The Lady and the Falconer

by Laurel O'Donnell

  ***

  Logan paced the battlements, just as his father must have done all those years ago. He clenched and unclenched his hands. Graham had returned a few moments ago and announced that Solace was still in the village. Where the hell was she? Logan wondered. Around him, soldiers looked for Barclay’s troops, but his gaze swept the road before the castle for a glimpse of the girl. In the far distance, a line of fire preceded the attacking army, a line that grew hotter and brighter as the torch-wielding warriors moved closer. Even the falcon at his shoulder constantly shifted position, darting its head this way and that, its large brown eyes wide and alert.

  Lady Alissa stood at the walls not far from him. He heard her mutter soft curses beneath her breath. Her hair was hidden by a red-horned headdress, which made her look like the devil himself. Her eyes were narrowed with anger, her hands balled.

  Had father been that angry with me? The thought entered Logan’s mind unbidden. He tried to push aside his worry for the girl and concentrate on finding Peter. But he needed Solace to know where to begin. A muted curse slipped from his lips.

  Alissa placed her fists on the stone wall, her narrowed eyes relaxing as determination filled them. Resolution squared her shoulders, and she raised her chin.

  Logan felt doom settle like a lead ball in the pit of his stomach. He knew the words she was going to speak, had wished many a night that his own father would have made the same command -- to save the castle, to save his family.

  She opened her mouth just as Logan whirled away in despair to glance at the road. In the soft glow of the moonlight, he spotted a wagon racing toward the castle. He breathed a small sigh of relief and closed his eyes briefly in thanks. But lady Alissa’s words brought his eyes wide in shock.

  “Close the gates,” she said.

  “She’s there!” Logan shouted, pointing his finger at the wagon.

  Alissa cast a dangerous glance at Logan, her brown eyes burning, and then whipped her head to face her guard. “Do as I say,” Alissa ordered. “Close the gates!”

  ***

  Solace’s wagon came racing out of the village toward Castle Fulton. Her heart stopped and her breath caught in her throat as she saw the drawbridge being raised! It had to be a mistake! Solace watched with horrified eyes as the drawbridge continued to rise, the heavy wooden planks now starting to take the form of an impenetrable door instead of the entrance to safety. The horse snorted gruffly as its hooves churned the ground, kicking up clumps of mud in their wake.

  “M’lady!” she heard Agnes gasp from behind her.

  “Get down!” Solace yelled back over her shoulder, afraid to take her gaze from the moat for even a second.

  The thought of trying to leap the widening gap flashed through her mind, but she quickly realized how dangerous that would be, especially considering the new life lying cradled in a woman’s arms a few feet behind her.

  The horse raced forward, seemingly oblivious to the danger ahead, the fires burning behind it pushing it on.

  Solace pulled back sharply on the reins, but the horse continued to charge forward, fear fueling its speed. “Whoa!” Solace cried out, her arms aching with the effort to keep a firm grip on the thick ropes clutched in her fingers.

  The drawbridge continued to rise, revealing the dark waters of the moat hidden beneath it.

  “Whoa!” Solace cried out again. She jerked hard on the reins, desperate strength empowering her effort, but the horse raced on.

  The wide, deep gap in the earth loomed closer.

  Chapter Four

  “Look!” Agnes cried out from behind Solace.

  Solace glanced up from the horse and watched with widening eyes as the drawbridge suddenly, miraculously, began to lower. The wooden planks moved closer and closer to the ground. Someone must have seen them approaching. She again tugged on the reins, but the fires burning in the village behind them pushed the horse on, rendering her efforts useless. They were now only a few dozen feet from the drawbridge. It was coming down slowly. Too slowly! It wasn’t going to be down in time! The pounding of the horse’s hooves thundered in her ears. She closed her eyes, giving a quick prayer for the baby.

  Solace heard Agnes shriek as the wagon hit something and shook roughly from side to side. Then the sound reverberating in her head changed, growing even louder as hooves now pounded on wood instead of dirt.

  Wood! She opened her eyes to see the castle entrance looming over her. They had made it! The drawbridge had lowered with only seconds to spare.

  Solace maneuvered the horse beneath the gatehouse and into the outer ward, relief washing over her. As soon as the horse stopped, Solace leapt from the wagon, ignoring the outstretched hands of help from soldiers.

  The moment her feet hit the ground, Solace raced to the back of the wagon. Other peasants were already helping Agnes and Dorothy from the cart as Solace reached them.

  Dorothy glanced at her, holding her squalling infant to her breast. “Thank you, m’lady. If it wasn’t for you –”

  “You must be exhausted,” Solace interrupted, forcing a smile to her lips. “Go get some rest.”

  Solace watched Dorothy move away, a crowd of well-wishers surrounding the new mother. As Agnes cast Solace a weary grin of approval before following Dorothy, a proud surge of accomplishment swelled inside Solace. Then, just as quickly, the energy drained from her body. It had been an exhausting day. She turned toward the keep, intending to follow her own advice.

  Suddenly, a sharp blow was delivered to her cheek by a horned demon! Shocked into silence, Solace could only face her stepmother with an open mouth, her cheek a bright red with the imprint of Alissa’s rage.

  “How dare you risk our lives?” Alissa snarled. Solace raised a hand to her stinging skin as Alissa continued, “If Barclay had gained entrance to Castle Fulton because of you, I – I –” She clenched her teeth with anger.

  Solace could see the reined fury in Alissa’s balled fists, and she slowly lowered her hand from her burning cheek, raising her chin defiantly before her stepmother.

  “I – I would have seen you hung!” Alissa desperately, futilely, finished.

  Solace tried to defend her actions. “Dorothy needed help. I knew – ”

  “You knew nothing except your own selfish needs. When it comes to the welfare of this castle and these villagers you will follow my strict orders, is that clear?”

  Solace stood her ground. She had done nothing wrong. She had helped Dorothy and her baby.

  “Is that clear?” Alissa demanded through clenched teeth.

  Solace was not ready to concede to her stepmother. “What I did was not wrong,” she insisted.

  “You are a selfish, irresponsible girl,” Alissa hissed. “Incapable of thinking about anyone but yourself.”

  Tears burned Solace’s eyes, but she kept them in check. “Dorothy never would have made it to the castle if I hadn’t gone to her,” Solace answered softly.

  “Then you are not only selfish, you are stupid,” Alissa sneered. “Stupid to risk your life so easily.” Alissa whirled away from Solace, her shoulders rigid, her feet slamming the earth with each step. Her blue samite dress stirred up dust about her feet, like little whirlwinds surrounding a mighty tornado.

  When Alissa disappeared into the keep, Solace finally found the strength to move. She took a stiff step and saw no one had yet tended her horse. She walked to the horse and lifted her hands to the bridle. She tried to remove it, but her hands were trembling. Solace glanced over the horse’s mane at the castle wall. There, a line of peasants and soldiers stared at her. You should have been here to help with the preparations, a tiny voice inside her accused. But Solace refused to admit what she had done was wrong. Dorothy had needed her help more than anyone.

  Her stepmother always found fault with what she did. Nothing was ever right. Nothing she did was good enough. She had learned to live with that, to accept rejection and disappointment from her stepmother. The things she did were to please herself. Or to help others
. Not for her stepmother. Not anymore.

  Then why did that woman’s words hurt so much? she wondered.

  Solace clenched her hands into fists around the bridle.

  Warm hands suddenly surrounded hers. She glanced up quickly to find charcoal eyes staring at her. The falconer eased the bridle from her fingers.

  “Go,” he murmured, and Solace felt the word through her entire body, like a tiny tremor.

  She dropped her hands to her sides and stepped back. He wasn’t looking at her any longer, but freeing the horse from the wagon. She watched the way his strong, capable hands unhooked and untethered the bridle and the reins, the way his dark hair waved about his shoulders in the soft breeze that blew over the castle walls, the way his shoulder muscles bunched and released beneath his tunic as he tended to the animal.

  He stopped moving and turned to stare at her.

  Solace smiled shyly like a small child caught in the act of reaching for candy. “Thank you,” she finally said.

  He didn’t reply as he turned back to finish working.

  Reluctantly, Solace backed up a few steps and turned away, moving across the courtyard toward the keep.

  Somehow the falconer’s kindness had taken the sting out of her stepmother’s words. Still, she could not help but feel guilty about endangering so many lives. It was something she hadn’t considered, but she knew she should have.

  She brushed past guards stationed near the doorway and headed into the hall, moving deeper into the keep where the living quarters were. She moved down the torch lit hallway toward her room. She wondered why the falconer’s touch had soothed her as it had. His hands were so much larger than her own. But his touch... it had been warm and gentle. She grinned at the strength it had given her, the sudden sense of security.

  “You find strange things amusing,” a thick voice from the darkness whispered.

  Solace whirled, gasping, clutching her hands to her heart. Guilt overwhelmed her, as if she had spoken her words aloud.

  “Your cheek is still red with your stepmother’s affection, yet you have a smile on your lovely lips.” Graham stepped into the light of the flickering torch. Shadows slithered across his face like dark snakes. His blond hair blazed red with the light of the torch.

  “You frightened me,” Solace whispered, willing her pounding heart to slow. “And yet I should have expected to find you in the keep.”

  “Just protecting your sister,” he said.

  Solace thought she heard a mocking tone to his voice. She narrowed her eyes. Graham was betrothed to her sister for six months now. Six months too long in Solace’s opinion. She didn’t see what her sister saw in him. Graham was a coward, always hiding from battle, always hiring men to do his work. And there were rumors that he had been seen with more than one servant. But Beth professed to love him very much, and Solace was trying desperately to get along with him for her sake. Still, it wasn’t easy.

  “Yes,” she murmured. “That’s the perfect place for you. Hiding in her shadow.” As soon as the words were out, she cringed inwardly.

  She saw him rise up, stiffening under the insult; then she sighed slightly and brushed a lock of dark hair from her brow. “I’m sorry, Graham. You know I didn’t mean that.”

  “Yes,” he said after a short pause. “I suppose we’re all a little tense. But you must tell me what you found so amusing a moment before. I could use a break from this accursed talk of siege.”

  Solace’s eyes widened slightly. She couldn’t tell him she had been thinking of the way the falconer touched her, the way he had soothed her with a simple look from those silver eyes. “I... I was thinking of something someone said earlier,” she lied. She was never any good at lying and had to avert her eyes, hoping that he wouldn’t see through her tale.

  “I thought you might have been thinking of some sort of revenge against your mother,” he said.

  Solace’s gaze snapped up to his, and her brows furrowed. He knew very well that she would never do anything to hurt Alissa.

  He shrugged slightly, studying his nails. “After the way she degraded you in the courtyard.”

  Solace raised her fingertips to the mark on her cheek.

  “It should have been you slapping her,” he added in a whispered tone. “She was, after all, going to have you locked out of the castle.”

  Solace gasped. “She wouldn’t do that.”

  “Oh, yes,” he said. “She had given the order to close the gates, even though we all saw you heading for the castle.”

  Solace knew Alissa did not hold her in high regard, or even think of her as a daughter, but to do something so cruel was beyond even her. “But the gates were open. Surely she changed her mind.”

  Graham could hardly contain a grin. “No. She never changed her order. I’m not quite sure how they were opened. I assume you can thank the gate guard for that.”

  Solace stood dumbstruck, still not believing that Alissa would lock her out of her own home, leaving her to Barclay.

  “You poor creature,” Graham whispered, placing his hands on her shoulders. “If there’s anything I can do for you...” He stepped a bit closer to her. “Anything at all, you need just ask.”

  A prickle of warning went through Solace. “That won’t be necessary.” He was closer to her than he should be, closer than she ever wanted him to be.

  “Graham!” The voice came from down the hallway, and Solace whirled, grateful for the interruption. She stepped away from Graham and turned to see Beth running toward them. Her dark hair flowed behind her, shimmering softly in the torchlight. A samite gown decorated with red and gold embroidered leaves covered her tiny body. The warmth in her blue eyes hardened into cool disdain as her gaze moved from Graham to Solace. She turned away from Solace to hook her arm through Graham’s. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

  “I’ve been speaking with your sister,” Graham answered.

  “Oh.” Beth’s words were clipped. “Hello, Solace.”

  Solace nodded to her half sister, feeling a chill settle around her. How nice it would be to have a sister with whom she could share her secrets. But now that seemed impossible. They had never been very close, and in the last year any semblance of sisterly affection had disappeared completely. A little over a year ago, Beth had been enamored of a young knight who, she said, had pledged his heart to her. She had met him at a Tournament at Court. Then, one fall day he had come to visit Beth at Castle Fulton. Beth had been so excited. It was the first time she’d allowed Solace to share her joy, to be a part of her life. Her half sister had planned to marry the young knight, Robert. Live happily with him, bear him many sons.

  He rode into the courtyard with all his armor shining and banners flapping. Solace stood at her sister’s side, sharing in Beth’s excitement. But from the first moment Solace met Robert, she knew something was wrong. Beth was obviously so in love with the man, fawning all over him, that she was oblivious to the fact that he was not paying her the slightest bit of attention.

  It wasn’t but a week later that Solace was called in to see her father. Beth was there, and it was obvious by her red eyes that she had been crying. Her father told her that he had sent Robert away. Solace had turned sympathetic, if confused, eyes to Beth. But when she went to comfort her, Beth had pulled away, snarling that she should not touch her. It was then that Beth proclaimed it was her fault. That Robert had fallen in love with Solace! That she had stolen him away from her!

  Solace pushed the memory aside and moved away from Graham and Beth, feeling like an intruder standing before their linked arms, for Beth’s narrowed eyes had told her she was not welcome. Solace still wished the two of them to be friends, to be real sisters, and she refused to give up, even in the face of Beth’s chilly gaze. “I was just going to change, but afterward I’m going to the Great Hall,” Solace murmured. She took a breath, adding hopefully, “Care to join me?”

  Beth raised an eyebrow. “No,” she answered and turned Graham away to lead him down the hall
.

  Solace watched them go, and something close to longing filled her soul. How nice it would be to be in love. Unbidden, the falconer’s handsome features rose before her mind’s eye. She glanced down at her hands where he had touched her, remembering the gentle warmth that had spread through her body as his flesh caressed hers.

  How nice it would be to be in love, she again thought wistfully. A winsome smile spread over her lips as she headed to her room.

  ***

  Beth pulled Graham into an alcove, a tiny arrow slit behind them letting in the only light, a pale sliver from the moon outside. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up into his hazel eyes.

  Graham let his hands roam up Beth’s shapely figure until they cupped her breasts.

  Suddenly, she pulled away from him and presented him with her back. “I’ve been finding you too much with my sister lately. If I didn’t know better, I would say that you were chasing after her.”

  Graham pressed himself against her bottom, fully aware of the longing that ached just beneath his breeches. “You know there is no one but you, Beth,” he cooed, touching her shoulders.

  Again, Beth pulled away from him and turned to face him, her pout full and very practiced. “I wish I could believe you.”

  Graham lunged after her, pressing her back against the wall. “You can believe me. You know I want only you. I would do anything for you, my love.”

  “Prove it,” she whispered.

  He began to lift her skirt, his lips nibbling her neck.

  She pushed against his chest. “I meant something different,” she whispered.

  Graham pulled slightly back, confused. Then a wolfish smile lit his lips and he began to turn her around, hiking her skirt over her bottom. “You want it like a dog this time, eh?”