It could not be, and yet, her eyes did not deceive her in this.
“Your wife?”Jordan echoed.
Alaric nodded once and held up his left hand, the gold wedding band glinting in the sunlight even as Alienor’s breath caught in her throat.The signet ring that had also been on the cord was now placed on his middle finger.
Her husband returned to defend her and Alienor could find no fault in that.
“I am Dagobert, Count de Pereille.”With one impatient gesture, he indicated that the other man rise.Alienor saw something like satisfaction flicker through Jordan’s eyes and worried at its import.“Rise and defend yourself,” Dagobert commanded.
Jordan shook his head.“My lord, I assure you I meant no harm.Had I but known you drew breath,” he argued, but Dagobert interrupted him.
“You did indeed intend harm,” he said and Alienor shivered at the coldness in his tone.“You meant harm to my lady and harm to my house.Defend yourself, sir.”
“Dagobert,” Alienor whispered to herself.Confirming images flooded her thoughts too quickly to be examined.It was easy to recall her attraction to Alaric, and the haunting sense of familiarity when she glimpsed some shadowed echo of her husband’s build and visage.It all made too much sense: his refusal to speak or let her touch his face in the night had clearly been to ensure that she not recognize him by day.
Dagobert was truly alive and stood whole before her.
Alienor was no longer alone.
“Aye, ’tis he,” Eustache spoke gruffly beside her.She accepted the cloak he offered and slipped it over her shoulders with a grateful smile.A number of household members clustered in the doorway, their expressions bright with curiosity and expectation.Alienor could not see a single flicker of surprise among them.Was she the only one who had not known of this deceit?Her hurt at that thought was quickly followed by confusion.
To what purpose had Dagobert hidden himself from view?Why had he told the tale of the unicorn?Why had the unicorn been killed?And by whom?
“En garde.”Dagobert’s words drew Alienor’s gaze back to the two men.
“It need not be this way, my lord,” Jordan insisted.
Alienor held her breath, wondering at his intentions, even as she hoped Dagobert would abandon the fight and not imperil himself.She doubted that Jordan would fight fairly.
“What manner of man does not face the consequences of his actions with a steady hand?”Dagobert demanded.
Jordan straightened and pulled his blade from its scabbard, his gaze running over his opponent.
Alienor did the same, her fear for Dagobert finding some relief in the fact that he stood taller than the other man.His shoulders were broader, his muscles coiled with tension like that of a wolf poised to spring.Alienor guessed that he would be sure and deadly with a blade, but to her dismay, unlike his opponent, Dagobert wore no mail.
“What manner of man hides within his own keep, pretending to be a goat?”Jordan sneered.
Dagobert lifted his blade higher in silent challenge.
Jordan snorted as he touched the tip of his blade to that of Dagobert’s sword and the battle began.
“Is it truly your lady’s honor that prompts you to challenge me?”Jordan lunged at Dagobert’s middle, the taller man parrying the blow expertly and stepping quickly aside.
“So you would doubt my word, as well?”Dagobert countered.Alienor saw the cold determination in his eyes as the men circled each other.
Jordan jabbed again with lightning speed and then the room filled with the sound of clashing steel.Back and forth across the floor the battle continued: thrust, parry and counterthrust, the two men’s skill virtually equal.
The tip of Dagobert’s blade caught Jordan’s cheek and the shorter man growled in annoyance at the nick.Jordan sprang toward Dagobert with a renewed ferocity and backed him into the wall, his blade dangerously close to Dagobert’s throat.Alienor gasped, Eustache reached for the scabbard of his own blade, but Dagobert jammed his knee upward.Jordan groaned and fell back in pain, the two men circling each other once again.
“She is a fetching wench, but you do not challenge me for the woman,” Jordan said.
Dagobert’s attention remained riveted on the other knight’s face.
“Do explain,” he invited, his tone calm even as Alienor saw his fingers tighten on the hilt of his sword.
“I could not have left your keep without this challenge,” Jordan confided.“For I know too much, do I not, my lord?”This last word was uttered in a mocking tone and Alienor could not follow the knight’s meaning.
“You speak gibberish.”Dagobert’s blade caught the light as he attacked with sudden ruthlessness.Alienor’s hands rose to her face at the ferocity of this exchange, the broadswords clanging high over the men’s heads and again between them.
