She nodded and stood, her agitation clear to him and more than a little disappointing.He must convince her that he would not be a husband like his father.
“Louis has prepared the chamber above this one for you all,” she informed the knights and Quinn saw the châtelain in the portal, listening.“And you are welcome to retire there at your leisure.There is yet ale and I would not curtail your enjoyment of it.If you have any need, please ask it of Louis, as you are the guests of Annossy.”
There were fulsome thanks all around then both Lothair and Amaury went to the stables to check upon their steeds.Quinn stood and offered Melissande his hand, bending to murmur to her.“I will see that the gates are secured and the sentries at their labor,” he said to her.“And will come to you shortly, my lady.”
She nodded, pale again, but did not flinch from his touch.
Perhaps he could make progress in this campaign on this night.
Perhaps ensuring the safety of Annossy, which she clearly held dear, would gain him some credibility.Tulley had commanded him to end the raids, and truly, warfare and defense were details he understood well.This would be the advantage he brought to Annossy, and Quinn knew already that his lady was sufficiently keen of wit that she would see his merit when it was done.
Berthe was goneand Melissande was alone in her chemise, her hair brushed, when she heard Quinn’s voice in the hall.The low rumble both reassured her and troubled her.She turned to watch the door, her hands knotted together.
Would she always dread his appearance at night?She had claimed the solar of Annossy after her father’s death and it was a fine chamber.It was at the summit of the tower with views in all directions.There was a great pillared bed in the middle of the room, with heavy drapes in silken velvet, woven in the blue of Annossy with silver embroidery along the hems.The wooden pillars rose to join the beams that held up the roof of the lofty chamber, and Melissande had always thought it looked like a crown in the midst of a treasury.Now that Tulley had commanded an heir, the import of the bed was unmistakable.
She had been born in this bed, and her parents had consummated their own marriage within it.In a way, her marriage would seem more real when she and Quinn had coupled in this bed, and more unassailable when she delivered a child here.
She heard him speak to his fellows, then the sound of his boots on the stairs.He dismissed a squire by the sound of it, tapped on the wooden door, then entered the chamber alone.He nodded to her, his eyes gleaming, then closed the portal to survey the chamber.“Now this is a fine refuge,” he said, his admiration clear.He considered the iron latch, which was formidable, and secured the door, then went to the window that looked toward Tulley.He leaned out of it, confirming how much he could see from its vantage point, then closed the shutters over the opening.He went to each window in turn, repeating his movement, and she thought he lingered at the one that faced Sayerne.He completed his survey with the window that faced the gates.When it was shuttered, he turned to nod at Melissande.“Most clever.I assume one of your forebears built the keep?”
“My grandfather, although my family was in possession of Annossy before that.He was the one who built the tower.”
“With considerable thought toward its defense.”
“The tale was that he had fought to protect Annossy from others who wished to seize it.Tulley’s line was not yet ascendant, so the valley was filled with warring factions.”
Quinn nodded and set his sword aside.He removed his belt.“And the mill that was attacked two nights past?Where is it?”
Melissande went to the window that faced the northern slope and opened it again.Quinn came to stand beside her, and she jumped when his hand landed on the back of her waist.“There,” she said, pointing to a faint light.
“It is solitary.”
“But not previously believed to be vulnerable.It is a hard path up from the main road.”
“And escape would be hampered by both snow and forest,” he mused.“And there is no abode in the forest beyond?”
She shook her head.“I do not know of one.”
“Is there a pass through the mountains where they rise above it?”
Melissande shook her head again.“It is steep.I remember goatherds appearing once, but it was midsummer.They were pursuing the goats and had followed a narrow path as I recall.”
Quinn nodded and latched the shutters again.“Raids and battles are matters I understand, Melissande.I will see this resolved and Annossy secure.”His voice dropped low.“I accept the challenge of proving to you that both of Jerome’s sons are as different from their father as might be.”
He had been stung by her endorsement of Yves’ character, she realized that, yet the words had also encouraged him to believe that he could undermine her expectations.When he spoke with such conviction, as if he swore an oath to her, Melissande found herself yearning to believe him.That frightened her, for she knew so little of him, but before she could dismiss her response, he leaned toward her.
“What is it that you fear, wife of mine?”His gaze was piercing, those golden eyes seeming to see her deepest secrets.
“Why would you ask as much?”
“Because I wish to know.I cannot dismiss your uncertainty without knowing its precise root.”
Melissande could not think of a short reply, much less one that would not reveal her own vulnerability.He needed no ideas of how to compromise her in her own home.“I expect events of this night may dismiss it,” she said, then felt her cheeks burn.
Quinn nodded once and did not seem to be in haste to retire to bed.Indeed, the man possessed patience in rare abundance.He crossed the chamber, removing the seal of Annossy from his purse, and set it upon the largest table.Melissande could not help but stare at it, and she guessed her desire showed, for he smiled at her.“Have you never touched it?”
“Not since my father died.Tulley claimed it then.”She took a breath.“As was his right.”
“You sound as if you remind yourself of that.”
