A Spy at the Highland Court
Page 17
Ric pressed Isa behind him and stood with his hand on his hip where the hilt of his sword normally would have rested. He looked about the chamber, a dark and brooding scowl on his face that warned away anyone who might test his commitment to his wife’s safety.
“Very well,” the king relented far too easily. “You shall ride out in the morning. And Sir Dedric, you’d do well to remember in the days to come just how readily you came to your wife’s defense. She is one of my wife’s favorites.”
Ric breathed a sigh of relief to realize that the king had only been testing him and that he had passed. He turned back to reach for Isa’s hand, but the glare she fixed upon him was as though she had discovered a rat before her, rather than the man she had spent hours making passionate love to only a short while ago. She spun on her heel and marched toward the chamber door and passed through it without looking back. She turned in the direction that would take her back to her own chamber, but Ric caught her arm.
“The chamber I used is in the other direction.”
“Then I shall bid you adieu until morning. Sleep well.”
Isa attempted to take a step, but Ric’s hand was like an anchor that kept her in place.
“Adieu? Sleep well? Isa, where are you going?”
“To my chamber, just as you are going to yours.”
“We do not have his and her chambers, we have ours. And I thought we agreed to the one with the larger bed.”
“Why? Wasn’t the sheet from mine big enough? It won’t make a difference since, as the king pointed out, I’m already wedded and bedded. There won’t be another sheet to fly from your chamber window.”
“I warned you that no matter what was said, I would protect you. You must have realized the king was testing me.”
“With the truth. You married me to get the plot of land you came here for. You needed to prove your entitlement to it by showing all and sundry that my dowry is now rightfully yours. You’ve done that. You have no need of me until it is time to ride out tomorrow. Do as you please. Wherever and with whomever you please.”
Ric scooped Isa into his arms and growled when she opened her mouth to complain.
“Do not speak until we reach our chamber.”
Isa was left with few options but to wrap her arms around Ric’s neck to keep from feeling like she would fall. She knew he would never drop her, but she felt safer holding onto him, and for that, she wanted to kick herself. When they arrived at his door, he pushed the handle then kicked it open. Robbie sprung to his feet from where he was polishing Ric’s armor.
“Out,” Ric barked, and Robbie scrambled past them without looking at either of them.
“Isabella—”
“I don’t think I like it when you use my full name,” she interrupted.
Ric took a deep breath to calm his temper.
“Isa, would you like to hear the truth of my negotiations with the king or would you rather let what he insinuated ruin what we created today?”
“He didn’t insinuate anything, Ric. He made it very clear to me and everyone else that my father bartered me for the land and in return received a well-trained knight.”
“No. That may be the outcome, but that is not how it came to be. Isa, please listen to me.”
Ric had placed her on her feet, and the moment they touched the floor, she fled to the window embrasure where she looked out over the town of Stirling.
“The king offered me a piece of land after it became obvious that I intended to marry you. The king made it contingent upon my willingness to serve your father, which I gladly agreed to. Isa, I don’t care about the land, but I do care that he wouldn’t have let me marry you without swearing fealty to your father and to him, which I did without hesitation. If you don’t want to live at that keep, if you’d rather return to your parents’ home, then I will relinquish any claim to the land. But it means I will be apart from you much longer and more often. I still have to patrol the border where the land the king gave me lies. That is what I was trying to avoid. I refused to leave without you, and that is why I insisted the ceremony be moved forward. I knew Robert wanted me to leave before the sun set today, and I was not going to risk running out of time to marry you.”
“Yes, because you needed proof before you arrived on my clan’s land. And you would have no authority without first being married to me.”
“Bloody hell, Isa. No.”
She spun around, irritated at the exasperation in Ric’s voice, but his expression was drawn.
“I wish someone, you in particular, had told me of this arrangement before we married. It doesn’t paint you in a good light.”
“I only found out this morning. That’s why I missed Matins. The king was making his demands, and I was doing everything I could to ensure I didn’t have to leave you behind.”
“Why does me joining you matter so much? Plenty of couples live apart when they are courtiers for a king.”
“I am no courtier. Not for Robert or any king. I may have been a knight for Edward and now a warrior for Robert, but I will never accept a court lifestyle, and I will never accept living apart from you. My wife. And how Robert, after the separation from Elizabeth that he was forced to endure, could consider I would voluntarily do the same is beyond me. I think I’ve made it clear from the beginning what my intentions were.”
“Yes. To serve Robert until you earned land on which you could retire.”
Ric stalked across the room and lifted Isa’s left hand. He twirled his signet ring around on her thumb.
“And how many days after I arrived did I make it clear that I would marry you? I gave you my ring. The one you still wear along with the one I placed on your finger today. I did that well before Robert ever spoke of land to me.”
He lifted her hand so the light shone on the bright emerald that sat in the band of gold on her ring finger, as well as on the thick band of the ring on her thumb. After they had signed the betrothal papers, Isa slipped the ring back onto her thumb without thinking about it. Ric had liked the look of her wearing something that bore his coat of arms so much that he had not asked for the ring back. She wore it to their wedding and still wore it now.
“It’s not about the land?” she whispered.
“It stopped being about land and started being about a home the moment I met you. Isa, my home is wherever you are. After years of drifting, at the end of the day and at the end of the battle, I want to go home. To you. Everything with you is different, better than anything else I have ever experienced.”
Ric’s voice caught and there was a rawness about his confession that humbled Isa. She was sure he had never spoken that way to anyone before. She opened her arms to him, and he buried his head in her neck.
“It just hurt so much to hear the king speak of me as though I meant nothing more than a means to getting what you really wanted.”
Ric wished he could confess everything to Isa, so she would understand what Robert’s test really meant, but he would not risk her life by sharing anything an enemy might use against either of them. He was committed to protecting her, and if he was willing to admit it, he was devoted to her as well.
They spent the rest of the night tucked away. Ceit knocked once and announced she had arranged for servants to deliver trays. When the next knock came, Ceit was nowhere in sight, but four footmen carried trays overflowing with enough food to feed them for several days. They undressed and sat before the fire to eat. Isa told him more about her years at court, and Ric shared what he dared about his time at Edward’s court. Isa did not bring up either of their childhoods, not wanting to share stories that Ric could not match. When they were both full, they moved to the bed where they made love again once more, this time without haste. Ric continued to worry about Isa having to ride the next day, but his bride was too alluring to ignore. They dozed off and on as they awoke to make love twice more before dropping into a deep sleep, Isa draped across Ric’s chest, one leg tucked between his two as his arms held her in place.
“Don’t stop,” he whispered.
She continued to explore his cheekbones and patrician nose before brushing her first two fingers across his lips. Ric rolled to his side so he could kiss Isa.
“Am I dreaming?” he wondered.
“No, my heart,” Isa returned his whisper, trying out an endearment for the first time.
“Say it again,” he pleaded.
“My heart,” Isa murmured beside his ear.
He had no willpower to deny himself the pleasure of her affection. In the first day of his marriage, he had realized several things about himself and his wife. He had no idea that he longed for affection until she offered it. He had no idea how much better coupling was with someone he cared about until he joined with Isa. And he had no idea how he would keep his secret from her. It would destroy the tender bud that was their relationship when all he wanted was to nurture it. He knew he was falling in love with Isa, and he prayed she would one day return his feelings. But if the truth came out that he was a spy for Edward who was forced into spying for Robert, she would never trust him again.
Chapter Seventeen
Isa and Ric rose when there was no longer a way to avoid the inevitable departure and long journey ahead of them. They slipped back to her chamber before anyone else in the castle stirred. How quickly Isa could prepare for the unexpected move impressed Ric. She packed two satchels with the most essential clothing and toiletries and dressed just as quickly as Ric had. She shrugged when Ric asked her about leaving the rest of her belongings behind.
“They’ll be sent along behind us, I’m sure. They’re mostly gowns I would only wear at court anyway. They aren’t fitting for life among my clan.”
They returned to Ric’s chamber just before Robbie arrived, having been summarily dismissed the day before, to assist Ric with his full armor, but the knight refused to wear it. He had put on his gambeson, a padded doublet, and only accepted Robbie’s aid in putting on his hauberk, a knee-length chain metal tunic, before adding his surcoat over the top. Ric had watched Isa dress and worried silently that she did not have any protection for her body should there be an attack. He would insist she ride in the middle of the group of warriors King Robert was assigning to Ric.
“Shall we make our way to the bailey?” Ric held out his arm to Isa, and she gladly slid her hand through until it rested on his forearm.
“I suppose we haven’t much choice. I don’t think the king will allow us another day alone.”
“I don’t believe he would. But the sooner we set off, the sooner we can arrive at our new home.”
Home. A word that brought both excitement and trepidation to both of them. Isa was looking forward to returning to her clan’s land after so many years at court. Her father, though a distant cousin to King Robert, had sided with the English early in the Scottish struggle for independence. Laird Dunbar had done what he thought would keep his people safe, but he had not chosen the victorious side. He and the king eventually reconciled when Dunbar pledged his fealty to Robert, and he had remained loyal ever since.
But part of the price of reconciliation had been Isa’s service to the queen’s court. She had been only fourteen when she arrived eight years earlier and had not had many opportunities to visit her family on their land. She traveled extensively with the royal household, but it was rare for them to visit the Lowlands. She was eager to assume her role as lady of the keep, realizing she wanted to make Ric proud of her. However, she was nervous about arriving with a husband who sounded so English, and worried about how her people would receive them. The Scots were not a trusting lot, and those living on the border understood that trust given to the wrong person could be deadly.
Ric had never lived anywhere he considered home. He was not even sure he understood the concept of living somewhere for the rest of his life, somewhere welcoming and permanent. He had endured his service at King Edward’s various castles, and he had endured his training with Sir Geoffrey, but neither place had felt like home. He had longed for somewhere that he would look forward to returning to and where he could finally find a sense of peace after moving so often. He wanted to create a life with Isa where they could be happy together, but he was nervous about proving himself to both Isa and her clan.
They arrived in the bailey to see many of the warriors had already arrived, but the horses were still being readied. Ric had learned that the keep he would inherit already had a strong standing defense, and the Bruce intended the men who would travel with them to be ones who rode on patrol with Ric. He had not yet identified which ones were Robert’s personal spies. He knew the only reason Robert would insist on such an arrangement was to ensure that someone was present to send missives back to the king to report on Ric’s progress. He knew because he had served in the same capacity to Edward Longshanks more than once.
Isa watched the hive of activity in the bailey as the horses stood awaiting their riders. She smiled when she saw her own pure brown gelding brought out. He rivaled the size of some battle-trained horses, and she knew he would be faster as she was a lighter mount. She was about to walk down the steps to greet Bridei with an apple she had saved from the previous night’s feast when women’s voices stopped her.
“You didn’t have to come out so early,” she smiled as Deirdre, Ceit, and Elizabeth opened their arms to embrace her. While the women were smiling, none of their husbands looked pleased to be dragged from their beds.
“We wanted to see you off. We’re going to miss your company,” Elizabeth admitted. “I wish you didn’t have to leave so soon.”
“I agree. It won’t be the same without you. I’ve grown very fond of you.” Ceit Comyn Sinclair had arrived at the royal court in much the same manner as Isa, with a family in disgrace. She had kept mostly to herself, and Isa now knew it was because the Bruce had enlisted her to spy on her traitorous uncle, who led the force opposed to Robert’s kingship. Her marriage to Tavish had relieved her of those duties, and she felt free to make friends.
“I am sure we will return to court from time to time,” Isa reassured them.
“But we will not, at least not if Magnus can help it,” Deirdre frowned. “I can’t blame him. I wouldn’t have come back if it weren’t to aid Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth had suffered a coach accident just before Christmas, and it was determined that it was intentional. They had yet to resolve the situation, so the king summoned his two godsons as trusted investigators, but their time spent riding out with Ric had kept them from their original duties.
“And I’m eager to return to Culcreuch where Edward doesn’t have a score of guards following me everywhere.” Elizabeth looked at her husband with a serene smile that belied her grumbling.
“You shall have to come visit us in Dunbeath,” Ceit offered. “I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of the northern Highlands after so long in the Lowlands.”
“I would like that. And I think the Highlands would suit Ric.”
“I recognize that look in your eyes,” Deirdre grinned, and at Isa’s puzzled expression, the other ladies giggled. “You’re rather more than just smitten with your husband.”
“I’d say so, too,” Elizabeth chimed in.
Deird
re took pity on Isa’s confusion and wrapped her arm around her.
“I think you’re falling in love with your husband, lass.”
Isa looked down at the ground and swallowed several times trying to keep tears from forming. She nodded but could not bring herself to look up yet lest she embarrass herself further.
“What is it?” Ceit asked softly. The mood among the friends had shifted. “Oh Isa, are you afraid he doesn’t feel the same way?”
Isa finally looked up and nodded. She welcomed the second embrace from her friends and wished it did not have to end.
“Isa, it’s clear to anyone that Ric cares about you, and I would venture to say he is falling in love with you, too,” Ceit whispered.
“I can only hope so, or it will be a long and lonely life.” Isa pushed her shoulders back and lifted her chin as she took a deep breath to compose herself. “A life that shall begin in moments. It looks like the men are ready to ride.”
The women embraced a final time before returning to their husbands, who looked mollified after chatting with Ric.
Ric turned to find Isa and caught the expressions she wore before she put on a brave face. He wondered if her regrets were for leaving the court or for leaving with him. He took her hand and assisted her down the steps, having noticed that the skirts to her kirtle were longer than usual.
“I shall miss them, but I am excited for this new adventure.” Isa looked up at Ric, and the softness in her eyes and smile reassured Ric that she was not dreading the journey as he had feared.
Ric looked around for Isa’s mare and was just about to send Robbie to find the horse when he saw Isa walk up to a giant chestnut gelding and take the reins from a stable boy. She was in the saddle before Ric could warn her away from the beast. She mounted astride and settled her long skirts around her to keep her legs covered. He understood now why the kirtle was cut the way it was, and he observed Isa sat like an experienced horsewoman. He walked over and checked Isa’s saddle despite her already being on the horse.