Touch of Gold: (Rumpelstiltskin) (Tangled Tales Series Book 4) (3 page)

“My lady?” he asked. “Is anything wrong?”

Hearing him call her
my lady
only made things worse. She glanced back one last time at her father passed out on the trestle table, and then her eyes rolled back in her head, and her knees gave way beneath her.

Chapter 3

Kin reached out and caught the girl as she collapsed, but his balance was still unstable from having partaken heartily of the drink. Her falling body only managed to pull him to the ground with her, and he ended up atop her in a tangle of taffeta and lace. He couldn’t help but feel her swells and curves pressed up against his body, and damned if he didn’t like it.

“Egads, get up off the floor and off my betrothed,” cried out the baron, reaching down and putting his hands on the girl. She opened her hazel orbs, and her face was so close to Kin’s that he could see the little specks of green and gold in her almond-shaped eyes. Her beauty was beyond compare, and something about the baron putting his hands on her shoulders turned his stomach. He didn’t want the man touching her.

“I’ve got her, my lord,” Kin said, quickly getting to his feet and bringing the girl along with him. She was still faint, and her body limp, as she leaned on him to regain her balance. “After all, if I’m going to be the girl’s escort, I need to start doing my job.”

“All right,” said the baron with a nod of his head. “And while you’re at it, see to her souse of a father as well. He’s a disgrace, and I’ll not be seen with him in public again. I’m leaving here tonight with my men. I’ll return to Castle Tark, and you follow with the girl and her father on the morrow.”

“I can’t leave,” the girl mumbled. “I have spinning orders to fill, and my father needs to tend the mill.”

“Forget about that,” snapped the baron. “Sell the mill or close it down, I don’t care. With your skills, you don’t need to keep it.”

“That’s right,” said Kin with a sarcastic nod of his head. He knew damned well the old miller was making up lies again, and this time, he’d end up paying for it. Not that Kin cared, but he couldn’t let the old souse’s foolishness end up dictating the fate of his lovely daughter. Kin would escort them to the baron’s castle as instructed, and once the baron realized the miller had lied, Kin would do his best to talk him out of killing the girl. Never in his life had Kin heard such nonsense, and the baron must have been well in his cups to believe such an outrageous story in the first place. No one could spin wool into gold. It was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard!

The baron and his men left, and Kin took hold of Olivia’s arm and headed across the great hall. “I occupy a chamber here in my brother’s castle, and you can share it with me tonight.”

“Wait.” She stopped in her tracks and pulled away.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, noticing his brothers across the great hall watching him intently. He could just imagine what they were thinking, and he didn’t want the girl rejecting him while they looked on. If so, they’d never let him forget it.

“My father.” She looked back to the man who had rolled over and was now snoring atop the trestle table. A group of knights was playing dice upon his chest, and using him as their table.

“You don’t need to worry about him,” Kin assured her, taking her by the arm and trying to escort her once more to the corridor.

“Nay.” She pulled out of his grip. “You heard the baron. You are supposed to look after my father as well as me. Bring him to the bedchamber with us.”

A passing knight heard what she said and chuckled as he walked by them. “Aye, that’ll be a fun time,” he said under his breath.

“Olivia, you are embarrassing me in front of the men. Now stop putting up a fight,” warned Kin.

“What happened to calling me, Lady? Or are we on a first name basis already?” She folded her arms over her chest and lifted her chin in defiance.

Kin looked over to his brothers who raised their tankards of ale in the air and nodded, cheering for him. Then he sought out the miller, drunk as a skunk, being used as a piece of furniture and not even knowing it. This wasn’t going to be easy.

He leaned over and whispered into her ear. “Now, we both know you are far from a lady. And even in my own drunken state, I am not addled enough to think for one minute you can really spin wool into gold.”

Her body stiffened, and she spoke while looking forward rather than to look up and have her face so close to his.

“What do you want?” she asked with no emotion at all in her voice.

“I want you to go to my chamber with me willingly and act like you are enjoying my company.”

“Putting on a show for your brothers, are you?” The girl could see right through him.

“Not any more of a show than you and your father are putting on for the baron. Did you want me to tell the baron tonight that the whole thing is a lie or should we wait until the morning?”

“Nay! Please . . . don’t do that.” Despair shown in her eyes.

“Then you’ll agree to come with me?”

“What about my father?”

“He can sleep off his drunken stupor right here in the great hall with the rest of the men who are in the same state.”

“You heard the baron say to watch after him. You agreed to it. Are you not a man of your word?”

Why did she have to play that card? Kin didn’t like anyone saying he wasn’t a man of his word. He was a knight who lived by the rules of chivalry and the code of conduct. She played this game better than him, and now he couldn’t just leave her father there.

“All right,” he answered through gritted teeth. “I’ll send my squire back to get your father after we’re settled in for the night.”

“Do you promise?”

“Does my word mean nothing to you? Perhaps you need me to seal my promise with a kiss.” He leaned over and kissed her right on the mouth, knowing his brothers were watching. Her lips were soft and full, and she tasted like sweet wine and cinnamon. He became intoxicated from just a kiss. He heard laughter and hoots and hollering from his brothers at the other side of the room. Her hand raised up to slap him, but he was faster. He grabbed her hand to stop her and quickly scooped her up into his arms.

“Put me down before you drop me and land atop me again,” she demanded. He just chuckled and made his way across the great hall with the knights, soldiers, and even the castle whores watching him.

“You struggle against me just once, and the deal is off. And I will not only leave your father right where he is, but I’ll refuse to escort you to Shaftesbury and will leave you to deal with the baron yourself when he finds out you’ve lied to him.”

He swore she had a snarl on her face when she finally turned to look at him. “You know the baron will not only kill my father but kill me as well.”

“Mayhap you should have thought of that before you started spinning your golden tales. Now what will it be?”

“My father was drunk when he made up that lie. I had to go along with it, or the baron would have had his head.”

“Now, that’s another lie. I saw the surprised look on your face when you heard the tale he’d spun. Admit it. You were watching me from across the room and weren’t even aware of their conversation.”

“Just take me to the room quickly. But put me down and let me walk.”

“Nay. I like it this way. Now smile as we pass by my brothers, and use those acting skills of yours to pretend like you’re enjoying it.”

He looked over and saw his brothers stretching their necks and whispering behind their hands.

“I’ll smile, but it’s not because I enjoy it,” she retorted. “It’s because I’m thinking about all the things I can do to make you pay for this later.”

“You’re the one who will be paying me,” he said, heading through the great hall with Olivia hanging onto his neck. “And if you don’t mind – I’ll take my fee in gold.”

Chapter 4

Kin bolted up the stairs and kicked open the door to the chamber, all the while holding tightly to Olivia as she struggled in his arms. Making his way across the room, he dumped her atop the bed.

“How dare you dump me on the bed like you’re dumping your chamber pot out the window.”

“We have garderobes in the castle,” he told her. “And for your information, I’ve never used a chamber pot in my life and don’t intend to.” He plopped down on the bed next to her, stretching out his long legs and putting his hands behind his head to prop himself up.

“What are you doing?” She sat up, fixing her hair.

“I’m relaxing. Now come over here and relax with me.” He reached for her arm, but she quickly moved off the bed.

“You said you would send your squire for my father,” she reminded him.

“And I will. As soon as I see my squire again.”

“Is he coming to the chamber soon?”

“I really couldn’t tell you the answer to that. I haven’t seen him since right after the meal when he was headed toward the stables with a whore on his arm.”

“Well, go get him!

Kin chuckled and shook his head. “The last thing I intend to do is to disturb a man during a moment of passion. He’ll return. Eventually. Just be patient.”

“I will not!” Her arms crossed over her chest, and her eyes narrowed to slits. “You promised that if I came along with you, my father would be brought here as well.”

“I never said when.”

“Since your squire isn’t here to do it, you go get him.”

“What?” Kin pushed up to a sitting position, shocked by the boldness of this tradeswoman. “You can’t talk to a noble that way.”

“I just did. What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m contemplating turning you over my knee and giving you a good swift slap of my hand to your backside.”

Her spine stiffened, and she took a step backward. “You wouldn’t do that. Would you?”

“Would you blame me?”

“Please. Will you go and bring my father back to the chamber?”

Her voice was soft, and he saw sadness as well as tears in her eyes. He never could stand to see a woman cry. He got to his feet and reached out a hand and brushed away her tears with his thumb.

“Please,” she begged him again and looked up with submissive eyes that drew him in, making him want to do her bidding.

“Oh, all right. I’ll bring him back here, but he sleeps in the wardrobe,” he said, speaking about the adjoining small room that was used to store items such as clothes.

“Thank you,” she said, sniffling, and wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him.”

“I’ll be right back.” He slid off the bed and headed out of the room.

As soon as Kin left, Olivia ran across the floor and closed and barred the door. Turning around, she smiled that her deception had worked. The fool thought she was crying when it was just a ploy to get him to leave the room. In actuality, she couldn’t care less if her father slept off his drunken stupor out in the great hall or not. But she needed him in the same room as her to assure she’d be safe from Lord Kin. After all, the knight had started looking too comfortable on the bed and as if he were entertaining other ideas that had to do with her, so she had to put a stop to it quickly. Pacing back and forth, she wondered what to do. She needed to come up with a plan that would not only save her from Lord Kin’s lust when he returned, but also save her and her father from execution.

* * *

Kin made his way back to the great hall, bumping into his squire who was coming from the stables with a big smile on his face. Straw clung to his hair and clothes.

“Quaid, where have you been?” growled Kin, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it from the boy’s own mouth.

“I’ve . . . been in the stables, my lord.”

“I can see that.” He reached out and picked a piece of straw from his squire’s hair and dropped it to the ground. “And what, may I ask, have you been doing out there all this time? I haven’t seen you for at least a good hour.” Quaid was nearing twenty years of age and Kin knew exactly what he’d been up to, but still liked to discipline his squire to let him know what was acceptable behavior and what was not.

“Your horse,” the boy answered, brushing off his clothes, not able to look Kin in the eye.

“My horse?”

“Aye, it needed tending and I –”

“My horse isn’t in the stable. It’s tethered right outside the great hall waiting for you to tend to it. Now, why don’t you try the truth?”

“Of course. Sorry, my lord. I was in the stables with a young woman.”

“A whore.”

His eyes shot up to Kin’s. “I didn’t want to tell you because she was the same girl that was on your lap earlier this evening and I thought you’d be angry about it.”

“Whores are meant for sharing. And there is no woman alive that I care enough about to get angry if another man decided to sample her.”

“So glad to hear that. Then you won’t mind if I get to know the miller’s daughter better. After all, she is stunning. Don’t you agree?”

Kin did agree. That was the problem. And something about Olivia intrigued him enough to make him not want to share her. “You’ve had enough women for tonight and don’t need any more. Now take the drunken miller to my chamber where his daughter awaits me.”

“Oooooh, so you do have eyes for a certain woman after all.”

“Enough talk. Now do as I say.”

“Aye, my lord. But the miller is a stout man and looks to be passed out. I’m not sure how I’ll get him to the chamber by myself.”

“Then have someone help you.” Kin noticed his brothers waving him down. He took a deep breath, then released it, and headed over to join them.

“Kin, we thought you’d be locked away in your chamber with that wench by now,” said MacKay.

“I was,” he agreed with a nod of his head.

“Done so soon?” Stefan raised a brow, which managed to stretch the scar across his cheek. “That can’t be a good thing.”

“Mayhap she threw him out of his chamber,” said Arnon, holding out his tankard as a serving wench refilled it.

“No one throws me out of my own chamber,” protested Kin. “Especially not a woman. I just came back because I was concerned about her father.”

“You were concerned? About the miller?” Wolf looked up and cracked a smile. “Now, why does that sound like a lie to me?”

“My lord, we have the miller,” said Quaid, walking over with a page. They held the drunken man up between them as they walked. The man’s eyes opened slightly, and he moaned. “I’ll bring him to your chamber right away.”

“Don’t talk about it. Just do it!” snapped Kin.

“Your chamber?” asked Stefan. “You’re bringing the man in there as well as the girl? You’re right, Wolf, this doesn’t sound like our brother at all.”

“Olivia was worried about her father, and I told her I’d retrieve him.” Kin just spit out the truth rather than to take the meddling questions from his brothers. All of the de Bar brothers liked to tease each other, and Kin figured it was his turn to be on the receiving end since he’d given Stefan such a hard time lately.

“You did what?” asked Wolf.

“He took orders from a commoner. And a woman!” This time, Arnon started laughing, and his brothers all joined in.

“That’ll be one hell of a night.” MacKay held his stomach he laughed so hard. “A comely spinster and a drunken miller sharing our brother’s bed with him. I think I’d like to watch this.”

“Me too,” added Arnon. “Let’s go.”

“Nay!” Kin held out a hand to stop them. “Everyone just stay right where you are. And just to make things clear, I’ve agreed to escort the spinster and her father to Castle Tark in Shaftesbury tomorrow for the baron. That’s why I’m bringing the man to my chamber. So we can get an early start in the morning.”

“What could Baron Pettigrew possibly want with them?” asked Wolf.

“He intends to marry the girl,” Kin explained.

“Marry her?” MacKay took a swig of ale and shook his head. “What reason could he have for wanting to marry a spinster? That makes no sense at all.”

“The baron is addled from having had too much ale,” added Arnon.

“Nay, he wants her as his bride because the miller bragged that his daughter could spin wool into gold,” Kin explained.

MacKay spit his ale across the room and bent over laughing. “And he believed it?”

“He did,” said Kin with a slow nod of his head. “For now. But when he finds out that it’s all a lie, he’ll have not only the miller but also the spinster’s head. I have to do something to protect them.”

“Let them die,” said Stefan heartlessly, showing that beast side of himself that had recently almost consumed him.

“Nay,” said his wife, Bonnibel, pushing her way into the group of brothers. She’d been listening to their entire conversation from behind them. “Kin, you need to save that poor girl’s life.”

“I’ll do what I can, but I don’t see how I can save her.” Kin raised his hands in the air and shrugged his shoulders.

“Not unless you know how to spin wool into gold,” said Arnon, staring into his cup. “Let’s see you do that, Brother.”

“If only I still had that book of alchemy,” said Kin, looking down to his golden gauntlets hanging on his belt.

“I’m going to go see if Olivia needs comforting at this traumatic time.” Bonnibel lifted her skirts and hurried out of the great hall.

“You don’t really think alchemy works, do you?” asked Wolf.

“I don’t know,” said Kin, inspecting his gauntlets. “And we’ll never know now that Hecuba has incinerated the only means to save Olivia from her certain death.” Kin headed back to the chamber to think things over.

He reached out for the latch on the door, and when it opened at the same time, he almost got trampled by Quaid and the page that were pushed out of the room by Olivia and Bonnibel.

“Thank you for bringing my father,” Olivia told them and quickly shut the door in Kin’s face.

“What’s going on here?” Kin asked his squire.

“The women threw us out of the bedchamber,” said Quaid.

“That’s what you get for entering the room looking like you’ve had a roll in the hay,” scolded Kin. “Now straighten your clothes and pick the straw from your hair.”

The page standing next to Quaid bowed and headed away down the corridor. “It’s not that,” said Quaid, straightening his crumpled tunic and he spoke. “The women stated that they don’t want anyone in there.”

“Well, that’s going to change, because I’m spending the night in my bed and no one is telling me otherwise.” Kin reached for the handle on the door again, but to his surprise, he found it locked.

Quaid started laughing. “I told you so.”

Kin pounded on the door. “Unbar this door anon, do you hear me?” he shouted. “Let me in I say.”

“I’ll go tend to your horse now, my lord. If you’d like, I’ll save you a spot in the straw to sleep.” Quaid cocked his head and smiled.

“I won’t need it. I have a bed to sleep in, and I intend to use it.”

“Of course, my lord. Good luck.” The squire headed away, and once more Kin pounded on the door.

The door finally opened, and Olivia stood there blocking the entrance. He could see the miller collapsed and sleeping upon the bed. The man’s loud snoring echoed off the walls. Bonnibel occupied the foot of the bed, removing the man’s boots.

“What the hell is going on?” Kin growled. “And why are you trying to keep me out of my own bedchamber?”

“It’s not proper for you to be sharing the same room with me, and Bonnibel agrees,” Olivia informed him. The brash girl held the door with one hand, refusing to move aside.

“That’s right,” said Bonnibel from the other side of the room, only making this worse since she was Lady of the castle.

“What’s not proper is you trying to keep me out of my own room.” He pushed the door with his hand, but she pushed back from the other side.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to find somewhere else to sleep tonight.” The girl put her shoulder against the wood as she tried to hold the door and keep it from moving.

When Kin dropped his hand to his side, she slammed the door in his face and locked it again.

“Open this door right now or I’ll be forced to break it down.” Kin pounded his fist against the wood. The sound traveled down the hallway.

“Having a little trouble getting a girl for the night?” came a voice from behind him. Kin turned to see all his brothers coming down the corridor from the great hall with tankards of ale in their hands. Why did they have to see this? If Quaid told them about it, he swore he’d string the boy up on the morrow.

“Nay, no trouble at all,” said Kin, straightening his tunic. “Why would you think that?”

“Mayhap because you’re standing in the corridor pounding on the door to your chamber instead of residing inside the room?” said Wolf. “You do realize the entire castle can hear you yelling.”