by The Saxon
“Me?”
“I was afraid that I had misjudged your feelings for me. I was afraid you would hate me because I was my father’s son, especially after what he tried to do to you in his hall.” He looked at her steadily. “I was afraid you would not wait for me. And you did not.”
“What was I to do? Wait and wait for a boy who had apparently forgotten me? I did wait, a very long time, but there was nothing. Not a message, not one word.”
“I could not sail into a Viking village,” he protested.
“You could have found a way, Adelar.” Again he saw the anguish in her tear-filled eyes and heard the sorrow in her voice. “If you truly cared for me, you could have found a way.”
“She is going to take all your churls.” Bayard’s hearty voice cut through the air.
Startled, Endredi gasped, then stared at the board. She had forgotten the existence of everyone except Adelar.
“No, she is not,” Adelar replied. With great effort he kept his voice calm. Then he finished his move, capturing her chieftain.
Bayard put his hand upon Endredi’s shoulder. She moved quickly, standing so that his hand fell away. She stared at the rushes on the floor and summoned the strength to show nothing on her face when he said, “Come, Endredi, the hour grows late. Sleep well, Adelar.”
“Sleep well, my lord,” Adelar answered coolly.
She let Bayard lead her from the hall, aware of his hand upon her arm, his nearness in the dark, and Adelar’s distance. He might as well have been on the moon. It would be better if he were.
“Were you crying?” Bayard said quietly.
“I do not like to lose,” she answered, which was the truth, although it had nothing to do with her true state of mind.
The full meaning of Adelar’s words was finding its way past the carefully constructed barriers about her heart. He had been in his father’s hall that terrible night, prepared to kill to save her!
She should never have doubted him. She should have kept faith in their feelings for each other. Her heart soared, then fell to earth like a lump of clay. Because his revelation, and her answering emotions, had come too late.
“I am happy to hear you are loath to lose, even though it be only a game,” Bayard said. “So am I. And so is Adelar. I am also pleased that you allowed him to win.”
“I did not let him win.”
He chuckled softly. “I saw your final moves. They were so bad, a child could have defeated you. Yet you seemed truly distraught.”
“I thought it was better to act the way men expect women to act when they are losing. I...there are so many here who do not like me, and I know Adelar is important to you.”
“Yes, he is. But I do not fear Adelar’s disapproval.”
“Ranulf’s?”
Bayard chuckled again, but this time with scorn more than true gaiety. He held open the door to the bower and she entered, realizing at once that something was not right.
“Helmi? Why is it so cold here?” she demanded.
Helmi stood up, setting aside the gown she had been mending. “Because that stupid Saxon slave hasn’t brought any coal for the braziers yet.”
Bayard followed Endredi inside, but he didn’t say anything. He simply went to the small table and poured himself some ale.
“You could not fetch it?” Endredi asked calmly.
Helmi glanced from her mistress to Bayard and back again, her annoyance changed to uncertainty. “That is a job for slaves,” she answered.
“Or a servant,” Endredi countered. “I suggest you get some at once.”
At that moment, Ylla appeared at the door, a basket of coal on her arm. She hesitated, her eyes wide with fear when she encountered Helmi’s hostile gaze. Endredi stepped forward and took the coal. “You may go,” she said, and the girl scurried off like a terrified mouse. Endredi turned to Helmi. “You, too.”
“But, my lady, I should make up the fire—”
“Leave us.”
Helmi frowned, but she did as she was told.
Bayard watched as Endredi placed the coals in the brazier on a bed of tinder that Helmi had prepared. Using a flint, she struck a spark and made the fire. “You do that well,” he commented.
“I am not used to servants,” she confessed. “In truth, I wish Helmi was not here.”
“I will send her back, if that would please you.”
“That will not be necessary.”
“But if she troubles you...”
“It is not Helmi’s fault.”
“I could send Helmi home and you could have Ylla for your servant.”
“She is a slave.”
“I will make her free, if you would like it.”
Why must he be so kind to her?
“They would think Helmi has offended us, and perhaps she would suffer for it.”
“As you wish. But what of Ylla?”
Endredi thought a moment. “Helmi is not young. She should have someone to help her. Ylla seems a clever girl and she could learn much from Helmi if she was given the chance to learn.”
“It shall be as you wish.”
Endredi smiled at him, the first genuine smile she had given him. “Thank you.” She suddenly realized that he looked fatigued and perhaps even ill. She went toward him. “What is it, Bayard? Are you sick?”
He grinned, and because of her concern for him, this time she did not note the resemblance to Adelar. “It is nothing. I am merely tired.”
She sat on the stool beside him. “Perhaps I can help you, Bayard. I have been taught healing.”
“I am only tired.”
“And troubled? Is it Dagfinn?”
“He is one. You know him—is he to be trusted?”
“No.”
He looked at her with some surprise. “No? Just like that? And you are so sure?”
“He can be trusted to be true to a bargain as long as the bargain continues to be in his favor. While the Saxons of Wessex are strong, he will abide by his word. But if the Danes show sign of defeating the Saxons and their allies, that will surely change.”
“You give me hope and despair at the same time.”
“I give you the truth. There is one other thing I would tell you, Bayard. My father is a rich and powerful Viking in the land across the sea. Dagfinn would not be eager to attack his daughter’s home, so I do not believe he would unless he was very sure of success.”
“Then I must ensure that Dagfinn has no such hopes.”
“An attack does not always come from without. What of your own men? What of Ranulf?”
“Ranulf is a fool. Unfortunately, he is also my nearest blood kin. And because he has much wealth, he has many friends.”
“Send him back to his own land.”
“It is not so simple. How can I force him to go while I let Adelar stay?”
“Does Adelar have land, then?”
“Alfred decreed that a man need only serve his lord as a soldier in the fyrd for half of the year. Adelar lingers because he has no wish to see his father. I agree because I enjoy having one truly loyal person near me.”
Endredi rose slowly and took his hands in hers. Adelar could never be hers. Never. Bayard deserved a loyal wife. “I have sworn my loyalty to you, Bayard.”
He gave her a strange look. “Have you?”
“Yes.” She bent and kissed him, moving her mouth over his in a slow, sensuous movement.
Bayard rose and his arms encircled her. Strong arms, holding her as she had so often dreamed....
Bayard drew back and smiled warmly. “I believe you, Endredi.”
She fought the tears that came to her eyes and smiled tremulously. “That pleases me so much, my lord.” She leaned into him, determined to fulfil her oath. Determined to forget.
He blew out the feeble flame of the nearby candles before pressing hot kisses to her cheeks and neck. His fingers undid the brooches at her shoulders, and her tunic slid to the floor. With a low growl of desire, Bayard lifted her in his arms and carried he
r to their bed.
“I want to be a good wife to you,” she whispered in the darkness.
“You are.” She felt him untying the drawstring of her shift.
“I want to please you.”
His hand reached into the loosened garment. “You do.”
He slipped the shift from her shoulders, and his hand continued its slow exploration. “I want you to have children.”
“Yes,” she replied honestly. Yes, let her do her duty.
He caressed her body skillfully, his hands sure. He stroked her breasts, her stomach, her thighs. She did not fight the arousal he caused, but let him take her beyond her fears and worries to some other place composed of sensation and lust. His tongue swirled over her breasts, teasing the rigid peaks until she moaned and arched with desire. Responding, wanting, she grabbed his broad shoulders and wrapped her legs about him. This man was her husband. This man alone had the right to do this with her. It would be different with Bayard. It must be.
But when he entered her, her blood throbbed with the rhythm of another man’s name.
Adelar, Adelar, Adelar...
* * *
“I think Bayard’s a lovesick fool,” Ordella said decisively as she disrobed.
Lying in the bed, Ranulf gave his wife a disgruntled frown. “I don’t see anything to suspect. Bayard’s happy, she seems loyal. And she’s quiet.”
Ordella’s expression turned even more spiteful at his last word, which was so obviously aimed at her. “Yes, she seems loyal. For now. Who’s to say what might happen if the Danes attack?”
“You’ve been with her more than I have. What do you think?”
“I think she’s very clever and very good at hiding her true thoughts.”
“In other words, you couldn’t find out anything.”
“Yes, I did. She was taken prisoner by Saxons once. She hates us as much as we hate the Danes.”
“Then why would she marry one?”
“Because Dagfinn wanted the alliance, fool. She’s only a woman—what say would she have? But maybe she’s harboring a secret grudge against us all. Maybe she’s conspiring to have us murdered in the night. She could be up to any number of things.”
“Bayard does not share your fears.”
“Maybe Bayard does not know of her hatred. She is a sly creature, Ranulf. It could be that he has no idea of her true feelings.”
Ranulf continued to look at his wife skeptically. “Has she traveled outside the burh?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“No. I was with her.”
“Then how is she arranging this murderous attack, Ordella? Witchcraft?”
“It could be. I don’t believe she’s a Christian, for all Dagfinn said.”
“She goes to Mass.”
“That means nothing. She could be using some Viking magic.” Seeing that Ranulf was still dismissive of her concerns, she said, “And there is something not right between Endredi and Adelar.”
“Something? What `something’?”
With all the frustration she felt, Ordella said, “I don’t know exactly!”
“Then maybe you’re imagining that, too. Or maybe Endredi’s cast a spell on him.”
“I would not be so quick to make a jest of such a thing. He acts like a man enchanted. You saw him in the hall tonight. He could hardly take his eyes from her.”
“They were just playing a game. A game Bayard ordered him to play.”
“They were in very earnest conversation for another man’s wife and a man ordered to play. If only I could understand the Viking language!”
“They were probably discussing the game, nothing more.”
Ordella gave him another disgusted look. “He is the comeliest man in Wessex, barring Bayard—and you, of course. Maybe she was talking about another kind of game entirely.”
“Didn’t you see her face? He upset her. He is a Saxon, after all, and you say she hates us. Possibly she is not flattered by his attention. Maybe she thinks someone will start rumors.” He looked pointedly at Ordella. “It could be she finds his attention suspicious. Or even repulsive. And aren’t you forgetting that Adelar, of all men, would never try to seduce Bayard’s wife?”
“But she does not know that.”
Weary of trying to follow the currents of Ordella’s mind, Ranulf muttered, “How much better for us all if Adelar would go!”
“That is most unlikely. Where else would he go, especially since Bayard treats him so well? If only there was a way to be rid of both of them!” Naked now, Ordella slipped her thin body under the bedclothes. Ranulf made no move to touch her, but let himself drift toward sleep.
“I have it!” Ordella exclaimed suddenly.
“What?” Ranulf demanded with a start.
“If Endredi bears Bayard a son, we will get nothing. If Adelar remains close to Bayard, we may get nothing. Supposing Adelar were to seduce Bayard’s wife and they were found out, they would both cease to trouble us. And Bayard would be so ashamed, he would take himself to a monastery!”
Scowling, Ranulf twisted to confront his wife in the darkness of the bower. “We cannot force Adelar and Endredi to commit adultery. And if we accuse Adelar and the woman and it is not true, we could have our tongues cut out for slander.”
“Who speaks of force?”
“What are you talking about?”
“We must find a way to encourage them, that’s all. Adelar is handsome. She must be lonely. Bayard keeps making them spend time together, probably hoping to persuade Adelar to lose his prejudice against Vikings. But he may be encouraging more than that!”
“Adelar is completely loyal to Bayard.”
“Perhaps. That loyalty has never been tested, not really. Who knows what Adelar might do if he thought no one suspected? If he believed himself to be safe? I tell you, Ranulf,” she said, growing more excited at the possibilities, “I saw the way he looked at her tonight. It is not so farfetched.”
Ranulf nodded slowly. “You are a clever woman, Ordella. You may be right. If this comes about, no one will stand in my way.”
“Our way.” Ordella ran her fingers along Ranulf’s body, letting the tips brush ever so lightly over his nipples.
Aroused herself, she pushed her hips against his body, a small smile playing about her lips as she thought of the ease with which she manipulated him. And certain that any woman would be easy prey for Adelar, if he wanted her.
The only question was, could they make Adelar want Bayard’s wife?
Chapter Six
Bayard rode slowly behind the other men as they moved through the forest. Up ahead, he could hear Ranulf trying to tell Baldric how to deploy the hounds for the hunt.
Because no one was nearby, Bayard allowed the full measure of his dislike for Ranulf to show on his face. His nephew was a fool. Baldric knew more about dogs than Ranulf ever would, or could.
Worse, Ranulf was a greedy fool who did not even have the slightest notion of masking that greed effectively. Indeed, he was so covetous of Bayard’s lands and goods he put up with innumerable insults that would have sent a more perceptive and less avaricious man away long ago.
Unfortunately, Ranulf did not leave, not even when Bayard had so pointedly put Adelar’s advice and company above Ranulf’s.
Bayard’s gaze traveled to Adelar, a short way ahead. His cousin rode as he always did, although this was but a hunt, with his back straight and his head ever moving, seeking anything out of place.
Adelar was everything a warrior should be, and would be a fine leader, too, if only he would have confidence in himself. He was brave but not foolhardy, and could be subtle in his wisdom.
Bayard silently cursed Adelar’s father again. Kendric had poisoned Adelar’s boyhood and youth, and threatened to spoil the rest of his son’s life, as well. Adelar thought he was tainted because of his father’s sins. Despite Bayard’s trust, Adelar continued to believe that he bore dishonor.
Bayard sighed deeply. Perhaps that was
just as well, if Adelar was to play the part in his plans that Bayard intended. A man who considered himself totally honorable would never agree to what Bayard had to ask.
However, his plan also depended on Endredi’s opinion of the Saxon warrior. Again he wondered what had happened during the game between Endredi and Adelar. She had been truly upset, despite her denials. Adelar, too, had been disturbed, more disturbed than Bayard had ever seen him.
It was a good sign that they felt something for each other, but he didn’t want it to be anger or suspicion or contempt. It was important that his wife and his cousin at least like each other, or his plan would never work.
Endredi was a quiet, clever woman. That should have made a favorable impression on Adelar. She was no beauty, yet there was a serenity about her that was most appealing. She handled the servants well and was making the people accept her as his wife.
Perhaps he should ignore Endredi a little. Make Adelar pity her. That might draw them together. Or perhaps Adelar would think Endredi was responsible for her husband’s disinterest. Yet surely even Adelar could see that Endredi would make almost any thane the perfect wife.
As for what Endredi thought, that would be harder to gauge. She was able to keep her feelings well hidden.
Nonetheless, Adelar was a handsome man and a good one. And always rather aloof. She must find him an object of some curiosity, if nothing else.
Maybe the best way to proceed was as he had been, simply forcing them to spend time in each other’s company. Adelar would surely come to see Endredi’s merits, and Endredi would come to recognize Adelar’s loneliness. That would appeal to her kind heart.
His brow furrowed in concentration. He remembered that Endredi had said she wanted to learn to ride. Apparently the Vikings did not teach their women as a matter of course, and Endredi’s father had been somewhat protective of his daughter. Bayard opened his mouth, prepared to order Adelar to instruct his wife, when he caught sight of Ranulf.
He had been even harder on Ranulf than usual lately, and it might be better to be a little more circumspect in his treatment of his nephew, in case his plan did not work.