Knight's Vengeance

by Catherine Kean

  His breath stirred her hair. "Can you stand?" Next to her ear, his voice sounded unsteady.

  She nodded.

  He pushed her away, and turned her to face him.

  "Does your arm still pain you? What of your forehead?" Concern glinted in his eyes.

  Drawing herself up to her full height, Elizabeth refused to acknowledge the slightest gratitude for his compassion. He had abducted her as part of his plan for vengeance, and no doubt intended to use her as leverage against her father.

  De Lanceau did not care for her well-being.

  "I am fine," she said.

  His laughter grated. His eyes darkened to steel gray.

  Elizabeth gnawed her lip. He knew she lied, but if it took every last bit of her strength, she would not admit weakness.

  "For a moment," he drawled, "I thought you looked pale and unwell." His smile turned lazy and, as his gaze traveled over her sodden cloak, her breath settled like a rock between her ribs. "I would hate to think my prize had been damaged during the day's journey. Your value to me might be lessened, Lady Elizabeth, if that were so."

  She swallowed. She scrambled to find words with which to battle, scathing remarks to wound and scar.

  Yet she was so very, very tired.

  Darkness beckoned. She closed her eyes, unable to resist.

  The bailey's noise faded to a drone.

  A hand caught her elbow. Steadied her, though she did not realize, until then, how close she had been to collapsing.

  "Troy, escort her to her chamber."

  When Elizabeth opened her eyes, de Lanceau had gone. He stood across the bailey, speaking to an old woman drawing water from the well. Elizabeth strained to see past the stable hands crowded around the other riders, to see what had become of Mildred, but Troy set his hand in the small of her back and urged her toward the keep's forebuilding.

  She stepped inside. The dank air smelled of cheap tallow candles and a century of secrets.

  Her strides stiffened. De Lanceau intended to throw her in his dungeon. A shiver rippled through her, and she steeled herself to face rats and iron shackles. Yet Troy led her up into a cramped, winding stairwell. At the end of three flights of stairs they came to a chamber. A short, plump maidservant with wide brown eyes and hair the color of honey stood inside. She turned as they approached. After setting down a stoneware pitcher, she dipped in a timid curtsey and hurried out.

  Troy motioned for Elizabeth to enter.

  She paused on the threshold, held back by a sense of misgiving. "Whose chamber is this? Why have you brought me here? Tell de Lanceau I—"

  Troy shoved her forward, mumbling an apology. The door thumped closed. A key grated in the lock.

  "Troy!"

  Elizabeth fisted her hands and hammered on the door. He did not answer. She yanked on the iron handle, twisted and turned it, but the metal refused to budge.

  With a furious sigh, she spun away from the door. Her fingers shook, yet she managed to shed the cloak. It slapped into a heap on the floorboards. She ignored the ache of bruised muscles and stalked around the chamber. If there were a way to escape, she would find it.

  She threw open the window's wooden shutters. A wrought iron grille barred the opening, and held firm when she gave it a good tug. She slammed the shutters closed.

  Turning on her heel, she crossed to the high oak bed near the door. The worn sheets had been patched in places, as had the woolen blankets. They would not hold up if she ripped them to shreds and braided them into a rope. Desperate laughter bubbled in her throat. Since she could not squeeze past the grille, that plan had no merit anyway.

  Her belly did an anxious turn, and, steadying herself, Elizabeth leaned against one of the bedposts. Her palm brushed rough wood. Glancing down, she saw the post had once splintered. The clumsy repair was the work of an apprentice rather than a skilled carpenter. She smiled. If she exerted enough pressure, mayhap she could snap the post again. She could use it to batter down the door, or, if that failed, knock senseless whoever next came into the chamber.

  Linking her hands around the mended wood, she pulled, hard. The joint held firm.

  Defeat wailed inside her. Refusing to listen, she crossed to the dust-covered trestle table and the bedside table set with candles. Neither held items that might aid her escape. Not even a book to hurl at a guard and distract him, while she dashed for the door.

  De Lanceau had planned well.

  Elizabeth slumped on the bed's edge. The ropes squeaked and sagged. Her eyes burned and she bit back a defeated sob.

  She would not cry.

  Lying on her side, her cheek pressed to the pillow, she stared at the opposite wall. She should remove her garments before she got a chill or soaked her blankets. Yet all strength had drained from her body.

  Her eyelids drooped. Wretched de Lanceau. He had not sent a bath to ease her aching muscles, wash her wounds, and scrub away the wagon's filth. He had not offered her a meal, lumpy or not. She wrinkled her nose. The pillowcase, no doubt stored before it had dried, smelled sour; and the linen scratched her skin.

  Her eyes closed. Elizabeth fought the ever-present dizziness. She must not rest. She must not sleep.

  She must find a way to escape.

  * * *

  Geoffrey stood in the chamber doorway and listened to Elizabeth's rhythmic breathing. Hers was a sleep of sheer exhaustion, free, for now, of emotional distress and memories that gnawed at one's soul until it bled.

  How he envied her.

  His leather boots creaked as he crossed the threshold. Moonlight slipped in through the cracks in the shutters and painted the room in an ethereal, silvery light. The maidservant Elena had left a candle burning beside the bed, but he did not need its light to see. Still, he did not snuff the flame.

  Softening his strides, he approached the bed. He stared down at Elizabeth. Studied the beauty he had snared.

  Willful damsel. She had surprised him today with her defiance, but in the end she had only made the journey more difficult for herself.

  She lay on her back, her hair tangled across the pillow, the bedding tucked about her shoulders. She had not stayed awake long enough for Elena to bring food or water to wash. The damsel had not even roused when the damp clothes were stripped from her body. When Elena had applied the last of the healing salve he had saved from the hospital at Acre to Elizabeth's temple, she had moaned, but not awakened. Not once.

  His gaze skimmed over her cheek, brushed by moonlight. Did his eyes trick him, or did she look ill? Frowning, Geoffrey bent over her. Her lids were the color of cream above the dark fans of her lashes. Her mouth formed a gentle pout, innocent of the biting words she hurled at him at every

  opportunity. Elena said the lady had no fever, but he set his hand on her forehead to see for himself. Her flesh was warm, pulsing with life, but not hot.

  She stirred. Sighed.

  He jerked back, and his face stung. He hoped he had not woken her. What would he say?

  If he tried to leave the chamber now, he would wake her for certain.

  Still as a tombstone, he counted his throbbing heartbeats. Waited. Her head drifted to one side, and her breathing slowed.

  Relief whooshed through his body. He should leave and tend to the other matters demanding his attention this eve.

  Yet the delicious warmth of her skin shimmered on his palm.

  He longed to touch her again.

  Caution blazed through him. Still, his traitorous fingers trailed a feather-light path down the side of her face. How smooth her skin felt against his, and as soft as the silk hawked in the crowded Venetian markets.

  Her warmth curled up his hand. Reminded him, with arousing potency, of how good she had felt in his arms.

  He ground his teeth and drew away from the bedside.

  She had found a weakness in him. How he hated her for it.

  The candle extinguished on his coarse oath. He could not afford weakness. Not when years of anguish and rage

  had led h
im to this pivotal point, and victory was so near.

  This beauty was his enemy. He admired her boldness, but he would not let her weaken him. Not through desire. He turned and strode to the door. . Lady Elizabeth Brackendale would never touch his soul.

  Chapter Six

  Through a sleepy haze, Elizabeth became aware of two people speaking. The man's voice seemed familiar, but she did not recognize the woman's.

  "Milord, the head wound does not appear deep," the woman said in hushed tones. "'Twill be clearer once I wash away the dirt and blood."

  Elizabeth's groggy mind stirred. Who had been injured?

  "Troy told me she faded in and out of consciousness."

  Concern poked at the fog smothering Elizabeth's thoughts. Troy? She recognized the name, but could not remember from where. Why did her thoughts seem as dense as cabbage pottage?

  "Poor dove. She will have a mark on her brow for a few days, I vow."

  The man sighed with displeasure. "What of her arm?"

  "'Tis not broken, but the bruises may cause her discomfort."

  A breeze wafted against Elizabeth's cheeks. Fabric rustled. She dragged up the strength to raise her lashes.

  A warm, wet cloth pressed against her temple.

  Pain! '

  She gasped. Her eyes flew open.

  "Do not fret, my child." An old woman hovered at the bedside. Her black habit and white wimple enhanced her round face wizened by sun-bronzed wrinkles. Her smile offered trust.

  Elizabeth licked her dry lips. "Who—"

  "Lie still. Let Sister Margaret finish her work."

  The rumbled command swept the last slumberous cobwebs from Elizabeth's mind. Memories of the previous day flooded back to her, and her stomach tightened.

  She turned her head on the pillow. Geoffrey de Lanceau leaned against the doorway, his leather-booted legs crossed at the ankle. He wore a burgundy wool jerkin and black hose, and looked refreshed and clean despite their long journey but a short time ago. He had even shaved. With his squared jaw bare of stubble, he looked even more arrogant.

  Her gaze flew back to Sister Margaret. Did the nun know that de Lanceau was a kidnapper? It seemed not. Sister Margaret's gentle smile did not waver as she rinsed the bloody cloth in a bowl on the side table, and dabbed again at the wound.

  "Ouch!" Ignoring a wave of nausea and dizziness, Elizabeth pushed herself up to sitting. Yet she did not lie atop the bedding as she remembered, but was snug inside it.

  The linen sheet slid from her shoulders. A draft cooled her throat. Her bare throat.

  Someone had removed her shift.

  She squeaked and snatched at the bedding.

  De Lanceau chuckled. With lazy strides, he strode to her, his boots thudding on the floorboards.

  The nun glanced at Elizabeth. Puzzlement shone in the woman's eyes before she shook her head and picked up the bowl. "I must fetch clean water. I shall return in a moment."

  As the door clicked shut behind the nun, Elizabeth clutched the blankets to her naked flesh.

  "What ails you, damsel?"

  A blush stung her face. "How dare you?"

  "Dare I what?" He dropped down on the edge of the bed. The ropes creaked and groaned, and she bobbed up and down like a child's ball. With effortless grace, he crossed one muscled thigh over the other and seemed oblivious to her frantic attempts to keep hold of the bedding, though she guessed from the mischievous glint in his eyes that he knew of her predicament.

  She shot him an icy glare. "Where is my shift?"

  His grin, a slash of straight, white teeth, made her belly flip-flop. "Ah, I remember now. That filthy, ripped bit of linen? The one you wore yesterday?"

  "Aye," she snapped.

  "I told Elena, the maidservant, to send it to one of the town peasants. He could use it for scraps."

  "You what?n

  De Lanceau's brow furrowed into a frown. "Should I ask Sister Margaret to treat your hearing too?"

  "I hear as well as you." Elizabeth choked back a shriek. "My shift could have been mended with a needle and thread. You had no right to give it away."

  De Lanceau flicked a speck of lint from his hose. His gaze locked with hers. "'Twas not worth salvaging. The esteemed Lord Arthur Brackendale would not want his daughter to be seen wearing such an inferior garment."

  Anguish lanced through her, but she stifled the hurt. She would not stoop to his challenge and fight to defend her father. Her sire was a brave, loyal, noble man, and when he learned of her abduction, he would lead his army to Branton and squash de Lanceau like an annoying bug.

  "By your own admission, you are a thief as well as a rogue," she said in a cold voice. "'Twill cost you many coins to replace my shift with one of equal quality. Yet you will, since you are responsible for its ruin."

  His brows arched. "Am I?"

  "You are."

  He laughed. A warning. He flattened one hand on the bedding and leaned on his extended arm, bringing his broad torso nearer to hers.

  She shivered, but refused to shrink back from him. She would not be threatened by his nearness. His mocking words had failed to defeat her. His intimidation would not either.

  His tanned fingers splayed on the patched blankets. His hands were beautiful. Callused, weathered, yet nobly formed. She remembered his fingers closing around her mother's brooch, and resentment swirled within her like a gathering tempest.

  Had he taken the ornament to sell it? The gold would fetch a good price, more than most merchants earned in a year. With its proceeds, he could hire an army to fight her father.

  She must get the ornament back.

  "The brooch you took from me," she began.

  He shrugged. "The trinket?"

  "'Tis not a trinket."

  His gaze bored into hers. "Why is it important to you?"

  Elizabeth looked at her white-knuckled fingers. If he knew how she cherished the brooch, he might ensure she never got it back. By admitting how much it meant to her, she gave him another means to taunt and wound her.

  Yet, if she did not speak out, how could she hope he would understand or return it?

  Tamping down an inner cry for silence, she said, "It belonged to my mother."

  "I see."

  "She gave it to me before she died." Elizabeth looked up at him. "I ask that you return it now."

  His mouth flattened. "I cannot."

  "Why?"

  "As I said before, I will not risk you using it to bribe a servant. You are an intelligent and resourceful woman. You would use any means to escape me."

  "I give you my word."

  "Your word?" He laughed. "You think I am foolish enough to trust you?" His gaze clashed with hers, then slid down to her shoulder peeking above the blankets. Dangerous promise blazed in his eyes. "I will not risk losing you, before I have had revenge."

  Wariness screamed through her. He stared as though he saw through her flimsy shield of sheets and blankets.

  Someone had undressed her as she slept.

  Had he?

  Shock snatched the air from her lungs. Heat scorched across her skin. The indignity. The horror. The thought of his hands upon her as she slumbered, oblivious—

  Words, rough as stones, ground between her teeth. "Who removed my shift?"

  De Lanceau grinned. "Who do you think?"

  A chill raked down her spine, yet she must ask. "Did you?"

  He shook his head, and his silky hair slid over his shoulders. "Elena has nursed the sick and aged for years and tended you well. She told me you did not stir once." His smile turned crooked. "If I had been so inclined to undress you, damsel, you would have awakened. And you would remember the

  experience."

  "Why, you lewd, vile—"

  The bed ropes creaked. He leaned toward her. Closer. Closer. Blue flecks darkened his irises, yet that was not half as unsettling as the blackness of his pupils. Or the intoxicating, soapy tang that surrounded him.

  He paused, his face a mere hand's span from hers.
"Beware your insults, my dear lady." His words rubbed over her nerves like gritty sand. "Remember, your fate lies in my grasp."

  Did he expect her to cower like a terrified girl? In her mind, Elizabeth condemned him to eternal torment in Purgatory. "I do not fear you, and do not call me your lady."

  "Why not? You are my prisoner. You are secured like a dove in a stone cage. You are indeed my chattel."