That didn’t deter the king. “I would hear you,” he said. “Let me be the judge.”
“But I do not know any songs, Your Highness.”
John lifted a dismissive hand. “Did you learn hymns as a child?”
“Some, I think, but…”
“Then sing one.”
He said it in a way that left no room for discussion and Teodora was truly mortified. She couldn’t sing worth a lick, as the entire room was about to find out. She caught Chadwick’s rather sympathetic expression, knowing that he knew what she knew – that she had no choice.
Quickly, Teodora tried to think of something from her childhood but her mind seemed to go blank. All she could think of was a song her mother had sung to her when she’d been very young.
Dilly, dilly, lady fairy, how shall you fly? Long to the day as slumber grows nigh;
On gossamer wings, you touch the stars.
On the wings of angels, you steal our hearts.
Come touch my heart, O fairy dove,
And take me from the world above.
Oh, but it was horribly sung. Off key and with absolutely no rhythm. She had only delivered the first three or four words before everyone turned to watch her, expecting a sweet lady’s song but getting a mess of notes instead. A goose would have sounded better. When Teodora finished, her stomach was lurching and her aching back was only growing worse. All she wanted to do was run from the chamber but the king lifted his hands and clapped politely.
“Well done, my lady,” he said, a thin smile on his face. “Grace us with another, please.”
Teodora actually thought she might become ill. “Your Highness, surely you derive no pleasure from my singing,” she said. “I simply do not have a talent for it.”
The king almost insisted on another song but thought better of it. “Then I am sure you have other skills,” he said. “You fostered in a fine house, did you not?”
Teodora nodded. “Aye, I did, but…”
“Then tell us a story. Surely you know many entertaining stories.”
Oh, God, she didn’t! She knew nothing at all, but she knew the king would not accept that answer. Mortified, she quickly thought of something she could tell him, any story at all, as she moved to the chair near the hearth again. Her back was aching so terribly now that standing was painful, so she went to the chair and lowered herself, trying to think of something – anything – to tell the king.
“It is a sad fact, Your Highness, that the talents most young woman have are things that have escaped me,” she said. “I cannot sing, as you have heard, and I cannot sew or paint. I can dance, a little, but my strengths were in riding horses and managing a house and hold. I am good with mathematics and I can read and write. I am not completely useless, but sometimes it seems that way.”
John’s attention had turned back to the board game, where he was beating Barric in yet another game. “Then if you can dance, you will dance for me,” he said.
It was another command. With an aching back and indigestion, Teodora stood up once more. She was wearing layers of wool, with a fur collar and heavy sleeves lined with rabbit, but the skirt of the surcoat was gathered and flowing. In fact, she was wearing several skirts against the cold. They weren’t exactly dancing clothes, but they would have to do.
Slowly, she began to move, twirling across the floor in a surprisingly graceful move. The more she did it, the more comfortable she became with it, and she lifted her arms elegantly, twirling about to music that only she could hear. Every so often, she’d spin about and see the king looking at her, as if appreciating what he saw, but mostly, she saw Chadwick watching her like a hawk.
His eyes never left her.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t know why he was watching her or, in truth, what he was feeling for her. That was something she had read in his expression very early on because he looked at her the same way that Cullen had looked at her – an intense gaze that was full of warmth and interest. Chadwick masked whatever he was feeling behind a professional attitude and non-romantic friendship, but then there were moments like this when everything he was feeling was written in his face.
Teodora tried very hard to ignore it.
Though she considered Chadwick a dear friend, the reality was that she had no romantic feelings for him. He was like a brother to her, the brother she never had, and feeling anything more for him had never crossed her mind. She had given her heart to one man and even though he was gone, he’d taken her heart with him. She could never get it back and she could never give it to another.
She suspected that was something Chadwick would not understand.
As she twirled around, she began to hum a tune, off-key, but it was a tune she’d heard once, a long time ago. A band of traveling minstrels had come to Cerenbeau one night for shelter and, in return, they’d played through the evening meal and well into the night. It was one of their tunes that she hummed softly as she danced about, wishing more than anything that, just once, she could have danced with Cullen.
Just one dance where there was only the two of them in the whole world.
The man had been gone these many months now but, still, he was as alive in her mind as if she’d only seen him yesterday. It was odd how a man she’d only known so short a time had marked her so deeply. But it was a fact that they had something very special, something not frequently found.
What they had was pure magic.
Teodora closed her eyes as she danced, imagining that Cullen was beside her. She wished that with all her heart. But suddenly, an odd bolt of pain shot down her back and into her legs. It was a painful twinge and she came to a halt, thinking she must have injured herself somehow. Perhaps sitting in that uncomfortable chair had done damage. But the pain eventually subsided and, with a shrug, she resumed dancing. She was afraid that if she stopped, the king would make her sing again, or worse. At least dancing was something she could do moderately well.
A few more minutes of dancing passed. The king won yet another game from Barric and announced that he was surely the best Draught player in all the land, to which Sloan readily agreed and Barric begrudgingly conceded. There was a good deal of boasting going on and more wine was brought in as Teodora continued to dance over near the hearth. She had just completed a particularly pretty spin that saw her many skirts rise gracefully when she abruptly came to a halt and grabbed her belly.
Fortunately, she was facing the hearth and the men on the opposite side of the chamber didn’t see her, but a searing pain ripped through her groin and down her legs. It was as startling as it had been painful, and Teodora stood there a moment with her hand over her belly, wondering what in the world had happened. She’d never felt pain like that in her life. As the pain subsided, she started to dance again, or at least try, but Chadwick was suddenly standing next to her.
“What is the matter?” he asked quietly.
Teodora looked at him, puzzled. “I do not know,” she said. “I think that chair I was sitting on has hurt my back somehow.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I have had a terrible pain in my back and now one in my groin.”
Chadwick stared at her. They were both facing the hearth, away from the men in the chamber, and trying to keep the situation just between the two of them, but Chadwick knew that wouldn’t last long. He had been a physic for many years and he knew what it meant when a pregnant woman had pains in her back and in her groin.
He had to get her out of there.
“I need to take you back to your chamber,” he muttered. “Can you walk?”
“Of course I can walk.”
“Then let us depart,” he said. “I will make some excuse to the king.”
Teodora didn’t question him. In fact, it was a relief to finally be leaving. They turned away from the hearth but hadn’t taken two steps when John noticed that the pair was moving in unison.
“Lady Barklestone, where are you going?” he asked. “I was enjoying your dancing immensel
y. Please continue.”
Teodora looked at Chadwick fearfully and he answered for her. “The lady is not feeling well, Your Highness,” he said. “As you know, she is ill. She has exerted herself far too much.”
John was dismissive. “She is only dancing,” he said, flicking a wrist at him. “It takes no effort at all. She will remain and dance for me. I command it.”
Chadwick looked at Teodora, seeing the anxiety on her face. At the moment, there wasn’t much he could do in the face of a royal order, so he simply shook his head in disgust. “Go ahead,” he whispered. “But do not move around too much. I shall convince him that you must return to your chamber.”
Hesitantly, Teodora returned to her position next to the hearth. The pain had gone for the most part, with only a faint ache left in its place. Lifting her arms, she began to sway back and forth again, dancing without the enthusiasm she’d had before, but making a good stab at it. She thought the pain had gone away entirely as she twirled a couple of times, her movement gaining in strength and momentum. Just as she sashayed past the windows that faced the inner bailey, she came to an abrupt and unsteady halt.
Chad, who had been trying to speak with the king in between movements in the game, happened to look over when he caught her standing motionless out of the corner of his eye. She was simply standing there, facing the windows, but he could see that she was looking down, perhaps at her feet. The king and Barric were beginning to argue about the last move that Barric made and Chadwick was about to return his attention to them when he caught sight of Teodora lifting up her skirts so she could see her feet.
She was standing in a puddle of water.
Chadwick was beside her before he realized he’d even moved.
“Teddy?” he said. “What happened?”
It was then that he noticed she was marginally bent over, her hands on her belly. “I had another sharp pain,” she said, “and all of this water came… it just came out.”
Chadwick knew exactly what had happened. She didn’t have to say anything more. Putting an arm around her waist and holding on to her hands, he turned her around and began to lead her toward the solar door. Of course, John saw them moving again and he broke from his argument with Barric to put up a hand.
“She is not going anywhere, Chadwick,” he said sternly. “Stop trying to take her away. I want her to dance for me and I will tell you when she is finished.”
Chadwick didn’t have time for pleasantries or tactful conversation. “She cannot dance for you, Your Highness,” he said. “I must take her to her room immediately.”
John frowned deeply. “You dare go against me?”
Frustrated, and hating the fact that the king was so dense and selfish that he couldn’t see beyond his own wants, Chadwick pointed to the trail of wet footprints behind them.
“The lady is in distress,” he said sharply.
John’s eyes widened in confusion as he saw the wet marks across the floor, coming from a small puddle that was over by the hearth. “What’s this?” he demanded. “She… she soiled herself in my presence?”
By this time, Barric and Sloan were on their feet, looking at the wet floor with equal confusion. Short on patience, Chadwick was blunt.
“Lady Barklestone is with child,” he said, watching the various expressions of shock and disbelief spread across the occupants of the chamber. “Her child is now ready to be born and that is why I am taking her to her chamber. I am sure you do not wish for a woman to entertain you whilst laboring to have a child and then drop the baby on the floor in your presence.”
He didn’t even wait for the king to reply. He simply ushered Teodora out of the chamber, calling for the servants as he took her to the steps that led up to her second-floor chamber.
John, Barric, and Sloan could hear him issuing demands for linens and hot water as he went. When his shouts faded, the three of them faced each other with a great deal of astonishment.
“Lady Barklestone is with child?” Barric gasped. “All this time she spent at Rockingham and she never told me? My God… the woman was riding to battle all this time and she was with child?”
His voice was filled with disbelief as Sloan walked halfway across the floor, peering at the small puddle on the stone.
“As astounding as this revelation is, I must say that I am not entirely surprised,” he said after a moment. “Now it is all coming to make sense.”
“What do you mean?” Barric asked.
Sloan shrugged. “She tried very hard to keep to herself,” he said. “She wore clothing that did not bind, tunics that concealed… I must say that I never suspected at all, especially given the fact that she did, in fact, ride to battle quite often.”
“She did it knowing she was with child,” John said, stunned. He looked at Barric. “And you did not know?”
Barric shook his head, at a loss. “Not a word,” he said. “She has lived and worked as if everything was completely normal, as if she was not pregnant with her husband’s child. There was no way to know, I tell you.”
Sloan was coming back toward the gaming table, away from the wetness near the hearth as if it repulsed him. “It is true, Your Highness,” he said. “I have been here with Lady Barklestone all this time and it is true that she kept her condition hidden, and probably for good reason.”
John scowled. “Why should you say that?”
“It is quite obvious. Because she carries Barklestone’s heir.”
The king went from a scowl to raised eyebrows, all in just a few short seconds. A gleam came to his eyes. “Preston’s heir,” he muttered as if the idea had just occurred to him. “Sloan, you are absolutely right. She carries Preston’s heir but the man must not have known she was with child. If he had, then surely he would have asked for his wife to be returned to him.”
Sloan was nodding as he pondered the implications. The fact that Lady Barklestone was about to give birth added so much to an already brittle situation that he was still trying to grasp the possibilities.
“Considering she is your prisoner and her husband is opposed to you, then it makes sense she would not want you to know, Your Highness,” he said, eyeing the man. “But you are not a monster. Surely you would not hurt a mother and child. In fact, you should make all due haste to let her go with her father to Cerenbeau Castle where she can recover her strength.”
John looked at him as if he’d gone mad. “Send her back to Cerenbeau?” he repeated, incredulous. “Why would I do that? Lady Barklestone has given me a great gift and I do not intend to let her out of my sight. Do you not understand? With Barklestone’s heir as my prisoner, I can drive Preston de Lacy to ruin.”
And if I do not help Teodora return with her father, I will lose my stake in the Cerenbeau estate, Sloan thought. At the moment, it was no longer even a matter of returning her to Preston so she could continue spying on the man. As much as Sloan wanted to see his devious plan through to ultimate fruition, it was becoming more apparent that what he’d planned for Teodora, and his manipulations of the situation, were for naught. John would do as John wanted to do, and he was struggling to keep an even head because it was clear that the king had no sympathy toward the woman and her child. All he saw were political pawns when, in fact, it was what Sloan saw, too. But at least his motives were to return her home with her father, not use her as a bargaining tool.
At least, not yet.
He didn’t know what he wanted any longer.
“It is equally possible that the child is not even Preston’s,” he said, trying to unbalance the king. “Lady Barklestone has spent a good deal of time with other men, Chadwick and de Lara included. Who is to say the child does not belong to one of them? I have it on good authority that Preston does not even like women, so it is quite possible he never touched her.”
John’s eyes widened at the mere thought. “How true,” he said. “Preston has an entire stable of young men in London, men he uses for sexual favors. That is why we were all so surprised when he took a wife.
But, clearly, Lady Barklestone has lain with a man because she is having a child. But who is the man if it is not Preston?”
Sloan was rather pleased with himself. He’d muddied up the waters of the baby’s paternity sufficiently, hopefully enough to deter the king from his plans of using the child against Preston.
“Mayhap that is something we will never know,” Sloan said. “But if you try to ransom the child to Preston, you may very quickly find out if he refuses to pay. And then what? You’ll have the burden of a mother and child no one wants.”
That was something John hadn’t considered. Or, at least, he pretended not to have considered it. Turning back to his board game, he crooked a finger at Barric, indicating for the man to reclaim his seat.
“Mayhap,” the king agreed, returning to his game now that the excitement of Lady Barklestone had faded. “Sloan, go up to Lady Barklestone’s chamber and see if Chadwick has things well in-hand. Return to me when you have any news.”
He was effectively cutting off the subject, but Sloan took the opportunity. He quit the solar, moving quickly for the stairs leading to the second floor of the keep while John reset the pieces on his game board. When Sloan was well away, John spoke softly.
“You will get that child for me,” he said casually. “In spite of what Sloan says, the child is still borne of Barklestone’s wife. As far as I am concerned, it is the Barklestone heir and I am sure Preston would do anything to keep the child alive.”
Barric looked up from his game pieces. “Then you intend to use the child against him, Your Highness?”
John was already moving his game pieces on the board. “I intend to keep the child as a hostage to ensure Preston’s good behavior,” he said. “Preston has spent many years pretending to be ambiguous in his loyalties, but we all know that he supports the rebellion. Sloan does, too, so I am not sure what his angle is for discouraging me from using the child against Preston, but Sloan always has an angle. He is as conniving as any man I have ever met, though he pretends to be loyal to me. Sloan is only loyal to Sloan.”
Barric started to move his game pieces, too, considering the king had started the game without him. “Then we shall assume that Sloan is against us,” he said. “When the child is born, I will make sure to obtain custody of it, have no fear.”
Noble Line of de Nerra Complete Set: A Medieval Romance Bundle Page 38