The Taming

by Jude Deveraux

  It was hours later that a sweat-dripping Severn mounted the stone stairs over the kitchen and entered Iolanthe’s apartments. Here the richness of this large, sunny room was stunning. Gold glowed, silk embroideries shone, jewels on the ladies’ gowns sparkled. But by far the most beautiful thing in the room was Iolanthe. Her beauty, her figure, her voice, her movements, were all without flaw, of such exquisite loveliness that often people could not speak when they saw her.

  When Io saw the anger on Severn’s face, she lifted her hand and dismissed her three women to their own chambers. She poured delicious wine into a golden goblet, handed it to Severn, and when he downed it in one gulp, she refilled it.

  “Tell me,” she said softly.

  “It’s that damned woman,” Severn said.

  Io knew who he meant because Severn had been complaining about Rogan’s new wife for some time now.

  “She is a Delilah,” he said. “She is taking his very soul from him. She rules him, the men, the servants, the peasants, and even me. She ordered my room to be whitewashed! There is no place sacred from her touch. She invades Rogan’s brooding room and he doesn’t so much as reprimand her.”

  Io was watching him thoughtfully. “And what has she done today?”

  “Somehow she persuaded Rogan to bring one of our father’s bastards into the castle, and I am to train him. He’s a wool merchant.” Severn said the last with horror.

  “How did you get the lump on your forehead?”

  Severn looked away. “So the man had a bit of luck with the poles. He’ll never be a knight, no matter how much that woman wants it. And today I heard that she sat beside Rogan at court. What next? Will he ask her permission to piss?”

  Iolanthe watched Severn, saw his jealousy, and she wondered what this wife of Rogan’s was like. Io had stayed in her pretty apartments, leaving only for walks on the battlements, and watched what was happening below. At first she would have wagered that no woman could effect a change on that hardheaded, insensitive, hate-obsessed Rogan, but the weeks had proved her wrong. She and her ladies had watched with amazement as the castle had been cleaned (Iolanthe and her ladies refused even to walk down the stairs through the filth) and she’d listened for hours to the kitchen maids tell stories of what the Fire Lady was doing. Io especially liked the story of Lady Liana’s setting Rogan and one of his whores on fire. “Should have been done a long time ago,” she’d said.

  Io looked back at Severn. “He cares for her, then?”

  “I don’t know. It’s as if she’s put a spell on him. She’s draining him of his strength. Today in training I knocked him down.”

  “It could have nothing to do with your being angry while he was not?”

  “Before she came, Rogan was always angry. Now he…he smiles!”

  Io could not hide a smile of her own. She did her best to stay out of the Peregrine-Howard feud. The only thing she cared about was Severn. Of course she did not tell him of her love. She had long ago guessed that at the mention of the word love, he would flee. And now she knew she was right. He was raging because his brother cared for his wife.

  Io wondered how this Liana had made Rogan notice her. It wasn’t beauty, because she’d seen divine-looking women make fools of themselves over Rogan yet he’d not glanced at them, and she’d heard this little wife of his was pretty but certainly no beauty. No, it wasn’t beauty that attracted the Peregrine men or Severn would be in love with Iolanthe.

  As Io looked at Severn, his handsome face colored by his anger, she thought she’d sell her soul to the devil if he’d love her. He made love to her, true, he spent time with her, even asked her advice on problems, but she never deluded herself that he loved her. So she took what he gave her and never let him know she wanted more.

  “What is this woman like?” Io asked.

  “Meddlesome,” Severn snapped. “Into everyone’s business. She wants to run everyone—the knights, the peasants, Rogan, everyone. And she is simpleminded. She believes if she cleans something, it will cure the problem. No doubt she believes that if we bathed with the Howards, we could forgive each other.”

  “What does she look like?”

  “Ordinary. Plain. I cannot see what Rogan sees in her.”

  Neither could Io, but she wanted to find out. “I am coming to supper in the Lord’s Chamber tomorrow night,” she announced.

  For a moment Severn looked astonished. He knew Io didn’t like Rogan, and the castle outside her apartment disgusted her. “Good,” he said at last. “Perhaps you can teach the woman to behave like a woman should. Invite her to spend time with you. Keep her out of the courts and away from the peasants—and away from my brother. Maybe if you can get the woman to mind her own business, things can return to the way they should be.”

  Or perhaps she can teach me how a woman should behave, Io thought, but said nothing to Severn.

  Liana looked out the window for the thousandth time. Yesterday Rogan had returned from the training field and his good mood was broken. Since they returned from the fair, he’d been so sweet, so much like the man she sensed he could be, but in the evening he’d been sullen and angry. He locked himself in his brooding room, as Zared called it, and wouldn’t let her in.

  It was late that night when he came to bed beside her, and sleepily she rolled next to him. For a moment she thought he was going to push her away, but then he clutched her to him and without a word made violent love to her. Liana almost complained about his fierceness but some instinct told her to be quiet, that he needed her.

  Afterward, he’d held her tightly.

  “Tell me what happened,” she whispered.

  For a moment she thought he might talk to her but he rolled away, his back to her, and went to sleep. In the morning he got out of bed and left without a word.

  So now she was waiting for him to return from the training field for supper. At dinner he’d eaten with his men, leaving Liana alone with her ladies and Zared. It had been a lonely meal.

  Liana dressed carefully to go downstairs. It never hurt to look your best when you were with a man.

  When she entered the Lord’s Chamber, the air was heavy with silence. Zared, Severn, and Rogan were already seated and eating, none of them speaking. Liana had already guessed that Rogan’s anger had something to do with his brother, but she had no idea what had caused it. She could have asked Zared, but she wanted Rogan to tell her what had happened.

  She seated herself to Rogan’s left and began to eat after she was served. She searched for some topic of conversation. “Did Baudoin arrive today?” she asked.

  It didn’t seem possible, but the silence increased. When the two older men said nothing, she looked at Zared.

  “Not a bad fighter,” Zared said. “But then our father always bred good men.”

  “He’s not our brother,” Severn snapped.

  Zared’s eyes flashed. “He’s as much my brother as you are.”

  “I’ll teach you who’s a Peregrine and who isn’t,” Severn said.

  All three of them were on their feet at once, Severn going for Zared’s throat, Rogan going for Severn.

  This scene was halted in mid-action by the arrival of a woman. Liana looked under the arch that was formed by Severn’s hands around Zared’s throat, and her eyes opened wide in astonishment. Standing in the doorway was the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. No, not just beautiful: perfect, flawless, a standard of beauty for all time. She was swathed in cloth of gold so that she was radiant, like a pillar of sunshine on a dark night.

  “I see that nothing has changed,” said the woman. Her voice was cool and arresting and at once made everyone feel calmer. She walked forward, as gracefully as an angel, floating, yards of fur-trimmed cloth trailing behind her. “Severn,” she said, and looked at him as a mother might look at a disobedient child.

  Severn immediately dropped his hands and looked a bit sheepish. Then, obediently, he pulled out a chair for her. When she was seated, she looked up at the three Peregrines who
were still standing. “You may sit,” she said, as a queen might give an order.

  Liana couldn’t take her eyes off the woman. She was what every woman hoped to look like. She was so lovely, so elegant, so graceful—and best of all, she had men jumping to do her bidding.

  “Io, you have honored us,” Rogan said. “Why?”

  There was no mistaking the hostility in Rogan’s voice, and when Liana looked at him, she saw what was almost a sneer on his lips. That sneer pleased her very much.

  “I came to meet your wife,” the woman said.

  Liana almost asked, Me? but she caught herself. Then she drew her breath in sharply. If Rogan forgot her name again in front of this beautiful woman, she just might fall dead on the spot.

  “Liane, Iolanthe,” Rogan said, and went back to eating.

  Close enough, Liana thought and wondered if the blacksmith could make a brand of her name and sear it on Rogan’s forearm, where he could see it when he forgot.

  “Hello,” Liana said. What was she to say to this woman? “Did you buy your dress fabric in London?”

  “France. My husband is French.”

  “Oh.” She gave the woman a weak smile.

  The meal went downhill after that. Rogan didn’t speak; Severn didn’t speak. Zared seemed as intimidated by the woman as Liana felt. Only Iolanthe seemed comfortable. Three of her own women stood behind her and served her food on gold plates. She didn’t say anything but watched the others with curiosity—especially Liana, who grew so nervous she couldn’t eat her soup.

  At long last, Iolanthe rose to leave and Liana felt her shoulders relax in relief. “She is very beautiful,” she said to Severn.

  Severn, nose in his soup bowl, merely grunted.

  “Isn’t her husband a little concerned about her living here with you?”

  Severn turned eyes of hatred on her. “You may interfere in other people’s business, but not in mine. Io is my business, not yours.”

  Liana was stunned by his animosity. She looked at Rogan, half expecting him to leap at his brother. But Rogan didn’t seem to have heard.

  “I meant no insult to you,” Liana said, “nor do I mean to interfere. I just thought—”

  “Didn’t mean to interfere!” Severn mocked. “That’s all you’ve done since you arrived. You’ve changed everything: the castle, the grounds, the men, the peasants, my brother. Let me tell you, woman, you keep your nose out of my business and you leave Iolanthe alone. I don’t want her corrupted.”

  Liana leaned back in her chair, astounded at this attack. Again she looked at Rogan. Why wasn’t he defending her? He was looking at her with interest and she suddenly realized that she was being tested by him. She may be only a Peregrine by marriage, but she had to prove herself to be a Peregrine.

  “All right,” she said calmly to Severn. “You may have everything you had before I came.” She stood and went to the fireplace, where there were cold ashes from that morning, picked up the big scoop nearby, and filled it with ashes. She walked across the room to Severn, with all eyes on her, then dumped the ashes on his food and clothes. “There,” she said. “Now you are filthy and so is your food. From now on I will see that you have what you’ve always had.”

  Severn, soot on his chin and clothes, stood up, enraged. His hands made claws as he went for her throat.

  Liana paled and stepped backward.

  Severn never reached her because Rogan, while never looking up from gnawing on a beef joint, stuck his foot out and tripped his brother, sending Severn sprawling.

  When Severn caught his breath, he bellowed, “You better do something about that woman.”

  Rogan ran his sleeve across his mouth. “She looks like she can take care of herself.”

  Liana had never felt so proud of herself in her life. She’d passed!

  “But I wouldn’t like it if you laid a hand on her,” Rogan continued.

  Severn stood, slapping soot from his clothes, which had been clean a few minutes before (Liana had directed the maids to wash his garments). He glared at Liana again. “Stay away from Io,” he muttered, then left the room.

  Liana felt jubilant. These Peregrines had their own rules of conduct, but she was beginning to understand them. Best of all, Rogan had defended her. Not from hateful words, but when his brother might have physically harmed her, he had stepped in.

  Smiling—not only visibly, but also deep inside herself—she sat back down at the table. “More peas, Zared?” she asked.

  “Clean peas?” Zared asked in mock fright. “The way I like my peas? Clean, the way I like my clothes and room and the peasants and the men and my brother?”

  Liana laughed and looked at her husband, and the dear lovely man winked at her.

  Later that night, Rogan held her in his arms and kissed her and made sweet love to her. Whatever had been bothering him seemed to have solved itself.

  Afterward, he didn’t turn away but held her close to him and Liana heard his soft, slow breathing as he fell asleep.

  “Iolanthe isn’t the Lady,” she said sleepily.

  “What lady?” he murmured.

  “The Lady who lives above the solar, who told me about Jeanne Howard. She’s not Iolanthe, so who is she?”

  “No one lives above the solar, not until you came.”

  “But—” Liana said.

  “Stop talking and go to sleep or I’ll let Severn have you.”

  “Oh?” she replied, faking interest. “He’s awfully good-looking. Maybe—”

  “I’ll tell Iolanthe you said that.”

  “I’m asleep,” Liana answered quickly. She’d rather face Severn than the frightening Iolanthe.

  As she drifted into sleep, she wondered again who the Lady was.

  Chapter

  Fourteen

  The next morning, Gaby and her children arrived at the castle and at last Liana had someone to talk to. And best of all, Gaby told Liana of the disagreement Rogan and Severn had had over Baudoin.

  “But my husband defended me?” Liana said softly.

  “Oh yes, my lady. He told Lord Severn to keep his mouth shut, and Lord Severn has done everything he can to make my Baudoin quit and return to the village. But my Baudoin will never quit.”

  “No,” Liana said with resignation. “Peregrines don’t ever seem to quit or back down or even relent.”

  “That’s not so, my lady,” Gaby said. “Lord Rogan has changed since you arrived. Yesterday you walked across the bridge and Lord Rogan stopped yelling at one of his knights and watched you.”

  “Did he?” Those were sweet words to Liana. “And he does defend me to his brother?”

  “Oh yes, my lady.”

  Liana couldn’t seem to get enough from Gaby. At times it seemed she’d had no influence on Rogan, that he was the same man who couldn’t remember her name. But he remembered it now. Just this morning he had held her in his arms and kissed her and whispered her name in her ear.

  Three weeks after Baudoin and Gaby’s arrival, Rogan and Severn were still at such odds that they were barely speaking. Liana tried to get Rogan to talk to her about his anger, but he would not. Yet in bed he clung to her. Sometimes she felt as if he wanted her to make up for all the softness he’d lacked as a child.

  In the evenings after supper, sometimes he came to the solar with her and sat sprawled on a cushioned chair and listened to one of her ladies play a lute and sing. She’d started to teach him to play chess, and when he realized it was a game of strategy, rather like war, he quickly became quite good. Zared began to join them, and Liana was pleased to see the young man sitting cross-legged on the floor holding a skein of yarn for one of the women to wind. One evening Rogan had been lounging on the window seat, Zared seated on the floor nearby, and Liana had seen Rogan reach out his hand and caress Zared’s head. The boy had smiled up at Rogan with a look of such love and trust and adoration that Liana felt her knees weaken.

  With each day Liana felt her love for her husband grow deeper and stronger. She had se
nsed from the beginning that there was more to him than what people saw, that there was a softer side.

  Not that the softer side was easy to see. They’d had a couple of arguments that nearly brought the roof down on their heads. Rogan refused to believe Liana was good for anything but bed pleasure and providing him with food and drink. And no matter how many times she showed him otherwise, he never even remembered, much less learned anything from what she’d done.

  Even though she’d passed his test and he even joked with her about it, in the end she had to fight him to allow her to help judge the local disputes. She pointed out how she had delivered the thieves to him, but it made no difference. He had decided she couldn’t judge the cases, and no amount of reason or logic was going to dissuade him.

  She finally broke down in tears. Rogan was not a man who fell apart at the sight of a woman’s tears, but what he hated was her lack of smiles. He seemed to think it was her duty to always be happy and cheerful. After a day and a half of Liana’s misery, he relented and said she could sit beside him in the court cases. She had thrown her arms about his neck and kissed him—and then she’d tickled his ribs.

  Severn had walked into the Lord’s Chamber and seen the two of them rolling about on the floor, Liana’s headdress knocked off, her hair cascading about her as she tickled his big brother into helpless laughter. Severn’s rage had sobered them immediately.

  Severn, Liana thought. She was still amazed that her brother-in-law could cause her so much unhappiness. When she’d first arrived, he’d seemed to be on her side, but as Rogan had changed, so had Severn. Now, it was almost as if he hated her, and he did everything he could to turn Rogan against her. Not that Rogan even mentioned what was going on to Liana. No, she had to rely on Gaby for that information. On the training field Severn taunted his brother, ridiculed him for being led by a woman.