Strangclyf Secret (13 page)

Bernon growled. “Is that
all?”

She nodded. “What did you
expect me to say?”

“
Then you ignore the fact
that you lied to me.”

Tilting back her head, she
raised surprised eyes to his. “I would never lie to you. You are my
husband and lord. ‘Tis not permitted.”

The angles in Bernon’s
face sharpened with his frown. “Did you not tell me you were going
to tend an urgent need?”

“
Aye, milord.” She bowed
her head.

“
Look at me and tell me how
this was not a lie.”

“’
Twas an urgent need for
you to have Intrepid,” she said without raising her
chin.

“
You are not looking at
me,” he clipped out.

She tilted her head back,
unable to suppress a grimace as an imaginary knife stabbed her
neck.

“
Are you
hurting?”

Barwolf swallowed
convulsively. “I have a crick in my neck from dozing against the
side of the boat.”

Bernon glanced about the
chamber then took Barwolf by her arm and guided her toward the
pelts. He sat down with his back against the wall, and pulled her
onto his lap. Intrepid clattered against the wall and floor. He
reached down, unclasped the belt from her waist, and set the sword
on the floor beside them. “Is that better?”

Now wasn’t that
thoughtful? She still had to look up but not as far. “Aye, milord.
Thank you.”

“
Why did you not tell me
where you were going?”

“
I was afraid you would not
let me go,” she answered, honest eyes staring into his. Then she
gulped.

Bernon couldn’t help
rolling his eyes. “You were right, so why did you go?”

“
I felt ashamed because I
lost Strangclyf.” She combed her fingers through her curls then
shrugged. “I wanted to make up for my failure by getting the
holding back for you, but I should have known better.” She bowed
her head in a penitent manner and clasped her hands in her lap.
“Medwyn said my plan was not very good and he wanted to talk to
you. I am sorry I disappointed you again.”

“
I have already told you
that I am pleased with you.” He nudged up her chin, glowering
enough to make his words laughable. “You will start believing me
about this now.”

“
Aye, milord,” she said
meekly.

“
From now on, you will
trust me and tell me about whatever you have planned, so I may
advise you. I cannot believe you went sneaking around under your
cousin’s nose to get the weapon. How did you get the sword without
getting caught?”

“
Padarn got it for you. He
is hiding in the maze by the ale room until ‘tis safe.” She caught
her tremulous lower lip in her teeth.

Bernon took a deep calming
breath. She deserved to be frightened. Why in perdition could he
not stand to see her afraid? “What was your plan?”

“
I was going to raise the
portcullis and let your men out while you and the king stayed down
here where you would be safe. Medwyn said we needed a better plan,
but Hadwyn only has about sixty men left and most of them will be
napping until mid-afternoon, so we have plenty of time.”

His brows snapped back
together. “Do you not realize ‘tis an insult to me for you to think
I would allow you to take such a risk?”

“
I just wanted to protect
you,” she said in a tiny voice.

“
Your reasons do not
matter.” He kept his tone hard. She had to learn this lesson or she
would get herself killed. His frown grew fiercer as his heart
skipped a beat at the thought. “’Tis also an insult to think I
should not be the one doing the protecting.”

“
I am sorry, milord. I just
wanted you safe.” She glanced away and sniffed.

He took hold of one of her
hands, feeling the delicate bones swallowed by his loose fist. “Are
you sure about the numbers?”

She nodded.

“
Then you will stay here
with Queen Matilda while the men take the keep.”

She raised anxious eyes
and placed her other hand on his chest. “The labyrinth is
complicated, Bernon. I cannot just give you directions. If any of
you get lost, I could spend weeks searching and never find you. And
the way to the coffers has lethal traps. If someone stumbles upon
them—”

Bernon placed a finger
over her lips. “We will figure out the most strategic positions,
and you will guide us to them. Then you will stay in the maze until
‘tis finished and safe for you to come out.”

“
If you will let me use
your dagger again, I could help,” she offered.

“
Have you heard a word I
said? We do not need your help once we are in position, and the
dagger is yours. I gave it to you during that dinner you have
forgotten.” Bernon pulled the blade from his belt and held the
dagger out to her.

She looked at the
pearl-handle then raised troubled eyes. “You would give me this
fine weapon to keep for my own?”

“
I already did, so take
it.”

“
I
have
done nothing to earn it. Have you a
task for me, so I may repay you?”

Honest to God, she meant
that. “You do not earn a gift. ‘Tis yours because I wish it
so.”

He opened her hand and
placed the hilt against her palm. Barwolf accepted the dagger and
gazed upon it with wonder. “I will take very good care of this even
if I did not earn it.”

“
Have you never received a
gift before?” he asked, unable to keep the disbelief from his
tone.

“
Aye, the material for the
gowns you sent me,” she said, sheathing the blade, then she smiled
at him. “Now I have had gifts twice.”

“
And you never received
others—even on your birthday?”

“
I never deserved any.
Aurick gave me a ribbon once, but my father took it away, because I
should have been a boy. No one else ever tried to give me
anything.” She furrowed her brow into an earnest frown. “I promise
I will not grow lazy and expect things just because you are
nice.”

Now she insulted him
again. “I am not nice.”

“
Of course you are nice,”
she contradicted and patted his cheek. “You do not hit me. You are
patient when you instruct me, and you got lower so my neck wouldn’t
hurt. ‘Tis part of the reason I decided to like you. But mostly I
like you because you said I was yours after I embarrassed you. When
King Edward visited my father two years ago, I had to hide for a
whole week, so my father wouldn’t have to tell anyone who I
was.”

Bernon gazed down at her
fragile expression and sensed Geno was right about what Barwolf
needed. As much as he didn’t want to, he found himself caring for
this young woman who expected so little. He became aware of her
sweet feminine scent and recalled the night he almost made love to
her. Passion fired through him. She blushed and bowed her head as
if suddenly aware of his thoughts. He knew two things for certain
at that moment. His wife would soon learn her value and she wasn’t
going to sleep tonight until he performed magic. “Stand up,
cheri.
We will go get
the others and finish this.”

Barwolf pressed her hand
against his chest, staying him. “Can I ask you a question about
something that confuses me first?”

He nodded and took hold of
her hand again, trying to control the primal blaze that shot
through him from her fingers.

“
That night I cannot
remember, I had a dream with you in it. You took off all my cloths,
and touched me all over, and I...liked it,” she blurted out her
admission. “Why do you suppose my body likes yours so much that I
dream about you, but it never liked any of the men who used to try
to touch me? They gave me nightmares.”

“
Your body knows who you
belong to.” Bernon let one corner of his mouth raise. His little
fairy princess wanted him too.

“
Oh.” She blushed scarlet
and held his gaze. “Will you kiss me before we go?”

“
Nay.”

The color drained from her
face and she bowed her head. “I am sorry if I should not have
asked.”

Bernon nudged up her chin
and caressed a finger over her lower lip. “If I kissed you now, I
wouldn’t stop. But I will make you a promise.” He captured her gaze
in a possessive hold. “You will not go to sleep tonight until I
make your dream come true.”

~ * ~

“
Then ‘tis settled,” Bernon
stated, reviewing their plan after Barwolf explained the lay-out of
the holding. “Medwyn will enter the hall near the stairs to the
lord’s tower, William from beside the lesser hearth near the common
corridor, and Geno from the ale room. As soon as Geno raises the
portcullis, I will lead the men in attack from the gorge.” He
looked down at Barwolf, who sat on the top step of the dais at his
feet. “Are you certain about how long it will take you to guide
Geno from the release mechanism to the ale room?”

Barwolf swallowed the
cheese in her mouth and nodded. “Aye, milord, but we will have to
run.”

“
Then we will all begin
counting when we feel the vibrations from the raising of the
portcullis. At the count of five hundred, William, Medwyn, and Geno
can enter the hall. By that time, I should have made it to the keep
with the men.” A muscle flexed in Bernon’s jaw. “Remember, Hadwyn
is mine.”

“
You are leaving out an
important factor, Bernon.” Queen Matilda assumed her most regal
pose as she spoke from beside the throne and placed a hand on
William’s arm. “I have a particular fondness for our king and wish
to keep him around. Though his powers are great, I am fairly
certain he cannot keep sharp metal from piercing his flesh. I am
afraid I cannot allow him to join you unless he is
armed.”

“
I can fix that.” Barwolf
set aside the cheese, bread, and wineskin then sprang to her feet
and grabbed a torch.

Bernon caught her by the
arm before she could take off on him again. “Where do you think you
are going?”

“
To the Roman armory.” She
looked up at him through eager eyes. “’Tis just down the corridor.
The weapons are old-fashioned, but some are still
sound.”

Geno grabbed another
torch. “Lead the way, little wolf. I would rather not have sharp
metal pierce my flesh either.”

“
I will come too,” King
William said, rising from the throne. “I would like to pick my own
weapon.”

Medwyn joined Geno. “I
would like to see a Roman armory myself.”

Barwolf hesitated and her
brow puckered.

“
What is the
matter?”

“
I have not yet finished
the room, and ‘tis not presentable,” she said in a self-castigating
tone. “I got caught up in the task of cleaning the weapons and ‘tis
taking longer than I expected.”

“
Do not worry over a little
dirt, dear,” Matilda said in her motherly manner. “I am sure we
have all seen worse.”

Barwolf raised contrite
eyes to Bernon. “But I wanted everything to be
pleasing...”

“’
Tis all right for them to
come. I will not be displeased with you even if there is a lot of
dirt. I promise.”

Barwolf finally grinned.
The man was surely about to find out what dirt was. She grabbed
Bernon’s hand and tugged him along into the corridor. “The armory
is one of my favorite chambers. I never went in it until last
summer when I decided ‘twas time to set your house in order. My
grandfather forbade me entrance when he gave me the secret to pass
on.”

“
Did you not get the secret
from your father?” Bernon asked, a note of surprise in his
voice.

“
Nay. My grandfather never
gave it to him and forbade me to do so either. Grandfather said he
was passing on Strangclyf to me and my father could never hold the
title, because he knew I had his blood, but he was not so sure
about my father. Was that not strange? ‘Twas then he did the ritual
on me so I would learn it. He had Father Marcel and Aurick watch,
so they could help me remember and he bade me hide Intrepid down
here. Then he collapsed one of the tunnels and told my father the
whole secret was gone. Grandfather got sick and died a week later.
That was strange too, because grandfather never got
sick.”

“
How old were you?” Bernon
asked, tucking away the knowledge. Did she not understand the
significance of her words, or did she simply not wish to
acknowledge she was a bastard? And God’s bones, her grandfather had
passed the title to her and her father had never truly held
it.

“
Nine. This is the armory.”
She stopped beside a large iron door with bronzed casings that
gleamed in the torchlight. “I will let you open it if you do not
mind, Bernon. ‘Tis a mite hefty.”

He pushed open the heavy
door and wondered how his small bride ever managed to gain entrance
without help in the past. Taking the torch from her hand, he
entered the chamber.

“
Be careful where you step,
Bernon,” she warned, entering behind him as he placed the torch in
a bracket. “The weapons I have not finished are in organized piles
all about the chamber.”