“What do you here, wench?”
Rowena gasped at the sound ofthatvoice and looked toward the doorway whence it had come. Warrick filled the opening that she had not thought to close and put the lie to her last words, for he looked terrifying indeed in his present anger, of which she could not begin to guess the cause.
“You ordered me here, my lord,” she dared to remind him, but that just made him look angrier.
“Nay, I did not, nor would I have. Your duties are exact, wench. Do they increase or decrease, I will tell you so myself. Now get you to my solar and await me there.”
She was hot-cheeked with indignation, but she did not care to argue with him in front of his friend. She left without another word to either man, but had gone not even halfway down the stairs before Warrick caught up with her, roughly yanking her about and shoving her up against the stone wall. The arrow slit that gave light to the stairwell was blocked by his wide back, so she could not see clearly just how angry he still was. His voice told her, however.
“Explain to me why I should not punish you for being where you do not belong!”
“I thought ’twas a punishment, my being sent to him. Now you tell me I am to be punished for doing as I was bidden? If you dare—”
He shook her once. “You werenotbidden to come here. If you speak that lie again, so help me, I will not order you beaten, I will do it myself!”
Rowena swallowed the retort she would have made. The man was simply too angry, and beginning to seriously frighten her with it.
She made her tone soft and placating. “I know not what to tell you but the truth. I was told I was to assist Sir Sheldon at his bath, and that ’twas by your order.”
“Whotold you?”
“Celia.”
“She would not dare.”
“Mistress Blouet can tell you how much Celia dares, if you do but ask her. And the other weavers all heard her send me here, not just to assist your friend, but to please him in whatever way he required.” She winced as his hands bit more into her arms. “Do not take my word for it, my lord. The other women will vouch for what I say—” She paused, her stomach turning with dread as a thought occurred to her. “Unless Celia has bidden them to lie. Mistress Blouet says they do all follow her lead and—”
“Did he touch you?”
Rowena blinked at the new subject, which could not help but prod her bitterness and release it. “Nay, but what matters if he did? A servant has little say in these things. You told me so yourself.”
“You have no say in whatIdo to you, wench, but no one else is to touch you.”
As if to prove it, his hand went to her thick braid to hold her head still and his mouth closed over hers. ’Twas an angry kiss, punishing and claiming at once. She did not like it. She liked even less that her loins heated, preparing her for his further invasion.
But he did not intend to take her there in the stairwell. He ended the kiss, but she was still pressed to him. And his hand tightened in her hair as he demanded, “Would you havepleasedhim did he ask?”
She did not even think to goad him with a lie. “Nay, I would have refused, and did that not work, I would have fought him.” She felt the tension leave his body, and the hand in her hair loosened its grip.Thenshe goaded him. “But little good it would have done me without weapon to hand, which I am not allowed.”
“Nor will you be allowed one,” he growled, angry again.
She did not heed his anger this time because she felt too much of the same emotion herself. “Then what is to stop any man from raping me, when you dress me as a serf and when female serfs are considered fair game? Even your men-at-arms would not hesitate—” She stopped when she saw his grin.
“My interest in you has been noted and understood. No man here would dare to touch you. Nay, wench, you still will find yourself bedded only by me—but then, you are coming not to mind that overmuch. You protest, but not for long.”
She knocked away his hand, which had moved to caress her cheek. “I hate it, as much as I hate you!”
Butthatonly made him laugh, infuriating her so that she pushed away from him and ran the rest of the way down the stairs. He let her go, but the thought that hecouldhave stopped her if he wanted only increased her fury.
All the power was his. He had control over her body, control over her emotions, control over everything she did. She could not even get angry without his leave, for he knew well enough how to frighten the anger out of her.
’Twas intolerable, such utter domination, and she could bear it no more. She had accepted it as her due for what had been done to him, but she had been punished more than enough for that, and still had the worse punishment before her, the taking of her child. Well, she was done with meekly accepting her lot. If Mildred’s suggestions could shift some of the power, to give her even a little sway over that insufferable man, then she would try them.
Chapter 28
Warrick had not noticed before how many of his men watched Rowena just as he did, but the moment she entered the hall, many eyes besides his were on her. He did not like that at all. In fact, he so disliked it that he did the unthinkable and called for complete attention to himself for no reason other than to show his displeasure.
His men knew him well. They did not mistake what had displeased him. But ironically, he was even more annoyed that theydidunderstand and did not look toward the girl again. His action smacked of jealousy, which was absurd. God’s blood, she was no more than his prisoner. Yet…yet what he had felt just now was no different from what he had felt earlier when he had found her with Sheldon—nay, that had been more powerful. Utter rage had consumed him to see her kneeling at his friend’s feet, in the process of disrobing him.
