Lady Thief (25 page)

She hugged him.
Holton tensed as her arms
wrapped around his body before putting his arms around her.

For the first time in years, Marianne felt
his love.

He lifted her face.
“We will have to be quick
now if we are to get you back to Graystone before Ferdinand finds
that you are missing.”

Marianne opened her mouth to agree whole
heartedly when she heard something unfamiliar.
She moved away from
Holton and began climbing the small hill that shielded her and her
father from the view from the house.

“Marianne!
Stop!” Her father hissed, but she
paid him no mind as she peeked over the hilltop and gasped at the
sight.

Knights, men-at-arms, and squires, hundreds
of them, stood patiently waiting outside the former Holton
manor.

Marianne’s heart beat faster.
Those men were
not there when she arrived.

Happiness consumed her.
“William came for
me.”

“What?
I heard that servant speaking to
Ferdinand.
He said Lord Gray would not think to come here for a
while yet.”

Marianne shook her head.
She didn’t know how
he had known to come so quickly.
Robert had ridden the cart at a
leisurely pace through his hidden path.
William must have run the
horses nearly to death to catch up with her the long way.

Then she spotted him.
Through the fog of
falling snow, James sat with a stiff back on his horse, a wrap
around his head and a surly look on his red face.
Robert hadn’t
killed him after all.

“We have to go down there!”

Holton grabbed her arm to stop her, but she
pulled and dragged him along.

“Are ye certain those men are here for ye?”
Holton asked, still resisting but moving along with her.

“Aye, yes, of course!
‘Tis James, and there
is Blaise right there!” She never thought she would be so happy so
see him.

Holton, satisfied, ran with her as Marianne
clasped his hand in her own.

Chapter Fifteen

William took great
pleasure storming
into the bedchambers Ferdinand had gained through his questionable
means, and searching under every bed, tossing chairs and ordering
servants out of his way.

‘Twas not a difficult task as there was very
little in any of the chambers.
Indeed, it seemed most of the
furnishings had been sold.
As there was hardly any place to hide a
woman, William abandoned those chambers and moved on.

He marched into the solar and opened the
large trunk there, his blood cold with the fear that she could be
stuffed inside.
She was not.

He felt Ferdinand’s eyes on him, shrewdly
watching with great dislike as William searched through the
compartments in the writing table.

His hands abruptly ceased their search.
William pulled out a smooth wooden sculpture with a sharp point at
the tip, at the sight of it, disgust shivered through him.
Despite
the pointed tip, he knew it was meant to resemble a man’s cock.

He’d never seen anything like it in his
life.

The two men with him eyed the thing with
horrified fascination.

“I doubt very much that she is in there,
milord.” William lifted his eyes at Ferdinand’s seething.

“Aye,” William took the wooden object and
threw it into the fire as he left the solar.
It would not stop
Ferdinand from making another one, but William was satisfied with
the knowledge that the horrible thing would never be used to harm
another woman again.

While he drew pleasure by going through
Ferdinand’s things, ‘twas soon lost on him when it became obvious
that Marianne indeed was not there.

Fear wrapped around him like a snake.

Bryce and Nicholas returned from searching
the kitchens and servants quarters while Hugh and the knight with
him came from the stables.
All found nothing.

“Shall we search the woods surrounding the
house?” Hugh asked.

William nodded, banishing the snake.
He would
not give up.
“Aye.”

Ferdinand followed them to the door.
“My
apologies that your lady is missing, milord, I can only wish there
was something I might do to assist your search.”

William heard the false sympathy in his
voice.
It enraged him.

Without thinking he spun around and grabbed
the man’s neck, shoving him to the wall.

Swords were drawn by William’s and
Ferdinand’s men.
They touched the flesh of his neck but William
paid them no mind.

“I know you have her, and when I find her,
for your sake, she’d best be unharmed.” William said, ignoring Hugh
and Nicholas’s hands on his shoulders.
They might be fooled into
believing Ferdinand’s performance of frailty but he was not.

Ferdinand looked him in the eye and wheezed.
“I swear on my honor, I have not had her brought here.”

Bryce’s gruff voice snapped him from his
murderous thoughts.
“Milord, we will search the forest then return
here a second time.
There is naught we can do now.”

Reluctantly, William released the aging man.
Ferdinand coughed, a wasted hand clasping his chest for breath.

With no word of apology, William turned to
the doors.

Marianne ran down the hill in the distance,
her hand clasped in her father’s.

His eyes met hers.
She dropped Holton’s hand
and ran faster than a doe.
She called his name.
Her voice held only
terror.

“William!”

Old, nearly forgotten instinct gripped him.
William ducked and rolled, narrowly escaping Ferdinand’s slashing
blade.
William jumped to his feet and drew his sword, but Bryce had
already grabbed Ferdinand’s arms.
The older man shrieked and
dropped the dagger under Bryce’s falcon grip.

Another man came at him and William was
ready.
He blocked the sword coming down on him with a clang from
his own blade and kicked the man’s knee, listening to his screech
as it shattered backwards.
He too fell, clutching his twisted leg
while rolling, weeping, and sobbing.

James jumped from his horse.
He rushed and
stole the man’s sword while one of William’s knights held him down
with no struggle.

‘Twas all the incentive William’s men needed
before charging into the house with their weapons drawn.

Vastly outnumbered, Ferdinand’s men dropped
their weapons and surrendered on their knees.

“Filthy cowards!” Ferdinand screamed.
“Pick
up your weapons!
Defend me!”

“You are the coward here!” William seethed.
“Bringing pain to helpless women while hiding behind your lies and
men.”

“The way you hid in your castle all these
years, milord?”

William wanted to kick Ferdinand’s teeth in
for the comment.
The man made him sick, but Marianne called his
name again and his attention went to his wife.

***

Marianne had not a rational thought in her
mind when she leaped into William’s arms.
He grabbed the back of
her head and crushed her lips to his.

She quickly pulled away from him, struggling
to be set back on the ground.
“Let me see you!
If he cut you—!”

He took her searching hands, laughter in his
eyes.
“I am well,” Then he found the dried blood on her swollen
neck, and they darkened.
“Who did this?”

Marianne touched his fingers that stroked her
bruise.
“Robert, when he took me from the stables.”

“I will kill him!”

“He is already dead, and your grip on my arms
is becoming painful.” She had a smile on her face when she told
him, so that he would know he was not truly hurting her.

Even still, William’s eyes widened as he
loosened his hands.
“He is dead…Ferdinand?”

Marianne nodded.
“Aye.
He killed Robert so
that he would not have to pay the reward for bringing me here.
I
know not of what he did with the body.
‘Tis his blood you see on my
neck.”

Blaise stood behind William, close enough to
have heard her declaration.
He did not appear as shaken by her
disclosure as she had expected of him.
His eyes were hard and
uncaring at the news, and Marianne knew she need not pity him.

Whatever hold Robert had on Blaise ended
while Marianne was gone.
Blaise did not regret Robert’s death.

William briefly glanced at Ferdinand before
giving her his attention again, smoothing her frayed hair.
“I
suppose the man has done me a service after all.
Has Ferdinand
harmed you?”

Marianne leaned into his touch, and when she
shook her head he asked quietly, “Did he touch you?”

Again, she shook her head, and William pulled
her close to him, whispering words of thanks into her hair.
His
blood ran cold when he sighted Sir Holton standing only a few feet
away.

He pulled Marianne behind him but did not
lift his weapon to the man, likely since he appeared to be no
threat.
Holton had a sheepish look about his face and his garments
were filthy and loose about his shoulders.

Marianne held William’s arm.
“He rescued me
from the house, right out from under Ferdinand’s nose.”

Ferdinand shrieked and struggled while Bryce
held him with little effort.
“I put two men at the door!
How did
you get out!”

Holton gave him a cold stare.
“I sold you my
house, not its secrets.”

“It shall be your house again,” said William,
sheathing his sword as there no longer was a need for it.
“I will
see to it.
The servants as well, though there is naught I can do
about the ones Ferdinand sold.”

Holton’s eyes widened, his mouth falling at
the gift.
“Thank you, milord.”

William’s eyes hardened.
“Should I discover
you have been gambling again—”

“You shan’t hear it!” Holton said quickly,
his hands quivering with his good news.
His eyes found Marianne’s.
“I have been troubled for many a year, and I am sorry that it has
ever caused you any pain.
I shall never touch the dice again, and
this property will flourish.”

“‘Tis mine now!
He has no right to it!”

William ignored Ferdinand and nodded to
Holton, satisfied with their deal.
Marianne glowed with the good
news he was giving to her father.

She had not expected her husband to do this
for her father, had not expected William to come for her so
quickly, yet he did.
He always surprised her.

Pleased with him and everything around her,
Marianne tightened her grip on him before forcefully turning his
head for a kiss.

***

Ferdinand did not struggle.
The large man
holding him would only tighten the grip on his shoulders if he
did.

He would not have it.
Ferdinand would not
allow that red headed whore to leave him a ruined man while her
husband executed him for a crime that idiot serf committed by
bringing her to him.

She lavished her husband with her lips,
unashamed of the spectacle she made of herself and her lord.
Had
she been wed to
him
there would have been none of that.
She
would have known her place.

Holton would not remove that hideous smile
from his face while he openly made plans to buy back as many of the
serfs and sheep as possible.

Ferdinand seethed.
‘Twas his property he
spoke so casually of!
Holton lost it to him because of his
foolishness and his inability to control his daughter, who remained
close to Lord Gray long after she finished her performance.

Had it not been for her, she would be his
wife and he would not be in this position.

Ferdinand felt the large man’s brute fingers
slack.
He waited seconds more until Lord Gray was about to take the
little whore away.

Ferdinand reached out.
His fingers found a
dagger at the large man’s belt and lifted it from its sheath.
He
ducked under the man’s giant hands before he could be grabbed
again.
Ferdinand ran for her.

***

William heard his name screamed again, and he
turned to see Ferdinand flying towards Marianne with a crazed look
in his eyes and a blade in his hand.
William yanked Marianne behind
him and pulled out his sword.

Blaise dashed forth and kicked Ferdinand’s
feet out from under him.
The man howled and fell on the dagger he’d
intended for Marianne.

Marianne shrieked and spun away from the
blood flying from Ferdinand’s neck.
William held her tightly while
she hid her face in his shoulder.

Ferdinand twitched once, twice, and went
limp.
His eyes remained wide open in eternal shock that he could
accidentally kill himself.

William stared with his mouth hanging.
That
could have been Marianne bleeding to death just now.

He clutched her tighter and glared at Bryce.
“I thought you had him!”

Bryce stared at him helplessly before
mumbling.
“I though’ I did too.”

Blaise stood above Ferdinand’s body.
He gave
it a small kick with his boot to confirm the death.

William reached out and grasped his son’s
shoulder.
Blaise looked up at the touch.

“Thank you,” William said.

Blaise stared him in the eye.
“I will always
defend my father.
And my step-mother.”

William’s smile could not have been brighter.
He clapped his son on the back when Blaise grinned back.

William looked down at Marianne as she hid
her face, her hands over her eyes to ensure that she could not see
another dead body.

He could hardly blame her.
Two men in less
than a day was much for any woman to see.

He raised his head to Holton.
“I hope you
have room for my men.
I do not believe we will be at liberty to
leave until the sky clears.”

Holton’s voice boomed with happiness.
“Milord, there should be more than enough room as Ferdinand did not
keep many servants.
And you shall have my best bedchamber to rest
yourselves.
Stay as long as you will!”