“Up, then, my love. Quickly.”
He gave her one last, final squeeze before releasing her. In the darkness, they dressed, Brogan’s hands lingering on her as he helped her with her stays. He couldn’t stop touching her, and more than once, they fell into a passionate kiss. Avalyn wanted to run from the gates that very moment and never look back, but she knew that Brogan had to take care of St. Alban and The Sirens. She was anxious to help them, too.
“I shall send the girls down to you shortly,” she said. “There is a servant’s gate in the wall near the kitchens. That wouldprobably be the best place to leave unnoticed. Will you have St. Alban waiting to escort them?”
He nodded, securing the last tie on his tunic. “I will make sure he is there,” he said. “However, it will be more difficult for me to leave with my charger. I believe you should go with the Sirens so that St. Alban can take all of you from the servant’s gates. It would be a lot easier than trying to spirit you out through the main gates with me.”
She nodded in agreement. “That is a wise suggestion. Where will we meet up?”
He was moving out of the stall, making sure they were still alone. “I will arrange a rendezvous point outside of the fortress with St. Alban. Then we ride for St. Helen to collect Lake.”
“And then freedom.”
He sighed, his gaze lingering on her. He could hardly believe their plans were finally coming to fruition. There was a good deal of excitement and apprehension in his belly, but it was nothing compared to his utter adoration of Avalyn. He would have escaped through Hell simply for a chance to be near her.
“Freedom,” he said softly, taking her in his arms again. “I shall escort you back to the keep. There is nothing strange about us being seen together. I will say that I ran into you in the stables when I was checking on my horse and you were tending your colt.”
She nodded. “And, being a chivalrous knight, you would not let me walk unescorted.”
“Exactly.”
He kissed her one last time, sweetly, before letting her go. “Ready?”
She squared her shoulders. “Ready.”
They made it out of the stable without incident. The moon overhead was a sliver, casting little light on the stable yards as they casually passed through. The moment they enteredthe main bailey, however, there was a loud noise and Brogan suddenly ended up in a heap at her feet. Shocked, Avalyn looked up to see Barton with the butt-end of a mace in his hand. He had clobbered Brogan on the head with it. Horrified, her gaze moved beyond St. John to see Charles standing several feet behind him with a group of soldiers. The ghostly moonglow illuminated his chubby features; even in the dimness she could see that Aubrey did not look pleased.
“Tie him up.”
Then, someone grabbed Avalyn.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Where is William?”
The question came as half-demand, half-plea. Avalyn wasn’t sure she should make demands at all given the circumstances, but she wasn’t going to let Charles assert his dominance over her, either. Even with St. John in the room, fuming quietly in the corner and shooting hateful glares in her direction. Suddenly, the sunny solar that she had adopted as her own had taken on a black, ugly ambience. It wasn’t a comforting place any longer. For almost two days, it had been the place of her sorrow and her captivity.
“As I have said to you innumerable times, my lady, I will be asking the questions at this time.”
Charles was angry; that much was certain. But more than that, he was embarrassed and hurt. Embarrassed that he had been made a fool of and hurt that Avalyn had deceived him. He had tried so hard to be kind to her, to show her what kind of man he was. She had responded by betraying him. He paced back and forth across the wide-slat wooden floor, his expression worn and weary.
“I would ask that you kindly answer my question,” Avalyn said. She was exhausted and frightened. She was terrified they had done something horrible to William, as she’d not seen him since the night she and Brogan were discovered. “Just tell me where he is. I’ll not ask that he be brought to me, but I want to know where he is. Please.”
Charles was exhausted, too. This was turmoil he wasn’t used to and didn’t need, though in truth, he wasn’t particularlysurprised. The lady had made her very strong feelings for d’Aurilliac clear, though Charles had hoped beyond hope that the past few weeks would have seen that infatuation dissolved. But he should have guessed that it would not be the last he heard of the man. Maybe he had been the one deceiving himself all along, not the lady. She’d never been less than truthful about her feelings for another. Fat jaw ticking with frustration, he looked at her.
“If I tell you where he is, will you tell me what is truly going on?” It sounded strangely like a plea. “I have been asking you for two days to be truthful with me and you’ve yet to tell me what I wish to know. I have a right to know what has happened, my lady. I have every right in the world.”
Avalyn gazed up at him, her golden eyes dull. So far, they had not made the connection with The Sirens yet, but Brogan and St. Alban were in the vault. The women were still free as far as she knew. She intended to keep it that way, for their sakes.
She still did not know how Charles had come to discover Brogan’s identity; he’d not said. But the fact remained that he did know. Perhaps she needed to be truthful with him and hope that he would show mercy. Certainly, they could not keep up this stalemate much longer. Moreover, she knew that she was in the wrong; she had chosen to mislead him. She had allowed Brogan to infiltrate his knight corp with the intention of stealing her away. She’d known all along that Charles was a decent man and had been prone to moments of great guilt for her actions. Gazing into his face, her pity for him made a weak resurgence.
“I will tell you what you wish to know,” she finally sighed, lowering her gaze. “Just tell me where William is.”
Charles watched her lowered head, feeling a strange tug of compassion. He wasn’t a strong-willed man as it was, and Avalyn seemed to bring out his weaknesses, mostly because hewanted to please her so much. Even now, after her betrayal, he still did not want to see her unhappy.
“He’s in the vault,” he said.
Her head shot up, eyes flashing. “What? Why is he there?”
