki to snarl and bark. It reminded the men the women could hear them, for they lowered their voices.
She shrugged and studied the clothing spread out on the bed. A froth of pale yellow turned out to be a long-sleeved, sheer smock beside a deep green kirtle with wide, flowing sleeves, their openings higher in front than in back. Thin gold braids lacing through the bodice held the kirtle near closed.
"Not that one, Maud. The tan smock and brown kirtle will do..." she started to object.
"Tsk!" Maud shook her head. "Nay. Did you not see the king's men with Lord Raik? They will note even the least resistance to his orders. As it is, the king will not be pleased when he learns you emptied a quiver of arrows at the man he made Baron of Seton. Best not provoke him further. "
Letia's teeth clenched and her body tensed as hard as stone. Were she a man, she would find relief on the practice field. Swinging a spiked flail at the end of a chain attached to a wooden shaft released frustration, while the clang and thuds of it striking a shield proved satisfying.
Maud shook her head and made soft, soothing sounds with her tongue.
"You fret aforehand, lovey. Wait till you learn his plans and what he expects of you."
Letia held up her arms for Maud to slip the yellow smock over them. 'Twas so sheer it leant a golden haze to the room as it slid over her head.
"He finds me unsuitable as a woman," she muttered.
She twitched her shoulders and arms, helping the long sleeves to reach her wrists and the skirts to sliver down over her body. Its softness whispering over her flesh awakening a sensual pleasure.
"Aye. Perchance he does. But his eyes seem drawn to linger. He searches for the woman beneath the armor."
Letia wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
"Mayhap he convinced the king he could protect Seton for him as its baron in name only?" Her words, muffled by the heavier green kirtle falling over her head, were hopeful.
Maud plucked at the yellow smock beneath, arranging it at the opening between Letia's breasts and the sleeves.
"This new baron does not strike me as being content with half measures!"
She started lacing the gold braid across Letia's chest.
Letia's brows arched when she looked down. When she had worn it last, there was but three-finger's width between the two sides. Now there was a handbreadth opening revealing gleaming flesh beneath the filmy yellow. She tugged at the braid trying to narrow the gap showing there.
"Leave off. Your body is fuller now." Maud batted Letia's hands away and finished lacing the bodice.
The closer she came to being ready to go below, the faster her heart pounded. What did Raik expect of her today? His curt orders for her to dress to appear before her people did not tell her of his plans. What if he meant to make an example of her for her defiance? After she had denied him entrance to the castle, he had the right. She could imagine feeling him gripping her elbow with his mailed fist, could hear his cold voice denouncing her as a traitor.
How could she have been so heedless of consequences? Had he not been skillful at deflecting her arrows, she could have injured him.
Killed him.
Had she done so, she would be in the dungeon now and her dear little babe would be at another's breasts. What would have happened to him? She pressed her hand over her lip to stifle a cry.
Maud, about to wrap an elegant gold chain around Letia's hips, stepped back to study her face.
"Are you ill?"
"Nay."
"For truth? If you have need to spew, best to get it over with. No? Then stop gurgling and hold still."
She brought the heavy chain around Letia's waist and tied it so it draped low on her hips, its shimmering ends dangling just short of her soft leather shoes peeking beneath her skirts.
Letia's fear had drawn all her attention and she had failed to note the solar was now quiet. She gave a startled gasp hearing a sharp rap at the door.
"My Lady?"
Leofwan's voice. She sighed with relief and motioned for Maud to open for him. When he entered, his stern gaze and tense shoulders told her he was still vexed that she had allowed her anger to override her promise to Warin.
"Lord Raik asked we escort you and Seton's heir."
"Aubrey sleeps..."
Letia got no further when Cormac cleared his voice and stepped from behind Leofwan.
"The baron thought mayhap ye would still be, um, angered. I
f ye do not wish yer woman to carry the lad, I would be honored." He walked with slow, deliberate steps over to the cradle, giving her the chance to obey Raik's command.
"Nay." Letia reached the cradle afore Cormac. "You will wake him." She eased the babe up to lay in her arms, thankful she had swaddled him in his warm blankets.
She felt like a prisoner being led to a sentencing, for as they left the room, she found four guards waiting to escort them. Two went ahead, followed by Leofwan. Cormac supported her elbow as they descended the stairs, with Maud and the last two men trailing behind. When they reached the bottom, she nodded her thanks for his steadying support. Strangely, the great hall was not their destination.
Cormac sensed her question and smiled down at her.
"Seton's people have gathered in the bailey and are awaiting you."
Letia's held breath expelled in a slow stream. The last time she had stood in front of the keep's doors with the people below, 'twas to tell them their baron had passed. Her scalp crept now, wondering what Raik would require her to say.
When she came out into the open, she would have thought a celebration about to take place, for not only was Sybilla, her niece and Warin's sister-by-law there, but everyone living in the keep awaited them on the landing. On each step leading up to the entrance, a king's escort stood on either side. Their vivid clothing reminded her of the way Sybilla chose to outline her gardens with the most brilliant flowers planted on the outer edges. Below in the bailey, warriors mingled with castle folk. Even the Black Raptor's men outside the walls had come within.
One man, taller than the others, stood on the landing, his back to her.
Raik.
Remembering the wicked vision of his naked back near made her stumble over her feet.
He turned, garbed in a shirt that rivaled the sun. Over it, a brilliant, red sleeveless tunic flowed to the top of his black boots. A large gold pin held an elaborate red cape lined with yellow silk around his neck. He flung the right side over his shoulder in an impatient gesture as he turned. A gryphon embroidered with gold threads dressed the tunic's front. Light flashed on the lustrous red stone of the bird's eye, making it appear to blink its disapproval of her.
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