Mercenaries and Maidens: A Medieval Romance bundle

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Madelayne crouched in the alcove, listening to the confession with interest. Much was said that she didn’t understand but much was said that was frightening. Still, after a few minutes, she grew bored. There wasn’t anything particularly telling of excitement happening and she considered leaving. But the moment she moved to do so, footsteps reverberated down the spiral stairs. She shrank back into the alcove as a soldier came rushing past her.

  “My lords!” the soldier called. “We’ve movement on the horizon, heading this way. An army!”

  Kaspian looked at the prisoner; the man’s face was unreadable. Thomas raced back up the stairs with the soldier who had brought the message, leaving orders to put the spy in the dungeon. Madelayne pressed herself flat against the wall as Kaspian mounted the steps past her with another soldier behind him. When the pair had cleared the top of the stairs, Madelayne’s attention was drawn to the room below where she could hear more voices and footsteps.

  Suddenly, the tone changed and a great bang echoed against the walls. The sounds of a struggle were unmistakable and she fearfully peered from her alcove, watching the shadows of a two-man dance across the walls. There was a fight going on, that much was certain. Startled, she stood there in disbelief until the sounds of a struggle stopped. When footfalls quickly approached her, she spun around to race up the steps but lost her footing. Before she could recover, a hand was biting into her arm.

  “Ah!” It was a man she didn’t recognize and assumed him to be the spy. “I need you, wench. Show me the way from this place!”

  Madelayne was terrified. “Let me go!”

  The prisoner was small but strong. He yanked at her, bruising her arm. “Show me the way out or I’ll kill you where you stand!”

  Madelayne didn’t know what to do. The spy had already killed the soldier below, she was sure, and therefore he would have no qualms about killing her as well. Stumbling up the steps into the floor level of the gatehouse, the ward beyond was a chaos of men. Not wanting to be seen, the spy pulled her behind various barriers to shield them. He had her hand twisted painfully behind her back and, on more than one occasion, she yelped with pain, but fearing for her life, she led him back toward the kitchens were a passage led down into a series of caves beneath the castle.

  They were small caves used as dovecotes for the castle food supply as well as for storage. There was, however, a crack that led out onto the hillside that could be used to slip free. It was a secret escape for Lavister as well as a secret entrance The hillside was so steep, however, that the opening had never been breached. Also, it would have been easy to pick off one man at a time, as the opening was barely wide enough for single file. Frightened, Madelayne led the man into the wall and consequently to the stairs that led down to the dark, narrow passage. She had no sooner reached the first step when the spy suddenly grunted and released her. Startled, she whirled about to see Kaspian standing behind her with the hilt of his sword held aloft like a hammer.

  The spy lay at their feet in a crumpled pile. She opened her mouth to speak to Kaspian, an apology or thanks or anything else that came to mind, but the only thing she could manage was a choked sob. Kaspian immediately sheathed the sword and picked her up into his arms. It was safe and warm and comforting there.

  “Hush now,” he crooned softly. “You are safe. Did he injure you?”

  Madelayne’s face was buried in his mailed neck, her arms tightly around his head and shoulders. “I’m fine,” she gasped. She didn’t want to tell him that the spy captured her because she was eavesdropping. “How did you find me?”

  “I heard what sounded strangely like a dog yelping and then I caught a glimpse of your captor entering the western wall.” He glanced down at the spy, out cold from the knock on his head. “Bastard. He deserves worse than I gave him. How in the hell did he capture you?”

  “I… I’m not sure,” she lied. “I turned around and there he was. He wanted me to help him escape, else he said he would kill me.”

  “I wonder how he escaped in the first place.”

  Madelayne didn’t say anything more lest she confess she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was fortunate that the man hadn’t raped or killed her. Kaspian returned her to the keep, making sure to send enough soldiers to take the unconscious, yet wily, prisoner back to the pit.

  He carried her until he reached his chamber, and even then he continued to hold her, for just a moment. But the sounds of activity in the bailey were growing louder by the moment and Kaspian kissed her gently on the forehead before setting her down.

  “I need you to stay here, where I know you are safe,” he said. “We could be in for a siege and I do not want to worry over your safety.”

  Madelayne had been through sieges before. She knew what was expected of her, even though she now had the added trouble of worrying over Kaspian’s health. “Is it Dafydd?”

  “I do not know. I was distracted by your near abduction before I could find out.” He moved for the door, adjusting a strap on his breastplate that rubbed against his healing wound. “Stay in the keep unless I tell you differently. I want no one, servant or woman, out in the ward. Is that understood?”

  She nodded obediently. “Kaspian?”

  “Aye?”

  “Observe and direct only?”

  He paused in the doorway, his blue eyes softening. “I cannot promise, dearest. If Lavister is sieged, I must fight.”

  She sighed, knowing he had no choice. The man was a warrior. Quickly, she went to him, wrapping her arms around his massive neck and pulling herself up to his cheek. “Be safe, then,” she murmured as she kissed him.

  His eyes glittered. Unable to think of a suitable reply, he took her face in his two hands and kissed her until she gasped for air. “I shall endeavor to do my best,” he said huskily, pecking her on the lips once more for good measure.

  Giddy, and apprehensive, Madelayne turned away from him as he walked through the door. She expected to hear it close behind her. Instead, she heard Kaspian’s voice from where he had paused outside.

  “By the way,” he said. “I would prefer you not eavesdrop again. If you wish to know something, simply ask me. If it is appropriate, I shall tell you. As it was, you got a good scare and I would wager to say you’ll not do anything so foolish again.”

  She felt like an idiot. Pursing her lips, she shook her head. “You knew?”

  “Let’s just say that I let it go far enough to teach you a lesson.”

  “Kaspian!”

  He grinned, giving her a saucy wink before he disappeared. Madelayne heard him laugh, once or twice, as he descended the narrow stairs.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “My God,” Mavia whispered fervently. “Is it ever going to end?”

  Madelayne shook her head wearily. “Not any time soon, it appears.”

  The bloody mess at their feet had been the fourteenth soldier to die that morning. Since the Welsh lay siege at dawn the day before, there had been nothing but death and destruction. The great hall of Lavister Crag had been converted into a hospital with wounded lying all over the floor, with Madelayne and Mavia and a host of servants trying to keep up with the volume.

  Dolwyd had ridden with Nicholas and the army to Hawarden. There hadn’t been any word from the army at the front, which had Kaspian worried. He didn’t know if they made it or if they had been intercepted by a horde of Welsh. He had been well over a day without sleep, he and Thomas directing the remaining troops to defend Lavister against what was surely a thousand Welsh insurgents. But what worried him even more was that since mid-day yesterday, the attackers had been building a siege tower at the base of the hill. While the majority of the Welsh went about the standard war tactics, projectiles and ladders in an attempt to mount the wall, the real threat was at the base of the hill, nearing completion.

  Now, they were on their second day of a gruesome siege. It was sometime in the early afternoon and Madelayne was sick of watching men die, men she could do little more than comf
ort as they bled to death. The floor of the hall literally ran red and the smell of the blood was making her nauseous. She was exhausted but determined to work as long as she was needed. Great pots of water boiled on the hearth for washing away the dirt of the wounds for stitching; every once in a while a servant would throw buckets of the scalding liquid on the floor to wash away the stench. To make matters worse, it had started to rain outside, turning the whole of Lavister into a miserable quagmire of muddy death.

  From the dreary, sloppy ward outside, Kaspian entered the hall with a lackluster attitude that was unlike him. He was horribly exhausted, his weakness and wound draining him. When he still should have been resting, recovering from his injury, he found himself fighting off a Welsh attack and cursed himself that his hunch of a ruse had been correct.

  There had been pockets of fighting as ladders reached the top of the wall, but nothing the men of Lavister couldn’t ward off. Projectiles, however, had been another matter; flaming balls of tar and wood had sailed over the walls, killing men and destroying property. The rain has lessened the severity of those attacks, however. More still, there were legions of Welsh archers shooting arrows over the walls in a deadly rain. The Welsh were more than determined to take Lavister and the siege was as brutal as any he had ever seen.

  Dirty, exhausted, and wet, once inside the great hall his eyes searched for Madelayne. There was almost a desperate panic to find her among the sea of wounded, something in his soul crying out for soothing. He finally located her bent over a soldier, sewing a gash to the man’s arm in her small, careful stitches.

  Kaspian watched her a moment, thinking in the midst of this hellish destruction that he had never in his life seen a more beautiful woman. Dressed in a durable wool gown, her hair pulled away from her face, she was pale and exhausted, too, but working fervently. Her fortitude and bravery were impressive. He made his way through the field of injured men, standing over her as she finished her final stitch.

  “Madelayne,” he said softly. “I must speak with you.”

  She looked up, startled by his voice. Her face was instantly alight to see him. “Of course, my lord,” she said. “With pleasure.”

  He helped her stand, pulling her into a corner where they could converse privately. Madelayne was the first to speak.

  “Kaspian, you are exhausted,” she murmured. “Please take a rest, just for a short time.”

  He shook his head. “I cannot,” he said. “I need you and Mavia to come with me now.”

  “Come with you?” she repeated. “Why?”

  He sighed. Reaching out, he took her hands and pulled them to his lips. “The Welsh have built a siege tower,” he said quietly. “As we speak, they are pulling it up the hill towards the gates. Once in place, they’ll breach the castle with ease. I cannot stop them. I need to put you and Mavia in a safe place.”

  Madelayne tried to be brave but terror overwhelmed her. “Kaspian,” she whispered, blinking back tears. “I’m so afraid for you. Please, come with us. We’ll escape through the caverns!”

  He kissed her warm hands. “I cannot go with you, dearest. But it is my priority and my duty to make sure you are safe above all. I want you to collect all of the women you can and prepare to go with me immediately. We must get you away from this place.”

  She gripped him tightly. “There are only me and Mavia and two other serving women,” she said. “But I will not leave you, Kaspian. My place is with you.”

  He was touched by her words, so much so that he actually considered relenting, but he knew he could not. The only hope for her safety would be in his strength to do what he knew he must.

  “Although I appreciate your loyalty, you’ve no choice in the matter,” he said. “Find Mavia and the others.”

  Madelayne did not like to be refuted. “Who is going to take care of all these wounded, then?” she demanded. “And you; you are not nearly well enough to fight. Who is going to tend you should you overexert yourself, or worse, become wounded again?”

  He touched her cheek to calm her. “Madelayne, listen to yourself,” he admonished quietly. “I am a knight. This is my life and the risks are a part of that. My concern now is for your safety and I will not stand here and argue with you about this. Go now; collect Mavia and the other women. We must get you to safety.”

  He thought she might refuse him again. She had a very stubborn look in her eye. But she lowered her head after a moment and blinked back the tears. “Please, Kaspian,” she said softly. “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. Not when you have taken me from the depths of despair and given me more happiness than I’ve ever known to exist. You mean so much to me that I can hardly express it.”

  He stared at her. Not knowing what to say, he simply pulled her into his arms, listening to her soft sobs. “Madelayne,” he murmured. “I was kind to you in your moment of need, a companion when you needed one. It is only natural that there is some attachment.”

  She yanked away from him, catching her hair in the joints of his armor and ripping out several strands. He was surprised by the brutality of the movement and even more surprised at the look of outrage in her eyes. Long auburn hair hung, disjointedly, from the chinks of mail on his left arm.

  “How dare you suggest that what I feel for you is something less than what it is,” she hissed, her lower lip trembling. “I’m a grown woman and know my own heart. I would not say it if it wasn’t true.”

  He had never even dared to hope and was extremely sorry he had dealt with her admission so badly. Truthfully, she had caught him off guard. “I did not mean to imply that,” he said quietly. “It’s just that I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you would feel for me as I do for you.”

  It was her turn to stare at him. “You… you feel for me, too?”

  “Of course I do. Why do you think I insisted on marrying you?”

  “Because it made a sensible arrangement.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else having you.”

  The look of outrage on Madelayne’s face was replaced by one of joy. Kaspian smiled in return, a show of sincerity, and extended a hand to her. After a moment, she put her fingers in his open palm and he pulled her to him, kissing her hand tenderly.

  “Please, Madelayne, no more arguments,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. “I would have you obey me like a good, obedient girl.”

  “But…!”

  “Please.”

  She sighed heavily. “Very well. But I do not want to leave the fortress. We’ll be just as vulnerable to the wilds outside as we will be to the rebels inside. I would stay near you, Kaspian. Please.”

  He shook his head and kissed her hand again. “Silly wench, who said anything about going outside the fortress? I’m simply going to put you and the other women someplace safe, someplace that only I can get you in and out of.”

  She was puzzled. “Where is that?”

  “Find the other women and I shall show you.”

  *

  There was no longer the luxury of time to hide the women. Kaspian escorted four women from the keep, the only females at Lavister, and took them to the gatehouse currently under siege. The great siege tower was at the threshold and high above, men were battling as the wooden arm meant to bridge the gap between the tower and the wall came down. Projectiles were still hurling over the walls, making for a horribly frightening scene.

  Smoke and death were everywhere as the small group scurried across the ward and into the depths of the gatehouse. Kaspian took them down the narrow stairs, so recently the sight of Madelayne’s folly with the Welsh spy, and into the sublevel that held the two locked cells and a hole in the floor for the pit dungeon. With a huge iron key, Kaspian unlocked one of the cells.

  “Get in, quickly.”

  The women didn’t hesitate, except for Madelayne. Her eyes went between the dark, frightening cell and Kaspian.

  “You would put us in… that?” she demanded.

  He took her by
the arm and gently tried to pull her in. “It’s perfectly safe. The rebels cannot get in without a key, which you will have. Unless you give it to them, they won’t be able to reach you.”

  “But you are locking us up!”

  “I’m locking you in.”

  She wasn’t convinced. “But what if they occupy the castle? They can keep us here and starve us! We cannot escape!”

  “Madelayne, I do not have time for this. Please get in.” He gave her a quick shove and she stumbled into the cell. Slamming the heavy iron grate, he locked it with the ungainly key. Madelayne was standing against the bars, panic on her face, and he leaned forward and kissed her tenderly. “Do not worry, dearest. Everything will be fine.”

  He deposited the key in her hand. She looked at it as if it confused her somehow. Kaspian turned on his heels and marched for the stairs, sending a surge of terror through her. It wasn’t so much he was leaving her alone in this terrible place; it was the fact that he was going to where men were dying.

  “Kaspian!” she cried.

  He paused at the base of the stairs, the impression of her frightened face forever etched in his memory. But he had a battle to direct topside and he could not afford to be distracted any longer than necessary. Madelayne was safe and he was content. He mounted the stairs without another word.

  It was cold and dark in the vault. They had one torch between them, and when that was gone, they would be pitched into blackness. The women looked at each other, fearfully, until Mavia finally took charge. Madelayne still hung against the bars where Kaspian had left her and it was apparent that she was in no position to take the lead.

  “We’ve enough dry straw here to make a decent bed,” she said crisply. “Let’s pile it against this back wall, well away from the door. We’ve nothing to do now but sleep and wait this out.”

  The women eyed Madelayne as they worked. She hadn’t moved. When the straw was piled and the washer woman and the other female servant were seated on it in a huddle, Mavia went to her.

  “Why do not you sit down and rest?” she said gently. “You’ve been on your feet since yesterday.”