Once a Knight (13 page)

She pursed her lips. No one challenged her arrogance, for in her prideful heart, she knew she was better than anyone around her. But Sir David didn't think like she did. The greatest warrior England had ever produced shrugged off the worship lesser men offered. In some ways, he was a humble man, and a humble man didn't refuse to train a pack of worshipping youths who followed his every move with eager gazes and knelt at his feet to hear pearls of wisdom. “You like to train Eudo.”

“He's just a lad.” Deep in thought, David scratched his stomach. “He doesn't know much.”

“If they know much, you don't wish to train them?”

“Hugh's a man grown. He's a better fighter than…well.” His braies must have grown looser, for he adjusted himself. “He'll be a knight, soon.”

“'Twas Hugh's armor I purchased while in Lancaster. I would like to sponsor his knighthood with a whole heart, but…” She dangled the bait, hoping he would take it.

He sneered at her obvious gambit, then he took the bait anyway. “What's the problem with Hugh?”

“His swordwork is exemplary, he handles every horse in the stable with ease, he is a terror with a lance and mace, but he refuses to work with a knife.”

“Why?”

“He says an honorable knight has no reason to fight with a knife.”

“I suppose you'd want me to teach Andrew and Jennings, too.”

“I had hoped—”

“What's Sir Walter going to do while I take over all his duties?”

Her voice sharpened at his petulance. “I had hoped he would assist you.”

“What makes you think he'll settle for assisting me?”

“It was his idea.”

That drew him up short. Slowly, he drew the word out. “Why?”

“He said you had not exercised your skills since you arrived, and thought perhaps it would be a pleasant way to practice while performing an added duty.”

David snorted, and for the first time she wondered at Sir Walter's sudden spirit of cooperation. She had thought he simply detested David's inactivity and sought to remedy it. Did he have another motive? And what was it? She didn't like dancing to Sir Walter's tune all unknowing. “Perhaps this is not such a good idea.”

David pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why not? At least you'll get something for your money. That's the idea, isn't it?”

Grateful for his surliness, she forgot the warm, soft sensation he'd given her and remembered only her earlier resentment of him. Of the luxurious life he'd lived at her expense, and how every one of her people worked for less than Sir David. It made her remember, too, that earlier he had seemed to resent his inactivity, and she again confronted the puzzle of a man. “It would give me much pleasure if you would at least—” The leather bag wiggled and released a definite “meow.” She snapped, “What
is
in that bag?”

“That? Oh.” She could read the fury in him, but he subdued it to loosen the strings and lay the bag open.

A blinking black kitten lifted its head and looked around.

Alisoun jumped back.

“It's only a kitten,” he said.

“I can see that,” she answered irritably.

“You're acting as if it were a wolf, prepared to eat you.” Gathering up the tiny creature, he scratched it under the chin, then waved it in her face. “Isn't it cute?”

She flinched. “What are
you
doing with it?”

“Giving it to you. Eudo said your cat had been killed, and—”

“Oh, nay.” She waved her hands. “I don't want another cat.”

Placing the creature on the tabletop, he said, “I thought you liked cats.”

“I do.” She watched as the little thing scampered over to the edge and looked down. “In their proper place.”

“In the stable?”

Sure that it would break something if it tried to jump, she nudged it back. “Aye.”

“I barely rescued it from under Louis's hooves.”

The kitten tried again to look over the edge, and again she pushed it away. “I can see why.”

“Why I rescued it? Aye, it's a darling thing.”

“Nay, why it was under Louis's hooves. It's stupid.”

He sighed. “If you don't want it, you can just put it down on the floor. It'll
probably
survive among the dogs and the other cats, and its life will still be better than it would be in the stable.”

She stared as the kitten sauntered toward one of the lit candles, then realized that David, too, sauntered—but he was heading out the door. “Wait! You take it.” Then, belatedly, “Where are you going?”

“To train your squires.” He stuck his head back in. “May I depend on your messenger to again take the gold to Radcliffe?”

“In sooth, but the cat—”

“Bless you, my lady.” He disappeared, and both the gold and the kitten remained on the table.

Sir David erupted out of my lady's solar. He didn't notice me or anything else. His lips were tucked tight and his face was red, but I didn't read the signs of interrupted pleasure on his face. Usually I knew, for to speak to one of the men when they were nursing blue ballocks could bring on a cuffing or worse. But I didn't think Sir David would bother with something so trivial as mounting a woman. Of course, I badly wanted the man I so idolized to marry Lady Alisoun, my lady and my liege, but I never considered that their union would end with two bodies wrestling on a bed
.

As Sir David strode toward the outer door, I shoved a large chunk of bread in my mouth and scampered after him. I had to know whether my ploy had succeeded, for in my eleven-year-old mind the only thing standing in the way of Lady Alisoun's love for Sir David had been Sir David's own behavior. By dint of coaxing and instruction, I had turned him from a crude, common knight to a prieux chevalier, and now I
expected my reward to be the happy news of their betrothal
.

Instead Sir David snarled like a grumpy old tomcat. “Put on your boots. We're going out
.”

And when I tried to tell him I didn't need boots in the summer, he looked at me and I found myself scrambling to obey. While I tried to squeeze my rapidly growing feet into the boots that pinched, he loitered in the great hall, teasing Heath in quite a normal manner and playing peek-and-squeal with baby Hazel
.

Philippa allowed it now. She no longer treated Sir David as if he were a fork-tongued viper. Neither did she leave her baby alone with him
.

When I finally had my boots on I rushed at Sir David. Gently, he wiped the drool off the baby's chin and waved bye-bye, and I demanded, “Did Lady Alisoun like the kitten?
”

“
You gave her a kitten?” Philippa sounded scandalized
.

Standing up straight, Sir David glared at her. “Why shouldn't I?
”

His stare might have been a fist. Philippa snatched her baby, holding her so tight Hazel howled, and shrank back against the wall
.

Sir David muttered an oath and stomped from the great hall, and I followed. Slamming the outside door open, he stepped out on the landing before he said, “You don't have to tell everyone everything we planned
.”

Well, he hurt my feelings. I was young, but I wasn't stupid. I hadn't told anyone what we planned, and I couldn't see what harm it did that Philippa knew he'd given Lady Alisoun a kitten. She was only a maid. By her speech I knew she was probably an obscure cousin of Lady Alisoun, and fostered in a noble household. But
I was being fostered in a noble household, too, and if I failed to become a knight, I'd be nothing. Less than nothing. A mere servant like Philippa
.

I guess some of my thoughts showed on my face, because all of a sudden Sir David ruffled my hair. “Lady Alisoun will come to love it as she loved her other cat
.”

 

David knew he ought to tell Eudo the truth. It would be bracing, like this fresh breeze. He ought to explain that Eudo's mistress was a cold woman who wanted labor for her money and feared affection because of the loss it eventually brought. It would save the lad from later disappointment. But he didn't. Instead he ruffled Eudo's hair and lied.

Eudo grinned as he led the way down the stairs and into the bailey. “I knew it. I knew it! That was the best idea I've had yet. You stick with me, Sir David, and I'll turn you into the perfect mate for the lady. Why, right now I bet she's cradling the kitty just as she'll later cradle your babes.”

Eudo's confidence amazed David, and he was already overwhelmed from an excess of unrequited passion. After that tiny, dark chamber, the summer sunshine seemed a tonic and he soaked it up as he strode toward the stables. “You may be anticipating a little too much.”

“Why?” Eudo demanded, quick as a squirrel to pick up acorns.

“The lady doesn't seem to like me.”

Sometimes young Eudo displayed a frighteningly adult comprehension. “She's been kissing you again, hasn't she? I'd say she likes you a lot.”

Abruptly, David's sense of humor returned. “Mayhap, but she shows it too infrequently.”

“You're the one who decided that restraint would
win her.” Eudo was still young enough to sulk. “I saw no reason to wait.”

“You're impatient, lad.” But not as impatient as David. He badly wanted to go home to Radcliffe. Last month, Guy of the Archers had sent a message back with Alisoun's servant. The drought seemed to be broken and everything was growing with the summer. His daughter grew, too, and Sir David ached because he missed her.

He wanted to find that which threatened Alisoun and rid her of it at once so he could go home. She still didn't trust him with the information he needed, and that both infuriated and relieved him. After all, he needed this time to court Alisoun. He wanted to learn her preferences and cater to them. If he
could
leave, he would forget all about those twelve sacks of wool and rush away. Then Alisoun would never allow him to take a permanent place at her side.

Still, the sense of urgency propelled him, and he wished to woo Alisoun rapidly, rush her into bed, circumvent her clever mind with more of his kisses. But he had become a legend by being a tactical genius, and it didn't take half his genius to know that wouldn't work with Alisoun. With Alisoun, he had to be crafty and reserved. He had to let her make her own decision about him while tipping the scales in his favor.

Eudo had apparently decided he'd been quiet long enough, for he piped up, “What are we going to do?”

“Train squires.” David bit off the words, and Eudo retreated back into silence.

So David had been trapped in her tiny accounting chamber for an hour, talking about hopes and dreams like some castrated monk while she said nothing. He might have been talking to himself for as little as she understood. The only smart thing he'd done was hug her, for that proved that she'd been thinking about him
more than he'd realized, and certainly more than she would like.

Unfortunately for him, he'd been thinking about her, too. Thinking with a particularly active organ, and wondering if she could possibly be as good as she appeared to be.

Not good with estate management or good to her people, but good in bed. It had gotten to the point where he feared to touch her for any reason, or he'd never stop. He could have sneaked into the village and swived one of the very available women, and Alisoun wouldn't have known, but he didn't want to. He dreamed about her long, cool hands on his body and her tall, warm body moving under him on the bed…or on a table.

He'd built a fire on that table with the two of them as kindling. A youth of seventeen would have shown more restraint. If he knew anything about women—and his knowledge was dated, but surely they hadn't changed—she would bolster her defenses when next they met.

“But her hair
is
red,” he said aloud.

Eudo cocked his head. “Sir David?”

“Lady Alisoun's hair is red.”

“It's not so bad,” Eudo said defensively.

“Bad?” David grabbed Eudo's shoulder and stopped him. “Who says it's bad?”

“The priest says red hair is a sign the fires of hell reign. I think she should replace him, but he's old and he's been here forever, so she won't turn him out.”

The pinch-faced priest who said Mass every morning should indeed be replaced. He was stone-deaf and half-blind, with a sour disposition that showed itself at random times as he hobbled through the castle. His disapproval, especially if he was Alisoun's childhood confessor, explained why she kept the flame of her hair
guarded by such stern coverings. It made David all the more intrigued with the way she relished its freedom when she loosened it.

Eudo leaped ahead of David and held the stable door open. When David had passed, he carefully shut the door. David realized the lad foresaw trouble. He was right, of course, but it wouldn't be Eudo's trouble. It was all David's, and Louis, by God, was going to share it.

As he neared Louis's stall, he heard a loud, rude snort and a banging noise, and saw a stableboy come flying over the top rail of one of the stalls. Louis stuck his head over the top and bared his yellow teeth at the youth, and the lad glared back as he painfully stood up.

“There you are,” David said, walking up to his horse and letting him smell his arm. “Have they been taking good care of you?”

Louis grumbled, making sounds from his belly that kept Eudo and the lad well back.

“Stop stomping the stableboys every time they come in to feed or groom you,” David advised, “and you'll have no more complaints.”

Belligerently, the lad said, “He's nasty.”

Eudo turned on him, fists doubled. “He's Louis, the legendary destrier. You can't say he's nasty, Siwate.”

Siwate took a fighting stance. “Can, too.”

“Cannot.”

“I can say anything I want to you.” Siwate sneered. “You're just a little bastard my lady took in out of pity.”

David caught Eudo when he lunged. Holding his struggling squire, David pointed at the stableboy. “You can, of course, say what you wish about Louis, but Louis understands every word you say, and he's not partial to insults about his disposition.”

Siwate blanched and stepped back, and Eudo said, “Ha!”

David continued, “Lest you worry, however, let me inform you that Louis is no longer your responsibility. Eudo will now care for him.”

Eudo froze, and Siwate retorted, “Ha!”

“Eudo is my squire, and he is not afraid of Louis.”

From beside him, David heard Eudo's squeaky voice murmur, “Sir David, you made me swear to tell the truth…”

Lifting Eudo, David seated him on the high boards around Louis's stall. “Louis is a reasonable horse. He loves to terrorize those he doesn't know, but he'll accept
you
.” David held his hand through the gate to offer the strong yellow cheese he'd saved. Observing the cheese, Louis stretched out his neck and with great care, nipped David's fingers. Cursing, David dropped the cheese, and Louis scooped it off the floor, then with teeth bared, showed it to David.

Siwate ran. Eudo shrank back so far he fell over backward onto a pile of hay. After baring his teeth back at the destrier, David said, “Louis
is
a reasonable horse.”

Louis ate the cheese and exhaled the odor into David's face.

“When he's been exercised.” David lifted the reins off the wall and stepped into the stall. Eudo peeked up over the wall, saw the horse accepting the restraints David placed on him, and clambered back into place. Louis reached out with his head and sniffed Eudo's foot. Eudo gripped the boards until his knuckles turned white, but he didn't stir as Louis worked his way up his leg. “That's your lad,” David advised him. “Take care of him, and he'll take care of you.”

Louis rolled his eyes at David.

“You can't nip him. That wouldn't be fair. And be careful not to step on him, his bones are still young and
thin.” David smiled at Louis and in a confidential tone said, “He's already broken his finger.”

Louis nudged Eudo's hand, and Eudo hesitantly petted his head. “He's nice,” the lad said in astonishment.

“He's the meanest piece of horseflesh you'll ever have the misfortune to meet.” David opened the gate, then led the horse toward the door. “But he thinks he owns you now, and he protects those he owns.”

Eudo hopped down and followed, staying well back from Louis's hooves. “Even bastard boys?”

David and Louis eyed each other with understanding, then David said, “Especially bastard boys. Do you think Louis's parents were wed?”

One shocked moment of silence. Then a boyish giggle.

David beckoned. “Come here, Eudo.” When the boy stepped forward, David lifted him high enough to scramble into the saddle. Louis stood still for it, although it was early for him to have such tolerance, then he paced forward, letting Eudo get the rhythm of his gait. Eudo managed to let go of the mane long enough to wave at Siwate in a superior manner, and as they left the stable, Louis released from his hind end an opinion of its inhabitant that made the stableboy scramble away.

Eudo was still giggling when David led the destrier into the training yard, but he straightened when the other squires froze. Sir Walter froze, too, hand outstretched as he prepared to gut Andrew with a wooden sword.

Feeling foolish, David nodded amiably. “I've come to train the squires.”

 

“I'll finish the accounts on the morrow,” Lady Alisoun said as she knelt in between the fanatically neat rows of parsley and rue. “After all, it's not as if I'm actually
shirking my duties. The herb garden needs to be weeded, also.” Her long fingers grasped a weed firmly at its base and she jerked it up. “Damn,” she muttered. She'd left the root in place, and before Tochi had withdrawn, he'd specifically forbidden such sloppy work.

Philippa grabbed Hazel's shirt and held her in place long enough to allow the kitten to escape the baby's grasping fingers. “The sunshine will do you good.”

From the bailey that surrounded Tochi's pride and joy, the two women could hear willow branches rustling like satin hangings. Inside, the tall stone wall created a private world. Alisoun had carried the kitten in and it had promptly made a nest in her skirt and gone to sleep. But her constant slow progress down the row disturbed it, and at last it stretched and scampered away, exploring with a child's sense of adventure. Hazel crawled after, eyes intent, nappies in motion.

With a digger, Alisoun set to work freeing the root from the clinging dirt. The scent of damp earth rose to her nostrils, tantalizing her with the delectation of summer and the promise of harvest. “I've never weeded before, but my parents instructed me to learn all aspects of my demesne, so I'm grateful for Tochi's instruction.”