Richmond merely turned away from her. Emma began to shake, knowing he had effectively shut her out. Slowly, she turned to Arissa. “I will apologize to you too, Riss,” she moved toward her shaken friend, tears in her eyes. “You are my very best friend. I do not know what I shall do without you.”
Arissa suddenly let out a choked sob and turned to Emma, throwing her arms around the young woman and weeping. Emma’s sobs filled the room also as the two ladies wept and consoled one another.
Richmond passed a glance at the two of them, shaking his head faintly when he realized that, more than likely, Emma would be accompanying them to Whitby. He knew the question before Arissa even asked and as he tried to formulate a refusal, he knew with resignation that a denial would be fruitless. As always, he would do as she asked.
Irritated with himself but resigned to the inevitable, he moved toward the two women.
“There, now, stop weeping,” he put his hands on Arissa shoulders. “You are going to make yourself ill. Gavan, seat Lady Emma. Our meal should be here shortly.”
As if on cue, a loud knock rattled the door and Gavan opened it to the innkeeper and two serving wenches. They whisked into the room silently and efficiently, depositing the ordered fare and leaving the room with equal rapidity. The food steaming upon the table was pungent and appetizing and Richmond seated Arissa, serving her himself and then hovering over her to make sure she ate.
It had always been the same with her; Arissa could go for days without food and would have probably died of starvation had someone not forced her to consume nourishment once in a while. Richmond couldn’t count the times he had literally spoon fed the defiant young girl, sputtering and crying throughout the meal as if he were torturing her.
Tonight, however, she was hungry and ate every bite. Between her and Emma, they managed to devour a good portion of the meal, leaving the more chivalrous men to consume the leftovers. But it was not nearly enough to sustain them and Richmond ended up ordering more food when Arissa and Emma left the table to throw themselves on the large bed in over-stuffed misery.
“You naughty gluttons,” he scolded, although he was pleased with Arissa’s ravenous appetite. “I hope you both explode.”
Arissa, flat on her back in the great bed, frowned. “I am very close to achieving your desire,” she rolled over, causing Emma to shriek in protest as the mattress jostled. “I could sleep forever.”
Richmond and Gavan, two huge knuckles of beef between them, passed glances. Gavan snorted into his food as he read Richmond’s thoughts, knowing that Lady Arissa would be claiming very little sleep this night.
As the ladies quieted, Richmond and Gavan devoured a meal fit for several men, listening to the rain outside as it pelted the windowsill. All suddenly seemed peaceful, serene, as if the battle for Lambourn that had constituted their day was a million miles away. As if the threat to Arissa’s life had only been a bitter dream, easily forgotten.
The conversation between them was quiet and light. Even after the food was gone, they continued to talk and drink the remainder of the ale. But the longer they sat, the more fatigued they became until Richmond finally rose stiffly to his feet.
“I do believe I am going to retire,” he passed a glance at the bed, noting that the two female occupants had suddenly grown very still. “Oh…. damn.”
As if in response, Emma snored softly. Gavan laughed as Richmond shook his head grimly. “You should have never let them lie on the bed,” Gavan said.
“What was I supposed to do?” Richmond went over to the overstuffed mattress; Arissa was sound asleep, her angelic face serene. Emma was rolled up in a ball like an opossum. Richmond shook his head again. “I will not be tossed from my own bed by a fugitive.”
“Let them alone,” Gavan said quietly, still smiling. “I would wager the inn isn’t full. There is another bed for you to sleep in.”
“I do not want another bed,” Richmond gestured to Gavan. “Take Emma with you.”
Gavan’s smile vanished. “I do not want her. God’s Teeth, Richmond, that girl is worse than my shadow. I can’t get rid of her. Do you realize what could happen if she sleeps in the same room with me?”
“I care not of the sleeping arrangements. But she will leave this bed and this room, and I expect you to watch over her until morning. Am I understood?”
Gavan gritted his teeth. “Aye, I understand you. But you, apparently, have no comprehension of her infatuation with me. Last eve, she followed me as I went along my rounds, distracting me from my duties with her foolish chatter. And do you know that I caught her spying on me when I went to relieve myself? She’s a damn nuisance, I tell you!”
Richmond fought off a grin. “God only knows what she sees in you. But the fact remains that I have ordered you to take charge of her. And you will.”
There was no point in arguing with a direct order. Sighing heavily, Gavan cast Richmond a baleful glance as he moved around the bed toward Emma’s huddled form. He shook her gently once, twice, but she refused to awaken. By the third and fourth jarring, she simply rolled over in an attempt to ignore him and he sighed again.
With a grunt, Gavan scooped Emma effortlessly into his arms. Immediately, she burrowed against him in her sleep and he shot Richmond a completely hostile glare. Struggling against a wicked smirk, Richmond waved them from his room.
He bolted the door behind them, moving to stoke the fire before retiring. It was completely silent but for the patter of rain and he took a moment to breathe in the silence, feeling the tension drain from his body as the food and ale coursed through his veins. Silently, he moved toward the bed and doused the fish-oil lamp by Arissa’s head.
The room was dark but for dancing fingers of light cast by the crackling hearth. Richmond stood over Arissa a moment, touching her raven-hued locks, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath his fingertips. Quietly, he removed his clothing and slipped onto the bed beside her.
“Did you take all of your clothes off this time?” she mumbled, her face half-buried in the pillow. She opened her eyes to find him smiling at her, his face a few inches from her own. She returned his smile sleepily. “We’re lying atop the bedrug.”
“So we are. I suppose we should get up and pull back the covers.”
She raised her head, watching the firelight reflecting in his blue eyes. “I suppose so. You must be chilled lying atop the bed without a stitch of clothing on.”
“Not at all. Are you cold?”
