by Jody Hedlund
“No,” Olivia protested as Darien reached for Lady Isabelle. “She will share my mount.”
“That won’t be possible, my lady.” I closed the gap between myself and Olivia. “Since you will be riding with me.” Before she could figure out her next move, I encircled her waist with my hands. In one rapid move, I lifted her upward onto my waiting horse, giving her no choice but to grab onto the pommel.
Immediately I swung up behind her.
In spite of her long skirt and chemise tangling in her legs, she did her best to scramble down the other side of the horse away from me. But I wound my arm around her middle and held her firmly in the saddle, which wasn’t roomy enough to hold both of us without squeezing us tightly together.
“I insist that you put me down at once,” she said even as she struggled to twist out of my grip.
Conscious of our audience, I maintained my composure. “My lady, since your own horse has given you such trouble and has wearied you, I am certain you will find this new arrangement more to your liking.”
“You are entirely wrong, sir.” She attempted to pry my gloved hand loose from her hip.
I clicked my tongue and my horse lurched forward, forcing Olivia into my chest. I used the opportunity to pin her even tighter, giving her no room at all to wiggle away.
She stiffened and gave an unladylike huff. But I only urged my mount to a trot. I could sense she had too much pride to thrash and claw at my hold, though her rigid posture told me she clearly wanted to fight her way free.
As I resumed my place at the front of my men, her fingers wrapped around mine, attempting to pry my hold loose. She dug her nails into my arm where my mail and gloves met.
Of course, I didn’t budge. She could endeavor to free herself and hurt me all she wanted, but I wouldn’t relent. She’d learn it soon enough.
After some time, she stilled. Although she didn’t speak, her loathing was evident in every hard muscle. We rode in silence, which was fine with me. I had no desire to spar words. My job was simply to deliver her to Pitt unharmed, and I’d do it even if I had to make her ride on my horse with me the rest of the way.
As the hour passed, her body gradually relaxed. Although I didn’t let my guard down, it was clear she was tired and couldn’t stay angry forever. When she finally allowed her head to rest against my chest, I chanced a glance down to see her long lashes fall to her pale cheeks. She was struggling to stay awake.
Perhaps sensing my glance, her eyes flew open. She cast me a sideways look. I stared straight ahead and pretended I hadn’t noticed her. Next time I looked, her eyes were closed again. And this time they didn’t open.
While she slept, I gave in to the temptation to study her profile, noting as I had when I’d yanked off her helmet just how beautiful she was. Her features were elegant, her skin like fine rare pearls, and her red hair thick and lustrous.
In slumber, her perpetual glare and scowl had softened, and I felt almost sorry for her. She hadn’t asked for all this—being captured, forced to leave her home, and made to ride long hours in the summer heat. Even though I was frustrated by all the trouble she’d caused me during our journey, I couldn’t blame her for trying to free herself and her sister whose freedom she clearly cared about more than her own.
She was only doing what I would have if our roles had been reversed.
Nevertheless, I must fulfill my duty to Pitt and the king. They needed to bring the Earl of Ulster into submission, and apparently holding his daughters ransom was the way they planned to do it.
When twilight began to fall, I pushed the troops onward, even though my stomach ached with the pangs of hunger. I sensed when Olivia awoke by the sudden stiffening in her body, as though she’d forgotten where she was while she slept and had just remembered.
For a time, she attempted to hold herself aloof. But eventually, as earlier, she succumbed to the ease of leaning against my chest and resting in my hold. Although I’d loosened my grip, I kept one arm firmly locked around her middle while guiding the horse with my other. And while we were squeezed tightly into the saddle, I didn’t feel cramped, especially when she melded into me and simply rode with the motion of the horse.
We traveled late, until we finally reached a wellspring where our horses could be replenished. We hadn’t gone as far as I’d originally planned, but I’d pushed as hard as I could for the day.
When I assisted Olivia from the horse, she swayed, unsteady on her feet. I rapidly reached for her, my hands going to her waist.
However, the moment I touched her, she recoiled as if I’d bitten her, as if the past several hours of our close proximity had never occurred, as if I hadn’t just been holding her against my chest with my arms wrapped around her.
She started to stagger away from me. But I’d learned enough about her to realize she would try to escape again the first chance she had, and that the only way to stop her from running away was to keep her at my side.
I snagged her arm before she could go far.
“What?” she asked, all traces of slumber gone from her face, replaced with sharp alertness. “Will you prevent me a moment of privacy even now?”
I knew I needed to command one of my men to take over guarding her. Other matters needed my attention, and someone else could play nursemaid to this young woman. Nevertheless, the thought of handing her over to my men sent a strange patter of trepidation through me.
She’d proven to be too difficult for them. If I released her, she’d only cause more trouble, perhaps burn down the camp or take someone hostage or worse. My thoughts returned to the knife she’d plunged into Perceval last night. Even if the wound wasn’t deep or serious, and he was none the worse for it, I had no doubt she’d do it again if she got her hands on a weapon of any kind.
“You surely do not intend to chain me to your person.” Her voice was laced with irritation.
“As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I was planning.” I hadn’t considered it, but something in her tone stoked my own ire. Perhaps the greatest way to annoy her in return was to make her do the thing she loathed the most—spend time with me.
“Since you are quite determined to make trouble for me any way you can conceive, you’ve given me no choice but to keep you by my side at all times.”
Around us, with torches now lit, my men had begun setting up camp, attending to the various duties I’d assigned to them at the outset of the campaign. Some would see to the horses, others would stand guard, and still others would oversee and assist the servants in preparing the evening meal.
Sir Darien approached with Lady Isabelle. He led her carefully as though she might break at any moment. Although Isabelle was wrinkled and dusty with travel, she smiled sweetly at Darien and complied with his directives. She behaved as a noblewoman should—docilely, kindly, and gratefully.
Unlike Olivia.
I leveled a censuring glare at the strong-willed woman, hoping she could read my admonition to act more like her younger sister.
“There you are, my lady,” Darien said stopping in front of Olivia. At Olivia’s slicing glare, he released Isabelle’s arm and stepped away from her.
“I thank you, sir,” Isabelle said demurely. “You have been most kind.”
Darien bowed his head, the silver links of his mail hood glistening against the torchlight. Even as he lowered his head, he couldn’t hide his admiration for the young noblewoman. While Isabelle lacked Olivia’s sharp, stunning beauty, she was still pretty in a soft, luminous way.
Seeing Darien’s infatuation, Olivia’s scowl deepened. He was a good-looking young man, and at eighteen years he was the youngest in the group, having recently been knighted for his brave deeds. He’d lived with Pitt for many years as a page and squire long before my arrival. He was from a wealthy family in the north, a second son, without inheritance, who would someday need to make his own fortune.
For now, however, I could give him a small measure of enjoyment and at the same time irk Olivia further.
“Sir Darien, you will guard Lady Isabelle the rest of the trip,” I said without swerving my attention from Olivia’s face.
She sucked in a breath and swung icy eyes upon me. “She has no need of a guard.”
“Perhaps not quite as much as you, my lady.” I held in a satisfied smile. “But Sir Darien will keep your sister company since she’ll no longer have the pleasure of being with you.”
Darien’s head had snapped up, and he looked between Olivia and me, confusion in his guileless eyes.
“I shall not allow it.” Olivia jerked her arm, trying to break free of my grasp, but I didn’t relent.
“Sir Darien, before you assist Lady Isabelle to her tent, you must do one thing.”
“Yes, Captain?” He cast a sideways glance at Isabelle, his face alight with the excitement of his new duty.
“Find a chain and bind Lady Olivia to me.”
Chapter
5
I couldn’t roll without the chain clinking. Therefore, I lay on my back on the bedroll Sir Aldric had placed next to his. The ground was too hard and lumpy, and I hadn’t been able to get comfortable since lying down.
The camp was silent except for the crackle of the fire and the raspy croaking of toads near the watering hole. The darkness of the sky overhead was broken only by thin wispy clouds that shrouded the moon, parting now and then to allow a glow to fall over the camp.
Sir Aldric’s breathing was heavy and even—the sign that he’d succumbed to his exhaustion.
I peered again at him sideways, to the place where my chain bound me to him. The clamp was locked securely around his bicep as surely as mine was locked around my wrist. I’d already attempted slipping the clamp off over my hand. But it was on tight—not enough to chaff my skin, but certainly not comfortable.
I had no idea where the key was. Even if I’d known, I wouldn’t be able to get to it, not without knocking Sir Aldric out and dragging him with me. But he’d left me no opportunity to do so, clearing away anything I might use as a weapon, even sticks and rocks. After my attempt at picking the lock, he’d even confiscated my hairpins, so that I was forced to braid my hair and use a leather strap to confine it.
Sir Aldric had finally wised up and stopped trusting me. Even so, he’d still done his best to offer me every courtesy a lady deserved. I had to give him credit for that. Although he was making me sleep outside tonight, rather than in the tent with Isabelle, he’d provided a spot away from his men and yet close to the fire.
I let my sights travel from his bicep to his broad shoulder to his neck and then to his jaw and chin and nose. Although the nick I’d given him last night wasn’t deep, guilt twisted at my stomach for having lashed out at him. I should have known I’d be no match against so strong a man. Even in sleep, he held himself rigid, his strength evident in every tense muscle. Fully clothed and still in chain mail, he had only a blanket tucked under his head for comfort.
As before, I was struck by his strong, handsome features as well as how young he was for a captain. How had he gained such a position? Where was he from? And had he left a wife behind somewhere? He was surely of an age where his parents had formed an advantageous match for him.
“You must like what you see, my lady,” came his low whisper.
The comment startled me, and my attention darted to the gauzy clouds in front of the moon. If I’d been a blushing woman, my cheeks would have been red. But thankfully, I’d mastered the ability to remain composed. “I was only plotting how I might slit your throat.”
He rolled on to his back and crossed his arms over his chest, clanking the chain and pulling it taut. “You may admit your attraction. I won’t hold it against you.”
My annoyance flared as quickly as a flame fanned by bellows—more annoyance at myself than him for being caught staring. “You think too highly of yourself.”
“I wasn’t the one staring for the past hour.”
“I have not stared for an hour.” I hadn’t stared for such lengths, had I? But even as I voiced my denial, I knew I was guilty of letting my sights drift to his face too often.
His response was a slight curve in his lips, the beginning of a grin. The first I’d seen from him. I was chagrinned to realize the upturn only added to his charm and made me want to stare at him again.
I silently berated myself. “You surely have a wife or betrothed to feed your inflated pride and have no need of further flattery.”
As quickly as his smile came, it vanished. In its place was the haunted sadness I’d noticed the first time I’d seen his face.
“My wife is dead.” His low tone told me more than any words could—that he’d loved deeply and hadn’t recovered from his loss.
From the tight clamp of his lips and the twitch in his jaw, I sensed this was the end of our conversation—if it could even be called a conversation. Up to this point, we hadn’t spoken to each other more than absolutely necessary, or at least that had been my policy during the few times he’d attempted to talk.
But for a reason I couldn’t explain, I felt as though I should say something more, that I couldn’t let the issue rest without showing a measure of compassion. He wouldn’t need my condolences or sympathy. As a strong man, he would only loathe such coddling. Instead, he would appreciate the same as I would—bluntness.
“The strongest of us feel pain the deepest.”
He stared unseeingly at the dark night sky.
“I cannot fathom what you went through, but I know I would not want to live if anything happened to my sister.”
He was silent for so long I began to consider that we would speak no more for the night.
“I did try to kill myself,” he finally whispered. “But self-destruction only makes the pain worse, especially for the other people you love.”
His words rang with wisdom borne of sorrow and pain. And I could not stop a seedling of admiration from sprouting.
“What kind of self-destruction?” I forged ahead with my blunt question. I wouldn’t ask him about his wife. That was hallowed ground, and no one deserved to tread there unless invited. But now that he was talking about his regrets, I was curious to know more about this noble captor of mine.
“I drank and gambled until I was in debt to nearly every lord in the southern part of the realm, including Lord Pitt. He gave me the chance to pay off my debts, but I squandered the opportunity. He had no alternative but to attack. The siege cost many lives and almost destroyed my family and home.” Sir Aldric grew quiet as if the memory of the past was too much to bear.
I tried to make sense of everything he’d revealed. “So you are also a prisoner of Lord Pitt? He took you captive when he attacked your home?”
“No. I handed myself over to him and bound myself to his service so I could protect my family as well as repay the debt I owed him twice over.”
I pushed myself up onto one elbow and openly studied this man, seeing him with new eyes. I didn’t know of any nobleman who would subject himself to the humiliation of becoming the bondservant of another nobleman.
“So this,” I motioned to the nearby wagons loaded with the goods he’d taken from my home. “This is how you repay your debt to Lord Pitt?”
“I have already repaid it.” He still stared straight up at the darkness overhead, the muscles in his jaw flexing.
“Then you are free to return to your home?”
“There is no reason for me to return home.”
I was tempted to ask him what had become of his family. But as with probing about his wife, I decided not to go where I had not been invited. Instead I said the only other thing that came to mind. “Do you believe you will only have one chance at love? Or will you make room in your heart eventually for another?”
“I will never make room for anyone else,” he said low and hard. “I don’t deserve another chance.” His guilt and sadness grooved lines in his forehead and at the corners of his eyes, lines I suddenly wished I could smooth out. Surely no matter his past mistakes, he could ma
ke amends and one day live a full and satisfying life again.
Before I could formulate a response, he shifted and I found myself the object of his penetrating gaze. “What about you, my lady? You speak of love. Will you have a love match with Lord Clearwater?”
His mention of Lionel startled me. “How do you know of the possibility of my union with Lord Clearwater?”
“Surely you don’t think I would set out on this mission for Lord Pitt without being fully informed regarding every detail of your father and his family.”
“Why should Lord Pitt take interest in my betrothal to Lord Clearwater?”
“Are you betrothed?” Again his gaze probed deeply.
“Not yet,” I admitted. “But it is imminent.”
“Lionel is a scoundrel like his father.”
I bristled at the accusation. “You have no reason to speak ill of people when you are not acquainted with them.”
“I know them well enough.”
“Clearly you do not—”
“The marquess and other Marcher barons have been seeking an alliance with the Welsh so they can rise up against the king.”
Sir Aldric’s pronouncement silenced the protest on the tip of my tongue. Instead, I watched his face, searching for evidence of truth, but knowing from the heavy weight upon my heart he was not lying. He was giving voice to rumors I’d already heard.
“You believe my father is working with the Marquess of Clearwater to lead a rebellion against the king?”
“I would not hold you or your sister against your will if I didn’t believe it was true.”
From everything I’d learned so far about Sir Aldric, I believed he was a man of honor—one who wouldn’t approve of taking noblewomen into captivity unless for a greater purpose.
Now I understood what that greater purpose was. “By capturing Izzy and me, does Lord Pitt hope to bring my father into an alliance with him instead of the marquess?”
“Lord Pitt is seeking only to protect the king.”
My stomach churned with the implications of everything Sir Aldric had revealed. “What will Lord Pitt require of my father to gain our freedom?”
