The Black Lyon

by Jude Deveraux

  “I concede. I am the most handsome of men and shall never deny it again.”

  “Ranulf,” she began timidly. “If you say you are not as I see you, am I also different from the way you see me? You have said you think me beautiful.”

  Ranulf laughed again. “Alas, it is not so. I fear I heard of your beauty for three years before I ventured to Lorancourt. I vow I was no little curious about this girl who caused grown men to speak in whispered tones.”

  “This is true?”

  “Aye, but I will not say more or repeat it. You are too vain now, although I do not see how you can be when you are so fat you near push me from the bed.”

  “It is you who has made me fat. If you were slim and not such a great hulk of a man, I am sure I would not be burdened with a child half the size of that great horse of yours. So do not complain to me of discomfort, for it is my skin which is near to bursting with him.”

  Ranulf hugged her to him. “If I did not love you so well, you would be a bother to me with your sharp tongue.” He felt her body stiffen against him. Puzzled, he asked, “What have I said that causes this?”

  “You said that you loved me,” she whispered.

  “Certainly. I have said it often enough. Why should it cause you to pull away from me?”

  “You have never said it.”

  He pulled her chin up. “Do you cry again? I understand this not at all. There has never been a day when I have not told you I love you.”

  “Nay, you have never done so. Amicia knew you had not and when I saw one of your letters that said you loved her…”

  “Do not forget that I did not write those letters. But what you say cannot be true. If I have not said the words, then my actions have told you. Each time I make love to you I tell you I love you.”

  Lyonene sniffed. “But you have made love to many women. Did you love them also?”

  “Nay, I did not, but it is different with you.” He stopped, for he realized she could not know how he was different with her. “Have I not been kind?”

  She worked to control the tears. “You are kind to all women.”

  “Mon Dieu! You will drive me mad. There! I have just told you I love you.”

  “You curse me and that is to be taken as a declaration of love? Forgive me if I do not see your logic.”

  “I have no logic near you. What other woman causes me to lose my temper or makes me laugh? What other woman do I chase across the water or do I dress as a serf to rescue?”

  “Your wife? Isabel whom you loved so well, that drove you near mad with grief when she died?”

  Ranulf was stunned for a moment and could not speak.

  “I know how you loved her. It is in your eyes when I mention her or the child. I think I cannot replace her in your heart.”

  “Do not continue,” he said, his voice cold. “You misread me sorely if you think I bore that woman any love. I will tell you what I have told no other person and then you may judge for yourself what caused my grief.”

  He told the story of a young boy and a faithless wife without feeling, as if it belonged to another. The room was quiet and Lyonene could imagine the feelings that had been stored so long, the emotions that had changed a happy boy into the brooding man who had earned the name of Black Lion.

  They lay together quietly when he had finished.

  “That is why you raged so on our wedding night,” Lyonene said quietly.

  “I have never raged. I am ever good and kind.”

  “You were such a brute I would have left you had I not said vows to you.”

  “You said you hated me, but I did not believe you.”

  “Aye, you believed all, all Giles said. I am sometimes glad for that Welsh arrow, although the scar it left is most ugly.”

  “I love you, Lioness. I do not know how you could have doubted me. I love you more than myself or my yet to be son or… Tighe.”

  Lyonene shook with laughter. “Now I know your words are true.”

  “I shall keep a list of your insults and repay you properly when this great belly of yours does not prevent me from getting within a cloth-yard of you.”

  “I shall look forward eagerly to your instruction.” Her eyes sparkled in the dim light and she moved her leg over his thigh. He was too aware of her skin under his hands, the way her hair caressed her cheek.

  “You are a cruel woman. Now be still. There is only a short while before dawn and I must tell you our plan to remove you from this place.” His hand was on her stomach, and a sharp kick from the baby made him frown. “It has been long since the Round Table. Is not the babe due soon? Will you be able to travel?”

  “It is a full half-month before he will be born, I am sure.”

  “That is soon. Mayhaps we should wait until after his birth. Your Alice will see to you.”

  “And then Lady Margaret may decide to move me elsewhere, or other mishaps. I would not like to take a newborn babe into the cold air. Now he is warm and protected inside me. Alice says he lolls about upside down in a nest of liquid.”

  “We will go then, on the morrow. I wait for my men to come now.”

  “How did you find me?”

  “It was not easy. We had to keep our secrecy, so it was spread about that I was at court, that I did not care about my lowly wife and would not pay the ransom. I am glad you did not hear that story or I am sure you would have believed it.”

  “Nay, I would not,” she lied.

  He gave her a suspicious look for her too-fierce disavowal. “Dacre’s cousins and your father’s have sent spies everywhere. No one thought to look here. This woman, this Lady Margaret, is known only for her lechery for young men. It was not thought she would dare to encourage my wrath.”

  Lyonene felt fear, as she always did when Ranulf became the knight who was feared by so many men.

  “But what caused you to look here?”

  “Sainneville saw your lion belt.”

  “But the boy that I gave it to—they found him and hung him.”

  “And rightly so. He sold it and gave no thought to helping you. He made a mistake in selling it to one of my men. From there it was not so hard to find you. A few mugs of poor ale and these guards boasted of the lady they held, of the four guards ordered to kill her should any attempt be made to rescue her.”

  “How did you get in this room?” she asked, suddenly surprised that she had not asked it before.

  Ranulf inclined his head to the shuttered window. “I but threw a rope around a crenel and lowered myself.”

  “But what of the guards atop the tower?”

  Ranulf gave a half-smile. “Did you not know the Lady Margaret has hired four new knights for her crumbling castle? They are strong, virile men, a little too dark for her taste, but she overlooks that flaw.”

  “Your guard!”

  “Aye.” He chuckled. “Gilbert says the woman is most inventive in bed.”

  She ignored him. “You have been here long then. Why have you not posed as her knight and not as a serf?”

  “The woman is somewhat clever. She allows no one near you but those four men and two of her knights. We were not sure it was you she held captive, so one of us had to get inside the hall. My men are not so brave as to wear these stuffs.” He plucked at the harsh wool. “Or to chop wood.”

  “I think I shall be forgiven all, but not that you had to lift an ax outside battle.”

  His look affirmed her opinion. “Now I must go, for it grows light soon and I do not wish to be seen so plainly against a stone wall. I came but to warn you and to tell you to make ready. There is no way to bar the door without someone outside hearing us. My men will come soon and then we will attack. Have clothes ready and whatever else you need.”

  “But, Ranulf,” she cried, clinging to him. “What will you do? How will you take me from this place and not risk your life?”

  “Do not do this. I have risked much already. Two of my men will come to your room before light and you must obey them in all they say. Do
not do aught that is foolish. Do you heed my words?”

  She could but nod.

  “They will protect you while the rest of us see to your four guards. Now do not cry more.” He rose and held out his arms to her and they clung together, his hands running over her nude back.

  “You are even bigger than I had thought. I can hardly reach around you.”

  “I fear my sweet days of being carried about are at an end.” He grinned at her and lifted her in his arms. She was embarrassed by her distorted form and sought to cover herself. He brushed her hands away. “Nay. You are a silly girl. It is my child who stretches you so. If you can carry him, I can at least look upon him.” He smiled into her eyes. “You are beautiful fat and beautiful thin. I think I would love you had you three heads.” He kissed her mouth but drew away when she began to return his kiss with ardor.

  “I must go.” He lowered her to the bed and put the covers about her. “You must miss Malvoisin much,” he said, sneering at the crude covers.

  “I miss the master more. Ranulf,” she murmured, her arms holding his face close, “I love you.”

  He kissed her cheek and then stood up, tall, powerful above her. “I have known it always, of course, but it is good to hear.”

  She smiled, knowing that his words hid his true feelings. It seemed that he was gone instantly, and she saw only a foot as he pulled himself up on the rope.

  Chapter Sixteen

  She awoke slowly, groggily, unsure of her surroundings. She stretched one arm to reach for Ranulf, wanting his warmth close to her, the security of his nearness. Her eyes opened in bewilderment when her hand met only an empty coldness, and not her husband’s warm flesh. Her situation came to her and she sat up, the cover clutched about her.

  Alice looked up from her sewing to smile at her.

  “It is late?” The maid’s nod was affirmative. “You have let me sleep long.” Alice merely smiled and looked down again at the patched woolen garment in her hands.

  Lyonene stared at her thoughfully. “You know, do you not? I do not understand how, but you know.”

  Alice grinned at her, the shared secret obvious between them. The stout woman rose and brought clothing for her mistress.

  All day they stayed in the room, glancing anxiously at the shuttered window. Late in the day Lady Margaret came.

  “So, you do not wish to honor us this day with your presence? I am sure Sir Morell will miss seeing you.”

  “He does not often look at me, so I cannot know what you mean.”

  “He leaves this day to travel to England and see why this husband of yours does not send your ransom.”

  Lyonene smiled up at the older woman, her hand on her stomach, pressing lightly against the kicking child. “I had thought you were sure he had no use for me since he long ago went to court.”

  Lady Margaret frowned. “You seem confident this day. Did I not know you to be so well guarded, I might think you held some secret.”

  Lyonene smiled at her blandly. “It is the child. I think he comes soon. Surely you have known the placidity that comes to a woman just before she gives birth?”

  “Nay, I have not been so cursed as you with a swollen belly. I prefer my pleasures without such punishment. Should your labor begin, have Alice fetch me and I will send someone from the village. Do you understand my words, Alice? You are to come for me if your mistress has an ache in her belly.”

  Alice looked at her blankly, a study in ignorance, and nodded vigorously at her, eyes shining, mouth slightly open.

  “How you bear her presence each day and remain sane is not of my understanding,” Margaret said with a sneer.

  “Her intent is good and she attends to my needs most adequately.”

  “I must go now. I have hired new guards to see to your protection. Morell assures me that all is right, but I cannot help but be uneasy.”

  “Oh?” Lyonene looked at the fire. “Are these guards as fierce and ugly as my other four?”

  Lady Margaret laughed, a quick snort of laughter, making her thoughts known. “Nay, they are in truth most handsome men, strong and vigorous. When you are no longer as you are now, I shall give you to one of them. You will like their looks, as I hear you favor dark men.” She turned and left them.

  Lyonene felt Alice’s hand on her shoulder. Their eyes met. “Aye, I know ’twas wrong and I came too close, but she could not recognize them as Ranulf’s men. I am pleased Sir Morell leaves. Ranulf says he will have no problem with my guards, but I am pleased there will be fewer men to fight.”

  Nightfall came and still she waited, a small bundle of clothes by her side. Her nervousness increased as she thought of Ranulf’s danger, the danger her foolishness had caused. Before she went to bed, she spent hours on her knees in prayer. Only Alice’s mute commands made her retire.

  Surprisingly, she fell asleep quickly, awakened in the dark, again, by a large, warm hand over her mouth. She looked into Sainneville’s dark eyes.

  “My lady, it is good to see you again.”

  She took his hand for a moment, joyous to see a familiar face, a friend.

  “He is not worthy of such attentions, I assure you. Can you believe I had to force him to climb down that rope? He said he feared the castle crumbling about his ears.”

  She smiled at Corbet, his jests and light words tearing at her, so glad was she to hear them again. “Nay, I cannot believe it. You are well, both of you?”

  “Only now that the sun has come out again. Malvoisin is a dark place without its golden mistress.”

  She smiled and then laughed, joy filling her, tears clouding her eyes. “Sir Corbet, you have not changed and it is most pleasant to see you again. Sir Sainneville, do you work to keep him from mischief?”

  Sainneville winked at her. “I see you know him well. But it is not he who has caused the problem of this journey.”

  She put her hand before her face. “Nay, do not lecture me. My husband has not lost a moment in recounting my misdeeds. Tell me true, has he actually chopped wood?”

  The two dark guardsmen grinned. “Aye, he has,” Corbet said. “It was an easy task for him, and we often gave him our encouragement from our posts atop the battlements.”

  “You did not!”

  “We could not lose such a chance. How many men ever are put in charge of their lord?”

  “It is Hugo who will need to fear for his life.”

  “What could Sir Hugo have done?” she asked. “He is a most quiet and peaceful man.”

  Corbet tried to keep his laughter quiet. “Lady Margaret put him in charge of the serfs. Lord Ranulf thought to escape his duties as serf, but Hugo had other ideas. He is a brave knight.”

  “My husband?”

  “Nay,” Sainneville said, laughing. “Sir Hugo had more courage than any of us. He leaned against a wall, ate an apple and then pointed at our lord. I can just hear him, ‘You there. You look to be a sturdy fellow. You chop while these lesser men tote.’ I wonder that Lord Ranulf’s curses did not char the wood.”

  Lyonene covered her giggle. “It will not be Sir Hugo who suffers, but I for causing all these problems.” She looked across the room and saw Alice sitting quietly on her pallet in the corner. “You know these men, Alice?”

  Corbet smiled. “It was she who obtained our jobs.”

  Alice pointed to her eyes, then theirs and Lyonene laughed. “Alice must have realized you were of the Black Guard, for I often tell her of Malvoisin.”

  “We are honored to be mentioned by one so lovely. A damsel in distress is our most favorite mission. I wish only there were a fiery dragon to slay in your honor.”

  She leaned back against the stone wall and looked at them. They laughed, but their mission was indeed serious and could cost them their lives. Yet they acted as if ’twere no more than an afternoon’s outing. She started to rise and Alice came to help her. She had slept in a woolen garment, ready for a quick escape.

  The two guardsmen stared at her, her new shape unfamiliar to them. �
��I can see what has happened to the sun.”

  Lyonene looked at Corbet in puzzlement.

  “You have swallowed it.”

  She laughed at the jest. Now was not the time to reprimand them for insolence. Now they were bound together by the ancient tie of friends amongst strangers. Later, at Malvoisin, they would return to the old formality, but now the circumstances were changed. Alice helped her into a heavy surcoat and mantle—warm, sturdy clothes.

  “You will not change your thoughts and come with us, Alice?”

  Alice smiled, touched Lyonene’s hair and shook her head. Her family and her ways were Irish. She did not wish to leave her home.

  Further talk was silenced by a cry outside the door. Lyonene was astonished at the speed with which Corbet and Sainneville moved. The two men put their backs to the door, keeping out the men who so violently tried to open it.

  “Get her near the window!” Sainneville commanded to Alice. “If need be, lower her down the rope. Herne waits below.”

  They could hear the clash of steel outside and loud voices. The pounding on the door decreased by half and then ceased altogether as Ranulf and his men engaged the guards in battle. Lyonene sat on a stool near the window, her face white, her nerves taut, threatening to snap.

  Ranulf’s battle cry was heard through the oak door; indeed, it seemed to fill the very stones of the donjon. Lyonene could but wait and listen, listen to the horrible cries, the sounds of steel and iron as they struck wood, stone and human flesh.

  Sainneville and Corbet watched her. They could do nothing to help their fellow guardsmen or their liege lord and the waiting was harder for them than the battle.

  When she thought she might not live much longer, so great was her paralyzing fear, Ranulf’s voice sounded outside the door.

  “Open!”

  Corbet and Sainneville threw back the heavy door to reveal a blood-encrusted Ranulf. His expression was wild—fierce and frightening.

  Lyonene tried to stand and greet him, but her legs would not support her. Alice helped her.

  Ranulf merely glanced in her direction, satisfied that she was unharmed. “Morell gathers men together, a few hundred. Gilbert has seen them riding hard toward us. He must have gotten word of our presence. I have sent a messenger to Dacre’s cousins and they will meet us due north of here.”