The knights came in with swords drawn, but there was not a soul left in the
bailey other than Rowena, who stood on the lower step of the keep. They did not
seem surprised to find it so. And those sent to secure the walls did so quickly,
without much caution or wariness that they would find aught to oppose them.
The remainder of the army approached Rowena, with three knights in the lead who
dismounted first. Two had trappings so fine, they were likely both lords, though
only one could be Fulkhurst, the other mayhap his vassal. Yet it was the third
knight who walked slowly toward her, taller than the other two, sheathing his
sword as he came. He did not take his eyes off her as he did this, eyes too
shadowed for her to see clearly beneath his helmet.
She had chosen the wrong place to wait, with the sun behind them but shining
directly on her. It lit her flaxen braids with golden sparkles, her alabaster
skin to glowing whiteness, and made it difficult for her to tell anything about
the man almost upon her, except that he was huge and fully armored. Even his
mail coif was buckled over his lower chin, the helmet with wide nasal guard
sitting low, both obscuring his features except for the cruel slash that was his
mouth.
She opened her mouth to give greeting, but only a gasp came out as his hands
gripped her upper arms, so hard she thought the bones might crush. She closed
her eyes against the pain, only to be shook once, sharply, to bring them open
again.
?Your name??
His voice was as cold as his mouth was cruel. Rowena did not know what to make
of him. He must know she was lady here by her very dress, yet he was treating
her like a field serf, and that terrified her.
?La-lady Rowena Bel Lyons,? she got out in a mere squeak.
?No longer lady. Henceforth you are my prisoner.?
Rowena nearly sagged in relief. At least he did not mean to cut her down right
there on the steps. And a prisoner was not so bad and was only temporary. Most
of noble birth were given fine quarters for their confinement, and allowed all
courtesies due their status. But what did he mean, no longer lady?
He still held her in that painful grip, waiting. For what? For her to argue
against his making her a prisoner? Not with him, she would not. From what she
had seen and heard thus far, he was worse than Gilbert. But what should she have
expected of a man who reached for a league if you took a scant inch from him?
She was becoming unnerved, knowing that he stared at her, but she was too afraid
to look up to confirm it. Finally he turned with her still in his grip, only it
was to literally throw her into the mailed chest of one of the men who had come
up behind him.
?Take the prisoner to Fulkhurst and install her in my dungeon. If she is not
there when I arrive, there will be more than hell to pay.?
The man behind her paled. Rowena did not see it. She was ashen herself, verily,
near to fainting from those ominous words.
?Why?!? she cried, but Fulkhurst had already turned away to enter the keep.
Chapter 12
Mildred found him in the chamber she had come to dread entering these past few
days. The tall candles had burned out from Rowena?s last visit to this room just
before dawn, but he had found a new one and stuck it on the metal spike of the
candlestand. His men were plundering the keep, taking all of value that they
wanted. She could not imagine what he was doing here when a glance should have
told him there was naught in this room save that bed.
She hesitated to speak. He merely stood there, staring down at the bed. He had
removed his helmet, but his coif still covered his head. He was a very tall man.
And those wide shoulders reminded her of?
?What do you want??
She started, for he had not turned to notice her there at the door, nor had she
made a single sound. And he still did not turn. Instead he bent down and dragged
the long chains out from under the bed, and she watched, fascinated, as he
slowly draped the two lengths around his neck like a layered necklace, the ends
left hanging from his shoulders to his waist. She shivered, wondering why he
would take the chains unless he meant to use them on someone.
?Answer!?
She jumped that time, and stammered ?Theythey said you are the Lord of Fulkhurst.?
?Aye.?
?Please, what have you done with my lady?
She has not returned?
?Nor will sheever.?
He turned as he added that last word, and Mildred staggered back.
?In God?s mercy, not you!? One corner of his mouth lifted in a menacing curve.
?Why not me??
Mildred thought about running. She thought about begging. She thought about her
sweet Rowena in this man?s hands, and she wanted to cry.
?Ah, God, do not hurt her!? she cried her horror aloud.
?She had no choice?
?Be quiet!? he roared.
?Think you aught could excuse what she did to me? Her reasons matter not. By my
sworn word, no one does me an ill without paying for it tenfold.?
?But she is a lady!?
?That she is a woman only saves her life! It does not change her fate. Nor will
you. So beseech me not on her behalf, or you may find the same fate for yourself.?
Mildred held her tongue as Warrick passed her to enter the chamber across the
way. But he knew she still hovered about the new doorway, wringing her hands,
tears gathering and spilling from her soft brown eyes. He might be indebted to
her, but if she made another entreaty for that flaxen haired bitch, he would
indeed send her to his dungeons as well. He did not give warnings twice.
The much larger chamber was fit for a lord with its costly, though meager,
comforts, yet it held little of a personal nature to denote whose chamber it was.
But Warrick knew. He flipped open the only chest there and the abundance of rich
apparel within confirmed his thinking.
Still he asked ?Hers??
Mildred found the voice lodged in her throat.
?Aye.?
?My daughters might make use of these.?
He said it with such indifference, Mildred?s fear dissipated and her anger rose,
though she was not stupid enough to let him hear it.
?That is all she has left.?
He swung around to face her, and there was no lack of emotion in those baleful
silver eyes, as there had been in his voice.
?Nay, all she has left is the skin on her back, and what rags I choose to give
her. Though I do not forget that I was allowed even less.?
Indifference? she had thought. Nay, merely another revenge, those clothes, but
likely the least of all he intended. And she could think of no way to aid Rowena
when he did not want to hear that she had been as much a victim as he. Verily,
Rowena?s reasons would not matter to one such as he, who was not a serf, not a
lowly knight, but a highborn lord. You simply did not do to a lord what they had
done to him, and expect to live to tell of it.
Her fear returned, in abundance, but it still was not for herself.
?You mean to kill her??
?That pleasure would be too swift,? he said coldly.
?Nay, I will not kill her. She is my prisoner. She will never be
ransomed, she
will never leave Fulkhurst. She will be at my mercy until the day she dies.?
?Do you have any??
?For those who do me harm? Nay, Mistress, I do not.?
He glanced about the chamber again before he asked ?Did Lyons have relatives??
Mildred was too sick at heart over his answer to wonder at his query.
?Aye, a brother, I think.?
?There will be naught but a blackened shell left for him,? he said.
?But then there will be naught left for her brother either.?
Her eyes widened at his meaning.
?You me?? to burn the keep, too??
? ?Twas all done for this place, was it not?? She did not understand vengeance
so allencompassing, but it was true that everything Rowena had been forced to do
had been for Kirkburough. Mayhap she could understand after all. She would not
be sorry to see this place burn, and knew that Rowena would not be sorry either,
to have Gilbert thwarted in that way.
?What of the servants you will leave homeless??
He shrugged, as if it were no matter to him, but he said ?I do not burn the
townexcept for the inn,? he added coldly.
?The castlefolk can move to the town, or I will disperse them to my own lands,
which would better their lot from the ragged look of them.?
And then he looked at her more intently, and at her fine woolen bliaut, and
concluded ?You did not make your home here, did you??
?I came here only three days ago, when my lady was brought here.?
?Then you are free to return to your home.?
Back to Gilbert?s keep, which Fulkhurst was like to besiege in the near future?
Or back to her true home at Tures, which he had already taken and Gilbert was
determined to have back? Fine options, both to find her in the midst of war and
destruction. But Mildred would not tell him that. If he did not know who Rowena
was yet, or that her stepbrother was his avowed enemy, she would not be the one
to tell him and thereby add to the vengeance he already sought.
?My home is lost,? was all she finally said.
He frowned at her, and it sent a chill up her spine, for it only made him look
more cruel.
?As I repay those who do me ill, I also repay those who do me a service. You may
make your home at Fulkhurst Castle if you so wish.?
Where he had sent Rowena? Mildred had not expected that, could not credit this
good fortune in the midst of total devastation.
But he saw her pleasure, understood it, and would have none of it.
?Understand me, Mistress,? he added sharply.
?Do you go to Fulkhurst Castle/twill be to serve me and mine, not her. Never
again will you serve her. If you cannot give me your loyalty?
?I can,? Mildred quickly assured him.
?I will, and gladly.?
?Will you?? he shot back skeptically, the doubt clear in those telling silver
eyes.
?That remains to be seen. But mayhap you will give me the name of her brother??
The implications of that name swirled in Mildred?s mind. Gilbert would not
suffer for his knowing, any more than he would have if Fulkhurst ever found him,
for he was already despised. ?Twas only Rowena who would suffer more for his
knowing. He might even change his mind and kill her to have clear honors to her
properties. Yet was he not like to learn Gilbert?s name while he was here? Nay,
the servants knew him only as Lord Gilbert. And she doubted Fulkhurst would
question every single man in the town.
?Why do you hesitate, Mistress?? he demanded.
?Surely you know his name.?
Mildred stiffened her back to meet his full rage.
?Aye, but I will not give it. Though she hates him, he is now the only hope she
has of being rescued from your ?mercy.?
I will not aid her, but I will not aid you against her either. Do you ask that
of me, then I must decline your offer.?
He stared at her for a long moment before he said ?Why do you not fear me??
?I do.?
He grunted.
?You hide it well.?
He didn?t react with rage, then, just with the typical male grouch which told
her he accepted the circumstance, but was not the least satisfied with it. She
found herself smiling at him, and wondering if he was not as cruel as he looked.
Warrick cared not for that smile, but he had no more questions for the woman, so
he dismissed her to gather her things and to send one of his men to collect the
clothes. Beatrix and Melisant could make use of them after the garments had been
altered, for both girls were somewhat taller than the flaxen haired wench. And
he would enjoy having her see her possessions worn by others. Women set great
store by their clothes. Aye, he would enjoy thatand a whole lot more.
He would have to find a suitable reward for Robert Fitzjohn for his quick
thinking in this misadventure. Sir Robert had been left in command of the men
Warrick had brought to escort Isabella to Fulkhurst. Sixteen other of his
household knights had also been in the troop, some older than Robert, yet
Warrick had been impressed with the younger man?s leadership during several
skirmishes this past year and had only just promoted him to captain of the guard.
Twas well done. When he had not met up with his men as expected, Robert had sent
claimed that Warrick had left as soon as the town gates had opened that morn, a
lie that he would know the reason for ere the sun set. But Robert had had no
reason to doubt the tale. Assuming Warrick was no longer in the town, he had
begun a search of the countryside surrounding it. Yet the woods were thick and
dense to the south, and thirty men could not cover much ground as quickly as
Robert would have liked, and also have enough remaining on the road to meet
Isabella when her party arrived.
Robert had then decided to send to the closest of Warrick?s properties for help.
This was Manns keep, held by his vassal, Sir Felix Curbeil, and only a league
and a half west of Kirkburough. In the meantime, Isabella had arrived and been
rightly upset that Warrick had not been there to greet her, that he had, in fact,
disappeared.
As it happened, another of his vassals had been visiting Sir Felix when Robert?s
messenger arrived, and Sir Brian had nigh two hundred men with him. So when
Warrick had found his scattered men still in the area that morn, he had been
told that Sir Felix and Sir Brian would be arriving within hours with their two
small armies, with every intent of tearing Kirkburough apart if he still had not
been found.
Warrick could not have been more surprised, or more delighted. He had thought to
waste days in sending to Fulkhurst for more men, for Felix had already given him
his forty days this year in the siege on two keeps belonging to his newest enemy,
the Lord of Ambray. He would not have taxed Felix further, no matter his
impatience, yet Felix had been glad to come. And Sir Brian simply loved to fight,
the reason he always had a small army of mercenaries on hand. In fact, Warrick
had only just sent Brian home this month to ?see to his own,? for the young lord
had been in Warrick?s service for nigh half a year and had given no signs of
wanting to leave him.
The only thing that had not gone as he would have liked was that Lady Isabella
had not waited, had camped no more than a day, then had departed the next with
her small escort. He could not understand her reasoning in that. And she had
left no message with Robert other than ?I am going on.?
Verily, he did not want to chastise her before they were even wed, but he would
not countenance such foolishness in a wife. He had left Robert in command. She
should have stayed in his care.
But even that could not dampen his success, for the sight of Rowena Lyons
standing in that bailey, alone, had filled him with a savage elation. He had her.
As he had sworn to do, he had her in his power, and she would eternally regret
that that was so.
Warrick left Kirkburough, but not before he had personally set a torch to the
bed that had held him chained and helpless, and not before he had sent another
twenty men to assure that his prisoner did not escape.
Chapter 13
Rowena was in a daze for what remained of that awful day. She had been put on a
horse, her wrists bound, the reins in another?s control, so she did not need to
concentrate on guiding the animal. And she did not take note of where they rode.
Fulkhurst Castle was in the north. She knew that, and she knew she was being
taken there with all speed. How she got there mattered not.
Her escort had begun with five men, though they were all of them knights, so
less likely to be set upon by bands of thieves, if there were thieves in the
area. However, a sixth knight caught up with them on the road with more specific
orders from their lord.
Vaguely, Rowena heard that she was not to be spoken to other than to be given
direction, that she was to receive no special treatment merely because she ?appeared?
to be a lady which engendered much speculationthat she was not to be touched
other than to be assisted on and off her mount, or to be tied thoroughly when
she was not mounted. She did not care. She did not even think about it, still so
shocked was she by what had happened.
They made camp that eve just off the road, and no sooner were the horses
unsaddled and a fire begun than another twenty men arrived from the Lord of
Fulkhurst. And by the look of their animals, they had ridden hard to reach them