by Denise Lynn
That’s where the fire was built and the tents set up forming a half-circle on the side away from the woods.
So far, four tents had been erected—one for the camp women, one for the wives, another for the cook, her helpers and supplies, and the fourth for her. The men would make do with pallets on the ground near the fire tonight. She prayed it wouldn’t rain. Tomorrow they would set up the remaining three tents for the men and the rest of the arms and supplies.
‘You did a good job.’
Avelyn nearly jumped from the hill. She spun around and shouted, ‘Don’t do that! What are you doing here?’ Then she took Elrik’s hand, admitting, ‘I am glad to see you.’
He released her hand to sling his arm over her shoulder and pull her next to his side. ‘We spent the day poring over maps and details. Since I knew you were close, I didn’t see why I should sleep alone this night.’
‘When do you set out for Roul?’
‘At first light.’
She gazed up at him. ‘You look tired.’
‘No. I’m more impatient than anything else. Just sitting around and talking about what needs to be done seems a waste to me.’
‘Does Lord Geoffrey think it will be difficult to gain control of Roul?’
‘He managed to get one of the neighbouring lords to see reason. So, we only have the other one to convince.’ He nodded towards the camp. ‘How did you get so much accomplished?’
She smiled at the ease in which he’d changed the direction of their conversation. ‘Other than one fight that Fulke had to break apart, all of the women and guards worked together. Did you find Osbert?’
Elrik’s laugh sounded downright evil. ‘Oh, yes, I did. Found him and his five companions. They are currently polishing chainmail while under close watch.’
‘You should have had them confined to a secure cell somewhere.’
‘That might happen soon enough. But not until they give me cause, Avelyn. I can’t just toss men into a cell without reason.’
‘So, you will wait until he kills someone?’
‘As closely as he is being watched, he won’t get the chance.’
Little Lady walked over from where she’d been nibbling on some grass to push her nose into Elrik’s back. He reached behind him and grabbed her reins. ‘What do you want?’
Avelyn pulled some apple slices from the pouch hanging from her belt and handed them to him. ‘Probably this.’
‘You are going to ruin a good horse.’
‘How so?’
‘By giving her whatever she wants whenever she wants it.’ He held his hand out flat and let the animal have the slices.
‘You mean like you are? She deserves a treat for the work she did this day.’ Avelyn stared up at the darkening sky. ‘By the way, why is she here?’
‘I wasn’t about to leave her in King David’s stable for you to ride off on.’
‘Ah.’
‘Why did you think she was here?’
‘Nothing, never mind.’
He nudged her with his shoulder. ‘Tell me.’
‘I’d had some silly notion that perhaps you’d hoped I would join you.’
‘For the horse?’
She nodded and followed his line of teasing. ‘Yes, for the horse.’
‘Something to keep in mind should I need you to travel somewhere you wish not to go. I’ll just be sure to bring Little Lady along.’
‘Perhaps by then I’ll have chosen a different horse.’
‘Where are Samuel and Fulke?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘They both needed bathing and I didn’t think it necessary that I went with them, so I sent them off to the stream.’
‘They don’t shirk their duty that easily. I have to assume you told them you’d stay in camp, but instead of doing so you came up here, in the open, alone?’
Avelyn nodded towards the camp. ‘There are four guards, right there, watching.’
‘None of them look like Samuel or Fulke to me.’
‘No. They don’t. I think they might be younger.’
‘With less experience.’
Avelyn flinched at his harsh tone. He wasn’t teasing her, he was angry. When she tried to step away, he tightened his hold on her shoulder to keep her at his side.
‘I thought I told you to keep Samuel and Fulke nearby at all times.’
‘You did.’
‘And in the span of one day you decided to ignore my advice?’
‘Advice? It was more like an order.’
Realising her mistake by admitting that she knew it had been an order, she quickly shut her mouth.
‘That’s worse. You understood it as an order and intentionally ignored it.’
Avelyn remained silent. What could she say?
‘Would you care to explain your reasoning for willingly placing yourself in danger?’
‘Did you not tell me that I was in charge? And that I was to be brave and strong?’
‘I’ll not argue this with you, Avelyn. There is a difference between brave and foolish.’ He swung his arm out sweeping the area between the camp and this hill. ‘You are unarmed. And if your father did not bother to ensure you could read, write, or even ride a horse, I am certain you were never instructed on the use of any weapon.’
When again she remained silent, he asked, ‘Am I right?’
‘Yes.’
‘While I have no qualms rescuing a maiden in need, it would be quite hard to do if I were not here and worse if you’d put yourself in harm’s way after being told not to do so.’
‘It appears so peaceful here, I did not think there would be any danger.’
‘A snake hides in the soft, lush grass for a reason.’
She couldn’t argue that logic. Avelyn turned towards him and rested her palm on his chest. ‘I am sorry, Elrik.’
‘I don’t care if you are sorry or not. Don’t do it again. See to the camp, see to the household duties of Roul when we gain possession. All else is under my control and you will follow my orders. Understood?’
She tamped back the urge to bristle at his high handedness. This was not what she’d wanted from a husband. She’d never wanted someone who would control her, order her about—she’d wanted someone to be her partner, sharing in all things.
But to keep him from having to be concerned about her well-being, she answered, ‘Yes, I understand.’
He grasped her chin and stroked his thumb across her lip. ‘Liar. For now, Avelyn, do as I ask. We can renegotiate later.’
That he knew the direction of her thoughts made her smile. ‘Are you hungry?’
‘Not at all.’
‘Tired?’
He grabbed the reins of both horses, saying, ‘No. But I would like to stretch out in a tent and share a goblet or two of wine alone with my wife’
‘Is that all?’
He took her hand and started towards the camp. ‘We will see where the night leads us.’
Chapter Fifteen
‘Stop. Stop. Please, stop,’ Avelyn whispered between clenched teeth.
Fulke rose from his seat on a log next to her. ‘We are just trying to help.’
‘I know.’ She tossed the stick she had been using to crudely draw letters in the dirt at their feet into the bushes behind them. ‘I am too stupid to learn.’
‘Stop that.’ Samuel retrieved the stick. ‘You, my lady, are not stupid. Frustrated because of Elrik’s absence, but not stupid.’ He handed the writing implement back to her. ‘Now try it again.’
Fulke cleared her previous scratches from the dirt with his foot, then tapped the area with the toe of his boot, ordering, ‘Your name.’
She didn’t want to write her name, or learn letters and numbers. She wanted to touch her husband, hear his voice, feel his strong arms pulling her close. It had
been three long unending weeks since any of those things had happened.
Yes, he’d sent missives daily. Short, brief letters describing what he’d done that day. Letters that contained nothing of a personal nature because he knew Samuel or Fulke would be reading them to her.
If she ever wanted that to change, she needed to focus on these lessons. Bending to the task at hand, she drew the letters of her name.
Before she could complete her fifth try, a loud commotion broke out in the camp. It sounded as if quite a few of the men were fighting. ‘Go.’ She rose, waving Samuel and Fulke ahead. When they hesitated, she said, ‘I will be right behind you.’
‘Avelyn.’
She froze in place, unwilling to look towards the voice calling her name. It couldn’t be. How could it? Elrik had him under guard.
‘Avelyn.’
Closing her eyes, she fought with the need to cry out for Samuel or Fulke. They were needed in the camp. She could deal with this distraction on her own. She was no longer a child who could be easily cowed.
Slowly she turned around to scan the bushes between her and the stream.
A head popped up from between two of the larger bushes. ‘Avelyn, here.’
Checking behind her, to make certain no one was watching, she went towards the bushes. ‘What are you doing here, Osbert?’
When she was close enough, he grasped her wrist and tugged her along upstream from where the laundry was done.
‘Why are you here? Did your father send you?’ she asked once they’d stopped and he released her.
‘My father? Don’t you mean our father?’
‘That man is dead to me.’
‘Of course, he is, especially now since you snagged not only our great-grandfather’s interest, but that of King David and your titled husband. You no longer require his assistance to survive.’
‘I never required his assistance.’ As far as she was concerned, she would have been better off without it.
‘Blame your mother for that. Had she not had proof that you were indeed a Brandr, he never would have come to the village.’
He was talking about her grandmother’s ring. The one she’d safely stowed inside Elrik’s clothing chest back in their tent. If she’d had it around her neck right now, she would gladly give it to Osbert in hopes that he would then leave her alone.
‘You always were the lucky one.’
Lucky? She stared at her half-brother, recognising his whining tone of voice for what it was—unwarranted jealousy. This boy, two years her senior, had always acted like a petulant child, pouting and railing until he got his way and turning vicious when he didn’t.
When he’d been fostered out to a neighbouring lord last year she’d hoped she’d seen the last of him.
Once again, her hopes had been in vain.
‘What do you want?’
‘Oh, come now, don’t sound so vexed. Surely you aren’t still angry over childish pranks?’
‘Childish pranks?’ Avelyn heard her higher pitch and stopped to swallow. The last thing she wanted to do was to let him think he had the upper hand, or that he was still capable of making her so angry that she lost the ability to think.
She repeated her previous question. ‘What do you want?’
‘Since you seem to have gained such lofty connections, I thought you could easily find me a place.’
‘A place?’ She knew that for the lie it was. Even if what he said were true, why would she do anything for him? Why would he assume she’d even be willing to do so? ‘I thought you and your companions had a place cleaning armour.’
‘So, you knew I was here all along.’
‘Of course. And so does my husband.’
From the slight widening of his eyes it seemed that information took him by surprise. She laughed at him. ‘You are not dealing with servants or villagers who you can torment at will. King David’s Wolf will not be so easily controlled.’
‘Perhaps. But just like servants and villagers he can bleed.’
She took a step towards him. ‘One scratch and I swear, Osbert, I will take your life without remorse.’
‘And I can promise you, should that happen, Father will skin you alive.’
He could try, but he would only get to her through Elrik and she doubted that would ever happen. ‘Are you here on his orders?’
‘That’s none of your concern. The only thing you need to worry about is finding me a position in Roul’s household.’
The last thing she would do was find him a position in any household where she resided. ‘Mucking stalls, perhaps?’
His already thin lips tightened, nearly disappearing as he took a step towards her.
A year ago, she would have cowered beneath his threatening move. But that was before she’d run away, before she’d become the Wolf’s wife and before she’d become the Lady of Roul. He was not going to threaten her any longer.
Avelyn stared at him, unflinching. ‘You had a place with Lord Westfall. Why are you not there now?’
‘His youngest daughter and I fell in love, but Westfall disagreed with the idea of our betrothal.’
Westfall’s daughter either lacked the ability to see and reason, or Osbert was lying again.
Her half-brother shrugged. ‘He caught us kissing in the stable and, to make herself look innocent, she cried rape, so I was thrown from his keep.’
Cried rape? That was the reason he’d been sent away last year. Two of her father’s maids cried rape and from the way they’d been beaten she’d believed it had happened. But they’d been ordered away like her mother had been and, soon after, Osbert was sent to foster with Westfall.
‘Instead of returning to Father, I thought since you and I have so much in common you’d be more than happy to find me a place.’
He truly didn’t believe that he was fooling her, did he? He was here for some other reason and she was certain that was to bring harm to her and Elrik.
‘So much in common? What exactly do we have in common?’
‘We are both Brandr bastards.’
‘So?’ It was not as if anyone could tell by looking at them. Their father was dark and built like a barrel. She’d always been told that she looked like her grandmother, with dark hair and ice-blue eyes. This boy was so fair he appeared sickly, thin with no muscle and had ginger-coloured hair.
‘We were raised in the same household and have the same temperament.’
Had she been prone to cursing she’d have done so. ‘You were raised at the keep from birth. I didn’t even know who my father was until a few years ago. As for having the same temperament...no, not at all.’
He stepped even closer, putting him nearly on top of her, then reached out to stroke her hair.
Before she could back away, Osbert pulled her into an unwelcome embrace. ‘Come, Sister, let us set aside childhood mistakes.’
He was laughing. She heard it. Felt it shaking against her chest.
The feeling that he was up to something, seeking once again to bring her harm, flooded her. At the same moment, the exact same heartbeat, Avelyn felt someone watching them. Not just someone, but she felt her husband’s hard stare boring a hole through her back.
Shoving at Osbert with all her might, she shouted, ‘You did this on purpose!’
She spun around to see Elrik riding towards the bridge to cross the rapidly moving stream. He would not make it to her in time to keep Osbert from doing her harm.
Her half-brother laughed. ‘What is wrong, dear Sister?’
Avelyn fisted her hands and turned back to him. ‘How long had you planned this? Will you not be happy until you have taken all from me?’
‘No. I won’t. How does it feel to have something you held dear stripped from your hands? How do you think I felt when Father brought you into my home? And now that you of all people gained the
attention of our great-grandfather is more than I am willing to bear.’
He grabbed her, his deadly intention clear in his wild-eyed stare. ‘Twice I have sought your death, only to be thwarted. I’ll not fail again.’
Unwilling to die at the hands of this snake, and with her own deadly intention firmly in place, Avelyn raised her knee hard and fast, slamming it into his groin. As he fell to the ground, she ran for the road that would lead her to Elrik.
Near blinded by tears, she managed to make out the form of him and his horse as the sound of pounding hooves raced towards her.
Elrik brought the horse to a stop, reached down to grab a handful of her gown and hauled her up against his chest. Holding her tightly with one arm, he asked, ‘You are unharmed?’
Unable to speak, she nodded.
He kept her against his chest as he rode into camp and lowered her to the ground. She stumbled and fell at Samuel and Fulke’s feet.
Before she could utter a word, Elrik slipped from his horse and pulled her up from the ground.
‘What—?’ Fulke’s question fell silent at the dark look on Elrik’s face.
She knew by his rage-filled expression that he’d misunderstood what he’d seen with Osbert, just as her half-brother had expected. Avelyn threw herself against his chest. ‘Elrik, please, listen to me.’
He shook his head one time and dragged her into their tent where he pulled himself free of her hold and let her fall to the floor.
She wanted to curl into a ball and cry, but knew that somehow, she had to make him understand what he’d witnessed.
‘Elrik—’
‘Close your mouth.’
Avelyn shivered. Never had she seen his eyes so dark, or his expression so bleak.
‘Like a blind fool, I could have come to love you.’
Those few words, spoken with such sadness and loathing, settled like ice around her heart. With one unwanted embrace Osbert had taken all she held dear, all she had hoped for, all she had ever dreamed of having in this life.
No.
Avelyn pulled herself to her feet. She was not about to let this happen, not without a fight. And this marriage, this man was worth fighting for. No one in her family was going to destroy her, or her future.