What she was doing was shocking at best, but as he’d thought about it, he realized that it was also very clever. Cadelyn of Vendotia was no shrinking violet, but a woman who pursued her passion, no matter that it was unconventional. She’d even turned it into a money-making venture, which Kress thought was rather impressive. The woman had high-minded ideas, or so it seemed.
Or perhaps she was just a foolish woman with a foolish hobby.
He hadn’t quite figured it out yet. But what he did know was that he admired her determination, which was why he hadn’t told Padraig of her secret life as Lady Dark. Perhaps it wasn’t right what she was doing, but she’d done it all under her liege’s nose, and it wasn’t his place to enlighten Summerlin as to just how scandalous Lady Cadelyn was.
And then, there was a matter of trust.
She had trusted him. He swore not to tell. And no matter what, he wouldn’t go back on his word. Besides… the woman was in for enough disappointment with her future marriage and Kress wasn’t going to add to her sorrows.
Let her keep her secret.
“Then you must make sure to send him some food before he goes to sleep so the man does not starve,” he said. Then, he glanced up at the table. “Speaking of sleep, I have secured all sixrooms the inn had to offer. It seems as if we may all have our own chamber for the night.”
Everyone nodded to varying degrees and Kress could see that Achilles immediately looked to the serving wenches who were prowling the room, bringing food and drink, or dusting off tables and chairs. He knew what the man had in mind now that he’d been told he’d have a private room. Achilles and women were the natural order of things.
“And I intend to take advantage of that,” Bric said, distracting Kress from his train of thought. “I might actually get some sleep. Achilles snores like an old bear and I am close to smothering him with a pillow if I am forced to share a chamber with him again.”
Alexander and Kress started to laugh, but Achilles didn’t think it was so funny. “At least I do not talk in my sleep,” he said. “You have conversations all night, MacRohan.”
“I have to if I am to drown out your snoring.”
More chuckles from Kress and Alexander. “God, that is nothing,” Kress said. “You should have seen him when we were going to The Levant those years ago. The sea travel made him ill and you have never heard someone retch so loudly in your life. It sounded like a man being strangled every time. The first time it happened, I was convinced someone was trying to kill him. I went charging onto deck with my sword drawn only to find Achilles hanging over the side of the boat, chunks blowing in the wind.”
Bric laughed loudly at Achilles’ expense. “Coming to know the man as I have, I would believe it.”
Before they could continue that line of conversation, Alexander held up a hand. “We should probably not speak of such things with ladies present,” he said. “Remember the company you keep, good knights. More pleasant supper conversation, if you please.”
The four men turned their attention to the end of the table to see Cadelyn and Susanna looking at them. Cadelyn appeared somewhat amused, but Susanna did not. She was stiff and serious, and quite protective over the woman she had been guarding for the past several years, up to and including the conversation that went on around her.
“Do remember the company you keep,” Susanna said, a hint of threat in her tone. “It is unseemly for Lady Cadelyn to listen to talk of retching. Watch your manners.”
She was sitting next to Achilles yet again and Kress suddenly wondered if he was going to have to separate the two again because of the dirty look Achilles was giving her. Somehow, Achilles and Susanna seemed to always end up next to each other, which wasn’t optimal. Unfortunately, Achilles wasn’t one to back down, especially from a confrontation.
Especially from a woman.
“Why is it you feel the need to speak to us as if we are degenerates?” he asked Susanna. “We do not need a lesson in propriety from a woman who behaves like a man. Get your own house in order before you dare to lecture us, Amazon.”
He was coming at her fast and hard, meaning to shake her up. That was Achilles’ style. He was not a man of tact. He was, however, an educated man. Not only was he pious and had an intimate knowledge of the bible, but he had also been schooled in the classics, hence the reference to the warrior women in Greek mythology known as the “slayers of men”, women who were born fighters in the land of Scythia. They were women of blood and brutality, and he’d meant the term as an insult.
But Susanna didn’t rise to his offense, at least not right away. As before when they’d shared harsh words between them, she simply gazed at him steadily, as if waiting for him to get all of his insults out at her before responding. Once he was finished, she went straight for the throat.
“Better to be an Amazon than to be named after a man with an inherent weakness,” she said in a surprising show of education for herself. “Whatisyour weakness, Achilles? Your heel or your pea-sized brain?”
Bric was already up, putting himself between Susanna and Achilles before they could kill each other. But he didn’t move fast enough; Achilles reached out to grab Susanna by the neck, but she was already reaching for the wine pitcher when she saw him move. By the time his hand went to her throat, the earthenware wine pitcher in her hand was already swinging straight for his head. It crashed against his skull and shattered, with wine spraying everywhere. The two of them went down onto the ground as Kress reached out to scoop Cadelyn right off of the bench and away from the table.
The battle was on.
In Kress’ grip, Cadelyn shrieked. “Stop him!” she cried. “He will kill her!”
Kress could see the pair rolling around on the ground. At that point, they were trying to throw punches but they were literally on top of each other, so there wasn’t much movement other than rolling around in the splattered wine. But he didn’t make a move to stop them, nor did Bric or Alexander. They simply stood and watched, poised to separate them the moment Achilles got the upper hand.
“He will not kill her,” Kress said calmly, watching as Susanna suddenly flipped herself around and ended up on Achilles’ back. “But mayhap we had better let them fight it out, considering they do not seem to like each other much. Better now than later.”
But Cadelyn wasn’t so sure. She was horrified that the big, bald knight should try to hurt Susanna, who wasn’t going to make an easy victim. Once she got on Achilles’ back, she grabbed his ears and pulled hard, causing the man to howl. Bric took astep forward to pull the woman off Achilles’ back, but Alexander threw out a hand.
“Nay,” he said quietly, eyeing the tussling pair. “Let them work through this. Otherwise, we may not have any peace for the entire ride north.”
Bric frowned, unhappy because he was unable to help his friend with a woman who was pulling terribly on his ears. But that pain was short-lived when Achilles used his strength to toss Susanna off. As she landed on her back, he pounced, grabbing a handful of her copper curls and yanking on them.
