Lord of a Thousand Nights (36 page)

Memories from the crypt suddenly assaulted her, insinuating into her awareness. Cold. Damp cold and fear. Fingers prodding, and a boy's laugh.
Stay here or the demons will get you. I'm going out to watch.

“We retaliated, and then they did, and it grew, as such things do. Robert would speak to me sometimes, urge me to make peace, tell me how the people suffered, but I wouldn't hear him. An eye for an eye, the old book says, and I was waiting for Aymer to come of age and earn his spurs. I do not kill children, but when he grew I planned to even things with Duncan the only way it could finally be evened.”

Running. Running. Toward the voices and screams rumbling down the black space and rocks, following the retreating steps.

“Then word came of how things were for you. I had never seen you, but you were Jamie's child. So I started listening to Robert, and we started thinking of ways to get you out of there.”

Light just ahead. Slower now, approaching cautiously.

“Duncan agreed only because of Aymer. He knew I was waiting for the boy to grow. He began negotiating in earnest when Aymer turned eighteen. I made him give those dower lands because he wasn't really giving a daughter. He agreed because it would be Robert who held them, and he knew him to be honorable. And so we found some peace and got you free of him.”

The image of herself, hanging —

She faced Maccus dazedly, scrambled images and emotions blurring her sight. “And my mother? Where is she?”

“He put her away, in an abbey.”

“Nay, I do not think so. Robert would have taken me there when I asked if he had.”

She walked over to Maccus. “Do you think that a child forgets such things forever? That if a hand covers her eyes she has not seen? That if a world remains silent she never remembers?” She clenched her fists until her nails bit into her skin. “All of my life, my soul has remembered. These last months, whenever someone spoke of my own judgment, I would see myself hanging, limp. I thought it was a premonition of my own death, but it was not. That is not me hanging there in that nightmare at all. He killed her, too, didn't he? Didn't he?”

She didn't realize that she had begun to yell until she felt Ian's presence behind her and his arm around her waist. “Calm yourself, love,” he said quietly.

Maccus's expression crumbled. “We did not know for sure. Robert found only Jamie, but he saw evidence that perhaps another— And she is not in that abbey, not living, anyway, because I went there to see if I could help her. I think Duncan regretted it as soon as he did it. In the old days an unfaithful wife might be punished thus, but it is considered murder now. Even his own people were told he had put her away.”

Her strength left her. She turned into Ian's supporting embrace and vaguely heard him whispering soothing words in her ear.

“You are Jamie's girl, Reyna,” Maccus said. “My granddaughter. If you ever have need of me, you know where to find me.”

A note in his voice penetrated her exhaustion. She turned and saw the flickering hope in his old eyes. She went over and embraced him. “You did your best for me, Grandfather, and it was better than even you knew.”

His hands cradled her head. “Well, now, girl, it is good to be able to acknowledge you.” He took her hands and kissed them. “Leave us now, if you will. I need to
warn this English knight to take care of you if he doesn't want to battle the whole Armstrong clan.”

She kissed him, then went to the door. “I will find John for you, Ian, and procure a chamber so that you can remove your armor.”

Maccus watched her go, and faced the door for a few moments longer. When he finally turned to Ian, a mischievous spark lit his eyes. “Well, Ian of Guilford, this marriage is an interesting surprise for me, and this conversation a more interesting one for you, I'll warrant.”

“Not too surprising. It is rare for men to treat their own blood the way Duncan treated her, and I had learned the story of your son's death. But since you are her grandfather, it is useful that you accept our marriage.”

“Oh, I accept it. What choice do I have?” He gestured around the chamber with a laugh. “But if I were you, I would not repeat this to anyone. When Fitzwaryn offered you Black Lyne Keep, he wasn't counting on a marriage alliance with the Armstrongs for you, was he?”

“Nay. Still, I will tell Morvan about this. Marriage to an Armstrong or not, I am his man. He may warm to the idea and lower your ransom as a result. What are the chances that you will try to attack Harclow if you must first take the keep in which your granddaughter lives?”

Maccus chuckled. “Who knows, twenty years from now—”

“In twenty years you will be dead and Duncan will be dead and the Armstrongs and Fitzwaryns will be watching their backs every day for Aymer Graham. This marriage alliance may prove very useful in the future. Until then, Black Lyne Keep will remain as it was under Robert of Kelso, lands separating three families, held by a man sworn to one and married to the daughter of another. It worked before. Let it work again.”

Maccus considered that and nodded. Then he glanced to the door and frowned. “Speaking of Robert — where do you think she got the unnatural notion that he might be her father?”

“Not so unnatural, since she was still a virgin when he died.”

“The hell you say. No wonder—Well, Robert never did have much doings with women. A good friend, but not one of the ones who went whoring and such when we were young—. Damnation. Those dower lands. If he never—”

“Very few know about it, and we all have our reasons for keeping silent,” Ian said. “I would like you to let your relationship to Reyna be known. She will not be judged in Robert's death, but many still suspect her. It is also unlikely that the real killer will ever face justice. If it is known that she is your granddaughter, those whispers will cease.”

He took his leave of Maccus and went in search of Reyna. He found her and John in a chamber, dumping the straw from the mattress into the hearth.

“There have been no women or servants here for over a month,” Reyna said. “The keep is filthy, the straw bug-ridden.”

“Get this armor off, John. I have lived in it for days.”

Reyna had found a broom, and she began sweeping while mail and plate clanked to the floor. Ian observed her small body move to her industry, bending and stretching while she continued to mutter about men who would live under such conditions. Her gown was dirty from her ordeal and her hair unbound and snarled, but he thought that she looked absolutely beautiful.

“Is Morvan looking for me, John?”

“Nay. He is organizing the soldiers and Sir David is
bartering with the merchants for provisions like a steward. Maccus's knights had to leave their horses and armor and our company got some of it, so they are contented, though Morvan is planning to pay them off soon. Don't need two thousand to hold a keep once it's fallen.”

Ian reminded himself to speak with certain members of the company to see if they wanted to remain at Black Lyne Keep, but his gaze never left Reyna. “Are there any servants about, John?”

“Some, not many,” the squire said as he inspected a piece of plate that he had just removed. Ian wished he would speed up and remove certain other sections that had suddenly become very uncomfortable.

John glanced over to Reyna. “She wants
me
to find clean straw for the mattress. As if I am some common—”

“I think that is an excellent idea. But first find some men and bring a bath.”

“A bath! There's feasting and drinking planned, and a whole castle to be explored, and you want me to—”

“A bath. And then the mattress, John.”

John's scowl darkened, then suddenly disappeared. He glanced at Reyna and flushed. “
Oh.
” His fingers began working the straps and buckles more quickly. He finished just as Reyna was pushing the dust and dirt into the hearth. “I'll go see about that bath now,” he mumbled, darting out and closing the door.

Ian went to Reyna and took the broom and set it aside. “How are you faring? It must be strange to spend your whole life thinking that you are one person, and then suddenly learn that you are another.”

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. He fought the urge to nip them. “It is strange, but in a peaceful way. Like a shadow has received light. I am feeling oddly free, in
fact. Duncan never loved me, nor I him, and it is good to know the reason. And my mother—in a way it is good to know that too. I do not feel at all like a different person, just that I know better the one who I have always been.” She rested a hand on his chest. His heart rose to his throat. “Do you think that people will tell me about him if I ask? About James?”

“Aye,” he managed to say, bending to kiss her puckered brow. The small taste of her undid him. He pulled her into an embrace, pressing fevered lips to her cheek, her neck, her breast, and he knew that he could not wait for the bath and the mattress. “You have been in my head every moment, Reyna, day and night.” He pressed and lifted her body to his, wanting to connect with every inch of her. “You are the light illuminating my shadows, love, and the need I feel for you astonishes me again and again.”

She sighed a little gasp when his hands moved in a long, savoring caress, and he couldn't have said another word after that if his life hung in the balance. Delicious desire swept him like a flood, drowning all thought until only his senses existed, hungry and alive, stimulated by her scent and sounds and hands.

He pressed her to the wall, lifting her skirt, anxious for the dewy feel of her skin, desperate to touch her body but immediately devastated by the warmth when he did, knowing at once that he could not even wait for that. Mindless now, he lifted her legs around his hips and took her there, his head buried in her breast, his hands grasping her bottom, listening to the music of her soft groans, grateful for her quick passion because he could have known no restraint.

She arched against him with a little cry just as his own finish came, and then her head collapsed against his
shoulder. Consciousness returned, and with it awareness of what he had just done.

“I am sorry, Reyna,” he muttered, holding her tightly, cursing himself, and worrying that the stones had bruised her back. “I did not mean to— when I spoke of my need for you, it was not— but it has been a very long—”

Her hand found his lips and silenced him. “What wife would not be flattered? And if it has been so long, I am honored.”

He eased her down and managed to right their clothing without releasing her. “Honored? Should I feel honored if you are faithful to me, Reyna? It is what I expect. If you went to another man, I would think that you loved him and that the best part of my life had died.”

“Aye, but—I thought—”

“I know what you thought and had good cause to think.” Her surprised, hopeful expression pained him to his core. “Could I be content with some whore after you? Settle for base pleasure? It is different with us, it has been from the start. Even when I act like some callous boy, as I just did now. Nay, wife, you are mine and I am yours, and there will be no others so long as our love lives.”

“But that will be forever, Ian,” she said, as if the eternity of her love could not be doubted. God, but he prayed it would ever be so. She did not really know the man to whom she offered her love so innocently. It seemed such a fragile thing, too, this precious euphoria that saturated his whole being. He dared not risk its destruction, and yet it also made him want to pour out his heart to her, and have her grace absolve the worst of his sins.
Not now. Not yet. Let it last.

“Aye,” he said. “The Lord of a Thousand Nights removed forever from the field. There goes my chance at immortal fame.”

They embraced until the bath arrived. He took her in with him, cradling her on his lap while he washed her, his gaze and kisses giving substance to the memories that had sustained and plagued him. When they emerged, he found the fresh mattress waiting outside the chamber and he took her to bed. He made love to her the way he had planned, loving and praising every part of her, still caressing and covering her long after their passion was spent.

C
an you be content here in Scotland, Ian? It will be very dull after the life you have had,” she said while her small fingers played through his hair.

“Blissfully dull, I hope. I will never be able to see warfare as a sport again. Besides, we will go down to London sometimes, as soon as we can in fact, when Christiana is in residence. She made me promise to bring you.” He paused. “You can stay with her while I return to Guilford. I think I will go back.” He rolled to his side. “I can not take you with me until I visit my brother and his wife first, and see how I am received.”

“Would his wife not welcome her husband's brother?”

“She certainly will not, but it is my brother whose feelings I must learn.”

He looked so serious, contemplating that meeting. Christiana had said that he could not return home.

“What stands between you and your brother?”

He turned his eyes on her, and his gaze deepened with an intensity that looked like anger.
I have done it again
, she thought sickly, looking away.

His hand turned her face back to him. “Can you love me without hearing about it? Love the man whom you know and forget about the rest?”

“My love does not start with one part of you and end
at another, Ian. Whatever this is that you have buried inside yourself, I still love you. Do not speak of it if you choose, but not because you fear that it will kill how I feel. There are no conditions on my love. It is yours, as is my friendship.”

His lips parted as if he would speak. When he didn't, she admitted disappointment that he did not trust her to understand. Well, she would accept however much he could give, and if he never spoke of this past which he hid, so be it.

He rested his head on her breast so the embrace was more hers than his, and she sensed his conflicted mood easing away while he nestled contentedly there. He had not rested much the last week, and she knew that he would sleep deeply.

Before he drifted off, he lazily kissed her cheek. “I feel that I have forgotten something. Ah, now I remember. I was supposed to punish you for your disobedience.”