Mary stood beside him, shorter than he. “Do you think demands will make him angry? Shouldn’t you ask?”
Brian looked at her, her soft roundness, her great liquid eyes. She made him feel as strong as a mountain. He’d never asked Roger for anything—except his very life. She was right. How could he make demands of someone he loved so much?
He touched Mary’s face. “I will take you from this place. I promise you that.”
“And I believe you,” Mary said with great trust. “You must go now.”
Brian looked about the small, damp cell. There was straw on the floor and it was none too clean. The only furniture was a hard cot and a bucket in a corner. “This is a foul place. You must leave with me now.”
“No!” She backed away from him. “We must be careful. We cannot anger your brother. If he is like mine, he may say things he will regret later, but then he will be forced to hold to them. You must wait until morning when he is rested and then talk to him.”
“How can you concern yourself with my brother when it means another night for you in this hell-hole?”
She answered him only with the look in her eyes. “Go in peace now. You needn’t worry about me.”
Brian stared at her a moment, then grabbed her hand and kissed it. “You are a good woman, Mary Montgomery.” He turned and left her.
Mary looked away as she heard the door locked once again. She hoped she hadn’t let Brian see how very frightened she really was. Something scurried across the floor and she jumped. She shouldn’t cry, she knew, but she was such an awful coward.
•••
Roger looked at his little brother with shock.
“I want her out of that cell,” Brian said quietly. He’d done as Mary’d said and waited until morning to confront Roger. Not that Brian had slept any, nor had Roger from the look of the dark circles under his eyes.
“Brian, please…” Roger began in that voice he used only for his younger brother and sister.
Brian didn’t relent. “I still haven’t heard why you have her prisoner, but whatever the reason, I want her out of that cell.”
Roger turned away from Brian so the pain in Roger’s eyes couldn’t be seen. How could he explain his humiliation at the hands of the Montgomerys? It had hurt him when his sister-in-law threw herself at Gavin and was rejected by him. Later Bronwyn had chosen him and he’d felt redeemed. But Stephen had gotten in a lucky blow that had sent Roger sprawling. He’d been so angry, he hadn’t thought but had attacked Stephen’s back. Now he wanted to let the Montgomerys know he couldn’t always be beaten.
“She won’t be harmed,” Roger said. “I promise you I won’t harm her.”
“Then why hold her? Release her now before there is a full-scale war.”
“It’s too late for that now.”
“What do you mean?”
Roger looked back at his little brother. “Raine Montgomery was leading several hundred of the king’s soldiers to Wales when he heard I had Mary. He turned the men and led them toward here to attack us.”
“What! We are about to be attacked? We have no defenses. Doesn’t he know he can’t lead men like that in these days? We have courts and laws to protect us from attack.”
“The king met Raine before he could get to us. The king was so angry at Raine’s use of his men in a personal fight that King Henry declared Raine an outlaw. He has retreated to the forest to live.”
“Good God!” Brian breathed, easing himself into a chair. “We have no defenses such as that massive fortress of the Montgomerys’. If we release Mary—”
Roger looked at his brother in admiration. “I had not meant to include you in this feud. You must leave here. Go and stay at one of my other estates. I will come to you soon.”
“No!” Brian said firmly. “We must settle this quarrel. We will send messages to the king and to the Montgomerys. Until then I will personally look out for Mary.” He stood and limped from the room.
Roger glared at the door after Brian closed it. He ground his teeth in anger, then grabbed a war axe from the wall. He slung the weapon across the room, where it sank into the oak door. “Damn all the Montgomerys,” he cursed. He was glad the king was angry at them. They did nothing but take. They’d taken his sister-in-law’s beauty and half her mind as well. They’d taken all those lands in Scotland that should have been his. And now they worked to take away his brother’s admiration. Brian had never before defied Roger, had never done anything to contradict him. Now Brian thought he could make decisions and tell Roger what to do.
The door opened and Alice entered. Her gown was of emerald-green satin trimmed with rabbit fur that had been dyed yellow. A veil of tissue-thin silk covered her face. “I just saw Brian,” she said in a quarrelsome voice. “He was helping that Montgomery woman up the stairs. How can you order her from the cellar? A woman like that should be thrown to the dogs.”
“Brian found her on his own. It was his decision to care for her.”
“Care for her!” Alice screeched. “You mean you’re going to treat her like a guest like that one upstairs?” She smirked in laughter. “Or are you no longer giving the orders in this house? It looks like Brian is the man of this household now.”
