Page 50 of King’s Knight

Merewyn looked askance at Alex. “But why would she, a noblewoman, give me aught to eat or drink?” They stood in the bailey where he had led her when the games were over and Lady Adèle had gone to the bedchamber she would share with Merewyn. “ ’Twould be more likely I would serve her. She is our guest.” An unwanted one, but a guest nonetheless.

He pulled her into the shadows and kissed her on her forehead. “Do not doubt me, little one. Maugris warned me the woman means you ill.”

“Oh.”

“I must go, but promise me you will be careful.”

“I promise,” she said and watched him enter the manor. Above her, the stars glistened in the night sky. She decided to look in on Ceinder before seeking her bed. As she walked to the stables, she worried over her predicament. It was not good she was coming between Alex and his future. Mayhap it would be best if she returned to Wales when Alex left to meet the king. Already, she may have lingered too long, for she was becoming accustomed to seeing his face each day and sharing his kisses at night.

Ceinder was glad to see her, nickering softly at her approach. Before she left the stable, she looked in on Azor, thinking of his master.

She opened the door of her chamber to see Lady Adèle sitting on the edge of the large bed combing out her long dark tresses.

After greeting the young Norman woman, Merewyn began to remove her outer tunic, turning toward the wall as she did. Her body was slim, modest in feminine achievement, whereas Lady Adèle possessed an ample bosom. A man like Alex could not help but notice the difference with approval.

“How long have you known Sir Alex?” the woman asked.

“All my life,” Merewyn said without turning. “But he was away much and so was I. I have only recently returned to Talisand.”

“Your parents are here?”

To Merewyn, the questions were asked in a manner so as to sound hostile, as if she were being judged and found wanting. She answered in the shortest way she could. “Both are dead.”

“Were they both English? With your fair coloring, I would have—”

“Nay, only one, like Sir Alex.” Merewyn did not like where the woman’s inquiries were leading. She would not discuss her sire, especially not with one who meant her ill. Merewyn spared one glance for Lady Adèle and then blew out the candle on the small table next to her bed and slipped beneath the cover.

The room was still bathed in a faint flickering light, for another candle burned next to the larger bed where Adèle sat plaiting her hair.

Merewyn stared at the ceiling.

“I assume you know,” Lady Adèle said, “the king means for Sir Alex and me to wed.” The words sounded like a warning.

“Yea,” said Merewyn, her voice trembling. “I think all of Talisand knows that.” She turned her back to the woman and faced the wall, tears silently falling to her pillow.

* * *

Alex was just coming off the practice yard when Lady Adèle walked up to meet him. “Good day, my lady.”

“And to you, Sir Alex.” When he headed toward the palisade gate, she said, “I was hoping we might walk a bit.”

“Of course.” He gestured toward the river, but away from the village. He did not need his people to see him walking with the woman and wonder.

The waters of the River Lune were tranquil, only a few ducks leaving ripples in the water as they swam along.

“ ’Tis very peaceful here,” she said as they walked along the riverbank, “but not as beautiful, I think, as my father’s lands in Normandy.”

“I have seen Normandy on many occasions. Its rolling green hills and pasturelands are, indeed, beautiful to the eye, but England is my home and always will be.” He hoped he had put to rest the woman’s ambition concerning him, but the set of her jaw and her lips pressed tightly together spoke of her resolve to proceed.

“I suppose one could spend some part of the year here and the rest of it in Normandy,” she ventured.

“If one had a mind to do so, yea,” he said with indifference. How long would she talk around the real purpose of her seeking his company? He was certain it had not been in her mind to admire the beauty of harvest time in Talisand.

She stopped walking and turned to face him, her countenance no longer as sweetly pleasant as before. “Surely you must know, Sir Alex, William wants my father’s lands tied to a Norman noble who is loyal to England’s king. He means to see us wed and what the king wants, he will have.”

“Aye, my lady. William will certainly tie your father’s lands to a Norman loyal to him. But I would prefer that Norman not be me, for another lady holds my heart and Talisand will be my home forever.”

“Another lady?” She emphasized the last word and anger welled up inside him for he knew her intention to slight Merewyn for her commoner status.