Part 4 (1/2)

She flashed him a look of disdain. ”I thought I had.”

Gaining sympathy for the missing mercenaries, David wished again another post had presented itself. Still, he was lucky to have one at all, so he applied his equanimity with Herculean restraint. ”I meant three days ago. True, you hired me, but surely even you can see that one knight is insufficient to defend three carts and a marriageable widow.”

”No other knights were available.”

He couldn't believe she would use such a lame excuse. ”No other knights? Lady, there are always younger sons, men who seek employment to fill their bellies lest they starve.” They reached the top of the rise, and he used the height to look both forward and back. ”I know. I was one.”

”None were interested in coming to George's Cross,” she answered steadily.

In a hurry to reclaim their positions as defenders of their mistress, Ivo and Gunnewate galloped up the road after the carts. David grinned, knowing how their defeat, especially to him, must eat at them. Satisfied that this stretch of road, at least, was safe, David turned back to Alisoun. ”You must not have asked the right men.”

”Perhaps not.”

As before, her expression never changed, her voice retained its calm, low vibrancy, but somehow, he thought she was...worried? Afraid? Straightening, he studied her again. Why did he think such a thing? What had he seen? She met his gaze confidently, but her eyes...didn't they have a sheen? Hadn't the gray color darkened just a little?

And to think he'd longed for a woman who didn't wail with every pa.s.sing emotion. Comprehending this woman took concentration. He had to try and wiggle through the complex byways of her woman's brain. That was a warrior's nightmare, but she told him nothing, so he had to think.

Why would she be apprehensive? She'd lost her men, possibly through foul play. No other knight would hire on with her. Yet she paid well. He knew that from personal experience. He knew, too, that money, freely spread around, eased the sting of working for a woman.

Something wasn't right. Only a very influential man could make it impossible for her to hire other mercenaries. Thoughtfully, he observed while she directed Ivo and Gunnewate to ride behind the carts and protect the rear, then instructed him to continue his surveillance.

She'd never admitted to having a suitor, and no shrewd man who sought a wealthy wife would put her on her guard by stealing and murdering her men one at a time. So perhaps his first surmise had been wrong.

”You must have offended a dread lord.” He waited for her to explain, knowing that women loved to talk about their troubles.

She ignored him.

He tried an unjust accusation. ”You were probably flirting with him, then refused him. Women like to make men suffer like that.”

Glaring, she opened her mouth.

But some of his triumph must have shone through, for she shut it again and sealed her lips firmly.

Finally, he appealed to her good sense. ”It would help if I knew how and why you were threatened. Are we likely to be overwhelmed by a large force?”

”Nay.” She gave up that information grudgingly. ”If anything, there will be a small force, but usually this creature prefers to perform his deeds alone.”

”Has he tried to kill you?”

”If he wished to kill me I would be dead. Nay, this beast stalks for pleasure, to invoke fear and loathing.”

And she did loathe the man, whoever he was. That slight curl of the lip looked like blatant emotion on Alisoun's still face, and David congratulated himself on reading her so well. ”He's doing a good job, in sooth, but I still want to know-”

She interrupted him. ”Your job is to keep me safe, not to indulge in ineffectual speculation. If you must know more to properly perform your duties, then return the gold at once and be on your way.”

By Saint Michael's arm, she was a cold and ruthless she-demon! But-he fingered the leather pouch which held the precious coins-for this money he would do as bid. At least for the moment.

Sarcastically, he pulled his forelock. ”As you say, my lady. You are always right.”

4.

Alisoun was awake again. David stared toward the hammock strung between two trees. The hemp creaked as she carefully turned away from him and toward the deeper woods. She'd done the same thing the last two nights, s.h.i.+fting back and forth while taking care not to wake anyone. Unfortunately, as he slipped into his role as guardian, he woke with her every movement. Last night he had blamed her restlessness on discomfort from the saddle or an inability to sleep out-of-doors, but tonight he could no longer deceive himself. She didn't trust him to keep watch.

She lifted her head. He lifted his, too, and scanned the area. Nothing. Just darkness filled with the creak of windblown trees, the growls and squeaks of nocturnal creatures, and the rumble of Ivo's snoring.

Cautiously, she sat up. He sat up, too. No moon lightened the night, the trees' canopy masked the starlight, yet he could still make out the glow of her hair. He had been surprised to discover that she removed her wimple and loosened her braids to sleep. His wife had been most insistent that ladies never revealed their crowning glory. Of course, Mary had quickly discovered that a woman's unfettered locks brought on his l.u.s.tful desires, and she'd done anything to avoid that.

After they had conceived their daughter, he'd done everything to avoid it, too. Not even the prospect of another baby to cherish could overcome his distaste for bedding a woman who increasingly looked like a molting duck and smelled like its favorite grub.

Alisoun had simply rubbed her bare head with her hands as if she reveled in the freedom, and after all, who could see her in the dark? Only David, and he'd had to strain.

Swinging her legs out of the hammock, she stood, facing away from him. He called softly, ”What do you fear, Lady Alisoun?”

She jumped and turned, tangling in her own skirt and stumbling into the hammock.

He rose and walked toward her. ”I a.s.sure you, I've kept my ear to the ground and heard nothing.”

She righted herself, then with a composure he couldn't help but admire, she whispered, ”I'm worried about my carts.”

He didn't believe that for a moment. Because of their weight, the carts couldn't be moved far from the road, yet she left only Gunnewate to guard them, bringing Ivo and David with her to the site deeper in the forest. She forbade a fire, preferring to eat a cold meal of wheat cakes and cheese. And now she couldn't sleep.

No matter that he'd observed no sign of pursuit. No matter that the only faces he'd seen were those of the people in his party. Alisoun's increasing tension had honed his infirm skills. If only she would trust him to do his job, but already he realized the lady Alisoun of George's Cross perpetually took responsibility for everything and everybody.

”I thought I heard a branch crack,” she admitted.

This sign of weakness in her rea.s.sured him. She was a woman like any other, then. She imagined threats where none existed and required rea.s.surance when there was no need. He barely realized what he did when he reached out and patted her hair, then smoothed it as he would have a dog's. ”My lady, dangerous beasts inhabit this wood, but no men. I've been alert. I'll protect you.”

Her fist knocked his hand away, and her voice cracked like a whip over his head. ”Do you think this is amusing?”

Bringing his arm close against his chest, he rubbed the sting of her blow. ”Nay, my lady, I simply sought to allay your alarm.”

”Don't patronize me.”

He jerked in reaction. He didn't doubt her animosity. He'd learned, more than once in these last two days, that she could strip a man of pride, of dignity, of sense with a few well-chosen words. Ivo and Gunnewate remained stoic under the lash of her tongue. The oxen drivers seemed to expect insult. But a pox on her! She couldn't talk to him, the king's former champion, that way.

He turned away and walked back toward his mat. ”Fretful and nervous,” he muttered, loudly enough for her to hear. She didn't reply, and he kicked the mat and ruffled the blankets in a blatant display of annoyance. Shoving the log he used as a pillow into place, he lay down, turned his back to her, and closed his eyes.

The silence a.s.saulted his ears. Their conversation and his noisy displeasure had quelled the sounds of nighttime creatures and woken Ivo, who no longer snored, but breathed long and regularly. Ivo waited, no doubt, to hear any further quarrel between his mistress and the man he clearly considered unworthy to serve her.

They were all waiting. What was Alisoun doing? David didn't hear a sound from her hammock.

He didn't hear her move at all. Did she still stand where he'd left her? Was she still looking, straining to hear the sound of attack? What kind of man would make a woman so afraid? For afraid she was, and as the silence continued, David began to make excuses for her.

So what if she stripped a man of his pride? She was a woman, and a woman's only weapon was words. And in a way, he could understand her displeasure. She'd accused him of patronizing her, and he had. He'd treated her like a child in need of comfort, when she was a woman who sought an honest resolution for her worries. Moreover, he was strong, dignified, made in G.o.d's image. A real man didn't flinch when a woman pouted or reproached. A real man rea.s.sured a woman, made her feel safe. David was a real man.

Opening his pack, he found the length of rope he kept with him always, then stood and walked back toward the hammock. Kneeling, he tied a knot around one of the smaller trees at about knee height. Then, uncoiling the rope as he walked backward, he circled another one of the trees that surrounded her. Taking a right angle from the first side, he crossed to another tree, then another, forming a square around the hammock where she slept.