The Conquest (22 page)

“Nay, we are not married yet, so until that time you will stay in another tower.”

Her heart leapt with the hope it was the same tower where private guests and senior officers slept.

“Could ye show me?”

He tilted his head. “Of course.”

With hope and excitement running through her veins, she followed Malgor out of the chamber and down the stairs, passing by the two chambers with a sigh of relief.

People still congregated in the bailey, and she forced a smile to her lips, knowing they were excited to greet her and welcome her to her new home.

She had been so stunned upon meeting Malgor, and so fearful that Adelstan had left, she had not taken notice that many had flowers. Making eye contact with an older woman, she smiled and the woman handed her a small bouquet. “Thank ye,” Rhiannon said, and one by one, took the flowers offered to her.

She would survive this, and in the end, she would be stronger for it. As they approached the very tower Adelstan had disappeared into, her insides tightened in anticipation. She quickened her steps, leaving Malgor to lag behind, and gasped when she came upon the girl she had seen welcome Adelstan so readily—and Adelstan himself.

He stood in the doorway of the second-floor chamber, his tunic off, but his breeches on. One hand rested on the doorframe, the other on his hip.

The woman had, up to the time Rhiannon had caught them, had her hand on Adelstan’s chest, but now she stepped back, nearly running into Rhiannon in her haste. “My lady, I—”

“Forgive me,” Rhiannon said, managing to keep her voice even. With a smile she didn’t feel, she looked at the girl, and noticed with dread how beautiful she was. She was not dressed as a servant, which led her to believe she was of the noble class.

Malgor caught up to her and glanced at Adelstan, then the girl, exasperation on his face. “Evelyn, it has been a long journey and Adelstan needs his rest. Return to your chamber at once, niece.”

Niece.

Rhiannon’s heart dropped to her toes. Did she have a chamber in this tower as well?

Evelyn nodded, and with a passing smile at Adelstan, walked down the steps.

Rhiannon continued up the stairs without sparing Adelstan a glance. Malgor placed his hand on the small of her back, and she felt it like a heavy weight.

She looked back at Malgor when she reached the solar chamber, and he told her to open it, as though she would not have without his permission.

The room was nearly identical to the room she would one day share with him, but instead of religious tapestries, the walls had been washed white. A bouquet of flowers sat on a small table beside the bed.

Thick blankets covered the bed, and a large wooden tub sat before a roaring fire. “I have already asked the servants to fill the bath for you. I am sure after your journey you are ready to relax.”

“I am, thank ye,” she said, meaning it. She wanted solitude. She needed time to forget about her future and the man who would soon be her husband. “The room is beautiful.”

“You like it?”

“Aye, very much, thank ye.” She smiled, and he looked relieved. To her chagrin, his dark eyes slid over her again with lust. Did he not realize how unsettling that gaze was, or how rude, particularly in front of others?

“I shall leave you to your bath then. Until tonight,” he said, backing toward the door.

She forced a smile until he shut the door, and only then did she allow herself to cry.

* * *

Adelstan had never been so miserable.

Sitting to the left of Malgor, he tried without success to keep his gaze from shifting to Rhiannon. But he could not help it. Wearing a beautiful necklace Malgor had commissioned for her, she had never looked more stunning.

He was grateful he had not been asked along on the tour of the chamber she would share with Malgor. In fact, he had been ready to take a bath when Evelyn had knocked on the chamber door. He had hoped it would be Rhiannon, but of course she would be with her betrothed.

When he saw her moments later, coming up on him and Evelyn, he had been shocked to see her so soon. She had hid her surprise well upon seeing him in an uncompromising position with de Cion’s promiscuous niece.

He was surprised Malgor would place Rhiannon in the opposite tower from his own chamber, but had found out from Evelyn the reason. Malgor’s leman had claimed the chamber below his, and since Evelyn claimed the first floor chamber, that left no room for anyone else, including Rhiannon.

All the better for Adelstan and Rhiannon.

Malgor stood, scattering Adelstan’s thoughts. “A toast.”

Everyone in the hall stood, including Adelstan.

“To my lovely betrothed, Lady Rhiannon, and to the brave knights who fought the wilds of Scotland to bring her to me.”

A loud roar of approval filled the hall.

Adelstan tossed back his drink in one long swallow and caught Jorden’s gaze. The knight smiled sympathetically before looking at Rhiannon.

He wanted no one’s pity. When he had begun the affair, he had known this moment would come. However, he had not imagined feeling so wretched, because he had never imagined falling in love with Rhiannon.

But somewhere along the way he had fallen in love.

His thoughts returned to when they were in Scotland and Rhiannon had been out flying her falcon, flirting mercilessly with the guard in an effort to make him jealous.

Her efforts had worked, for he had been jealous, but that jealousy didn’t touch the rage rushing through him now.

Malgor stood and took Rhiannon by the hand, leading her to the floor. “I shall claim the first dance,” he said, taking great pride in his duty as lord of the keep.

The music began.

Rhiannon looked like an angel, moving in perfect time to the music, her shoulders erect, chin held high. Malgor watched her with open lust that could be seen by everyone, including his leman, who had just entered by way of the servants’ entrance. No doubt he had asked Jocelyn to stay away, but even at Braemere the bold woman had never been one to keep to the shadows. Now she watched Rhiannon and Malgor with an evil smile that didn’t begin to reach her eyes.

Two more dances followed before Malgor begged off, and another man took his place. Rhiannon glanced Adelstan’s way a few times, but those glances were too fleeting. Did he dare ask her to dance?

Jorden claimed the next dance, and Adelstan could see her relax with his friend, and even smile a few times. All the while Malgor kept an attentive gaze on the two, even as others came up to offer congratulations.

He smiled like a wolf, but then his gaze caught sight of Jocelyn.

The smile disappeared instantly.

To her credit, Jocelyn didn’t back down from her lover. Indeed, she met him halfway, her hips swaying provocatively. Though she had a decade or more on Rhiannon, she was a beauty, her straight auburn hair falling to her curvaceous waist. Rumor said she had already given birth to three of Malgor’s children, but each had been stillborn.

Born a servant, she could not give Malgor what he had wanted so desperately from the time he had taken up arms in King William’s army—a fief, a fortune, and a bride of nobility.

But Rhiannon could, and if Adelstan guessed correctly, soon Malgor would be infatuated with his young bride, who would one day give him the son he so craved.

Truth be told, Rhiannon could be pregnant at this very moment with Adelstan’s child. The last few times they had made love, he had not withdrawn. Indeed, it seemed she had not wanted him to either, clutching on to him as they came together. Last night he had felt her desperation, and as they lay together in the afterglow, their bodies still joined, he wondered how it would end.

Unable to sit by and watch others dance with her, Adelstan walked toward her.

“May I have this dance, my lady?”

Hearing Adelstan’s voice from behind her, Rhiannon breathed a sigh of relief and turned with a smile. Though everyone had been kind thus far, she still felt as if she had few friends here, and it took all her will not to lunge into his arms.

“Of course,” she said, nodding demurely, aware of Malgor’s searing gaze. The dance was a slow one, and as she took his hand, she squeezed it tight.

I miss ye. I want ye. Take me far, far away from here.

The dance brought them face-to-face for the space of two counts, and she looked into his eyes.

Meet me tonight.

Though she had only been at Almeron for mere hours, she felt like it had been weeks, if not months, since they had been together, her every move being watched by countless people.

So different from Castle MacKay, where she had had more freedom than she’d realized. Not so here. She would be lady of the keep soon, and life as she’d known it would never be the same. No more stolen moments. Even now Malgor watched her with jealousy in his eyes.

“How are you this evening, Lady Rhiannon?” Adelstan asked, his voice cordial.

Her heart leapt upon hearing her name on his lips. She felt the familiar burning in her veins, the yearning that coiled in her belly, and the wet heat that settled between her thighs. “I am not at all well.”

The dance took them away from each other, but soon they were side by side, and his long, warm fingers wrapped around hers. “What do you mean?”

She glanced toward her betrothed to see him talking with an auburn-haired woman. The woman’s look was venomous as she turned to stare at Rhiannon.

Her angry voice rose above the music, and Malgor took her by the arm and pulled her toward the door. “His lover is not happy I am here.”

Adelstan met her gaze. “He will send her away.”

“God, I hope he does not.”

His gaze searched hers.

“Meet me tonight, Adelstan. Please.”

“It is too risky.”

“Our chambers are in the same tower, yours right below mine.”

The music ended much too soon. Rhiannon bowed and looked up to find her betrothed standing beside Adelstan. The older man grinned widely, his face flushed. “My men must be exhausting you with all the dancing.”

“I quite enjoy dancing,” she said, irritated by his presence.

“Lady Rhiannon, thank you,” Adelstan said with a curt nod, before walking toward Jorden.

Malgor reached out, touched her cheek with his hand in a loving gesture. His hands smelled of venison and onions. She nearly pulled away, but felt all the eyes in the hall watching her, including Adelstan’s.

Her cheeks turned hot when Malgor’s hand slid to her throat. Horrified, she actually began to tremble.

She felt helpless, alone, desperate.

He lifted the necklace. “Do you like your present?”

“Aye,” she said, refusing to meet his gaze. She instead looked at the grease spot on his tunic. Throughout the meal he had slurped his soup and paid little mind that half the contents of the bowl had ended on him, rather than in his mouth.

His brows furrowed as he lifted the other necklace she always wore, his thumb brushing over the cross.

“It was my mother’s,” she blurted out before he asked the question.

“A nice trinket to be sure, but it cannot compare to the jewels I shall give you.” He lifted her chin with coarse fingers, and she was forced to meet his dark, penetrating gaze. “Beautiful jewels for a beautiful woman.”

The crowd had hushed to the point one could hear a pin drop. Rhiannon yearned to run away, far from this castle and this man, but instead she stood her ground, letting him grope at her while she ached to spit in his face, and tell him she knew what kind of man he was, no different than her own father, who had abused her mother terribly.

“I cannot wait to marry you. Indeed, I have sent word to my liege, Lord Renaud, asking him to come to Almeron posthaste so that we can be wed immediately.”

Her heart sank to her toes. From what Adlestan said, Braemere was but a day or two away from Almeron.

She wanted to tell him no, that she was not ready to wed him, but when she opened her mouth, his fingers squeezed just the slightest bit as though he knew exactly what she yearned to say.

Pressing her lips together, she bit the inside of her mouth and forced herself to meet his gaze.

“By this time next week we will be man and wife.” His dark eyes glittered with lust.

“My lord, I am tired and I would very much like to retire to my chamber, with your permission.”

Disappointment slid over his features and he dropped her hand abruptly. “Of course, my lady. I shall retire as well.”

He cleared his throat loudly. “We shall be retiring! Continue to feast and celebrate the arrival of Lady Rhiannon this night, for in one week she will be my wife.”

Roars and loud applause followed the declaration.

Shaking from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, Rhiannon managed to smile when inside she was dying. As she walked toward the door on the arm of her betrothed, she passed by Adelstan and Jorden. They were probably the only two people, aside from herself and Elspeth, who looked disturbed by the news. She caught Adelstan’s stare for only a second before looking away. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was as miserable as she.

* * *

By the time Adelstan reached his chamber, he was more conflicted than ever. His mind told him one thing, while his heart told him yet another.

Pushing the door closed behind him, he reached behind his neck and pulled off his tunic, tossing it aside. He sat down in the chair before the fire, staring into the flames while he worked the laces of his chausses and slipped off his boots.

Running his hands through his hair, he cursed, and stood so fast the chair flew onto its back. How had he made such a mess of both their lives? He reached for the pouch at his waist and took out the ring. He had not worn it since Castle MacKay, and now he looked at it in the firelight.

“Who is it from?” came the soft voice from the bed.

Evelyn sat up on an elbow, allowing the blanket to drop. Her large breasts with rose-colored nipples peeked out at him, and to his surprise, his cock didn’t stir.

He placed the ring on his finger. “Evelyn, I am tired.”