Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

I DON'T LIKE like this place," Joan said from the horse beside Alyx's. "It's too dark. Are you sure Lord Raine lives in a place like this?"

Alyx didn't bother to answer. Judith had said her maid, Joan, would be an asset in this venture, that Joan could keep Alyx looking good enough to make Raine notice and Joan could ferret out all sorts of information. Judith had also warned that Joan was much too familiar and must be constantly reminded of her place.

"Hello," Alyx called up into a tree.

Joan looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Is the tree expected to answer you?" She added, "My lady" when Alyx gave her a sharp look.

From the tall branches of the tree dropped what Joan saw as a divine man.

"Joss!" Alyx laughed, and before she could dismount Jocelin had grabbed her about the waist and pulled her into his arms.

For a moment they just laughed and hugged until Alyx pulled away and looked at him. "You've changed," she said quietly. "There are roses in your cheeks."

Joan coughed loudly. "Perhaps the gentleman would like roses elsewhere than his cheeks."

"Joan!" Alyx warned. "I'll leave you overnight alone in this forest if you don't behave."

"Is that the voice of command I hear?" Joss asked, holding her hands at arms' length. "You have more than changed. I have never seen such a lovely lady. Walk with me and let's talk."

When they were away from Joan and the loaded horses, he asked, "You have a child?"

"A daughter with Raine's dimples and my eyes. She is sweet and perfect in every way. How is he?"

Jocelin knew who she meant. "Not well. Wait! He is physically well, but he is sad, never smiles and when a messenger comes from his brother he is angry for days." He paused. "What happened after your marriage?"

Briefly, she told him of Roger Chatworth.

"So, you have left your child and come back to Raine."

"No doubt he will welcome me with open arms." She grimaced. "There are several reasons why I've returned. I owe the people here something for saving me from the burning. How many... died?"

"Three, and a fourth one later."

Her hand tightened on Joss's arm. "The King's anger at the Montgomerys and the Chatworths is increasing daily. Gavin has gone to Scotland to reason with one brother while Raine is mine to deal with."

"Do you know that he won't let any messenger read anything concerning you in a letter?"

"I guessed as much. Damn Raine and his honor! If he'd just listen for ten sentences he'd find out I'm not a traitor. The best I can hope for is to distract him for a while. I'm afraid he may decide to go after Roger Chatworth on his own, and no doubt he will if he thinks his baby brother is in danger. If his ‘little' brother weren't such a seducer of women perhaps none of this would be happening. But the Montgomery brothers stand up for each other no matter what."

"Distract him?" Joss asked, smiling. "I think you'll do that. Do you know how good you look? The violet of your dress makes your eyes glow."

"Speaking of seducers," she teased, looking him up and down. "I thought I'd wear simple clothes more suited for the forest, but Judith planned my wardrobe, saying beautiful gowns would make me more visible to Raine. Have I really changed?"

"Yes, you've filled out. Now, who is that greedy wench you brought with you?"

For a moment Alyx studied Joss. In all the time she'd known him, she'd never seen him so full of laughter or tease so much. "How is Rosamund?" she asked tentatively.

Jocelin tossed his head back and laughed. "You are too clever. She's magnificent and getting better. Now, let's go into camp. Raine will be glad to see you no matter what he says."

***

Although Alyx thought she was prepared for her first sight of Raine, she wasn't. He'd lost weight and the striations in his muscles were standing out. He was standing by a campfire looking down at two men who talked to him earnestly.

For a moment Alyx stood completely still, watching him, remembering every inch of him, wanting to run to him, launch herself into his arms, feel him welcoming her.

But when he turned, her breath caught in her throat. Hate she could have dealt with, but Raine's eyes did not show the warm fires of hate. Instead there was nothing there but a frigid wasteland of ice: blue so cold it sent slivers of ice through her body. There was no flicker of recognition and especially none of welcome.

Without moving, Alyx watched as Raine turned his back on her and walked toward the training field.

"A mite angry, isn't he?" Joan said from behind Alyx. "Those Montgomerys do have tempers. Did I ever tell you about the pit Lady Judith climbed into to save Lord Gavin? Of course, any woman in her right mind would risk all for such a man as Lord Gavin. And Miles, too. I've never been to bed with Lord Raine, though. Is he pleasing?"

"You go too far!" Alyx snapped, spinning around.

Joan gave a catlike grin. "At least I got you to quit feeling sorry for yourself. Now where do you want the tent? You decide while I fetch a few men to help us."

With that she was off, silently slipping into the group of people who were slowly gathering about Alyx and the four loaded horses.

"We see you didn't get much of you burned," one man said, looking Alyx up and down insolently.

"Can't burn real witches," a woman said.

"Fancy dressin'," came another voice. "Who'd you sleep with to get that?"

Alyx put her chin up. "I want to thank all of you for coming to my rescue when I needed help. I'm sure I didn't deserve it, but thank you."

This seemed to take the crowd back for a moment.

"Nobody meant to help you," said a man with a scarred face. "?'Twas for Lord Raine that we went. And now, from the looks of him, he wishes we'd let you burn."

This caused a great roar of laughter from everyone and, shaking their heads, slapping one another's backs, they went back to the camp, leaving Alyx alone.

"You plannin' to cry?" Joan asked nastily in Alyx's ear. "They'd like that. Here, come see what I found."

With one deep sniff, Alyx turned away from the forest camp. Had she expected them to see that she'd changed? She looked up at Joan, who was flanked by four large, good-looking young men.

"They'll help us set up the tent," Joan said, slipping her arms through two of the men's.

Alyx had to smile at Joan, who could be made happy so easily. Judith had said Joan was a cat slipping from bed to bed. With amazement, Alyx watched as Joan began to give the young men orders, all the while giving them a caress here and there. Once Joan looked up and winked at Alyx. Insolent girl! Alyx thought, turning away to hide a smile.

At the horses she began to unload the bundles she and Judith had packed.

"Need any help?" asked one of Joan's young men from behind her as he took the bundle from her.

"Thank you," she said, smiling up at him. "Are you new in the camp?"

At that he laughed and his brown eyes sparkled. "I was here before Raine, was here when you were a boy. You've changed some," he teased, watching her.

"I don't..." she began before looking away.

"I don't guess you looked at any of us. It was always him you watched." He jerked his head toward Raine's tent. "I don't guess I blame you, seein' as how he's a rich nobleman and you are—were—a..." He stopped.

"Is that how it looked?" Alyx said, mostly to herself.

"It did explain a great deal when Lord Raine told us we were to rescue you."

"Told you, did he?" she asked. "No doubt everyone was quite cheerful at the prospect of saving me ."

The young man cleared his throat and shifted his burden. "I'll take this to the camp for you."

"Wait!" she called. "What is your name?"

"Thomas Carter," he said, grinning.

Thoughtfully, Alyx finished unloading the horse. She'd spent months in this camp and to her knowledge she'd never even seen Thomas Carter, yet he'd been here all along and had even risked his life to rescue her.

Frowning, she went back to the camp and was very pleased when Thomas smiled at her.

Joan and the young men had the tent erected in a very short time and the goods stored inside. Outside blazed a warm campfire.

"Come up in the world, ain't ya?" asked a woman from across the fire, her eyes glaring at Alyx. There was an enormous goiter on her neck, making her hold her head to one side.

"Could we share what we have with you?" Alyx asked quietly, then turned to glare at Joan, who'd gasped in protest.

The woman shook her head, her eyes wide, and left them.

"You can't let that diseased scum near us!" Joan hissed. "Would you like to have one of those things on your neck? All she has to do is sit by us and—"

"Quiet!" Alyx said, seeing herself in Joan. "I'll not have you snubbing these people. They saved my life and for all their filth and disease they deserve more than I can repay. And as for you, you will treat them well—and not just the men."

Joan set her jaw firmly, muttering something about Alyx betraying her class, that she was becoming more like Lady Judith every day. Without a sound, she slipped off into the darkness.

Like Lady Judith, Alyx thought, and knew she'd never had such a compliment before. Smiling, she stood and went into her tent. Alone on the little cot, she was reminded of her nights with Raine. At least now she was close to him, and for the first time in months she was able to sleep well. Her last thoughts before falling asleep were of Catherine.

In the morning, Alyx awoke refreshed, smiling. The clean, cold, forest air felt good to her and even somewhat like home. Joan was not in sight, so Alyx dressed alone in a dress of emerald green wool trimmed with gold braid. A little cap on the back of her head did nothing to conceal the curls about her face. Her hair was longer now, and no longer did she hate the unusual color that made every strand seem to be an individual.

Outside the tent, she was greeted by an exhausted-looking Joan sitting lifelessly on a tree stump of a stool. Her hair was down her back, the shoulder of her dress torn. There was a bruise on her neck. She looked up at Alyx with bright eyes staring out of bluish eye sockets. "They are lusty men," she said wearily, yet so happily, that Alyx worked to keep from laughing.

"Go and rest," Alyx said sternly. "And when you awaken we'll talk of your disgusting conduct."

Heavily, Joan rose and walked toward the tent.

Alyx caught her maid's arm. "All four of them?" she asked curiously.

Joan only nodded, her eyelids drooping wearily, as she went inside the tent.

Alyx was contemplating this—four men at once?—when Raine presented himself before her, his eyes blazing angrily. She gulped twice. "Good morning," she managed to say.

"Damn your mornings!" he growled, glaring at her. "That harlot you brought with you has worn out four of my men. They're no good to me at all this morning. Can't even lift a sword. I don't know why you came here, but I think it's time you returned."

She smiled at him sweetly. "What a charming welcome, my husband. I apologize for my maid, but as you may remember I haven't had much practice in handling underlings. We can't all be born to the nobility. As to why I came here, I have a debt to pay."

"You owe me nothing."

"You!" Alyx spat, then calmed herself, forcing a smile. "Perhaps I do owe you something, but I owe more to these people."

"Since when have you cared?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Since they risked their lives to save me," she said calmly. "Would you care to join me for a bit of food to break your fast? I can offer you a cold meat pie."

He seemed to want to say something but turned on his heel and left her.

Alyx kept smiling, her heart pounding as she watched his broad back retreat.

"Pleased with yourself?" Jocelin asked from behind her.

Alyx laughed aloud. "Am I so transparent? Raine Montgomery is an arrogant man, isn't he? He thinks I'm here only because of him."

"And aren't you?" Joss asked.

"I shall drive him insane," Alyx said happily. "Would you like something to eat? Do you have time to sit with me and answer some questions?"

The questions Alyx asked were about the camp people, questions she should have known the answers to, since she'd lived with them for months. But she felt like an outsider.

"They won't be easy to win," Jocelin said. "They have many grudges against you. Blanche has blamed many problems on you."

"Blanche!" Alyx said, sitting up straight. Pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

"Blanche was the woman who caused Constance's death. How else would she have known about Edmund Chatworth? You must hate Blanche."

"I am through with hating." He stood. "Would you like to see Rosamund? If you want to help the people, she can tell you how to start."

Alyx wasn't prepared for the changes in Rosamund. Her eyes shone so brightly when she looked at Jocelin that the birthstain on her cheek almost disappeared. Joss's eyes were no less bright.

"Alyx would like to help you," he said in a soft, sweet voice, taking Rosamund's hand.

Rosamund gave Alyx a tolerant smile that made Alyx stiffen her back, and she thanked heaven for Judith's training.

"I'm sure we can find something for you to do," Rosamund said in her soft voice.

It took Alyx a week to make Rosamund realize she meant business. During that time Alyx worked early and late and no job was beneath her. She washed and bandaged running sores. She delivered a child to a woman eaten with the French pox and when the blind baby died, she buried it; no one else would touch the poor thing. She sang to an old woman who screamed incoherently at ghosts only she could see.

"Her ladyship's doin' us low ones a favor," a man said to her as she went through the dark to her tent. "Afraid to dirty her hands, she was, and now nothin's dirty enough for her. But I don't see Raine bowin' before her."

In her tent, Alyx put her hands to her temples. Her head ached from noises and ugly smells. The sick allowed her to touch them, but the healthy people ignored her except to taunt her. And as for Raine, she rarely even saw him.

"Did you come here to win Raine or these diseased scum?" Joan asked frequently.

"Raine," Alyx had whispered, rubbing her temples. Now the tent was empty, Joan obviously sleeping somewhere else. Alyx wasn't used to having servants and was a failure at controlling Joan. Seeing that the water buckets were empty, Alyx grabbed them and went to the river.

Kneeling at the bank she looked about her, at the sparkling surface of the water, broken diamonds in the moonlight. A sound made her turn and her heart leaped to her throat at the sight of Raine, his big body—a body she knew so well—blocking the moon.

"Have you proven what you wanted?" he asked quietly, his voice as smooth and hard as steel. "Did you expect to bandage one nasty wound and the people would fall at your feet in gratitude? They are better judges of people than I am."

"And pray tell me what that means," she said, aghast.

"You are a good actress. Once I believed you were... honest, but I learned the hard way. I hope they do not fall as far as I did."

She stood, hands into fists at her side. "Spare me your self-pity," she said through her teeth. "Poor Lord Raine lowered himself to fall in love with a commoner, and then when she did her best to save him from the King's wrath, he knew at once she'd overstepped her bounds."

Her voice rose. "I want to tell you something, Raine Montgomery. It doesn't matter if these people do hate me. I damn well deserve it. And as for their falling at my feet, I don't expect them to. At least they are the honest ones. You hold yourself up like some martyr and won't listen to anyone. Instead you'd rather believe yourself wronged and to think that only you has a sense of honor."

"And what do you, a woman, know of honor?" he sneered.

"Very little. In fact I know very little about anything except music. But at least I'm willing to admit I have faults. I have wronged these people, and I'm trying to right my wrong. You, my high lord, have wronged me—and your daughter whom you don't even ask about."

"I have heard of her," Raine said stiffly.

Alyx let out a sound that ran across Raine's skin like a steel rasp. "How big of you!" she spat. "The great, lordly Raine, lord of the forests, king of the outlaws, has heard of his own daughter."

She quietened. "I came here to win you back, but now I'm not sure I want you. Stay away from me. Take your cold honor to bed with you."

"There are other women willing to share my bed," he said, eyes hard.

"My pity goes to them," Alyx forced out. "As for me, I prefer a different sort of man, one who is not so stiff and cold, one who is still alive."

She did not see his arm shoot out. He was always faster, stronger, than she remembered. His strong fingers bit into the back of her waist and as her eyes locked with his, he smiled slightly, humorously, as he pulled her close to him.

Bending his head, his lips hovered above hers. "Cold, am I?" he said, and his voice sent chills down her spine.

Some small part of Alyx's brain could still reason. He meant to teach her a lesson, did he? she thought, as she stood on tiptoe and slipped her arms about his neck.

When their lips touched, both of them drew in their breaths sharply and pulled away from each other, violet eyes staring into blue. Alyx blinked once, twice, before Raine's mouth descended on hers with the hunger of a dying man. He straightened, his arms about her, and her feet came off the ground as he grabbed the back of her head in his strong hand and turned her head sideways. His tongue thrust inside her mouth, sending sparks so hot through her body that they seemed to burn away her strength. Her body went limp against his, allowing him to support her full weight.

His lips began working against hers, pulling her closer, his hand massaging, kneading her head, his fingers playing with the muscles in the back of her neck.

Alyx began to tighten her grip in her attempt to get nearer. Her legs moved upward until they were about his waist. She turned her head, taking the initiative as her tongue tangled with his, her teeth hard against his lips.

The sound of approaching riders, many horses strong, came through to Raine's sense of danger. Slowly, groggily, he came out of the red fog and roughly, angrily, set Alyx away from him.

For a moment, his expression was soft; then it turned cold again. "Did you hope to entice me back to you?" he whispered. "Did you use the same weapons on Chatworth?"

It took Alyx a moment to understand what he meant. "You are a fool, Raine Montgomery," she said softly. "Does your hate override your love?" With that, she lifted her skirts, forgetting the water buckets at her feet, and turned back to camp. Behind her she heard Raine talking to the riders, his voice unnecessarily angry.