by Traci E Hall
What drivel invaded his head?
Serena growled low and looked up at him with concern in her golden eyes.
He controlled his brooding temper, breathing in, then out. The leopards knew of his black soul and accepted him anyway. No judgment. Their needs were simple. As he calmed, they did too, returning to watch the show with interest.
But then Mamie tripped, going down in what was surely a staged fall, though off her mark by a few inches. Enough to knock into Bella, who fell backward toward Raoul—and the leopards.
Serena and Star thought they’d been invited to wrestle and play, and when Star pinned Bella to the ground with two large front paws on her chest as Serena trapped her by lying on her hair, it was all in fun, even when Star reared back his giant head and roared.
Raoul was acutely aware of the immediate horror of everyone else in the crowd, except Manuel, who laughed, curse his hide. “Don’t move, Bel—Lady Isabella.”
Her wide violet eyes turned blue-black as she stared at him. Obviously remembering her humiliation the day before because of Raoul’s leopards, she played along for the crowd and hid her intense fear, gaining Raoul’s further admiration as she said in a throaty breath, “I cannot … breathe. Can you tell your pet beast to get off me? Nice kitty.”
Her eyes flashed stormy retribution, and he wondered if she thought he’d done it on purpose. He swore later that the devil made him whistle the command for kisses.
Both leopards immediately licked Bella’s cheeks.
He leaned and whispered, “Don’t yell, my lady, lest they decide to take a bite.”
“I am going to kill you,” she said between gritted teeth. “And then I am going to feed your body to the fishes. Where you belong.”
Because no one else dared come any closer, he said gently, “That’s not what you said last night.”
Somehow that goaded her to greater strength, and she managed to wiggle out from beneath the leopard’s weight. She tackled Raoul, taking him to the ground and putting her elbow to his jugular. He worried she might seriously want to hurt him, when Serena, who loved to wrestle, pinned Bella by knocking her over with one large paw, sitting on her belly, and thwacking her with her tail.
Raoul knew at that moment no matter how many whores he took to bed, he would never forget Lady Isabella.
CHAPTER 20
“He wants you to know he is terribly sorry.” The round-eyed, beige-clad slave grinned. It was his fourteenth attempt to gain an acceptance of Lord Raoul’s apology from the Lady Isabella, but the child didn’t seem to mind.
Maybe because every time he visited, she felt bad and gave him a coin. A small coin, but it all added up. Bella sent him on his way with a wave. “Tell your master Raoul that he is wasting his time.”
She slammed the door behind her and faced her friends. “Everyone laughed at me. Everyone. Nobody took me seriously. The queen wanted to impress, not provide a comedy.”
“We did impress them,” Catherine said with a sympathetic sigh. “And we supplied an afternoon’s entertainment so the queen might have a chance to talk to the emperor about her uncle.”
Bella crossed her arms. “Did she get to? I was being mauled by supposedly docile leopards and couldn’t see. I have a bruise, and I am missing a layer of flesh from my cheeks due to their rough tongues.” She started laughing again—hysterical laughter. “I looked like an idiot.” It had to be something about Raoul that made her act a fool.
“You made the event.” Mamie grinned. “Your antics will be talked about for a long time.”
“I had my sword ready to force Raoul to whistle and stop the leopards.” Sarah patted her swordless hip. “But Fay, bless her heart, mimicked a whistle that made Star and Serena lie on their backs with their feet in the air. They were really cute.”
“Cute?” Bella hugged her sore body. “I may have a broken rib.”
“You’re being a touch dramatic,” Catherine said, her serious eyes twinkling. “And Raoul did apologize in front of everyone. On his knees.”
Mamie burst into bosom-heaving laughter.
Bella expelled a frustrated breath, striding across the room to her chest of clothes. “I’m going to have to forgive him. We leave in a few days, and I can’t gather information if I am left pouting in my room.”
Fay giggled. Mystical, virginal yet worldly, she embodied young womanhood. She would be stronger as time passed. Maybe the strongest of them all. “You’ve run out of coins to pay the boy, haven’t you?”
“Oui, Fay. That is precisely what has happened.”
“You shouldn’t worry. You were the queen’s champion today.” Fay smiled. “Can I loan you some money?”
Clad in a light blue gown and searching for accessories, Bella answered the door as soon as she heard the knock and bent to talk to the young slave boy. She faced a black tunic and a muscular waist wrapped with a black leather belt. Her stomach dropped to her toes as she raised her eyes.
“I told you not to give the slaves money. It makes them impertinent. He said that you were never going to forgive me, and then he showed me his coins and laughed. Said he hoped you never did.”
Bella bit her lower lip so she wouldn’t smile as she straightened to stare Raoul in the eye. “And did you take his coin away?”
Raoul snorted and leaned against the entryway. “No. If he is smart enough to buy his own freedom, so be it.”
Ah, why could he not be the wicked monster she’d first thought him to be?
“Why are you in the forbidden section of the palace?” She drew out the words, as if she were not bothered in the least by his presence.
“Nothing in this palace is forbidden to me.”
Mamie hooted. “Oh, God’s blood, Bella, either invite him in so we can all hear better, or forgive him and let him go before you start preaching at him.”
She realized her hands were in prayer posture, a sure sign she was getting ready to lecture someone. For their own good, of course. Quickly dropping them, she said sweetly, “You are forgiven.”
“No.” He pulled her out to the hall and shut the door in the other guards’ curious faces. “You didn’t eat after the performance.”
”I had no strength after being mauled by your pets.”
“They like you.” He smiled gently.
She said nothing, staring over his shoulder at the opposite stone wall and tapestry of the Madonna.
“Come on, Bella,” he coaxed in the same husky voice he’d used to get her to spread her thighs. “You like them too, yes? You see now that they mean no real harm.”
She blinked, determined not to tell him anything of the sort, although Sarah was right: they were a little bit cute.
He swooped in and kissed her, taking her breath away. She heard someone moan and realized it was her as he led her toward the secret passageway.
“I cannot do this,” Bella said, dragging her heels.
“I will not force you to lie with me. I want to feed you. You worked hard today and missed your meal because of me.”
“I am not hungry,” she lied with a straight face.
“Fine. Then watch me eat.”
“And what fun is that?”
“None. But the roasted duck I have in my room is so delicious it melts on the tongue. Spiced anise wine, bread, oil, grapes. I even have an apple.”
“Can I shoot it off your head?”
“You are the only woman I would even consider allowing to do such a thing.” He pulled her into the secret passageway, ignoring her feeble protests.
“Only because I am starving,” she said in what she recognized as a pathetic whine. “I don’t even remember the end of the meal. How could you embarrass me so?” It was easier to say these things to his back, in the dark. When had the dark become her friend?
He stopped abruptly, turned, and took her in his arms. She could feel his heart thud against her cheek. “It was not my intent.”
“Intent?” His embrace protected, made her feel cherished. “I don’t und
erstand.”
“I wasn’t going to see you again. Not alone. Not like this.” She pulled away from his drugging scent of musk, of man. Raoul.
“Why? I thought we would enjoy the rest of your days here together. In pleasure.”
Her lower belly tightened with remembrance. And if he told her something that the queen might use, then she would pass the information along guilt-free since he was using her for the same reason. She’d been smart enough to give nothing away, though what he’d given her was beyond accounting.
“I woke up this morning thinking about you.”
“So?”
“I want you out of my head.”
Bella stilled, realizing that though she’d pulled away from his embrace, he held her upper arms. “Then why did you come to me now?”
“To feed you. To pleasure you. Do you feel this way?”
Bella took a breath and decided to answer with the truth. “I don’t know what I feel for you.”
“Are you a witch, to drag me under your spell?”
She pushed at his chest, but he didn’t budge. “Do not be ridiculous. I’m a woman.”
“Frightening enough.” Raoul’s hand brushed her hair behind her left ear. “You are unlike any other woman I’ve ever met.”
“I’m a member of the Queen’s Guard. Not one of us is stupid. We set the tone of the program to be entertaining and to impress your emperor and the others in the audience. We hoped to show skill without threat. Everyone has illusions. It’s important sometimes for people to keep them.”
“John had soldiers ready to cut you down, should you go after the emperor. They’ll be getting their arses reamed for not seeing Fay so close. She’s talented. You all are. But I like your skills best.”
Bella noticed Raoul’s grip had loosened, yet she stayed close by choice.
“We are wasting time talking in the dark.” His hand caressed her back.
She’d bathed and changed into a soft silk gown, not because she’d thought to see him. Or, if she was honest with herself, maybe she’d hoped.
“It’s easier to tell the truth in the dark.”
His hand stilled. “What truth would you tell?”
“I meant to tell you last night, but I was distracted.” Her mind whirled as she attempted to put her worries in order. She was giving him something to tell Manuel, but she wanted his aid. She trusted him.
He said nothing. Waited. Giving in to impulse, Bella laid her head against his chest. It was solid. Strong. “Sarah is pregnant.”
Raoul’s body stiffened. “And Jonathon is the father.”
“Oui.”
He blew out a breath. “Motivation for attempting to kill Sarah. And it gives her a reason to protect him. The father of her babe.”
“I know. I’ve looked for him today but to no avail. The queen mentioned sending him home to Aquitaine, but I can’t imagine Jonathon would leave without telling us all good-bye. I had thought once that he fancied me. It seems he fancied a lot of women.” She swallowed. “Including his wife.”
“Wife.” Raoul cursed. “That changes things.”
“I know,” Bella said, forcing herself to speak her darkest thoughts. Raoul would understand. “What if, Raoul? What if Jonathon was jealous of Sarah meeting with the emperor? What if he is the one who poisoned her, with her own potion, and then stabbed her? He knows how to write in Latin. It fits. And there are no other suspects.”
It seemed he hesitated before asking, “Her own potion?”
Bella sucked in a breath. In all her planning, she’d forgotten he didn’t know about the Queen’s Guard having other skills to spy with. She explained, “Oui, her father was an alchemist, remember?”
Raoul held her close, and she wished she could never leave his embrace. “Why are you telling me this?”
Bella’s throat clogged. “Because I can tell nobody else, and I need your help. We are leaving in a few days, and I will never see you again. For better or for worse, Sarah has made her bed. The queen is angry because Jonathon did not stay true to the codes of honor, as she talks about in her garden court. I doubt she suspects him of anything else. But I cannot oust him as a murderer if I am not sure. What if I am so worried for my friend that I am adding crimes to a sin already black enough?”
”I see.” Again, it seemed to Bella that he hesitated. “I’ll help.” It was what she’d hoped to hear. “Come, let us go to my room and eat. Food will clear our heads, and we can find an answer to this problem.”
“Do you think I am overreacting?”
“You are cool under pressure. Stronger than Jonathon. His angst was real and did not seem tainted with guilt, yet he was there. A knotted mess, Bella.”
His words eased her mind, and she followed him without question through the dark. How he’d changed her life in less than a week! With his aid, she would help her friend Sarah and bring the facts to the queen.
Raoul cursed himself again, but it didn’t carry the sting of old. Where was this guilt coming from? He was doing his duty for the emperor, gathering information from the barbarians.
His conscience would not be quiet. Lady Isabella was many things but not a godless heathen. Her goodness was part of her armor, attracting others like beggars to a feast.
He worried he would smother her light, and then what? He couldn’t tell her what he was doing. That would be a betrayal to Manuel. I can’t let her go.
“We are here.”
He pulled her into his chamber, the only woman he’d cared for in his personal environment. He regretted the whores who had come before.
The scent of duck in rosemary wine and onion sauce permeated the room. The low table set in the center of the floor was laden with covered dishes designed to tempt the stubborn beauty.
He’d trained the leopards to trust his touch with food rewards. He hoped to coax the lady in the same manner but doubted Bella would be so easy.
“Sit,” he ordered.
Bella, who had been moving toward the table, stopped and faced him with her arms crossed over her abdomen. “You have no manners.”
He raised a brow, knowing she was right. “Why waste time on false flattery?”
“Society has put niceties in place so we can all get along without fighting.”
“But pregnant.” He regretted the words as soon as they’d left his mouth.
She tightened her lips, refusing to sit at the table.
He would have to try harder. For Manuel, not because it mattered to him personally—a lie if he’d ever thought one.
He cleared his throat. “Please sit.”
Bella looked up, her violet eyes framed by ebony lashes. She searched his face, her chin rigid. “I will not let you demean me.” Her cool tones let him know that she could, and just might, walk out of his chamber without looking back.
“I respect you. Now will you sit?” He gestured to the square pillows on the floor. “I would serve you.”
Her fair skin flushed, and he was aware that it had taken a lot of courage for her to speak her mind. She said in a softer tone, “I was not asking for special treatment.”
“I know.” He lifted the warming cover from the dish, and a savory aroma lifted in the steam. He put some on a plate and set it before her.
“This smells delicious, and I’m really hungry. Thank you for thinking of me, Raoul.”
Having done nothing but imagine her naked since last night, he somehow managed a terse, “It was nothing.” Then he sat opposite her and served himself a plate. “Would you have me call a slave?”
“No! We don’t use them where I am from. We have servants.”
“Most of our slaves work toward buying their freedom. Some are slaves until their death. Some are freed upon their owners’ deaths.” Raoul took a bite of bread, chewed, and swallowed. “None are treated badly. There are laws in place to protect them. I traveled once through Hungary and was amazed at the poor beggars I saw everywhere. We have a few here, but it is their choice. We take care of our people.”
>
Bella ate a bite of duck, the expression on her face changing with each tang of uniquely combined spices and flavors. “This is delicious. I didn’t mean to argue custom. I was but saying things are different where I live.”
It was one of the many things he liked about her: the way she accepted without judgment. He liked her arse best. And the way she licked her lower lip as she ate delicate bites of the duck. “How did you come to know the queen?”
“I was born in Aquitaine, and when my parents died I was placed in a convent there. My future husband was brother to one of the nuns who told him of my dowry. He married me, and we traveled to his various estates, but we stayed in France when Eleanor married Louis. He was French born but had acquired multiple properties in his life.”
Raoul gritted his teeth. He was starting to resent the way she spoke of her past with such cool detachment.
“And then?”
She dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, taking a drink of wine. “My husband quite literally choked to death on a fish bone at the king’s table. The queen had noted my bruises and black eyes and swept me under her protection before Louis could marry me off again.” She looked down and pleated her napkin. “I owe her everything.”
If Raoul could bring someone back from the dead to kill him, he would. Starting with Bella’s dead husband, a spot previously reserved for his traitorous sister. “Women need a firm hand.”
“What?” Her brow furrowed, and she shot to her feet, tripping over the hem of her long gown.
“I said that women need a firm hand.” Raoul didn’t know why he goaded her, except he wanted to see fire in her eyes instead of ice. “Guidance.”
She threw her napkin down on the duck and marched toward the door.
He pulled her into his lap as she passed, where she landed with an undignified thump. “Encouragement.” He locked his lips to hers until she stopped squirming. “But never violence.” He lifted his eyes, knowing he had no right to promise anything but wanting to give her everything. “I would never hurt you.”