Warriors Of Legend (51 page)

“We saved you from sure death and that ‘tis all that matters.” Ulrich interjected, a slight edge to his voice.

Sir Etienne shook his head emphatically. “‘Twas my men who arrived to scare them away.” he said

Estella knitted her eyebrows. “Please tell me what you recall, Sir Etienne?”

Sir Etienne cleared his throat and looked uncomfortably at his master. “At our approach I saw the outlaws scatter into the woods. These two men were with your father.”

Her father looked visibly relieved. “Clearly Sir Etienne and the guards are the ones who scared them away.”

“You lie,” Ulric said, his voice turning ugly. He took a threatening step forward.

Her father shrank back, the blood draining from his face.

Gavin put a restraining hand on his friend. “You know very well that ‘tis not how it happened, my lord.”

The wood crackled loudly in the large fireplace, making the silence in the hall more apparent.

Her father looked down at the lower tables, realizing that every single person had his or her eyes trained on him. He abruptly grasped the edge of the trestle table and pulled himself up. “How dare you question my integrity,” he said, his voice shaking with indignation. “You come into
my
home and insult me. I can have my men assembled and ready to defend my name in less time than you can blink. Then we shall see how courageous you really are.”

“I welcome it,” said Ulrich, a challenging gleam reflecting in his eyes. He drew his sword from his belt. “‘Twould be just like old times wouldn’t you say, Gavin?”

“Aye, but this is different,” Gavin replied. He turned to Estella’s father, his voice grave, “My lord, I do not wish to harm you or your men over your inability to keep your word. But I’ll do what I must.”

The two knights stood motionless as if they were waiting for the right moment to spring into combat. The air that surrounded the hall crackled with tension. To her left, her sisters nervously watched them, clutching at each other in fear. Bess, the nursemaid sat beside them, her eyes looking heavenwards, her hands pressed in fervent prayer.

Estella had to do something fast or all hell would break loose. She reached over and touched the stranger’s arm. A muscle twitched underneath her palm but he didn’t draw his arm away. “Please, sire, my father is an honorable man. Do not disgrace him like this in front of the castle inhabitants.” She paused, and looked at the curious faces watching them. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “Your accusations unfairly besmirch our family name, and you put my sisters’ futures at considerable risk.”

“Your family’s reputation would not be questioned if your father honored what he said.”

Her father’s nostrils flared.

Estella’s eyes darted from the stranger to her father in near panic. “Please, sire,” she said quickly. “‘Tis late and everyone is tired and on edge.” She gestured to the high table. “My sisters and I will move to the lower tables, so please, be our guests tonight, and we shall resolve this tomorrow when tempers have simmered down. Can we agree on a truce,” she looked straight into his eyes even though her heart hammered in her rib cage, “at least for tonight?”

The massive knight stared at her long and hard, as if assessing her true intentions. Then finally he nodded. “Aye,” he said. “We shall resolve this matter tomorrow before the priest.”

CHAPTER 3

“‘Tis unbelievable,” Alys said. Her brows furrowed in worry. “Are you certain that this is what happened?”

Estella looked up from her embroidery. She had stitched and plucked at the same line so many times that the silk cloth she held resembled a servant’s rag. It was near impossible for her to focus on the fine stitching, especially since the stranger’s rugged countenance kept intruding into her thoughts.

His hair was a dark mahogany that reached almost to his shoulders. It swept over his head in an unkempt manner. His eyebrows contrasted and framed his piercing blue eyes, the same eyes that seemed as if they could see through to her soul. The almost imperceptible twitch in his jaw muscle was the only reason she could break away from his hypnotic gaze. If he didn’t clench his jaw with such ferociousness she might have thought that he was actually a handsome man.

She let out a sigh. “They are not here as a part of an elaborate jest. They mean to take one of us, and ‘tis better me than one of you.”

Alys got up from her stool, and began to pace the floor of the small solar. It was a place that hid them from prying eyes. She rubbed her arms as if trying to warm herself from the sudden chill of her words. “I would have liked it better if he did not take any of us.” She stopped her pacing and turned to face Estella. “Could there not be some other way to repay him for saving Father’s life?”

“Perhaps Lord Cedwick could offer him a sack of gold coins,” Bess said, looking up from a book that she was reading. “That should satisfy any man and make him leave us alone.”

“I do not think he wants money,” Estella said, letting out another weary sigh. “He said as much. And besides, the crops did poorly this harvest, and we did not make much profit. Even the sales of the birds have not done well this year. Indeed we may only have enough money to survive the winter and no more.”

Bess lowered the book to her lap and gave her a slight frown. “You worry too much, my lady,” she said. “Your father is home to attend to the estate. He also has the assistance of the steward. You should leave those affairs to the men.”

“I would if I trusted that they knew what they were doing,” Estella said, her voice filled with frustration. “But I am not talking about the estate affairs. I am talking about this night’s events. I have never seen Father so afraid of another man.” She frowned as she recalled her father’s behavior. “He may no longer be in the prime of his youth; however he once trained as a knight…”

“A training that was incomplete as you recall,” Alys interjected. “He is the middle son of a Marquis and only knows his way around socially and politically. He could not possibly defend himself against a band of outlaws when he relies on others to fight for him.”

“‘Tis true what you say, Alys,” Estella said. “Father was never one for fighting. Still something happened that day the outlaws attacked, and he is not intent on telling us what transpired.”

“Do you think he made that agreement with Sir Gavin the Bold?” Marguerite asked.

Alys nodded. “Aye,” she said. “Father made an agreement that day. That is clear enough, because why would these two knights show up wanting their payment?”

“And if he pledged to give one of us away in marriage, then he must keep his word,” Estella said. “Bess, was it not you who taught us that honor and loyalty in a family is most valued in our noble circle?”

“‘Tis the ideal that your father wanted instilled in your studies,” Bess replied cautiously.

“Then would you not say that if we lost our integrity, we would have nothing else to offer aside from the little wealth that we have? There are three of us, and many more maidens who are in the same position, vying for a wealthy lord’s attention and protection.” The silk embroidered cloth crumpled in her fist. “Our family honor is at stake, Bess. Do you or do you not agree that Father should stand by his word?”

“Lord Cedwick should be true to his word,” she said slowly, “however I do not like your proposal.”

“I will listen if someone else has a better solution out of this mess.”

“What if we all run away to the abbey?” Marguerite asked. “The nuns will surely take us under their wings, and protect us from those fiends.”

Estella shook her head. “Even the nuns require compensation, and there are three of us to feed and clothe. Nay, our presence there would put unnecessary burden on the abbey.”

“Will you go ahead with this marriage then?” Alys demanded. She began to pace the floor again. “You are eighteen — only one year older than I. You would sacrifice your life, your future for us? I know your dream is not to go with some strange knight that appears out of no where, and demands that you marry him.”

“Do you think I have a choice?” Estella asked, her voice sounding harsher than she intended. She swallowed hard, her eyes falling to her lap. “‘Tis for the best.” A tear splashed on her hand, and she hastily wiped it away before anyone noticed. She took out the medallion that hung beneath her tunic and clutched at it. “I promised Mother that I would look out for both of you. And even if she did not ask me of it, I would still do it.”

Estella took a deep breath. After a moment when she finally found her composure, she looked up at her younger siblings. “You are my sisters and I love you both,” she said fiercely. “‘Tis better that I go than have one of you suffer at the hands of that monster. As far as I can see, ‘tis the only solution.”

“Well, I do not like this plan either,” Alys said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Father got us involved in this disaster, and I think he should very well get us out.”

Before anyone could respond, a voice at the door said, “I should leave Estella in this disaster, for she is the one who created it.”

The three girls jumped at the sound of their father’s voice.

Bess, in an unguarded moment, narrowed her eyes at Lord Cedwick before closing her book with a thud. “This is an unexpected visit, my lord,” she said. “You rarely come to visit us in the solar.”

He stepped through the doors. Bess shrank back when he frowned at her. “I’ll not have you question where I go in my own home.” He faced Estella, and seemed to have forgotten the old woman. “Why did you agree to marry that bastard?”

Estella’s eyebrows shot up. “I was trying to save you from humiliation. The situation clearly was getting out of hand. Or did you not notice how everyone watched us from the lower tables?”

“She tried to save our family reputation,” Marguerite interrupted, trying to defend Estella. Then she shuddered. “Had she not spoken up, the knight would have chosen Alys instead.”

Lord Cedwick waved his hand impatiently, dismissing her words. “That would not have happened,” he said. “I was thinking of a solution on how to get rid of the knights.” His face flushed when he saw their faces. “Do not doubt me, daughters. I almost had something worked out. But now that Estella agreed to marry the bastard, things have become much more complicated.”

“So ‘tis true that you made the agreement with the knight,” Alys said.

“I didn’t agree to anything,” he said harshly, as if the forcefulness of his tone could sway them.

“Will you care to explain why the knight keeps referring to this vow you made with him?” Estella asked. “As Alys has said, these men would not be here if you did not strike a bargain with them.”

An angry red flush crept back onto his face, but even as he took in a deep breath, he didn’t deny her words.

Estella swallowed the lump that formed at the back of her throat. She allowed her gaze to settle on the tapestry that hung on the far wall. “How could you have done this to us, Father? How could you have pledged away one of your daughter as if she was one of your
geese
?”

“I never promised him one of you… “

“Then what
did
you promise?” Estella interrupted, her voice hardening. “Because Sir Gavin seems to think that he is entitled to one of us.”

“Well… I might have told him that he could have anything that he wanted,” he said, his voice trailing off. He pivoted and stared down at them. “But understand I made that vow in the heat of the moment — those savages killed Sir Lawrence, and was about to kill me for my valuables. I was desperate. And Sir Gavin showed up… But…” his voice trailed off once again. He looked up at the ceiling, staring thoughtfully at the smooth stones. “Aye, Sir Etienne is right,” he said finally. “My men were
really
the ones who scared the outlaws off. In fact the more I think on it, I know ‘tis what happened.”

He paced the room as if his feet could make him catch up with the memory of that day. Stopping abruptly, he looked at Estella. “Those two knights must have heard the horses before I did, and quickly conspired with the outlaws to take advantage of the situation. Aye, aye that makes sense now… they’re scheming and evil, and never had any intentions of helping me. These knights are the ones without honor. They’re in fact the real criminals!”

Lord Cedwick looked at his daughters with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. He then began to pace around the room again, his hands folded behind his back. “I shall have Sir Gavin and his friend arrested for robbery and trespassing. In the meantime, we shall allow him to think that a wedding is planned for tomorrow morning.” He let out a sudden laugh as if he had just discovered the perfect solution to their dilemma. “Sir Gavin will show up at the chapel, but instead of finding a priest there, the sheriff will be waiting in his place.”

CHAPTER 4

Estella woke up with a start, her scream muffled by a large hand that covered her mouth. “You’re coming with me, my lady.”

Her heart thumped as if it threatened to burst out from her chest. The silhouette of the man loomed above her, although even in the dim light, she knew who it was. But how did he get into her bed chamber? She understood that because of the incident downstairs, her father had increased the guards. On the way to her bed chamber, she had already counted two guards, guards that weren’t there the night before.

“I’ll let go of my hand,” Gavin said. “However if you scream, I’ll have no choice but to gag you. Do you understand?”

She nodded her head slowly. It didn’t appear that he intended to hurt her. Her heart slowed down. Still, she was aware of him and wished that he stood at the other end of the chamber. With him so near, she found it difficult to breathe.

“Good,” he said, releasing his hand. “We leave now.”

“Sir Gavin?” she asked, and even though she tried to squelch the fear, she could hear it in her voice.

Gavin stopped. An almost sympathetic look crossed his face. “You may call me Gavin,” he said.

“
Sir
Gavin,” she said, ignoring his request. The quaver in her voice diminished as she allowed her indignation to show. “Why are you here?” she demanded. “You have disturbed me from a restful sleep. Could you not wait until tomorrow when the priest comes to marry us?”