Part 23 (1/2)
”Lovely,” he murmured as my skin crawled over my bones.
The extra weight had pushed me forward, and my hand closed on the hilt of the knife. I couldn't push upa”he were too heavy on my back and my good hand had the knife in it. I pulled it under me. ”Eleanor wouldn't give you anything for me. And what the h.e.l.l does Richard have to do with it?”
”You don't think?” he mused. ”You haven't figured this out, clever thief?”
”What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?”
”Your father, Marian.”
”My father?” I asked.
He were pulling at my skirts and trying to drag them up while he were still pus.h.i.+ng me down. I kicked out vicious, trying to hit him. Gisbourne laughed. ”You know. Don't you? Coeur de Leon,” he said to me.
Lionheart.
My blood started to drain from my skin. ”What?” I asked.
”I know your parents said something about it. Didn't they?” His voice were taunting me now.
”N-no.”
”I heard them say you're not their daughter. Whose daughter are you, Marian?” he asked, chuckling. ”Who do you think could place you in a n.o.ble household? Who would?”
My good hand curled into a fist around the knife, shaking and waiting for the right moment even as I felt his hands on my legs. ”What do you know, Guy?”
”I know who you are.” I were still and he leaned close to whisper in my ear. ”I know who you've always been. Whose blood is really in your veins. I know why it would be the most mortal of sins to spill your blood. Why Eleanor won't allow her son to harm you.”
”Say it,” I snapped.
He laughed. ”Who hid you, Marian?”
”Eleanor,” I guessed.
He nodded. ”Why?”
”Do you think I know that! Tell me, Gisbourne!”
”Because you're a b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” he told me, pulling my skirts higher.
”Whose?”
”I already told you that.”
My head swam, and my knees went soft. Coeur de Leon. ”That's not true.”
”Of course it is.”
”No.”
”Yes.”
”I would have heard of it!” I said. ”Everyone would have heard of it!”
”Eleanor's not that foolish. You would never be allowed to rule, of course, but a b.a.s.t.a.r.d princessa”that's still a considerable power. Eleanor knows better than anyone how to wield a child. She uses her own like chess pieces.”
”But he weren'ta”he weren't even kinga”” I were struggling to breathe right.
Gisbourne chuckled, and he lifted his hips off me to pull my skirt up. It were a tiny bit of s.p.a.ce, but it were the moment I needed.
I sucked in a breath and twisted hard, slas.h.i.+ng out with the knife.
It hit him in the shoulder, sliding a red ribbon of blood across his collarbone, and he jumped back with a howl. I ran to the door and opened it, angling the knife at him as he came closer. He scowled and stopped.
”Mary,” I snapped. She appeared.
”Fetch the earl. Quick. And I will be needing a new dress for dinner.”
”Y-yes, my lady,” she said, looking between me and my husband. She went.
Gisbourne stayed where he were, looking at the knife. ”You call me a fool so often,” I snapped. ”But you just gave me your best bit of information. If I mean as much to Eleanor or the king as you say, she won't never let you force me, Gisbourne. I thought I'd have to run far but all I have to do is go down the hall, isn't that right?”
”Oh, I'm sure she'd protect you. But if you go to Eleanor, if you aren't in my bed by morning light, ready to do your willing duty as my wife, I will raze Leaford to the ground with everyone inside it. And that will only be my first action.”
My courage faltered.
”Everything has been stolen from me, Marian, since I was a boy. You are my only chance of having Richard pay me any mind at all, and I won't let anyone, least of all your mewling pup of an outlaw, take another d.a.m.n thing from me. Besides, you really think Prince John is finished with you, Marian? With your das.h.i.+ng hero? He will crush you both. He will make you wish you never won this so-called victory. He will have his underhanded, vindictive way, and if you ever forget that, look to your hand.”
He were silent for a moment.
”He will make you pay for this, Marian.”
”My lady?” the earl asked, appearing slightly breathless in the doorway. He looked me over and frowned.
”Your Grace,” I said. ”It seems I am in need of your a.s.sistance. Would you mind detaining my husband so I may change for dinner?”
He folded his arms. ”With pleasure.”
”Just remember, Marian,” Gisbourne told me, sitting in a chair by the fire. ”You have till morning.”
Chapter Twenty-Two.
The earl insisted on escorting me to dinner. I wore the grandest piece I hada”a blue velvet dress sewn with scrolling silver thread over a silvery kirtle so thin it were near sheer. Mary brushed my hair and left the pieces free and loose around my face. It were useless to try and keep them back.
”May I ask what happened?” Winchester whispered to me.
I were s.h.i.+vering. ”I was very grateful for your help, your Grace.”