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Authors: Madeline Hunter
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she had never shared with him.
The fear tried to spread again. She managed to force clarity on her thoughts. Later she would contemplate what she really faced, but right now there were more immediate concerns.
“Ascanio, we will double the guard. And we do not ride out over petty thefts. It will draw off what few men we have and leave even this castle vulnerable. Tell Josce to personally oversee the gate tower. No one is to enter who is not known to us. I will send messengers at once to my father's closest vassals, summoning them to our aid. They should arrive before Gurwant.”
She dismissed them, strode from the solar, and went to her bedchamber, where she fetched up her bow.
“What are you doing?”
She pivoted in surprise. Morvan stood at the threshold. His sharp gaze took in the weapon that she held.
“I am going back to the horse farm, to warn the men there.” She was not going just for that. She practiced with her arms at the farm, and had been lax these last weeks.
“Carlos can warn them. You must stay in the keep now.”
It sounded a lot like a command. She inspected the string on her bow. “They are still days away.”
“An advance guard could have been sent ahead, to assess your strength and the terrain. The thieves who have been harassing you might not be mere brigands. You must stay here.”
“I will be careful.” She slung the bow over her shoulderand grabbed up her sword and quiver, then walked quickly to the doorway.
He did not move. Which blocked her way out.
She glared at him impatiently. He returned a severe gaze.
“Since you will not see to your own safety, Anna, have a groom prepare my horse.”
Another command. A stupid one. “You are too ill to ride yet, and I do not need your escort.”
“My strength returns with every hour, and it is not for your escort. I will go and meet this Beaumanoir, and deal with him knight to knight.”
“He has an army behind him, and that he comes at all speaks of his lack of honor. He will have them cut you to pieces if it suits him. Now, stand aside. I have things to do.”
He didn't budge. That infuriated her enough that she almost gave him a good shove.
He moved closer until she had to look up to see his face. A handsome man, she found herself thinking despite her vexation, handsome even when stern like now.
“While I recovered I swore an oath to protect you,” he said.
An oath to protect her.
Saints.
Small wonder he was being so overbearing.
“You are released from this oath.”
“It is not for you to release me.”
“I am its object. I can and do release you. You were ill when you made it. You cannot be held—”
“It is not a matter of your choice. It is done.”
An assault of rage hit her.
It is done
. That was a phrase her father had used to end discussion. The lord's will is done. How often she had heard that imperious statement. And now, from this man, a stranger almost …
“Sir Morvan, your oaths are between you and God. But know this. Do not expect me to conform to your ideas about protection. I discovered long ago that the price of a man's protection is too high and its value very dubious.” She turned away from his burning eyes.
He did not leave. He just stood behind her, filling the room with that damned male presence of his, glaring at her no doubt. But she refused to look and see.
Finally, she heard him walk toward the door.
“Morvan, know something else. Within these walls, no man commands me, no matter what his oaths. Not even Ascanio, and certainly not you.”
C HAPTER 7
A NNA SPENT THE AFTERNOON at the horse farm, training the stallions and using her bow. Carlos arrived near evening, and she used the last hours of light to practice her sword with him. Ascanio was the better teacher, but with Gurwant on the way he could not spare the time for this.
The activity kept the fear at bay, but the icy fingers again wrapped her heart once she was alone in her chamber that night. She hated the way it made
The fear tried to spread again. She managed to force clarity on her thoughts. Later she would contemplate what she really faced, but right now there were more immediate concerns.
“Ascanio, we will double the guard. And we do not ride out over petty thefts. It will draw off what few men we have and leave even this castle vulnerable. Tell Josce to personally oversee the gate tower. No one is to enter who is not known to us. I will send messengers at once to my father's closest vassals, summoning them to our aid. They should arrive before Gurwant.”
She dismissed them, strode from the solar, and went to her bedchamber, where she fetched up her bow.
“What are you doing?”
She pivoted in surprise. Morvan stood at the threshold. His sharp gaze took in the weapon that she held.
“I am going back to the horse farm, to warn the men there.” She was not going just for that. She practiced with her arms at the farm, and had been lax these last weeks.
“Carlos can warn them. You must stay in the keep now.”
It sounded a lot like a command. She inspected the string on her bow. “They are still days away.”
“An advance guard could have been sent ahead, to assess your strength and the terrain. The thieves who have been harassing you might not be mere brigands. You must stay here.”
“I will be careful.” She slung the bow over her shoulderand grabbed up her sword and quiver, then walked quickly to the doorway.
He did not move. Which blocked her way out.
She glared at him impatiently. He returned a severe gaze.
“Since you will not see to your own safety, Anna, have a groom prepare my horse.”
Another command. A stupid one. “You are too ill to ride yet, and I do not need your escort.”
“My strength returns with every hour, and it is not for your escort. I will go and meet this Beaumanoir, and deal with him knight to knight.”
“He has an army behind him, and that he comes at all speaks of his lack of honor. He will have them cut you to pieces if it suits him. Now, stand aside. I have things to do.”
He didn't budge. That infuriated her enough that she almost gave him a good shove.
He moved closer until she had to look up to see his face. A handsome man, she found herself thinking despite her vexation, handsome even when stern like now.
“While I recovered I swore an oath to protect you,” he said.
An oath to protect her.
Saints.
Small wonder he was being so overbearing.
“You are released from this oath.”
“It is not for you to release me.”
“I am its object. I can and do release you. You were ill when you made it. You cannot be held—”
“It is not a matter of your choice. It is done.”
An assault of rage hit her.
It is done
. That was a phrase her father had used to end discussion. The lord's will is done. How often she had heard that imperious statement. And now, from this man, a stranger almost …
“Sir Morvan, your oaths are between you and God. But know this. Do not expect me to conform to your ideas about protection. I discovered long ago that the price of a man's protection is too high and its value very dubious.” She turned away from his burning eyes.
He did not leave. He just stood behind her, filling the room with that damned male presence of his, glaring at her no doubt. But she refused to look and see.
Finally, she heard him walk toward the door.
“Morvan, know something else. Within these walls, no man commands me, no matter what his oaths. Not even Ascanio, and certainly not you.”
C HAPTER 7
A NNA SPENT THE AFTERNOON at the horse farm, training the stallions and using her bow. Carlos arrived near evening, and she used the last hours of light to practice her sword with him. Ascanio was the better teacher, but with Gurwant on the way he could not spare the time for this.
The activity kept the fear at bay, but the icy fingers again wrapped her heart once she was alone in her chamber that night. She hated the way it made
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