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Authors: The Maiden Warrior
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thing she accomplished in this life, shewas going to make de Brice pay for doing this to her.
Yanking open the door, she stomped into the corridor and tried to make her way down the stairs to the great hall without breaking her neck. She set her jaw and breathed deep, her black mood kept in check by that one satisfying thought.
Aye, de Brice would pay. By God, he’d be begging for mercy before she was finished with him.
Chapter 6
A idan didn’t quite know how to handle what was happening in his once peaceful home. Diana sat picking at her food and using every opportunity to glare at Gwynne, who in turn leaned on her elbows across the table, glaring back and looking as if she’d like to spear his sister through the heart with her eating knife. The current state of affairs was far, far worse than he’d expected.
“You knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Kevyn said, daring a glance at the women from his position next to Aidan.
“’Tis awkward at best, whether or not you try to pass her off as your relative. And it doesn’t help that she acts like a man in skirts. There doesn’t seem to be a feminine bone in her body.”
“Oh, yes there is,” Aidan murmured. “I remember that far too well.”
Kevyn pretended not to have heard him, adding, “Your sister needs time to adjust; she’s used to competing withwomen and doing her best to outshine them, but she has no idea what to do with one like Gwynne.”
Aidan scowled into his trencher, absently picking up a piece of roasted fowl and dipping it into the sauce bowl in front of him. “’Tis not as if Gwynne presents any kind of outward threat to her.”
“I don’t think Diana is worried about her as a rival. Gwynne does have a rather striking face with those silver eyes of hers, and she’s tall enough to attract notice. But her figure seems somehow more thick in skirts than I’d have imagined after seeing her on the field.” Kevyn nodded as a page refilled his cup with wine, adding, “Nay, Diana isn’t fretting over her for her looks, you can be sure.”
A clatter farther down the table drew both men’s gazes. Gwynne had knocked over a large bowl of fruit, sending an army of errant winter apples rolling toward Aidan’s sister; her expression as she watched Diana huffily replace them made it obvious that she’d done it on purpose.
“You heard what your sister said when we arrived,” Kevyn continued, looking back to Aidan before taking a deep drink from his cup. “She fears Lady Helene’s reaction to news of Gwynne’s presence in your home—and the Duke of Rutherford’s even more. ’Tis very near your nuptials, after all.”
“My wedding isn’t for almost four months.”
“Close enough. Especially when the duke continues to seek any reason he can find for dissolving your betrothal with his daughter. And Diana knows that her match with Hugh Valmont hangs in the balance; if the alliance with Helene’s family is not secured, Valmont will not make an offer.”
“Valmont is a fop.”
Kevyn shrugged. “There’s no accounting for women’s taste in men. But Valmont is powerful, and you cannot deny that settling Diana in his family will protect her fromsome of the difficulties that have resulted from your father’s misfortunes.”
“They weren’t misfortunes, Kev,” Aidan muttered, glaring into his own now nearly empty cup and grabbing the pitcher to refill it. “My father committed treason and was executed—only Mother, Diana, and I paid our own price for it as well.”
Kevyn nodded, thoughtful. “Aye, and I know better than most how you’ve tried to rebuild your family’s name and ensure Diana’s future ever since. But this latest decision on your part is sure to appear less than satisfactory to her. It puts an already precarious situation at greater risk.”
“Damn it, I know that,” Aidan said, “which is why I have to resolve this quickly. I have to make Gwynne remember what happened—make her remember what the Welsh
Yanking open the door, she stomped into the corridor and tried to make her way down the stairs to the great hall without breaking her neck. She set her jaw and breathed deep, her black mood kept in check by that one satisfying thought.
Aye, de Brice would pay. By God, he’d be begging for mercy before she was finished with him.
Chapter 6
A idan didn’t quite know how to handle what was happening in his once peaceful home. Diana sat picking at her food and using every opportunity to glare at Gwynne, who in turn leaned on her elbows across the table, glaring back and looking as if she’d like to spear his sister through the heart with her eating knife. The current state of affairs was far, far worse than he’d expected.
“You knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Kevyn said, daring a glance at the women from his position next to Aidan.
“’Tis awkward at best, whether or not you try to pass her off as your relative. And it doesn’t help that she acts like a man in skirts. There doesn’t seem to be a feminine bone in her body.”
“Oh, yes there is,” Aidan murmured. “I remember that far too well.”
Kevyn pretended not to have heard him, adding, “Your sister needs time to adjust; she’s used to competing withwomen and doing her best to outshine them, but she has no idea what to do with one like Gwynne.”
Aidan scowled into his trencher, absently picking up a piece of roasted fowl and dipping it into the sauce bowl in front of him. “’Tis not as if Gwynne presents any kind of outward threat to her.”
“I don’t think Diana is worried about her as a rival. Gwynne does have a rather striking face with those silver eyes of hers, and she’s tall enough to attract notice. But her figure seems somehow more thick in skirts than I’d have imagined after seeing her on the field.” Kevyn nodded as a page refilled his cup with wine, adding, “Nay, Diana isn’t fretting over her for her looks, you can be sure.”
A clatter farther down the table drew both men’s gazes. Gwynne had knocked over a large bowl of fruit, sending an army of errant winter apples rolling toward Aidan’s sister; her expression as she watched Diana huffily replace them made it obvious that she’d done it on purpose.
“You heard what your sister said when we arrived,” Kevyn continued, looking back to Aidan before taking a deep drink from his cup. “She fears Lady Helene’s reaction to news of Gwynne’s presence in your home—and the Duke of Rutherford’s even more. ’Tis very near your nuptials, after all.”
“My wedding isn’t for almost four months.”
“Close enough. Especially when the duke continues to seek any reason he can find for dissolving your betrothal with his daughter. And Diana knows that her match with Hugh Valmont hangs in the balance; if the alliance with Helene’s family is not secured, Valmont will not make an offer.”
“Valmont is a fop.”
Kevyn shrugged. “There’s no accounting for women’s taste in men. But Valmont is powerful, and you cannot deny that settling Diana in his family will protect her fromsome of the difficulties that have resulted from your father’s misfortunes.”
“They weren’t misfortunes, Kev,” Aidan muttered, glaring into his own now nearly empty cup and grabbing the pitcher to refill it. “My father committed treason and was executed—only Mother, Diana, and I paid our own price for it as well.”
Kevyn nodded, thoughtful. “Aye, and I know better than most how you’ve tried to rebuild your family’s name and ensure Diana’s future ever since. But this latest decision on your part is sure to appear less than satisfactory to her. It puts an already precarious situation at greater risk.”
“Damn it, I know that,” Aidan said, “which is why I have to resolve this quickly. I have to make Gwynne remember what happened—make her remember what the Welsh
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