from him, she sat up with a groan. Dizziness descended.
“What happened?”
Jeremy stood and indicated Hercules. “Your gelding
shied and threw you. For that, he should be punished.”
“Nay!” Alicen surged to her feet to clutch Jeremy’s
sword arm, then instantly regretted the action as fire
roared through her brain. She swayed, but managed to
subdue the pain by dint of will. “Don’t hurt him,” she
implored. “Please.”
Supporting her by the arms, Jeremy stared at her
pale features, his mouth set in a grim line of self-loathing.
“I but jested, Alicen. Another ill-conceived jest, I fear. I’d
never harm Hercules. And I didn’t intend to—” He broke
off, then finished silently, harm you.
She squinted against more throbbing pain. “Is he
injured?”
“I think not. He didn’t fall.” When she started toward
the horse, Jeremy quickly said, “Sit a while, Mistress. I’ll
see to him.”
Though her mind warned to flee, her body could not
respond to the urge. Instead, she sank to the ground and
cradled her head in her hands to keep from fainting. She
started at a touch on her shoulder a few minutes later.
“He’ll be sore for a time,” Jeremy said, “but he’s done
himself no serious injury.”
“I’m walking back to Landeyda,” Alicen declared as
firmly as she could manage. That her statement made
little sense never crossed her addled mind. She noticed
Jeremy tying Hercules’ reins to Charon’s saddle. There
was little else she saw, though, as a shaft of sunlight
penetrated the trees and drove daggers into her eyes.
She clenched them shut, trembling.
Jeremy’s hand on her elbow steadied her. “You’ll ride
with me.” His tone broached no discussion.
Her eyes snapped open and turned to him. “I’m able
to ride alone, Captain.”
Seeing her terror, her defenselessness, stunned
Jeremy. She looked like Manfred’s wife, and it galled to
think he’d put such intense fear into Alicen’s emerald
eyes. It also galled that the stubborn wench would never
admit she needed aid, at least not his. Controlling his
anger—at himself and at her—he untied her reins. Then
he silently mounted Charon.
Alicen struggled into her saddle then, leaning to
retrieve the reins, immediately felt faint. Swaying, she
yet managed to stay mounted and even took the lead.
Again, the wild desire to escape the man riding with her
sprang up, but she set a slow pace. It suited her reeling
senses not to ride quickly. Despite the care she took,
however, a stab of pain again made her cringe and bring
her hand to the back of her head. She squeezed her eyes
shut.
Just for a moment. I’ll close them just a moment...
Jeremy caught Alicen around the waist the very
instant she began to topple from her saddle. He pulled
her across his lap, startled by what this action made him
feel. She weighed more than he had suspected. Solid.
Strong. And he enjoyed her weight when he drew her
close, enjoyed tucking her head ‘neath his chin. It
somehow seemed right to hold her thus. To smell her
fresh scent and feel her warmth against him.
But concern ended sensual pleasure. She was
seriously injured, else she’d never allow such contact
between them. She needed proper care, and it fell to him
to get it for her.
He retrieved Hercules’ reins. A dead gallop would be
imprudent, but he set as fast a pace for Landeyda as he
dared. Alicen would not die. Amazed to find his grip on
her tightening, he concerned himself with making the
ride as smooth as possible. She’d endured enough pain
that day.
Remorse clawed at him. Had he not sought to best
her in their constant battle of wills, she’d not have fled.
Not have been injured. He swallowed bile. His animosity
toward Alicen Kent had crumbled—he cared for her much
more than wisdom dictated he should.
Jeremy knew the exact moment Alicen awakened. Her
body tensed, and she drew in a sharp breath. Half smiling,
he tilted his head down to whisper in her ear, “Don’t shriek
too loudly, Mistress. If you startle Charon, I’ll have to
drop you to control him.”
“Put me back on Hercules, Captain.”
“As you wish, although I’ll ride with you. We wouldn’t
want you falling off your saddle again.”
Looking up slowly, Alicen caught the soldier’s brief
smile. This teasing side both attracted and frightened her,
and she was uncertain she liked it. However, she distinctly
understood her feelings about being in his embrace. That
felt entirely too good.
And that terrified her.
Why must the cur be so close when she lacked means
to protect herself? She was drawn to a man she couldn’t
love, and she wanted to resist, to make him release her.
But her body hurt so, and she had no strength to push
his comforting arms away. Slowly, she lowered her head
back to his chest. The world spun less when her cheek
rested against his doublet. Her eyes closed.
“I didn’t fall off,” she grumbled. “I was thrown.”
“You’ll not be thrown again,” Jeremy whispered back.
“I’ll not allow it.”
He wasn’t certain she heard. She’d fainted once more.
***
Ned panicked when Jeremy dismounted, Alicen in
his arms.
“You blackguard, I’ll kill you for hurting her!”
“Hercules shied and threw her, lad,” Jeremy said with
calm firmness as he carried Alicen swiftly into the cottage.
“Now come with me. You may kill me after you help me
tend her.”
He placed Alicen in her own bed as Ned stood in the
chamber doorway, face blank. The boy clutched his
stomach, looking pale and sick himself.
Sensing his difficulty, Jeremy moved close and
grasped Ned’s shoulder. “How does she treat head
injuries?” he asked quietly.
“I, I’m uncertain.” The boy’s chin quivered, and his
eyes filled with tears.
Jeremy smiled, though his stomach knotted with
worry that the apprentice would be useless. “Think, lad.
You must have seen her attend such maladies. What does
she do?”
Soak a cloth in cold water and place it on the injury.
The voice filled Jeremy’s head just as Ned blurted
out, “She, uhm, she uses cloths soaked in cold water.”
Jeremy blinked, then asked the boy, “Where does she
place them?”
“On the injury.”
As I said.
Soldiers’ lives depended on awareness of everything
around them, and Jeremy knew the only woman in the
room was insensate. The voice was not Alicen’s, yet it
wasn’t unfamiliar. “You see an enemy where none
exists...” Nay! He refused to believe he heard Kaitlyn
O’Rourke’s voic
e in his mind. The only thing he knew
was that Alicen needed care.
He turned to Ned. “Fetch what we’ll need. I’ll make
her more comfortable.”
Words easily spoken. But the moment he began
removing Alicen’s clothes, keeping his mind on his task
grew nigh impossible. Boots and chaperon afforded no
trouble, but he suffered a racing heart and unsteady
hands as he stripped off her muddy tunic, followed by
her torn and sodden hose.
Though he refrained from looking at what he
uncovered, he could feel smooth thighs and shapely calves
beneath his palms. Firm muscles and satiny skin wreaked
havoc on his senses—but before he ruined them both,
rationality prevailed.
What in Jesu’s name was he thinking? He’d caused
her injury—he had no right to entertain such desires.
Steady, man, he warned himself. ’Tis neither time nor
place for such folly. You’re no better than the brute she
thinks you if you cannot refrain from lusting for a
defenseless woman.
That stark fact brought him control.
Alicen lay helpless. He could ill afford to compromise
her, could ill discern why he had to subdue his body, his
base instinct. He clenched his jaw. As much as he desired
Landeyda’s mistress, she wanted naught of his attention.
And he could not take her and claim himself honorable
afterward.
“My apologies for bringing you such misery, lass,” he
murmured. Raising her hand to his lips, he softly kissed
it.
Then he caught his breath, loosened the ties of her
shirt, and drew the blanket above her breasts. By careful
maneuvering, he managed to remove the garment without
baring her to his gaze. With a sigh of relief, he adjusted
the blanket around her.
A glitter at Alicen’s throat caught his eye, and he found
himself automatically reaching for the source. He turned
the silver Celtic cross over in his fingers. Embedded in
the wire frame were five distinct stones. Where had he
seen gems set in that pattern before?
Alicen’s apprentice burst into the infirmary, pulling
Jeremy from his thoughts. Ned handed him the wet cloths,
and he placed one against Alicen’s injury. Then he ordered
the boy from the room.
“I’ll take the first watch, lad,” he said when Ned
protested. “You’ve other chores to see to, and the Duke
to check. Replace me at mealtime, then I’ll return at dusk.
Thus, she’ll be tended at all times, but we’ll not fatigue
from our efforts.”
“Can I trust her with you, sir?” Ned asked candidly.
“I swear it.”
“See that you keep your word,” the boy stated as he
headed for the door. “Else I’ll keep mine.”
And ‘tis certain I’ll help him do so, said that distinctly
Irish voice.
Jeremy spun around, but there was no one behind
him. A fact that didn’t even surprise him.
***
“What happened,” William asked as he stood in the
chamber doorway.
Jeremy motioned him to a stool without looking up
from changing the cloth on Alicen’s injury. Instead, he
explained in a few terse words.
“Is there aught I can do?”
“Nay, my lord. She broke no bones. And stood by
herself momentarily just after her fall.” He used
ministering to Alicen as an excuse not to meet William’s
gaze. “I understand I must wake her every few hours
through the night.” He was not about to tell William how
he’d gained that knowledge—that a very feminine Irish
voice had given it to him.
“And how much of this is your responsibility?”
Jeremy finally looked up, meeting his lord’s intense
stare. He shrugged helplessly. “All of it.” He closed his
eyes. “I frightened her so badly she fled from me. And
then Hercules was startled...” Looking down, he realized
he was crushing the damp cloth in his hand. “She could
have been killed,” he whispered, barely able to suppress
the shudder that thought gave him. “And I would have
been to blame.”
Eight
“You know Sherford residents have little love for
Harold. Do you yet suspect Alicen of treachery?” William’s
voice held an edge.
Jeremy shrugged at the question. “I’ve not located
any supporters, yet they may exist.”
“You’ve not answered my question regarding Alicen.”
Sighing, Jeremy returned the used cloth to the basin
and stretched his back. “She could certainly influence
most of the shire’s residents.”
“Against me? To what purpose.”
“I know not.” Jeremy intently eyed his duke. “Should
Kenrick learn you’re here, he could destroy us all.
Landeyda’d not withstand his attack.”
“You’ve yet to convince me Alicen is a foe,” William
insisted.
“And yet I don’t know that she’s not.”
“Enough!” Glaring, the duke approached Jeremy.
Though his voice was quiet, there was no mistaking his
feelings. “I needn’t remind you of our debt to our hostess.
Speak no more of her supposed disloyalty.”
Jeremy nodded to indicate the point had been made.
Only privately did he admit pure stubbornness kept his
doubts alive. He wished for Alicen to be untrue, thus
giving him reason to despise her...instead of what he’d
recently begun to feel.
***
“Have you struck a truce with Mistress Kent?” William
asked four days later.
He sat in a chair by the window, reading one of the
seemingly endless communications they’d been receiving
of late. A thick woolen blanket was draped across his
lap, but he’d insisted the window be open to let in fresh
air and light.
Jeremy set aside the diagram he was working on.
“We’re warily civil.” At his lord’s questioning look, he
added, “And she’s not left the grounds since her accident.”
He’d sought absolution from the guilt of causing her
injury by circulating a rumor that she had taken to bed
with a serious illness. He reasoned that, if no one sought
the healer’s aid, she’d have time to mend. Yet the stubborn
wench was up and about after two days’ rest! He knew
she wasn’t entirely healed, as she retired earlier than at
any time since they’d met. Guilt squeezed his heart.
That and remembering the feelings holding her had
brought. They posed incredible dangers, especially to his
weary soul. Only distance from her could help him. Which
was nigh impossible to achieve.
With William yet weak, I cannot quit myself of her, he
brooded. That meant resisting the desire to kiss away
the trepidation in her eyes. His mouth twisted into an
ironic smile. She would never stand for comfort from a
soldier.
“I like not that she’ll be alone after we depart,” William
said into the
strained silence. “’Tis dangerous for a
woman.”
Jeremy shrugged and turned back to his diagram.
“Solitary ventures suit her. She could chronicle this shire,
having spent a dozen years at sickbeds. By escorting her
about, I now know of all the residents, too.”
William nodded in approval. “Ever the strategist.”
“Knowledge prepares me for any event.”
“I’m charging you with her safety until she is properly
wed.”
Jeremy’s head snapped up and around. “You truly
wish to see her matched, my lord? I thought you but
jested.”
“Since this latest mishap, I feel most strongly about
this.”
“Who would pledge troth to her?” Jeremy wondered
aloud. “The woman is, by any standard, unusual.”
William cocked his head. “Unusual? She is completely
unique! I’ve ne’er met a woman like her.” He frowned.
“Singularity aside, however, she needs a husband, else
we’ll leave her defenseless.”
Jeremy stared out the window, heart beating dully at
the portent of such words. She’s been alone for years.
Why should aught be different now? Lost to his own
musings, he didn’t see William studying him.
“’Tis fascinating Alicen shares her learning with you.”
Jeremy missed William’s smooth tone. “She’s recorded
effective remedies for every malady she’s treated. A
reference for the boy, does he choose to follow her
calling...” His voice faded as he caught William’s amused
expression. “My lord?”
“In the past three years, you’ve noted little of any
woman. Are you, perhaps, somewhat taken with the
physician?”
Jeremy knew his cheeks blazed, and used anger to
cover his riotous emotions. “Taken by surprise or fever,
taken by Death to the land beyond, but never taken by
that woman!”
He thought to leave, but Alicen’s entry cut off retreat.
To hide his telling expression, he moved to the window. A
few slow breaths steadied him. Knowing what this
audience would entail and curious to see Alicen’s
response, he turned, leaned back against the window
casing and crossed his arms over his chest.
“You sent for me, my lord?” Alicen glanced in Jeremy’s
direction, looked back at the duke, then glanced at Jeremy
again.
William indicated a stool near the bed. “Please be
Carroll, Laurie - War Of Hearts.txt Page 12