When Love Awaits (18 page)

“T
HIS is not right, my lady,” Wilda said as she reluctantly handed the cup of wine to Leonie.

“His anger will surpass anything we have seen before.”

“What does that matter, as long as he is unharmed?” Leonie demanded.

“But to do
this
, my lady!”

“Hush, Wilda!” Leonie snapped. “He will return any moment and hear you.”

“Better that than what will happen after the deed is done,” Wilda muttered.

But Leonie was no longer listening. She opened her medicine basket and found the herbs she required. No sooner had she stirred them into the wine than Rolfe returned from mass with Damian. He eyed her darkly, knowing how she felt about the tourney.

“Will you ready yourself now, my lord?” Leonie asked.

“Will you help?” he rejoined skeptically.

“If you like.”

Rolfe shook his head. “I swear I will never understand you, Leonie. Damian will dress me. From you, all I ask is that you have more faith in me.”

“Your skill and ability were never in doubt, my lord, only your state of health. Please drink this and I will cease to worry.”

He eyed the cup of wine warily. “I need no special potions, Leonie.”

“It is only a few herbs to give you strength. Please,” she beseeched earnestly. “This is the least you can do for me to relieve my mind. What harm can there be in a few herbs?”

He grabbed the cup from her and drank it. “Now will you cease worrying?”

“Yes,” she replied meekly and handed the cup to Wilda, whose eyes rose heavenward over her lady’s performance.

It was not long before the sleeping draught began to take effect. Damian became alarmed when Rolfe started swaying on his feet. Rolfe, confused by his sudden tiredness, allowed them to help him to bed. Relieved, Leonie thought that was the end of the matter.

But Rolfe grabbed her wrist before she could step away from the bed.

“What—what did you do to me, Leonie?”

His eyes, heavy-lidded, still managed to pierce her. He knew. There was no point in denying it.

She said staunchly, “I saw to your safety, my lord, since you would not.”

“I swear…too far…this time.”

His hand slowly released her and his eyes closed. His words had been jumbled, but she understood. She had gone too far.

“You did this, my lady?” Damian was staring at her incredulously.

“Yes.”

“He will kill you!”

Leonie paled. Damian understood what she had done, but not why. Rolfe would know why, but he would not care. It would not matter to him that she
couldn’t bear the thought of his having another injury. He was under the misconception that no harm could come to him, and if he wouldn’t admit that his strength was not fully recovered, he wouldn’t admit that she was justified.

It was too late to regret her impulsive decision. Damian was right. He would kill her. Rolfe was a soldier. What she had done was unforgivable.

“I must speak with Sir Piers,” Leonie said as she started for the door.

“Do not tell
him
what you have done!” Damian warned her. “He will strike you down.”

“Then I will see the king.”

It was Sir Piers who tried to stop Leonie from leaving the castle without waiting for Rolfe, and it was Sir Piers who finally escorted her to Westminster Hall when he saw that she would go alone if he did not accompany her. She told him nothing of what had happened, for she had no doubt that Damian was right about him.

The only thing she was able to do right that morning was to gain Henry’s attention without the notice of any of the lords surrounding him. He was still dining in the hall when she entered with Piers. As it was his habit to eat standing up and moving about as he talked to his courtiers, it did not attract notice when he approached Leonie.

“Has your husband gone straightaway to the lists?” he asked.

Henry was in high good spirits, and she prayed that would aid her.

“He is not coming, my lord.”

Henry frowned. “Whyever not?”

She explained, finishing, “I saw no other way to protect him.”

“Protect him! I think he is in need of protection from you!”

“I did what I thought best, Your Majesty,” she replied miserably. “I am not sorry I saved him from possible injury, only that it was necessary to do so.”

Henry shook his head in amazement. “You do not know your husband, Lady Leonie. You have done him no favor. My son Richard is also a tourney follower, and he has told me he has seen Rolfe d’Ambert receive wound after wound, and still go on to win the day and a fortune in ransoms. There are few to equal him on the field. He can be near to death and he will still fight. That is his way—the way of the wolf. He did not get that name simply because of his dark looks, my dear.”

“I—I did not know that, Your Majesty.”

“He is not going to thank you, my dear,” the king said, sighing.

“I know,” she replied.

“I hope you have not come here to seek my protection?” he asked shrewdly.

“No, but I beg an escort to take me home, Your Majesty. I fear Rolfe’s men will not do so without speaking to him first.”

“You want to run from his anger?”

“Not…run, exactly. Merely give his temper time to cool before I must face it.”

Henry chuckled. “It will not be as bad as all that, not unless he must go looking for you to hear your explanation. No, I will not help you run away from your husband, but I will give you an escort to return to him.” With a flick of his wrist, Henry summoned three men to his side and gave them their orders. To her he added, “I suggest you tell him the truth. Perhaps he will overlook your foolishness this time.”

“The truth? He already knows why I didn’t want him to fight today.”

“Ah, but the reason
behind
the reason, my dear. Tell the man you love him. It is astonishing what that single admission can do.”

She was dismissed.

She took the opportunity to leave quickly before Sir Piers took notice and followed with more questions. Confess to a love she did not feel? No, that was not so. Confess to a love she—she was not going to think about it just then.

When she returned to the city palace, she found Richard Amyas in the stables. His impatience to be gone was obvious, and it was easy to convince him that Rolfe would be delayed for a while yet and that he should go on ahead to join Sir Piers on the tourney field. He left immediately, taking only two of the men-at-arms. That left Leonie the remaining eight, one of whom was the master-at-arms, Guy of Brent.

Leonie had never had reason to speak with him before. She did so now, using a tone that brooked no interference. He was not like Piers or Richard who would feel it was their duty to question her. Guy simply did as he was told and ordered one of the baggage wains readied. He sent men with her to collect her trunks.

Damian was more difficult to deal with. She did not want him to remain there to tell Rolfe she had gone, nor could she tie and gag Damian and bring him along. She waited until her trunks were removed and the maids gone before she launched into the lie that would delay Rolfe’s following her.

“The king has bid me move to Westminster Hall until my husband is in a reasonable enough mood to listen to my explanation about what happened.”

“That is wise, my lady,” Damian replied solemnly. “So you have the king’s protection?”

“Yes. Stay with my lord until he awakens.”

She looked at Rolfe once more, knowing that the next time she saw him, his face would not look as peaceful as it did then. A shiver passed down her spine. Was she making it worse by leaving? She could only pray that time would calm him.

L
EONIE directed her escort off the main road and into the woods late that afternoon, despite the dire warnings of Guy who swore it wasn’t safe to travel except on the main road. But Leonie was not worried about cutthroats or wild animals. She was buying herself more time, for Rolfe would go directly to Crewel, assuming that was her destination, while this route would take her around about, finally coming from the east to Pershwick. Oh, she would not compound her mistakes by pitting Pershwick against her husband, but hopefully he would think twice before beating her at Pershwick.

They made camp that night in the dense woods. Leonie could not complain, for she had brought it on herself. Wilda did complain, her grumbles continuous.

Rolfe would never forgive her. That thought carried Leonie into sleep that night. Sometime later, when a hand clamped over her mouth brought her awake, her first thought was that Rolfe had found her much sooner than she had anticipated.

She was dragged upward, an arm slipped beneath hers and across her breasts, gripping her firmly against a hard body. She was backed out of camp furtively, seeing by the light of the small fire that the rest of the camp was not disturbed, and that the guard at watch was not where he should have been.

But Rolfe would not take her away this way. He would have arrived with his wrath full-blown and awakened all with his booming voice. But if this was not Rolfe…

Leonie began to struggle, but it was too late. The grunt from the man behind her was not loud enough to carry back to camp. Her attempt to scream and to bite her captor’s hand only made his grip tighten.

“Settle down, lady, or I will have to put my fist to you.”

The gruff voice was speaking French, but it was not the fluid French of the nobility. As soon as she realized that, she realized he was not alone.

“Do we take her to the lord?”

“What did I wait around and snatch her for if not that?” the man behind answered irritably.

“We could keep this one for ourselves.”

“That will not put gold in our pockets,” was the quick retort.

“But this one is pretty, Derek.” A beefy face loomed in front of Leonie.

“What does that matter when we need the pay?”

“We can have both.” A third voice spoke. “Your lord will have his fun with her, Derek, so why shouldn’t we as well? We took the risk of snatching her. I want her before we turn her over to him.”

“Agree, Derek, or we do not leave here,” the second man threatened.

The moment was tense. The other two men waited for Derek to decide. And then the quiet was broken by another man who burst through the brush, running.

“Osgar,” the new fellow whispered excitedly, “the guard died without making a sound! I did a good job!”

“Quiet your fool brother, Osgar,” Derek hissed angrily. “I swear I do not know why I use him.”

“Because he does your killing for you,” Osgar said smoothly. “Now—what about the lady? Does she pleasure us first?”

“Yes, but not here,” Derek agreed. “And it must be done quickly. It is a long reach to the castle and her men have horses while we do not.”

“We should have killed them all,” someone grumbled.

“There were too many, fool. Now let us hurry if we are to stop before we reach the castle.”

Leonie was carried along at a near run. She felt numb at first. This could not be real, could it? But the numbness began to wear off as Osgar and the others resumed speaking while they hurried through the woods.

“Will the lady be tortured like the others, Osgar?”

“You talk too much,” Osgar growled at his brother.

“Will she?”

“If she does not admit who she is and arrange to ransom herself, yes, she will be tortured.”

“Derek watches, doesn’t he?”

“Idiot! Derek does the torturing. It is his lord who likes to watch.”

Derek laughed, overhearing. “Did you tell him how often you sneaked into the dungeon to watch, too, Osgar?”

There was silence, then Osgar’s brother asked, “Will she be kept for long in the dungeon, Osgar?”

“You ask too many questions.”

“That merchant was killed even after his man brought the ransom. The merchant and his man were both killed.”

“Quiet your brother, Osgar, before I do,” Derek said angrily.

Leonie had heard of such happenings, but not since
the time of King Stephen when anarchy had prevailed. During King Stephen’s time, even the poorest petty lord could collect riches and many did, extorting serf and freemen, even plundering churches. It was a common crime to capture anyone suspected of having even a little wealth. The victims were imprisoned and tortured until they were willing to give up all they possessed. No one was safe in those days, for there was no recourse to a king who was perpetually busy fighting to keep his crown. The true extent of criminality was realized later when all the unlicensed castles—more than a thousand—were ordered dismantled by Henry.

Leonie’s fear became overwhelming as she considered all of what would happen to her when she was turned over to Derek’s lord. But even so, those fears receded when the four men stopped, and she recalled what they planned.

Bile rose in her throat when Derek said gruffly, “I need a gag.”

“Oho, so you want her too. And here you put up such a fuss—”

“A gag! Quickly!” Derek snapped. “I warn you, we have very little time. She needs to be locked away before her men come looking for her.”

“We do not carry rags with us,” Osgar grumbled.

“Your shirt will do. Give it over.”

The second Derek removed his hand so that one of them could gag her, she let out an ear-piercing scream. It was cut off quickly, the stinking shirt yanked hard across her mouth. The shirt was tied behind her head so tightly, she thought the corners of her mouth would surely rip open.

The moment the gag was secure, Derek shook her hard. Pain shot up her arms where he gripped her.

“Stop, Derek, before you break her neck!” someone warned.

“Do you think they heard her at the castle?” Osgar asked.

“They don’t care what happens in the woods,” Derek told him.

“Then why are you so angry?”

“We are far enough away from her men, but not if one has awakened and come after her.”

“We should have killed them one and all,” Osgar said disgustedly. “There was no knight among them.”

“And no sword among us but mine,” Derek reminded them with contempt.

“Quiet! I hear something!”

Leonie heard it, too, growing louder by the second, the unmistakable sound of horses charging through the brush. Hope rose inside her, a living thing.

“You are saved for now, lady,” Derek rasped angrily, “but I will make you pay for this later.” To the others he ordered, “We cannot delay here now. Move quickly, but for God’s sake do not make any noise.”

“Derek, no,” came an alarmed whisper. “There is the meadow to cross yet. We will be seen.”

“Not if we wait by the meadow until all is quiet again. They will be spread out looking for her. If one comes upon us, we can kill him.”

Leonie was propelled forward again. This time her arms gripped just above the elbows so that she couldn’t reach up to pull out her gag. The other three men moved off ahead, but her struggle with Derek slowed him down. She tried jerking out of his hold, she tried stomping on his feet, she tried lifting her feet off the ground to pull him down. He was much stronger and none of it worked. He finally growled and hefted her up under his arm to carry her like a sack of meal.

She began feeling desperate again. The sound of hoof beats receded. Oh, she would have given her life for a chance to call out!

Derek stopped near a wide clearing that cut through the woods and was exceptionally bright compared to the woodland on all sides of it. The other three men were crouched down by the edge waiting for her and Derek, alert, nerves taut.

“What have you seen?” Derek demanded, scanning the clearing.

“No movement, but I thought I heard another sound down the way.”

“Who else heard it?” No answer came, and Derek grunted. “It is as I thought. They will not come this far afield to look for her. We have only to cross the meadow and we will be safe.”

“
I
will not feel safe until we are rid of her. This was not such a good idea, Derek. Our usual prey do not have such large escorts.”

They moved out, keeping close together. But they were not even halfway across the meadow when a horse and rider moved slowly out from the trees facing them.

“Tell me that is your lord, Derek.” Dread filled the voice.

“Of course it is not. He is not such a large man. But do not panic now,” Derek warned. “This is a full-armored knight. She had no such knight with her.”

“Why does he sit there and stare at us?” Osgar asked uneasily. “Why doesn’t he move?”

“Wait, he comes now,” Derek cautioned. He set Leonie down and shoved her at the others. “Hold her. I may have to fight him.”

“
You
fight
him?
”

“With your help, fool,” Derek hissed just as the
large destrier came abreast of them. “How may we serve you, my lord?”

“Show me what you have there.”

“Just my lord’s runaway wife. We are often sent to find her and bring her back. She is given to mental affliction.”

“Strange. She looks so like my own wife. Of course, if I thought the lady of Kempston was being rough-handled, I would not like it.”

Derek seemed to lose his tongue completely.

The large knight on the destrier eyed the rough man, waiting for him to speak.

“I think we are meeting the new lord of Kempston,” Derek whispered.

“But the Black Wolf now has Kempston. You mean—”

“Yes. I think—I think this is his wife we have here.”

“God’s mercy, look at her eyes!” the third man cried. “She knows him!”

Osgar’s brother started running before the words were out. The huge destrier cut off his flight in seconds, the flash of a blade felling the man. The bloodcurdling war cry that followed set the other three to running, all in different directions. But it was only moments before the war-horse had run down two, the heavy sword following swiftly.

Osgar ran back the way they had come and would have escaped into the cover of trees before the destrier could cross the clearing, but another knight rode toward him from those woods and dispatched him with a spear.

Leonie could not move. The bodies of her four abductors were strewn around her, but she felt no relief. She was safe—yet not safe. A new ordeal was beginning.

“Finish here, Piers, and then send the men back to camp.” As Rolfe spoke, more of his men rode into the clearing. “If one of those men is still alive, I want to know where they were going with her.”

“Are you…?” Piers began.

“I will be along shortly—with my wife.”

Leonie had removed her gag, but she was too frozen with terror to speak.

Rolfe dismounted and came to stand before her. His face was hidden beneath his helmet, and she could not tell what he was thinking. Silence held her.

Finally, he asked, “Did they hurt you?”

How coldly formal he was! “They—meant to, but the sound of your horses frightened them.” She looked directly up at him then, her eyes imploring. “My lord, I would speak with you—”

“Oh, we will speak, my lady. Do not doubt it.”

Leonie gasped as he gripped her arm and propelled her toward his horse. He mounted, pulling her up into his lap. They rode off toward the woods, then—not toward camp, but away from it.

Leonie was in a misery of dread. She did not want Rolfe to hurt her. But he was going to beat her. Why else would he take her away from the others?

It did not seem as if he would ever stop, and she wanted it over and done with. She was being allowed too much time to be overcome by her fear. The farther he took her away from the others, the worse became her imagined punishment.

They came to another clearing, the ruins of an old tower centered in it. Rolfe rode toward this, stopping by the crumbling stones to set Leonie on her feet. The place was ominous, stark in the moonlight, but not as ominous as her husband dismounting. He removed his helmet and his gauntlets with slow deliberation. He
moved toward her and stopped a foot away, his face hard.

“Who told you I was unfaithful?”

She started, disbelieving. The anger was there. His features were harsh with anger, too, his lips in a hard, straight line, but why was he asking such a thing?

“I…do not understand.”

“What did you tell Henry?”

“I—” She gasped, recalling the conversation she had had with the king the day before. Anger rose swiftly. “He had no right to repeat my words!”

“The king’s rights are not under discussion. Who told you I was unfaithful?” Rolfe asked again.

“No one had to tell me,” she retorted. “Do you think I cannot see with my own eyes? Lady Amelia is not your ward. She was never your ward.”

“She means nothing to me,” he said swiftly.

“Is that supposed to set everything right?” Leonie cried. “A man will rut with the serving wench at his neighbor’s house, and she means nothing to him, but that does not mean he is faithful to his wife! He is only more discreet than a man who keeps a mistress under his own roof—for all to see.” She was close to tears.

“Damn me, Leonie, I have not touched another woman since we wed!”

That only stirred her anger. “You touched
me!
Have you forgotten you would have taken me to bed at Pershwick without knowing who I was?”

“So!” He looked at her hard, his eyes probing. “You still have not forgiven me for that.”

“I mention it to prove the falseness of your words, my lord. You
have
touched other women. The fact that Lady Amelia was still sharing your chamber when I was brought back to Crewel proves it.”

He came toward her then with a low growl, but Leonie stood her ground. Even when his fingers bit into her arms and he lifted her off the ground so that they were face-to-face, she did not flinch.

“Tell me why it matters to you, madame.” Rolfe’s voice was dangerously calm. “Did you not say that you did not care how many women I bedded?”