Sean broke from his cynical, thoughtful stance and moved around the horse. He picked up a currycomb and ran it across the silver hide. “I hope that day will come soon. I grow weary of being seated by the Devil’s right hand.”
“As would any rational man, but you are by far the strongest of us all.” The straw in the loft shifted, raining down on the horse’s back. “Keep your focus, Sean. You are where you are most valuable now. The barons are clearly amassing and I sense that John’s days are numbered. But you are critical to this success. Is that clear?”
“It is, my lord.”
“If anything crucial happens, you know how to contact me. Otherwise, I will contact you again in a month or two. We shall meet again.”
Sean didn’t answer. The straw stopped falling on the horse’s back and he knew his contact had slipped from the loft, out into the dead of night. He normally left these meetings feeling a new sense of purpose. Tonight, he left feeling disheartened.
When he finally slept in the last hour before dawn, his dreams were of luminous blue eyes.
*
“What did Itell you about him?” Jocelin exploded. “Did you not hear a word I said? The man is dangerous!”
Neely had waited eight whole hours before confessing the evening’s events to the bishop. Sheridan had been rudely awakened by Jocelin’s shouting shortly after dawn. Now, in the antechamber of their apartments, she found herself on the defensive. Completely missing the point of Jocelin’s rage, as usual, Alys sulked in the corner because her sister had gotten to speak to the mysterious Sean de Lara and she had not.
“I have told you twice what happened,” Sheridan said evenly. “And I know what you told me about de Lara. But he was a complete gentleman, I assure you.”
“He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” he fumed. “What possessed you to go outside the Tower in the first place? You are mad, girl, mad.”
She lifted an eyebrow at him. “If you are going to insult me, then this conversation is over. I should like to wash and dress for the day.”
“You are not dressing just yet,” he jabbed a finger at her. “You will provide me with satisfactory answers.”
She sighed with exasperation. “What would you have me say? That I was tired of being preyed upon by your friend, the Bishop of Coventry? That I was, in fact, disgusted by the man rubbing his feet on my leg, so much so that I was compelled to get a breath of fresh air or vomit?”
Jocelin looked at her with shock and she nodded her head, firmly. “Aye, he did that, the old fool,” she insisted. “So I had to take a walk to clear my thoughts. As I was walking, a man tried to attack me. Had it not been for de Lara, I would not be here at this moment. Now, may I please dress?”
Some of the wind went out of Jocelin’s sails. “Oh, Dani,” he whispered. “Why didn’t you say something to me? Why not tell me about William where I could have confronted him?”
She waved him off. “I would have told you, eventually. I simply did not want to embarrass your friend in front of you.”
Jocelin sat his bulk down in the fine sling-back chair adjacent to the hearth. There was peace now where there had been fury seconds before. “It is not a matter of embarrassment,” he muttered. “I cannot believe that he would betray me so.”
He seemed genuinely distressed. Sheridan went to him, leaning over to kiss his bald head. “He did not betray you. He rubbed his toes on my ankle. Perhaps it was an accident and he really meant to rub the table leg. In any case, you needn’t feel bad. It’s over and done with.”
Jocelin grunted. “Over and done with, aye. But at what cost? Putting you at the mercy of de Lara.”
She pursed her lips with frustration. “How many times do I have to tell you that he was a perfect gentleman?”
He didn’t have an answer. He was much more concerned with entertaining the horrible scenarios. Leaving Alys half-asleep and still pouting on the chair opposite the silently brooding Jocelin, she retreated into the bedroom.
Her maid had a porcelain bowl of warm water waiting for her. Rose petals floated on the surface. Removing her night shift, she washed her face and used a soft linen rag to run warm water over her body. She always felt better when she washed in the morning. The maid briskly dried her and rubbed rose-scented oil on her skin to soften it. Just as her lips were constantly dry, her skin was also. The oil helped.
Her favorite dress was a soft blue linen sheath with long sleeves and a simple belt that draped around her hips. With it, she wore the silver and sapphire cross that her father had given her. The maid brushed her silken hair and wove it into one long braid, draping it over a shoulder. Sheridan finished her toilette by rubbing beeswax on her lips from her ever-present pot of the stuff.
The window of her chamber was open and she could hear the birds beyond. She went to the opening, leaning out over the yard below and remembering the previous day when Alys had nearly plunged to her death from the same window. Thoughts of the event brought thoughts of Sean de Lara.
She leaned against the windowsill, gazing into the gentle blue sky and wondering if de Lara would ever speak to her again. The way Neely had chased him away last night, she wondered if she had made an enemy. She’d never seen Neely so edgy, which only lent credence to Jocelin’s tales of de Lara’s dark reputation. Her father’s captain had known of the man; that much was apparent. She would have wagered that every male of political awareness knew of the man. Still, she continued to doubt what everyone seemed to know.
“If you are thinking of jumping, I wouldn’t.”
The voice came from below. Startled, she looked down to see Sean leaning against the wall directly below her. It was the first time she had seen him without his armor; he wore a bleached linen tunic, heavy leather breeches and massive boots. Withouthis helm, he had light brown hair, close cropped and riddled with flecks of gold.
The full lips set within his square jaw were twitching with a smile and the clear blue eyes were glimmering, as if he knew something she did not. It was an amused expression. He was, in fact, excruciatingly handsome now that she had a chance to see him in broad daylight. He looked nothing like the horrible Shadow Lord she had been warned about. She realized that she was glad to see him.
“What are you doing down there?” she asked.
