The Captive Bride

“Do you concede, my lady?”

“In the matter of the castle, I have little choice,”she said at last, striving to make her voice calm and steady. “You have taken it by force, without due consideration for any of my requests for peace. For the time being, I concede it to you. Howbeit, as I have already informed Duke Humphrey, I am betrothed to be married, and will honor the promise I have already given Lord Hanley in the matter of marriage. As I understand that you cannot attain Castle Lomas, the lands or title without a marriage between us, I have faith that you will find your rule here to be of very short duration. If such as that appeals to you, please be content to pursue your pretense until the day of the arrival of my worthy betrothed. After he has come, I pray you will leave Lomas peacefully and with respect for what the law holds as true in these matters.

“In the meantime, my ladies and I will abide abovestairs, out of your way. I ask that you and your men leave us unmolested, in peace and privacy, as your knightly vows will require of you. I appeal to your knightly status, as well, in your dealings with my people, including the servants of this castle, whom I demand be treated with forbearance and kindness. I will not take it lightly should one of them come to any harm while you play out the farce you have brought upon us. That is all I have to say.” She rose from the chair. “My ladies and I will leave you now to enjoy the temporary victory you have attained.”

“Nay,”Sir Senet said. “You will not go. I have heard you out, Lady Katharine. You will now allow me the same courtesy.”

“I allow you nothing,”Katharine told him coldly.

His somber gaze never wavered. “Then I will force you to it, my lady, if that is your preference.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You are truly your father’s son, Senet Gaillard. I had heard it was so. Is it your intention to rule Lomas with threats?”

“It is my intention to be lord here. The manner in which I rule will be determined, in large, by you, Lady Katharine. I have said that you will listen to me, and you will. I would prefer not to use force. Be seated again.”

Katharine lifted her chin. “Nay, I will stand. Speak what you must.”

He drew in a long, taut breath. Katharine could see a muscle twitching in the tight set of his beard—stubbled jaw.

“I would that you sit.”

Katharine strove to keep from fisting her hands. She was so filled with anger at the beastly man that she felt as if flames must surely be about to spout from the top of her head. How dare he speak to her as if she must obey him! She was the mistress of the castle, and he nothing better than a false usurper.

“My ears,”she replied tersely, “work just as well whether I sit or stand, Senet Gaillard.”One of his companions, the handsome, blond—headed man, cleared his throat in an obvious effort to keep from laughing. Senet Gaillard gave him a sharp, quelling look. Katharine straightened her shoulders to stand taller. “I am not so poor a maiden as to wilt beneath the force of your words, or those of any man. Speak, and then leave my ladies and me in peace.”

She thought she heard a weary sigh emanate from his stern mouth. He set the tip of his sword on the edge of his booted foot and relaxed his posture as if he were, indeed, most weary.

“Very well, Lady Katharine. I’ll speak to you plainly. Lord Hanley has been presumed dead these past two years, and your betrothal to him, in the eyes of the throne, the church and the law, is therefore made void. As the lord of Lomas, I have been commanded to take you as wife to make certain of your future, also to protect and keep you. We will wed on the morrow. I advise you to make yourself ready. The ceremony will be performed after morning mass. Afterward, your men will vow their fealty to me as their lord, and to you as their lord’s wife.”

Her heart began to beat more painfully in her chest, and Katharine lowered her gaze briefly, struggling to maintain at least an outward composure. The man clearly meant what he said, and looked fully capable of carrying out every word. If she showed the slightest weakness before him now, she’d be finished before she’d even started.

The doors to the great hall opened and several armed soldiers entered, followed by a tall, slender man whom Katharine had seen only hours before in the company of the king’s regent, Sir William, when he had come to deliver Duke Humphrey’s missive. She had assumed that he was one of Sir William’s men, but it was suddenly clear that he was one of Senet Gaillard’s minions. He approached the dais where Katharine sat, leading on his arm a young, very beautiful woman who appeared to be rather frightened by her surroundings. Senet Gaillard turned at the girl’s approach and reached out a hand to draw her near.

“Here you are, Clarise. Come. Don’t be afraid.”To Katharine he said, “Lady Katharine, I make known to you Mademoiselle Rouveau, a gentlewoman beneath my care. I desire that she be given an appropriate chamber and a maid to attend her needs. At once.”

Katharine didn’t think she’d ever been so angry in all her life, and trembled with rage.

“How pleasing your proposal is, Senet Gaillard. You speak of marriage in one breath and present your whore to me in the next! Do you dare to bring your leman here and ask me to take care of her? You may take yourself off to the devil, sir! You, your men and your woman with you!”It was bad enough that he had taken her castle by force and meant to take her by the same means, but to so openly humiliate her was beyond belief!

The beast only stood where he was, frowning at her in a calm, albeit bemused, manner.

“She is not my leman,”he said, “but a lady of gentle birth. I will not have her insulted or mistreated, certainly not by my own wife. While she lives beneath my hand, you will treat her with every respect.”

Katharine had had enough. She speared the frightened girl with a look of thorough disgust, almost gratified to see the shaking creature cringe behind Senet Gaillard’s muscular form.

“If I treat her to anything at all, Senet Gaillard, ‘twill be pity, for she appears to be much in need of it. Keep her out of my way if you wish her well.”

“I do not intend to do so,”he told her. “I mean to give her over into your care. You will do as I have said and make her comfortable here. It is your duty as my wife.”

“I am not your wife,”she said from between set teeth. God’s feet, but she hated the man! On the day he was thrown off of her lands she would give the biggest celebration Lomas had ever seen.

At that, he at last began to look aggravated. Lifting the tip of his sword from his boot, he took a step toward her.

“But you will be on the morrow,”he told her softly, for her ears alone. “I had hoped for matters to go well between us, Lady Katharine, to make a friend rather than an enemy of the woman I take to wife. That is still my desire. Is it yours?”

“What I desire,”she began hotly, “above all things, is for you to go to—”

“Because I should very much dislike having to bow you to obedience,”he interrupted smoothly, “and would advise that you instead offer it freely. You will not like the taming to be had at my hands, Lady Katharine. I promise you that. If you make peace with me, however, I equally promise that you shall never come to regret it. I repay honor with honor.”

“And dishonor with dishonor?”she asked tartly.

He inclined his head. “If that is the way you will have it. Either way, you will be my wife, and I will be the lord of Lomas.”

She was silent for a long moment, meeting his gaze fully. At last, her features softened, as did the posture with which she held herself. She lowered her lashes and attempted to look meek, although she was certain she had never felt the emotion before.

“Of course, my lord,”she said finally, keeping her voice low and feminine, purposefully deferential. “It will be as you say. I admit that I do not wish to marry you, or any man who is not of my choosing, but there is clearly no other course for me but to accept the situation. If you will but be patient in allowing me time to become used to the fate that has befallen me, I will consider it a great kindness. I have not been used to living beneath the command of any man.”She lifted her eyes to his. “Including my father. I have ruled here as mistress since I was but fourteen years. It is not my nature to be.obedient.”

He appeared to consider this, and at last gave a slight nod. “I do not desire a dog for a wife, nor a slave, but only for you to know that I will be master here. In every way. So long as you give me no cause to do otherwise, you will be treated by myself and my people with every respect due to the lady of the castle. Indeed, save that you will have a husband to answer to, I do not intend that your life at Lomas should change overmuch. I will be patient with you.”

“You are good, my lord,”she said, trying not to choke on the words. “I am most grateful. Forgive, I pray, the lack of welcome you have received at Lomas. I shall strive to remedy the situation at once. Be pleased to make yourself and your men comfortable.”With a hand she indicated the entire hall, where chairs and tables were available for many. “I shall instruct my captain of arms to answer to you directly.”

“He will answer to me as his lord,”Senet Gaillard stated.

“Yes,”said Katharine. “Of course. And I shall have my servants lay out food and drink sufficient to refresh your forces. As to your own comfort, my lord, a suitable chamber will be prepared.”

“The lord’s chamber will be made ready,”he corrected. “I will abide there.”

Katharine had to draw in a slow breath to maintain her appearance of calm. To think of such a man occupying the chamber next to her own renewed her outrage altogether. But when she spoke, the words were carefully polite and contained.

“It shall be as you have said, my lord. Give me but an hour, and I shall send a servant to escort you there.”

“There is no need.”He sounded almost amused. “I was born at Lomas, and remember very well where my father’s chamber is. Do you abide in the mistress’s chamber that adjoins it, my lady?”

She understood the intent that lay behind the question, and felt her skin heating. “Yes,”she replied tightly.

He regarded her steadily. “It is well. I will leave you now with the request that you see to Mademoiselle Rouveau’s needs directly. Her comfort is to be your utmost concern.”

Katharine’s jaw ached from the force with which she made herself keep silent. The tiny creature who was still cowering behind Senet Gaillard dared to peek up at her, revealing a face that was delicate and beautiful, hair that was the color of dark honey and eyes that were large and blue. Katharine felt like a clumsy, ugly giant before the girl’s dainty perfection.

“Certainly, my lord,”she said at last, even managing to smile at him. “You will be well pleased, I vow. Everything shall be just as you wish.”

He moved even nearer, and Katharine resisted the urge to step back. He was very tall, she noted, as well as muscular. He even made her feel small, which, considering her unfashionable height, was no simple feat.

“We will do well together, Lady Katharine,”he said softly, and she felt again that unbidden sensation deep in her belly. “I shall repay you tenfold for your kindness and obedience. I vow this before God.”Reaching out suddenly, he grasped her hand before she could pull it away. Lifting it slowly to his lips, he gently kissed her fingers, never moving his remarkable blue gaze from her face. “This marriage is not of our choosing, but we can make of it an agreeable union. You’ll never regret being my wife. I’ll make certain of it.”

He released her and turned away, striding out of the hall with his men at his heels, leaving Katharine staring at the place where he at last disappeared. Only the girl remained, standing some feet away and watching the women on the dais with such pathetic trembling that Katharine felt a reluctant leniency toward her.

A hand touched her arm, and Katharine turned. “What was that about?”Ariette whispered as Dorothea and Magan gathered close. “I’ve never seen you act so meek and mild before.”