The Dark Lady (29 page)

Devon motioned with his free hand, never taking his eyes off the sputtering leman. His three companions stepped closer to the small house. “She has made your housing arrangements. If you do not want to stay there, don’t, but it is the only one that will be taken care of—” Rebeka stuttered and squealed. Devon kept speaking as if she were silent and acquiescent. “—it is paid up for two months and you will get an allowance for the same amount of time. That is all.”

Standing in the center of the doorway, Rebeka blocked their entry. “I have been here for two years. I should have your loyalty.”

Van was quite enjoying the show, staying to the shadows where she was hidden.

“
Aye, you have been here a long time and, though it could cost me my life, if you were the lady and she the whore, between the two of you, she would still get my loyalty.”

Van’s heart swelled with pride.

Devon shoved Rebeka from the entryway. It took them less than half an hour to get her into a carriage and on her way. Van watched with elation as the carriage disappeared.

She glanced up as Devon approached her. The entire way, he looked at her in that scrutinizing way that all her men and Peter seemed to inspect her with. It made nervous gooseflesh break out on her skin. She held her breath as he stopped before her, absolutely sure he was going to say, “I know who you really are.”

“
Is everything all right, my lady?” Devon asked.

She relaxed and the breath whooshed quietly out of her. “Yes, Devon, thank you for all that you have done. Are you heading back out to the men?” She hoped her voice sounded calm through the boiling emotions coursing through her.

“
Yes, my lady. Is there anything else I can do for you?” At the shake of her head he opened his mouth, just to close it again.

Van waited nervously. When he didn’t continue, only stared closely into her eyes, she said, “Can I ask you something?”

He stared at her closely. But even knowing that he was being disrespectful, he could not bring himself to look away. He tried to convince himself that the familiarity was only because she looked like her father. “Of course, you can ask me whatever you wish, my lady.” He knew he recognized her and it was beginning to gnaw at him. He could feel the aggravation to his insides like he could feel the sun on his shoulders at mid-day.

“
When are the king’s men arriving tomorrow? First thing, I assume?”

Surprise overcame his contemplation of where he had met her before. “Aye, my lady, they should be here at day break. You will not be there, will you?” He hoped not for her sake, but he had a feeling that she would be there bright and early.

Her thickly powdered brow raised. Her black eyes widened in an expression that did nothing to appear innocent, but it seemed to be the look she was going for. “No one can rightly predict what will occur with the rising of the morning sun.”

“
I think it wise if you were not to arrive, my lady. I can only imagine how angry he would be.” He knew that no matter what anyone may say, he would see her in the morning where she was not supposed to be.

“
Head back.” With that she walked away.

Devon watched her go, wondering what was in her mind. Shaking his head, he turned to leave, and then thought better of it. He had sent the other three men with Rebeka. They would escort her and return. He could afford to be absent for at least a few more minutes, he thought with a widening grin.

Devon nearly ran to the servants’ entrance of the castle and made his way to the Amy’s quarters. He pushed open the door.

Amy turned and let out a squeal. “What do you think you are doing in here?”

He raised a thick brow and stopped right before her. With a smile, he ran a calloused finger down her smooth cheek.

She jerked her head away.

He grasped her arm and pulled her close. “What
am
I doing here?” he asked rhetorically and then grinned wickedly. “Well, I am trying to decide if I want to be more than just friends with you.”

“
You need to get out,” she said in a low hiss.

But she did not move away and her eyes shone with desire. He took a chance and leaned forward. She did not fight him when he pressed his lips to hers. Excitement swirled within him.

“
Open your mouth, for me.”

His voice was thick, his body tight with lust and need. She resisted only slightly before allowing his tongue the entrance it demanded. Devon grasped her tightly, crushing her to him. He kissed her passionately, marveling in her sweet attempts to follow his lead. Her tongue moved slightly forward and then retreated once again as if embarrassed and unsure.

He frantically pulled open the laces of her blouse and marveled at her beauty. Amy shuddered in his arms, a small groan escaping, and pushed herself deeper into his embrace as he massaged her bared breasts.

“
Stop that now!”

Devon jerked away as if he was physically torn from Amy’s body when Lady Vanessa’s angry voice cracked across the small room.

“
What do you think you are doing in here?”

Devon stepped protectively in front of Amy.

Amy covered herself, shrinking away from her mistress. “Milady, I am sorry—”

“
Nay,” Vanessa interrupted her. “You are not to apologize to me, ever.”

It took everything Devon had not to back down when Lady Vanessa turned her icy gaze upon him. “You, on the other hand will apologize and explain yourself. What do you intend to do?” she growled angrily at him.

“
My lady?”

Lady Vanessa voice tickled at the back of his mind, but he could not place it and she was not giving him time to think.

“
You know very well what I am asking, and if you think to stand in between me and her, you are sorely mistaken.”

His mind whirled as her voice changed and lightened to a higher pitch. She took a tight step toward them, drawing his thoughts away from her voice.

“
Lady Vanessa, please,” Amy pleaded from behind him. Her delicate hand lay on his lower back as she peeked around his shoulders. Even in the volatile situation, the warm weight of her small hand sent shivers through his loins.

Lady Vanessa didn’t seem to take notice of Amy at all. She took another tight step toward Devon. “What are your intentions? Are you looking to marry her?”

“
My Lady, Lady Vanessa, we just met. H–how am I to know if m–marriage is what I want?” Devon stuttered, still unsure of what he really wanted. He knew he wanted Amy, but for what, he did not know.

Vanessa glared at him and her gaze never wavered. “Until you know, I expect you to act with some decorum around her.”

Devon dropped his eyes self-consciously and had to force them back to Lady Vanessa’s face.

“
Until you know if you want it to be something more than a toss, you will both keep your hands on the outside of the clothing.” She stepped quickly toward him, closing the gap. Chest to chest and eye to eye, he fought the urge to retreat and lost. She smiled a satisfied grin as he took an involuntary step back. “If she ends up pregnant and you do not marry her...How far can you go to hide?”

“
Vanessa!” Amy squealed.

“
You—” Vanessa glanced over his shoulder at Amy and he felt her hand tighten on his tunic. “I will deal with you later.” Turning her attention back to him, Vanessa smiled an arctic smile that chilled him to the very core. “Do I make myself very clear?” she said softly.

The soft, calm question scared him more than her angry growls. “Aye, Dark Lady.”

There would be no argument from him. He would do his best to keep his promise to her. It was more than fear of her. It was an involuntary loyalty that seemed to overtake him, the feeling that he needed to show her respect as well as fealty.

“
Good, then I would suggest you get back to the men, like I already instructed.” Van was relieved that she had arrived in time to stop them. She shook her head as she watched him leave. She trusted Devon and had no objections to his marrying Amy, but she would not allow him to take advantage of her if marriage was not in his heart.

He had almost reached the door when she spoke his name. He turned back to her with his hand resting on the latch.

“
Do not make me give you an order twice, ever again.”

He bowed low. “Never again, my lady.”

Van grinned as he walked out. At least he had stuck with my lady instead of Dark Lady as he had called her when he was so distracted. She turned her attention back to Amy who stood red faced in embarrassment and shame.

Amy struggled to re-lace her blouse, but her fingers were trembling to the point of uselessness. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and her voice trembled nearly as bad as her fingers. “I do not understand how it got to...well to where we were.”

Van smiled. “I know that you like him. I understand. You do need to be careful, although I think he likes you as well.” She pushed away Amy’s trembling hands as the girl’s face lit in a bright smile and her gaze jumped to Van’s eyes.

Van just shook her head and finished the laces. “I came to ask you if you would like to help me in the gardens. I already have some of the servants starting on it.” The gardens had been the pride of Grayweist Castle when she was a page, but had fallen into a mess of weeds and grasses. The garden had been her favorite retreat during her training, and she wanted to bring it back to that glorious state once again.

“
Aye, milady, if that will take your mind off what you have just seen, then I will gladly dig in the dirt,” Amy said in a weak voice.

CHAPTER 13

Rebeka sat slumped in the jolting carriage as it made its way to Hillsford and thought of the hovel she was sure Vanessa had deemed to put her in. She was certain that in her spite, Vanessa would place her in the worst ramshackle of a hut she could find.

She cursed Vanessa Lawston violently, every so often kicking the seat before her to punctuate those curses. “The new lady of Grayweist,” she snorted snidely into the empty carriage.

The carriage came to a sudden jolting stop. Her two laughing escorts jumped to the ground. She straightened her back and lifted her head proudly, determined not to give them the satisfaction of seeing her fall apart.

She sucked in a deep breath and steadied herself the best she could, but she still jumped when one of the soldiers tore the door open. When he looked in with his round white face and grinning mouth, she barely suppressed the urge to kick him in his crooked teeth. She had no idea who either of them were, but they were new to the castle. Perhaps if they had been Peter’s men she would have gotten more sympathy.

She shook her head. No, she thought foully. Even Peter’s men seemed enamored of the giant woman.

Rebeka raised an eyebrow at the man who had opened the carriage door, but he just stepped away. She scowled deeply. He smiled in return.

“
You are an ass, boy,” she spat at him. “Do you not know you are to help a lady depart a carriage?”

“
Oh I know and I do help
ladies
down,” he said with a gentlemanly tone that did not match the condescending smile that lit his eye as he smirked at her.

“
Get away from me then,” she snapped with as much loathing as she could pack into her words.

He stepped back with a mock bow and gestured for her to step down. She kept her gaze on her footing as she slid unassisted from the coach.

“
Welcome to your new home.”

Rebeka glanced up as the second man unceremoniously dropped her luggage onto the stoop.

She made no reply but ran her gaze across the house. To her amazement, it was not a hovel or a hut. It was a nice, clean, and cozy house. She snorted at it loudly and turned to the two men who were climbing back onto their perch. “It is smaller than the house I am accustomed to,” she brayed in a loud voice that echoed across the still air.

They made no reply and, with a flick of the whip, the horse’s hooves clattered against the hard packed street. She stood there trembling until they were out of site, and then she turned her frown toward the house.

The door was silent as she pushed it open and the interior, much to her grudging approval, was warm and inviting. A hard heavy lump settled deep in her stomach and she didn’t even step inside. She closed the door with a slam, picked up her luggage, and walked away.

By the end of the day she was less than two miles from Lynton, sitting at a small table in the dining room at the Doveslane Inn. She had walked for only a short distance back toward Lynton and the Castle Grayweist when an elderly lord had stopped to offer her a ride.

He was heavyset and graying at the temples. Once in the carriage, he had smiled at her lecherously and ran his hand against her thigh. She had smiled sweetly, hiding her fear and disgust. He had told her he wanted more than her gratitude for the ride, and she had thanked him thoroughly more than once.

Rebeka shuddered in revulsion as the memory flooded her mind. She bowed her head on the table. Luckily, he was old and quick, she thought. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, pushing thoughts of the sweat laden man away.

Her plan was to stay out of sight for a few days and then return to the castle. She was fairly sure that it would not take longer than that for Peter to tire of his new bride. She still could not fathom how he managed to consummate the marriage.