What irony that.
Sighing, he eyed his huffing squire. “Kitchen on fire?”
Winded, his squire bent over and wheezed. It took several deep breathsbefore Wace could finally respond. “The men you sent out scouting have returned. They found a woman in a field.”
So? ’Twas England. A shepherdess with her flock was as common as the dull, gray sky overhead. No one could pass a field anywhere on this miserable isle they didn’t spot a dozen such creatures. Why that would warrant a breathless, galloping squire, he couldn’t imagine.
Confused, Valteri scowled. “And a wench causes you to pant at—”
“Nay, milord. ’Tis no wench, but a lady!”
His frown deepened. Thatwasa different tale. He couldn’t imagine a lady soiling her precious shoes with cow shit. “Where’s she from?”
“They know not, milord. Hence why they sent me to fetch you.”
What fresh madness was this?
Why bother him with a woman? Even a noble one?
He sighed heavily at the aggravation.
Judas’s hairy toes. His men were getting more incompetent every day.
He’d been right. Peace robbed a warrior of all sense.
Irritated by the interruption, Valteri ground his teeth and glared at his squire, who was never afraid of him for some insane reason.
Imbeciles, all. Could they not even take care of a simple lost woman without his direct supervision? Seriously? Were they reallythatafraid of him?
Growling deep in his throat, he headed toward the hall with Wace following after him like a dutiful puppy.
And as he walked, he couldn’t help wondering how his brother had ever managed to conquer England with the fools who fought in his army. Surely they could return one simple maid home to her family without disturbing him.
Was that really so much to ask?
After all, dealing with the fairer sex was not something he had much experience with, or tolerance for. Last thing he wanted was to hear her shrieking when she laid eyes upon him. Crossing herself like a frantic nun facing the devil.
Damning him for a birth he cursed as much as they did.
These scurrying wretches he passed on his way to the hall were bad enough, but at least they couldn’t look directly at him, as they feared a beating for it, given that they were servants and he their “noble-born” lord.
As if he’d ever done such to them or anyone else. But their cruelty to people like him was enough that they knew what they deserved, so they feared his retaliation now that he was grown and large enough to give back to them what they’d so unkindly given to him when he was a defenseless boy.
Which meant these creatures withheld their insults and scurried like roaches at his approach. And waited until after he’d passed them beforethey began crossing themselves, and whispering their rumors about his diabolical origins.
Noblewomen were never so kind or restrained.
Nay, they insulted him to his face.
He had yet to meet one he didn’t want to murder where she stood. He was certain this one would be no different.
Seething, Valteri pushed open the heavy wooden door of the hall and was met with the sickening odor of baking bread. His lip curling with disgust, he felt his stomach pitch at the stench of it. How he hated manors and castles, and everything they entailed. He’d spent too many years of his life inside places such as this, listening to the echoes of foul rumors that resounded off the whitewashed walls.
He wanted out of this damnable place! He was a warrior, not a lord. And no matter what William thought, he would never be tamed or saddled.
As Valteri approached the group of men gathered in the center of the hall, they shrank back in fear of his approach, reminding him of a group of cringing magpies.
Until he saw the lady, lying in their midst on a bench where the others must have placed her.
