Seduced (37 page)

"Am I not riding with you?" Cormac's eyes
narrowed as he studied Raik's face.

"Nay. I need ye here. Ye are familiar with
defending Raptor. Use the same tactics to thwart them should anyone
be foolish enough to force entry. Greedy men will think Seton easy
prey without a baron."

Cormac's raised brow asked a silent question.
Then why do you leave?
Raik's frown kept him silent.

Every now and again, someone repeatedly
sought entrance to the solar. He heard the guard refusing and the
sound of a woman's voice protesting. Each time she returned, her
voice rose in volume. Cormac stirred in his seat, a frown gathering
between his brows.

Soon after, someone pounded on the door with
a heavy object. There was no mistaking Sybilla's gentle voice as it
gained in volume to rival a woman as large as the cook Ada.
Cormac's mouth tightened in surprise.

"My lord, I would speak with you," she
hollered. She punctuated her words with an extra hard thump. "If
you refuse, Cook will get naught from the larder. Your men will go
without sustenance. They will have to hunt their own food and cook
it. Good luck on that. Freki is a far better hunter!"

Raik yanked the door wide and barely stepped
back in time to avoid a huge, metal soupspoon from striking his
chest. Sybilla glared at him with narrowed eyes that shot sparks.
She was so agitated her scarf hung loose, exposing the scars burned
into her neck.

"What ails ye, woman?" He stared at the door
in surprise. "Ye have pounded dents in the wood."

"What ails me? You have locked my sister in
her room for a fortnight. Her food comes back with nearly as much
as was there in the first place!"

Sybilla struck the spoon on the table. Cups
and bowls jumped around, threatening to fall onto the floor.

"By the saints, Raik. Sybilla should be
allowed to attend her sister," Lady Joneta said as she strolled
into the room.

The guard knew better than to block their
baron's mother from entering.

"Ye both have no right to interfere in
something ye know nothing about," Raik shouted over Sybilla's
words.

"Huh! I've known it all!" Sybilla snorted.
"'Tis just your male pride that causes this cruelty."

"Hush, Sybilla. Dinna prick his anger,"
Cormac said.

She glared at his urge for her to curb her
temper. Far from soothing her, she thwacked the table again.
Whether the argument or the thwack convinced Raik, he wasn't
certain.

He had thought Sybilla a woman who slid into
the background at all times, a woman who would be easily cowed and
afraid to defend herself. Her inner strength had come to the fore
when she fought for her sister. He acceded to her wishes. He
informed the guards to allow the Lady Letia to move freely between
the bedchamber and the solar. Sybilla, Goda and the female servants
were to come and go as his wife wished. The only restriction was
that Letia was to stay within the two rooms.

Sybilla crossed her arms and stared him
directly in the eye. "Freki must also be allowed. The men complain
that his prowling keeps them awake all night."

Raik threw up his hands. "Freki, too."

He nodded to Edulf to bring the rest of his
gear below. He left the room before she could think of anything
else to demand. The clamor of their boots striking the stairs
sounded urgent, as if they fled a woman's wrath.

They did.

Before the sounds faded, the hallway guard
opened her chamber door. Lady Maud entered carrying Aubrey, while
Sybilla rushed in, stepping around them. She threw the soupspoon
onto the bed and gathered Letia in a fierce hug.

Letia laughed. "I can't believe my big sister
turned so fierce!"

"I knew one day something would push you back
into your old self," Maud said as she entered. "You were a mother
wolf defending her pack."

Sybilla stood back and studied Letia's face
and form. "No more sending back your tray with everything still on
it. I'll be bringing your food myself. And I'm staying until
satisfied you've eaten enough."

"I haven't felt much hunger lately." Letia
tried to smile, but her lips trembled.

"Lady Joneta told me how thin you are. And
Maud told me what you wore." She eyed Letia's green kirtle. "'Tis
shameful. Mayhap I should have it burned."

Joneta's eyes widened. "I do not understand?
Maud noted it with the same distaste."

"'Tis a dress she has worn whenever tragedy
strikes. After Mother, Father and Warin died," Sybilla said.

Letia hugged her clothing to her breast. "Do
not dare burn it, Sybilla. If comforts me to wear something of
Mother's. It's like having her arms surrounding me."

"Aye. I understand. But you must fight back
the same way you did when you've worn it before. This is the first
time you have ever given in to, to...," Sybilla frowned, "...any
man. Were it Julian, I think you would have cut his throat."

She realized she might have been a touch too
strong about Raik with his mother present. Shamefaced, she looked
at the older woman and flashed an apologetic smile.

"I agree," Lady Joneta said and nodded.
"Though I feared Raik would take a day or two to control his anger,
I did not expect him to be so unforgiving."

When Goda brought enough food for them to
share, Sybilla filled a plate and walked over to Letia.

"Eat. Else you'll not have enough milk to
feed Aubrey his noon meal." Sybilla handed Letia a plate laden with
hot scones with honey slathered on them, several hard cooked eggs,
crispy bacon and cheese.

After one whiff of food, Letia's gaze flew to
meet Maud's. Maud, in turn, grabbed the washbowl from the stand and
held it beneath Letia's chin just in time.

Sybilla and Joneta sat, stunned.

"Does Raik know?" Joneta's eyes showed her
worry.

"Nay. I could not tell him yet. He must have
his revenge first, or else he will think I somehow planned this to
thwart his punishment."

"Are you sure it is not an illness? Our
midwife has always vowed a nursing mother cannot breed. It is not
true?" Sybilla's eyes rounded.

Maud nodded. "Much of the time, it is the
truth. Now and again, it fails to keep a woman from increasing.
Especially if she is as fertile as Letia is proving to be."

Giles scratched on the door. As he eased it
open, Maud whipped the basin behind her and backed away from
Letia.

He grinned at the women as he held tight to
Freki's collar. "My lord has agreed to let Freki be where he wants
while he is gone."

Freki lunged forward, breaking Giles' hold.
Bounding across the room, he put his paws in Letia's lap and licked
her face then sniffed around her chin and lap. Giles flashed an
apology at Letia and retrieved the rope. He held the dog back from
following the scent to Maud.

"Down, stupid dog. Maud isn't a soup bone.
Behave or else I'll not take you to Cook for your treat."

The 'stupid dog' wasn't so stupid after all.
He sat, docile as an ancient hound, his tongue lolling out and eyes
flashing love at Letia.

A shrill whistle from the bailey made Giles'
jump. "For pity sakes. I forgot what brought me here. Lady Joneta,
my lord wishes to see you afore he leaves."

"He is leaving?" Both Letia and Joneta burst
out. Giles looked at Letia, shamefaced.

Letia should have known. From the day he
confined her to their bedchamber until now, he was duplicating most
all of his own experiences at Seton. She should have known he would
leave. Her chest weighed heavy wondering how long he intended to
stay away. Letia saw the indecision on Joneta's face and shook her
head at her, begging her with her eyes to keep her secret.

Lady Joneta straightened her shoulders and
nodded. Angry strides took her out of the room as she followed
Giles below.

o0o

As his mother marched over to confront Raik,
he took one look at her face and knew her disappointment in
him.

"Why did you not at least let me know? I
could have told Letia and eased her feelings."

His blue eyes turned icy. "I dinna need to
tell my wife aught of what I intend."

"Never have you been so harsh, Raik, and not
once in all your years have you been cruel."

"Never before have I had to endure such
deceit from a woman." He took his mother's hand and kissed it.

"And never before had you met one who had
such dire need of deceit."

His face took on a stony expression. "If ye
have a need or worries, speak to Leofwan. He knows where we plan to
be each day. If all goes well, we should return within the
month."

"Go with God, my son. Don't do anything rash
that will place you in danger." Joneta reached up on her toes and
kissed his cheek.

When she stepped back, Raik took the reins
from a groom and vaulted onto Storm's saddle. He looked down at her
and waved, then felt compelled to glance upward. He did not miss
Letia's form standing in the window opening.

She brought up her arm to wave at him.

He didn't acknowledge that she was there.

Letia had wrung her hands the whole time
Joneta talked to Raik. She'd sensed his stiffness, his harsh
control over his body. She knew he had resisted looking upward.
Lady Joneta returned to the room to tell her what little she was
able to learn from him.

"Near a month?" Letia was stunned. She had
hoped he would be gone no longer than a sennight. A month's time
meant he was covering a wide area, mayhap even as far as Raptor in
Scotland.

"Aye. He said I was to seek Leofwan if we had
need of anything. I think I'll see what I can pry from that good
man's mind. If that fails, mayhap Sir William might prove more, um,
pliable?" Her eyes twinkled when she spoke his name.

She hurried to the door and nodded to the
guard posted there.

When Joneta reported back, she had learned
nothing more than that Raik wanted to see for himself that the land
surrounding Seton was in harmony. She did learn he intended to seek
out Ranald at Hunter. Letia hoped the gentle soul residing in the
Black Raptor could talk reason into his cousin.

o0o

With Raik gone, Letia was more at peace. She
did not lay in anticipation of his silent nightly visits that left
her in so much mental turmoil. Nor did she have to forgo a candle
or keep the shutters closed. After several days, she slept sounder,
and when her dreams woke her, she listened to the familiar sounds
of Freki snoring or heard his legs thrashing like he dreamt of
chasing hares through the woods.

Days were easier, too. Aubrey gained weight
now that he had more to feed his hunger than breast milk. He
savored his gruel and pears. Though her milk was more nourishing
now that she no longer grew sick at the thought of food, he did not
require as much as before.

The guards admitted only those few women Raik
had named to her chambers, but allowed other castle folk to talk
with her from outside the open doorway. The children's visits were
her favorite times. They sat on the landing eating goodies Goda
brought to them and told Letia of their amazing feats of skill with
the day's slinging. She praised and made over them until they
beamed.

Letia kept track in her mind, counting each
day. Soon, a fortnight had passed. That morning, when she watched
the guards along the wall walks within sight, she noted their
bodies tensed as they stared at the woods. Cormac sent one of the
battlement guards to call in the warriors practicing in the
fields.

Leofwan and Edmund returned. Running.

Her heart flew to her throat. Her nape
pricked. Icy chills skittered down her spine.

Did Julian lurk in the woods?

The guards doubled at her doors when they
enclosed Raik's mother, Sybilla and Maud with her. Letia clutched
Aubrey as she watched out the solar windows where they had a
broader view of the front walls.

That night, alone again, she found herself
waking and spending most of the darkest hours bundled in the chair,
staring out the window. The next morning, Cormac and Leofwan came
to visit her and asked the use of Giles and Freki to prowl the
grounds around the walls throughout the nights. Letia readily
agreed. Though she missed Freki's presence at night, he spent his
days napping and pressing against her legs, begging her
attention.

Edmund posted extra guards around the
battlements, warning whoever lurked that they were well
fortified.

Nothing happened for several days. Finally,
the women began to relax. Giles, when he came to fetch Freki, told
Letia that Cormac planned to send a messenger to Raik at nightfall.
By his schedule, Raik should have left Hunter and be traveling
southwest. Though she knew messages went back and forth to her
husband, she worried that they found it needful to do so under the
cover of darkness.

Unable to sleep, she sat wrapped in a blanket
held snugly to her chest, watching the bailey below. It was well
into the night when Edmund and Cormac walked beside a black clad
knight who led a dark horse to the barbican. As the men had some
final words, the knight mounted his horse. The gatekeeper lowered
the drawbridge and raised the portcullis. As soon as the iron bars
rose high enough, the knight bent close to his horse's neck and
streaked out of the castle.

"Out with it, Raik. Yer frowning has near
soured the milk in the pitchers," Ranald said as they broke their
fast in his solar.

"Humph! Were you in my place, ye wouldn't be
smiling either." Raik frowned at his cousin, not wanting to talk
about his wife's calculated violation of his body.

"You found out before Letia had a chance to
tell you, didn't you?" Caitlin tilted her head and studied his
face.

"Aye, I found out. But how did ye know?"

Ranald rubbed his jaw and grinned at Raik. "I
always thought ye were the expert on women. Before ye finished
telling us about yer lady of the night, we knew it had to be
Letia."