"Doubt?" Radolf echoed, curious.
"Yea. That we gave too little forethought to your half brother," he replied fervently.
Relaxing back in the chair, Radolf gave his friend an incredulous look. "You talk in riddles, Kennard. Summer graced this land when first we spoke of the plan."
"Yea, the plan," Kennard answered excitedly. "But we plotted only one side."
Confused, Radolf waved him off, resting his brow in one hand. "The wine has brought cobwebs to your thoughts. You make no sense."
"Then I will explain," Kennard said firmly, slipping to the edge of his chair where he could face his cousin without threat of being overheard. "We talked at great length about how to succeed, but never once did we give thought to Amery. Think on it, Radolf. If you were the one who returned from the Crusade to find your birthright had been stolen, your betrothed set against you, and a price put on your head for the slaughter of a wealthy lord and his family, what would you do? Be content to let everyone believe the lie?"
Radolf's handsome face hardened with his frown. "Nay, I would not," he said quietly.
"Nor will your half brother. He will search until he learns the names of those responsible. He will come, Radolf, when our backs are turned and we least expect it."
"You mentioned the priests. Why?"
Kennard collapsed back in the chair with a shake of his head. "Twas something one of them said."
"And what, pray tell, was that?"
"He said that things were not always as they seemed."
"And why should that disturb you?"
Kennard studied the flames again, quiet for a long while, and when he spoke, his voice was low. "Our plan has worked too smoothly. The whole countryside believes Amery guilty. Tis as if God is with us and I know that cannot be true."
"There are always risks, cousin." Radolf smiled softly, comfortingly. "But Amery is only one man against many. His efforts will fail and we will have all we ever wanted. Shall I prove it to you?"
Kennard glanced up at him with a puzzled frown, watching Radolf motion to one of the peasant women working nearby.
"Go to Lady Jewel's chambers," he instructed once the woman stood before him. "Tell her I would be honored if she would break the fast with me."
Both men's attention followed the serfs journey across the room, up the wide stone staircase, and into the hall that led to the chambers above. When she had disappeared from view, Radolf stood and crossed to a table near them. After filling two goblets with wine, he returned to his place and handed one drink to his cousin.
"To us, Kennard," he toasted, raising his glass high. "To Harcourt, Wellington, and Lady Jewel."
Although doubt still lingered in Kennard's mind, Radolf's apparent confidence was infectious and the knight eagerly joined in, lifting his goblet in a salute before he, too, sampled its contents.
"Choose my path, cousin," Radolf urged with a grin, slapping the man's broad back, "and it shall lead us to greater ends."
Kennard was about to agree when his gaze suddenly moved past Radolf and fell upon Leta, the serving girl, as she descended the stairs, and he frowned when he saw the fearful look oh her face.
Unaware of the girl's presence, Radolf chuckled at his cousin's strange expression. "Art thou still not convinced, Kennard?" he asked, his smile fading when Kennard nodded past him and he turned to watch Leta approach, her head down and her hands clasped tightly together.
"Leta?" he said, setting aside his goblet. "Something is amiss. Is Lady Jewel ill?"
Leta's blue eyes glanced up nervously at him. "She is gone, m'lord."
"Gone?" Radolf repeated, quickly looking at Kennard, then back at the frightened girl. "What dost thou mean gone? Where?"
"The priests took her . . . last night." Suddenly Leta burst into tears. "I ... I couldn't stop them, m'lord. They .. . they said they would hurt her . . ."
"Priests?" Radolf challenged in disbelief.
Leta bit her lower lip to still her weeping. "They were not, m'lord. They only dressed as priests."
Radolf stiffened in rage, his amber-hued eyes blazing his hatred. "Amery," he hissed venomously.
"Yea, m'lord," Leta sobbed. "And ... he told me to deliver a .. . message to you." The serving girl trembled when Radolf turned a murderous glare upon her. "He ... he said, 'Amery has come to claim what is his.' "
"And you let him slip away as easily as the passing of night!" he bellowed, raising a fist high above him. With lightning speed, Radolf brought the knuckles of his hand down against the young girl's cheek in a stinging blow, knocking her delicate form to the stone floor.
"Nay, Radolf!" Kennard shouted, catching his cousin's wrist before Radolf could strike again. "Killing her will not change what has happened."
"But the bitch should be punished!" he ranted, struggling to free himself of the unrelenting grip. "She ran and hid herself! She worried for her own life rather than Lady Jewel's!"
"Nay, m'lord," Leta argued through her tears, blood trickling from the gash on her cheek. "Sir Amery instructed me to wait in m'lady's room until morning. He ... he said he would kill Lady Jewel if someone followed. I... I did it for her, m'lord."
His strength waning, for his cousin's hold would not lessen, Radolf could only glower at the serving girl. "You fool! She is his betrothed. He would not kill her. I will see your back bared and the lash laid against it for your stupidity."
"Radolf, calm thyself,"Kennard argued softly. "The others hear and will think the girl right. You cannot seem unjust in their eyes. We need them."
Radolf struggled a moment longer, then as if sanity had returned, he relaxed. "Yea, cousin. We need them," he said quietly, his voice tired. "And your worries were justified. I will listen more freely if you come to me again with them."
Slowly, as if testing his cousin, Kennard released him." Tis in the past, Radolf, and we cannot waste a moment cursing what we cannot change."
"Yea, we cannot." Radolf agreed. "But Amery will learn he has met an equal foe in me. If be is to win, it will be only by my death." A vague smile twisted his lips. "And I intend to live long enough to see the children of my grandchildren."
"And I will be at your side." Kennard smiled. Looking at Leta who still crouched on the floor before them, he waved her away and waited until they were alone again before he asked, "Shall I ready our horses, cousin?"
"Yea, Kennard." Radolf nodded. "We will visit the monasteries until we find the one who gave Amery shelter and his disguise. We will learn what they know of him and then split them asunder. I will teach them all that I rule here."
"You would murder priests?" Kennard asked, taken aback.
Radolf smiled evilly, staring blankly off into space. "I will kill whomever it takes to have what I want."
* * *
Jewel shifted uncomfortably, snuggling against the strong arm encircling her for a more suitable place to rest and dreamily listening to the steady rhythm of a horse's hooves against the earth when suddenly the memories of the past night exploded in her mind. Her eyes flew open and she pushed away from the massive chest that seemed to fill her entire vision, gasp of outrage parting her lips when she heard Amery laugh.
"If only you were as soft and gentle awake as you are when you sleep," he mocked.
"A need for rest can tame even the wildest animals," she insisted coldly, quickly taking in her surroundings. They, were alone on the road, and she wondered briefly where Gunther might be, though she was confident that he had not gone far. She concentrated on the path they took, purposely avoiding the green eyes that could so easily stir her blood. "But beware, sir knight. Their claws are always sharp."
His mirth rumbled deeply in his chest. "And their tongues," he added.
"Will we be stopping, soon?" she asked, deliberately changing the direction of their conversation, for she had noticed the pink hues of the eastern sky and knew they had been traveling for several hours. "I am weary and have a gnawing in my stomach."
"There is a farm not far from
here, friends of Gunther's. He has gone on ahead to ask their generosity for food and drink."
"And a place to rest?"
"Only for a short time," he said flatly. "My half brother has, by now, discovered your disappearance and will be searching. We will not stop for long until the distance is great between us.
A sarcastic smile twisted Jewel's lovely face. "Is there such a place? Radolf will never rest until he finds us. Methinks you cannot run forever."
Amery remained quiet a moment appraising the delicate profile Jewel presented him,.and he felt a quickening of his pulse. He was sorely tempted to direct Conan from the road, spread his mantle on the frost-covered ground, and sample the passion she had aroused in him once before. A curious frown crimped his brow. There had been so many willing damsels who had spread their skirts for him, some nearly as beautiful as this comely wench, hut none as stirring as she. What made it so? he wondered and mentally shrugged it off as unimportant. He would tire of her soon enough.
"'Tis. not my intent to run forever, little one," he answered casually, "but merely take safe refuge where Radolf will not think to look."
"Doth he worry you, m'lord?" she jeered bravely, casting him a challenging look from the corner of her eye.
Amery threw back his tawny head and laughed heartily. "Twould give you great pleasure if I told you yea. Bat, alas, fair one, 'tis not so. Gunther and I number only two. Radolf will bring an army. Only a fool would take on such odds."
"Then you will form your own?"
"Nay. Twill not take an army to bring about Radolf's destruction. Only his greed," he stated simply, shifting his fur-lined cloak back to his shoulders. "I have but to wait."
"And I as well?" she ventured.
Amery smiled secretively, nudging Conan's ribs as the farmhouse came into view and he saw Gunther waiting outside for them. The steed bolted off, throwing Jewel back against him, and he chuckled at the frantic way she sought to set herself from him and failed. His green eyes darkened, remembering the similar manner in which she had fought him, and wondered if there would ever come a time when she willingly offered herself to him. His mouth crimped in a half grin. Probably net. But what did it matter? He would only send her heme if she did, for that was surely the reason for the strange attraction that interested him so. All the others had eagerly awaited him in bed while Jewel longed not even to touch him. And he truly hated the weight of a clinging woman around his neck. More so, he had no time for one now. His only goal was to reclaim Wellington and cast out Lady Edlyn.
"Blagden and his wife offer all they have, Amery," Gunther informed him, reaching up to take Cohan's bridle once his friend reined the steed to a halt beside him. "And lodgings for the night, if it be your want."
Amery twisted in the saddle, surveying the road they had just traveled as if half expecting to see it filled with Radolf's knights. "How much further must we journey?"
"If we shared only food and drink... until sunset," Gunther advised, then looked sympathetically at Jewel. "Methinks the rest would do us all a favor. Even our horses tire."
"And your friends, Gunther," Amery continued. "Wouldst thou trust them with your life?"
"Yea," Gunther replied without the slightest hesitation. "I have known them since we all were children. They would watch while we sleep and warn us should anyone come with question concerning us. I have no doubt that I will sleep as a babe under their protection."
"Then it is decided," Amery announced, swinging a leg over Conan's rump to settle himself easily on the ground. "We shall accept their offer and begin our journey again once we have eaten and drunk our fill. .. and washed the sleep from our eyes."
"Good." Gunther smiled. "And I shall give an introduction first, then see our horses fed and stabled." Taking Conan's reins from Amery, he tied them to the roughly built fence next to his own steed's while Amery turned to help Jewel from the charger's back.
Although Jewel yearned to stretch her legs and chase away the chill with a cup of warm milk, she found the idea of having to submit to Amery's touch as he lifted her from the saddle hardly worth the rewards it would bring. She would have preferred Gunther's assistance but realized it was useless even to voice such a request. Amery would not allow it, for it appeared he took great pleasure in anything that might upset her. And, she decided, since that was his game, she would never let him know just how well he had succeeded. She took a deep breath to steal herself and watched his hands rise to take her around the waist. Jewel's heart lurched once he touched her and the contact seemed to burn through the bodice of her gunna, for he had slipped his hands beneath her mantle and she fleetingly wondered if he had done so purposely. The curious thought had little time to fade, however, before the answer came, for as he slowly lowered her to the ground, he pulled her to him, touching their bodies full length. Jewel's face flamed. Placing her hands against his shoulders, she fought to push away.
"Unhand me, Sir Amery," she spat through clenched teeth, her voice held to a whisper, her effort failing.
Green eyes filled with amusement stared back at her as he prolonged the task of setting her on her feet; enjoying the softness of her body pressed against his. He said nothing, but the gleam in his eyes spoke a thousand words, and Jewel's temper soared.
"You assume too much, m'lord. By your own decision we are no longer betrothed, and thou hast no claim on me. I am not a whore for you to fondle at your leisure!"
One tawny brow rose challengingly. "And what is in a title, Lady Jewel? Can those who share it claim a similarity that puts them above the rest?" His green eyes turned emerald. "I say nay, for I have known both whore and lady, and rarely knew the difference." Almost angrily, he set her feet upon the ground, but his hands remained on the tiny waist, inhibiting her release.
"Even thy mother, Lady Sigrid?" Jewel posed foolishly, thinking her point well made. But to her dismay, she saw the humor return to his eyes and wondered at its cause, for surely the woman who had borne him had softened his heart.
" 'Tis true she gave me life, little One, but nothing more. Her death came before I could speak her name."
"Is that why you hate us all... because she cheated you?"
"Hate?" he questioned, his gaze freely moving to the gentle rise and fall of her bosom. "Nay. In truth, I feel nothing. I desire you, 'tis all." A curious frown settled on his brow when he looked at her again, for an odd smile graced the delicate mouth.
"And 'tis a shame, m'lord, that I do not share the desire," she said calmly, "for methinks your pride will suffer when you learn there is one among us who finds the thought of your caress most distasteful."
Spotting Gunther from the corner of her eye as he waited patiently for them, she drew courage from his presence and lifted her nose haughtily in the air as she turned and started toward the tiny farmhouse. But she had only traveled a few steps when Amery's words caused her steady gait to falter.
"Mayhap, little one, but I will soon change your mind."
Jewel wanted to spin back on her heel and set the issue straight, tell him that no matter how often he tried, if he took her against her will time and time again, she would never find any tenderness in her heart for him. He was cruel, arrogant, and a murderer, and the need to hate him fully overshadowed any compassion she was capable of giving. Yet something within her forbade the emotion to surface. Radolf had given her the proof of Amery's guilt and she wanted to believe, but a gnawing seed of doubt had been planted and now grew within her, and she saw the possibility that somehow fact had been muddied with too many unanswered questions. Feeling Gunther's gaze upon her, she looked up at faun and knew the reason. But did he suspect the inner battle she fought? And had he guessed that Amery's touch, his caress, already stirred strange feelings in her, ones that she wished to deny? If she turned back to Amery and spoke a lie, would Gunther know and think her fickle? She started to look away, too ashamed to face him, when suddenly Gunther reached out and took her elbow, gently guiding her toward the house, and Jewel felt a sweeter victo
ry. With a simple gesture, the man had given a silent expression of his understanding.
For the next hour, Jewel sat before the flickering oranges and reds of the fire in the hearth, sampling the cooked rabbit, a small portion of bread, and a dish of hot custard Blagden's wife, Huette, had given her. She ate hungrily, wondering how long it would be before she was served another meal and failing to listen to the conversation any of the others held. The only words she spoke were in gratitude to Huette for her kindness to a stranger. And when offered a cup of wine, she cordially accepted it, eager to have its warming effects settle her nerves and ease the weariness from her body. Within moments, the heat of the blaze in the fireplace had soothed her troubled spirit and before she realized it, she had drifted off to sleep curled up in a chair.
Nightmares haunted Jewel's dreams, grotesque figures dressed in full battle armor surrounding her by the scores, huge swords waving in the air and threatening to slice her apart. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound emerged. Frantic, she tried to escape and was trapped when another dark figure blocked the way, his face a shadow. In the distance she could hear someone calling her name and when she looked back she saw her father standing among the enemy, arms extended toward her. With tears streaming down her face, she ran in his directions but with each step she took, he seemed further away than before. Exhausted, her side aching, she stumbled and fell, and when she looked upon him once more, her breath caught in her throat, for there, surrounding him, stood her mother, Edwina, Ivy, and little William. Dragging herself to her feet, she started toward them, sobbing their names, for she knew danger threatened them all and she had to warn them. Then suddenly a black charger in gleaming armor and carrying a huge knight galloped between them, blocking her view of her family. And when she tried to pass him, the knight spun his destrier around, cutting her off. Frightened, not knowing what to do, she stood frozen to her spot until the shrill screams of her sisters pierced her to the soul. Her eyes were filled with terror as she looked upon her family when the knight had guided his steed to stand aside, and Jewel watched in horror as a circle of warriors closed in, their swords and battle axes raised high.
Forbidden Magic Page 16