Chapter Twenty-Four

R ed sent Wolf and Dane out for food and more tapers as he and Galiena set to work on deciphering the message with renewed urgency. Ox and Bard were above stairs resting in preparation for guard duty from the late-night hours until morning. Red was taking every precaution possible, but he was still uneasy. The fact that The Executioner had the favor of the king and queen drastically changed the balance of everything and did not bode well.

Decoding the missive was more important than ever considering The Executioner had been tasked by the king to decipher it. They went painstakingly line by line, with Galiena shifting the letters along the alphabetical order to the right, first by one position, then two, and so one, until the letters started to form something recognizable. At the same time, Red worked on the same line but with shifts to the left. They'd solved the first two lines earlier in the day and were now working on the third.

"I have it," Red finally announced.

Galiena walked to Red's side to peer down at the words he'd scratched in the thin layer of sand spread across the table. " If Marcher law is replaced ," she read. Picking up the parchment where they'd transcribed the first two lines, she read the lines together. " Longshanks seeks to weaken. Old ways are threatened if Marcher law is replaced. "

"It would appear Edward's victory of Wales may be more precarious than he believes," Red said as she handed him the parchment. Red spread it out under the light of the taper and transcribed the translation for line three, adding the notation of the shift six positions to the left.

Galiena jumped when a knock sounded on the door, and Red put a reassuring hand on her shoulder before moving silently to wait by it until Wolf said the agreed-upon word, then slid the bar from the brackets to let them in.

Wolf set some meat pies on the sideboard in the back room and Dane ran up the stairs to fetch Ox and Bard while Red poured tankards of ale for each of them. When everyone had picked up a meat pie and tankard and seated themselves at the table, Red decided it was time to tell the men of his connection to The Executioner after the developments of the latest audience with the king and queen.

"Here's what you need to know: the man we're avoiding—for now—and I have a history that goes back twenty years. Bard and Ox already know it was he who Galiena overheard in the alley in Oswestry, and that it was he who chased after her before we escaped the city for Hawkspur, but there is more to this story. He is known as The Executioner for good reason, though it wasn't I who gave him that name."

Red proceeded to tell the story in detail of his first meeting with The Executioner, the deaths of his family, and the years he'd spent looking for the man. "I finally enlisted Hunter to help me find the man more than a year ago. Based on my description, and Hunter's nefarious connections, he discovered that there was an assassin favored by the more questionable nobility to perform their lethal deeds; that's where he got the name The Executioner. He has a particular way of violently ripping through a person's throat, cutting through their windpipe, and nearly severing the neck entirely. It has become his signature."

He saw Galiena set down her meat pie and take several deep breaths with her brows pinched together. He put a hand on her back and murmured, "I'm sorry, kitten. I should have waited to give the men the details after you had gone upstairs."

She shook her head. "No, we all need to know who we are up against. Go on."

He should have remembered that she was full of spirit, his little she-wolf. Red stood and put his foot on the bench. "There is one more thing." He pulled his knife from his boot, so he could show the men the intricate design of intertwined snakes on the blade. "This same symbol is replicated on the back of the original missive. It's called the warrior's knot, a well-known Norse symbol, but I've never seen it depicted by snakes until my uncle etched it onto two daggers he crafted. One of which is this dagger that I have, and the other is the dagger stolen by The Executioner from my uncle."

As Red was answering the questions of the men, he watched as Galiena continued to study the parchment with the deciphered lines, then started to work on decoding the next line of the missive. He had noted a pattern in that the first line shifted two positions to the left, the second line four to the right, and the third line six to the left. He was about to tell her to try shifting eight positions to the right for the next line, but she had already come to the same conclusion.

She was a clever and admirable woman, and he would do well to remember that about her. Red continued to watch Galiena work, suddenly stopping midsentence once she had the phrase fully written in the sand below the coded line: Submission not an option .

"What does it say?" Ox asked.

" Submission not an option ," Galiena recited.

Red picked up the parchment to read the other decoded lines to the men. "I thought the message would reveal another planned Welsh rebellion, supported by a few sympathetic English barons. But this points to the Marcher lords."

"Why would the Marcher lords rebel against the king?" Galiena asked, her brow furrowing as she tried to make sense of the puzzle. "Doesn't the king support them?"

"Aye," Red responded, "the king does support them. But the Marcher lords have their own laws, which are different than English laws. And though King Edward is their liege, they suffer very little interference from the king, and have rights that extend beyond what any other English lords are allowed."

"They are very powerful," Ox added, "and powerful men do not like to give up their authority."

Red sighed and looked at the men around the table. "This goes no further, but in this situation, I know Hawk would approve of me telling you that there have been rumblings among some of the Marcher lords that they fear the statute signed in Rhuddlan this spring by Edward will supersede the Marcher customs. They do not trust Edward when he says he will not reduce the Marcher lords to the same level as other English barons. They fear imposing English common law throughout Wales is just his first step toward stripping them of their power."

"They would be fools to start a war with Edward," Bard said, shaking his head in disbelief. "They would need every Marcher lord to agree to a rebellion—which Hawk would never agree to—and even then, they would be outmanned if Edward calls up his entire army."

"It doesn't make sense," Red agreed. "What does the rest of the missive say?"

Galiena had been working on the next line, following the pattern, and shifting ten positions to the left. " Beware Tibetot and Gifford ."

"Robert de Tibetot and John Gifford," Red confirmed. "Both played important roles in quelling the rebellion and are loyal to the king. They were there with the king during our first audience with him."

"Hmm." Galiena tipped her head, a perplexed look on her face. "I tried to shift the next line twelve positions to the right, but it doesn't appear to be working."

Red studied the letters but couldn't discern any recognizable words.

"I'll start again at one," Galiena said with a heavy sigh, the exhaustion evident on her face.

Red gently took the couching needle from her hand and set it on the table. "You need to rest."

She shook her head. "This is too important."

"Let me work on it," Bard offered. "I see how you are testing each shift until you find the right number. And I can write the line and the number on the parchment, as you have been doing."

"Good man, Bard," Red said, clapping his friend on the shoulder, but he could see Galiena hesitating. "I trust him as much as I do you, Galiena. Let him work on it while we get some rest. We all need to keep our wits about us in the coming days and lack of sleep will not help."

He grabbed his sword from where it leaned against the wall and beckoned for Galiena. She reluctantly put her hand in Red's outstretched one as she stifled a yawn and followed him up the stairs. When they reached the room, he barred the door, setting his sword to the side of the doorframe, then took the dagger from his boot and set it on the small table beside the bed.

When he turned around, Galiena was standing at the foot of the bed, chewing on her bottom lip, and looking around the room as though she didn't know what to do. The sight of her uncertainty while alone in his presence was like a knife to the gut.

"Galiena." She looked up at him, a telltale crease marring her brow that he wanted to smooth his thumb over while he fixed whatever was upsetting her. Except it seemed to be he who was the root of her distress. "I will do anything you ask to ease whatever is troubling you. If you want me to sleep on the floor, I will. If you don't want me in the room, say the word and I'll sleep in the corridor."

"No, I don't want you to sleep on the floor," she said, but the crease deepened, and she did not move from where she was standing at the foot of the bed, out of his reach.

"It's killing me to see you in distress, and if I have caused it, it was never my intent." His palms itched to touch her, but he held himself back. Instead, he quirked a deprecating smile at her. "I've been told I can be overbearing when I set my mind on something…or someone," he added with a slight tip of his head in her direction.

To his relief, her lips curved up slightly and she laughed quietly. "Subtlety is not one of your strengths."

"No," he agreed, his smile broadening, "but if it is what you desire, I will work on it."

Her gaze softened, and the furrow in her brow eased. "I wouldn't have made it here without your overbearing lack of subtlety. To be honest, I had every intention of dressing as a man and traveling on my own to the king. I realize now what a foolish idea it was."

He tried to imagine her dressed in braies and a tunic with her pert little nose, rosy cheeks, mesmerizing eyes, and curves that made his mouth water just thinking of them. "You would have fooled no one."

"I used to be quite good at passing myself off as a boy," she said defiantly, putting her hands on her shapely hips.

"I believe you could as a child, but now?" He raked his gaze down her body, lingering on the swell of her breasts and the flare of her hips. "Not a chance."

Her cheeks turned pink, and she dropped her hands to her sides. "As I was saying, I owe you and your overwhelming persistence my gratitude for so much, including making me feel alive again. Really alive. Not just existing. That is what I was doing until the day I ran into your arms, and you looked at me with something other than pity, like I was someone other than the woman who lost her husband and wasn't able to save her child, as I'm known in Oswestry."

He stepped toward her, but stopped himself from reaching for her, sensing she needed to say what was on her mind without his interference. "You have never been someone to pity in my view."

"The truth is it is I who must learn to stop pitying me." She moved to sit on the edge of the bed with her hands folded in her lap. "Until today, I thought I would have to leave the memory of Adam and Nahara behind to move forward. That letting someone else into my life meant replacing them." She looked up at him then. "But knowing Lady Alyce has found happiness again after her husband died, and seeing the queen's love for her children even when she knows she must let them go to be raised by someone else made me realize they will always be in my heart, no matter what happens or what I do. Adam and Nahara will still be a part of me, even if I love another man or another child."

Red moved to stand in front of her, then knelt on the floor, taking her hands in his. "As they should be."

"Adam was a good husband," she said evenly, looking him in the eye and lifting her chin. "I loved him, I will always love the memory of him, and I am not done mourning him. I may never be done mourning him."

Red didn't like to hear her talking about loving another man, but he knew it was his own selfish needs that made him feel that way. "I will accept that."

"I will want to talk about him and Nahara when I am missing them," she said, her gaze intent as she watched his face.

He nodded. "And I will listen."

"I don't know if I can get past my guilt," she admitted. "When Queen Eleanor held her baby in her arms, she looked so happy, despite having lost so many children. I want that, but I don't know if I can be as strong as she."

Red lifted a hand to cup her cheek as he looked into her eyes so she could see he was sincere. "You are stronger than you know. I've seen it."

"Sometimes the pain is too much." A tear dropped from the corner of her eye, and Red swiped it away with his thumb. "My husband and my daughter died because I stopped to pick flowers. Adam drove the cart slowly over the bridge because he was waiting for me. If I had been with him, he would have crossed it more quickly and been on solid ground before the flood came and the bridge collapsed. I tried to get to them in the river, but the current was too strong."

"It wasn't your fault." Red didn't intend for his voice to sound so gruff, but he wanted her to stop blaming herself. "If the bridge was weak, it would have collapsed even if he drove the cart faster, and you may have died with them. You risked your life trying to save Nahara. That in itself is proof of how much you loved her. You did all you could."

She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his chest. "Maybe someday I will believe that."

"I'll remind you as many times as you need," he said gently, wrapping his arms around her as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"I don't know that I can give you what you want, Red."

"How do you know what I want?"

"You want a wife to fill your house with children," she said, the words muffled against his chest. "That's what the people who know you have said several times."

"Yes, I would like a house full of children. But only if that's what you want because I want you first. And if I can only have you and nothing more, it is enough." He sighed. "You are my she-wolf, Galiena, and we are meant to be together."

She picked up her head to give him a stern look, pressing her lips together as she tried not to laugh. "You've already forgotten about being more subtle."

"Mmmm," he hummed, tightening his hold around her back. "I did say that. But that was before I was touching you."

She shook her head at him as her grin widened. "At least put forth some effort."

"I'd rather put my effort into getting you naked and giving you pleasure."

"This doesn't mean I have agreed to be your wife or have your children," she reminded him, but her tone was playful.

He lifted the hem of her gown up over her knees and nudged her legs apart with his body until he was kneeling between her legs. He nuzzled her neck as he slid his hands up her thighs to her hips. "Then you do agree with getting naked and indulging in pleasure."

She tipped her head to the side, giving him access to her throat. "It depends on what pleasure you have in mind."

He growled against her neck as he nipped the skin. "The pleasure of you on your back while I lick every part of you."

"Oh," she said, her breath hitching in her throat—much to his satisfaction.

"I want to taste you." He trailed kisses up the side of her neck, "with your knees over my shoulders and my tongue inside you," he bit softly on her earlobe, "until you are quivering."

"That's not subtle," she said breathlessly.

"And after I make you come with my mouth," he continued, moving to the other side of her neck, "then I'm going to fill you with my body and ride you until you scream my name."

He could feel her rapid pulse under his lips and heard her breath get heavier as he kissed the base of her throat. Satisfied that she agreed with his plan, he reached down to untie her boots and slip them from her feet. Then he stood, pulling her to her feet with him to loosen the ties at the sides of her tunic and pull it over her head. Her chemise quickly followed, as did his own clothing and boots.

She lifted her hands to his chest and slowly ran her fingers across the expanse, leaving a trail of heat where her fingers skimmed lightly over him. As much as he craved her touch, he wanted to give her pleasure more. He untied the worn strip of ribbon on her braid and ran his fingers through her hair until it was cascading in dark waves over her shoulders. Scooping her up, he carried her to the bed, pulled back the coverings, and laid her down on the linen sheets. He stretched out next to her, looking down into her face.

"I've never seen anything more beautiful than you," he said, tracing the curve of her face with his fingers. He kissed her, savoring the sweetness of her mouth and the way her tongue felt brushing against his. His hands were sliding along her silky skin, caressing every curve and contour, but when she reached for him, he stopped her.

"Not yet, sweet." He pushed up on his knees and lifted one of her ankles in his hand as he grazed his lips over her calf. "I'm not done with touching you, yet, and it requires my full concentration."

The slow, sensual smile that curved her lips as he kissed and nipped along her leg would be etched in his mind until he took his last breath. Moving between her knees, he set her leg on his shoulder, then picked up the other, licking and nuzzling at a sensitive spot he discovered behind her knee before working his way along her thigh.

He inhaled the intoxicating scent of her, groaning with satisfaction when she gasped and arched against him as he licked a slow path along her core, separating the folds there with his tongue. Cradling her hips with his hands, he sucked at the sensitive nub that made her writhe in the most satisfactory way until she was panting his name. Then he plunged his tongue inside of her, tasting her as her body clenched and undulated. He couldn't get enough of her as he pressed deeper, the wild response of her body igniting a fire in him.

When she grabbed his head to hold him to her, he opened his eyes to watch her as she cried out his name and her body arched against his mouth. She was beautiful in her ecstasy, and he nearly came to completion himself at the sight of her.

She tugged on his hair after her muscles relaxed, and he obediently crawled up the length of her body, kissing and licking as he went. She still had her hand buried in his hair as he sealed his mouth to hers in a long intoxicating kiss, the taste of her body mingling with the sweetness of her mouth. He guided her knees to his hips, entering her slowly as she wrapped her legs around his waist despite his desperate need to feel her body taking him into her.

"Galiena," he groaned when he was fully inside her and she tightened around his cock, hot and wet and perfect. He buried his face in her neck, biting at the skin there as his arms slipped under her arms to grasp her shoulders for leverage while he thrust into her. Every stroke was bliss, the tight friction of their joined bodies moving in rhythm driving him wild.

"Look at me, Galiena," he rasped on the brink of losing control. She opened her shimmering silver-gray eyes, locking her gaze with his. "Mine. Say you're mine."

"I'm yours," she gasped.

Satisfied, he drove into her hard and fast until the sensation intensified to the point of snapping. But he held onto his last shred of control, rocking against Galiena until he felt her body squeeze tight, pulsing with her pleasure before he found his own release with a lusty growl.

He supported the weight of his body on his elbows and buried his face in her hair until their breathing slowed while she trailed her hands up and down his back. When his heart was no longer hammering in his chest, he rolled off of her but then gathered her in his arms to hold her closely. She sighed and he smiled, kissing the top of her head.

When he could hear the slow, even rhythm of her breath as she slept, he closed his eyelids and let himself fall asleep, feeling more contentment than he'd ever known because she'd said she was his.

*

In the coldest part of the night, they'd made love again. He'd awoken with her stretched out on top of him, her soft skin pressed to him from his chest to his knees. He rubbed slow circles along her spine as she was waking up, his heart nearly exploding when she propped her chin on his chest and smiled at him. She was radiant and happy, and he never wanted her to be anything else.

He was about to tell her that, but then a mischievous gleam sparkled in the silver of her eyes and her smile changed to a wickedly sensual grin. She planted her hands on either side of his chest and started kissing a trail down his chest to the flat of his stomach, her body gliding against him as she moved lower. Then she took him in her mouth, and he thought he'd died and gone to heaven.

When the pleasure became too much and he couldn't wait any longer to be inside her, he reached down and pulled her up until she was straddling his hips. Reaching between them, he stroked her until she was wet and writhing against his hand. Positioning her over his cock, he lifted his hips and thrust into her in one swift movement, his neck arching as he gasped at the feel of her taking him inside her. He slid his hands up her ribs and cupped her breasts, losing himself in the splendor of her face and body as she moved with him.

When he felt himself about to explode inside her, he put his hands on her hips as he tried to control his rhythm until she threw her head back and moaned with pleasure. Then he gripped her hips and thrust, taking his pleasure with her.

She collapsed on his chest, their bodies still joined as the last blissful waves coursed through them in slow pulses. He stroked her hair and her back as their hearts slammed against their chests in unison.

"You are my breath," he whispered, "and my heart." She lifted her head and looked down at him. He couldn't tell if the bewildered look on her face was one of happiness or if he'd completely overwhelmed her again. He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, saying gently, "You don't have to say anything, Galiena."

He rolled with her then, tucking her against him as he curved his body around hers. "Sleep. You need your rest."

His heart ached as he wished for the pain in her heart to cease. He knew she had yet to reconcile her guilt about moving on from Adam with what she was feeling for Red, but he was confident she would find the balance. She'd said she was his when they were making love, but when her passions cooled, she still grappled with the memory of the husband she thought she was betraying.

He had to believe she would be able to move beyond her remorse and guilt. And he had to accept that Adam would always be a part of her. But that didn't mean she wasn't his she-wolf, and until she realized that he would have to be patient.

Unfortunately, patience was something he had yet to master.