Betrayal (Book 2: Time Enough to Love) (15 page)

As their days of confinement wore on, Alyse became more and more restless. Not that she did not enjoy the time spent in the company of her husband, but she became weary of the same four walls and stuffy air of the tiny cabin. On the morning of the third day into their “punishment,” she would have sold her soul for a walk on the deck. Each morning and evening, when the servants brought their meals, she stood near the door and breathed when it opened to admit or release them.

Thomas smiled at her antics that morning then asked with mock seriousness, “Does this mean, madam, that you have tired so soon of my company?”

“Nay, my lord.” Her voice came out muffled as she stuck her whole head into the corridor. “Rather, I would be in your company somewhere other than this chamber.” She drew back as the servants left to look into his amused face. “
Once
in a while only. I attest, this chamber has many advantages, but we cannot spend
every
hour of the day in bed. Some time could safely be spent elsewhere.”

At her words his face slackened, a look of amazement dawning.

She cocked her head. “What is it?”

A rapt smile played over her husband’s lips. “I had never considered the possibility of spending every hour of the day in bed, sweet. ’Tis an awe-inspiring idea.” He grinned and ran his hands over her buttocks, giving them a squeeze. “Should we attempt such a feat whilst we still have our confinement as an excuse?”

She pushed away from him in mock disgust. “Thomas! You have turned lecher.”

“Aye, ever since I took you to my bed, sweet.” His gaze roamed over her hungrily, sending a thrill of pleasure through her.

But she refused to be deterred from her purpose. “Truly, know you of any way I may at least walk about up on deck? Even a short time in the open would be heavenly.”

Thomas pulled her back to him. “Mayhap I can talk to Sir Robert Bouchier about the matter. It may be that the confinement can be eased a little because it is almost at an end. We should make port in a day or two and then you will be back in attendance on Princess Joanna, with all the freedom you crave.”

Alyse sighed. “Aye. ’Twill be good to be back out in company, yet I will miss having so much time with you.”

“We will always have time for each other. That is my promise to you. No matter what duties befall us, we will find time enough for that.” He swooped down, kissing her with a passion that left her breathless and wanting more. But he released her, and smiled, moving toward the door. “If you will set up the chess board, sweet, I will send to Sir Robert to see if we can take a stroll on deck before the noon meal. Mayhap we can have our game and a stroll both this morning.” Thomas stuck his head out the door and called to a passing servant. He slipped out and shut the door, leaving Alyse alone for the first time in four days.

With a sigh, she dutifully set up the chess set, keeping an ear out for Sir Robert’s arrival. The board had been completed for some time when the door opened. One look at Thomas’s sorrowful eyes and firm mouth and her heart sank.

“I am sorry, my dear, but Sir Robert is most adamant that we remain in this chamber until the ship is berthed at
Bordeaux. ’Tis the express wish of the princess, and he will hold it to the letter of the law.” Thomas came to her and dropped a comforting hand on her shoulder. “He chastised me soundly because I stood outside the door to wait for him.” He grinned. “But, as I said, ’twill only be a few days more. And mayhap we will find new ways to pass the time ’til then.”

He took his place across the board from her and looked expectantly at his wife. “Will you be black or white, my love?”

“Black, I think, Thomas. ’Tis more my mood.” Alyse leaned her head on her hand, pouting.

She had so hoped Sir Robert would have been willing to bend the rules, even a trifle. Once, as the princess’s favorite courtier, she could have gotten her way. So much had changed in the weeks following her marriage. Both for good and for bad. She furrowed her brow as she studied the board. A stratagem began to form in her mind, and she glanced at her husband, eyebrows raised.

Thomas laughed softly. “Plotting, my dear?”

“Aye, my love.” Thinking about her idea, her good humor returned. “And I thought, mayhap, we could wager on the game. Whoever wins may ask a boon of the other.” She tried to make her eyes wide and innocent.

His face took on a mischievous air. “Any boon?”

“Aye. Whatever you would devise, I would do for you or you for me.” She spoke as enticingly as possible, praying he would take the bait.

His eyes gleamed, and he licked his lips. “Then, aye, sweet, I will take that wager.”

Her spirits soared, for she had in mind a certain office that would surely test her husband’s mettle. All she had to do was win the game.

* * * *

They commenced, Thomas enchanted with Alyse’s drawn brow, puckered in concentration as she tried to reason out his responses two or three moves ahead.

She must have hit upon a task she was very eager for him to perform.

He hoped it had an amorous bent. Thus far he had initiated all their love play. After the first time, she had seemed more at ease with him, but he hoped before they docked that she would take the lead in their bed. ’Twould indicate to him that she accepted their marriage, accepted him. Cared for him more than the simple affection and regard she already showed.

Briefly, he contemplated letting her win the game, simply to find out what she would ask of him. In the end, however, he decided to play fairly. His own forfeit, should he win, was taking shape in his mind, and he hoped it would prove as diverting for her as he knew it would for him. He was musing about how fetching she would look attired in his short tunic, with her hair down, when she spoke up.

“Thomas, I have just checked your queen. You will lose her in two moves, I believe.”

His attention came crashing back to the board. He stared, aghast to see so few pieces remaining. ’Sblood. ’Twas his own fault for letting his thoughts stray to that bewitching woman.

His queen was indeed in danger and, try though he might, she fell to Alyse in two moves as predicted. From that point it was well-nigh ordained that Alyse would take his king, which she did in three easy moves.

“Checkmate, my love.” She smiled brilliantly at him.

That alone made losing the game a pleasure. He grinned back at her then rose and bowed to her. “My lady. ’Twas a game well played, and I am ready to pay my debt to you. Ask what boon you will.”

“Thank you for your graciousness, Lord Braeton. I have never spent better time in your company,” she paused, mischievously, “over a chess board. But to the matter at hand. The boon I seek from you is this.” She rose to stand before him, put her arms around his neck, and drew his head down to hers.

Her lips brushed his, and his hopes soared. “Thomas, I ask that you take me to…”

Bed.
He could hear the word loud and clear.

“The deck of the ship.”

“Alyse!” His jaw dropped, and he stared at his wife’s determined face.

They would be disobeying the express orders of the princess. Granted, he had been no saint. He had done outrageous things in his lifetime, but this outdid anything he had been party to.

Shaking his head in disbelief, he tried to reason with her. “We cannot do any such thing, my dear.” The more he thought about it, the more concerned he became. “I think your confinement has come dangerously close to unhinging your mind.”

Alyse cocked her head at him and let a small smile flicker across her lips. “You mean such a request would not be to your liking, my lord?”

A resounding “no” rose to his lips, but he bit it back when he considered the possibilities. The fresh salty breeze, the quiet lap of the water, the blanket of stars over them, a sense of adventure. He shook his head. It was impossible. There were dangers, yea, of tremendous proportions. Discovery would mean disgrace, public censure, and perhaps dismissal from the princess’s retinue.

But he had to admit, such danger added additional spice to an already heady proposition. Spice. He groaned, thinking of his original estimation of Alyse as “plain fare.” Had he but known…

At his silence, an irritatingly winsome smile curled her lips. “But surely it is not an
impossible
task, Thomas? Merely more difficult than most?”

He snorted. “Aye, madam. Akin to pushing a camel through the eye of a needle. Well-nigh impossible,” he sighed, “but, mayhap, if I think it through...”

With a long-suffering look at his wife, he sat down at the table, poured a cup of wine and set himself to devise a way to achieve her goal.

Alyse crossed behind him and leaned down to press an ardent kiss to his lips. She entwined her arms around his neck and spoke, husky and low, “’Twill be something to tell our grandchildren.”

* * * *

Alyse all but danced with anticipation when Thomas finally looked up from a note that had been delivered just after the evening meal.

He nodded his head at her expectant look. “I have made the arrangements, my dear. I believe ’twill work, to have us brought up on the deck. That proved an easy task, for Geoffrey agreed to spirit the forward watch away for a final round of ale just after the change of watch.”

“You told Geoffrey what we were about?” She shuddered at the sound of his name. It had not come to her mind or lips for the past several days. To have it thus spoken was an unexpected jolt.

Thomas frowned at her. “I need his help if I am to pay my forfeit. So I had to tell Geoffrey of the wager, and that we wanted to spend some minutes up on deck after the long confinement below. As I suspected, he was very agreeable and eagerly offered his assistance in granting your boon.”

Catching his jealous look, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his unyielding mouth with such warmth that the firm lips had no chance to remain so. “My gratitude is unending, my lord.”

Thomas smiled grudgingly and relaxed with her in his arms. “My devotion is as eternal, sweet. But let me lay the proposition out for you, for it must be followed to the letter lest we be discovered and censured for our folly.”

He drew her over to the table and sat her down across from him. “Just after the change in the night watch, Geoffrey will go to the watchman in the ship’s forecastle and, accompanying him on the first of his rounds, will draw the man out in conversation. Ere he is done, Geoffrey will then press an ale on the man, detaining him for as long as he possibly can. Our time will be short, but it should suffice.”

He peered at her, his manner serious. “The entire time we are on deck you must obey me immediately, no matter what I ask of you. If you hesitate, this night is like to end unpleasantly.”

Alyse nodded. “How much time have we to prepare?”

“An hour, mayhap two. Geoffrey will knock on the door ere he goes to find the watch. We then wait the count of one hundred and follow him up on deck.” Thomas turned toward the clothes chest. “We had best get you ready.” He opened the trunk and began rummaging around.

She followed his lead and went to her chest of clothes. After a moment, she pulled a plain muslin shift free. “Will this do, my lord?”

He stopped and stood up, garments in his hands. “Do for what, madam?”

“To go up on deck.”

“You would go up on deck in your shift?” The perplexity in his voice would have been humorous had his scowl not accompanied it.

“I will put a cloak over it.” What else could she wear? “We do not expect to meet anyone, do we?”

“And if the unexpected occurs, my dear? What if someone out enjoying the night strolls past?”

Alyse shook her head, confused. “You would have me wear my gown?” She gestured to her rose-colored cotehardie. Any who saw her would know her at once.

“Nay, my sweet. You will be wearing this.” Thomas pulled the garments he sought out of the chest for her inspection.

“Thomas! You would have me dress as a man? In
your
clothes?” He could not mean it. Outraged, she clutched her gown to her. Mayhap this wager had gone too far.

“Aye, love. You must go disguised as a young courtier lest you be discovered. Should you be seen, ’twill seem we are two men conversing, not a man and a woman.” He held the tunic and hose up to her, and grinned. “You will be quite a comely companion for a youth.”

“But, Thomas.” Alyse inspected the huge garments before her. “They are much too big! ’Twill hang off of me like a sack. And the arms will drag the ground.” Another thought occurred. “The tunic will be too short. You would have me show my legs in my hose?”

He grinned. “Aye, madam, that I would.”

“I will not wear it!”

“Then the debt is forfeited, and you must grant me the boon.”

Alyse looked askance at him. “What is your boon?”

A wicked smile danced on Thomas’s face. “For you to dress in my clothes.”

“Ohhhh! You wretch!” Alyse squealed, and flung the garments back at him.

He laughed, and let the tunic and hose fall to the floor, reaching instead for Alyse. She tried to run, but he snared her hand and drew her to him until he could put his arms around her. She pouted and turned her head away, but he sought her mouth unrelentingly.