There were not enough men to give battle, thank God. Not today.
Then Tamsin looked more closely at her uncle. Despite the billowing folds of his ermine-collared cloak, he had obviously grown thinner. His face was pale, too, and there were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in days.
The cloaked and helmeted knight riding beside him wore a gray surcoat bearing a coat of arms featuring a boar and snake. This man’s armor, while expensive, was also clearly made for use. Drawing his mount to a halt, he raised his visor to reveal brown eyes hooded by heavy dark eyebrows that loomed over his hawklike nose. Otherwise, his face was fleshy, his lips thick, and his clean-shaven chin thrust forward with pride and arrogance. He regarded her, and all about him, with a sneering, scornful gaze.
Rheged put his hand on the hilt of his sword while Sir Algar muttered an oath.
“What is it?” Tamsin demanded under her breath. “Who’s the man beside my uncle?”
“Whoever he is, he wears the crest of Sir Blane’s family,” Sir Algar replied.
“That is Sir Broderick of Dunborough,” Rheged said grimly. “Sir Blane’s son and heir.”
Tamsin felt sick. Obviously Rheged had been wrong and Blane hadn’t tarried on his way to Castle DeLac.
And yet... “Where is Sir Blane?”
No one answered as her uncle slowly dismounted and walked toward her, completely ignoring Rheged and Sir Algar, too.
“Ah, Thomasina, my dear, there you are,” he said, smiling like he was truly pleased to see her and she was at Cwm Bron for a friendly visit. “And quite well, I see.” He gestured at the man still mounted. “Thomasina, this is Sir Broderick of Dunborough, Sir Blane’s eldest son.”
“My lady,” Broderick said with a nod of his helmeted head, likewise ignoring Rheged and Sir Algar.
“Greetings, Sir Broderick,” she replied, glancing warily at Rheged before she came forward. The master of Cwm Bron hadn’t moved, nor had his stony expression changed. “May I present Sir Rheged and his overlord, Sir Algar.”
“My father spoke well of you, Algar,” Broderick said before regarding Rheged with disgust. “As for this Welshman, we’re already acquainted.”
Tamsin tried to hide her shock. Rheged had said the family were like vipers and he’d recognized Broderick, but she hadn’t considered exactly how he’d come by that knowledge. No doubt she should have asked.
“Neither you nor Lord DeLac is welcome here, Broderick,” Rheged growled.
“Nor have I any wish to be within ten miles of
you,
” the knight replied, dismounting. “But you’ve stolen something that belongs to me and I’ve come to get it back.” Broderick turned his unwelcome attention back to Tamsin. “A betrothal agreement was made and signed, and I intend to hold your uncle—and you—to it.” His lips curved up, more smirk than smile. “Although there must be a slight change, given that my father is dead.”
“Dead?” Tamsin mouthed, staring at the man with the cold eyes and thick lips so like a toad’s.
“If Blane’s dead, there’s no more betrothal,” Sir Algar said, moving closer and speaking with relieved confidence. “The agreement is null and void.”
Broderick’s beady dark eyes seemed to glow with satisfaction as he dismounted and smiled the most ugly smile Tamsin had ever seen. “We’ve made a new agreement, DeLac and I. He has agreed that this lady will now be
my
wife.”
Tamsin gasped with horror.
“No, she will not,” Rheged said firmly. “Get out of Cwm Bron and take DeLac with you.”
His voice was so hard and cold, his manner so commanding, she marveled that Broderick didn’t turn tail and run.
Instead, Broderick regarded Rheged as if he were an insect he’d like to crush. “Who do you think you are, Welshman, to disregard the law? An agreement has been made and signed, and will be upheld.” He took three steps closer. “And I intend to have you charged and executed for this lady’s abduction and rape.”
Tamsin stepped forward. “Whatever my uncle has said and signed,
I
have not agreed to marry you, my lord. Nor have I been raped.”
“Do you think anyone will believe that, if
I
say otherwise?” Broderick scornfully demanded. “I am my father’s heir and have the ear of the king. So you will marry me, and I will have this Welshman tried and convicted.
“What say you, my lord?” he demanded, abruptly addressing Sir Algar. “Are you willing to risk your lands and titles for a liegeman who acts with such selfish arrogance and disrespect for the law? For I assure you, if you interfere, the king will know that you hindered the return of this lady to her uncle.”
“I won’t let you force Tamsin to do anything against her will,” Sir Algar replied. “If you bring charges against Rheged, I will speak on his behalf. As for the king, you may find he’s not so great a friend to DeLac as he’s led you to believe, or to you, either. John thinks first and foremost of John, and I have influential friends at court, too.”
“You would put your entire demesne at risk for this Welshman and my niece?” DeLac scoffed, his vanity and vitality momentarily reviving. “Have you grown a spine, then, after all this time?”
Swaying, her uncle made his way to Tamsin. She could smell the wine on his breath from ten paces away. “Tell me, my dear, has Algar told you how he deserted your mother, a woman he claimed to love, rather than risk losing even a portion of his lands? All it took was a hint from my father that it could be so, and Algar departed DeLac, never to enter our hall again. Didn’t you ever wonder, now that he’s apparently become such a friend, why he never sought you out when you arrived in my household? He’s had years to do so.”
Tamsin looked at the man who had been so kind to her and read guilt as well as dismay in his face.
Yet even if her uncle spoke the truth, and no matter what had happened in the past, Sir Algar had been more like a loving relative to her since her arrival here than Simon DeLac had ever been. “There is no need to involve Sir Algar in this dispute, my lords. I’m willing to return to DeLac and marry Sir Broderick.”
“I won’t let you,” Rheged declared.
She turned to him and regarded him with sorrowful determination. “Please don’t try to stop me, Rheged. I could never be happy, not even here with you, knowing—”
“What sort of talk is this?” Broderick interrupted. “Perhaps there was no abduction at all. Perhaps the lady planned to come here all along, to live in this hovel and be this Welshman’s whore.”
With an oath, Rheged drew his sword and marched up to Broderick until they were nose to nose. “Leave Cwm Bron, Broderick, and take DeLac with you before I kill you. I will not warn you again.”
Tamsin rushed to intervene. “Rheged, I will go with them. I
must
go with them.”
“Not while I breathe.”
When Broderick pulled his broadsword from its sheath, Sir Algar hurried to stand between them. “There is another way, my lords,” he said, his tone and expression desperate, yet commanding. “Surely this matter can be settled on the tournament field, by combat. Lord DeLac and I can be the judges.”
“Gladly,” Rheged instantly agreed.
Broderick straightened his shoulders. “I am willing, on one condition—that it be a fight to the death.”
“Agreed,” Rheged said just as swiftly, before Tamsin or Sir Algar or anyone else could protest.
“And if you try to cheat, Welshman, as you did before, you will also be considered guilty and put to death at once.”
Tamsin had no idea what Broderick was talking about. Nevertheless she was certain of one thing. “Rheged has no need to cheat to win.”
“Such a passionate defense!” Broderick said with another smirk. “I trust you’ll defend me just as passionately when we are wed.”
“That day will never come,” Rheged said sternly, “for I’m going to kill you. And as the lady says, I have no need to cheat, since I can win by skill alone. However, I shall agree to those terms as long as the same holds true for you, and that you’ll swear before God that when I win, both Tamsin and Mavis will be free of any obligation to your family.”
“And the rest of your family will leave us alone, too,” Tamsin added. “Will you agree to that, Sir Broderick?”
His dark eyes flared. “Yes.”
Sir Algar turned to Lord DeLac. “Simon?”
“Yes, by God. I want this over and done with!”
“As do I,” Rheged said. “I’m ready to fight Broderick here and now.”
“Of course you are,” Broderick retorted. “You have your warhorse here, and all your men-at-arms. I don’t.”
“Tomorrow, then?” Sir Algar proposed.
“Tomorrow,” Broderick agreed. “At Castle DeLac, and the lady will come with us now.”
“Here,” Rheged retorted. “And the lady stays, unless you feel fighting here gives me an advantage. If so, we’ll go to Castle DeLac in the morning.”
“I need no advantage of any kind!” Broderick retorted. “Let the combat be here, then—to
your
advantage.”
“Stop!” Tamsin cried, sick of the arguing. Sick of the fighting. Sick of men deciding her fate for her, even Rheged. “Rheged fought at Castle DeLac, so you could say he knows that ground, too. Wherever you fight, though, I have no wish to return to Castle DeLac unless and until I must.”
“As we are all chivalrous men, we should let the lady have her way in this,” Sir Algar interposed. “As for where the combat will be—”
“Oh, for God’s sake, let it be here and let her stay!” DeLac declared as he staggered to his horse. “What does it matter if she’s here or there, or where the combat is?”
“I am willing to fight here,” Broderick declared magnanimously.
“Excellent,” Sir Algar said. “The combat that will decide the ladies’ fates will be tomorrow, at the noon, in the meadow by the river. Are we all in agreement?”
“Yes,” Broderick said with another nasty smile.
“Yes!” DeLac replied impatiently.
“Yes,” Rheged said with a brisk nod. “Enjoy this night, my lord, because it’s going to be your last.”
Broderick flushed even as he scowled. “Tomorrow you die, Welshman, and this woman will be mine. Now come, Lord DeLac. We’re leaving.”
Broderick grabbed DeLac by the arm and pulled the older man toward his horse. DeLac hoisted himself into the saddle, nearly falling before he managed to get himself balanced and upright.
In the meantime, Broderick got on his horse and regarded Tamsin with another terrible smile. “You need have no fear, my lady. When we’re married, I’ll forgive you any little...lapses of judgment. After all, I wouldn’t want my bride to hate me.”
“It is already too late for that,” Tamsin replied grimly.
With a curse, Broderick savagely wheeled his horse and led her uncle and his men out of the gates.
* * *
When they were gone, Tamsin let out her breath, then turned to Sir Algar. “If you’ll excuse us, Sir Algar, I would speak with Rheged alone.”
She didn’t wait for his answer, or for Rheged to agree, before she started toward the keep.
Of course she would have many questions, and explanations must be made, Rheged thought as he followed her to the hall.
Instead of asking her questions in the hall, however, Tamsin continued to the steps leading to the upper chamber. Once they were alone, Tamsin turned to face him, her hands clasped before her and an anxious and troubled expression on her lovely face. “You didn’t tell me you’ve met and fought Broderick before,” she began without preamble.
“I didn’t think it mattered, since you would be going back to Castle DeLac. I did tell you the family was a brood of vipers.”
“But not exactly how you knew.” Tamsin looked at him with a wariness that it hurt him to see. “Why does he claim you cheated the last time you fought?”
“Because he refuses to believe I beat him honestly even though I could hardly stand. On the morning before the melee, I was dizzy and weak like I’ve never been before or since. I’m sure I was weakened on purpose, with some kind of poison. Not enough to kill, but enough to ensure that I couldn’t fight well. I have no doubt Broderick wanted to make certain that his list of triumphs remained unsullied by a loss, especially to a man like me, without noble blood. Unfortunately I had no proof of his perfidy, so I could make no formal charge.”
“Couldn’t you have simply been ill?”
“I’m never sick.”
“You could have bowed out of the fight when you realized you were too weak to win.”
“Except that I needed the prize money, or Jevan and I were going to starve.”
“Is there anything else you haven’t you told me?”
“I would never have guessed that Broderick would want you for himself. But rest assured, my lady, I will beat him tomorrow.”
“I wish it hadn’t come to this!” she cried, clasping her hands in agitation. “I should have gone back sooner!”
“No, you shouldn’t have. You couldn’t. You could have lost your limb, or perhaps your life.”
“But now you stand to lose your life because of me.”
“No, my lady, because of what I did. I took you from Castle DeLac, and whatever happens, I have no regrets. If I had left you there—”
“I would be marrying Broderick, with no hope for freedom.” She regarded him with a desperate yearning. “Now I have hope, but at what cost?”
“Don’t worry, my lady, I—”
“Tamsin,” she whispered.
“Have no fear, Tamsin. I’ll beat him,” Rheged said softly, taking her hands in his. “And whatever happens, you mustn’t blame yourself. He would have found some other reason to fight me one day. He’s determined to assuage his wounded pride and have his vengeance. Nor would Algar be safe from his scheming, since I’m his liegeman, especially now that Blane is dead.”
“I only wish there was another way!”
“I would fight a hundred men to keep you safe and happy,” he replied.
For once his emotions were plain to see upon his face, so visible and vivid she could scarcely draw breath.
He loved her. Loved her as she had always dreamed of being loved. Loved her as she loved him.
“I want to be with you every day and every night,” he whispered, his words confirming the evidence in his eyes. “I want to be in your heart the way you’re in mine. I want you in my bed, my arms, my life forever. I love you, Tamsin. I need you, as I never thought I’d need or want another living soul. I want you with me always. I want you for my wife.”