Ruby - Book 1 (Daughters of the Dagger Series) (9 page)

“Lady Ruby,” he said, reaching out and
taking her by the arm, “I’d like you to meet my sister, Lady
Linette.”

“How nice to meet you,” said Ruby, so
respectful he barely thought it was the untamed girl he’d really
married.

“Yes, I heard you were married, brother,”
Linette said, nodding an acknowledgement to Ruby.

“And which of his marriages were you
referring to?” asked Ruby. “This or one of the other three?”

“Other three?” asked Linette in question,
looking at her brother.

“I’ll tell you later, sister.”

Nyle squeezed Ruby’s hand, trying to warn
her to keep her mouth shut, but she just continued.

“He tried to give me their cursed wedding
ring, but I wouldn’t accept it, because I don’t plan on ending up
dead like his other wives.”

Yes, the shrew was back. Why had he expected
anything less? He felt like crawling behind the ornate tapestry
lining the wall for warmth. He didn’t want his sister hearing this
as the first thing when she’d just arrived and was in mourning.

“Yes, I’ve heard that rumor, but I assure
you my brother didn’t murder anyone,” Linette replied.

His eyes shot up to his sister and he spoke
to her in a low tone. “How did you hear?”

“My handmaiden, Ascilia told me,” she said
splaying her hand toward the silent woman right behind them.

Nyle turned around quickly and confronted
her. “How did you know?” he asked. The woman had black hair tied up
under a wimple that not only covered her head, but wrapped around
under her chin in folds, covering most her face. She looked to the
ground quickly, stopping him from viewing her face.

“I . . . heard it while occupying the
household of the king in Windsor,” the woman said, not looking at
him.

“Windsor?” He looked up at his sister. “I
thought this was your handmaiden from the Highlands.”

“No,” his sister relayed. “Actually, my
handmaiden was injured on the journey here. I was lucky to find
Ascilia when I stopped at an inn for the night. The innkeeper
recommended her. She tells me she was a handmaiden for one of the
ladies at King Edward’s court. Since you spent time there, mayhap
you know the lady whom she served.”

The handmaiden’s name sounded familiar, but
Nyle truly did not remember her from his time at Windsor. “Which of
the ladies there did you assist?” he asked. The handmaiden answered
without looking at him.

“Lady Jocelyn,” she said, catching him by
surprise. “Perhaps you know her?” she asked. “After all, I do
remember you, Lord Nyle and unless I’m mistaken, you seemed to have
spent much time with the Lady Jocelyn.” The woman’s voice was soft
and held a crackly odd tone to it.

Nyle’s heart stood still. He clenched his
jaw tightly, still affected by the name of the woman he’d loved and
who’d betrayed him by coupling with the king, as well as others. He
was not about to admit he knew her now. Not after the king banished
her from his dwellings and took her baby. And now the king was
bringing Jocelyn’s child here on the morrow. Egads, this was bad
timing. He only hoped the handmaiden wouldn’t remember the child,
but that was probably too much to ask.

“I remember Lady Jocelyn,” he admitted. “But
only vaguely.” He noticed the handmaiden’s body stiffen and she
glanced up quickly, then dropped her gaze again. He saw a flash of
bright blue eyes. He also noticed several ugly burns on the woman’s
face that left hideous scars. She seemed to try to cover it with
some type of ointment that made her skin look even rougher.

“Excuse me, my lord and lady,” said Oralie,
coming to Ruby’s side. “But if it is by your order I will go to the
solar and see to the preparations for your wedding night.”

“Of course,” Nyle interrupted, before Ruby
could object to coupling with him in front of everyone. “Please
make the necessary preparations as we will be coming to the solar
soon.”

“I beg your leave as well,” said Linette’s
handmaiden from behind him. “As I need to see to my lady’s
belongings and prepare her chamber as well.”

“You will find my steward in the kitchen,”
he told the woman. “He will direct you to a chamber that my sister
can use while she is here.”

The handmaidens both left and Nyle took his
sister on one arm and his wife on the other and guided them across
the hall toward the fire.

“Are you hungry?” he asked his sister. “I
can have the cook prepare some food, as we have already eaten.”

“Nay,” she answered, settling herself on a
bench at the trestle table. “But I would like to get to know your
new wife. Please, sit next to me,” she said smiling at Ruby and
tapping the seat with her hand. Ruby did as instructed and Nyle
called a servant boy over with more wine, as he knew he probably
would need it before this conversation was over. He had no idea
what words would be flying from his new bride’s mouth.

“Tell me about yourself,” said Linette. “How
and when did you and my brother meet?”

Ruby found herself liking Nyle’s sister. It
felt good to have another woman to talk to, and the tall,
dark-haired woman reminded her of her own sisters that she already
missed dearly. She felt comfortable around her, and it helped to
ease her jitters from her nervousness of having to couple with her
new husband soon.

“Well, I met the Lord of Death first
yesterday,” she admitted.

“Lord of Death?” His sister’s eyes held
amusement as she laughed behind her hand and looked up toward her
brother. “Oh, Nyle, I’ve heard you called many things through the
years but never the Lord of Death. And never from a woman!”

Nyle took two goblets of wine from the
servant boy and handed them to the women. Then he took one for
himself, taking a swig before he answered.

“Well, you’ll hear many shocking things
falling from my wife’s lips, but I warn you not to believe a single
word.”

“Oh brother,” scolded Linette. “Let your
wife speak. Please, continue,” she said nodding to Ruby.

“Well, there’s not much to tell. He came to
my father’s castle in Blackpool to choose a wife, as I have three
sisters. I was on a horse practicing my joust at my homemade
quintain when he chose me.”

“Quintain? You?” she asked in
bewilderment.

“Yes, I know how to wield a sword and use a
dagger to hunt as well.”

“And are your sisters like this too?” she
asked.

“Nay, they are proper ladies who are
obedient and know the skills of sewing and weaving, which I refuse
to do.”

“Really?” She raised a questioning brow and
looked over to her brother. “And yet my brother chose you.
Curious.”

Just then a scream was heard and the sound
of something tumbling down the steps. Commotion flowed through the
room and Ruby saw Nyle jump to his feet and place his hand on the
hilt of his sword.

“Lady Ruby,” someone called out from across
the hall. “Your handmaiden has just fallen down the steps and she
is not moving.”

“What?” Ruby sprang from the bench, alarmed.
Picking up her skirt she ran through the hall with Nyle passing her
up and making it to the foot of the steps first.

“Clear the way,” he said, pushing his way
through the crowd. He hunkered down next to the woman and placed
his fingers on her neck.

Ruby stopped next to him, a knot in her
stomach twisting as she surveyed Oralie lying face down at the
bottom of the steep stone staircase.

“Is she . . . dead?” She didn’t want to even
hear the answer, but had to ask. Nyle rolled her over and the woman
moaned.

“Nay, she lives,” he announced, “but is
lucky she didn’t break her damned neck. Her leg looks awkward and
hopefully it is not broken. The healer needs to look at her
immediately.”

“I am here,” called out the healer from the
crowd.

“What happened?” asked Linette running up to
join them.

“She stumbled and fell down the steps,” said
Linette’s handmaid, Ascilia descending the steps with linens in her
hands as she spoke. A moment later the chambermaid appeared at the
top of the steps with a hand clasped to her mouth when she surveyed
the scene.

“Did you see it happen?” Nyle asked the
handmaid.

“Nay,” she answered, “as I was in the
upstairs chamber getting linens from the chambermaid. But I heard
it.”

“Did anyone see what happened?” Nyle asked,
his eyes searching everyone in the crowd.

No one responded, and Nyle knew this looked
like the murderer was on the loose again. Still, he couldn’t prove
it.

He instructed several of his men to take her
to the great hall where the healer was already opening his bag of
herbs and ointments.

“Oralie,” he said as they carried her away.
“What happened?”

“Oh, my lord, I am sorry, but there were no
linens on the bed and Ascilia told me she’d seen a chambermaid and
to contact her. I was heading downstairs to tell Lady Ruby about
the delay when I fell.”

“Yes, I took her to the chambermaid myself,”
said Ascilia. “But I was still there or I may have seen what
happened.”

“Did you just stumble or were you pushed?”
he asked, following behind as they moved toward the great hall.

“I felt something on my shoulder but before
I could turn to look, I fell forward down the stairs. “I am not
certain, my lord, but it could be possible that I was pushed.”

“I see.” He walked back to the crowd at the
foot of the steps, all the while in deep thought. “Sir Godin,” he
spoke lowly so only his loyal knight could hear him. “Did you have
a man watching Umphrey?”

“I did,” he said, “but Umphrey managed to
slip away into the shadows.”

“Locke?” he asked, pulling his squire over
to him. “What about the falconer’s assistant? Did you have an eye
on him?”

“I’m sorry, my lord. I stopped for a moment
to speak with the stablemaster about your horse, and when I looked
up he was gone. But I am sure he went back to the mews.”

Nyle looked up to see his steward arriving
from the kitchen and the new cook was right behind him.

“Brother,” said Linette, her hand on his
shoulder. “This is your wedding night. Why don’t you and your bride
retire to the solar for the night and you can concern yourself with
this on the morrow?”

He thought about what she said, and realized
the safest place for Ruby to be right now would be with him
watching over her.

“Perhaps you are right,” he told her.

“But now that Oralie is injured, I don’t
even have a handmaiden to help me prepare,” said Ruby. Nyle knew
she was only stalling for time.

“That’s true,” he said. “Your handmaiden
will be of no help to you for now. Possibly not even for a while by
the looks of her leg. I will have to find you another.”

“She can have my handmaiden for the night,”
said Linette. “And we can look for another in the morning.” She
walked forward and placed one hand on Ruby’s back and the other on
her handmaiden, Ascilia. “Now go already, as your husband
waits.”

As she pushed them gently toward the stairs,
Ruby wanted to object, but with everyone watching, she knew she
shouldn’t. She felt so nervous to begin with, and now without
Oralie at her side to comfort her, she knew she would feel even
worse.

She walked up the stairs toward the solar,
with Linette’s handmaiden at her side, wondering if this woman
could give her any words of wisdom on this special night.

“Ascilia,” she said. “I heard you say
earlier that you once served at King Edward’s household and that
Nyle resided there as well. Can you tell me at all what it might be
like to bed my new husband, as I am very nervous.”

The woman led her across the second floor
corridor and opened the door to the solar. She held out her hand
for Ruby to enter first. There was something odd about this woman,
but Ruby couldn’t put her finger on it. Still, it was nice to know
she’d have a woman to talk to now.

“Oh, I can tell you much,” she said in a
garbled voice. “For you see, I was handmaiden to the woman your new
husband once loved. That is, the woman who bore him a child.”

“What are you saying?” Ruby felt a wave of
shock flash through her by the handmaiden’s words as the woman
reached out slowly, closing the door behind them. “That Lord Nyle
has a child? I know he was married three times and just recently,
but was he married to this Lady Jocelyn as well?”

“Nay,” she said, pulling off Ruby’s belt,
running a hand over her dagger. “He was very in love with the woman
but wouldn’t marry her. Even when he knew they’d had a child
together.”

“Well, that’s awful,” she said, watching the
woman remove her dagger from the sheath and test the sharpness
against her thumb. “He is more of an ogre than I’d imagined.”

“Aye.” The woman put the dagger down on the
table but not back in the sheath. She then reached over and helped
pull Ruby’s gown over her head. “Sit down,” she said, pushing Ruby
into a chair a little harder than she’d expected. The handmaid then
used her fingers to quickly unbraid her hair. After that, she
started digging through the trunks that were Ruby’s.

“So if he’s in love with someone else, then
why has he been trying so desperately to get married?” she
asked.

“Why don’t you ask him?” The handmaiden
found Ruby’s hairbrush and brought it over. She ran it over Ruby’s
head a bit forcefully and she felt her hair tangle. The woman just
kept on pulling, causing Ruby to cry out.

“Ow! Be careful,” she instructed. “Oralie
would never treat me so roughly. You are a lady-in-waiting and
should know the treatment that is expected of you.”

“My many pardons, my lady, as I meant no
harm. I am just not used to tangled hair, as Lady Jocelyn’s hair
was always smooth as silk.”

Ruby didn’t like being compared to Nyle’s
lover, Lady Jocelyn, and it made her feel uncomfortable since this
was her wedding night and she was nervous enough as it was.