The Taming (20 page)

“It could have nothing to do with your being angry while he was not?”

“Before she came, Rogan was
always
angry. Now he…he
smiles!”

Io could not hide a smile of her own. She did her best to stay out of the Peregrine-Howard feud. The only thing she cared about was Severn. Of course she did not tell him of her love. She had long ago guessed that at the mention of the word
love,
he would flee. And now she knew she was right. He was raging because his brother cared for his wife.

Io wondered how this Liana had made Rogan notice her. It wasn't beauty, because she'd seen divine-looking women make fools of themselves over Rogan yet he'd not glanced at them, and she'd heard this little wife of his was pretty but certainly no beauty. No, it wasn't beauty that attracted the Peregrine men or Severn would be in love with Iolanthe.

As Io looked at Severn, his handsome face colored by his anger, she thought she'd sell her soul to the devil if he'd love her. He made love to her, true, he spent time with her, even asked her advice on problems, but she never deluded herself that he loved her. So she took what he gave her and never let him know she wanted more.

“What is this woman like?” Io asked.

“Meddlesome,” Severn snapped. “Into everyone's business. She wants to run everyone—the knights, the peasants, Rogan, everyone. And she is simpleminded. She believes if she cleans something, it will cure the problem. No doubt she believes that if we bathed with the Howards, we could forgive each other.”

“What does she look like?”

“Ordinary. Plain. I cannot see what Rogan sees in her.”

Neither could Io, but she wanted to find out. “I am coming to supper in the Lord's Chamber tomorrow night,” she announced.

For a moment Severn looked astonished. He knew Io didn't like Rogan, and the castle outside her apartment disgusted her. “Good,” he said at last. “Perhaps you can teach the woman to behave like a woman should. Invite her to spend time with you. Keep her out of the courts and away from the peasants—and away from my brother. Maybe if you can get the woman to mind her own business, things can return to the way they should be.”

Or perhaps she can teach me how a woman should behave, Io thought, but said nothing to Severn.

Liana looked out the window for the thousandth time. Yesterday Rogan had returned from the training field and his good mood was broken. Since they returned from the fair, he'd been so sweet, so much like the man she sensed he could be, but in the evening he'd been sullen and angry. He locked himself in his brooding room, as Zared called it, and wouldn't let her in.

It was late that night when he came to bed beside her, and sleepily she rolled next to him. For a moment she thought he was going to push her away, but then he clutched her to him and without a word made violent love to her. Liana almost complained about his fierceness but some instinct told her to be quiet, that he needed her.

Afterward, he'd held her tightly.

“Tell me what happened,” she whispered.

For a moment she thought he might talk to her but he rolled away, his back to her, and went to sleep. In the morning he got out of bed and left without a word.

So now she was waiting for him to return from the training field for supper. At dinner he'd eaten with his men, leaving Liana alone with her ladies and Zared. It had been a lonely meal.

Liana dressed carefully to go downstairs. It never hurt to look your best when you were with a man.

When she entered the Lord's Chamber, the air was heavy with silence. Zared, Severn, and Rogan were already seated and eating, none of them speaking. Liana had already guessed that Rogan's anger had something to do with his brother, but she had no idea what had caused it. She could have asked Zared, but she wanted Rogan to tell her what had happened.

She seated herself to Rogan's left and began to eat after she was served. She searched for some topic of conversation. “Did Baudoin arrive today?” she asked.

It didn't seem possible, but the silence increased. When the two older men said nothing, she looked at Zared.

“Not a bad fighter,” Zared said. “But then our father always bred good men.”

“He's not our brother,” Severn snapped.

Zared's eyes flashed. “He's as much my brother as you are.”

“I'll teach you who's a Peregrine and who isn't,” Severn said.

All three of them were on their feet at once, Severn going for Zared's throat, Rogan going for Severn.

This scene was halted in mid-action by the arrival of a woman. Liana looked under the arch that was formed by Severn's hands around Zared's throat, and her eyes opened wide in astonishment. Standing in the doorway was the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. No, not just beautiful: perfect, flawless, a standard of beauty for all time. She was swathed in cloth of gold so that she was radiant, like a pillar of sunshine on a dark night.

“I see that nothing has changed,” said the woman. Her voice was cool and arresting and at once made everyone feel calmer. She walked forward, as gracefully as an angel, floating, yards of fur-trimmed cloth trailing behind her. “Severn,” she said, and looked at him as a mother might look at a disobedient child.

Severn immediately dropped his hands and looked a bit sheepish. Then, obediently, he pulled out a chair for her. When she was seated, she looked up at the three Peregrines who were still standing. “You may sit,” she said, as a queen might give an order.

Liana couldn't take her eyes off the woman. She was what every woman hoped to look like. She was so lovely, so elegant, so graceful—and best of all, she had men jumping to do her bidding.

“Io, you have honored us,” Rogan said. “Why?”

There was no mistaking the hostility in Rogan's voice, and when Liana looked at him, she saw what was almost a sneer on his lips. That sneer pleased her very much.

“I came to meet your wife,” the woman said.

Liana almost asked, Me? but she caught herself. Then she drew her breath in sharply. If Rogan forgot her name again in front of this beautiful woman, she just might fall dead on the spot.

“Liane, Iolanthe,” Rogan said, and went back to eating.

Close enough, Liana thought and wondered if the blacksmith could make a brand of her name and sear it on Rogan's forearm, where he could see it when he forgot.

“Hello,” Liana said. What was she to say to this woman? “Did you buy your dress fabric in London?”

“France. My husband is French.”

“Oh.” She gave the woman a weak smile.

The meal went downhill after that. Rogan didn't speak; Severn didn't speak. Zared seemed as intimidated by the woman as Liana felt. Only Iolanthe seemed comfortable. Three of her own women stood behind her and served her food on gold plates. She didn't say anything but watched the others with curiosity—especially Liana, who grew so nervous she couldn't eat her soup.

At long last, Iolanthe rose to leave and Liana felt her shoulders relax in relief. “She is very beautiful,” she said to Severn.

Severn, nose in his soup bowl, merely grunted.

“Isn't her husband a little concerned about her living here with you?”

Severn turned eyes of hatred on her. “You may interfere in other people's business, but not in mine. Io is
my
business, not yours.”

Liana was stunned by his animosity. She looked at Rogan, half expecting him to leap at his brother. But Rogan didn't seem to have heard.

“I meant no insult to you,” Liana said, “nor do I mean to interfere. I just thought—”

“Didn't mean to interfere!” Severn mocked. “That's all you've done since you arrived. You've changed everything: the castle, the grounds, the men, the peasants, my brother. Let me tell you, woman, you keep your nose out of my business and you leave Iolanthe alone. I don't want her corrupted.”

Liana leaned back in her chair, astounded at this attack. Again she looked at Rogan. Why wasn't he defending her? He was looking at her with interest and she suddenly realized that she was being tested by him. She may be only a Peregrine by marriage, but she had to prove herself to be a Peregrine.

“All right,” she said calmly to Severn. “You may have everything you had before I came.” She stood and went to the fireplace, where there were cold ashes from that morning, picked up the big scoop nearby, and filled it with ashes. She walked across the room to Severn, with all eyes on her, then dumped the ashes on his food and clothes. “There,” she said. “Now you are filthy and so is your food. From now on I will see that you have what you've always had.”

Severn, soot on his chin and clothes, stood up, enraged. His hands made claws as he went for her throat.

Liana paled and stepped backward.

Severn never reached her because Rogan, while never looking up from gnawing on a beef joint, stuck his foot out and tripped his brother, sending Severn sprawling.

When Severn caught his breath, he bellowed, “You better do something about that woman.”

Rogan ran his sleeve across his mouth. “She looks like she can take care of herself.”

Liana had never felt so proud of herself in her life. She'd passed!

“But I wouldn't like it if you laid a hand on her,” Rogan continued.

Severn stood, slapping soot from his clothes, which had been clean a few minutes before (Liana had directed the maids to wash his garments). He glared at Liana again. “Stay away from Io,” he muttered, then left the room.

Liana felt jubilant. These Peregrines had their own rules of conduct, but she was beginning to understand them. Best of all, Rogan
had
defended her. Not from hateful words, but when his brother might have physically harmed her, he had stepped in.

Smiling—not only visibly, but also deep inside herself—she sat back down at the table. “More peas, Zared?” she asked.

“Clean
peas?” Zared asked in mock fright. “The way
I
like my peas? Clean, the way I like my clothes and room and the peasants and the men
and
my brother?”

Liana laughed and looked at her husband, and the dear lovely man
winked
at her.

Later that night, Rogan held her in his arms and kissed her and made sweet love to her. Whatever had been bothering him seemed to have solved itself.

Afterward, he didn't turn away but held her close to him and Liana heard his soft, slow breathing as he fell asleep.

“Iolanthe isn't the Lady,” she said sleepily.

“What lady?” he murmured.

“The Lady who lives above the solar, who told me about Jeanne Howard. She's not Iolanthe, so who is she?”

“No one lives above the solar, not until you came.”

“But—” Liana said.

“Stop talking and go to sleep or I'll let Severn have you.”

“Oh?” she replied, faking interest. “He's awfully good-looking. Maybe—”

“I'll tell Iolanthe you said that.”

“I'm asleep,” Liana answered quickly. She'd rather face Severn than the frightening Iolanthe.

As she drifted into sleep, she wondered again who the Lady was.

T
he next morning, Gaby and her children arrived at the castle and at last Liana had someone to talk to. And best of all, Gaby told Liana of the disagreement Rogan and Severn had had over Baudoin.

“But my husband defended me?” Liana said softly.

“Oh yes, my lady. He told Lord Severn to keep his mouth shut, and Lord Severn has done everything he can to make my Baudoin quit and return to the village. But my Baudoin will
never
quit.”

“No,” Liana said with resignation. “Peregrines don't ever seem to quit or back down or even relent.”

“That's not so, my lady,” Gaby said. “Lord Rogan has changed since you arrived. Yesterday you walked across the bridge and Lord Rogan stopped yelling at one of his knights and watched you.”

“Did he?” Those were sweet words to Liana. “And he does defend me to his brother?”

“Oh yes, my lady.”

Liana couldn't seem to get enough from Gaby. At times it seemed she'd had no influence on Rogan, that he was the same man who couldn't remember her name. But he remembered it now. Just this morning he had held her in his arms and kissed her and whispered her name in her ear.

 

Three weeks after Baudoin and Gaby's arrival, Rogan and Severn were still at such odds that they were barely speaking. Liana tried to get Rogan to talk to her about his anger, but he would not. Yet in bed he clung to her. Sometimes she felt as if he wanted her to make up for all the softness he'd lacked as a child.

In the evenings after supper, sometimes he came to the solar with her and sat sprawled on a cushioned chair and listened to one of her ladies play a lute and sing. She'd started to teach him to play chess, and when he realized it was a game of strategy, rather like war, he quickly became quite good. Zared began to join them, and Liana was pleased to see the young man sitting cross-legged on the floor holding a skein of yarn for one of the women to wind. One evening Rogan had been lounging on the window seat, Zared seated on the floor nearby, and Liana had seen Rogan reach out his hand and caress Zared's head. The boy had smiled up at Rogan with a look of such love and trust and adoration that Liana felt her knees weaken.

With each day Liana felt her love for her husband grow deeper and stronger. She had sensed from the beginning that there was more to him than what people saw, that there was a softer side.

Not that the softer side was easy to see. They'd had a couple of arguments that nearly brought the roof down on their heads. Rogan refused to believe Liana was good for anything but bed pleasure and providing him with food and drink. And no matter how many times she showed him otherwise, he never even remembered, much less learned anything from what she'd done.

Even though she'd passed his test and he even joked with her about it, in the end she had to fight him to allow her to help judge the local disputes. She pointed out how she had delivered the thieves to him, but it made no difference. He had decided she couldn't judge the cases, and no amount of reason or logic was going to dissuade him.

She finally broke down in tears. Rogan was not a man who fell apart at the sight of a woman's tears, but what he hated was her lack of smiles. He seemed to think it was her duty to always be happy and cheerful. After a day and a half of Liana's misery, he relented and said she could sit beside him in the court cases. She had thrown her arms about his neck and kissed him—and then she'd tickled his ribs.

Severn had walked into the Lord's Chamber and seen the two of them rolling about on the floor, Liana's headdress knocked off, her hair cascading about her as she tickled his big brother into helpless laughter. Severn's rage had sobered them immediately.

Severn, Liana thought. She was still amazed that her brother-in-law could cause her so much unhappiness. When she'd first arrived, he'd seemed to be on her side, but as Rogan had changed, so had Severn. Now, it was almost as if he hated her, and he did everything he could to turn Rogan against her. Not that Rogan even mentioned what was going on to Liana. No, she had to rely on Gaby for that information. On the training field Severn taunted his brother, ridiculed him for being led by a woman.

The more Liana heard about what Severn was doing, the more comfort she tried to provide Rogan. In the evenings she sometimes saw how torn he was, as if he warred inside himself whether he should give in to the pleasures of her solar or stay alone in his brooding chamber.

His brooding chamber caused their second big fight. After he'd spent two nights alone in there, Liana went inside. She didn't knock or ask permission for entry, she just walked in, her heart pounding in her ears. He'd yelled at her. He'd blustered and fumed, but there was something in his eyes that told her he didn't actually mind her invasion.

“What are those?” she'd asked, pointing to the stack of papers on the table.

He'd argued some more, but at last he'd shown her his sketches. Liana didn't know much about war machines, but she knew something about farm machinery and this wasn't all that different. She'd made a few suggestions and they had been good ones.

It had been a lovely evening, just the two of them together in that little room, bent over the papers. Several times Rogan had said, “Like this?” or, “Is this better?” or, “Yes, I think that might work.”

As he often did, Severn had ruined the evening. He'd pushed open the half-open door, then stood gaping at the two of them. “I heard she was in here,” he'd said softly, “but I didn't believe it. This room was sacred to our brother Rowland and to our father. But now
you
let a woman in here. And for what?” He nodded toward the sketches on the table. “To tell you how to build war machines? Is there nothing of the man left in you?”

Liana was pleased to see that when Severn stomped away, he was scratching his arm furiously. She knew that once again lice were infesting his clothes and she hoped they ate him alive. She turned to her husband. “Rogan…” she began.

But he was already on his feet. He left her alone in the room and as far as she knew, he had not visited the room since.

Her heart went out to Rogan as she saw him fight within himself. Part of him wanted the softness and tenderness she offered, but part of him wanted to please his angry brother. He trained and worked many hours during the day, trying to be the leader of the Peregrines, to prove to his men and especially to his brother that he was still worthy of his position as their master. And in the evening he never fully relaxed during the pleasures Liana offered.

She tried her best to keep her rage at Severn under control, but it was difficult. She wrote a letter to her stepmother, asking Helen if she knew of any young heiresses Severn might marry. If she could find a wife for Severn, perhaps he'd leave Rogan to her.

It was the third fight that turned the tables and made Rogan side with Severn against her.

Liana was boiling with rage when she stormed down the stairs into the Lord's Chamber. Severn and Rogan were sitting at the table, calmly eating breakfast but not speaking to each other.

Liana was so angry she could hardly speak. “Your…your brother was in bed with three women this morning,” she spat at Rogan.

Rogan looked at Severn in wonder. “Three? The most I've ever had was four. I was worn out the next day.”

“When was that?” Severn asked, as if Liana weren't there.

“A year ago at the tournament at—”

“Not
him!”
Liana shouted. “Zared! Your little brother, that
child,
spent the night with
three
women.”

The two men just stared at her stupidly. She doubted if they had any idea what was wrong with Zared's being in bed with three women. “I won't have it,” she said. “Rogan, you have to stop this.”

To further increase her fury, Rogan's eyes began to twinkle. “Yes, I will have to do something.”

She advanced on him. “Don't patronize me. That boy looks up to you. He idolizes you. He thinks the sun rises and sets on you and I'm sure he's merely imitating you.”

Severn grinned and slapped Rogan's shoulder. “Just imitating his big brother,” he said, laughing.

Liana turned on Severn, her anger at him coming to the surface. “At least Rogan is making an effort. But you! You, with a married mistress living in the same house as that innocent child.”

Severn was on his feet and glowering down at her. “My life is none of your business,” he shouted at her. “And Zared is—”

Rogan stood, cutting his brother off. “We will take care of Zared.”

“As you take care of everything else—including your wife?” Severn sneered, then slammed from the room.

Rogan watched his brother go, then sat down heavily in his chair. Severn's words had upset him.

“That man needs a wife,” Liana said.

“A wife?” Rogan said. “Iolanthe would tear the woman's eyes out.”

He looked so dejected sitting there that she wanted to say something to amuse him. “We'll have to find a woman strong enough to handle Severn and Iolanthe.”

“There is no such woman.”

She caressed his forehead. “No? I have handled you, and you are stronger than twenty Severns and Iolanthes.” She meant her words as a jest, but Rogan didn't seem to take them as such. He looked up at her with eyes glittering with anger.

“No woman controls me,” he said under his breath.

“I didn't mean—” she began, but he stood, his expression still angry.

“No woman controls me or my family. Go back to your sewing, woman, where you belong.” He left her alone in the room.

He left her alone all that day, that evening, and that night. She was frantic with worry and she was sure he'd gone to another woman. “I will kill her so slowly she will pray for death,” Liana seethed as she paced their chamber.

At midnight she went to Gaby, woke her from Baudoin's arms, and had Gaby find out where Rogan was. It didn't take Gaby long to return and tell Liana that Rogan was getting drunk in the Great Hall with half a dozen of his men.

Somehow the news made Liana feel very good. He was as upset about their argument as she was. No more was he the man who ignored her, who couldn't pick her out from a group of women.

When at last she went to bed, if she didn't sleep soundly, she did sleep.

She was awakened before dawn by the unmistakable sound of steel on steel. “Rogan,” she said, her heart tight with fear. She threw a robe over her nakedness and began to run.

 

The Howards had tried to sneak into the Peregrine castle before dawn. They tossed great hooks over the parapets and started climbing up the ropes.

It had been so many months since the Howards had attacked, and the Peregrines had been so involved in their own internal squabbles, that there had been a feeling of safety. Watchfulness had lulled; senses were no longer as alert.

Twelve of the twenty Howard attackers were over the wall before the sleepy guards on the parapets heard them. Two Peregrine knights died without ever waking up.

Rogan, in the Great Hall, lying on the floor in a drunken stupor, had difficulty rousing himself. Severn was there before he was fully aware of what was happening.

“You sicken me,” Severn said, then tossed his brother a sword and ran out of the room.

Rogan made up for lost time. If his head did not clear instantly, his body remembered its long training. He kicked his men awake and within seconds he was in the courtyard fighting beside Severn and Baudoin.

It didn't take long to kill the Howard attackers, and as Severn meant to slay the last one, Rogan stopped him.

“Why?” he demanded of the man. “What does Oliver Howard want?”

“The woman,” the Howard man said. “We were to take her and hold her.” The man knew he was going to die. He gave Rogan an insolent look. “He said his younger brother needs a wife and the Peregrine brides make excellent Howard wives.”

Rogan killed the man. He thrust his knife into the man's heart and twisted and kept twisting until Severn pulled him away.

“He's dead,” Severn said. “They're all dead. As well as four of our men.”

Fear was coursing through Rogan's body. If Severn had not been here…if he'd been a little drunker…if his men hadn't heard…They could have had Liana by now. “I want this place searched,” he said. “I want every granary, every garderobe, every chest searched. I want to make sure no Howards are here. Go!” he shouted at the men standing near him.

“At last you care about the Howards,” Severn said. “But only because of
her.
You have placed all our lives in danger—me, Zared, yourself. You risk what little property we have left because of her. Is it nothing to you that tonight four of your men were killed and a dozen others wounded while you were in a drunken stupor? And why? Because of a quarrel with that woman? You have killed two brothers over a wife. Will it take the deaths of the rest of the Peregrines to satisfy you?”