The shimmering that Niall recalled started, the coldness emanated once more from the ethereal stone. Viviane whimpered and struggled against him, clearly disinclined to participate in this journey, but Niall held her fast.
She twisted and fought, she bit him as the shimmer grew to a glow. She cussed at him with a vocabulary he had not guessed she possessed. She was crying and Niall hated that he was responsible for the fall of a single tear. He locked her arms around her waist, determined not to let her go, secretly terrified at the prospect of her escaping his grasp during this transition.
Where then would she be left?
Where would he be left, if he was no longer in possession of the stone?
“Viviane! You must hold fast!” he cried.
“Hey!” Monty roared as the light grew to blinding intensity. “What the hell is this about? And where are you like going? You can’t just take off with her like this!”
And he leapt on Niall just as there came a blinding flash.
*
Chapter Fifteen
Viviane shivered from the chill and kept her eyes tightly closed. Though she would have never admitted it, it was a relief to feel Niall’s arms locked around her once again and his heat pressed against her.
Even if she was playing second fiddle to some woman he had left pregnant!
She cried while no one could witness it, letting her tears scatter to the four winds, hating her own gullibility. Oh, she had been a fool to believe that Niall was her one true love, following her across all time to win her heart and hand.
He had just been doing his job, and a horrible job it was. And now, she was going back to face that execution that she had so narrowly escaped.
Some hero she’d found.
Viviane had that same sense of being stretched thin, before she finally felt the gathering begin. It was even more disorienting than the last time, and she couldn’t seem to get a clear sense of where she was. All she could see when she forced her eyes open was clear blue light.
She heard a man cry out, then footsteps hastily drawing closer
She heard Monty swear eloquently, then felt the welcome weight of Niall’s arm lock around her waist.
The first thing that she could discern was the floor.
It was made of heavy, rough-hewn planks of wood. Viviane stared at this unwelcome hint of her location as everything else was still lost in that eerie blue light. There were herbs strewn on the floor in a way that wasn’t very common on Salt Spring Island.
Viviane reached for her pendant with shaking fingers, her arm still unwilling to quickly do her bidding. Even though she was dazed by the leap through time, she knew that she had one chance and one chance only to escape her dire fate.
But Viviane didn’t even have that.
A man’s hand brushed her fingers aside and closed proprietarily over the moonstone. She looked up to find a tall man bending over her.
His smile was not friendly.
“I will just take this,” he insisted silkily and gave the chain a little tug in case she missed his meaning.
“But the pendant is mine!” Viviane protested.
His smile broadened. “Not any more. Take it off.”
Viviane glanced around herself, only to find Monty shaking his head and moaning. Niall had his fingertips pressed to his temples, his jeans and shirt unlikely to aid them much here. Viviane recalled with a pang that his mail was spread over the floor of her room at Barb’s.
An impatient tug urged her to look again at to the man holding her moonstone. He was a tall, elegantly wrought, older man, dark of eye and silver of hair.
They were apparently in his bedroom, which was a remarkably lavish chamber. A massive bed, hung with rich tapestries drawn against the chill of the air, nearly filled the room. Viviane knew she was back in Cantlecroft and she knew she was in the presence of wealth, but she would never have recognized who this man was, because he was naked.
But Niall did. “My lord!” he said in sudden astonishment and the man flicked an impatient glance his way.
“I shall deal with you later,” he said crisply and Niall frowned, though he held his tongue.
Viviane gasped. The archbishop! Of course, Niall had asked for an audience in his verse.
She couldn’t hold back her question. “Are you the archbishop?”
He smiled coldly in acknowledgement and Viviane dared to hope. “The pendant, if you please,” he said crisply, but Viviane wasn’t listening.
Maybe she could have the hearing that had been promised to her.
This was her chance!
“Sir!” Viviane, unable to bow, inclined her head with respect. “Sir, my name is Viviane…”
The archbishop frowned. “I know full well who you are. Now, give me this token and give it to me now.”
“But there has been a misunderstanding. I was convicted without ever having the hearing promised to me and if you grant me the chance, I can explain…”
But the archbishop chuckled under his breath. The laughter, Viviane noticed, never reached his eyes. He shook his head and regarded her as though she was a particularly stupid child.
Viviane’s heart chilled.
“There is naught to explain.” He gave the pendant a little tug. “This is eloquent enough.”
Oh, he thought she had created the magical pendant! Viviane hastened to reassure him. “Oh, but that’s not my doing. I didn’t know that it had such power! I just made a wish and never imagined this pendant would take me across the centuries.”
The archbishop’s eyes narrowed and he studied her with sudden intensity. “Across centuries?” Viviane nodded and held his gaze, content to let him see that she wasn’t lying.
“Aye, my lord,” Niall contributed. “We journeyed to the year 1999 and saw many marvels which could be put to use here in Cantlecroft. ’Twould create labor and mechanisms to sell abroad. Indeed, I began to learn of the marvel they call plumbing…”
The archbishop lifted one hand to silence Niall. “Marvels from the future,” he mused and stared into the stone. “Never did I guess the talisman was so potent as that.”
He smiled into Viviane’s eyes but the sight was not reassuring.
All the same, she summoned her best smile and hoped her usual good fortune would see her free of this circumstance. “So you see, there was no witchery about it. I’m not a witch, I didn’t even know that the stone did this. It was a gift to me and one whose power I never guessed.”
“I know full well where you won it.” The archbishop’s tone was cold and decisive. He ran his thumb across the stone in an almost proprietary way. “Though I had no inkling of its power until this very moment. Of course, I guessed once you disappeared that there was more to the stone than I had suspected. You may be assured that had I known the truth sooner, it would never have been left in your possession.”
She had been condemned because of the stone, but the archbishop hadn’t known it was magical? Viviane frowned in confusion, even as the archbishop’s lips drew to a tight line.
“Such an oversight cannot be tolerated again.” He shook his head and his eyes flashed. “I would have it now.”
The archbishop suddenly flicked his wrist and snapped the pendant from its chain. Viviane cried out as the chain bit into her neck and Niall stepped forward to steady her.
“There is no need to injure the lady!” he said heatedly.
The archbishop smiled. “And no reason to spare her.”
Viviane caught her breath as Niall shook his head. “Nay, my lord, she has been misjudged,” he said vehemently. “The lady is innocent of the charge made against her, and I would vouch for her before you. She is no witch, she is naught but a woman falsely charged. She knew naught of the witchery inherent in this stone.”
The archbishop seemed to find Niall’s defense amusing. “I knew she was innocent of witchcraft.”
Niall’s face lit up. “Then…”
“’Twas never the issue. ’Twas enough that she wore th
e stone.” The archbishop shivered elaborately and glanced around the rich chamber as Viviane struggled to make sense of his words. Without saying more, he turned to walk back to his bed.
Viviane looked to Niall in consternation and it seemed that he could evidently hold his words back no longer. “But my lord!” he protested. “If you knew the lady was innocent, then why was she condemned to die?”
The archbishop tossed Viviane’s pendant onto a table and glanced back. She gauged the distance and knew she would never be able to retrieve it. “Because obviously I could not afford to let her live.” He smiled coolly. “Just as now, I cannot afford to let you live.”
Niall’s eyes flashed as he straightened. “What nonsense is this?”
“It is no nonsense, Niall of Malloy.” The archbishop folded his arms across his chest. “You have learned matters that were best left unknown.”
“But I am pledged to your service!” Niall argued. “I swore a pledge to you to fetch this woman back to Cantlecroft, and I have fulfilled my task!”
“Against all expectation.” The archbishop smiled thinly.
“I defend her honor and her name!” Niall declared. “You must hear my testimony, as a man of honor.” He interlaced his fingers with Viviane’s. “She is the woman I would take to wife, a woman of good heart and noble intent. You must proclaim her innocence!”
But the archbishop shook his head. “I must do no such thing. ’Tis regrettable, of course, as you were always competent, but one must do what one must. Indeed, if you match your fate to that of a condemned witch, what else am I to do?”
Viviane gasped in horror. How could the archbishop treat Niall so poorly? Niall was pledged to that man’s service and had done nothing wrong.
“’Tis not right!” Niall cried.
“And of what import is that? You will die, as will the woman.” The archbishop smiled. “Together, as you evidently desire to be. Clearly -” his gaze was chilly “- she has bewitched you.”
“But you declared you knew her to be innocent of witchery.”
The archbishop lifted a hand. “There ’tis again, the evidence that you know too much to live.” And he turned his back upon them all as Niall struggled visibly for an argument.
Viviane squeezed his fingers as Monty piped up. “What about me?” He was still sprawled on the floor, his eyes wide and his face pale.
The archbishop considered him with disdain. “And who might you be?”
Monty scrambled to his feet and offered his hand. “I’m Monty Sullivan.” The archbishop surveyed Monty’s outstretched hand and his lip curled slightly. “I’m like not even from here and well, hey, I don’t even need to like know these people, if you know what I’m saying.”
Distaste flickered across the archbishop’s features. “Aye, I know what you are saying. You are a man of no account and thus infinitely expendable.” He shook his head. “I shall see that you die first.”
“But…” Monty squeaked.
The archbishop waved off anything he might have said and raised his voice. “Guards! Intruders in my chambers! Aid me!”
No less than seven guards burst into the chamber, their swords drawn and armor rattling. Monty moaned in dismay at the sight and scampered backward until he hit the wall with a thunk. Niall turned and thrust Viviane behind him, clearly ready to fight.
Unfortunately, his armor was safely back in her room over Barb’s shop. And those jeans, regardless of how alluring Viviane found them, wouldn’t help him much here. Undaunted, Niall faced the foursome who had drawn their blades on them both, as though he was assessing their strength. Viviane wondered whether he knew any of them.
She glanced to Monty, garbed as always in shorts, T-shirt and polar fleece, and decided they must look like a pretty odd group to the medieval eye. Monty already swallowed visibly beneath the point of a wicked length of steel. His eyes were as wide as saucers and he seemed uncharacteristically struck dumb.
Viviane stepped forward to argue with their assailants, but as soon as she stepped out of Niall’s shadow, the tip of a sword nudged at her chin. It was a large and particularly shiny blade - it looked well-honed and brought her to a full stop. Viviane followed the length of the blade to a grim-faced guard whose steely gaze was far from merciful.
“Niall,” she whispered.
He cast a glance over his shoulder and inhaled sharply. “Do not wound the lady.”
“Then do not fight us,” the guard retorted, pressing the blade against Viviane’s throat to make his intent clear. Viviane gasped and felt a warm trickle of blood on her flesh.
“Halt!” Niall insisted and raised his hands. He managed to stand near Viviane and she was glad of his presence.
The archbishop nodded approval. “This is much better. I feel safe indeed with your enviable command of this keep, Gaultier,” he nodded to the biggest guard. “Though no man can defend himself against witchery.”
“Witchery, my lord?”
“Aye, this is the condemned witch who escaped our own dungeon but a month ago. She has appeared magically in mine own chambers to wreak her vengeance, my emissary snared within her spell and her minion at hand.”
“No! That’s not true!”
“The lady is innocent!”
“I’m nobody’s minion!”
The archbishop raised his hands to his ears. “Gaultier, ensure your men are not so foolish as to listen to their lies! She has turned even Niall of Malloy against me and not a one of them can be trusted.”
“What shall be done with them my lord?”
“They shall be executed three days hence. ’Twill give them time to repent of their wickedness and savor our hospitality.” With that, the archbishop made to return to his bed and the guards urged the unhappy trio toward the door.
How would her luck save her this time?
’Twas in the midst of her dismay that Viviane realized someone else lurked within that great pillared bed.
“Oh, Richard!” a woman chortled sleepily from behind those heavy curtains, her voice low and nearly inaudible. Viviane straightened in shock, though she couldn’t decide why she should be surprised that this man who broke his word to Niall would also break his vow of chastity.
“I thought I had dreamed of you,” the woman cooed, then laughed sensuously. An elegant hand stretched out through the gap of the draperies, the skin flawlessly creamy. “You have become so cold while I slept so warmly here! Did I hear voices? Is something amiss?”
“Duty, my dear,” the archbishop purred as he joined his consort. “Duty, as always, must be tended before pleasure.”
He did something in those shadows that made the woman cry out with pleasure, the sound enough to make Viviane blush. Then the woman laughed aloud, her voice louder than it had been before.
“Oh Richard!” she cried. “You truly are a marvel!”
And Niall straightened with a snap. He pivoted and stared at the draped bed, a dull flush rising over his neck as he resisted his escort. The guards tried to pull him out of the room, but Niall shrugged them off.
“Majella?” he demanded, outrage in his tone. “Is that you?”
Silence came from the bed for a telling moment, then there was a rustling of linens. “Niall?” the woman squealed. “Niall, is that you finally returned?”
Viviane knew the blood left her face. Niall’s Majella was in bed with the archbishop? This couldn’t be a good thing.
A fulsome beauty bounced out of the bed, her copious charms on full display, and doing nothing for Viviane’s confidence in her own charms. She was gorgeous! Her hair was slightly more red than gold, its thick waves falling over her shoulder in inviting disarray. She was all curves and silky skin, the kind of woman that no man could easily forget.
As Niall clearly hadn’t. The stricken look on his face told Viviane all she needed to know. The woman was decidedly pregnant, the sight erasing any doubt Viviane could have had of her identity.
This was the Majella who Niall had been so anxious to pr
otect. This was the woman who held Niall’s heart in thrall.
“Venus rising,” Monty muttered incomprehensibly. Viviane glanced to him to find him staring at Majella with wonder shining in his eyes. In fact, all of the sentries were similarly enthralled by the sight of this beauty and Viviane felt not only abandoned, but very plain.
But Majella was staring at Niall, her features transformed with pleasure. She smiled, then she blushed scarlet. “Niall! It is you!”
Viviane was ready to dislike the woman, though the way her features softened with affection at the sight of Niall made it hard to do so. She looked relieved and delighted, a response to the sight of Niall that Viviane could truly understand.
Majella spun back to the bed, tugging a gossamer robe over her shoulders. “Niall, Niall is here. Oh, Richard, this is the most marvelous news! Niall is returned!”
She flung herself across the room to embrace the knight Viviane had once imagined to be her own. “Oh, Niall, I have been so very worried about you, for one never can tell what might transpire on such an adventure as yours.”
Majella planted a hearty buss on Niall’s cheek that seemed somewhat inappropriate as a greeting for the father of her child. Then she propped one hand on her hip and looked him over assessingly, her manner almost maternal.
“Look at you! You look to have been eating well enough -” she conceded with a pinch of his flesh “- but your garb is so very strange. Now, you must tell me…”
But Niall gripped her shoulders, typically cutting to the heart of the issue. “Majella, how long have you shared the archbishop’s bed?”
Viviane’s heart twisted. She knew it couldn’t be easy for Niall to witness his lover’s indiscretions, even if he had been indiscreet himself. After all, Majella carried his child, which wasn’t a small thing.
Majella blushed and her gaze flicked away. Viviane knew she was going to lie and was surprised when it didn’t seem as though she did.
“Well, ever since I came here, that day you left. Richard just swept us into the castle, it was absolutely marvelous, we have been spoiled to bits. And after all, you had told me to find a more wealthy man to ensure that Matthew has the training he desires…”
Time Travel Romances Boxed Set Page 94
