Eda sighed. “Do not be difficult, Kristen. His will cannot be denied.”
“So you think. So he thinks, too. You will both learn differently.” Kristen turned her back on the old woman. “You need not remove my shackles, Eda. Lock my door and go away.”
Kristen did not see Eda shaking her head as she closed the door, nor did she hear it being locked. She drew her knees up to her chest and reached down to grip the chain at her feet, pulling at it so hard the skin scraped on her palm. She let go with a violent sound and turned onto her belly, pounding on her pallet in a feeble effort to rid herself of some of her frustration. It didn’t work. She succeeded only in ripping the thin material in several places so that straw spilled out.
She was quiet and still lying on her belly with her head turned away from the door when Royce opened it a few moments later. He moved across the floor until his feet nearly touched the pallet by her hip.
He had not seen this chamber since the servants had readied it for her. Everything had been removed from it except the thin, narrow pallet on which she slept. It was a dismal atmosphere for her to return to each night. Not even a candle had been spared for her.
“Why did you not come to me, Kristen?”
“I am tired.”
“And still angry?” She didn’t answer that. Royce bent down beside her, touching her shoulder. “Sit up so I can remove your shackles.”
She turned over to look at him, but she didn’t sit up. “If you will have them taken away, remove them. Otherwise leave them on.”
“Do not be stubborn, wench. Take what is offered.”
“And be grateful?” she said frostily. “Nay. If you will treat me like an animal, then be consistent.”
He ignored her choice of comparisons, reminding her, “You accepted this arrangement before.”
“That was before.”
“I see. You expected things to change, simply because you shared my bed.” He shook his head at her. “Is that right?” She looked away, but he caught her chin, forcing her eyes back to his. “Is that right, Kristen?”
“Aye!” Her cry was thick with bitterness, but hurt also. “I would not treat you so cruelly after what we shared. I do not see how you can me.”
“I know you understand why it has to be this way, Kristen; you just do not like it,” he said impatiently. “You must know I like it no better.”
“Do I?” she retorted. “You are lord here. What is done to me is done by your order, no other’s.”
He lost patience with her, standing up, his expression stern as he fixed her with his dark eyes. “Very well, I will tell you the alternatives to that chain. You can be locked in a room instead—mine, if you will—but you will not leave it at all. I can spare you little time in the day, so you would be alone mostly, except at night. Would you prefer that?”
“You might as well put me in a cell!”
“We have none here. I offer you my own chamber, rather than this one. I give you the choice.”
“There is no choice, milord,” she retorted. “You offer me an even worse constriction. You said alternatives. Give me one I can accept.”
“There is one other thing I can do that would enable you to have the freedom of Wyndhurst. I can kill your friends.”
“What!”
She sat up, staring at him in disbelief, but he went on undaunted: “You can be trusted only if they are no longer here, the threat removed that my people will be slaughtered if they escape. By yourself, you would not get far if you still tried to escape. I would find you.”
“You are jesting!” she said half hopefully, half incredulously.
“Nay.”
“You know I would not take my freedom at such a price!” she hissed furiously. “Why do you even mention such an alternative? Could you really kill defenseless men?”
“Those men are my enemies, Kristen. They would kill me without a moment’s pause, given half a chance. I have never liked having them here, and would just as soon rid myself of them. ’Twas Alden who convinced me they could be useful.”
“Then rid yourself of me, too, Saxon!” she seethed. “I am one of them!”
“Aye, you are my enemy, too, wench,” he replied softly. “But you I like having around. Now, give me your shackles to remove for the night, or make another choice.”
