And he heartily disliked not knowing.
Nicole backed away far enough to look up at the man but not leave his embrace.
“’Tis good to see you, Darian! Is Emma with you?”
“Nay, little one. Emma is at Camelen, with Gwendolyn. Both of your sisters are most concerned for your welfare. You chose a bad time for an adventure, Nicole, with Gwendolyn so close to her babe’s birth.”
Nicole accepted the scold without rancor. “I did not mean to worry my sisters. ’Tis one of the reasons I have stayed away from Camelen, so not to cause Gwendolyn any hardship. How does she fare?”
“Last I saw, she paced the hall, fretting.”
Rhodri saw Nicole’s heartrending regret even as he figured out the man’s identity. Darian of Bruges, a Flemish mercenary, once a king’s trusted assassin, now Emma’s husband and pledged to serve Gwendolyn’s husband, Alberic.
Damn! He couldn’t slice off the hands that dared hold fast to Nicole’s upper arms. She would be most wroth with him for injuring a man whom she obviously held in affection.
But ’twas certainly time to interrupt, before Darian convinced Nicole that returning to the bosom of her family was her only course.
Rhodri slid the sword beneath his belt and stepped into the small clearing, making enough noise to alert Darian and Nicole to his presence. Both turned to look at him, Nicole misty-eyed, Darian with a cold, evaluating stare.
Nicole finally stepped away from her brother-by-marriage. “Rhodri ap Dafydd, this is Darian of Bruges, my sister Emma’s husband. He means us no harm.”
Rhodri inwardly scoffed. Not physical harm, perhaps, but this was no chance meeting. Darian had come seeking Nicole, likely intending to take her home, which Rhodri couldn’t allow.
And Darian was currently taking Rhodri’s measure, just as he’d taken Darian’s, deciding on the best way to vanquish a foe if necessary.
Nicole was a precious gem coveted by two greedy men, though the reasons for the men’s greed were different.
Nicole stood between them, not more than an arm’s span away from both men, physically showing no preference to either.
Rhodri longed to grab hold of Nicole and push her behind him but didn’t dare. Darian would be on him in a gnat’s breath. The man didn’t carry a sword, but from what Rhodri knew of Darian’s reputation, the mercenary didn’t need a sword to either put up a defense or send a man to his grave.
“You two have caused quite a stir,” Darian commented.
Looking a bit sheepish, Nicole tossed a dismissive hand in the air. “Not all is as it may seem, Darian, or as you may have heard.”
“The messenger sent to Camelen was most thorough when relating the details of your leaving the abbey and your escape from Oxford. So, too, were the two soldiers who drank overmuch in the inn last eve. Since you are not begging
me
to save you from this whoreson, I shall assume my original conjecture correct, that you aided Rhodri’s escape from Oxford, just as you helped him escape the earl’s patrol yester noon.”
Nicole’s mouth twisted with chagrin. “We have tried to maintain the ruse that Rhodri forced me to go with him. If you discerned the truth, then others might, too.”
“But others will not know for certain, as I was not sure, unless they see you together in an unguarded moment.”
While Rhodri gave the man his due for a correct conjecture, he was more concerned with Darian’s revelation. “I gather the inn is on the road ahead. Are the soldiers still there?”
“They were when I left. Last eve, we overheard them planning to begin a search this morn, so I departed the inn well before they were up and about.”
“We?” Nicole asked.
Darian’s smile for Nicole was soft. Sympathetic?
“Alberic is here, too. We decided it best that I come find you and bring you to the inn, so you would have time to prepare to see him.”
Nicole’s expression said she would rather not see Alberic. Why would she need to prepare? Did bad feelings still exist between the two for her childhood attempt to stab him with a dagger, or because Alberic had then sent Nicole away from Camelen to reside at Bledloe Abbey? Perhaps both, but it didn’t matter. If he had his way, they’d not be going to the inn.
Rhodri stepped closer to Nicole, into a better position to push her behind him if he must.
Darian arched an eyebrow, a small sign he understood the shift in stance.
“We cannot risk the inn if the earl’s patrol is there. You can tell Alberic, and Nicole’s sisters, they need not worry over her well-being. I will see her safely to Wales and her uncle Connor.”
Darian crossed his arms. “Aye, well, that is one of the questions for which Alberic would like an answer—for what reason you were at Bledloe Abbey to begin with.”
Rhodri opened his mouth to tell the false tale he’d given everyone else; Darian held up a hand to forestall the explanation.
“No sense explaining twice. Besides, the decision over what to do with Nicole is Alberic’s, not mine.” Darian’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “I
will
take Nicole to Alberic. ’Tis your decision to come with us or no,
alive
or no.”
Rhodri grabbed hold of the sword’s hilt. Nicole placed a hand atop his, her fear and anger so apparent he could almost smell it.
“Cease! Both of you! I will not have you two fighting. Rhodri, pray you, I must see Alberic. He is lord of Camelen and so is now patriarch of my family. He and Darian have come all this way to find me and should be granted the courtesy of an explanation. Once done, we can go on.”
She was doing it again, turning plea-filled eyes on him, determined to have her way, battering at his resolve.
Her respect for Alberic and Darian was commendable and reasonable—but damn—he didn’t want to be reasonable! If they went into that inn, he might not be able to get her back out.
And would that be so bad?
Yes,
his heart shouted.
Perhaps not,
a less selfish part of him contradicted.
Had he only Nicole’s best interests at heart, then allowing her to go home to Camelen with Alberic, giving up the task Connor had set him to, letting her go to possibly never see her again, might be best for her.
Failing Connor didn’t sit well but could be explained. Letting go of Nicole fair twisted his gut, especially when she’d made it clear she wished to see Alberic only before going on to Wales. With him.
But once Alberic had Nicole within his grasp, would the baron allow her out? Going to the inn was sheer folly!
“If you are so anxious to see Alberic, then why does it bother you so much that you must prepare?”
“’Tis not Alberic I must prepare for, but William. My brother’s spirit still wishes me to avenge his death and so rants at me to kill Alberic whenever we are together, which of late has been whenever Alberic brought Gwendolyn to the abbey for a visit. I have no doubt that the moment I set eyes on Alberic, William will know and again order me to do murder.”
Stunned, Rhodri struggled with this new twist. Aye, she’d told him she could hear spirits, had told him of the first time she’d heard William. But she’d also said she must be near where the person either had died or was buried. They were nowhere near either of the places of her brother’s death or burial, so she shouldn’t be able to hear William’s voice.
Except she was so certain that she would, as must be Darian and Alberic to have made allowances for it. Both men must have known of Nicole’s ability to hear spirits, and in particular of William’s ranting, for some time.
Truly, this was madness.
“How is it you are able to hear William’s spirit when we are leagues upon leagues away from the places of his death and burial?”
“I know not. He is the only spirit who can reach me wherever I seem to be. I fear he would be only the stronger if I were home. ’Twas another reason I did not press you harder to take me to Camelen.”
He’d wondered why she’d given in so easily, thinking his powers of persuasion had ruled. Instead, she’d been rather averse to the idea of going home all along, because of William.
Hellfire, if William’s spirit had the power to reach Nicole wherever she might be, the spirit would be stronger and harder to resist at Camelen, the place of William’s burial!
He glanced at Darian, who didn’t seem surprised at any of this and was still willing to take her into Alberic’s presence. Damn cruel, he thought.
“If you do not see Alberic, then you need not deal with William. Best we simply be on our way and let Darian assure your family—”
She placed a finger to his lips, her smile returning. “As I said, I see Alberic once a year, at Easter, when he brings Gwen to the abbey for a visit. I have quieted William before and can do so again. I refuse to avoid any of my family because of a dead brother’s refusal to listen to reason.”
Nicole’s finger slid from his lips to place her palm on his chest, over his heart. “I need to talk to Alberic, Rhodri, if only to assure him that I have come to no harm.”
She was set on this course, and there was no way to prevent it short of besting Darian and forcing Nicole to go with him.
At one time, he’d suffered nary a qualm over kidnapping Nicole. But no longer. Especially after last night.
Calling himself all kinds of a fool, he tore his gaze away from those doe-brown eyes he couldn’t seem to find the willpower to resist. He looked to Darian, who hadn’t said a word since threatening his life.
“What of the earl’s soldiers?”
“Leave them to me.”
Then Darian gave a sharp whistle, and from out of the woods came a splendid, obviously well-trained horse. “Your mount awaits, my lady.”
Which earned Darian another smile and hug from Nicole, leaving Rhodri with his arms empty, his heart aching, and getting a bad feeling about meeting Alberic of Chester, lord of Camelen.
From her high perch atop the horse, Nicole called down to a still-disgruntled Rhodri. “If it eases your mind, Darian must consider you an honorable man, or he would not entrust you with me or his horse.”
Indeed, Darian had surprised her a few moments ago when, after announcing that the inn was less than a league ahead, he’d handed over the reins to Rhodri before sprinting silently into the woods to check on the whereabouts of the earl’s soldiers.
“We should take the horse and ride hard,” Rhodri grumbled, not bothering to look up at her, walking along at a steady pace to a meeting he most certainly did not wish to attend.
“But we will not.”
“If I did not believe Darian would hunt me down and slit my throat for stealing both his sister-by-marriage and his horse, I would give flight consideration.”
Long ago she’d accepted the mercenary her sister married, a man who could coldly, secretly take another man’s life when necessary. Darian was quite capable of disposing of anyone he judged a threat.
Alberic would do the same, only without secrecy. He would simply challenge his enemy and then cut him down.
Such were the men her sisters had married—ruthless when they must be, and yet the most devoted of husbands and loving of fathers.
And she cherished them both.
As she was coming to cherish Rhodri, too.
In some ways he was much like her brothers-by-marriage—a warrior when he must be, yet gentle with innocent children. Would he also be a devoted husband?
He was most certainly an excellent lover.
She bit her bottom lip, well aware this line of thought wasn’t wise, but she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be Rhodri’s wife. To lie with him every night, live in the court of a Welsh prince as the honored mate of a
pencerdd.
Useless musings, to be sure. They might have become lovers, but they would not become mates.
Nicole had never balked at having her husband chosen for her by her father or brother or, after their deaths, by her royal guardian. Rarely were women afforded the luxury of choosing their mates. Truth to tell, neither did men of a certain rank choose their wives. Marriage wasn’t a personal affair, but one of political alliance, or to otherwise benefit the involved families, or as a benevolent overlord’s reward to a favored underling.
She couldn’t marry Rhodri ap Dafydd, but she wished to marry someone like him. Solid and sure. Possessing the power of a warrior and heart of a poet.
Rhodri ap Dafydd was a rare man.
The inn came into view. In the yard, Darian stood near the stables in plain sight—the agreed-upon signal that the earl’s soldiers were gone, or that Darian had ensured the soldiers’ absence.
Rhodri glanced over his shoulder to look up at her. “Are you prepared?”
She smiled down at him. “More ready than you are, I suspect. I can assure you that Alberic is not so much a royalist that he would give you up to the earl.”
“Aye, well, Alberic was enough of a royalist to obey the king’s order to send you to Bledloe Abbey, and you are still Stephen’s ward. Are you not at all concerned that he feels compelled to hand you back into the king’s care?”
As they’d walked along the road this morn, Darian had related the tale of how he and Alberic had come to look for her, and Nicole was glad the reasons were more personal than political. And while she was sorry she’d caused her sisters to worry, she also took their concern as a sign she was loved.
“At the moment, Alberic is more concerned with easing Gwendolyn’s mind over my well-being than aught else.”
“To do that he must take you back to Camelen. What then, Nicole? Into whose care will his king demand he hand you over to next?”
She wanted to say that times were different, that Alberic was no longer so beholden to King Stephen. But she couldn’t truly know Alberic’s mind on the matter. Then she didn’t have time to think at all.
Alberic stepped out of the inn.
Kill him! Kill the whoreson who cut short my life and is the cause of all of your woes!
Her brother’s enraged words hit her like a blow, nearly unseating her. She lurched forward and clung to the horse’s mane.
She’d been prepared to hear the familiar order, and again she must refuse to heed her brother’s demand for revenge.
I will not kill Alberic. Go to your peace, William.