“I don’t want you to miss something that brings you so much joy,” he answered his eyes scanning the forest around them constantly. “I feel like it is my duty to be certain there is no chance of attack while you enjoy yourself.”
“Do you not enjoy hunting also?” She frowned, not wanting him to forgo the fun of the day because he felt the need to guard her.
He shrugged. “I do, but I don’t take the kind of delight in it you do. Enjoy yourself, and I’ll make certain we’re safe.” In truth, hunting was just another chore for him, like training his men. It was something that needed to be done, so he did it without complaint. For Christiana it was obviously one of her greatest joys in life.
He trailed along behind her as she shot rabbit after rabbit. She had ten before she turned to him. “I must answer nature’s call. Wait here.” She wasn’t going to have her husband watch her relieve herself.
A frown crossed his face. “I can’t let you out of my sight.”
“You are not going with me while I relieve myself. Wait here.” She ran off into a thicket of bushes amongst the trees. Before she had a chance to take care of things, she heard a sound behind her, and a hand was clapped over her mouth. She knew immediately this man was the one from yesterday, because she could feel the evil burning off of him. Why would there be so much evil from the resistance? It didn’t make sense to her that they were evil simply because they disagreed politically.
“You will not make a sound.” His voice was low and guttural in her ear. “Are you ready to agree to help the resistance or are you still going to side with the Norman who forced you into marriage?”
She sent out a mental distress call to her sisters and the three men who guarded them. Her sisters would understand the call was real and make sure the men came to help her.
“You will answer me!” His mouth was against her ear, one arm wrapped around her waist, the hand from the other arm covering her mouth.
She shook her head emphatically.
“Can we count on you to relate his activities to us so we’ll be able take back the throne of England?” His voice was threatening.
She slowly shook her head, listening carefully as her sisters told her they were approaching. She heard nothing from the men, but they would be unsure how to send a mental message. She and her sisters had been working on it since they were young.
The arm around her waist tightened. “You won’t help us? You realize your own father fought the Norman Bastard to keep him from taking the throne?”
She nodded, her eyes scanning the trees as she knew her sisters were upon them. Suddenly there were sounds from every direction. Both of her sisters were standing before her with their arrows aimed at the man behind her. She didn’t see any of the men, but heard sounds from behind her, and knew they must be there.
The man behind her dropped to his knees, and she jumped away. Turning, she saw Roland standing with a knife dripping with blood in his hand. “Are you all right?” His eyes scanned her from head to toe making certain she was uninjured.
She nodded shakily. Thank God his hard-headedness did not stop him from being able to hear her messages. “Is he dead? He claims to be from the resistance.” She stared down at the man lying bleeding on the ground, shuddering slightly as she thought of how helpless she’d felt with his hand over her mouth.
Roland stared down at the man at his feet. “Claims? Why do you word it so?” He studied his wife carefully wondering what she knew.
She shrugged, unsure how to explain. “I don’t believe he cares who rules the land. He’s after something different.” How could she tell her husband that the evil coming off the man was something she felt surrounded by? That she felt like it would cut off all the air around her?
“How do you know this?” His expression was perplexed, as if he thought she knew all of the Saxons who were part of the resistance.
Christiana scrambled to find the words to explain. “I can feel the evil rolling off of him. Beyond that, I simply cannot explain.” She’d never been able to explain her knowledge of the good and bad within people. How could she? It wasn’t something most people would be able to understand.
Roland stared at her in open disbelief. “You can feel the evil from him? Are you trying to convince me you really are a witch?” He eyed her skeptically, wanting the truth, but afraid of what she’d tell him.
She shook her head. “I’m no witch and have never claimed to be.” Despite the games she’d played with him, she wasn’t willing to let him believe that of her. “I simply have a power that allows me to hear and feel things others cannot.” Of course, that would seem witch-like to him, but she had no way of convincing him one way or the other about the origin of her powers.
Roland reached down and felt the man’s wrist for a pulse. “He is alive, but won’t be for long.” He sighed. “I had wished to question him.” He shook his head, obviously angered the man was dying and he wouldn’t be able to question him.
Marina stepped forward. “I can heal him enough to allow your questioning. I won’t heal him all the way, because that would drain me too much, but I can make it so he will be able to answer any questions you have after an hour or so when he’s had the time to rest from his injury.” Christiana watched as her sister made the offer without consulting her, for once. Usually the three decided together how to use her healing powers.
Roland raised an eyebrow and swept his hand indicating she was welcome to do what she could. He crossed his arms over his chest as if he didn’t expect her to be able to heal again.
Marina knelt at the man’s feet, and placed her hands over the wound in his back. She closed her eyes in concentration, and after a minute stood, swaying on her feet. “He will be able to talk in a few hours.” Her voice was so weak it was barely a whisper.
Christiana hurried to her sister’s side to bolster her. “Can you make it back to the manor, Marina?”
Marina shook her head. “I must ride with you.”
Charles handed his bow to Hugh and walked to Marina. He swept her into his arms, and strode in the direction of the horses. “I’ll get her back to the manor.”
Hugh and Roland lifted the injured man, carrying him back toward the horses. The two women carried all of their bows, and Christiana threw the string of rabbits over her shoulder, allowing it to drag behind her.
Christiana walked with Eva back toward the horses. “What do you think of Hugh?” Christiana whispered to Eva. She’d noticed her sister looking at the man when she thought no one was looking. Christiana liked the idea of her sister marrying the dark man. His background didn’t matter to her in the slightest.
Eva blushed. “Is it so obvious?” She sighed. “It doesn’t matter what I think or feel, though. He was born a peasant. There’s no way we would be allowed to marry, even if Hugh felt the same way.” None of the sisters believed they were better than the peasants they knew, so they felt peasants should be allowed to marry members of the nobility with no problem, but they expected Roland to feel differently, and they were under his control now.
Christiana shook her head, whispering, “Roland promised me you and Marina could pick your own husbands. He said nothing about the husbands being suitable or of noble blood. If you decide Hugh is the man you want to marry, you’ll have him.” She paused as she watched the two men walking together. “Hugh is a man Roland trusts. I think my husband would be thrilled for the two of you to marry.”
Eva seemed to think about it, and after glancing at the men, thought, “I do think he’s a good man. I’m not making any decisions yet, but he’s been very kind to me.”
Christiana smiled. “I’m not asking you to rush into anything. Let him court you. He’s a good singer. Maybe he’ll serenade you and court you properly. I certainly didn’t get that from Roland.” She loved being able to converse with her sister about a man while he was right there without him knowing any better.
Eva grinned at her sister. “I’m in no rush. I don’t know that I’m ready to mar
ry.” She shrugged slightly. “I may simply enjoy the courtship for as long as I can.”
They’d reached the horses and Christiana and Eva mounted swiftly. The rabbits were tied to Christiana’s saddle while Eva carried half the bows and Christiana took the other half. They followed the men back to the house, carefully following closely behind now that they knew there were resisters in the woods who had more they were working toward than just putting a Saxon on the throne of England.
Christiana didn’t watch where they took the man and truthfully didn’t want to think about it. He’d threatened to kill her, and she was glad he’d been captured, but she didn’t want to think about him being tortured to get him to talk.
Christiana and Eva hurried up the stairs to Marina’s room where Charles had placed her on her bed. He was standing over her looking down at her with worry on his face, when the sisters arrived. Christiana put her hand on her brother-in-law’s arm. “We’ll watch over her now.”
Charles looked at the two women for a moment before nodding. “I’ll have your lunches sent up. I assume you won’t want to leave her.” He walked toward the door of her bedroom.
“Thank you.” Eva dropped to her knees beside Marina’s bed and stroked her sister’s cheek. She was sound asleep, and would probably sleep for most of the day. “Have broth and water sent up for Marina. We’ll have to feed her while she sleeps.”
Charles looked at the two women who were already doing their best to make Marina comfortable. “How long will she sleep?”
Christiana looked up at him. “Hours. Possibly until morning. We know what to do.” She gave him a brief smile before turning her attention back to her youngest sister. She had used her own powers that morning, but her powers were in constant use, and they were stronger than Marina’s. Marina had been the last to discover her powers, and she hadn't had the amount of practice Christiana and Eva had, leaving her the weakest, when her powers were the ones needed the most. It was something Christiana knew needed to be rectified as soon as possible.
Charles looked torn for a moment, but finally left the room.
Eva looked at Christiana. “I think Charles is in love with Marina.” She looked excited at the thought that her younger sister would be loved as well.
Christiana smiled. “They are both so strong-willed. It will be a great deal of fun to watch them fight with one another.” She wanted to laugh aloud at the idea of the two headstrong people trying to find their way together.
Eva nodded. “They are certain to make one another crazy and give us much cause for amusement.”
*****
Roland was furious after he finished questioning his prisoner. The man had told about contacting Christiana the day before, and Christiana had said nothing to him? She had even fought him about whether or not she should have a guard when leaving the manor!
He left Hugh to deal with the prisoner. They’d given the man a knife and suggested he handle his own demise quickly, so he wouldn’t have to be sent to the new king as a prisoner. The man hadn’t taken a moment to even think before pressing the knife into his heart.
Roland strode through the house trying to find his wife. Where would she have gone? For a moment he stopped short, fearing she had again left the grounds without his permission or a guard, and then he remembered how weak her sister was. He climbed the stairs with one purpose in mind. He was going to find his wife, and let her know how he felt about her hiding yesterday’s incident in the woods from him. He was so angry he wanted to hurt her, so he took a deep breath before knocking on the door of her sister Marina’s bedchamber.
Eva opened the door, and he saw Christiana sitting on the side of Marina’s bed. They’d propped her up on pillows, and Christiana was spoon-feeding Marina a clear broth while she slept.
“Is that necessary?” he asked, surprised. Sick people could go for a full day without eating, so why couldn’t Marina? Was there something more to her exhaustion than he’d been told?
Christiana shrugged. “She may not wake until morning, and she will be greatly weakened when she does wake. We need to feed her to keep her as healthy as we can until she is ready to feed herself.” She carefully spooned another bite of the broth into her sister’s mouth.
Roland took in the words, shocked Marina had been willing to become so weak to help him. He truly had the sisters’ loyalty now, and that was something he was thankful for. “When you are finished feeding her, wife, come to our bedchamber. There are things we must discuss.”
Christiana sighed, but nodded.
He closed the door, and went to their chamber, waiting for her to join him and explain her actions.
The door opened minutes later, and he’d paced off some of his anger during that time. Christiana stood straight looking at him, not flinching from the anger he was certain was visible on his face.
“Close the door, please.”
Christiana turned and closed the door, before walking across the room to sit on the bed. “Yes?” She looked up at him, truly not knowing why he was angry with her this time. She was certain she’d done something, though.
“You spoke with the man who attacked you today in the woods yesterday.” The words were spoken as a statement, not a question.
Christiana nodded. “Yes, I did.”
Roland was pleased she didn’t deny it, but angered further by the fact she had really talked to someone without telling him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He kept his voice low and even staring at her with his eyes sparkling with his rage.
“I planned to tell you about it, but you yelled at me, and locked me in our chamber. When did I have the chance to tell you?” She kept her voice calm and reasonable as she asked, instead of exploding at him for his accusations as she would have preferred. Of course she knew he was right, but she’d never admit it to him. She couldn't give her opponent that kind of power in an argument.
“You could have told me any time after that. Yet, instead, you chose to act as if you didn’t believe you were in any danger at all. Why?”
She shrugged. “I can’t stand the thought of being locked up. I prefer to be able to come and go as I please. I had no desire to have you increase the security around me, so I just let it go. I believe I told you we are able to take care of ourselves.”
“And what would you have done today if I hadn’t been there to rescue you?” Why was she being so obstinate?
She shrugged. “I would have had my sisters use their powers to help me.” Her eyes spat defiance at him, letting him know she wouldn’t back down.
“You would have died!” How could she count on powers that didn’t truly exist? Was the woman crazy? Or just daft?
“No, I would have survived. My sisters and I are strong. We are women of power.” Her eyes were brighter than normal and her hair was fairly dancing with static.
He looked at her a moment, but didn’t comment. He was certain she was right about having some sort of strange power, but didn’t want to think about being married to a witch.
“He only tried to kidnap me because he thought I mattered to you, and he wanted to draw you out,” she told him. “Of course, he doesn’t know a thing.” How could he stand there and act like he really cared whether or not she was taken when she knew deep inside her that she was only a weapon to him.
He shook his head at her. “You do matter to me. I couldn’t hold the manor without you. You are the reason I’ve been given the land.” He turned his back to her as he said the words. He knew she wanted to be told she mattered as a woman, but he wouldn’t give someone who withheld information from him that kind of power.
She turned from him, infuriated. He kept talking about how he wanted them to have a good marriage, and then he said something like that. How could he expect them to have a good marriage when he made it clear he had only married her for her land?
“Now you know what the man wanted. Why don’t you go back to your training and leave me here alone?” She couldn’t believe he’d actually hurt her feelings by not l
oving her. It wasn’t as if she loved him. Sure, he could make her body sing in bed, but that didn’t mean she loved him. He was the enemy, wasn’t he?
Roland walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m very sorry I was rude to you. I shouldn’t have said that. You are so much more than the land.” He sounded sincere, but she didn’t believe a word the man said. He was a Norman, only there for her lands.
She kept her back to him, refusing to listen to his words. How dare he say something so cruel, and then act as if he didn’t mean it?
He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. Her hair was in a long braid down her back and her neck was bare. His hands moved around to her front and squeezed the mounds of her breasts through the fabric. “Will you forgive me?”
She didn’t respond, but simply tilted her head to one side to give him better access to her neck. Within moments, he had unbuttoned the back of her gown and pushed it to the floor. She stood before him in just her shift, and then he removed that as well, leaving her naked before him.
His hands quickly removed his clothing, and he lowered her onto the bed, raining kisses on her neck and shoulders as he followed her down. “You are going to be the death of me, wife.” But he would die happy.
She raised her lips to his and kissed him as he’d taught her. “Why would you say that?” How could he kiss her and insult her at the same time? And worse yet, how could she allow him to do so?
He laughed. “I thought I could have a wife and forget about her during the day. I would see her at home, and casually pat her head as I walked past her and kept on with my day. I would never think of her during work hours, or God forbid feel the need to bed her.” He squeezed her nipple between thumb and forefinger while his other hand probed insistently between her legs to determine if she was ready for him. “And here I am, in the middle of the afternoon, making love to my wife instead of working. My men will think I’ve given up on training them altogether.”
His actions belied his words as he slipped between her thighs and gently probed her entrance. Her eyes closed as he slid into her and began the gentle rocking movements that would help them both find their fulfillment.
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