When Lightning Strikes (21 page)

Navarre simmered with rage.

“You realize that I could have you punished for treason. This woman is my wife and if you have knowingly defiled her you will suffer the consequences. She of course, will remain in my care as she is obviously delirious. She has lost her memory.” His eyes narrowed. “You on the other hand had best not deny my words as truth. Shall I perhaps describe for all to hear the mark she has on the left side of her derriere as proof that I know who
she is?”

Dominic opened his mouth to speak but Navarre waved his hand to silence him.

“Think carefully before you speak. For whether you deny the mark is there or claim that it is, I can still have you arrested for fornicating with my wife. How else would you know whether the mark was there or not in the first place unless you had seen with your own eyes her lovely attributes?” He cocked his head smugly.

Sarah stepped forward. “And what if I can prove the mark is not there by showing you now?”

“You, my lady can also be punished severely for such an act. My word is the word of the law. If you choose to ‘prove’ the mark is not there and it is, I will have you arrested for showing yourself in an unseemly fashion in public and knowingly fornicating with this gypsien. If you show us that the mark is
not
there, which you are more than welcome try then I can choose to have you arrested for impersonating my lovely wife, Melissande, which is an even worse crime and surely punishable by death. I am a knight of the realm and my word will stand.” He leaned in an whispered next to her ear. “It matters little who you are, lady. Do you think I can not have any mark I choose branded upon your lovely skin? I am the law. And either way you will be taken into custody.”

He raised his eyebrow and smiled. “Now would you care to bear your lovely derriere for all to see? Or would you like to just accept my word as truth and come home with me now? As I said, I would be willing to forgive and forget this little incident.”

Sarah wanted to scream. “I have not been impersonating your wife! I did not ask you to come here looking for me. I have no idea who your wife is nor how she would have come to be here! If you will just let me explain…I can…” He silenced her as he stepped forward and pulled her from Dominic’s embrace. His soldiers had come over now and their weapons were pointing at them both.

“You, mademoiselle
are
my wife. Since you have forgotten, I will refresh your memory. Two days past we went to the field north of here for midday meal. We were attacked by a boar in rut and before I could stop it, it had gored my sword arm clean through and I lost so much of my life’s blood that I nearly died of it. Not to mention the beating I took fighting with the beast.”

He pulled up his sleeve and showed her the self-inflicted stab wound, still swollen and scabbed over on his muscular forearm.

“The boar dragged you off and I thought you had been eaten and left to the buzzards. I have spent the past two days recovering and dealing with my heartbreak until father came with the news that there was rumor that you were here in the custody of these gypsiens. Now I have dragged myself from my bed to come to take you back where you belong.” He took a deep breath, feigning concern.

“You are overwrought, my sweet. You do not love this gypsien and you are not wedded to him. You will come willingly with me now or I will be forced have him killed this instant.” Navarre’s eyes narrowed to slits.

The soldiers stepped forward to take Dominic.

Sarah moved toward Navarre and he smiled to himself.

“Stop! If I go with you now, will you give me your word before all of these people and your men that you will leave him be….that you will not harm him? That you will keep your promise to forgive and forget?”

She looked pleadingly at Dominic.

Dominic’s voice rang out in protest.

“Sarah! NO. You cannot do this. I would rather die than have him take you. You are
my
wife.”

He rushed forward only to be withheld by two armed men. The rest of the troupe backed up as the soldiers moved outward with their weapons. None would dare to kill these men and risk having Thomas entire army come, small though it was.

Sarah leveled her gaze at Dominic. “If you die, my love, they will take me anyway and
you
will still be dead.”

Navarre looked at her and smiled wickedly.

“Quite observant of you, my lady. Of course I will keep my word. I will let him go free if that is all you wish. He is after all my half-brother, is he not?” He raised his brow and feigned a look of innocence. “But you will promise in return that you will behave in a seemly manner as my wife. You will ride here upon my horse with me and you will make no trouble on our journey home.” He bowed to her in a mocking sort of way.

“Sarah. Do not do this.” Dominic said simply. “You are not Melissande. And pretending to be her will not save my life or your own.” His eyes shot daggers at Navarre.

“I will kill you, Navarre. Make no mistake. If you take my wife from me now, I will hunt you down and kill you like the dog that you are. You know she is not Melissande. I know not where the real Melissande is but I suspect you do. And further, I suspect you care not where that may be! But you know that
this
lady is not her.”

One of the soldiers hit him.
Hard. A large red welt began to form on his left cheek and blood trickled from the split in his lip.

In desperation he called out to the soldiers and the people of his troupe and the few villagers who had followed the soldiers here looking for some action and a tidbit of gossip to pass on.

“For those of you who have seen Melissande de Lyonne, does this woman look like her? Does she speak as Melissande does?”

The soldiers looked back and forth to each other.

Dominic’s troupe members and the three villagers looked back and forth to each other, simply shrugging. They apparently could not discern the difference or had never met and spoken with the true lady.

Marco raised his hands above his head in truce as he stepped forward taking his friend by the shoulders.

“Let him go free,” he said to one of the soldiers. “I will make sure he causes no further trouble.”

He whispered in Dominic’s ear as he pulled him aside.

“
Ami
. Let it go. If you say she is not Melissande, I believe you. But for now, we must let her go and let them believe she is. It may well be the only chance to save her life right now. And to keep you alive so you may retrieve her later. I will help you and we
will
retrieve her. Trust me.” He nodded to Dominic and patted his shoulder.

Dominic looked Marco in the eye before jerking free from his grasp. He knew Marco was right. But how was he going to watch Navarre ride off with Sarah?

Sarah looked at Navarre. “May I at least say goodbye? These people have been very good to me. Please.”

Navarre rolled his eyes. What the hell. He may as well let the wench say goodbye. Watching du Barbaronne’s expression through it all would be worth it, if nothing else.

“Very well. You may say your farewells. But do not linger. I wish to get us home to the solitude of our chambers.” He smiled smugly.

Sarah walked over to Dominic. She reached over to touch his face where he was swollen and she leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

“Please. Dominic, let me go with him. I will always love you. Do not forget that even if I am somehow returned to my time without ever seeing you again,” she whispered quietly. “I will be alright and perhaps I can find a way to escape.”

“I will come for you, Sarah. I swear it. Do not lose faith.” He kissed her hand. “I
will
come for you,” he whispered.

Navarre’s brows knit together wondering what du Barbaronne was saying to the woman. No doubt he was making useless promises of rescue. He rolled his eyes again.

“How touching,” he said. “Now leave off so that I may take my wife home where she belongs.” He nodded toward Dominic.

“And now brother dear, I take my leave and as promised I shall
forget
this whole ugly little incident.” He cocked his head a grinned from ear to ear. Sarah was pulled back from where Dominic stood her eyes never leaving his.

Navarre lifted Sarah onto the back of his horse. She looked back at Dominic holding the galbi necklace in her grip as Navarre mounted the horse behind her and they started to ride
away. He could see the fear in her eyes right along side the defiance.

Dominic watched in silent agony as they rode away from the camp. Nightfall would be coming in a matter of hours and Sarah would be alone and at the mercy of Navarre de Lyonne. He had to think of something…and quickly.
             

Turning on his heel he walked toward Marco.

“We are leaving. Now! I am going to kill that son of a bitch or die trying.”

He walked to the wagon, gathered the few belongings he would need and prepared his horse for the long ride ahead.

“What do you plan? We cannot just barge into their keep, just the two of us and ride out with her. You still have yet to tell me how you know she is not Melissande.”

Marco gave him a questioning look.

“I will explain as we ride. And somehow I know that Navarre knows she is not his wife either. He
knows
. He must have a reason for making it appear that she is the lady.”

Without warning slammed his fist hard into the side of the wooden wagon that was standing next to them.

“The whoreson knew that it would be worse than death to take her from me as he did. That is why he did it.” He dragged in a couple of calming breaths realizing he needed to regain his composure so he could think clearly.

“We will have to find out what he did with the real Melissande. As for how we will retrieve Sarah, I do not know, yet. But I have my wits and my strength to guide me. Have the men start packing up camp. We are moving from this place…we must not stay here or they will know where to find us after we have retrieved her. Have the troupe start moving north and we will catch up.”

Marco nodded and headed toward the inner part of the camp to tell the others.

“Marco!” Dominic called out. “Thank you, brother.”

Marco turned on his heel calling out to him as he walked backwards. “No thanks are needed, ami.” He smiled. “But you know that you are the worst fucking pain in my ass, eh? No matter…we will bring back the woman you love.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sarah could feel Navarre’s hot breath against the back of her neck as they rode. His tan, thickly muscled arms snaked their way around her waist and she could feel his nostrils in her hair as he drank in her scent.

She wriggled forward trying to get away from him.

“Uh-uh-uh, my love,” he chided sarcastically. “You gave your word that you would sit before me upon my horse and behave in a seemly manner during our trip home.”

He pulled her back towards his body, rubbing his hands up and down her waist as he spoke.

“Remove your hands from my body, sir,” she said firmly between gritted teeth.

“I own your body…or have your forgotten that,
wife
?” His voice dripped with honey- coated venom.

“You own nothing. I am not Melissande and you know it. I don’t….I do not know why you would allow anyone to believe I am your wife,” she spat…remembering to revert back to proper English with no contractions. “Why? Are you so filled with hatred for your brother? Of course, if you are indeed somehow mistaken because I look so much like your missing wife then I will simply prove it to you and you may release me back into the care of my true husband, Dominic du Barbaronne.” She slapped his hand away as it found its way to her thigh.

“I shall enjoy allowing you to prove who you are by bearing your lovely derriere to me alone. I would be happy to examine it up close to make absolutely sure.” He kissed the back of her head.

“Since no one else will be allowed to see whether I have the mark you spoke of, which I
do not
, you will just lie and say it is there and carry on with this sick little plot of yours. How can I prove you wrong when you will have me arrested and kill him if I do? You have made it very convenient for yourself have you not? You sir, shall examine nothing,” she hissed.

“We will see,” he said softly.

They rode on for another hour or so before stopping to take a break and water their horses. Navarre slid from his horse and offered his hands up to help Sarah down. She shot him a look laced with poison and slid from the horse on the other side, almost toppling to the ground. But she would rather fall on her behind a million times than let Navarre put his hands on her.

Navarre stomped around to the other side of his mount.

“You will not disrespect me so, lady. You gave your word, just as I gave mine before a group of witnesses. If you do not uphold your end of the bargain then I will not be required to uphold mine.”

He raised his eyebrow and curved his lips into a knowing smirk. He offered her his arm and stood waiting in silence for her to take it.

Sarah let her breath out long and hard. She was going to have to comply with him for the time being in order to keep Dominic safe. She would have to think of some way to escape before he took her to his bed and she was getting nervous because nightfall was coming fast and they would soon be at his home. Slowly, she stepped forward and took his arm cringing as he placed his hand on top of hers.

“There, now. That is much better,” Navarre said with a smile that was almost human. He stared at Sarah for a moment and his expression seemed to soften. The witch was beautiful whoever she was. A man could easily lose himself in her eyes…and other parts as well.

This was a fiery one, indeed. Perhaps she could be brought around to join him in this little charade and they both could benefit! She could play the part of Melissande, enjoy the pleasures of his talents in bed and his wealth and he could keep the real Melissande’s death hidden and reap the benefits of his little plans to inherit all the wealth and title he could. He would lose out on getting Melissande’s holdings but perhaps this woman’s sweet wares would be worth the loss. And perhaps if she would join him in his plans for the future, they could come up with a way to inherit Thomas’s estate much more quickly. A sweet deal for them both if she could be brought around to his way of thinking. Not to mention the utter exhileration at stealing the gypsien’s wife  or lover or whatever she was…and having her enjoy it!!

He smiled to himself. That would be worth more than money could ever buy. But he would have to work upon that slowly. For now he must deal with this Sarah or whatever she had called herself properly and make certain she knew there would be no rescue.

“I will not harm the gypsien.” He leveled his turquoise gaze at her. “Although my father does not acknowledge him, he still holds love within his heart for the lowly cur. And I would be pressed to find good enough reason in Thomas’s eyes to have the bastard hanged. Only breaking of the laws of the king would be reason enough that even our father could not stop it. And so I have ‘forgiven’ my dear half-brother for this little escapade based upon your loss of memory.” His smile was perfectly wicked.

“Although, should you decide to disobey me, I could also decide to pursue the matter of him defiling you.
That, my sweet, is breaking of the law and would be punishable accordingly.”

“I am not your wife and he has not defiled me! I am wedded to him and you know it as well as I
do!”

Navarre stared at her in silence. How dare she speak to him so? And yet he found it absolutely enticing, the passion in her tone and the way she held her body like she wanted to slap the sense from him. Christ, had Melissande had such fire in her veins, he would never have killed her and probably not strayed from their marriage bed! He wanted to tear the clothes from her body and ravish her right here in the grass. He could of course if he wanted to and no one would say a thing. She was after all, his ‘wife’. But he would rather savor her sweetness alone.

“My lady, we will discuss this matter of your memory loss later, when we are alone,” he said in a tone that indicated he meant what he said/

“I have not lost my memory. Why do you not wish to discuss it now? Are you afraid that someone may recognize that I am not who you say?” She raised her chin defiantly.

“I said ENOUGH. We will speak of this later.”

She shot him a hateful look as they walked toward a small stream. She didn’t dare pull free of his grasp like she wanted to because she could see he was already angry enough. She couldn’t risk Dominic’s life. Not now that this scumbag had promised to spare it if she just obeyed him. And she knew exactly what Navarre considered ‘obeying’. How in God’s name was she going to get through this night? She didn’t think she could bear allowing this pig, handsome though he was, to touch her.
My God, not to mention that she was still unbelievably sore from her earlier first-time tryst. She shuddered to think about what may come after dark. But if it meant saving Dominic’s life until she could think of a way to escape, she would do exactly that.

After getting a drink from the cool stream, they watered the horses and mounted up to finish the journey back to Navarre’s home. A short time later, Sarah could see the estate looming in the distance. There were mountains on both sides and fields of flowing wheat off to the east.

The view was breathtaking. It was beautiful, well-kept…and surrounded by a wall that looked impenetrable.

She groaned inwardly. How was she going to get out of this place? And worse, if she wasn’t able to, how was Dominic going to get in to rescue her as he promised he would do? He would get himself killed for sure if he tried, so she knew she was going to be on her own in finding an escape.

As they rode into the gates the steward greeted them with a smile and his usual polite manner. He stepped forward to help Sarah from her horse and as she dismounted he paused for just a moment as if studying her face as if something wasn’t quite right. After a second the look faded as he shook his head just a bit and he greeted her as if she were an old friend.

“My lady!
Thanks be to our Father in Heaven for bringing you home safely to us! We thought you were dead.” He bowed to her and kissed her hand.

Sarah just stared at him and tried to gauge what to do. She wasn’t sure how she was going to deal with this because she didn’t even know this man’s name. Perhaps that would convince them all she wasn’t this Melissande! On the other hand it might
anger Navarre and he would accuse her of posing as his wife on purpose. And here among his own people, she would not be believed. She took a deep breath and as if on cue, Navarre stepped forward and took her hand from the steward’s and spoke for her.

“Reginald. My lady is tired after our journey and she has apparently lost her memory as well from the ordeal. Pay no mind to her strange accent, either. It must be a part of the delirium, for as you can well see, she is our lovely, golden-eyed Melissande.” He dragged in a nervous breath. “Send Margery and the servants to prepare us a bath in our chambers. We will dine shortly thereafter.”

Sarah took in a deep breath of relief. The amnesia! That would be her explanation of why she couldn’t name anyone here or know anything of this life. Then she gasped as she realized that he had ordered a bath for them both in his chambers.

“I am not ready for a bath yet. Can we not eat our meal first? I….I mean I am famished after such a journey, my lord husband.” She smiled weakly and looked nervously to the steward.

Navarre just looked on smugly. He was enjoying her discomfort very much. And he rather liked the way the words ‘
lord
husband’ had spilled from her lips. Perhaps she was bending to his will already. Then again, it was not likely.

Thomas walked up suddenly and greeted his son. Then he turned to Sarah staring at her for a long time in silence before he spoke. “Melissande, I am so glad to see you alive and well! But something about you is different. What is it?
Your skin? Yes! It must have been darkened in the sun.” His eyes took on a look of worry. “A pity. But not to worry, it will fade with time.”

Navarre cleared his throat nervously. “Yes, father, her fair complexion has been ruined by the sun. But I must say
, I like the color quite well on her, unfashionable as it is. Perhaps I will have her spend more time outside in the gardens to keep her this way. It makes her all the more unique, I would say. And we know that my sweet Melissande is unique in every way.”

He took Sarah’s hand to his lips and kissed it. She
wanted to slap the living shit out of him but instead she smiled sweetly over at Thomas.

“Melissande, do you not have a hearty hug for your father-in-law?” Thomas grinned at her until the creases appeared at the corners of his eyes. He looked like a sweet man who had lived hard.

Sarah pulled her hand abruptly from Navarre’s grasp and stepped forward into Thomass’ embrace but before she could speak Navarre cut in.

“Father, Melissande has lost a large part of her memory due to her ordeal. I have heard that such could happen from being overwrought and almost killed as she was. She speaks with a strange accent and even some of her words are unbeknownst to me. She is also having delusions of being wed to him
– du Barbaronne
.” He spit the words out in a whisper.

Thomas brows wrinkled with worry. “I see,” he said quietly. “It is true then, that you were found by Dominic? He did not harm you in any way?”

Sarah shook her head no. She wanted to scream! She wanted to tell this man that Dominic was her lawfully wedded husband, that she was not Melissande and that his son Navarre was a murdering, lying, back-stabber who was up to no good. But she could do no such thing without risking Dominic’s life and her own.

Thomas smiled. “Dominic has grown into a fine man I pray, despite his lot in life.”

Navarre’s face took on a sour look. “Let us refrain from speaking of the gypsy. Had Melissande been anyone else, you know he would have ransomed her and kept her to his side while keeping that band of law-breakers on the move until they received their gold. The only reason he did no such thing now is because he could not. How could he ransom his own half-brother’s wife?” He paused to remove his gloves.

“Let us let bygones be bygones, no? All that matters is that my lovely wife has been returned safely to us.” He smiled innocently at Thomas.

Thomas smiled back at him. “Yes, my son. That is so. As for Dominic, our views differ as you know.” He stepped away from them and began ushering them inside the huge entry hall. “I assume the lady would wish a bath and supper then?”

Sarah spoke up. “I…I am more hungry than dirty, my lord. Must I be treated and spoken of as if I am not in the room?” She swallowed hard, knowing she was treading on dangerous ground.

Thomas turned to her and raised an eyebrow. Navarre cleared his throat and grabbed Sarah’s hand squeezing hard. She wanted to yelp but kept silent.

Navarre spoke up quickly. “Yes, father. We will take our bath in our chambers and perhaps our evening meal as well. Melissande, I will meet you upstairs momentarily.” He nodded toward the steps at the end of the entry hall and a plump, elderly maid was waiting to escort her. He squeezed her hand even harder to let her know he meant business. No arguments, just compliant silence.

Sarah let go of Navarre’s hand and hesitantly approached the steps – drinking in the sights around her. To her right was a huge dining hall and to the left was a wide hallway that led to another huge doorway going to a separate kitchen. The maid smiled and offered Sarah a hand as they walked up the long, stone stairway.

Thomas turned to Navarre. “I expect you will remember your promise to go easy with her this eve, Navarre.”