“Take care,” she managed to whisper, lifting her gaze to meet his.It might well be the last time they saw each other, Dagobert knew, and he squeezed his mother’s shoulders once more before he stepped away, blinking back his unbidden tears.
To his surprise, Iolande pulled Alienor into an impulsive hug.He watched Alienor close her eyes against the shimmer of rising tears, her lashes long and wet against her cheeks as she returned Iolande’s embrace.Dagobert averted his gaze to find wistful expressions on the surrounding faces, more than one member of the household wiping away an indulgent tear at the two women’s leave-taking.
Iolande whispered something to Alienor that Dagobert did not hear and he watched his wife nod then force a smile to her lips.She darted a glance in his direction and her color rose slightly, making him wonder what his mother could possibly have said.He glanced at the deepening hue of the sky and extended his hand to Alienor, knowing that they had to ride out, despite their wishes to the contrary.
“I will, madame,” Alienor vowed, and turned to place her hand in Dagobert’s, her gaze dropping, as if she meant to ensure he could not guess her thoughts.
Annoyance rippled through him, but then he knew that was more than fair.His regret was followed by a wave of possessiveness that had him lifting her into his own saddle before he had the chance to check his own impulse.Alienor opened her mouth to protest, but he tied her horse’s reins to the back of his saddle.
“You must rest for the babe, my lady,” he said gently, watching with satisfaction as his wife bit her lip and the color rose in her cheeks.“I will hold you while you sleep.”Behind him, a murmur of approval rippled through the crowd of well-wishers, but Alienor’s back was straight and stiff when he swung up into the saddle behind her.
“You will make the road longer with your anger,” he dared to murmur into her hair, closing his arm around her waist in that same moment and pulling her resolutely back against his chest.
“Do you not think it justified?”she murmured, a charge in her words, and he bowed his head.
“Completely,” he admitted and she glanced over her shoulder in surprise.He dared to smile at her.“But unavoidable, as well.”
“I say it could have been avoided,” she whispered and he closed his eyes, knowing she was right.
If only he had trusted her.
If only.
He wished he could be certain of her even now.
To his relief, Alienor did not fight him, but she did not sleep until long after Montsalvat had faded in the distance.Only then did Dagobert pull her even closer, permitting himself the luxury of inhaling the delicate scent of her hair, of letting his gloved hand curve over the soft indent of her waist.
Chapter 7
The smell of wet metal greeted Alienor when she awakened, closely followed by the scent of soaked leather and wet wool.Momentarily disoriented by an incessant motion that did no favors for her stomach, she opened her eyes, only to be confronted by a solid wall of red wool.Her raised hood admitted little light and hid the surroundings from view.Judging by the rows of tight circles impressed against her cheek, the red wool covered chain mail, both of which were stretched over her husband’s broad chest.When she stirred, his arm tightened around her waist, though the horse did not slow its pace.
“’Tis only dawn,” Dagobert murmured, and she felt his chin against her hooded head as he bent down to speak to her.Alienor became aware of the rain drumming on her shoulders, and realized that she sat sideways before Dagobert.Her face was against his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist beneath his mantle.His destrier galloped at a relentless pace despite the rain.
If they had ridden this hard all night, they should have reached Perpignan.Did he not take her back there?
“And the weather is most foul,” he continued, his tone formal.“It would be best if you went back to sleep, my lady.”
“Have you slept?”she dared to ask.When he did not immediately reply, she guessed the truth.She risked an upward glance to his stern features and noted the lines of tension alongside his mouth.He was exhausted, but he rode on.The sky was an endless expanse of gray above his head, and his eyes were narrowed against the cold rain.He flicked the barest glance down at her, and his expression did not soften at all.
That did not bode well.
“Nay, my lady, I have not.It is of no import.”His tone discouraged any further questions and Alienor wondered anew that this virtual stranger would hold her so close to his side.
He looked no less forbidding than when he had greeted her last eve at the foot of the stairs, a strange and hostile warrior clothed head to toe in his mail, his coif leaving only the matching coldness in his eyes visible.Who was this man?Not one inkling of the lover who had warmed her bed illuminated him, nor did a glimmer of the lighthearted companionship of Alaric touch his face.Was this then the true Dagobert?Was this the man whose seed bore fruit within her?Was this the man with whom she would spend the remainder of her days?
He undoubtedly saw her as a burden to his travels.A woman would slow his pace and block the swift thrust of his blade by her very presence.Why then had he insisted she accompany him?
The answer was obvious: ’twas the babe she bore him that earned his loyalty to her and no more.Indeed, Alienor had guessed the whole truth of it at her first thought that her husband desired her only for her womb.She had been a fool to hope he might learn to feel differently, but folly was no easier to accept for having been anticipated.
Would she be abandoned as soon as the child saw the light of day?The prospect was chilling.But ’twas clear that this man bore no softness in his heart for her, and that she was being protected solely that his heir might be born strong.Alienor moved, wishing to put some distance between herself and this remote man who had claimed her for his own, but his arm tightened like a steel band around her waist.
“’Tis warmer for you thus,” he said tersely.His fingers gripped her hip and held her intimately captive, reminding her all too well of the sweetness of their unions.Alienor struggled to slow the rapid pace of her heart.She was too aware of the shape of the man beneath his armor.She recalled only too well the feel of those strong thighs clenched beneath hers.She blinked back tears at the recollection of her sense of safety when his weight pressed her into their soft mattress at Montsalvat and he held her captive to the pleasure he had been determined to give.
Never mind the scent of his skin.Even through the smells of wet clothing, Alienor could detect that musky scent of his skin.It seemed too strange indeed to have such intimate recollections of a man who seemed now to be a stranger.
Dismissing her thoughts, Alienor steeled herself with the confirmation of her worst fears in his sharp words.She must not sicken and lose the babe, for ’twas her sole significance to him.Had she not been pregnant, she would without a doubt have been left behind to her own fate.Aye, he had not taken her to Perpignan because he knew about the child.His child.At least, she could hope that he would protect the babe, once born.
“Where do we ride?”Alienor asked.
