He shook his head. “I don’t drink after all the animals who do who knows what in that water.”
I bristled. He tilted his head to the side and went on, “Not that you are an animal, of course. I meant the wolves and deer. I prefer clean water. Now just wait a few minutes, okay?”
“I don’t have much choice, do I?” I snapped, tugging at the ropes over my head.
“Ah, no. You don’t.” Baron grinned in an easy-going, good-natured way. “But I’m trying to be polite about it.”
“A polite captor. Lucky me.”
Baron actually was a polite captor.He fed and watered his horse while he boiled water for us. While he worked, my fingers fumbled with the rope over my head, but the knots were too well-done to undo.
“Do you promise not to run away if I untie you?” he asked me after he pulled the water off the fire.
“I promise.”
He chuckled and untied the rope from above my head. “You’re a terrible liar. Here, are you hungry?” He handed over a few strips of dried meat and some bread, which tempted me enough to raise the food enough to smell it, but when I saw how closely Baron was watching me, I met his gaze then slowly dumped it into the fire.
I’d hoped he would be angry, but instead he just laughed. “You’re a spiteful one, aren’t you?”
Once it had cooled, I did grudgingly accept some water since he was drinking from the same container. At least if it was poisoned, we would both be affected. Baron’s unhurried, patient manner troubled me much more than Dorian’s brash cruelty. If Baron was quick to anger, he would be easy to manipulate. This calm, rational man would be much more difficult to trick or distract than any of the previous men.
Since I had slept most of the previous day, I wasn’t tired. I knew Baron must be, but his apprehension about my unpredictable behavior was surely keeping his adrenaline up high enough that he dared not close his eyes for even a moment.
I tried for conversation again, but this time dropping the false girly quality to my voice. “Why’s your name Baron?”
He glanced once at me before answering, “My mother was very poor and came from nothing. She said she had no title to give me, so my name would be a powerful one to show that I was a noble in her eyes.”
Psh. What a sappy story cooked up to tug on the heartstrings of gullible girls. I sincerely hoped no one had ever been foolish enough to fall for such a transparently fake tale.
Baron continued, “And I know you’re Robin Hood’s daughter, but I don’t know your name.”
“You never asked.”
“Okay, what’s your name?”
I considered lying, but to what end? It would have been pointless. “Laurel. Laurel of Locksley.”
“That is a pretty name,” Baron said generously.
Nice try, I thought sourly. He was trying to be polite and friendly to lure me into trusting him so I would be an easier target. It was exactly what I would do in his position.
I was not so easily won over.
CHAPTER 10
We got back to the sheriff’s camp at high noon the next day, and the sheriff stormed over the instant he saw us ride into camp. “Bring me a chain!” he yelled at the nearest man as Baron untied my hands from the saddle horn and we dismounted. “A long, sturdy one!” He turned to glare at me. I met his gaze defiantly, even as bits of saliva flew from his mouth and his face turned red.
“You’re really trying my patience,” he snarled, moving in much too close. “Like father, like daughter.” He slapped me hard across the face and I felt it start to swell immediately.
“Ooh, brave man, hitting a defenseless teenage girl,” I sneered at him. “Are you going to take sweets from a baby next?”
Baron made a low sound in his throat, as if warning me to stop, but I kept glaring at the sheriff. I continued, “How low must a man have sunk when he regards striking an unarmed woman as a means of showing his strength?”
The sheriff pointed a stubby, red finger in my face, but I didn’t flinch. “Don’t toy with me, wench,” he screamed. “You’ll learn your place!”
I spat on the ground at his feet. Baron pulled me back and whispered in my ear, “Stop. You’re making it worse.”
“Why would I give any respect to someone who deserves none?” I retorted, still glaring at the sheriff as he turned to bark a few more orders.
