“When shall I see you again?”
She sighed sadly. “I do not know. We are leaving on the morrow.”
His deep blue eyes were intense, serious. “I do not want to let you go, Avalyn. I feel as if I am just starting to live again and to take you away would… would surely be the end of me. But I also know that there are many things I have no control over. I am a lowly soldier and you are a powerful lady. Tell me what you would have of me, what you want me to do, and I shall do it.”
She shook her head. “You are speaking before you can think this through. The heat of the moment is causing you to say things you do not mean.”
His expression dimmed. “I am not a wise or educated man, but I know what I am saying. I am not stupid.”
“I did not mean to offend you. But sometimes we say things in passion that we would not normally say. You must listen to what your words. Would you really risk all just to be near me, no matter what the cost?”
He fell silent, his massive hands stroking her back as he often stroked St. Alban’s fat cat. The strokes were gentle, uncannily so, but there was untapped strength to them. “Perhaps,” he suggested, his tone a bit calmer, “we should go see your entertainment and reason things out. We both agree that we do not want to lose whatever is happening between us. Perhaps we can think of a way to keep it.”
She looked at him hesitantly, thinking that perhaps her foolish attraction to the man was getting the better of her. Somuch had changed since last night, since this morning. She was betrothed now. But gazing into Brogan’s eyes, she knew that her heart would not let her think clearly. Perhaps there was a way they could keep what they had started. But in the same breath, her apprehension was growing at the thought that they might be discovered at any moment. No doubt those missing her at the feast would be looking for her. She could not put Brogan at such risk.
“Return to the barracks and I shall return to the feast,” she told him. “But meet me here around midnight. We will speak more of it then, without the fear of someone coming upon us.”
He pulled her close and rubbed noses with her before depositing a sweet and longing kiss on her lips. Then he let her go.
“I will be here.”
She smiled sadly at him. This wasn’t healthy for either of them, in more ways than one. “I know,” she murmured. “Now go before you are discovered. Hurry!”
He gave her a wink as he faded back into the shadows, hugging the wall of the White Tower before rounding the corner and out of sight. Avalyn watched him go before turning back in the direction of the feasting hall. She hadn’t made it ten feet when Inglesbatch was suddenly in front of her. His simmering blue eyes told her everything she needed to know.
He had seen them together.
CHAPTER FIVE
Avalyn paused tocollect herself, gazing steadily into Inglesbatch’s round face. She had known William a long time and until today, they’d had a close and pleasant relationship. She crossed her arms, both defensively and protectively.
“How much have you seen?” she asked with resignation.
He was struggling not to judge. “Enough, my lady.”
“Are you going to tell my uncle?”
“I should.”
“Please don’t.”
He sighed heavily. The knight she had known for ten years relaxed and the man she had personally known came through, with the concern a brother would have shown. “May I ask a question, my lady?”
“Aye.”
“Candidly?”
“Aye.”
His jaw flexed. “Knowing the events of this morning, knowing that your aunt and uncle have forbid you to have any further contact with d’Aurilliac, still you steal out here in the dark of night to rendezvous with him? What are you thinking?”
She tried not to appear too defensive. “I do not want to marry Aubrey. I cannot.”
William wasn’t trying to be cruel; he was truly trying to help her. “That has nothing to do with your… your clandestine meeting with d’Aurilliac. Do you know anything about that man? Well, do you?”
“I know something of him.”
“Aye, from a sanitized view,” he continued when she opened her mouth to protest. “Do you know that d’Aurilliac is a man so feared that even the knights are hesitant to tangle with him? They call him ‘The Monster’. He’s a killing machine, my lady, pure and simple. He has been with Edward for at least twenty-five years. He’s seen service in battle with your uncle’s armies and against them, ripping men apart with his bare hands and creating more carnage than I will mention in the presence of a lady.”
