Tears blurred her eyes. “Men speak such fine words of honor,” she said, “when it suits their interests to do so. Your truce. Not mine.”
“Wanting to kill is not the same as killing,” he said softly. “I promise you nothing said today is worth the price you will pay for that deed. And I am not speaking of the consequences that will befall every man here. There is not a man who does not wish Hereford dead and who would not defend your actions.”
She swallowed against the increasing tightness in her throat. Ruark cupped his palm over her face, forcing her to look at him. His eyes embraced hers. “You will have to trust that I can take care of us both.”
She saw him through a blur of tears. A hand at her elbow tugged her. “Come,” Friar Tucker urged. “Let us be gone from here, Rose.”
Ruark’s eyes told her in more than words to trust him. She did trust him. He was the only man in her life who had ever truly been honest with her.
Finally, she lowered the sword and returned it to Colum.
Not a man around her moved. Her eyes passed over one bearded countenance, then another. A pin dropped could have been heard in the room. Without a word, Rose strode from the hall, leaving Friar Tucker and Colum behind. Once in the corridor, she lifted her skirts and ran. She didn’t stop until she reached her chambers, slammed shut the door and slid the bolt home.
Chapter 14
“Come now, my lady. Open up. The good abbot will not appreciate the loss of a door should we have to break it down.”
Ruark heard pounding on the door before he rounded the corner and saw Colum coaxing the panels.
“She has barricaded herself inside her chambers,” Colum said, stepping aside. “I didn’t reach her in time. She is fast.”
She was also capable of eluding them all.
Ruark stood glaring at the door as if his will alone would unbolt it. Three other men milled behind him. He’d passed two others on his way here. The door was three inches thick and solid oak. Short of using an ax to break it down, no one would gain entry until Rose opened the door.
Ruark turned to two of his retainers behind him. “Find the abbot and make sure there is no other way out of the room.” He gestured to the third man behind him to follow before returning his attention to Colum.
“Who is inside with her?”
“Only Anaya, the maid with whom she arrived.”
“Where is Tucker?”
Colum shook his head. “If you were a priest, where wouldyougo after what just occurred?”
Ruark’s gaze found the lancelet window that overlooked the inner courtyard outside. A light cold drizzle fell on the garden. He saw a gate in the exterior stone wall and the chapel beyond. He hadn’t set foot inside any church in years.
Rose found the chapel dark except for the soft red glow of the sanctuary lamp. The air smelled thickly of incense and wax. A small table beside the door was covered by a cloth and bore the stoup of holy water. A few clear white votive candles burned near the back beneath a shrine of the Blessed Mary.
“I was expecting you.” Tucker’s even voice pulled her around.
A scarred wooden railing divided the chancel from the rest of the chapel. She walked forward and saw the brown-robed figure rise from where he had been kneeling at the front and slowly turn toward her.
“Howcouldyou?” she demanded. “How could you not tell me you and my mother were lovers? Is it true?”
It was far easier to escape her room that it was the questions she needed answered.
“ ’Tis not that simple,” Friar Tucker said.
“Then make it simple.”
For a heartbeat, the lines of age softened before he looked away. “I loved her.”
Tears burned behind her lids. They scalded. Then she grabbed his hands. “Are you ...? Does he hate me because you are my father?”
He raised his gaze and she thought tears touched his eyes, and for just a moment, she hoped. “Nay, lass. I amnot your father. He hates you because you are hers. You are Elena’s.”
Rose covered her face with her hands. Why could he not lie?
