by Julia Byrne
* * *
Hugh cradled Annith with one arm, keeping her close to his side, her head resting on his shoulder as she slept. Her lashes were dark silky crescents against her cheeks, her mouth soft, still rosy from his kisses. She looked incredibly small and fragile beside him, yet her delicate body held so much passion. She had embraced desire with such sweet innocence he had all but lost his senses. And when she had studied him, her head on one side, then bent to caress him with her mouth—
His body hardened with a speed that stunned him given the fact that he was completely satiated. On the other hand, he suspected the same reaction would occur whenever he recalled that single moment. For the rest of his life.
Hugh grinned to himself. There were worse fates that could befall a man. And Annith had shown herself more than willing to do something about the matter. Unfortunately, she was in no shape to do anything right now. She needed her sleep. And he needed to plan. They would leave for Gloucester tomorrow, would probably take two days on the road, because he doubted any new bride could sit a horse for over thirty miles, and—
With a sharp cry Annith shot upright and flung herself toward the edge of the bed.
Hugh reacted instantly, lunging after her and hauling her back before she hit the floor. “Annith—”
He stopped, his heart pounding against his ribs, as he realized she was still asleep. But even as he wondered whether to wake her, she gasped, turning like a creature at bay and recoiling from him as far as his grip on her arm would allow. Her eyes were wide, almost black with terror, and her free hand was across her mouth as though trying to stifle sound.
Hugh felt as if he had stepped over the edge of a precipice. For one terrible moment, he thought Annith had remembered her past but forgotten everything of the past few days, including him. Then she blinked, and reached out a trembling hand.
“Hugh?”
“Dear God. Come here, sweetheart.” He pulled her into his arms, holding her as if she might be wrenched from him at any second. She was shaking uncontrollably, but her arms went around him and she held him just as tightly.
“They were going to kill me,” she cried against his shoulder. Her voice was so high and thin the words were almost soundless. “They were going to kill me.”
“’Tis all right, darling. No one can hurt you now. You’re safe.” He kept murmuring the words over and over, not sure if he was trying to calm her or himself. Finally, her grip on him eased a little and he felt her drag in a shuddering breath.
“Who was going to kill you?” he asked, fighting to leash the white-hot fury now roaring through him. It took every ounce of control he possessed, and he didn’t dare let her see his face. He knew murder looked out of his eyes.
“Lord de Beche,” she whispered. “And the others.”
“Others?”
She was still trembling so much the words were barely distinguishable. “His f…friends.”
He closed his eyes briefly. “Do you remember everything?”
“I think so.”
“Can you tell me?”
She nodded, and he reached out to retrieve her shift from the end of the bed. He eased her arms from around him so he could help her into the garment. She hugged it to her, still shivering, as he shoved the pillows against the headboard, but when she realized what he intended, she cried out. “Nay, not here. Not here where we—”
“Sssh.” He cradled her face between his hands. “All right, sweetheart. We’ll sit in the chair.”
When the look of panic left her eyes, he yanked a blanket off the bed, picked her up and carried her over to the chair. He sat down with her on his lap and wrapped the blanket around them both. “Better?” he asked gently.
“Aye.” She nestled closer as he stroked her with his free hand, the warmth of his body beginning to ease her tremors. “I’m sorry.”
“Hush. You have nothing to be sorry for.” He let her sit quietly for a minute, before asking, “How do you know they were going to kill you, sweetheart?”
“I heard them,” she whispered. “Talking about it.”
His hand clenched. “I think you’d better start from the beginning,” he said, carefully relaxing his fingers. “From when you left the priory. According to the Prioress, you reached Gloucestershire safely.”
“Aye.” She paused, as if letting the memories settle into place, before speaking more surely. “’Twas a strange journey.”
“In what way?”
“Everyone was so quiet. When we rode here, your men were talking to each other and jesting, but the men who took me home were silent most of the time. ’Twas as if they were afraid to speak.”
“What of the woman who travelled with you?”
“Ella? She told me she had been hired in Gloucester and knew nothing of my home or Lord de Beche, so ’twas of no use to ask questions.”
“She sounds like a lively travelling companion,” he observed sardonically, and drew a breath of relief when a tiny smile curved her lips.
“She wasn’t, but I was so happy to be going home, I didn’t think much of it. Then we arrived, and…he came out to welcome me.”
“De Beche?”
She nodded and fell silent.
Hugh tipped her face up so he could see her eyes. “Did he frighten you?”
“’Twas not fear so much,” she said slowly. “But I could not like him. There was something…unwholesome about him. He smiled, but his eyes had a different expression, almost avid, like a wild animal. I could barely stand for him to kiss my cheek in greeting. Then the look was gone and I felt ashamed, because he was courteous enough. He took me around my father’s castle, asking how much I remembered. There were new clothes, a palfrey if I wished to ride. He even regretted that his sons were not there to keep me company, but…”
“But,” he prompted.
“It seemed false, as if he was playing a part.” She lowered her head. “That sounds stupid, I know.”
“Nay,” he said, pressing his lips to her hair. “It sounds like an instinctive sense of danger.”
“Oh, you understand,” she said thankfully. She looked up and lifted a hand to his cheek.
He smiled slightly and captured her hand, kissing it then tucking it against his chest. “Anyone who has been in battle would understand, darling. You felt vulnerable, therefore more alert to anything that seemed wrong.”
“Aye, and there were other odd things. I asked if I could go to the chapel to give thanks for our safe journey. He agreed, but said there was no priest for the moment. And there were no women among the servants, or anyone I knew from my childhood. He said he had only opened up the place for my arrival, but that didn’t make sense. ’Tis an important castle between Gloucester and Tewkesbury, and serfs were still working the fields. Someone must have lived there all those years, a steward or bailiff at least. I thought it strange, and he saw the way I looked about, because he suggested that I would be more comfortable eating in my chamber and that Ella should sleep there, also.”
“So, while playing the kind guardian, he was determined to keep you away from anyone who might say something about him. Ella didn’t count. She knew nothing.”
“But I was free to go where I wished within the keep and pleasance. He must have known I would encounter people.”
“If his men-at-arms were silent, sweeting, you may be sure his servants would be likewise. And besides, you’d just spent ten years in a convent. He probably reasoned you wouldn’t be comfortable speaking to strangers, especially men. I wager you hid your doubts behind a veil of shyness. Hell’s teeth, you were even shy with me.”
That earned him another smile. “Fortunately I didn’t encounter him as often as I encountered you. Indeed, those first few days were quite pleasant. I explored all the places I had known as a small child. I even remembered how to get into the secret room, after a few attempts.”
He raised a brow. “There’s a secret room?”
She nodded, becoming more animated. “More than one. I used
to play hide and seek in them with my brother. He was eight years older than me, but would play with me sometimes.” A look of sadness touched her face briefly. “He told me that the original wooden castle burnt down in King John’s time, and the King ordered it to be rebuilt in stone. ’Twas John who commissioned the hidden chambers. One is high up inside one of the walls of the great hall, and has a peephole, like a lepers’ squint, hidden by the banners hanging there. You have to open a small section of the wall in one of the wardrobe chambers to get in, and once inside you can see and hear what is happening below. The other is off the lord’s private solar. They’re linked by a hidden stairway that starts behind the chapel altar. There may even be a peep there, too, but I never found it.”
“A set of spy holes.” His mouth quirked. “Aye, from the tales I’ve heard, that sounds like John. Always fearful that people were plotting against him.”
“Was he? Well, I thank God for it,” she said fervently, “because ’tis how I heard them talking.”
Hugh went very still. “I think you’d better continue,” he said grimly. “What happened next?”
“I asked Lord de Beche about my lands and the people I’d known, but he kept brushing my questions aside. Then a few days later, he told me I need not concern myself with business because he had received permission to marry me from the King. I couldn’t believe it,” she said, her voice rising in remembered incredulity. “Prioress Edith had told me a marriage had been arranged, but he hadn’t mentioned it, so I thought nothing had been settled. ’Twas not just that he was so much older, but that he would have the right to touch me, to kiss me— I felt sick at the thought. And he was watching me as if he knew what I was feeling.”
“Did you refuse him?”
“I was too stunned to say anything. He started smiling, as if my reaction pleased him, and said the wedding would not take place immediately. He was waiting for some friends to arrive, to join the festivities. I was so relieved to have some time that I simply stood there staring at the floor.”
“That pose of meekness was probably the smartest thing you could have done,” he said thoughtfully.
“But inside I was desperate. I had told Prioress Edith that marriage was what I wanted. How could I refuse because I didn’t like the way he looked and couldn’t bear his touch?”
“I think she would have understood, sweetheart.”
“Mayhap. But then the others arrived, and I was instructed to dine with them in the hall that afternoon.” She shivered and her voice dropped to a whisper. “There were three of them, sitting at the high table, just staring at me—so cold and assessing. He introduced me as his betrothed, even though we hadn’t exchanged any such vows, and they smiled just as he had.”
Hugh stroked her hair. “Do you know their names?”
“I suppose he told me, but I was too busy wondering how soon I could leave the hall to bother with names.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he assured her. “Someone will know.” He winced inwardly when he realized he’d spoken as if de Beche might not live long enough to give him the information. He hoped Annith hadn’t noticed. “And then?”
“He ordered that the meal be brought in, but I couldn’t eat anything. He demanded to know why, and I said I had been feeling unwell all day. He acted the concerned guardian then, and told me to rest. I returned to my chamber, determined to ask Ella if she had heard anything, but she wasn’t there, and neither were her clothes.”
He frowned. “Everything was gone?”
“Aye. At first, I thought she’d been moved to another chamber, but one of the servants came to tell me that Ella had been sent back to Gloucester. For some reason that was more frightening than all the rest. I waited until I was sure the servant had gone, then I went to the hidden room to see if I could hear the men talking.”
She said it so calmly, Hugh didn’t think he’d heard aright. When the words finally made sense he had to close his eyes and clamp his teeth together to keep from exploding. It was no use yelling at Annith now for risking discovery instead of fleeing immediately. The time for that was long gone, and the end result was that she’d saved herself.
But in that moment he wished de Beche was standing before him so he could smash his fist into the man’s face before he killed him. The need for violent reprisal was so strong, so overpowering, his entire body was braced for battle.
Annith looked up as though sensing the storm raging within him, and moved so she could kiss the rigid underside of his jaw. And with that gentle caress, drew him back from the brink.
“Tell me the rest,” he said gruffly, holding her closer.
“I had some notion that if I knew when the marriage was to take place at least I could prepare myself. But they had moved to the solar, so I crept down the stairs to the second chamber. ’Twas so dark. I couldn’t use a candle in case they saw a light where there shouldn’t be one. They seemed to be laying down bids, who was going to be second or third or fourth. Then one remarked that the wench didn’t appear eager for the wedding and if she refused to go through with it would they get their money back. That was when I realized they were talking about me.”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
She pressed her face to his shoulder and got the rest out in a breathless rush. “De Beche said if I refused to obey the King there was always marriage by force, which was all the better for them, and after they had taken their turn with me for a night or two there would be no reason to keep me alive. Dead women don’t speak, he said. He would have my lands, he didn’t need more sons. And…and…he asked if they would like to conduct another auction to see who would choose the manner of my death.”
“What!” Hugh drew back so he could see her face. “Holy God! You don’t need to tell me what the first auction was about. I can guess only too well.”
“I didn’t,” she said. “But I understand now. They had bid to see in what order they would force me after he had finished, hadn’t they.”
He nodded. He could do no less than give her the truth, no matter how horrifying.
She gazed up at him, her eyes stark with the knowledge of what might have happened to her, and yet steady with the certainty that she had survived unharmed.
“When you make love to me,” she said softly, “’tis more wonderful than anything I could have imagined. But I can see how terrible it would be for a woman in the hands of men who are so lost to evil their very souls have ceased to exist.”
“Nor will they exist much longer,” Hugh grated before he could stop himself. But she surprised him.
“Aye, they must be stopped. As rabid dogs are destroyed, lest they kill more innocents.” She touched his face fleetingly. “Oh, Hugh, I think they’ve been doing this for a long time. I didn’t understand all of it, but he was gloating that they didn’t have to play their games with serfs or servant girls this time. Or even with wives who had some knowledge of men. They had a lady who had been kept away from the world since she was a small child, who was completely innocent. Imagine how she will react when she understands what is happening to her, he said, and they all laughed.”
She shuddered. “They sounded inhuman. Like demons who had crawled out of the pit. At that point I stopped listening. At least, I don’t remember any more.” She stiffened suddenly. “That’s what I dream about: crouching in that dark little room, trying not to make a sound in case they hear me, when all I want to do is scream and scream and scream. I was too afraid even to move. And then, after a while, I couldn’t move. I could barely breathe. I felt frozen.”
“Frozen with shock,” Hugh said grimly.
“Eventually all was quiet and I managed to start thinking. I went back to my chamber, and put some clothes under the bedding in case anyone came to check on me during the night.” She looked up with the first tiny spark of mischief since she had started the dreadful tale. “One of the girls at the priory told me she did that when she crept out to the herb garden one night. No one ever found out.”
“She has my ev
erlasting thanks,” he muttered. “And the boy’s clothes?”
“Oh, I’d found them in a chest in one of the wardrobe chambers when I was looking around the castle. They had belonged to my brother. I suppose the servants stored them away after he and my mother died and I was sent to the priory, and then they were forgotten. They were old and a bit musty, but they fit well enough. I didn’t think of safety, just that I’d be able to run faster in hose. ’Twas easier to climb over the wall of the pleasance, too. It abuts onto the orchard and there is an old wooden fence at the far end. That’s how I got out. I thought if I could reach the priory, I could write to the King, telling him what I had overheard, and begging him to help me.”
Hugh shook his head, amazed that Annith had been able to think at all.
“Earlier today I told Prioress Edith that your courage terrified me,” he said quietly. “But I didn’t know the half of it.”
She gave him a smile of such sweet certainty, he felt his heart shake. “Prioress Edith told me before I left that she would pray for me. I think God heard her prayers and was watching over me. And then He led me to you.”
“So out of villainy comes good?”
When she just sighed and laid her head on his shoulder, he let the question go. Who was he to doubt her belief? After all, although her innocence had put her in danger, it had also protected her in a way. If she had understood what it meant to be raped, if she had known of the dangers in fleeing alone into the night, she might have been paralyzed with terror and indecision, easy prey for vicious men.
“What are we going to do?” she asked after a few minutes.
He looked down at her. “Do you think you can sleep now?”
“If you’re with me.”
He smiled. “I will be, sweetheart, count on it. But one of Will’s messengers will be riding hard for Winchester before dawn. I need to write to Edward, telling him what has happened, as well as requesting his leave, as my liege lord, to marry you. And asking him to intercede for me with the King because we’re already married.”
