Seduced (19 page)

He hurried over to offer his arm to Letia. He
had near reached her when shouts coming from the end of the bailey
halted him in his tracks. The sound drew her eyes. Her heart
thumped in her chest at seeing Edulf, Warin's squire, running and
waving his arms up at her.

She knew. Fear struck her chest. Vomit surged
to her mouth.

Warin.

"Hurry, Giles."

Those next moments seemed to take forever,
yet she could not remember descending the long stairs to the
ground. Nor was she aware of Edulf taking her other elbow to hurry
her across the bailey. By the time she entered the great hall and
climbed the stairwell up to their sleeping chamber, she was out of
breath.

From Edulf's frightened recount, she
understood that he had removed Warin's hauberk and was unlacing his
padded gambeson when the baron clutched his chest and near fell.
Had Leofwan not been at his side, Edulf doubted he would have been
able to support him back to his chair.

Letia burst into the solar to find Warin
conscious but in agony. She took a deep breath and sent Maud for
the whicker basket Letia kept near their bedside. It contained all
the potions and herbal mixtures that eased his suffering.

"My love, rest for a bit. Once you have taken
your potion, the pain will ease and we can make you more
comfortable in our chambers."

Freki nuzzled the limp hand on the chair arm,
then whined and eased his head against it. His great, yellow eyes
gazed up at Letia. The huge, black beast knew what was to come.

She looked up into Warin's blue eyes and
tried not to flinch. Seeing the torment there was like looking into
the eyes of a magnificent steed felled by a crossbow.

"Beloved...take care…not harm..." He tried to
speak but could not catch his breath.

"I know, love, I know. I will be most careful
of the babe." She forced a bright smile to her lips. As Maud rushed
back through the doorway, Letia pressed his hand against her
stomach. "Your son moves when he hears your voice. Can you feel him
kick your hand? 'Tis like he tries to reach out to you."

His weak smile made her thankful she had
reminded him of his heir. She patted his hand then placed it in his
lap so she could give him the prepared dose of hawthorn and
monks-hood that eased the pains in his heart. Once he swallowed it,
she watched to see if he gained the relief that usually came
quickly.

His teeth clamped together and his lips
pressed so tightly they were near white. Dread squeezed her breath
as she prayed for some sign that his agony eased.

He motioned to Leofwan. When he bent close,
Warin whispered.

"Now."

His faithful friend straightened. "Our baron
is fine. He has overtaxed himself and must rest."

The men sighed with relief, and when Leofwan
made motions with his hands toward the door, they started leaving
the room. Quietly so as not to attract attention, he kept the
slinger Piers and two hefty knights within, then eased the door
closed.

"Leofwan?" Letia realized a planned move when
she saw it.

He nodded at her. "'Tis the baron's wish, my
lady. Do not worry. We will help him to his bed."

Letia gulped. Her heart screamed that it was
not time for Warin to go. He had not yet seen his son. She bit her
tongue, knowing he had planned his last moments for the safety of
Seton. She nodded and hurried to pull wide the connecting door to
their bedchamber then flipped back the bed covers.

The men carried Warin into the room in his
chair, eased off his clothing and placed him between the
sheets.

Letia measured the proper amount of a
tincture made from the white poppy and stirred it into a small cup
of wine. She nodded for Maud to hold his head up. Carefully, she
placed the cup to his lips for him to sip. Once he had drunk it
all, his body began to lose the terrible tension gripping it.

Leofwan motioned for Maud and the three men
to leave then stood to stare out the window opening. Unseeing.

Freki made a low, keening sound and stretched
out at her feet.

Warin attempted to smile. His beautiful eyes
begged her as his trembling hand patted the bed. Letia fisted her
own so tightly her nails tore into the flesh of her palms. Her
knees would no longer hold her upright. Clasping his right hand to
her breast and careful not to rock the bedding, she eased herself
to sit beside him.

"Love, rest and let the potion ease your
pain."

She stroked the shining silver streak there
amongst the black hair at his temples.

"Promise...Beloved," he whispered.

"Promise? What is it you wish from me,
husband?"

She lowered her head close to his lips to
hear his labored words.

"Do not...fight..." He held his breath a
moment, then gasped and continued, "he...comes."

Heavenly Father. She would not cause him
further pain by refusing him. She nodded her head.

"Say...it."

She shuddered. And did as he begged.

"I promise, husband."

His breathing labored. Rasped from his
throat.

Leofwan turned and she looked up. He answered
the question in her eyes with a grim nod. His shoulders
straightened and he went to stand at the foot of the bed. His lone
hand rested on Warin's foot. He cleared his throat.

"Rest easy, my dear friend. Have no fear for
your beloved. I will protect her with my life."

Warin's eyes flashed understanding. His gaze
returned to Letia's face. He seemed to need something from her. She
forced away her grief and fears in the need to comfort him.

With his hand still clutched to her breast,
she leaned down and feathered kisses over his face, then on his
lips. His other hand came to rest against the side of her face.

"My love, you have seen that our babe and I
will be well taken care of. All at Seton will be protected because
of you." She swallowed back a sob and kissed his lips. "You will
always be in my heart. You need suffer no longer. Go in peace."

She lifted her face only enough to see his
eyes. Peace settled there. She caressed his cheek and lightly
kissed his lips again. As her lips lifted from his, he drew in a
breath. His face softened. Her gaze never left his. His beautiful
blue eyes sent his love to her.

Then softened. Faded.

His breath sighed softly as it left him.

"
Arwhoooo
! Freki's keening howls
were like living things bouncing against the stone walls, the
floor, the ceiling and finally flying out the window opening and
over the castle walls to the forest beyond.

Seton Castle, Northumbria, May 1145.

They laid Warin to rest in the crypt beneath
the church.

The guards allowed no one to enter the gates
of Seton or leave. Warin's death would be kept secret from the
world until the messenger to Ranald returned from Hunter
Castle.

Letia remained stalwart, as she had needed to
be many times in the past. She wished she could lament as Freki
did, for he howled all through the darkness as he had the night
Warin died. In the big, empty bed, she hugged her taut belly as
tears streamed from her eyes and dampened her pillows. 'Twas the
only time she allowed their release. Before the sun rose, she
forced her heavy body up afore Maud even had time to come to aid
her. Often during the day, she watched from the wall walks for any
sight of Ranald's men though it was far too soon for them to
come.

"My lady, since you have lodged that devil's
beast in the barn when darkness comes, we are all tottering around
near asleep," the young laundress Goda grumbled to Letia.

After the storms of the past four nights,
they picked their way around debris littering the lower bailey.
Goda bent down to brush away a small branch entangled in Letia's
cloak.

"Aye, Lady. He howls loudest on nights he has
disappeared over the walls to kill some witless lout. He returns to
drink from his bowl and leaves blood from his mouth staining the
water." Giles winked at Letia and tried to coax a smile from her
lips.

"Giles, for shame!" Letia scolded.

"'Tis the truth, Lady."

"He frees himself from the stable?" Goda
darted glances around the apple orchard, her eyes huge with
fright.

"Aye. He is Freki, Woden's own beast. He
frees himself with one bound of his long legs."

Giles leaped into the air demonstrating with
amazing skill. When his feet hit a mud puddle, his arms flapped
around like a bird taking flight. After he caught his balance, he
flashed a sheepish smile.

"Lady!" Goda's hand grabbed Letia's shoulder
and clung tight.

"Giles, behave!" Letia wrapped her arms
around the large mound of her stomach and laughed. "For one thing,
this Freki is a black dog. Woden's Freki was a brown wolf." Letia
stroked her stomach to comfort the restless babe and made shushing
noises to soothe the young woman who had ever been afraid of large
dogs. "Nay. The dog cannot escape his stall. Giles is as most men,
always wanting to frighten women into believing the
impossible."

"Huh! Impossible?" Giles stared at the barn,
surprise in his eyes. "Is it?"

Disappearing around the rear corner was the
hind end of a very large, black beast. Even if they'd had another
hound of equal size and color, only he would walk with a stiff rear
leg.

"Yikes!" Goda turned and fled toward the
stairway leading into the keep, her heavy cloak flapping like a
giant wing, sending leaves flying through the air.

"Rats and pesky fleas!" Letia walked
purposely toward the limping dog, scolding as she went. "Freki!"
The dog halted. "Come here, foolish one."

"Er, Lady? Should I draw my blade?" Giles'
hand crept to the dagger strapped on his thigh.

"Nay."

The beast turned, walked to within ten paces
of her. He swung his head to look at Giles. The young man backed up
a step. Freki turned his yellow eyes back to gaze into Letia's with
a defiant stare.

Did the beast challenge her to see who
blinked first?

He sat tall. Looked up at her, a slight
crease between his eyes. And barked. One sharp, demanding bark. Had
he been a man, he would have shouted, "Woman!"

She put her hands on her hips and widened her
stance the better to steady her clumsy body.

"Quiet!"

She waited a slight while, then nodded her
head and patted her thigh.

"Come, Freki."

Like 'twas him she summoned, Giles stepped to
her side.

She turned her back on the dog and headed
toward the cookhouse. Prickles crept over her spine. He had not
been acting normal since Warin died. Was she a fool to turn her
back to him? What if he was drooling, anticipating her as a hearty
meal?

The beast's cold wet nose took that moment to
toss her cloak back from her left arm and sniff her skin from wrist
to elbow. She forced herself to remain calm. Whether it was the
strain of the past sennights or the baby sapping her strength, she
hoped he would not guess she wasn't as brave as he thought her.
Always she had heard you did not show fear to man or beast. They
both thrived on it. She would as soon jump off the parapet as to
let either know of her fears.

She marched up to the cookhouse door and
bellowed, "Ada?"

The cook came to the open door on hearing her
mistress' voice. Seeing Freki standing there, his lips drawn back
in a snarl, she blinked and backed up.

"Be so good as to hand me enough bone and
scraps to keep this beast content."

"Huh." Ada tilted her head and studied the
dog. "This'un needs food enough for two beasties."

She scurried back inside and returned with a
large wooden kitchen bucket near brimming with scraps she saved for
him and the pigs. Atop the shriveled vegetables and peelings was a
bone sporting enough gristle to make Freki's mouth water.

The cook stepped down from the doorway, her
gaze never straying from the dog, and handed the food to Giles.

"Here ye be. Best be careful of that black
beast now."

Freki hummed low in his throat, a strange
sound.

"Ack! Mistress. Mayhap ye best shout for a
guard?"

"Nay, Ada. Giles is adequate. It would make
Freki all the more uneasy if we shouted." She noted from the corner
of her eye that no one would welcome coming closer.

Servants carrying dirty laundry scurried back
from whence they came. One man, pushing an overflowing barrow of
peat meant for the cook fires, came around the corner of the
cookhouse. Seeing the black beast, he stopped so quickly he near
toppled the cart. Never had Letia seen anyone walk backwards with
such speed.

Glancing at Freki, she could hardly blame
him. The big beast salivated and growled as he stalked toward her
with slow, measured steps. His great, yellow eyes stared at the
bucket. Letia swallowed, straightened her back and headed toward
the grove of apple trees not far distant.

Though the day was cool, sweat dampened her
forehead. She made her voice as stern as if she were atop the wall
walk commanding the slingers.

"Come, Freki. If you wish to eat, you will
behave and stop growling at me."

Watching him from the corner of her eye, for
he was near abreast of her now, she noted his ears moving as she
spoke.

"Huh!" Letia scowled down at him for good
measure and marched to the nearest tree. Without speaking, she took
the bucket from Giles and plopped it down beneath the branches.

She shook her head at the way the beast had
been acting. By the saints! Warin's death had affected Freki as
much as it had her. She took a deep breath of the damp air and
stepped back.

"He does not stand on ceremony, does he?" She
forced a smile to her lips and raised a brow at Giles.

"Nay. He gobbles his food faster than the
hungriest warriors."

o0o