A Year & a Day (27 page)
Authors: Virginia Henley
Taffy flushed."I
am
devoted to her, Lady Marjory."
Jory gave a mock sigh. "She steals all my admirers."
"Shall we take our birds into the forest?" Nigel asked, carefully placing the goshawk on Jane's gloved hand.
"Lady Jane may not ride at the moment," Taffy said repressively.
Nigel looked at Alexander. "Are we going to take orders from a Welshman?"
"Like hell we are," Alex replied cheerfully, and the two men picked up Taffy and deposited him in the horse trough outside the stables.
"Oh, no, 'tis all my fault!" Jane said, stricken.
"Pay no heed. That is how men amuse themselves," Jory said lightly. "Especially big men; it helps use up all their disgusting energy."
******************
and Robert Bruce could talk in private.
"Don't let your weapons rust. I expect trouble to break out any day," Bruce said.
"I get regular dispatches from the governor. He doesn't seem aware of a threat."
"The trouble will start in the Highlands. All will remain quiet this side of the Clyde and the Firth of Forth, at least for the time being."
"That's becauseof
y
ourpresence here," Lynx declared. "It is crucial that Bruce remain loyal to Edward, since Annandale straddles the vital western route between England and Scotland."
"My spies tell me that Andrew de Moray has escaped from Chester where the king imprisoned him. The Morays have the lordship of Bothwell and rule vast stretches of land as far south as Lanarkshire."
"Edward has Bothwell Castle strongly garrisoned," Lynx reminded him.
"Aye, but they have other strongholds in Moray, Banff, Inverness, and Ross."
"Moray couldn't have escaped without help in high places."
Robert picked up a bucket of water and unceremoniously dumped it over Lynx. "Exactly!"
As Lynx dressed he studied Robert's dark features. Robert knew he would dispatch this information to John de Warenne. But Lynx wondered what Robert wasn't telling him. There were de Warenne spies out there, but obviously they were not as informed as the Bruce's.
In the hall at dinner, Lynx noticed the addition of music immediately. As well as bladderpipes, strolling musicians played harps and timbrels. Between courses, pages came around with finger bowls and towels.
"I see my sister Jory's fine hand in the improvements," Lynx said to Jane.
"Nay, my lord, you see
my
fine hand. I also told the steward to order us some silver forks. I understand the late queen introduced them to England, so I've decided to introduce them to Scotland."
Though his eyebrows elevated, Lynx managed to keep the amusement from his eyes. Lady Jane had begun to take her position seriously. Behind them, Thomas and Taffy vied with each other to fulfill her every wish, and she rewarded their efforts with a brilliant smile. Though Lynx made no comment, he was acutely aware of the competition for Jane's approval. It must be because she was his lady, so he decided to do nothing to discourage it.
His eyes were drawn again and again to Jane. In the fine white silk with her lovely red hair whispering about her hips, she was as attractive as any lady he had seen at court. After the meal he watched beneath hooded lids as men surrounded her. Not just the Bruces, but two of his knights, Sir Giles and Sir Harry, were dancing attendance on her as well.
When Jane bid everyone good night, Lynx was torn. He wanted to talk with the Bruces, but he also wanted to go upstairs with Jane. He decided he could do both. Lynx told Robert he would join him shortly, then he put his hand beneath Jane's elbow and murmured, "I'll see you safely upstairs."
As they ascended the steps, he looked down at her. "I had a most pleasant homecoming."
"I'm so glad, my lord."
To Lynx, her voice sounded cool and polite. He could not tell what she was thinking and suddenly wished that he could. Sometimes Jane had an air of mystery about her. He told himself it was due to her Celtic blood.
When they were inside her chambers he said, "When you were flying the hawks today, I appreciated your not riding out, Jane. My orders forbidding you to ride must have sounded arbitrary. I do not mean to constrict you; I am concerned for your safety as much as the baby's."
"Thank you. That means a great deal to me. Now I shan't deliberately flout your orders."
Was she teasing him? he wondered. As her mouth curved into a delicious smile, it suddenly occurred to Lynx that he had never kissed her. He took both her hands and drew her inexorably toward him. Then he dipped his head to kiss her good night. He intended to kiss her lips, but she turned her face slightly and his lips grazed her cheek.
"Good night, my lord."
"Good night, Jane," he said, a bit perplexed. But then he thought, Yes, she was definitely teasing him!
******************
had departed the next day, she wrapped up warmly, took her herb knife, and decided to go to her special place. Lynx had told her he didn't mean to restrict her
and she felt relieved. She had always enjoyed being solitary and prized her freedom.
As Jane approached the pool, the hair on the nape of her neck seemed to stand on end and she had a premonition that something was wrong. She stopped still in her tracks, looking, listening, scenting.
She heard a panting sound, faint but distressful. It led her in the direction of a leafy, lowlying branch. She bent down to pull it aside and stared into the green eyes of the lynx!
Startled, she let the branch fall back into place, but not before she had seen that the magnificent creature had been wounded. With her heart in her mouth, Jane clutched her touchstone and said a quick prayer to the goddessBrigantia. Then slowly, she lifted the branch aside. An arrow was embedded in the top of his foreleg, where the leg joined the lithe torso.
Jane looked deeply into its eyes and talked soothingly. "Hush, I will help you. Be still and I will take your pain." Gently, she stroked its tufted fur with her fingertips, drawing off its pain as she knew she could. When the eyes of the lynx became glassy, she knew she had mesmerized the animal enough to lessen its pain.
Now she left it so she could gather white willow leaves from a tree on the far side of the pool. She knew of nothing better to staunch the bleeding of wounds. Next she picked a couple of huge dock leaves and scooped a handful of mud from the water's edge, then Jane tore a piece of cloth from her underdress, soaked it with water, and carried it all back to the wounded beast.
With gentle fingers she eased the arrowhead from the wound and watched with hammering heart as the blood flowed freely. All the while, murmuring a singsong litany of soothing phrases, Jane cleansed the wound, covered it with white willow, packed on the mud, and securely bandaged it with the cloth ripped from her gown.
Tomorrow she would bring it meat lightly laced with poppy to make the wounded animal sleep.
She would have to feed it for
a few days until it had healed enough to be able to hunt again. She allowed the branches ablaze with autumn leaves to fall back into place and washed her hands at the pool. Anger at the hunters swept over her. This was a Welsh bowman's arrow! Yet she knew she could not go back to the castle and complain. The lynx's life depended on her guarding it with a cloak of secrecy.
Before she left, Jane took her herb knife and drew a magic circle about the hiding place. She visualized a silver-blue flame shooting from the tip of her knife as she drew the circle of fire and felt secure that nothing could penetrate it.
******************
His lieutenant, Montgomery, was a swift rider who should reach his uncle sometime tomorrow. From the stables, the forest beyond the meadow was clearly visible and Lynx saw Jane disappear into the trees.
His first impulse was to send Taffy after her, but the squire was nowhere to be seen. When Lynx spotted Jane's brother Keith, he pointed toward the trees and told him Jane had gone into the forest alone.
"She's gone to the pool, my lord; she's been going there since she was a child."
"Yes, our first encounter was at her forest pool, but I'd feel better if you'd keep an eye on her."
Keith, who liked de Warenne, promised that he would.
******************
the messenger. John de Warenne informed him that Fitz-Waren had been granted lordship of Torthwald Castle, and his uncle had sent the message with one of Fitz's light cavalry officers.
Lynx masked the animosity he felt toward Fitz's officer. Torthwald was not too much farther away than the Bruce strong-
hold of Lochmaben; far too close for Lynx's peace of mind. He had the distinct impression that a watchdog had been set down in their midst. The appointment had the king's stamp of mistrust all over it.
It was a common Plantagenet ploy to set one against another.
Fitz-Waren's man also delivered personal invitations, one for Lynx, the others for Marjory and Alicia, to visit Torthwald Castle. Lynx took allthe letters and informed the messenger that he would see that the ladies received them. De Warenne told him there would be no reply, then turned him over to his steward for refreshment. Lynx certainly intended to visit Torthwald, but he would do so covertly, without Fitz-Waren's knowledge.
******************
back to the castle. Keith did not want her to know he had been asked to keep his eye on her and played his role so well, he did not think Jane was the least bit suspicious. At the same time, Jane was so cautiously evasive about what she had been doing, Keith suspected nothing.
Jane made her way to the castle kitchens and came away with a small haunch of venison. She knew she could not ask for raw meat without prompting questions, but her explanation to the cook about her condition making her ravenously hungry at odd hours was accepted with understanding.
The next morning she set out with the meat, some of which she had laced with poppy, and a pot of ointment made from yellow loosestrife which was good for quickly closing up a wound so it could heal cleanly. This time she made sure that Keith did not see her go into the forest.
With her heartbeat pounding in her eardrums, she parted the brilliant foliage and found the lynx where she had left him. She tossed him the meat and moved away to let him eat in peace. Animals were unpredictable when food was present. As she
walked toward the pool she could hear his low growls as he devoured the venison.
Jane picked up a pair of nosy hedgehogs who had come to see what she was doing and carried them to the safety of the far side of the water. She also shooed away a doe and a flock of doves. By the time she returned to the lynx, he was dozing from the opiate she had fed him.
Quickly she cleansed the wound of its caked blood and mud, then covered it with a thick layer of the healing salve. Again, she bound it so the lynx could not lick it off.
******************
name and caught up with her.
"I am on my way to Lochmaben. I may not return until tomorrow." Actually he was going to Torthwald, but didn't want even his squires to know. "If there is aught you need—"
"Thomas and Taffy will take good care of me," she finished his sentence for him.
Lynx stood looking at her with a bemused expression on his face and she suddenly felt compelled to explain where she was going. "I'm on my way to the kitchens. A good chatelaine always knows what the cooks are preparing," she lied.
She looked so pretty, Lynx had a sudden urge to touch her. He put his fingers beneath her chin and raised her face until their eyes met. "You will make somebody a very good wife." His green eyes were filled with a teasing light.
Jane's pulse began to race. For once he was actually smiling at her. She swept her dark lashes down over her eyes and murmured, "My lord, you are flirting with me."
Lynx laughed. "It is permitted," he murmured back, and touched his lips to hers. He found that one taste was not enough. He looked down at her softlips and hungered for more. His mouth came down on hers with an aching tenderness. Then his
powerful arms tightened about her softbody as she pressed herself against him. Lynx parted her lips with the tip of his tongue, then thrust inside with slow, insistent strokes.
His hot, hungry mouth sent tiny tremors through Jane's body. His masculine scent stole her senses as she yielded her mouth for his ravaging. He drew her sensual lower lip into his mouth as if it were a ripe cherry, and held her so tightly her breasts were crushed against the hard muscles of his chest. Before the lingering kiss ended, it had aroused an unquenchable longing deep inside her.
Jane was weak with desire when he departed, and thrilled with the knowledge that he was beginning to respond to her. But she was relieved that he would be away for a couple of days so that she could tend the lynx secretly. Jane knew if Lord de Warenne learned of the risks she was taking, he would be livid. He would never understand, and he would never forgive her. He would lock her up for the remainder of her pregnancy and throw away the key!