Dragonblade Trilogy - 02 - Island of Glass (5 page)

Kenneth shook his head. “None at
all, my lord.”

The earl cocked an eyebrow. “I am
sure you are being generous, Kenneth. Do you mean to tell me that she behaved
like a princess and went right to bed without incident?”

Kenneth couldn’t lie to him; he
shrugged his big shoulders. “She was determined to escape at one point, but I
was able to convince her that lowering herself four stories to the bailey on a
rope of bed linen would not be the wisest decision.”

“A rope of linen?” the earl
almost spit his bread onto the table. “Surely you jest?”

“Hardly, my lord. She would have
broken her neck had I not intervened.”

Garson shook his head, taking a
large gulp of watered wine. “Not only is she determined, she is reckless. A
dangerous combination.”

Kenneth didn’t reply; his silence
was agreement enough. He stood there a moment, waiting patiently as the earl
swirled his wine. It seemed as if there was much on his mind.

“I am sure you are exhausted,” he
finally said, without elaborating on his thoughts. “Take your leave. I do not
require your services the rest of the day, as I am sure you could use the rest.
And do not lie to me and tell me that you do not need to sleep.”

Kenneth fought off a grin; it was
a joke between them that Kenneth never slept. The earl accused him of being a
nocturnal beast, ever watchful, always vigilant. Dipping his head respectfully
to his liege, he quit the hall and made his way to the knight’s quarters.

The two structures that serviced
the upper class warriors were built against the outer wall. As he traversed the
bailey, he crossed paths with Reid de Bowland and Sir Bradley Trevalyn. The two
knights rounded out the earl’s five-man knight corps, seasoned men with
retainers and power of their own. Reid was a tall, congenial knight with
copper-colored hair, while Bradley was shorter, stockier, and more rugged in
appearance. They saluted Kenneth as their paths merged.

“My lord,” Reid greeted him. “I
see you’ve returned from both battles unscathed.”

“Both battles?”

Reid grinned as Bradley spoke up.
“Everett told us about Lady Aubrielle. If Dinas Bran wasn’t enough, you had to
take it on the chin from her as well.”

Kenneth grunted. “Hardly a battle,
I assure you. Properly handled, she is quite manageable.”

“It helps when you employ ropes
and shackles, Ken,” Bradley muttered.

“I did nothing of the sort.” He
cocked an eyebrow. “The weight of my body and brute strength was sufficient.

“Aye, but barely,” Reid offered.

“Barely.”

He left Reid and Bradley with
snorts of humor as he completed his trip to the knight’s quarters. Entering the
larger of the two buildings, he made his way to the room at the end of a long,
narrow hall. It was dingy room with a small slit window for light and
ventilation. If he stopped to think about it, it was a depressing little room,
but it was something he was used to. There was comfort in the dreariness.
Removing his armor, he arranged it carefully on the rack in the corner. When he
finally lay upon the hard bed, he found that he could not sleep at all.

For a man whose only physical
contact with women had been an occasional whore, his thoughts lingered around
the soft sweetness of Aubrielle in his arms. She hadn’t been like any other
woman he’d ever had contact with. She smelled sweet, and her hair was silken
and clean. Her skin, from what he had touched whilst grabbing her wrists, had
been baby-soft. No, she certainly wasn’t like any woman he’d ever been with. It
was like comparing a priceless wine against rancid ale.

She was a beautiful, fine woman,
no doubt. But it was her mind that he questioned. Her quest had him puzzled;
the search for the chalice of Christ was the root of her attempts to escape.
There was no lover, which strangely relieved him, and her only reason in
wanting to flee Kirk was to travel to Glastonbury. That’s why she had run from
him in the forest, and why she had made her foolish attempt to escape her
chamber. But to seek what Arthur and his knights could not find was not only
arrogant, it was sacrilegious. He couldn’t believe she had such a lofty goal.
If God had meant it to be discovered, He would have arranged for such an event
by those far more worthy than Aubrielle Grace di Witney.

He somehow managed to fall into a
fitful sleep. As a trained warrior, he always slept lightly, but the noise from
the bailey didn’t bother him in his exhausted state. He slept through all of
it.

The scuffling of feet in the late
afternoon awakened him, however. He was just sitting up as a knock fell upon
his door. He grunted a word of entry and the panel opened. Kenneth’s squire, a
lad of nineteen years, stuck his head into the room. His dark, handsome
features were wrought with concern.

“My lord,” he said. “Captain le
Cor says you should come.”

Kenneth passed a weary hand over
his face before reaching for his boots. “What is it, Max?”

“The earl’s niece, my lord,” the
boy said. “She is in the vault.”

Kenneth wasn’t surprised. “What
happened?”

“She hit Sir Everett across the
head with a fire poker.”

He didn’t let the lad see the
smile that tugged at his lips. He didn’t know why he found it so humorous. He
simply nodded his head and pulled on his other boot. The lad preceded him from
the knight’s quarters, leading him across the busy bailey. Kenneth plowed a
straight path while Max dodged soldiers and animals; he had yet to acquire the
commanding presence that his liege had. Eventually they reached the vault that
was lodged on the two lower levels of Kirk’s enormous gatehouse.

Kenneth descended the narrow
spiral steps into the dungeon, his bulk barely fitting down the passage. Widely
spaced torches lit the way. On the first level below the main ground level,
they found the earl, Lucius, Reid, Bradley and Everett. One look at Everett
with a huge welt across his forehead and a cut lip, and Kenneth cocked an
eyebrow.

“I told you to watch your back.”

Everett gave him an intolerant
look. “It wasn’t my back she struck.”

“What happened?”

“You wouldn’t believe it; she
simply walked to the fireplace, picked up the brass poker, walked right up to
me and slugged me across the face.”

“What did you say to upset her?”

“I told her that she could not
leave.”

“Even when she cried and
pleaded?”

Everett rolled his eyes. “That
woman is incapable of crying. She sat like a stone, all day, hardly moving and
not speaking a word. Then, she asks if she may leave. I told her, regretfully,
that she may not, so she smacks me on the face with the poker.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s enough.”

Kenneth looked at the earl; he
was curious how the man would react to the latest incident. Garson was leaning
against the wall, his expression weary. His focus was on Kenneth.

“It would seem that you are the
only one able to control her,” he said.

Kenneth shrugged modestly. “I am
not sure if you would call it control, my lord. I literally had to sit on her.
And I didn’t let her get near the fire poker.”

Reid and Bradley fought off
varying degrees of smirks. Everett looked disgusted. Lucius held no discernible
expression. The earl, however, cast Kenneth a penetrating look. “I cannot have
her attacking my knights.”

“Understood, my lord.”

“Then consider her your problem
until the problem is solved.”

Kenneth didn’t like the sound of
that. “My problem, my lord?”

It was apparent that the earl was
tired of dealing with his niece. She had only been at Kirk one day and,
already, he was done with her. He should have never consented to having her in
the first place.

“Since you are the only one who
can handle her, I henceforth leave her to you. But if you come to the
conclusion that she cannot be controlled, you have my permission to commit her
to a convent, or a prison, or whatever else you deem necessary.” Garson pushed
himself off the wall, heading for the narrow steps. “I am finished with this. I
wash my hands of the girl. Do what you will with her, but I do not want to hear
any more about her. Is that clear?”

Kenneth knew he could not protest
the decision, much as he wanted to. He was, frankly, stunned.  “It is, my
lord.”

Lucius gave him a long look as he
followed the earl up the steps. Everett, not wanting to be sucked into being a
party to Kenneth’s task, followed shortly and took Max with him. Reid and
Bradley were the last to leave, offering some semblance of assistance that was
politely refused. They felt sorry for Kenneth, but were nonetheless glad it
wasn’t their problem.

When everyone had fled, Kenneth
stood there a moment, thinking the earl most cowardly for his actions. As an
obedient knight, however, he prepared to fulfill his requirements. He had no
choice.

It was dark in the dungeon,
smelling of mold and rot. It was a hellish place for a man much less a woman.
There was a cell several feet in front of him and a second cell off to his
right. He peered into the second cell; it was empty. Looking into the first, he
could see Aubrielle seated against the far wall, a heavy iron shackle around
her ankle. Her arms were scratched and bleeding, and her gown was torn.

She caught movement and looked
up, meeting Kenneth’s icy gaze.  She was trying very hard to be brave. Slowly,
he entered the cell, looking down at her cuts and bruises. Knowing Everett,
there was no possibility that the man had beaten her. Whatever was on her had
happened in the ensuing struggle to get her into the cell. He could have only
imagined the battle.

He didn’t quite know what to say.
He crouched down, several feet away. Aubrielle met his gaze steadily.

“So,” she said quietly. “I see
that they have called for you. And how are you to punish me for my actions this
time?”

As he continued to gaze at her,
his most prevailing thought was how beautiful she was. He’d spent all last
night gazing at her beauty and it had managed to disrupt his normally steady
mind. Now, looking at her, he realized to his horror that the feelings of fascination
were growing stronger.  But he had no time to indulge his foolishness.

“You will listen to me carefully,
lady, for I will only explain this one time,” he said in a low voice. “The earl
wants nothing more to do with you. For all intents and purposes, you are no
longer a consideration or a burden to him. He has entrusted your welfare to me
entirely, to see to and to do with as I see fit and necessary. In simple terms,
you are now my ward. Do you understand what I have said so far?”

Aubrielle stared at him,
confused. “Your ward?”

“Aye.”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“That you belong to me.”

Her look of confusion grew into
one of outrage. “So the term ‘ward’ is a kind word for a concubine?” She
rattled her chains violently. “I shall have none of it, do you hear me? I shall
not be your whore!”

He remained cool. “You
misunderstand. Our agreement does not entail physical or emotional terms. The
earl has ordered me to either subdue you or commit you. Your choices are to
either learn to conduct yourself as a proper lady, with all of the behavior
modifications related thereto, or to be committed to a convent where you’ll
never again know freedom or leisure. The earl is unwilling to indulge your
current behavior a moment longer. You have pushed him to the limit of endurance
and a decision must be made.”

She stared at him before turning
away. “Are you asking me to make that choice now?”

“You have no alternative.”

It was clear she was attempting
to hold back hot, angry tears.  The shackle around her ankle had rubbed a
bloody welt and she touched it distractedly as if trying to ease the pain.  “Do
you think a convent can hold me?” she murmured. “I can escape far easier
there.”

“If that is your intent, then I
have your uncle’s permission to throw you in prison.”

Her head snapped up. “You
wouldn’t dare!”

“If there is no other choice.”

“On what charge? I have done
nothing!”

“I am sure your uncle would swear
that you’ve done something. Stealing, perhaps. Or perhaps you owe him money and
refuse to pay. Believe me when I tell you that it doesn’t matter what charge.
You will go to prison if that is the decision.”

Her mouth was hanging open in
disbelief. “All of this simply to keep me from following my dream?” she
whispered. “I am not a criminal, sir knight. I am a lady of noble birth, highly
educated and worthy of respect. I have never done anything even remotely evil
or subversive in my entire life. Why is there such a set against me?”

Kenneth could feel her pain; it
was radiating from her eyes, reaching out to touch him. He had a strange
sensation, suspecting it was weakness but unsure how to react to it.

“It was evil to hit Everett,” he
said simply.