by Marie Hall
"I am sorry, please. I am sorry. I will do anything you ask. Please forgive me." Her feet touched ground again, but her legs couldn't hold her. "I am sorry." Her arms went around his knees, and she pressed her face against his thigh.
"Io, enough." Xavier's hands slipped under her arms and pulled. "Enough." His tone ended the panic. If he was indeed going to have her gone, then she'd find it in herself to be gone. Panic did nothing and made her vulnerable to those who'd have her next.
"I am sorry, my lord," she said to ensure he knew she bore him no ill will for any of this.
"Enough, Io," he snapped. "Look at me." It was a command, and like she'd learned to do, she obeyed it. "Enough, I will not have apologies made in haste and fear from you. I will not have them at all if they are not given freely, rather out of some misguided attempt to save yourself from something not even real. Now tell me, what happened?"
"He said he was going to take me away," she said, chancing a look over her shoulder at the men who threatened to rip her from this man. "He said he has that power."
"He does not," Xavier stated, and his hold on her tightened.
"If the woman calls for sanctuary, we will give it," Gaston countered.
"Sanctuary?" Io heard Lucas repeat the word. "She cannot."
"Xavier," Lord Deux Saunds stepped up, and Io turned her face against Xavier's chest and pressed closer. "I would be remiss to leave a woman to be abused by the man charged with protecting her."
"Abused?" Xavier's scoffing tone didn't help, as without looking, she could feel them coming closer. "I do not abuse Lady Io. She got thrashed, deservedly so. It happens often enough." Io was jostled then. "She is a scold, brash, vulgar and as unseemly as they come." She was jostled again, and this time, she looked up to see him smiling down on her. "Are you not such, my lady?"
"Um-hmm, yes." A bit of strength came back to her legs and she got her feet under her a little more.
"We all heard her screams; you would deny abuse?" Elliott said.
It was Lucas with the sharp answer. "A cane makes most scream like that, but Lady Io screams all the same, even at a sharp look from Lord Brice." That caused chuckles among their men.
"I do not," Io hissed.
"Xavier, if she is no criminal you hold and you hold her at the king's will, I cannot step down and leave her to be…" Andre faded off.
"She is not abused, my friend, I assure you this. Nor is she a criminal of any kind. But I do not hold her at the king's will, I hold her at my own, her own. Tell them, Io, who you are."
"I did. I am Io." Again, chuckles rumbled through the men.
"No," Xavier said, laughter in his own voice. "Tell them who you are to me. Tell them your status in our house."
"Wife?" She wasn't sure that was what he meant because he called her a number of things. Looking up, she saw him nodding. "I am your wife, mistress in your house." His arms tightened, and this time, she turned to look at the men whose mouths hung open now. "I am his wife; I am Lady Brice."
"Wife?" Gaston sputtered and paled.
"Wife," Xavier confirmed. "And I think if you ask her, she will tell you she wishes to remain so. Is this correct, my lady?"
"Yes, please, I am sorry, ple—" His hand went over her mouth.
"I told you no. I will not have it from you under these circumstances," he said, tucking her against his side so she was more behind him then beside him. "My wife was not to be beyond the walls, that she disobeyed and was taken hostage was her doing, and as her husband, I held her to account. But I did not abuse her. These very men would have already seen me dead if I had."
"She said she was with you by the king's command. Did you force her to wed you?"
Io wished now Gaston would give up. He was going to push Xavier too far with his accusations of dishonorable deeds. Xavier, though, surprised her when he threw his head back and laughed.
"The king forced me to wed her," he said, causing bellowing laughter to roll through the camp.
"Now wait a minute," Io started, poking him in the ribs, only to be squeezed so tightly she thought her own might crack.
"But we have settled into it," Xavier went on. "And when she is not trying to rule me, we get on well."
She didn't always know when he teased, but she was fairly sure now. "Get on well when I am not trying to rule you? That is not what you told me the last night we shared," she grumbled, hoping only he heard. But it wasn't only his dismissive snort she got in reply. Several scandalized gasps also reached her ears. Pulling back her shoulders and stiffening her spine, she slid more behind Xavier wrapping her arms around him just to make sure he didn't let them take her.
"Wife, you say?" Andre said, sounding both awed and relieved. "That gives you rights then to act toward her as you will. I withdraw my offer of sanctuary."
"Father?" Gaston cried out.
"She is his wife; a husband can do to his wife whatever his will. And I do not see a woman willing to flee from this man," Andre said.
"Then perhaps you will officially proclaim your surrender that I might see my wife and men home?" Xavier asked, holding out a hand.
"Victory is yours, and hopefully it comes with lessons on how far to push an opponent," Deux Saunds said, taking Xavier's hand. The last part Io knew was directed at those men who'd taken her hostage. "My lady, I wish you much happiness in your marriage to Xavier Brice."
Io might have thanked him, but she wasn't inclined to, and after a few moments of awkward silence, she heard them all move off, and those left in camp went back to what they'd been doing before.
With a sigh, Xavier pulled her from behind and around to stand in front of him. His head was already shaking at her when he lifted her face. "No one is taking you from me."
"He said it was in his power."
"No one is taking you from me," he repeated.
"He said—"
"Ever." It sounded final, but it didn't feel that way.
"Io," Lucas said, stepping up. "Had you been some woman in Xavier's care, it might have been within his ability to remove you from the house. Though, not as easy as it must have sounded. But you are not some woman. You are Xavier's wife. You cannot be removed by just anyone."
"But there are those who could take me?"
"No one is taking you from me." Again, it sounded right, but—
"Xavier," Lucas chided, and Xavier huffed.
"There are people with power and status enough who could try, Io, to remove you from the house. But that is all it would become, an attempt, for I will not let it happen."
"No one would let it happen," Cutler said, shoving a wet skin into her hands. "Went far enough upstream no chance anyone pissed in that," he grumped. "Brought a few buckets back, too." He stomped off, muttering about how she was strange to not like wine or ale, same as he always did when he was with her any place. His comments were as comforting as Xavier's embrace.
"Come back to the tent. Drink your water, wash your face, and eat something. The camp will be down tonight, and we will all start back in the morning," Xavier said as he led her inside and helped her down to the furs. He paused at the flap and turned to look back at her. "We will speak more on all of it, Io, after we have both found some calm."
It was quite late when that calm came and Io left the tent to seek him out. But what she witnessed caused words to again fail her.
Chapter 14
"I know you are there; you are no more skilled in silent approach than you were when the game was on," Xavier called. "Step out; do not show yourself to be a coward." He waited now, hoping it was only the one, because Xavier wasn't armed at all. Not even a knife was on his person. He waited, listening. The crunch of leaves and a snap of a stick preceded the boy who stepped into the clearing. Young Gaston Deux Saunds. He was hardly more than nineteen, but he stepped out, fist on hilt, to challenge Xavier now.
"You do not deserve her," he stated in a near snarl.
"I do not, but she is mine." Xavier watched his movements. He wasn't very skill
ed, but it took only good fortune for an unskilled blade to fell any man, no matter his mastery of battle.
"And if you are dead."
"She would still be mine," Xavier said, confident enough to not sound like he was boasting. "You see her, and all you see is a beautiful woman, held by a man she has no power against."
"I see her with a brute who cares not for her as she is deserving." He was stepping closer, circling a bit. Xavier kept him centered in front of him. If he charged, he'd have to come at him square.
"That is why, even if I am to fall here, now, you could not have her. No one who cannot see Io's strength, who will not acknowledge the power she wields, can have her. Were you to try and hold her, she'd destroy you. She is no weak maid. She has known more battles in her life than you will ever know in yours."
"Is that how you justify your abuses?" The distance between them was tightening, the blade almost pulled from its sheath.
"Were she a woman made compliant with silks and shiny things, I would use those methods. She is not. Were she a coward too afraid to push boundaries, to push me, I would need no more than my command. Again, she is not."
"She would have more reason to obey if you did not terrorize her, beat her." The sword came loose, glinting in the scattered moonlight filtered by the trees.
"Her obedience is not mine by force, which is why it is not mine consistently," Xavier said then dodged right as the youth swung down. The miss sent him stumbling, and Xavier again turned to face him. "Io cannot be forced to anything or anyone. Her will is her own."
"It will be, when you are dead," Gaston snarled and lunged.
This time, Xavier twisted to the side, and planting his feet, he caught the man's sword arm on the down stroke, twisting it so the blade fell to the ground. Using the same momentum Gaston charged with, Xavier forced him face down to the ground, holding him in place with a knee in his back. Gaston searched the leaves with his free hand and came up with the blade. A second knee on his arm and Xavier had him pinned, disarmed, and ready for dispatch.
"No one will die tonight."
"You do not deserve her; you are not good enough." His words came on a wheeze. With the ease of practice, Xavier flipped the man face up, captured his hands and again pinned him down with a knee. Lifting the sword, he gave it a spin before driving it hard into the ground close enough to the man's head to nick his ear.
"No one is good enough. But I love her, which is why I have her and will always have her. I love her as a man would love a woman, not as a boy. Not as untried youth, who still thinks beauty equals ease and quality. I love her as she is, not as she is seen. If you knew her for more than a minute, you might love her still, but you would know she is beyond you. You cannot love her enough to hold her because you do not possess a heart strong enough, yet restrained enough to stand both for and against her. It is not a soft, yielding, romantic heart she needs. It is a heart strong enough she can stomp on it, stab at it. One that even when the cut is deep will remain always honest and devout. She wants a heart that even if it is sometime harsh, it is always unwavering. I give her that." He paused and let that sink into the man. "Someday, I hope you find a woman you can look at and see as more than beautiful and soft. I hope you can look and see all the imperfections, all the scars, and I hope, then, you can still love her because it is that kind of love that is the truest." Xavier shoved back and stood. He gave the boy a last look then, without concern, turned his back and walked away. He was almost to the other side of the clearing when Io burst out and flung herself into his arms.
"Xavier," she cried and pushed against him.
"Are you out here alone?" It was far less the harsh tone he meant to use, but having her again cling to him after this morning, it was his undoing.
"Of course not," Luther scoffed, stepping out into the clearing along with two other soldiers. "Did you not kill him? I would have killed him."
Xavier looked back at Gaston still trying to pull his blade from the ground. "Because he is not the youngest son of your good friend."
"Xavier, you are not armed," Io said, patting him down. "Why do you go about unarmed? He could have hurt you. He could have—"
"He is harmless, Io. A boy trying to play the part of a hero." He started them moving again.
"I do not understand."
"He thought to save you from me. He thought you might want him more."
Io's snort was loud. "I do not want him." That caused some chuckles.
"And I told him, but he did not believe me."
"Should I tell him?" She stopped to look back. They all did, watching as Gaston kicked at his sword to try to loosen it enough, he could pull it free.
"I think he understood, once I explained it to him. He saw something he wanted, and he tried to claim it. He will not try again."
"Me? He wanted me?"
"Of course," Xavier said, stopping and holding her back so the others could go ahead.
"Why?"
The question startled him, and he could give her a thousand answers but didn't think any of them would satisfy her. Not when she didn't understand completely such concepts as love. "Is that not the way of children?" he said with a shrug. "Now did you come seeking me out, or did you come only to relieve yourself?"
"Xavier," she groaned. Too many weeks in the company of only men, he supposed.
"Beg pardon."
"I am sorry. I wanted to say that. It was wrong what I did, all of it. I will try to be better. That you do not have a bad wife you must pay for."
"Apology accepted. This should be done between us?" He heard her sniff, felt her head nod against his chest, but something didn't feel settled. Something was lingering, but when Io took his hand and started into camp, he followed. And when she welcomed him on the pallet under the tarp set up for her, as all the tents were now down and packed, he didn't question. He simply put his arms around her and held her so she didn't roll to her back and renew the pain in her arse. Morning would see a new chance to see if she might have more to say. She did, but it took until they were almost home to come out.
Io let her steps grow shorter so she again walked behind Xavier and the two horses he led down the road. She'd not come to any conclusion on why he chose to walk back to the house. It was a full two days of travel this way. All he'd said was he'd missed enough days with her, and he thought now was a fine time for them to catch up on any matters they might want or need to discuss.
The first morning and the whole of the day, as they walked, they'd spoken brokenly of things that needed attending at the house or around the shires. Xavier made a point of telling her he'd not forgotten about the anniversary of the day the marriage contract arrived, and he suggested several things they might do to celebrate, but she'd given no commitment because she still struggled with what had happened. Not just her being kidnapped and found out, and not the punishment she'd received. That, she'd settled in her mind as fair and just for lying to him. He'd told her, long ago, the cost if she wasn't truthful. No, the uncertainty lay in what waited, for when he chose to take retribution for the ransom, for the near defeat, and for the attempted assassination he had to fend off. So far, he'd given no indication of how he'd take that pound of flesh from her. And knowing someone was out there who could remove her from the house filled her with a dread she'd not felt in a while.
Was it possible that now, now that she'd cost Xavier so much, someone was headed to take her someplace else? She wanted to ask him last night when they stopped at the inn at Paxtir if, after all this, he regretted having her as a responsibility. Would he recoup his eighty gold from whoever came for her, or would he cut his losses and be glad to see her gone? But she'd not asked. Rather, she did what she could to savor any of the time left with him. And if him holding her on his lap, her sore, bruised arse between his knees, while they ate was a show to save face at the inn, she didn't care. She took it. Had he wanted to find his pleasure between her thighs, she'd have not denied him. After all, he'd paid enough for that privilege.
Eighty gold? Near defeat? Eighty? Why, when she could have bargained them down to no more than ten? When he'd an offer of fifty on the table, when she'd have stayed with them until Xavier claimed victory and no cost? Eighty gold? For one disobedient, bad wife.
"Io?"
She looked up to see they'd both stopped in the middle of the road, with him several paces ahead of her. But as he stood there waiting, she couldn't make her feet move. She didn't want to return to the house. Whoever was coming for her would find her to easily there.
"Io?" His silhouette blurred before the welling tears, one splashing down for every step he took towards her. "Io, what is the matter?" He reached to set a hand against her cheek, but she turned and leaned away. "Io?"
"Why did you pay them eighty gold?" It was too much, even if she never used any of her earnings from lessons again, she'd never be able to pay that back.
"Io." His laughter seemed nervous and uncertain. "Why would I not pay the ransom?"
"I am not worth that." If she'd whispered the words or screamed them, she didn't know. All she knew was, one moment, she was tasting tears, and the next, dirt as Xavier's knee was digging into her middle and the sunlight was blotted out by the skirts over her head.
He might have laid the cane on her with care. He didn't have any as his hand fell without mercy. She was tangled in her skirts and too off balance to get free, and she'd no fight at all past the point where the suddenness of his actions forced the reflexive defense of her person.
Xavier delivered blow after blow to an arse already wounded, and it seemed he had no intent to ever stop. Then he did. And then she was lying on her back in the road staring up at a man who so rarely showed her this sort of anger.
"You will not ever say such a thing again," he yelled, spittle spraying as he did. "I will not have my wife so slandered." His fist came down in the dirt beside her head. "Do you understand me?"