LadyOfConquest:SaxonBride (51 page)

“Never shall I forget who he is,” she said.

Agatha lowered her prominent chin, though not soon enough to obscure a childlike smile.

Telling herself she did not care what pleasure Agatha took in Boursier’s suffering, El stepped from the cell.

As Agatha pulled the door closed, she beckoned for the keys.

“Nay,” El said, “I shall hold to them.”

The woman’s lids sprang wide. “You do not trust me, my lady?”

El longed to deny it, but said, “Forgive me, but I do not.” She locked the cell door.

Feeling Agatha’s ire, she followed the woman from the underground passage, taking the light with them and condemning Boursier to utter darkness. A darkness that would not lift for six days.

All of him ached.

With a breath that tasted foul and a groan that bounced back from walls that seemed too near, he opened his eye and blinked in an attempt to fathom the bit of light provided by torches lit about the inner bailey. But no glow penetrated the window’s oilcloth. All was black, as if he were blind.

He wrenched a hand toward his right eye and jerked when a rattle resounded around the room and metal links struck his forearm.

Disbelief slammed through him, then anger. Shouting above the clatter of chains, he thrust his arms forward. If anyone was near, they would know he had awakened from whatever had rendered him senseless.

A memory—there one moment, slipping away the next—stilled him. Was it something he had seen before whatever had drugged him had taken full effect? Something heard? Felt?

He groped backward, but that which he dragged forth had little form due to the darkness in which it was bred. There
had
been a glimmer as of one whose eyes gathered bare light. And a scent. But that was all he had of the one who had stolen him from Castle Adderstone. How—?

The wine! After all these years, had Agatha returned to make good her threat of ruin?

Forgetting his aches, he bellowed and strained against the manacles, but no one came to part the darkness that was so complete it returned him to the question of his sight. Had the last of it been taken from him? Was there light upon his face he could not see?

He touched his right eye. It was there, but in the presence of light, would it yet see him through the world?

He clenched his hands. Had Agatha stolen him from his bed? Likely. But it might also be Griffin de Arell who would not wish his daughter wed to a Boursier, regardless that his illegitimate offspring could not be dear to him. Then there was the possibility this atrocity involved both Agatha and the De Arells. Though the woman was occasionally seen on Verdun lands, Bayard’s men had caught sight of her on De Arell’s barony. Thus, Bayard was likely imprisoned at Castle Mathe.

He pressed his palms to the wall at his back and groped along the slick surface, but that beneath his fingers revealed nothing of the place at which he was held. His right hand brushed something. Another prisoner? If so, either dead or unconscious to have not been awakened by Bayard’s raging.

Grudgingly grateful for the length of chain that permitted movement on both sides, he felt a hand across what turned out to be a pack. He dragged it onto his lap and tossed back the flap. The first bundle he pulled out smelled of dried fish, the next was a loaf of bread, and there were two large skins of wine.

Provisions? Meaning none would be coming for him soon? Meaning he was not meant to die? Why? For the suspicion his death would cast upon the De Arells? For how long—?

“Six days!” he shouted and continued to shout until his throat felt as if sliced through.

He dropped his head back. If he did not escape before the last day of autumn, he would not wed the De Arell woman and Godsmere would be forfeited.

“Lord!” he called upon the one to whom Father Crispin would counsel him to turn. Even so, it was more a cry of anger and frustration than an appeal for aid.

Perhaps I should have chosen the Verdun woman
, he silently seethed. It was as Quintin had pressed him to do. Quintin who was alone except for her needy mother. Quintin who did not always act upon the wisdom gifted her.

Staring into darkness, Bayard ignored the voice that told him to pray and, instead, vowed that the De Arells would answer for what they had done. Then he cursed them, strained against his chains, and felt one give.

TAMARA LEIGH NOVELS

CLEAN READ HISTORICAL ROMANCE

The Feud: A Medieval Romance Series

Baron Of Godsmere
:
Book One, 02/15

Baron Of Emberly
: Book Two, Winter 2015

Medieval Romance Series

Lady At Arms
:
Book One, 01/14 (1994 Bantam Books bestseller
Warrior Bride
clean read rewrite)

Lady Of Eve
:
Book Two, 06/14 (1994 Bantam Books bestseller
Virgin Bride
clean read rewrite)

Stand-Alone Medieval Romance Novels

Lady Of Fire
:
11/14 (1995 Bantam Books bestseller
Pagan Bride
clean read rewrite)

Lady Of Conquest
:
06/15 (1996 Bantam Books bestseller
Saxon Bride
clean read rewrite)

Dreamspell
:
A Medieval Time Travel Romance
,
03/12

INSPIRATIONAL HISTORICAL ROMANCE

Age of Faith: A Medieval Romance Series

The Unveiling
:
Book One, 08/12

The Yielding
:
Book Two, 12/12

The Redeeming
:
Book Three, 05/13

The Kindling
:
Book Four, 11/13

The Longing
: Book Five, 05/14:
 

INSPIRATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Head Over Heels: Stand-Alone Romance Novels

Stealing Adda
,
05/12 (ebook edition)

Stealing Adda
,
2006 (print edition): NavPress

Perfecting Kate
,
03/15 (ebook edition):

Perfecting Kate
,
2007 (print edition): Multnomah

Splitting Harriet
,
2007 (print edition): RandomHouse/Multnomah

Faking Grace
,
2008 (print edition): RandomHouse/Multnomah

Southern Discomfort: A Contemporary Romance Series

Leaving Carolina
,
2009 (print edition): RandomHouse/Multnomah

Nowhere, Carolina
,
2010 (print edition): RandomHouse/Multnomah

Restless in Carolina
,
2011 (print edition): RandomHouse/Multnomah

OUT-OF-PRINT GENERAL MARKET TITLES

Warrior Bride
,
1994: Bantam Books

*Virgin Bride
,
1994: Bantam Books

Pagan Bride
,
1995: Bantam Books

Saxon Bride
,
1995: Bantam Books

Misbegotten
,
1996: HarperCollins

Unforgotten
,
1997: HarperCollins

Blackheart,
2001: Dorchester Leisure

*
Virgin Bride
is the sequel to
Warrior Bride

Pagan Pride
and
Saxon Bride
are stand-alone novels

www.tamaraleigh.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tamara Leigh holds a Masters Degree in Speech and Language Pathology. In 1993, she signed a 4-book contract with Bantam Books. Her first medieval romance,
Warrior Bride
, was released in 1994. Continuing to write for the general market, three more novels were published with HarperCollins and Dorchester and earned awards and spots on national bestseller lists.

In 2006, Tamara’s first inspirational contemporary romance,
Stealing Adda
, was released. In 2008,
Perfecting Kate
was optioned for film and
Splitting Harriet
won an ACFW “Book of the Year” award. The following year,
Faking Grace
was nominated for a RITA award. In 2011, Tamara wrapped up her “Southern Discomfort” series with the release of
Restless in Carolina
.

When not in the middle of being a wife, mother, and cookbook fiend, Tamara
 
buries her nose in a good book—and her writer’s pen in ink. In 2012, she returned to the historical romance genre with
Dreamspell,
a medieval time travel romance. Shortly thereafter, she once more invited readers to join her in the middle ages with the
Age of Faith
series that includes
The Unveiling, The Yielding, The Redeeming,
The Kindling,
and
The Longing
.
Lady at Arms, Lady Of Eve, Lady Of Fire
, and
Lady Of Conquest
are the first of Tamara’s Bantam Books bestselling medieval romances to be rewritten as “clean reads.”
Baron of Godsmere,
the first book in her new series,
The Feud,
is now available. Look for the second book,
Baron Of Emberly
, in Winter 2015.

Tamara lives near Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, sons, and a Doberman who bares its teeth not only to threaten the UPS man but to smile.

Connect with Tamara at her website
www.tamaraleigh.com
, her blog
The Kitchen Novelist,
Facebook,
and
Twitter
. To be added to her mailing list for notification of new releases and special promotions, email her at
[email protected]
.