It was a bit surreal, actually. As Emilie sat precariously close to the red-hot brazier, she watched David as three squires moved around him, dressing him. It all started with the hose and a padded under tunic, followed by a series of mailed pieces that were fastened on with leather straps and buckles. One squire was charged with the legs, one with the torso, and the third, a very tall young man who seemed to be quite competent, with the head and shoulders and weaponry. They moved in an efficient bunch as David stood there and held his arms out, assisting the boys when required, but he mostly let them work. They seemed to know what they were doing.
Emilie had lived in castles her entire life, with military capabilities, but she’d never been this close to a knight who was dressing. It was very interesting to watch, and very intimate. Somehow, she felt closer to David than even when she’d given him her favor. She was seeing the man on an entirely different level now, in his natural state, preparing for war. In this case, even though it was a competition, she knew that it would be a battle.
This day had shown her that there was a fine line between an enemy and an ally, and even men under the guise of pleasantries were not to be trusted. She’d learned that all too quickly. All was not as it seemed in the upper hierarchy of the royal court. As David and his squires worked, a soldier came into the tent to bring her hot wine, which she accepted gratefully.
“I am sorry I do not have much more to offer by way of comfort,” David said when he noticed the soldier hand her the hot wine. “I had to have my men hold that cup over the fire to warm the wine so it is likely to be quite hot.”
Emilie grinned as she held the pewter cup with the blanket. “I have quickly learned that,” she said. “I am very grateful for your hospitality, my lord.”
David gave her a half-smile, his gaze lingering on her blonde head as she sipped at the liquid. He hadn’t spoken to her much since he’d brought her back, mostly because he assumed she was too distraught to speak, but her state of mind seemed improved as she gingerly slurped the wine. He thought it might be a good time to find out what, exactly, had happened.
“It is my pleasure,” he said. He hesitated a moment before continuing. “Do you feel strong enough to tell me what happened with the sheriff? I should probably know since I am risking my life to protect you from him. Tell me of the wonderfully terrible thing you did to him that made him chase you into hiding.”
He was smiling as he said it and Emilie laughed softly; it wasn’t as if there was really much to laugh about but David’s attempt at humor made her feel better about it, as if it wasn’t as seriously and horrible as she thought it was. She knew the man would protect her until the death and that thought alone made her feel braver.
It also made her like him even that much more, a feeling that had, long ago, passed from something simple into something that was far more of a deep infatuation. Coming to her aid as he had and carrying her off to safety had somewhat marked the man for life as a hero in her eyes.
A hero she was coming to very much long for.
“It all happened rather fast,” she said, thinking back. “Nathalie and I went to the food vendors to find something to eat.”
“Nathalie?”
“My sister.”
“I see. Continue, please.”
She did. “As we were standing in front of a vendor who sold some kind of meat pie, a soldier addressed me,” she said. “When I turned around, there were several soldiers standing behind me and a man who introduced himself as the Sheriff of Nottingham. He told me that the prince wanted to meet with me privately and when I declined, he grabbed me and tried to force me to go with him. I panicked, hit him, and ran away. And that is really all there is to it.”
David’s features were grim by the time she was finished. He sighed heavily. “You are not the first young woman he has done that to,” he said. “But I would wager to say you are one of the very few that had the sense to fight back. I applaud you, my lady. You show remarkable bravery.”
Emilie lifted her eyebrows. “I am not sure I see it that way,” she said. “All I know was that I was frightened and I remembered what you said about him. I could not let him take me, my lord. I could not make it that easy for him.”
David was looking at her until the big squire had him bend over so he could put the hauberk on his head and shoulders. David’s voice was muffled as the mail went over his face. “You did exactly what you were supposed to do,” he said. “Fitz Walter does not like to be denied. His only issue with you is a damaged ego and nothing more. But from this point on, you must remain with me or your father or another trusted man who can bear arms and protect you. I fear that the sheriff might see the capture of you as a game now, one he intends to win. The hunter does not usually let his prey go so easily.”
Emilie’s pale face tightened in alarm. “He views me as prey now?”
David stood up as the big squire straightened out his mail hood. “More than likely,” he said. “But have no fear; I will change his mind.”
She smiled at him, something of a besotted gesture. “Thank you, my lord,” she said. “Since you and I have met, you have gone out of your way to protect me. You will never know how grateful I am.”
Something warm was in the air, something that made David’s heart race. Emilie seemed to have that capability with him and he was both annoyed by it and thrilled by it. He didn’t like it that a woman should make him feel as giddy as Emilie had made him feel, but the more time he spent with her, the more he was coming to not particularly mind that special power she had over him. If he was honest with himself, he really didn’t mind it at all. All he knew was that something about the woman affected him and it was difficult to fight it. He wasn’t sure he should try.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to try.
Fully dressed, he sent the squires out to help the other men prepare and to gather the clubs they were intending to use in the mass competition. But he mostly sent the boys away to get them out of the tent so he could be alone with Emilie. It was true that she was without clothing under the bundle of blankets covering her and it was further true that, even if she had been dressed, being with a woman who wasn’t properly escorted was scandalous, David didn’t care about scandal at the moment. He simply wanted to steal a few moments with her before the mass competition.
“I can appreciate how grateful you are,” he said as the boys fled the tent. “You must, of course, realize how grateful I am that you gave me your favor. It has brought me much luck. Since you are my favored lady, it is my duty to protect you but I would say that it is also the reason Ralph came after you. He must have seen you give me your favor in the lists. He sought to get to me through you.”
Emilie was looking at him quite seriously. “But why should he do that?” she wanted to know. “It is not as if we are married or betrothed. It was simply a favor given to you. How could he think that meant that I somehow matter to you?”
Because you do. He stopped himself from saying it even though he was thinking it. Instead, he shrugged. “Fitz Walter would kidnap my horse if he thought he could get to me,” he said. “As I told you before, he is a hunter. He has been hunting de Lohrs, along with the prince, for quite some time. I am sorry you became caught up in his pursuit. Had I known he would try and hurt you, I would have never accepted your favor. I would have never knowingly put you in harm’s way.”
Emilie pondered his words. “The moment you accepted my favor was the proudest moment of my life,” she said, a warm glimmer in her eye. “You would have denied me such pride?”
David found himself sucked into those lovely brown eyes. “If it meant putting your life in danger, I would have,” he said honestly. “But surely you would have known that, in my heart, you still would have been my favored lady.”
It was such a sweet thing to say, exactly what she had been wanting to hear from him since nearly the moment they met. Her heart, that wildly fluttering thing, threatened to burst from her chest.
“Am I, my lord?�
� she whispered. “Am I truly?”
David could hardly answer; he was being drawn towards her, invisible fingers grasping hold of him and pulling him towards her as if he had no way of resisting. He had no strength against whatever magic she possessed and he found himself moving towards her. Her lips were in his line of sight; he wanted to kiss her, perhaps more badly than he’d ever wanted to do anything in his life. The world around him seemed to fade away as he drew closer and closer still.
“Aye,” he finally muttered. “You are.”
He was preparing to take a knee beside her with the intention of pulling her into his arms, blankets and all. All he could see or think or feel was her. But his focus was fractured when the tent flap flew back and men were entering his tent. He heard Lyle’s booming voice.
“Did you know they are waving your clothes in the air outside for all to see?” he said to Emilie. “Men are waving your… your underthings as if to display them for the entire world!”
Emilie, who had been as upswept in David as he had been in her, was startled by her father’s appearance and his loud tone. She held the blankets up around her neck to cover up whatever flesh may have been exposed.
“They are drying them, Papa,” she insisted. “I was hiding in the creek until Sir David found me. He is having his men dry my clothing. And this is how you thank him? By barging into his tent, uninvited, and shouting? I am ashamed of you.”
Lyle, who was fully prepared to berate both his daughter and David, faltered in his anger. Emilie’s reasons behind her clothing being waved about like banners now made some sense. He turned to look at Brickley, who had entered the tent behind him, but Brickley was looking at Emilie, seated next to the brazier, swaddled in woolen blankets. He pointed.
“So you wear nothing beneath those coverlets?” he demanded, looking to David, horrified. “She is without clothing?”
Emilie could see where this was leading and she quickly intervened. “Must I repeat this for you, Brickley?” she said angrily. “I was forced to hide in the creek so the sheriff’s men would not find me. Sir David found me and brought me back here to safety. I took off my wet clothing, in private, and Sir David’s men are drying them so that I may have something to wear and not die from the damp. If you think Sir David has brought me back to his tent to… to take advantage of me in this state, then you have a filthy mind and an even worse opinion of me. Do you truly believe I would let him do such a thing?”
She was shouting by the time she was finished, which was something she never did. Emilie had a very cool manner about her most of the time. Lyle and Brickley were looking at her with some uncertainty, perhaps some chagrin. Brickley was the first one to surrender, and he did it quickly. He could see how upset she was.
“Nay, I do not believe you would let him do such a thing,” he assured her. “Forgive me, my lady; it has been an upsetting day for us all. I did not mean to accuse you of anything but you must admit that it does not look… proper from my perspective.”
Lyle, who was starting to feel quite foolish in his behavior, put up a hand to still any retort coming from his daughter because now they were all very close to appearing like ungrateful idiots in front of David. His focus moved to the man.
“Apologies, David,” he said. “As you can see, we are all rattled by the events of the day. One of your men found us up by the castle and we have run all the way from the northern end from the town to see that Emilie is alive and well. I know you would never do anything improper with her. Forgive us for suggesting it.”
David was perfectly willing to let Lyle and Brickley make arses out of themselves in front of Emilie, mostly because he had indeed been about to kiss the woman, which would have been very improper. Both Lyle and Brickley weren’t too terribly wrong on their assessment of what his intentions were but he would never admit it. Instead, he was content to let them look like fools. Better them look like fools than him looking like a rake. So he pretended to be very forgiving.
“No need for apologies,” he said. “As you can see, she is well but she is very cold. I found her tucked up underneath the stone bridge to the south and she was quite wet. She has been sitting here by the brazier as my squires dressed me for the coming competition. Lady Emilie and I have been having a pleasant conversation.”
Lyle, once again drawn to his found daughter, went to her and fell to his knees, drawing her into a snug embrace. “Em,” he murmured, kissing the side of her head. “I am so sorry you have had to suffer through this. But what happened, my love? Why did you run away?”
Emilie hugged her father, trying to keep her blankets up around her neck as she did so to preserve her modesty. “As I told Sir David,” she said, “the Sheriff of Nottingham found Nathalie and me near the food vendors. He tried to take me to the prince and when I refused, he tried to force me. I hit him and ran away.”
Lyle glanced at David, his expression rather ominous. “Did he say why he would take you to the prince?” he asked. “Did he say anything at all?”
Emilie nodded. “He said that the prince wanted to meet me,” she replied. “When I told him that I would wait for my father and we should both like to meet the prince, the sheriff made it very clear that you were not invited, Papa. He only wanted to see me. The way he said it… it was clear that he meant it improperly. It frightened me.”
Lyle sighed faintly as he came to grips with what his daughter had been through. “You are certain of this?” he asked. “There can be no doubt?”
Emilie shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “Ask the soldier who was with me if you do not believe me. They hit him on the head when they tried to take me. I believe the soldier was Henley.”
Lyle was deeply unhappy, growing unhappier by the moment. “It was,” he said. “He has already told us what happened, or at least what he remembered, and it is nearly what you have told me. A frightful, terrible event, I must say.”
Emilie was watching her father’s serious features as he mulled over a second attack on his eldest daughter in as many days. “It was just like last night, Papa, when those men who attacked us tried to take me away,” she said. “This is twice that men have tried to take me to the prince and twice that Sir David has rescued me. We owe him all of the gratitude in the world for his selflessness.”
Both Lyle and Brickley turned to look at David with various expressions on their faces; Lyle with thanks and Brickley with jealousy. The man was positively seething with it. David cleared his throat softly.
“As I told the lady, I am happy to be of service,” he said, looking at Lyle and ignoring Brickley. “But it is very clear that she must not be out of my company. No offense to Canterbury, but it is clear the lady needs all of the protection the House of de Lohr can provide. We have more men with us and are better able to protect her. Moreover, John and Ralph will think twice before attacking her again if she is in my custody. I fear they would not think twice if she remained with you and Brick.”
Brickley snorted. “You think me incapable of protecting her?” he demanded. “I find that extremely offensive, de Lohr.”
So now the man was resorting to calling David by his last name. When they were friendly, he had called him David. Now that the situation was turning, and Emilie was becoming a bone of contention between them, Brickley was removing that shield of friendliness and resorting to a more impersonal form of address.
David could feel the tension between them but it didn’t bother him in the least; in fact, he was comfortable with it. He had determined he was unhappy with Brickley’s intentions towards Emilie so if Brickley wanted to draw that line between them now, a line in the form of Emilie Hampton, then David was more than ready to stand toe to toe with him on that line.
He wasn’t about to back down.
“I never said you were incapable of protecting her,” David said, facing Brickley as if daring the man to throw a punch. “I simply said that the House of de Lohr has more men and is therefore more capable of protecting her. Clean your ears out, de D
ere, and hear what I am saying. If I was going to insult you, I would do it to your face. I do not hide behind sly comments.”
Lyle was suddenly coming to realize that there was a good deal of hostility between David and Brickley. He’d spent the day with Brickley and the man never gave any indication that there was any animosity between him and de Lohr, so to see the two big knights posturing aggressively towards each other was something of a shock.
But it didn’t surprise him, to be truthful. He knew of Brickley’s want for Emilie and it was understandable that the man should be hostile towards David, who carried Emilie’s favor. Lyle felt foolish for not seeing the signs of that jealousy before now. Quickly, he released Emilie and stood up, putting himself between the two knights before a battle started.
“Brick, please,” he hissed at his knight, turning to David. “We are all still upset, David. Brick has been running like a madman all about the town and is quite exhausted. He does not mean what he is saying.”
Emilie, who was also seeing the hostility for the first time, rose to her feet, keeping the wool blankets tightly pulled around her. Shocked, she frowned at Brickley.
“By what right do you speak to Sir David like that?” she asked. “It was very unkind of you, Brick. You will apologize to him this instant.”
Brickley’s jaw ticked as he fixed on Emilie. He was struggling with his temper as he scratched his head. “I am sorry if I offended you, my lady,” he said calmly. “That was not my intent.”
Emilie’s eyes widened and she pointed at David. “That was not an apology to Sir David,” she said. “Apologize now or I shall never speak to you again.”
The de Lohr Dynasty Page 122
