Demoralizedcould hardly encompass what she was feeling at the moment.
She felt as if she was facing death—hers.
“You do not sound as if you oppose this,” she said, turning away from him. “Can you honestly tell me that you want a wife like me? Have you taken a good look at me?”
Curtis looked her over. “I’ve taken a goodsmellof you,” he said, referring to that horrific mildew smell that was coming off her. “Do you always smell like that?”
She flared. “Not usually, but someone tried to drown me today.”
“And someone tried to throw me over the wall today.”
She was glaring at him as he tried desperately not to laugh. There was something about her in a rage that seemed humorous to him, like a wet hen. She was fluffed up and riled up and ready to peck him to death.
That thought had him biting his lip.
“If I had been successful, then we would not be having this conversation,” she said. “Unfortunately, I was not successful.”
He did smile then. “Your misfortune is my gain,” he said. “I do not really think you wanted to kill me, did you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Give me a dagger and we shall find out.”
That brought soft laughter from him. “Do you ever stop fighting, my lady?”
“I am not your lady. My name is Elle.”
She certainly wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. He merely lifted his eyebrows. “You are a noble-born woman, the daughter of a king,” he said. “You are a lady. In fact, you are a princess, and I will address you accordingly whether or not you like it.”
She scowled at him, preparing to retort but thinking better of it. For any statement she had, he seemed to have a better answer. Now, he was forcing her to rethink everything she wanted to say.
“You didn’t answer me,” he said after a moment. “Do you ever stop fighting?”
She averted her gaze. The cot was behind her, and she sat on it, heavily. “Against the English?” she said, incredulous. “If you must know, I’ve never been given a reason to.”
He suspected that might be the most honest thing she’d ever said to him, and he folded his big arms across his chest. “Are you telling me that you have never known a moment’s peace?”
She looked away, becoming uninterested in the conversation because she was exhausted and defeated, two unusual sensations in her world. Here he was, asking questions she didn’t want to answer after she’d already bared her soul to his father. That hadn’t gone particularly in her favor. She’d hoped to gain the man’s sympathy, but he took advantage of it. Therefore, Curtis’ questions were beginning to annoy her.
“What more do you want to know about me?” she said, irritation in her tone. “Do you want to know that I was a daughter born to a man who only wanted sons? To a mother who hated her Welsh husband and her Welsh children? She left after my brother was born, and we’ve not seen her since. I was raised by a grandmother who died when I was young, and after that, I simply fended for myself and learned how to fight from the Welsh warriors who took pity on me. My brother, though he was a year younger than I, was trained by the best. My father saw to that. But me… I was ignored. When my father died, Gruffydd and I took our place with my father’s men who were regent for my brother. I watched Gruffydd rise to succeed my father asBrenin Powyswhile I fought in his armies to preserve Welsh rule on Welsh lands.”
Curtis learned a great deal in that angry diatribe.Brenin Powys.That meant king in her language, and he could hear the bitterness in her voice as she spoke. She was a woman who had fought her way to the top and struggled to stay there, the older sister to her father’s successor.
“But your father was a supporter of the English king,” he said after a moment. “I do not recall Powys being particularly turbulent because of it.”
She smiled, without humor. “Not with the English,” she said. “But, as has been pointed out to me, the Welsh fight each other quite frequently. There is little peace between different Welsh princes, my father included. He supported King John, and that made him an enemy in his own country.”
“And you were put in the position of defending yourself?”
She looked at him, her eyes unnaturally bright within her oval face. “Nay,” she said. “I agreed with my father’s enemies.”
His brow furrowed. “Then you foughtagainstyour father?”
She averted her gaze quickly. “I did what I had to do in order to save my people,” she said. “Even if that meant undermining my father and my brother.”
“Then family means nothing to you.”
“Two men who have never done much for me do not have my loyalty,” she said. “If that is what family means, then nay, it means nothing to me.”
Before Curtis could reply, the tent flap snapped back and men were entering. He turned to see Roi and Alexander with a man between them. It was the same man that Curtis had seen with Roi in the bailey, barely able to walk. Clearly, he was a prisoner. As Christopher entered the tent behind them, the prisoner caught sight of Elle. Unexpectedly, he reacted.
