‘Up,’ the captain said, grabbing hold of her and hauling her to her feet. She staggered a little, her legs stiff from sitting so long, as he dragged her out of the storeroom.
‘My mistress will be concerned,’ she said as she was marched along the corridor towards the room where she had seen the Saracens, ‘that I have not returned.’
‘That does not interest me. From now on the princess will do exactly as she is told,’ the captain said grimly as he thrust her into Isaac’s chamber.
The emperor .sat there staring at her coldly. The captain pushed her forwards, and then stationed himself behind her, his hand clamped to her shoulder so that she could not move. ‘So Lady de Moreville, you thought to spy on me?’ the emperor said.
‘This is all a mistake.’ Straightening her spine, she did her best to stare quite calmly at him.
‘Mistake?’ Isaac chuckled menacingly. ‘Yours, not mine it appears. Now tell me what you gleaned from my meeting?’
‘Nothing as it happens. Unlike you, I do not understand Arabic. If that was the language you were speaking,’ she said, widening her eyes and looking at him innocently.
‘You lie,’ he hissed. ‘Just admit that you were up to no good. I have recently been told that a prisoner of mine was discovered with a pitcher, which had contained wine from my very own cellar. How do you think that came to be?’
‘Prisoner,’ she replied, trying to maintain a look of pure innocence. ‘I do not know what you are talking about. Nevertheless I am a little confused, sire, by the fact that you entertain Saracens in your castle.’ She smiled coyly. ‘That is if they were Saracens, of course; as I told the captain I have never seen one before.’
‘If they were, then would it not be wise of me to ensure that no one lives to speak of their presence here? Speaking quite hypothetically, of course,’ he said with a chilling smile.
‘You dare not harm me,’ she stuttered as icy fingers of fear slid insidiously down her spine.
‘Dare not?’
‘I am a lady-in-waiting to the future Queen of England.’
‘“Future” is the word we should consider, is it not?’ he said with cold menace. ‘She is not yet queen and her betrothed seems inordinately slow in coming to look for her.’
‘He will come, you know that.’
‘Even if he does, do you think the great Lionheart is going to concern himself about the fate of one insignificant lady-in-waiting? Princess Berengaria brings him land and power while you, my lady, are a minor inconvenience, nothing more.’
Her concern was increasing as this troubling conversation continued. ‘I am not that unimportant as it so happens,’ she challenged, fearing now that her life was definitely under threat. ‘My late husband was an important English lord and my betrothed is one of the king’s most trusted lieutenants.’
‘How can you be betrothed when you are officially still in mourning? The princess told me that you had recently lost your husband. The lies trip off your traitorous tongue far too easily. Now I want the truth. All of it!’
Edwina stiffened anxiously as she felt the cold blade of a knife suddenly pressed to her throat. Yet it didn’t pierce her flesh, it just cut her garment from neck to hem in one smooth movement and her dress was ripped from her body, leaving her standing in front of the emperor stark naked.
‘How dare you,’ she gasped, as humiliation and embarrassment joined with the terror she was now experiencing.
‘I dare,’ hissed the captain as he clamped his hand across her breasts. Sliding his other arm around her hips, he rested his warm, rather sweaty palm on her bare stomach. ‘The truth now!’
‘Truth,’ she repeated, unable to hide her apprehension as she felt his hand move downwards until it was pressed uncomfortably against her pubic mound.
She swallowed anxiously as he jerked her back against his muscular form. Even through his uniform, she could feel the hard line of the captain’s cock digging into her buttocks. Her heart began to hammer in her chest and her mouth went dry with fear as his loathsome hand moved lower until his fingers were inching intrusively between her trembling thighs. She could see that the emperor was watching the captain’s every move. His dark beady eyes were focused on her sex, and he was clearly enjoying every moment of her obvious distress.
‘You know that I would not baulk at having you killed,’ Isaac remarked as he moved aside some papers and picked up an object that had been concealed beneath them. ‘King Richard’s vice chancellor was reluctant to give up this royal seal. Far too reluctant it appears for his own safety.’
‘You killed him?’ she gasped, wincing visibly as the captain’s fingers invaded the slit of her sex.
‘I might have.’ Isaac’s smile was pure evil.
‘Then not only are you a traitor to Christendom, you are a murderer as well.’ Edwina forgot all thoughts of caution for a moment as she added, ‘You have imprisoned the survivors of the wrecked ship and the crew who brought the princess and I here. You have beaten a noble Hospitaller near half to death. And it appears you are in league with Salah ad-Din as well. Your sins are endless, are they not? God will punish you for them all, I have no doubt of that.’ She gave a faint gasp, her entire body trembling as the captain’s fingers slid inside her.
‘You are foolish,’ her tormentor said softly, his voice pitched just loud enough for Isaac to hear. ‘You have just sealed your fate, my lady. Contrition might have been a better move. However your body is so soft and moist, eagerly welcoming me into its seductive depths.’ She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the humiliations he was forcing her to endure as he added, ‘If you want to live then I will ask the emperor to give you to me instead. It would be a delight to have a willing woman to warm my bed at night.’
‘A fine offer,’ Isaac commented, clearly enjoying watching the captain sexually abuse her.
She felt the man’s engorged cock nibbing lewdly against her buttock cheeks and she grimaced and hissed with disgust, ‘I’d rather die than couple with scum such as you.’
‘Death is not the only option for a beautiful woman,’ Isaac Comenius pointed out as he snapped his fingers at the captain. To her intense relief, the man immediately withdrew the offending digits and stepped away from her. ‘You, my dear lady,’ the emperor continued, ‘are worth far more alive.’
The two Saracens must have entered the room at some point, because they suddenly moved into her line of vision. One stepped closer and looked her up and down quite dispassionately as if he were examining a piece of merchandise. He reached out his hand and touched her breasts. ‘You want us to take her?’ he asked in surprisingly good French.
‘Yes, far away from here where she can do no harm,’ Isaac agreed. ‘She is far too curious and strong-willed for her own good.’
‘Buyers like spirited women, it amuses them to spend time taming them.’ The Saracen turned to look at Isaac who was now smiling with cruel delight as he witnessed Edwina’s confused consternation.
‘What are you doing to me?’ she asked, her voice shaking with terror as cold fear clawed at her heart.
‘You, Lady de Moreville, are destined for the slave market in Damascus,’ he said with a satisfied grin.
The captain leant forwards until his mouth was pressed to her ear. ‘Slavery is a living death, you would have done better to have chosen me.’
‘She will no doubt bring a good price with her golden hair and beautiful face,’ the Saracen who’d examined her said matter-of-factly. ‘But she is far too thin. We will have to fatten her up.’
The smooth warmth of the leather saddle against her naked sex felt strange. Edwina’s sensitive flesh was being stimulated by every movement of her mount as she clung onto the pommel with her bound hands. The pressure on her most intimate parts grew stronger as the man leading her horse by a long rein kicked his mount into a fast canter, forcing hers to follow suit, taking her away from Limassol and closer and closer to the fate she now feared, perhaps more than death itself. Slavery! The word pounde
d in her head as her horse’s hooves pounded against the hard-packed soil of the road.
Edwina wore nothing but a ragged Shift. It barely reached her thighs and left her arms uncovered, but her Saracen captors had already told her that when she reached their ship, which was anchored further along the coast, she would be forced to wear an all-concealing burka, which would modestly cover her from head to foot and keep her hidden from the eyes of the Moslem crew. She suspected that they had not planned on leaving Cyprus with a female Frankish captive. They seemed rather irritated by her presence, as if she were an inconvenience, nothing more.
She had no intention of letting herself lose all hope just yet. After all she was still on Christian soil, albeit in a land ruled by a tyrant who appeared to be thinking of allying himself with the Saracens. Even so, she knew that if she wanted to try to escape she must act soon. Once she was onboard the vessel all would be lost and she would probably be destined to spend her life in one of the harems that Stephen had told her about There she would probably be used and abused sexually by her new Saracen master.
Determined not to let that happen, she tried to think of a way to escape, as they travelled further away from Limassol. Yet thinking of anything was not that easy, especially now that the unending stimulation of the leather saddle rubbing constantly against her uncovered sex was becoming rather uncomfortable. She glanced around her; the road was narrower here and they had left all signs of habitation far behind. All she could see was rock-strewn ground and scrubby grass, baked brown by the heat of the sun. Just ahead, however, the road began to climb up into more mountainous country, turning into little more than a track zigzagging through a forest of tall pines.
In wild desperation, she considered throwing herself from her mount, but she was afraid that she might hurt herself as she fell and she had to be able to jump to her feet and flee quickly if she were to have any chance of getting away from these men.
The sun was rising higher in the sky now and Edwina could feel the intense heat of the rays beating mercilessly down on her body. Soon she feared her exposed flesh would gradually turn scarlet and burn.
As the incline grew steeper the horses slowed their pace and, through the trees, she caught a brief glimpse of blue in the distance to her right. She knew that the sea could not be that far away. Just ahead the track split in two, one branch turning towards the mountains, the other towards the coast No doubt the Saracen ship was not far distant from here, so she had to act soon.
Edwina bent forwards over the neck of her mount and gave a loud groan. When she received no response, she groaned even louder and eventually the man leading her horse slowed his mount to a walk, while the other Saracen guided his horse closer to hers.
‘What?’ he asked irritably.
‘I need to . . .’ She groaned again, then shook her head. ‘I have a pain in my stomach, I have to relieve myself.’
‘You can wait,’ he said curtly.
‘I cannot,’ she gasped. ‘I am unwell.’
He made an irritated clicking sound in his throat and then called out to his companion, who immediately steered her horse onto the narrow band of rough grass that lined the road. All three horses stopped and bent their heads to nibble at the grass, which was a little greener and more succulent looking under the shade of the tall trees.
Before they could move to help her, Edwina slid rather awkwardly from her horse and stepped over to the Saracen who had ridden beside her. She held out her bound hands. ‘I cannot do it with my hands tied,’ she said, lowering her eyes as if embarrassed by her request.
He shrugged his shoulders and ignored her until his companion spoke to him rather curtly, whereupon he sighed heavily and then untied the rope that bound her wrists together, looping it carefully so that it could be used to bind her again. ‘There.’ He pointed to a large pine tree. ‘Relieve yourself there and be quick about it.’
Edwina hurried across the stubbly grass and stepped behind the wide trunk. Crouching down, she waited until they turned away and began conversing with one another. Immediately, she straightened and fled into the forest. Fear made her fleet of foot and helped her ignore the pain as the rough ground and stones tore at her bare feet. In her desperate bid for freedom, she made for a steep incline, which she hoped would be difficult, perhaps near impossible, for horses to climb, knowing that she had more chance of escaping if they could only pursue her on foot. She scrabbled desperately up the steep bank, not even aware that her battered soles were leaving bloody footprints on the smooth surfaces of the stones. By now her heart was hammering in her chest and every breath was tearing at her throat but she kept going until she reached the top, never even daring to look back and see how close her pursuers might be.
At last she allowed herself a brief glance and Saw the two dark-robed figures darting through the trees towards the incline. There was a fair distance between her and them. She ran into the forest. The trees appeared to be thicker here and she prayed that she could find somewhere safe to hide. Edwina knew that it would be impossible to keep up this fast pace much longer as the pain in her battered feet was getting worse and worse. She stumbled as her toe hit a sharp rock and the searing agony ripped up her leg, making her pause for a moment. With a determination she had never known she possessed, Edwina staggered onwards, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground now to avoid the worst of the rocks and stones. Not looking where she was going, she ran straight into a tall dark form. She gave a yelp of terror as she was gripped in a vicelike embrace.
‘No, please,’ she moaned, beating her hands against the hard chest of her captor.
The man, who was clad from head to foot in dark robes with only his eyes uncovered, swung her into his arms. Before she really knew what was happening, he had carried her into a narrow entranceway between two rocks, which led into a cave. The interior was cool and almost pitch black. As he set her down on her battered feet, she tried to dart away from him. He made a grab for her but the small stones beneath her feet slipped and gave way. She felt herself falling but even before she hit the ground the darkness had swallowed her up completely.
Edwina looked towards the door of the cabin as it was pushed open. This time it wasn’t the rather exotic-looking foreign woman who had tended her wounds a few moments ago, it was Stephen who entered the large stateroom. He was still wearing the long black Saracen robes that had terrified her so much when she had cannoned into him in the forest.
‘Edwina.’ He appeared anxious. ‘Are you recovered?’ he asked, stepping cautiously towards the bed on which she lay.
‘I would feel better if you removed that garment,’ she replied with a rather wobbly smile as she clutched the bedclothes to her chest. ‘At least that turban and the scarf across your face have gone. I didn’t recognise you when you grabbed me so unexpectedly. I thought you were another Saracen from my captors’ ship.’
‘I gathered that,’ he said with a wry grimace as he tore off the long black robe and threw it aside. ‘I didn’t have time to explain. I had to hide you from your pursuers.’
Edwina nodded. ‘I realise that now.’ She had regained consciousness to find herself safely cradled in Stephen’s arm and being carried through the forest towards a beach where a longboat was waiting to take them to the royal galley anchored offshore. She had been so relieved to discover it was him that she had not even asked if they had evaded her pursuers or if Stephen had been forced to kill them. Frankly she didn’t even want to know.
‘It was fortunate I came upon you – if I had not –’
‘I might have been on my way to a slave market in Damascus by now,’ she finished for him. Edwina could see that he was deeply troubled by that thought. ‘Really, Stephen, I will be fine,’ she assured him. He was now dressed in only a pair of loose-fitting black trousers and, to her, he looked quite magnificent, the muscles of his powerful arms and shoulders moving smoothly under his golden skin as he stepped towards her.
‘I just thank the Lord that when we arrived we spotted th
e Saracen vessel. It was Richard who decided that I should go ashore in disguise so that I could find out all I could before we decided on a plan of action. If I had not chosen to keep close to the path that led from the bay where the Saracen ship was at anchor, we might never have found each other. Destiny was clearly on our side, Edwina.’
She knew how right he was but she couldn’t think of all that at this moment, as she had other matters on her mind. ‘Is the king onboard?’ she asked, well aware that she was in Richard’s stateroom: the woman who had tended her had told her she was honoured to have been given the king’s private quarters. She had no wish for them to be disturbed as her heart had begun to beat faster at the mere sight of Stephen’s naked chest She desired him so much, desperate now to feel his strong arms around her once again and to lay her hands on what was hidden beneath his black silk breeches. ‘Where is he now?’
‘In Limassol, no doubt.’ Stephen sat down on the bed beside her. ‘He and his knights landed less than a mile from the emperor’s castle and rode to rescue the princess. While at the same time at least a dozen English war galleys sailed into the harbour. I just received word that, not surprisingly, Isaac Comenius fled in terror when he heard that King Richard approached.’
‘And Berengaria and the Frankish prisoners?’ She knew that she should feel more concerned about them, but all she could think of was Stephen’s close proximity and his hungry gaze raking her body.
Gently, he eased the sheet from her clutching fingers and let it fall to her waist. As his eyes focused on her bare breasts, she heard him draw a ragged breath before he answered. ‘They are all safe. No doubt none of them suffered as much as you, my love.’
She could see that he was confused and concerned by what he thought she might have been forced to endure. As they had travelled back to the ship there had been little time to ask her what had happened in any detail. But at least she had been able to tell him the whereabouts of the princess and the Frankish prisoners, so that the king immediately started making plans to rescue them. She shivered with excitement, almost able to experience the feel of his eyes on her naked flesh, as her skin began to tingle and her nipples stiffened.
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