Chapter Eleven
I am never going to escape Huntington. She sighed as she walked down the castle corridor above the great hall terminating at the doors of Lord Huntington’s solar. Robert. Rob. The beautiful, disheveled lord who was actively trying to seduce her. And she was supposed to think clearly, at a council, no less, when he would no doubt remind her at every glance that he felt like pinning her to a tree, stroking his tongue against hers, nudging his manhood against her stomach or more… What on earth was she doing, falling for such a scoundrel?
The doors were grand and imposing with heraldic banners flanking either side, biblical figures carved into relief on the doors themselves. ’Twas a grander solar than her father’s, whose castle in Ayr was imposing but had been built as an impenetrable medieval fortress on a cliff and nothing more. Mayhap it was all her blackened memories tainting her opinion, but her proud home of Castle Ayr had always felt like a primitive dungeon.
When the doors to the solar opened upon her knocking, her awe only increased. The ceilings were nearly as tall as the great hall, with impressive banners hanging in succession from front to back over a large round board. The board itself looked ancient and was polished smooth, so that it gleamed in the daylight flooding through the arched windows. A map was laid across the surface. Intricate woodwork paneled the walls, and the room contained not one, but two hearths on opposite ends, both as tall as she was, and both sculpted by stonemasons and plastered with whitewash, matching the stone walls extending above the paneling to the ceiling. Over one hearth hung the Huntington coat of arms in its black, green, and silver splendor, and over the other hung the king’s red colors, to whom it was clear Robert was loyal.
She did her best to pick her jaw up from the floor and proceeded inside, where Robert stood at a sideboard established for refreshments, while four other men, including Jonathan, stood in a cluster next to the table, watching her come inside like she were a novelty. She supposed she was.
“Ah, the final piece of the puzzle arrives,” Robert said, acknowledging her like one of the men as he corked the wine decanter. “You may wait outside,” he directed the doormen, and walked to her with two goblets.
She shifted, unsure of what to do. Walk forward under their awkward scrutiny? Stand still and await Robert’s arrival with her wine? Hold her hands before her? Or perhaps place one on her hip in a casual stance? Take a seat along the wall or beneath a window and wait demurely with her hands folded in her lap, like a woman would be expected to do in the company of men?
“Come to the table, Elmer,” Robert said, a tease in his eyes.
He walked toward her, stopping at the table’s edge, and he set down her goblet. His fingers remained on the stem as he eyed her. She came forward.
“Will, Alan, David, this is Elmer, my archery competition. John, of course, knows her,” he added, and Mariel knew the scowl he sent to his giant of a man had true feelings fueling it. “And I believe you, Will, met her once.”
A man of Robert’s age, tall, and cleanly put together, with red embellishments woven into his coat, sporting a dark goatee of hair trimmed upon his chin, scrutinized her. She remembered seeing him upon the dais, chatting with Lady Anna. He nodded. “Quite right,” the man finally agreed. “She and her brother are one and the same. You had a good eye at the tourney, Cousin, to recognize a woman archer. And you have bollocks, woman, slipping into the tourney as you did.”
Confused, she looked to Robert for clarity. The man did indeed look familiar, and not just from supper the other night.
“Will was in the registration tent with Wesley and me when you registered,” Robert clarified. “He’s also my cousin.”
“I see,” she said, arriving by Robert’s side to pick up her goblet, which he didn’t release until he felt her fingers brush his. “And my name is really—”
“Elmer,” Robert interrupted. “Your name is Elmer.”
“Elmer?” She scowled.
Robert grinned, as did Will, John, and the two others. “Yes, a fitting name. ’Twas indeed the name you gave yourself, was it not?”
“I didn’t come here to be mocked,” she snapped. “Or was that the sole reason for inviting me? Warm her with kind words about how deserving she is, then have a grand laugh at her expense the moment she walks through the door?”
She slammed her goblet down and turned to leave, when Robert laughed, garnering a chuckle from the men. “I told you so,” he told them.
“Told them what?” she demanded, rounding back to the table.
“That you’re spirited,” Robert said.
She frowned at him. “You would crawl under my skin for no reason?”
He smiled a cheeky grin and leaned down to her ear. “Indeed, my lady, I was just under a blanket with you the night before last. I fear I’m already under your skin.”
Her face heated, and he chuckled, for a whisper in this silent chamber was about as quiet as a barker’s call at a fair. And now, she noted, while his other men chuckled, it was Jonathan who scowled. Lovely. She rolled her eyes. Was she supposed to be a spoil for both men to argue over? She spun on her heel, marching toward the door again.
“I only tease!” he called, jogging to her and blocking her path. He skipped backward to continue his obstruction as she attempted to plow around him, when he caught her arms.
“Let me go!” she snapped.
“I only tease, Lady,” he said more calmly.
“Nay, you embarrass me and call into question my propriety.”
“Come now, men can be bawdy, and I’d like to think, that is, after this meeting, that you might be one of us.”
“Be like one of you? Be like a man? Lord, your impression of me is horrid, if you consider me thus.”
He laughed again, as did the others. “My good men”—Robert turned to them, spinning her with him by wrenching her hand, addressing them all—“let it be known that I only tease Elmer, and that I, in fact, did not seduce her as I implied.”
“That’s it,” she grumbled, her face flushing once again and she pivoted toward the door.
“Stop,” he said, throwing his arms wide and bracing the door behind him.
“Your men are bawdy? That’s nay bawdy. You act like a wee, immature eejit, nay a man.”
“Mariel,” he breathed, so silently even she could barely hear. “Laugh with us. Stay with us. I pray you. Relax and smile. You’re safe here.”
The suddenly genuine expression on his brow stayed her hand on the latch. “How so?” she asked. “You either want me, or you want my archery skill for some purpose. For no matter how many times I attempt to leave, you continue to stop me. And I hardly think you wish to keep me around because I would make such an agreeable woman.”
“All jesting aside, my dear one,” he emphasized, “your father has plans to…let’s just say you’re not as safe at large as you once thought. I wish to harbor you, and if I may be so selfish, to hold on to the woman a little longer who has piqued my interest.”
“He plans to what?” she countered, ignoring his heartfelt sentiment and popping a hip while folding her arms across her chest. Mention of her father in such a tone did nothing but stand the hairs on her arms on end.
“Later. I’ll explain later. Come. You’re the other archer I need, and after I tell you about my meeting with your father, I think you’ll see I try to keep you from leaving for both reasons: because I want you to stay and your skills would benefit us all.”
After a moment of angry contemplation, she let him lead her, albeit unwillingly, back to the table. She grabbed her goblet of wine and threw back the contents in its entirety to calm her embarrassment, only realizing moments later that all of them, including Robert, stared at her lack of decorum.
“What?” She shrugged. “I have thirst.”
“As I was saying before,” Robert said, suppressing his grin, “I have need of one more marksman, and the right person is finally presented, in this case, a markswoman.” Addressing her now, he continued. “What you see here are my most trusted men. Jonathan, though he be my head guardsman, owned land and title until our lovely Sheriff of Nottingham saw fit to strip him of all claim and commandeer his manor. Nottingham increased his taxes to support the Crusade, but in fact, we knew he simply wanted Jonathan’s land, for it is a lush and prosperous estate with partial control of the River Trent, a waterway that is important for trade. Raising funds to support the war was merely an excuse to raise taxes, and John refused to pay. When John didn’t submit, Nottingham swooped in with a force of men and took over, stripping John of all hereditary claim. That wooden quarterstaff of his is never far from hand, as you’ve surely noticed, and woe is the man unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of it. Will, as I said, is my cousin and a cheeky swordsman. Alan is a friend from Carlisle whom I once helped and who has since sworn himself to help my cause. And David is mute, which makes him a great spy, since he is oft considered too daft to divulge secrets. Though daft, I assure you, he is not.”
She took it all in. Will, the cousin, she finally remembered. The tent had been dark at the archery contest, but nonetheless, she recalled him as one of the men who had laughed at her sense of humor. Alan seemed soft. Gentle. Not much of a fighter, with a thin, gangly frame and spindly fingers more suited to strumming a lute rather than swinging a weapon, and Jonathan, of course… She knew all about Jonathan, or “Little John,” as Robert had threatened to call him. Then there was David. Robert had said nothing at all about his origins.
“And all of you now know Elmer, who tied me in the tourney, and I’ll admit I’ve never been so surprised. As you may have suspected, our little archer hails from Scotland, though her identity is secret, and shall remain so.”
“Why do you gather your most trusted men?” Mariel asked, urging him to continue. To her irritation, he took his time sipping his wine, his perfectly messy hair hanging forward around his face. “And whilst we’re discussing it, why have I been invited to your council?”
“The supplies we hid in the forest? Beneath the leaves?” he prompted.
“What of them?”
“’Tis not exactly true that they are there for resupplying. I mean it is, but—”
“What else is their purpose?” she asked.
“For hiding,” he said. “Highwaymen have recently been harrying the Sheriff of Nottingham when he goes on outings to evict the next unlucky soul. Alas, he abuses his power, and much of what he does is for his own gain. Much like what his newfound friend does, the Sheriff of Ayr. Mayhap you know him?”
A quick glance around the room told her his men, leaning upon the table with goblets in one hand and coats slouched open, had put the rather simple clues together. She was related to the Beast of Ayr. Most likely she was the flighty daughter.
“Why would you need to hide?” she asked. “Have these men started plaguing you, too?”
No one answered the question, but a knowing smile lifted Will’s mouth as he sipped his wine, and Jonathan gave a nonchalant exhale as he leaned his bulk on his elbow against the table. Robert looked at them all, a smile tugging at his lips, yet not quite lifting them, then squared himself in front of her as he, too, leaned an elbow onto the table, sipping his wine lazily.
“Wait,” Mariel breathed, watching his rings glitter in the light shining through the windows. “Don’t tell me you are…” She shook her head. “You’re the ones behind the harassment? You’re the thieves?”
“We prefer to call ourselves Good Samaritans.”
“How so?” she demanded. “You led me to believe at the tourney that the woods were unsafe for me because of thieves. And it’s you I should have been wary about all along?”
“Oh don’t go acting like you’re shocked by the ways of the world,” Robert said. “Men scheme. And we here are men. Well, except for you. But we scheme for the good of others. We generally target William de Wendenal of Nottingham. Surely you can appreciate that, considering your fath–” He cut himself off, but she didn’t need him to finish the sentiment. Considering her father was cut from the same cloth.
“Oh, I see,” she said. “But it matters not whom you steal from. You’re still stealing.”
“No,” Alan said, the quietest of the group. “We appropriate what was ill-gotten and put it back to good use.”
“And I can see its good use,” Mariel remarked, giving a sweeping gesture of the extravagance around her.
“Don’t imply I steal for my own gain,” Robert said, his voice suddenly serious and his expression stern.
“What, then, would one assume?” she asked, perching a hand on her hip in a way only a woman scolding a child could do.
“Mayhap you should not assume,” Will chimed in, taking another sip of wine.
She looked at Will, then at Alan, and Jonathan. David the mute was no doubt thankful from his posture that he couldn’t speak to put his foot in his mouth.
“What do you do with the money, if you don’t keep it?” she finally asked Robert.
“It’s given to charity and people who need it due to Nottingham’s cruel edicts. Basically, given back to the very people who were wronged in the first place.”
She shook her head and folded her arms. “And what am I supposed to do now that I know of your deceitful ways?”
Robert’s face lit up with a boyish grin and he braced his hands on each of her shoulders to command her full attention. “You’re to join us. I need your archery skills as well as your disappearing talents, because, heaven knows Little John here is a lousy shot and hard to hide.” He flashed an impish look at Jonathan, who straightened up and puffed his chest with offense.
“What?” Jonathan demanded.
“Oh, ’tis the nickname Elmer bestowed upon you.” Robert laughed as the others began to snigger.
“What?” he exclaimed, glaring at her now.
“I told you she had named you for, em, your size, did I not?” Robert added to the rising laughter amongst the others and the growing rage boiling on John’s face.
“Robert!” Mariel exclaimed and smacked his arm. “That was not my intention!”
“What other intention would you have, woman, except to insult me after I showed you kindness?” John groused.
“Well, are you little, John?” Will taunted.
The others chuckled. John’s lips curled up in a confident smirk as he turned his glare on Will. He ripped his tunic aside to reveal the dusting of hair on his toned stomach and began to tug at the laces of his breeches.
“Do you need to see to pass judgment?”
Mariel whirled around and threw her hands over her face, knowing heat crawled across every inch of her cheeks. “Keep yourself decent!” she implored, only to hear a rumble of laughter. “Oh, you all are purely vile! I didn’t make up the name! Robert did! And I was referencing your actual, em, size! In full height and breadth!” She turned around to see John grinning, winking at her and lacing back up his trousers as the other men laughed uncontrollably.
“Nope, not little,” Will replied, wiping a tear from his eye.
“Did he really just…” Mariel couldn’t complete her shocked words.
Her mouth gaped open and she threw her hands to her sides, striding purposefully for the door. Robert made chase again.
“I advise you to keep your bloody paws to yourself,” she warned him.
He ignored her demand, leaping in front of her once more, and grabbed both her shoulders.
She punched his arms away.
“They tease you now. I tease you, woman! I tease those that I like. John. You. I only tease. Stop…” He hushed his voice. “He didn’t, Mari. He boasted, certainly, but he kept himself concealed.”
With Robert blocking her only escape, she had no choice but to stop. She sighed, folding her arms and popping a hip.
“I tire of your antics. I’m leaving.” She flung her braid over her shoulder and moved to bypass him.
To her surprise, he finally stepped aside. Breathing a sigh of relief, she reached for the latch, when he dipped his head and placed his lips upon hers, offering a gentle yet intimate kiss. Stunned, she froze. He continued to kiss her, coaxing participation from her lips until eventually she returned it, albeit grudgingly.
A whistle from behind them snapped her back to reality, and she wrenched herself away. He smiled, wiping the moisture from his lips. “I knew you didn’t hate me,” he murmured, pecking her cheek. “John. She was making the point that you’re by far the most sizable man here, and no, she was not referencing your cock.” Just the use of the lewd word made Mariel throw her hands over her face again. “And if memory serves me,” Robert stated, taking her hand in his to coax her back into the room, “she was giving me a tongue lashing at the time for being inhospitable, whilst you, John, had been the only man to welcome her kindly.”
To Mariel’s relief, the tension thrumming through the room seemed to shift, but John was looking with puzzlement between her and Robert now, watching her lips.
“I’ll accept your apology,” he said grudgingly to Robert.
The perpetual twinkle in Robert’s eye sparkled as he looked at Mariel. “Assuming I’m offering an apology. To Elmer, I offer my deepest apology. To you, John, I’ll leave it to you to exact your revenge against me as men must do.”
With Mariel in hand, he brought her back to the table yet again. She couldn’t bring herself to look at any of them.
“Careful I do not exact revenge as well,” she muttered, garnering a round of chuckles from the others. “Honestly, how do each of you tolerate him?”
“With drink,” Will said, lifting his glass in salutation and taking another sip. “We tolerate Robert with copious amounts of drink. Will you join us? Robert hand-picked each of us to be on this council before his father died and has been searching for one more man, to no avail. You clearly made one hell of an impression on him.”
She looked to Robert, who, despite his antics had a genuinely hopeful look on his face, then at John, who appeared sullen yet curious. Alan seemed skeptical, and Will, eager. David was looking down but flashed glances at her.
“I would need to see what you do before I agree to help. If even one stolen copper goes into your coffers, I’ll know you’re a fraud.”
Robert grinned and tugged her against his side, turning to the others. “I believe my band of men is complete.”
“And woman,” she added.
“And woman,” he conceded with an exaggerated bow.
“Not until I see for myself that the money you take is—”
“You’ll see the truth of it soon enough,” he interrupted. “David tells me Nottingham is traveling home to his castle right now. Whenever he travels, there is a possibility that someone will be harmed and so, I’ll be ready for any news brought to my gates. We know he’ll be traveling back through East Anglia to continue his version of tax collection two days from now. In other words, he’ll be evicting another poor bugger and taking his last coin at the point of a sword.” He looked back down at Mariel, tucked beneath his shoulder.
“I thought you said David couldn’t speak,” Mariel remarked, looking at David.
Robert glanced down at her as his men chuckled again.
“Alas no, he cannot speak, but he can write like a Franciscan monk.” He winked. “Dressed as a serf, Nottingham never suspects him of being literate. What say you? ’Twill be the perfect time to witness our benevolence. Are you game, Elmer?”
She glanced at their faces once more. Lord, what was she getting herself into? “On condition you prove you’re the Samaritans you claim to be, then aye, I’ll help.”
She was met with grins.
“And for the record,” John said, still glancing uncertainly between her and Robert, “he calls me a lousy shot because I bested him with a bow and arrow once and he can’t let it go, because he’s the sorest little prick of a loser to walk God’s green earth.”
With that, he swept to the door and wrenched it back, striding out as once again, the men chuckled at his expense, unaware of John’s curious mood change. But Mariel could tell. He wanted her. And now he knew that Robert wanted her, too. Robert then turned to Mariel as the other men filed out, the ceaseless twinkle in his eye that seemed to hint at a scheme or a jest.
“Now, to keep my flighty Scottish lass tethered long enough,” he murmured cryptically.
“What on earth does that mean?” Mariel demanded.
“You’ll see,” he said, dipping his head to hers once more and placing a quick peck upon her lips.
“Tethered?” Unease sank in her gut and she bristled. Use of such a word was frightening, and she didn’t kiss him back. He pulled away and scrutinized her. “What game do you play at?”
…
So tethered wasn’t the word to use with a woman fleeing a father who had tethered her many a time. But it was what he intended, even if it involved no ropes or bondage. But he needed time to work up the courage to invite a marriage between them, and with Crawford lurking about East Anglia, time wasn’t a luxury he had. And until any union was struck, Mariel would remain a flight risk. He softened his teasing and caressed her face, his thumb lingering on her chin. But it was clear she didn’t trust him. Why should she? He had confessed to leading the bandits thieving in the forests.
Confusion had captured her eyes. He trailed his hands down to hers and took them. A dull ache entered his chest. He had already resolved himself to marry her, so the ache wasn’t because of that. But he was most definitely…nervous? Indeed. Just thinking about something so serious as a marriage offer was enough to make his pulse increase and his hands threaten to tremble.
“I only meant I wish to keep you here long enough to see the benevolent work that we do. Nothing more,” he lied. There was so much more.