But looking into Kevin’s eyes at this moment, she was thinking only of herself.
“I feel as if I have the better end of this arrangement,” Kevin said, breaking into her thoughts. “You have been a remarkable chatelaine. I have never seen a fortress run more smoothly.”
Juliandra dipped her head to thank him. “As I said, I have enjoyed it,” she said, tearing her gaze away from him because she was beginning to sweat. The man had that effect on her. “Does anyone require anything more? I realize the pear cider is quite strong. I can bring boiled water or pressed pear juice if you’d like.”
The men were shaking their heads. All but Kevin, that is. He was still looking at her, still smiling, and when she dared look at him, again, she broke down in a grin. She could feel her cheeks flushing. But that pleasant moment was interrupted when a soldier entered the hall.
The man was practically running as he crossed the floor to the dais. “My lord,” he said, addressing Kevin. “A group of Welsh are approaching.”
Kevin looked at him curiously. “The gates are open,” he said. “We have had Welsh coming in all morning.”
But the soldier shook his head. “Nay, my lord,” he said. “These are armed men. Hundreds of them.”
The table cleared in an instant.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“I know you have Juliandra ap Gethin,” Aeron said, twitching with anger. “I have come to claim her. If you do not want trouble, you will release her to me.”
He was standing on the opposite side of the closed portcullis along with Glynn ap Hywel, an older man with a bushy beard and hair that looked like a bird’s nest. Behind them, there had to be six hundred Welshmen, all of them armed. Most had pikes and clubs, but there were some who bore longbows. The last thing Kevin wanted to do was get into a skirmish with them. They couldn’t win with only a few hundred, but they could cause some trouble.
But trouble was coming nonetheless. They were demanding Juliandra and, as Kevin had told Sean, he wasn’t about to let her go.
He braced himself.
“How would you know that she is here?” he asked, trying to be vague. “Where did you hear this?”
Aeron wasn’t having any of his denials. “Because her maid told me that you abducted her,” he snapped. “Stole her. Well? Where is she? Bring her to me immediately.”
“Nay.”
Aeron’s eyebrows lifted in outrage. “You deny me?”
Kevin, as well as the other knights, could see Aeron for what he was – a blustering, angry warlord with a sense of self-importance. Since they were in the outer bailey at the gatehouse, the one with Juliandra’s chamber overhead, what Aeron couldn’t see was eight hundred de Lohr soldiers tucked back by the stables and the troop house. Along with the men Kevin already had at Wybren, there were about fifteen hundred. Enough to overrun Aeron’s paltry few hundred.
If Aeron had seen all of those men, he probably wouldn’t have been so bold.
But Kevin didn’t want to overrun him, at least not yet. Although he was trying to establish a peaceful rule of Wybren, he wasn’t going to let ap Gruffudd run all over him.
“I am denying you,” he said after a moment. “Do you know why? Because the only time you have ever come to see me is to make demands and I do not take kindly to them. Since I have been a Wybren, I have been a contributing member of the community. The toll booths I established generate revenue for the poor and destitute. The law and order I dispense has solved more than one Welsh dispute to a positive conclusion, yet you do not take any of this into account. You have never tried to establish peace with me but, instead, have only come to make demands. Why on earth should I even listen to a man who has only come to harass me?”
Aeron appeared to be genuinely shocked by Kevin’s response. Shocked and embarrassed. He looked at Glynn, who didn’t seem quite so angry. Being older, he’d seen more. He understood the value of a peaceful relationship even if he didn’t want the English so close to his lands. Scratching his head, he stepped forward.
“You’re as welcome at Wybren as a Welsh lord would be who took control of an English castle not far from you,” he said. “I know you understand that concept.”
Kevin nodded. “I do.”
“Then you know why we’re unhappy to have you here.”
Kevin lifted an eyebrow. “Even after all of the good I have done?”
Glynn hesitated. “No one likes your toll booths, but you have been generous with the tolls,” he admitted. “And it is because of one of your toll booths that we are here. We know that Gethin ap Garreg tried to go around one of your toll booths and he was arrested. We know his daughter came to you to seek her father’s release. Is she here?”
Glynn was more rational to deal with, at least showing Kevin a moderate amount of respect. Kevin nodded. “She is.”
“She is Aeron’s woman.”
“That is not what she tells me.”
Aeron exploded. “’Tis a lie!” he said. “She belongs to me!”
Kevin’s gaze moved to the volatile young lord. “She says that you have offered for her hand and that her father has denied you,” he said. “That means she does not belong to you and I will not release her to you. Is this in any way unclear?”
Aeron was furious. He rushed the portcullis, latching on to it as if his anger would propel him through it so he could get at Kevin.
“If you do not want me to bring thousands of Welsh to burn you out of Wybren, then you will release her,” he snarled.
“Nay.”
“Then I demand to speak with her!”
Kevin looked at the man, thinking that he was ridiculous and undisciplined. He let his anger dictate his actions, but he had to take him somewhat seriously because of his link to Phylip ap Bedo. He could just see Aeron telling Phylip how horrible and cruel the English were.
He had to tread carefully.
He looked over his shoulder at Gareth.
“Find the lady,” he said quietly. “Tell her what is happening so she is prepared, but bring her here to speak with this idiot.”
Gareth nodded shortly and rushed off as Sean and Alexander came forward. Kevin turned to them, huddling in quiet conference.
“You are sending for the lady?” Sean muttered.
Kevin nodded. “I believe it is necessary,” he said. “You see Aeron. He will not take my word for it. She is going to have to tell him herself.”
“But will she?” Alexander murmured. “Kevin, you are taking a great risk. If she tells the man she’s being held against her will, then you will be in a bind.”
Kevin knew that. “I know,” he said honestly. “But I am hoping she will send him away. It will be better coming from her. If she can discourage him, then mayhap I will not have to worry about ap Bedo.”
“Something tells me that you are going to have to deal with him, anyway,” Alexander said. “I have a feeling Aeron will not care what the lady says. The man wants what he wants.”
“Not this time,” Kevin said. “I am willing to put some faith in the lady, for I think you will agree that I have little choice.”
That was very true, so Sean and Alexander backed away, keeping a vigilant eye on Aeron and Glynn as they stood near the portcullis. Kevin was trying to get through this encounter with no violence, which was commendable, but much depended on a woman he was fond of but, in truth, didn’t really know.
They secretly wondered if she was going to turn on Kevin.
They waited.
Kevin knew when Juliandra had been sighted because Aeron, who had been standing near the portcullis with his arms folded across his chest, suddenly started bobbing his head around, as if he saw something coming from the inner bailey.
Kevin turned around to see Juliandra and Gareth approaching. She was wearing the same pretty dark blue woolen dress she had been wearing in the great hall earlier, but she had a kerchief around her head now, with a long braid draping over one shoulder, which told Kevin she had been in the kitchens. Not only did s
he supervise operations, but she liked to help on occasion, too. As she drew closer, he could see flour on her sleeves. He held out a hand to her and, hesitantly, she came to him.
Her big, frightened eyes were upturned to him.
“Gareth told me that Aeron is demanding to speak with me,” she said quietly. “What do you want me to say to him?”
Kevin looked at her for a moment, more than one answer rolling through his head. He could have sent Aeron away and not involved Juliandra, but if he did that, he knew that Aeron would be back, probably worse than before. He wanted Aeron to hear from Juliandra’s own lips that she wanted nothing to do with him, but Kevin had a feeling that wasn’t going to matter to Aeron. He would keep coming back until he either broke Juliandra down or until she married someone else.
… married someone else?
Last night in the great hall, Kevin had brought up marriage. He had been drunk and he was well aware of the fact, but that did not lessen the truth that was in his heart. There was an old saying that spoke of wine being the catalyst for truth, and last night that had been the case, only it had been that strong pear cider that had burned holes in his stomach and given him a tremendous headache this morning.
It had also loosened his tongue beyond measure.
Kevin realized, as he looked at her, that he had been serious when discussing marriage with her. Oh, he had passed it off as conversation. He could have used the fact that the pear cider had gone to his head as an excuse, but it really wasn’t an excuse. He’d simply been testing the waters to see what she thought of a marriage to him and he had seen the light of hope in her eyes as he’d spoken of it. He knew he had. Even if her words had told him otherwise, her expression had told him that she was agreeable.
He was about to put that belief to the test.
He felt as if his whole life hinged on what would come next.
“Aeron has come to hear from your own lips that you do not wish to marry him and that you are not his woman,” he said after a moment. “Will you tell him that?”
Her gaze drifted to Aeron, now hanging on the portcullis, pressing his face between the slats to get a better look at her.
“Aye,” she said grimly. “I will carve it into his chest if I must.”
The corner of Kevin’s mouth twitched. “I will happily do it for you,” he said. “But it has occurred to me that you may have to do… more.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believe the man will never leave you alone as long as you are unmarried.”
She faltered, confused. “But I am unmarried.”
“I know,” Kevin said patiently. “But would you be willing to tell him that you are betrothed?”
Over near the portcullis, Aeron suddenly shouted her name, demanding she come to him. Juliandra shuddered with disgust.
“I could,” she said. “But I am not betrothed to anyone and he knows it.”
“You could be betrothed to me.”
Her eyes widened. “A lie to be rid of him?”
“It could be the truth. If you agree to it, of course.”
Aeron was making more demands, distracting her, when she was trying desperately to understand what Kevin was telling her.
“The truth?” she repeated. “I do not…”
Kevin cut her off. “Marry me, Juliandra,” he murmured. “I asked you last night. I am asking you again today. I want you to become my wife not because of Aeron and not because I wish to establish any links to the Welsh, but simply because I feel… I want to marry you. Ever since you forced me to be your maid and truss up your dress, I have felt that my place in life is with you. Will you at least not consider it?”
Her mouth popped open in surprise and even as Aeron screamed at her, all she could hear or see was Kevin. The blood rushed to her head, a delightful rush, causing her to feel lightheaded.
She could hardly believe her ears.
“Are you completely serious?” she managed to whisper. “I told you that my father would not…”
He cut her off quietly. “Do not worry about your father,” he said, taking her by the arm and turning her towards the portcullis. “If you wish to tell Aeron you are betrothed, it would not be a lie. I am asking. It would be my greatest honor, Juliandra.”
Suddenly, she was facing the gatehouse and Kevin gave her an encouraging push towards it. She took a few halting steps, processing what Kevin had proposed.
Marriage.
She was stunned.
“Juliandra!” Aeron was practically rattling the portcullis as she came near. “My dearest, are you well? Have the brutes ravaged you?”
Juliandra made it to within several feet of the portcullis and came to a halt. “Aeron,” she scolded. “Why did you come here? You have no right to be here.”
His expression fell. “I have every right to be here,” he said. “I came to demand your release.”
Juliandra sighed sharply. “You are making a fool of yourself,” she said. “Go home. I do not want you here, nor do I need you here. Just… go away.”
His features started to harden. “You will not speak to me that way,” he said. “I have come to help you, foolish woman.”
“And I do not want your help,” she said, hands on hips. “I do not want or need your help, or your attention, as I have told you many times. I do not belong to you, I am not going to marry you, so I want you to go away and leave me alone.”
Aeron’s eyes narrowed. “What is the matter with you?” he demanded. “Are you so weak that you do not see that you are a prisoner? What has happened to you? You should be screaming for your freedom and for the freedom of your father!”
That only served to anger her. “Sometimes screaming and violence do not get the desired results,” she said. “My father broke Lord de Lara’s law and he is serving his time for it. I am here to work off the toll he refused to pay and ensure he is released. I have made a bargain with Lord de Lara and you are ruining everything, so go home and stay there. I do not want you here.”
Aeron was being pushed closer to the brink of a tantrum. “Your father broke no laws,” he snarled. “He was traveling a road that it was his right to travel on. I fear you have been poisoned and bewitched by the English.”
Juliandra took a few steps towards the portcullis so she wouldn’t have to shout her business for all to hear. Aeron wasn’t listening to her words, so she had to make it plain to him.
And plain to herself.
It was time.
“Listen to me and listen well,” she said in a low, steady voice. “I know why you are here. You have come because you think the English have stolen something that belongs to you – me. You know very well I do not belong to you, nor will I ever. I belong to another now, Aeron, so go away before he unleashes his wrath upon you. I do not want you or anything about you, so abide by my wishes and go away.”
Aeron looked at her in shock. “What do you mean you belong to another?”
“Just what I told you. Are you too stupid to understand that?”
Aeron was truly baffled. “Who could you possibly belong to?” he asked. “Everyone knows you belong to me. There is not one man in this area who would defy me and steal you away.”
Juliandra took a deep breath. She was losing her patience. “Do you even understand my words?” she said. “I do not want you. I have never wanted you. I do not belong to you, nor do I even like you. I belong to someone else, someone I intend to have a long and happy life with, and this does not include battling with you because of your misguided attempts to control me. Go find another woman, Aeron. There are many who would be honored to have you, but I am not one of them. I am beyond your reach.”
Aeron genuinely couldn’t comprehend what she was telling him. Of course, he understood in theory, but he refused to accept it. He rushed the portcullis again, rattling it angrily.
“Who?” he demanded. “Tell me who it is!”
Juliandra debated about telling him. She thought he would leave without her being comp
elled to divulge who it was, but now she was thinking otherwise. Perhaps telling him that she belonged to Kevin would truly be the only way of getting rid of him. When he realized it was the Lord of Wybren, with a big army at his disposal, then surely he would understand that he had to accept it.
She had to take the chance.
She couldn’t go the rest of her life battling Aeron.
“It is Lord de Lara,” she finally said. “I have agreed to marry him. I want to marry him. Now, will you go away and leave me in peace?”
Aeron stopped shaking the portcullis and stared at her. His mouth popped open in shock and he looked to Glynn, who was standing a few feet away. The man had heard everything and his expression suggested that the battle for Lady Juliandra was over for good.
But Aeron was desperate – he suddenly rushed back into the crowd of men, hissing at Adan, who was standing with the others. He was waving his hands like a madman as Adan disappeared into the group. As Juliandra waited, curious and concerned as to what was going on, Adan reappeared, dragging a woman with him.
The woman had long hair to her buttocks, wild and wavy and covering half her face. She was dressed in simple clothing, but there was no mistaking her big hips and big breasts. Juliandra didn’t recognize the woman as Aeron grabbed her by the arm and dragged her up to the portcullis.
“Here!” he declared. “This woman is willing to exchange herself for you. She will make a fine companion for an English knight. She is lusty and clever when it comes to a man, skills you do not possess because you are a maiden. If the English lord is looking for a woman to satisfy him, this is the one.”
Juliandra looked at the woman in horror, deeply embarrassed at what Aeron was saying. As she watched, the woman flipped her long hair back and tugged at the top of her bodice, exposing a good deal of cleavage.
The message was obvious.
The Agents of William Marshal Volume II: A Medieval Romance Bundle Page 77
