True Love, page 24
Suddenly and silently, as if in answer to her wish, he was there. She heard the door open and close, heard the latch click shut, and she knew who it was by the racing of her heart. She did not have to look away from the sky and the star to recognize his step.
“You really should knock before you enter a lady's room,” she said.
“Should I?” One big hand fastened on the stone beside her head. Braedon's other hand gripped the windowsill and Catherine was caught, caged within the spread of his arms, with the solid wall of his chest at her back. His breath stirred a few tendrils of loose hair that had torn free from her braids to lie against her neck.
“Have your women left you all alone?” he asked.
“Aldis is walking on the battlements with Robert,” she said.
“Robert has too little work to do. I must think of more chores for him.” Braedon's lips touched the nape of her neck and Catherine shivered. “Where is Gwendolyn?”
“Ah, now I know the real reason why you are here,” she said. “You came in hope of seeing Gwendolyn.”
“Promise me she isn’t lurking in the corridor outside, or on the stairs,” he murmured, his breath warm in her ear. He caught her earlobe in his teeth and bit gently.
“She ought to be well occupied in the kitchen.” Catherine uttered a soft gasp when Braedon's tongue traced a moist path from her ear to the base of her throat.
“Let us hope the charming wench stays in the kitchen.” His words were slightly muffled against her skin.
“Do you care so much about Gwendolyn?” Catherine let her head fall back to rest on Braedon's shoulder while he kissed her throat.
“Gwendolyn is honest, and loyal, and much, much too clever,” Braedon whispered, continuing to kiss Catherine's throat and shoulders in the pauses between phrases. “Almost as clever as her mistress. But not quite. And certainly not as beautiful.”
“Why are we talking about Gwendolyn?”
“Because if I don't think about someone other than you, my thoughts will be filled with you. I won't be able to think of anyone but you. I will forget the reason why I came to Wortham and within a moment or two, I will lay you on your bed and we both know what will happen then.”
“Perhaps that is exactly what I want to happen.” She turned to face him. Braedon was standing so close to her that her breasts were pressed against his chest. He did not put his arms around her, but kept his hands firmly fixed on the stone window frame.
“My desire for you clouds my judgment,” he said. “Each time I'm with you, it becomes more difficult for me to leave. I should not be here now. I ought to be with Royce and Cadwallon, discussing what we are going to do next. But I cannot stay away from you.”
Catherine lifted her face. Braedon bowed his head until his mouth was barely a breath away from hers. She was aware of his hesitation, as if he was fighting what they both desired. She heard him make a sound deep in his throat.
His arms swept around her at last, lifting her up, holding her so close that she struggled to breathe, and his mouth met hers with a fierce hardness. At once her hands were weaving through his hair, while her lips opened eagerly to his prodding tongue.
Still holding her against the length of his body, Braedon started for the bed. They fell upon it together, still locked in the same long embrace. When the kiss finally ended they began to undress each other slowly. Braedon caressed every inch of Catherine's body as it was revealed. She ran her hands along his shoulders and arms, pausing when she reached the bandages on each of his upper arms.
“Eustace could have killed you by treachery,” she said, “but never in a fair fight, Sir l'Inconnu.” She looked into his eyes, smiling. “I knew during the fight that it was you meeting him. And I knew why you were pretending to be the unknown knight. Braedon, I am so proud of you. I think your cousin Linette would be proud, too.”
“I want to think so.” He drew back a little to look down at her. “It was your warning cry that saved me when Eustace would have run me through from behind, like the coward he is. I owe you my life, Catherine.”
“As I owe mine to you, for you saved me twice from Achard.” She touched his lips, thinking of the valiant acts she had seen him perform during the day just ended, and of the quiet hour beside a woodland stream, when she had observed the man he was while in the relaxed company of his friends. Her heart was so full that she could not speak, she could only give herself to him in unquestioning love.
They came together slowly, tenderly, with many lingering kisses and soft sighs, and when Braedon had made her his completely he led her to a climax so intense, so all-encompassing, that Catherine felt as if their very souls were joined as one.
He stayed with her until dawn, and between sweet bouts of love play he revealed much about the plan he and her father had devised to entrap Achard's associates. He even named a few names.
“I know some of those men,” Catherine said. “Surely, not all of them are traitors.”
“Some are misguided, some merely ambitious,” Braedon responded. “King Henry will deal fairly with all of them, including Achard. Royce and I will have to take our prisoners to court, to appear before the king.”
The guests began departing the next morning and the last of them were gone from Wortham shortly after dawn on Thursday. The only exceptions were Cadwallon, the three prisoners hidden away in the dungeon – and Lady Edith, of course. Lady Edith hung on Royce's every word, clung to his arm, rarely left his side, and generally set Catherine's teeth on edge.
“I have seldom seen such devotion,” Cadwallon said, teasing Catherine.
“If it is devotion,” she responded. “I find it difficult to believe that my sensible father could be enamored of so empty-headed a woman.”
“At the risk of sounding crude,” Cadwallon said, “it's not what's inside a woman's head that interests most men; it's the size of her dowry, which in Lady Edith's case is not very large. But perhaps Royce doesn't care about her dowry, for there is also the matter of a woman's personal appearance. You must admit that Lady Edith is pretty. In spite of her silliness, she seems to be good-natured. And Royce is of an age to find a much younger woman attractive. I begin to wonder if you ought to seriously consider the possibility that you may soon gain a stepmother who is almost of an age with you,” Cadwallon ended, looking thoughtful.
“I will not believe it until my father tells me it is so.” Catherine's voice was so crisp that Cadwallon raised his eyebrows and grinned at her.
Catherine told herself she wasn't jealous of Lady Edith. She knew beyond any doubt that her father loved her, and she knew he had loved her mother. If he could find happiness in his declining years, she would not stand in his way. She just wished she could like Lady Edith. Most of all she wished Braedon were available for her to discuss the situation with. But Braedon was keeping out of sight for the time being. She would have to wait until nightfall to talk to him.
During Thursday afternoon, just as quiet descended on the castle after all the bustle of departing guests was over, Royce announced that he was going to court. Immediately. Without delay. In fact, he planned to leave at dawn on Friday.
“Lady Edith will accompany me,” he said, smiling fondly at the petite woman who looked inordinately pleased with herself while batting her eyelashes at him. “Catherine, I leave Wortham in your hands until I return. Sir Cadwallon, will you go with me, or are you bound for home?”
“I must go home, my lord. If I delay much longer, my wife will most likely dump vats of boiling oil over me as I enter the gates of my manor house. I will leave Wortham at the same time that you do, and ride in the opposite direction.”
Later, in the privacy of the lord's chamber, Royce explained more of his plans to Catherine, Braedon, and Cadwallon. Catherine was surprised that she was included, though she soon discovered why she was there.
“We won't have to ride all the way to London,” Royce told them. “I can take advantage of King Henry's announced intention to march into Wales as soon as the Whitsuntide court at Westminster has ended. He's eager to meet with the Welsh princes in hope of making peace with them, so he isn't likely to delay starting the journey.”
“Even so,” Cadwallon interrupted Royce, “Henry is sure to take Queen Adelicia with him, and that will mean her ladies will go along, and all of the usual courtiers and secretaries and the other attendants and hangers-on who follow in the king's wake. They will surely slow his progress.”
“Just so,” Royce responded. “I am counting on the royal party moving slowly, and on the confusion that always accompanies Henry's travels, which will give me the opportunity to arrange matters as I want. Henry plans to stop at Gloucester Abbey for a few days before he continues on into Wales. We will meet him there.”
“I know the place,” Braedon put in. “It's a wise choice. Prisoners can be housed securely, and it should be easy to speak in private with the king.”
“Thank you for your approval.” Royce sent a cold look in Braedon's direction. He was not exerting himself to display any semblance of amity toward the younger man, though Braedon was unfailingly polite to him.
“Catherine,” Royce said, turning to her, “this is what I want you to do.”
He gave her his orders in brief, cool sentences that left Catherine wishing they could return to their old, affectionate ease with each other. She was beginning to think it would never happen, for she had learned too much about Royce's secret activities, and about the way he sometimes used people to fulfill his schemes. Furthermore, she was absolutely certain there remained a large portion of her father's plans for his meeting with the king that he had not revealed to her. Thus, she was not at all surprised when Royce sent her away so he and Braedon and Cadwallon could speak together in complete privacy.
What did surprise her was Braedon's absence from her bed that night. She told herself he was most likely busy with her father.
Royce and Lady Edith did set out the next day as he wanted, though not at dawn. There was considerable confusion over Lady Edith's baggage, her horses, and her maidservants, who were to travel in a cart with all of the lady's boxes and baskets. Then there was a minor crisis about the location of her jewel casket. It was well after midday before the last of their troop crossed the drawbridge.
“How patient Lord Royce is with that silly woman,” Aldis said as she and Catherine returned to the great hall after waving farewell to the travelers. “Left to himself, I am sure he'd have been gone at first light, for he hates delay. He must care deeply for her.”
“Perhaps.” Catherine shrugged off the lingering image of Lady Edith riding beside Royce at the head of their long procession. She had more important matters on her mind. “Aldis, I have something to tell you. I am going to court, too, and you may go with me if you wish.”
“I am not sure you ought to do that,” Aldis protested. “Your father will be annoyed.”
“He knows,” Catherine told her. “I will be acting on his orders, and I am to escort the prisoners.” She did enjoy the look of astonishment on Aldis' face.
“What prisoners?” Aldis cried.
“The ones in the dungeon, where Achard held me for a few hours until Braedon rescued me,” Catherine said.
“You? Held in the dungeon? Catherine, you are teasing me.”
“Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you that we are expecting more guests. Sir Cadwallon will be returning later today with his friend Sir Desmond, and both of them are going to court with us. Braedon is already here, lodged in his old room. He and Robert will travel with us. And Gwendolyn, too.”
“I think you had better tell me everything, and do it at once,” Aldis said, sinking onto a nearby bench. “Obviously, I have been blind to a great deal.”
“Well, you have been somewhat preoccupied with Robert.” Catherine couldn't resist carrying on her teasing just a bit longer. After she seated herself next to Aldis, she continued more soberly. “I will tell you as much as I think Father would allow me to say if he were here. There are large parts of the scheme that I remain ignorant of, because the men haven't informed me of every detail. I do expect to learn more when Father and Braedon reveal the whole story to King Henry. Father wants me there to bear informal witness to recent events and I would like you to be present, too.”
Though she did not mention it to Aldis, Catherine had devised a secret plan of her own. She was going to ask for a reward for helping her father and Braedon. She deserved some recompense for having been seized by Achard on two occasions, almost raped by him, and later locked in a dungeon cell. More than that, she wanted something good to come out of her hopeless love for Braedon. She knew her father would never allow her to marry a landless, baseborn man like Braedon, but Catherine did not think Royce would object to Aldis marrying Robert. The only obstacle was that because of his poverty Robert was still a squire and was likely to remain one unless he received some assistance.
When they were all gathered before the king, Catherine intended to ask Royce to give Robert the acoutrements he needed to become a knight, and to take Robert into the household at Wortham. If Catherine could not have the man she wanted, at least Aldis could be happy. Braedon could easily find another squire, but Aldis, at twenty-two years of age, and with no dowry except what Royce was willing to provide for her, was not likely to find another love.
Nor did Catherine deny the small voice in her heart that reminded her of Robert's close friendship with Braedon. If Robert was at Wortham, Braedon might return to see him, and so long as Braedon was able to visit Wortham, he and Catherine could meet occasionally. Perhaps, all was not entirely lost....
Chapter 17
With Royce and Lady Edith gone, Wortham Castle became a quieter place. As they had done many times in the past during Royce's absences, Captain William saw to the defenses while Catherine managed all domestic matters. The difference this time lay with the three noblemen who were being held in the dungeon, and with the presence of the three knights charged with conducting them to the king. Braedon, Cadwallon, and Desmond each took turns on duty in the anteroom outside the dungeon, keeping company with the men-at-arms sent there by Captain William.
“It's necessary,” Braedon said to Catherine as they sat with Captain William in the great hall late on the day of Royce's departure. “All three of our prisoners are likely to be sentenced to death after King Henry hears the story we have to tell. And all of them know it. If I were in such straits I'd have no hesitation about attempting an escape. Better by far to be killed fighting to get free, than face a traitor's death.”
“Which raises the question of how they are to be transported to Gloucester,” Captain William said. “I cannot help but worry about Phelan's men whom Royce has sent back to Sutton. He felt that Phelan is so disagreeable a master that those fellows must hold little loyalty to him and would be glad to leave their lord behind. That's probably true of most of them, but there's a handful in that crowd who I fear would sell their own souls in hope of some reward from Phelan. Those are the men who may try to rescue Phelan and Eustace, once they are outside the walls of Wortham.”
“I agree,” Braedon responded. “I argued with Royce about keeping the men from Sutton here until after we've had time to reach Gloucester, but Royce claimed he saw little danger. He believed Phelan's people would all head for Sutton and remain there in hope of saving their own skins if Phelan is declared a traitor.”
“This past winter, when I was at Sutton for the wedding of Phelan's daughter,” Catherine said, “I had a chance to observe that household. Most of Phelan's men looked to me to be little better than brigands. It’s possible they will think their chances are stronger if they turn outlaw, rather than returning to Sutton Castle. They might decide to rescue Phelan as a way to thumb their noses at my father. I told my father as much, but he shrugged off my concerns. I could tell there was something else on his mind.”
“I voiced much the same concern,” Braedon said, his eyes on Catherine, “But Royce was in no mood to listen to anything I had to say. It seemed to me, too, that his thoughts were distracted by other matters. I have the impression that whatever is troubling him goes far beyond the work we have been doing here at Wortham.”
“I expect Royce is planning to kill you as soon as King Henry declares your present mission completed,” Captain William said pleasantly.
“I expect the same thing,” Braedon responded quietly.
“You are in the wrong, you know,” Captain William said to Braedon. “You overstepped your place.”
He was carefully not looking at Catherine, which was just as well, because her face was flaming. She did not blame Captain William for what he said. Since he was in charge of castle security it was natural for Royce to warn him about Braedon's attachment to Catherine. She did understand why the men were so calm about her father's intentions toward Braedon. It was a matter of knightly honor. Their loyalties to their king came first, and not until their present duties were fulfilled would they be free to indulge in personal feuds.
While Catherine understood male thinking on the subject of Braedon making love to her, she could not agree with the male reaction. The possibility of her lover and her father killing each other was too dreadful to contemplate. She wanted the two men she loved best in the world to be reconciled, not spilling each others' blood.
“If you will excuse me, my lady.” Braedon was on his feet, bowing to her with unaccustomed formality. “It is time for me to relieve Cadwallon. He has been guarding the dungeon since midday.”
“Are you designated to stand guard all night?” Catherine asked, her hope for a few quiet hours alone with Braedon vanishing like smoke in a chill wind.
