by Traci E Hall
Raoul could die? Bella tensed.
Emperor Manuel pointed to the side of the open arena and rubbed his hands together, drawing King Louis’s curiosity as well. “Ah, I see one of the cats.”
Nikola, Marie, and Leah crowded together on one couch, peering over the balcony as if scared of what they might see but not wanting to miss anything.
Bella had sensed the shadows in Raoul from the beginning, but to dare the fates like this? Daily tempting the wild cats to tear out his throat? First the leopards came around the partition leading to the center stage, then long leather leashes, and finally Raoul, who held the thin leather strips too loosely in his palm. Bella’s heart tripped as he came into clear view.
Clothed in black, as always, his broad shoulders filled his tight-fitting tunic, the muscles in his tanned arms visible since the sleeves were cut at the shoulder. His black leather pants could have been a second skin, and his boots strapped at the shins. His unruly curls were tied back with a leather thong. His forearms were bare, and he had no weapon at his side to protect himself if needed.
Bella absorbed his appearance and his arrogant and commanding presence within a single blink, careful to give nothing away as desire heated her skin. Would that she’d left her libido sleeping. She couldn’t control her awareness of Raoul.
The crowd quieted in anticipation.
Raoul whistled. The leopards stopped, their black noses lifted and sniffing. Another whistle from Raoul, who seemed to be making all the commands with just his mouth, and the leopards hopped up on the marble tables in the center of the middle stage. They sat as still as statues, except for their lolling tongues. Raoul reached into his bag, whistled twice, and then tossed each leopard something to eat, which they caught in strong jaws and swallowed without chewing.
Bella’s stomach rolled. Was that raw meat? It took all of her willpower not to shudder.
Raoul showed perfect mastery of the leopards as he set them through rehearsed paces.
Bella reluctantly admired the savage beauty of the leopards as they moved gracefully around the arena. Her breath caught as a slave boy ran to the stage and set fire to a large burning hoop.
The crowed oohed, as did Eleanor and Louis, while Manuel and Irene nodded.
Raoul motioned for the cats to sit and whistled. They stayed while he walked to the opposite side of the hoop.
Bella’s mouth dried at the smell of fire.
Raoul blew a quick series of sounds on his whistle.
Serena and Star ran at full speed and leapt through the flaming round circle, landing in tandem at Raoul’s feet.
The crowd went wild with applause, and the leopards bowed their large heads.
Bella noticed that Raoul continued to feed them treats from the bag at his side. The cats were huge and so powerful that it would take a man such as Raoul to control them.
She was impressed, albeit reluctantly, and allowed herself to relax.
Then she saw the bigger leopard, Serena, slip off her leash as Raoul had his back to the cat. Serena crouched, stalking Raoul, yet still he didn’t turn. The crowd was silent, watching as the leopard leapt toward Raoul’s back.
Bella reacted instinctively, pulling an arrow from her quiver, notching the bow, and aiming at the large leopard about to attack Raoul and kill him in front of a chanting crowd of bloodthirsty barbarians. She drew back, her finger about to let the arrow fly, her heart in her throat as Serena gained speed, while Raoul remained oblivious to the threat to his life.
“Stop,” Empress Irene shouted with alarm.
Emperor Manuel looked away from the spectacle on stage, jumping from his chair to knock Bella’s arrow to the balcony floor.
Stunned, Bella said nothing.
Manuel shouted, “Are you stupid?” Red-faced, he looked from her bow down to Raoul and back again. “Are you trying to kill my best soldier?”
Bella’s entire body tensed. “That leopard is trying to eat Raoul.” Her gaze followed her pointed finger, finding Raoul now wrestling with both unleashed cats as they roared from their huge chests and bared their fangs ferociously.
Eleanor, who continued to watch the show unfold below, smiled behind spread fingers as Bella seethed with uncertainty.
“Manuel, if you wanted to give people a heart-stopping thrill, you certainly got my Bella!” Eleanor didn’t bother looking over her shoulder as she instructed, “Put your bow down.”
It looked like all three wrestlers were having the time of their lives.
Bella’s heart thudded when she realized that if she looked close enough, she could see Raoul’s wide grin.
Empress Irene laughed, forgiving Bella with a pat on her arm. “You are so fast. Thank God in all His mercy that my husband stopped you in time. I didn’t realize, and I didn’t think … Manuel explained what was going to happen in the announcement.” She smiled, her eyes kind.
“I don’t understand Greek.” Bella bowed her head. “My apologies.” She gathered her courage and looked to Eleanor.
“You broke formation, Bella. You know the punishment.” Eleanor paused dramatically, leaving Bella to wonder if there would be a real consequence besides the heavy weight of the queen’s disappointment. Twenty lashes would be better and over faster.
”Oh my!” The queen laid her hand on Manuel’s shoulder and brought everyone’s attention back to the show instead of staring at Bella. “Is Raoul putting his head in the leopard’s mouth?”
Bella’s pride was the only thing holding her up as Raoul finished the act. She’d like to run and hide, but no way would she humiliate the queen further. The crowd applauded wildly, chanting the leopard’s names as Raoul led them away from the stage. He took his bows and then pointed to the box where the emperor sat, but she knew in her heart he was pointing to her. The leopards, big beasts that they were, bowed their heads before racing out of the arena after Raoul.
Bella hoped they caught him. Arrogant rogue.
Next were the chariot races. Bella didn’t so much as twitch her eye as the queen bet on green to win. The green chariot had a horse with an obviously lame left leg. Well, obvious to anyone knowing horseflesh as the queen did. Green was sure to lose the race.
Which is exactly what happened.
King Louis shook his head. “You don’t usually lose these things, Eleanor,” he said with a shrug. “What was the wager again?”
Eleanor fanned her face as if she were at a great disadvantage. “I but offered a private sampling of what my lady guard can do, in the event I lost.”
“I cannot wait,” Emperor Manuel said with a studious glance at Bella.
“Especially now that we’ve seen how fast your Lady Isabella can draw her bow,” the empress said, examining Mamie, Fay, and Catherine. “What can you ladies do?”
Eleanor stood, drawing her red cloak over her arm. “My dearest empress, you will have to wait and see. I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. I will gladly make good my promise. When would be convenient?”
“I will send word, although perhaps tomorrow, if that isn’t too soon,” Irene said. “And I’d like to see all of your guard perform.”
The queen’s pinky twitched as she avoided looking at Manuel. Bella knew Eleanor wanted to discuss Sarah’s attack with the emperor, but he hadn’t acknowledged it, and this was not the appropriate venue. “Of course.”
Empress Irene’s smile remained in place. “You are missing one today. Sarah, who drew the short straw. Is she as beautiful as the rest of your guards?”
Queen Eleanor nodded. “But of course.”
Leah sat back and eyed Bella’s short tunic and leggings, leather shoes, and short sword. “I wish I could be a guard.”
“You do not!” Nikola poked her with a folded paper fan.
Marie laughed, as if surprised at herself. “I think I would like it too.”
“Do not get any foreign ideas, my ladies,” Manuel advised sternly with hardly a glance at King Louis. “We value feminine tradition too highly to place our women in
jeopardy.”
King Louis stood, his manservant Thierry immediately at his side. Bella was proud to hear him say, “Eleanor’s guard harms none and makes my wife feel safe against any threat. Thank you again for such wonderful entertainment. I shall sleep well this evening.”
“Ah, Louis,” Eleanor said fondly, leaning over to kiss his cheek, “you ate much of the bread and oil. That always makes you sleepy.”
“It’s gluttony, I know.” He smiled sheepishly. “I will pray before bed.”
Bella noticed Manuel’s left eye twitch before he nodded. “I will pray too, so certainly God will forgive you a small overindulgence.”
“Yes, us too,” Nikola added on behalf of herself and her cousins.
“And you know that you are always in my prayers, Husband. Would you like me to join you this eve so that we may pray together?” Queen Eleanor held out her hand, which he clasped and brought to his lips.
“As lovely as that would be, I have promised to meet with Thierry and Odo.” He dropped Eleanor’s hand and glanced at Manuel. “Matters of state travel with me, despite my desire to wholly dedicate this journey to God.”
“We’ve had an enjoyable day,” Manuel said. “Let us seek our own entertainment for the evening. But tomorrow afternoon, we shall have a show. The Queen’s Guard.”
Eleanor smiled enchantingly in the face of what appeared to be defeat. “Tomorrow afternoon.”
Empress Irene clapped. “I will send a messenger with directions to our private garden. Is there anything you will need in preparation?”
Bella hoped the queen wouldn’t request a flaming hoop.
“Non. We will provide the entertainment.”
“Then we will set a light table for refreshments afterward and share a meal.” Irene shook her fingers at the cousins, who had dreamy looks in their eyes. “Do not even think to ask for a short tunic.”
The queen waved, then commanded, “Guard!”
Bella along with Catherine, Fay, and Mamie nodded thanks and formed their wall around the queen. It was meant to be impressive, but in the confined space of the emperor’s box, it felt overdone.
The performance went well. Raoul scratched his aching jaw. Especially the part where the composed Lady Isabella had been so concerned for his safety she’d tried to shoot Serena. He would have been angry, but he knew she’d reacted out of ignorance.
And emotion.
“Come, Arturo,” Raoul ordered.
Together they brushed the cats down to get the sweat off their coats. Then, using the whistle commands, they loaded them into their cages to be wheeled back to the enclosure.
He’d trained the cats with goat meat and whistle signals, human affection, and time together, but Raoul never truly forgot they were but one step away from their predatory nature.
He and the leopards had that in common.
Raoul opened the gate to the large area behind the stables where the animals lived, and they padded in at the whistled command.
Star yawned, flopping down onto his favorite shady place beneath a tree. Serena purred but stayed by the slatted gate, where a treat or two might come her way.
Arturo asked, “Will you teach me the signals?”
Surprised, Raoul looked down at the boy. “Can you whistle?”
Arturo pursed his lips, mimicking some of the signals perfectly, which brought Star and Serena’s ears up as they turned their heads. They recognized the commands but also knew Raoul wasn’t the one giving them. Arturo tried again.
Raoul’s chest ached with regret. “I’ll teach you.” He looked away from the boy, thinking of his own son, now dead. Dead, as was his wife. His entire village. Thanks to Raymond of Antioch’s greed, and the betrayal of his sister. If there was ever a day that debt could be repaid, then he would do so, whatever the cost. Perhaps vengeance would allow him to sleep through the night.
He left the enclosure without saying good-bye.
Raoul found John in the steward’s office, ranting about women in guard uniforms. The door was cracked open, and the commander’s voice was clear in the hall. “It should be a fined offense,” John said, pounding the table with a fist. “Giving our women ideas! A woman’s place is behind her man, not riding out with armor and a spear, for God’s sake.”
The steward looked up, gratefully it seemed, when Raoul knocked on the doorframe and entered, quickly closing the door behind him. John whirled, and Raoul grinned.
“Yet I hear you are hot for the red-haired wench.”
John’s face drained of color. “She pursues me like a succubus.”
Raoul nodded. “And you oppose her attire?”
John sank into the chair opposite the desk of the wide-eyed steward and tugged at his hair with both hands. “Oui. God help me. And now I cannot get her out of my mind! She’s a temptress.”
Raoul clapped a hand on John’s shoulder. “You’ve been snared. Putting her in veils and a nun’s habit wouldn’t help you now.”
John groaned.
“The Franks should be gone soon.”
Looking up, John twisted his mouth. “King Louis just had word that he has reinforcements coming. What need has he of reinforcements unless he wants to take our city? As if there isn’t enough on the emperor’s plate, with Roger of Sicily at our walls.”
“Roger is a flea to be pinched dead.” Taking a seat, Raoul crossed his knee over his opposite leg. “I understand aiding the Crusaders, rather than trying to fight the Turks and Roger together. What I don’t understand, not here”—Raoul pounded his chest with his fist—”is why he felt compelled to sign that damned peace treaty with the Turks.”
John, who was as close to Manuel as a brother, expelled a frustrated breath. “The emperor had to make a decision based on what was good for Constantinople. This ancient, beloved city is more important than what the Turks or Abbot Suger or the Pope believe. We’ve stayed strong, and Manuel will lead us through.”
“Manuel is fond of King Louis and trusts him. He could break peace with the Turks and align with the Franks.”
John got up and pointed at the steward, whose round eyes reminded Raoul of a terrified owl’s as he became the center of the army commander’s attention. “He says Louis is trustworthy, but the French aids all clamor for war against us. Louis is one man. And his allies might side with his commanders. Then what?”
Raoul clearly envisioned what might happen then. Constantinople burned to the ground. Like his village, which was lost in the skirmish between the Turks, his people, and Raymond of Antioch. He clenched his fists. “We cannot let that happen.”
“We will not.” John reached out his hand.
Raoul hesitated a second before accepting it. “I hate that politics make liars of good men.”
“Manuel is the best of men, but he is first and foremost emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Our lands are vast, our army strong, our faith untouchable. He is a friend to both of us, though even that comes after what is good for the empire.”
Raoul cursed beneath his breath. “I have, perhaps, been unfair.”
John chuckled. “You are a man of strict loyalties, a warrior, a leader.”
“I failed.”
“No,” John corrected. “If you’d been at your village when the Turks arrived, alerted by Raymond and your sister, you would be dead instead of plotting in here with me. What happened was not condoned by you, planned by you—”
“Or stopped by me.” Raoul’s heart hardened. “I live with that every single day.”
John punched him in the arm. “Bury the memories with peace. It’s time, Raoul, to move on.”
Raoul tasted ash in his mouth and swallowed before it choked him. Was he losing his taste for revenge? Even considering putting his beloved family’s memories to rest?
“I heard you scared a certain lady guard today at the Hippodrome. How are you supposed to soothe her fears if you scowl like a demon?”
Sighing, Raoul cocked a brow. “You heard about that?”
“News such as
that travels fast. You were almost shot down by the Queen’s Guard.”
Raoul’s mouth twitched. The shock and surprise on Bella’s face, once she’d realized he was in no danger, had been worth it. “I would have killed her if she’d shot Serena.” He flexed his large hands, and the steward paled. “Which reminds me …”
The steward swallowed loudly. “What brought you to see me, sir?”
“I want to buy a slave.” Raoul envisioned the knocked knees and scrawny arms of his would-be apprentice.
“What kind?” The steward lifted a tablet and nervously moved it from one spot on the desk to the other.
“He works with me already. I would teach him to train the leopards. His name is Arturo.”
“I—but he is the emperor’s slave. I cannot sell him to you.”
John leaned in and tapped the table to get the steward’s attention. “Give him what he wants. We both know Manuel would gift Raoul whatever he asked for. See if I’m not right.”
The steward scowled and patted his books. “I don’t know that the emperor will ‘gift’ a valuable slave. I will ask and send word once I hear back.” His chin quivered as he looked from Raoul to John. “And as for you, sir, I cannot make the emperor’s guests wear certain clothing to appease you. I suggest staying away from the redheaded demon until the Crusaders leave.” He stood and leaned across his desk. “Now, will you both please go so I may finish my work?” His bravery depleted, the steward sank back into his chair.
“Thank you,” Raoul said, awkwardly saying the words as he and John walked out of the steward’s office.
“Happy to help a friend. Why do you want this boy?”
Raoul banked his emotion, along with years of unshed tears and regret. “The leopards like him.” Raoul walked down the hall.
“Liar,” John called behind him.
He lifted his fist but didn’t turn around. “The little bastard can whistle.”
CHAPTER 16
“I release you from duty,” Queen Eleanor proclaimed when they arrived at her suite of rooms.
Bella’s shoulders drooped, and she bent down to kiss Eleanor’s hands. “I am so very sorry for trying to shoot the leopard. I swear I thought that wild cat was going to kill Raoul, and I acted on instinct. It was wrong of me to leave formation. It could have ruined everything for you!”