The Deed (18 page)

Blake rolled his eyes at that. I think you can leave that compliment out. Stay with things
you find attractive about her looks. Tell her what you like and why.

His mind filling with all sorts of things he liked about her, Amaury murmured
thoughtfully, Aye, mayhap that will work. His eyes began to sparkle with something other
than good humor as he inventoried each individual part of her anatomy, the reasons he
liked them, and things he would like to do to them. Aye, I will. Ignoring his friends
laughter, he headed off after his wife.

Amaury peered at his wife in repose and smiled. He had loved her well and thoroughly,
revealing each inch of her body and explaining what he liked about it as he went. It had
been most satisfactory. He was now positive he had gone a long way toward mending her
esteem problem.

The snapping of a twig nearby drew his narrowed eyes to the surrounding woods, but there
was nothing to see. Still, the memory of the attacking bandits was now brought to mind and
Amaury frowned, wondering if he truly should have dismissed the guards that had prepared
to accompany Emma on this trip. He had only been thinking of loving her in the woods, not
of any danger there might be.

A second sound, a rustling, this time nearer, made him stiffen further as he realized how
vulnerable they were at the moment.

Wife. Emmas eyes popped open, a shy smile coming to her lips as she met his gentle, if
concerned gaze. Come. Tis growing late, he murmured in a normal voice, not wishing to
worry her.

Sitting up slowly, Emma peered toward her half full basket, recalling that she had yet to
collect the burdock she had wanted. Her husband had quite distracted her from her task
after only fifteen minutes of watching her poke through the woods. I needs must collect
some more

Nay. Dress, he ordered softly, handing her her clothes.

Emma frowned, her eyebrows rising, but did as she was told even as he stood to dress as
well. Amaury was much quicker than she, his clothes on and sword in hand before she had
managed to re-don her tunic. By the time she had her gown on, he had brought the horses
over and was soothing their nervous movements as he peered at the trees surrounding them.

It was then Emma realized there was a problem. The horses were nervous and so was Amaury.

Is something amiss? she whispered, stepping to his side.

He did not answer, did not even look at her. Expression grim, he merely lifted her
silently onto her mount, then moved toward his own. It was then that the first man stepped
out of the surrounding woods. He was followed by three more.

To the castle! Amaury roared. Slapping the rump of her horse, he sent it lurching off into
the woods carrying her to safety, then turned to face the men now closing in upon him.
Each one carried a sword and two of them had full mail on. It was hard to make love in
armor so Amaury had forsaken his for this short jaunt. A mistake.

His gaze swept over the attackers again, taking their measure. Mercenaries. Not very
successful ones either, he decided, noting the poorer quality of the armor they sported.
Successful or not, he feared he might very well be returning to his little wife draped
across his mounts back. Their numbers and what little skill they possessed were more than
enough to bring down a lone man.

Even a warrior as proficient as himself, Amaury thought, putting his back to a tree with
resignation.

Amaury had slapped her horse so hard, it took Emma a bit of time to regain control and
slow her down. Bringing the nervous animal to a complete halt, she urged her back around
toward the clearing. She knew she should probably obey her husband and return to the
castle to await his return. He did dislike being disobeyed. Besides, he could well take
care of himself. But then, so could her cousin, yet she had saved his sorry hide a time or
two.

She would just check on him, Emma told herself as she urged her horse into a gallop. If
all seemed well, she would leave him to it and follow his instructions. If not... She
wished suddenly that she had brought her bow.

All thoughts of her bow flew from her mind when her mare jumped a bush and crashed down
unexpectedly into the clearing. It seemed they had not ridden as far away as she had
thought. Amaury was going to be furious.

Emma had little time to worry over that, however. Even as she began to slow her mare, she
recognized the unfair odds her husband faced. Cursing, she used the only weapon she had to
aid him, her horse. Urging the mount to speed up again, Emma tugged her reins hard to the
left, toward the nearest of the villains. The mare responded at once, bearing down on the
man in her path.

Warned by the sound of pounding hooves, that unfortunate man was already turning. Catching
a glimpse of the horse and rider, he immediately tried to throw himself to the side, but
Emma turned her mare to follow, wincing inwardly as he fell beneath the hooves.

The second man was a surprising bonus. Emma had merely been following the first man, but
he had led her horse into the path of the second one who now drew up his sword to deflect
the mare. Seeing the action, Emma realized her mount would rear and immediately set about
leaping from the beast. She hadnt intended on knocking into the third man, but when she
saw him to the side of her it seemed too good an opportunity to miss and she launched
herself toward him from her mares back.

Amaury stared at the chaos about him with amazement. He hadnt been able to believe it when
the tense silence that had cloaked the clearing had suddenly been broken by his wife
crashing into the center of the glen on her mount. His shock had been replaced by fear
when a glance had shown that the mare appeared to have gone a bit berserk. The beasts eyes
had rolled backward in her head even as she had moved to trample one of the men beneath
her hooves. Then she had reared, throwing Emma from her back as she pawed at the air in
front of a second villain.

Amaurys heart had lodged itself in his throat as Emma had flown through the air. When she
had slammed into another of his would-be assassins, he had immediately made a move to see
that she was all right, then remembered his attackers and brought himself back to face
them. Or what was left of them. The first man the horse had trampled was most definitely
dead. At the moment, the second one was still trying to get out of the way of Emmas mad
horse, and the third manthe one Emma herself had landed onappeared to have been knocked
senseless as he fell by the base of the tree. That left the fourth man for Amaury to deal
with.

He put up a paltry fight at best. While Amaury had regained his concentration quickly, his
opponent was still gawking over the chaos about them as Amaury approached him. It was the
sign of a second-rate warrior at best. A true warrior knew to keep his wits about him at
all times.

Amaury considered hacking the man down while his back was turned. After all, he and his
friends had shown little care for fair play by ganging up on him four to one, but his
honor would not allow it, so he roared a warning first. The villain wheeled at once,
raising his sword in a desperate bid to fend off the coming blow.

After the impact of crashing into the huge armored man, it took a moment before Emma
managed to regain her breath. It was Amaurys roar that did it for her. She suspected that
that enraged bellow had scared the breath right back into her lungs. Good Lord, he had a
set of lungs on him! Regaining her wits along with her breath, she immediately reached for
the dirk at her waist. It was a paltry weapon, good only for stabbing food at mealtimes,
but it was all she had. Clutching it in her hand, she pushed herself up slightly away from
the man she lay on, and quickly and viciously plunged the dirk at his chest. The damn
thing snapped in two as it hit his mail. But it did manage to rouse him. Unfortunately.

The way he stiffened slightly made Emma glance warily up at his face when the dirk broke.
The smile he gave her when she met his gaze made her blood run cold.

Pulling his sword free of the man, Amaury didnt even wait to see him collapse to the
ground before glancing quickly toward the tree where his wife and the other villain had
landed. He frowned when he saw that they were both moving now. From the way they had lain
prone moments ago, he had thought them both unconscious, but his wife was even now
scrambling off the man, trying to back away from him. As she did, the villain caught the
hem of her skirt, holding her in place while he rolled to his feet.

Amaury strode quickly across the clearing and brought his sword down. He had intended on
slicing the hand that had dared touch even his wifes clothing, but the man saw his
approach out of the corner of his eye and tugged hard on the skirt to get his hand out of
the way. Emma was jerked forward into the arm Amaury raised immediately to stop her
forward impetus, then bounced backward as the sword sliced through her gown, releasing her
like a spring. She collapsed back against a neighboring tree, and Amaury immediately put
his back to her, protecting her as he faced the man now on his feet, his sword at the
ready.

Emma clutched at the tree to keep her feet beneath her, then glanced sharply toward her
husband and his opponent. Opponents, she realized as she saw that the second man her mare
had gone after had managed to deflect the horse and was now coming to aid his friend. She
shouted a warning to her husband, but knew at once that she need not have by the impatient
glance he threw her over his shoulder. Then the battle began in earnest. Holding her
breath, she waited as Amaury deflected their attackers blows one after another. His arm
moved so swiftly as he fought the two men that it was nearly a blur. There was no question
of running. She would not leave his side, but she wished she could help somehow. He
appeared to have no trouble deflecting their blows, but should he tire...

That thought set up a panic in Emma, and she began hunting the ground. She was looking for
a good sturdy rock to throw at the men. It would be of little aid, but might be enough of
a distraction to allow her husband to even the odds. She had just spotted a nice-sized
stone and picked it up when a scream drew her eyes back to the battle. Her husbands sword
was buried deep in the belly of the man she had toppled with her leap from the horse. Her
gaze flew to the second man then, fear blooming in her like a bloody rose. While her
husbands sword was otherwise occupied, the second man was going in for the kill. Emma
shouted a warning and hurled the rock at the villain at the same time.

Amaury grimaced when his wife screeched in his ear. It almost made him miss the rock that
flew past his shoulder into the man now bearing down on him. Gods breath, he thought
grimly, his little wifes lungs must reach all the way down to her knees for her to let
loose a sound like that. Part of him was touched by the panic in her voice. It was nice to
think she did not wish to see him dead. However, another part of him found it insulting
that she thought he might not be aware of what was going on about him, or that he needed
her trifling assistance. He was a warrior, he thought irritably. It was his place to guard
her. Her place was to rest against the tree and await his pleasure. But then, his wife had
shown little evidence of knowing her place to date. After all, had he not sent her back to
the castle? Yet here she was, a distraction to him in the midst of a battle, he thought,
grasping the impaled man by his shoulder and turning to thrust him into his friends
downward swing even as he pulled his own sword free.

Caught up in the momentum of his swing, the villain was incapable of stopping the death
blow he gave his friend. For a moment, his face was a mask of shock. In the next instant
that expression was to be his death mask as Amaury thrust his sword into the mans chest.

Emma closed her eyes to the gruesome battle scene and sank weakly back against the tree. A
hard hand closing around her upper arm a moment later brought her eyes open to stare at
her husbands drawn face. He seemed as tense as a cat on hot coals. Anger along with
something else she did not recognize battled on his face.

I told you to head back to the castle.

I did try, Emma told him in a pained whisper, thinking of the brief spurt of good sense
that had urged her to obey her husband.

Amaury sighed, his shoulders drooping as he recalled the mad way the horse had been
rolling its eyes when it had crashed into the clearing. I must have slapped your mare too
hard. I am sorry, wife, you could have been killed. Twas lucky she ended running in a
circle and returning here, else you may have been cracked against a tree rather than the
softer landing that man gave you when she finally threw you.

Emma frowned in confusion over that for a moment. Then understanding suddenly struck and
her mouth made a perfect 0 of amazement as she realized her husbands mistake. He thought
her such a ninny that he believed her horse had run away with her, somehow tearing off,
then crashing back here to throw her at the villain who had been trying to kill him. For a
moment she was almost angry that he thought her so useless. Then she merely shrugged it
away. She was too weary to really care right then. Besides, it was probably better than
his knowing the truth. That would most likely enrage him.

Her gaze moved around the clearing now, seeking out her mare, but there was no sign of the
animal. Worry plucking at her brow, she moved to the center of the clearing to call for
the creature, but there was no response.

She probably returned to the castle, Amaury murmured, moving to her side. My horse is gone
as well. It will bring the men. He paused, pushing her behind him and turning to face the
trees at the sound of approaching riders.

When the first of his men broke through into the clearing on horseback, he relaxed at
once. Sheathing his sword, Amaury walked forward to meet them as they reined in their
horses and dismounted.