Alice’s smile faded. “Then Hawkstone has surrendered?”
Hallam shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Caspian de Thorington is still in the keep, so we do not have control of that yet, but the rest of the castle is ours. That is why I have come, my lady. We have a bit of a… situation. I require your counsel and your assistance.”
Alice looked at him, studying him as she had studied him since nearly the moment they had met. It had been Hallam who had come with the marriage offer from his liege and Hallam who had escorted her from her home at Dudley Castle to Winterhold. He wasn’t a big knight as far as knights went, but he was strong and true and honorable. He wasn’t conventionally handsome, but there was something about him that was attractive and sensual.
At least, Alice thought so.
She hadn’t been able to take her eyes from him since the day they’d met.
“You shall have it,” she said softly. “I was hoping that mayhap you’d come simply to see me.”
Hallam looked at her, an expression in his eyes that was full of restraint and longing. His gaze lingered on her for a moment as if he wanted to say something, but he ended up averting his gaze.
“Unfortunately, I have said everything that I can say, Alice,” he said quietly. “We both know it is futile to speak of… well, futile to discuss things that can never be. It is not good for either of us.”
Alice knew that, but the truth was that she’d never loved a man in her entire life until she met the sweet and noble Hallam Chadlington, a seasoned knight who served a monster.
Her husband.
She blinked away the tears that threatened and looked back to her loom, steeling herself against her emotions. “You said youhave come to seek my counsel,” she said, resuming her sewing with quivering hands. “How may I be of assistance?”
Hallam watched her, his expression rippling with sorrow. Alice wasn’t the most beautiful woman in the world, but she was clever and kind and generous, and of great character. There was something about her that was warm and comforting, something more valuable than conventional beauty to him. Covington de Wrenville didn’t deserve her; not even in the slightest.
Hallam cleared his throat softly.
“When we took the great hall of Hawkstone, Rupert de Thorington’s daughter was there, tending their wounded,” he said. “She was brought back to Winterhold as a prisoner.”
Alice’s head shot up. “Oh?” she said. “Where is she?”
“In the vault.”
Alice’s eyes widened. “In that terrible place?” she gasped. “Hallam, that is no place for her. Why on earth is she there?”
“Because your husband ordered it.”
Alice dropped her sewing altogether. Stabbing the needle back into the fabric so it wouldn’t fall to the floor, she stood up and faced him.
“She cannot remain there,” she said. “It is inhumane to put a woman there. I do not care if my husband ordered it.”
Hallam smiled faintly. This was exactly why he’d come to her. “I was hoping you would say so,” he said quietly. “I can make sure the guard in the vault is missing from his post if you remove the lady and take her with you. Take her anywhere; I do not care where and I do not want to know. Just take her away and hide her from your husband because he intends to use her for his own questionable purposes. This entire pursuit of Hawkstone is already unconscionable and…”
He suddenly stopped, looking at Alice with an expression that suggested he’d already said too much. But Alice gazed back at him steadily, with understanding.
“I know,” she murmured. “You are a fine, noble knight forced to do the bidding of a greedy and immoral man.”
He held up a hand, quickly, to silence her. “Not a word,” he begged softly. “I am sworn to de Wrenville. I must carry out his commands without question. It does not matter what I think or what you think.”
Alice shook her head. “It is not simply us,” she said quietly. “I have heard more than one person at Winterhold speak of Covey’s greed when it comes to Hawkstone. He tells people they are loyal to France and that it is his duty to confiscate the castle, but that is not the truth.”
Hallam simply looked at her. “You will not repeat that, to anyone,” he said. “If de Wrenville catches wind that his own wife is speaking against him, it will not go well for you. Please, Alice… do not repeat what you have heard.”
Alice sighed faintly. “I am not sure what more he could do to me that he has not already done,” she said. “I am merely a visitor in my husband’s home while he worships the memory of his dead first wife. I have money, position, and some power, but I had to get into bed with the devil for it. This was not as I had planned, Hallam.”
Hallam snorted ironically. “This is not how any of us planned.”
She could see the sorrow in his expression. Reaching out, she brushed his arm with her warm hand before turning back to her loom and sitting heavily.
“When will you remove the vault guard?” she asked.
