Chapter Nineteen
Mariel arrived to break her fast, stepping up to the dais. The morn was a quieter affair. Men and women, guards and artisans, filed in and out as their morning tasks permitted, sat, partook quietly of nourishment, and departed to either begin the day, or return to their given chores. She was thankful for it. It meant she wasn’t an object of spectacle.
Robert, however, wasn’t yet at board. Will sat two seats down, focusing on boiled eggs, when he looked up and smiled at her.
“Good morn, Lady Mariel.” He winked.
She froze at the familiarity, when she remembered all of Robert’s men had heard Teàrlach MacGregor call her by her given name in the forest.
And then, Robert breezed into the hall, donned in his handsomely slouched trousers and loose coat…with Will’s lovely cousin trailing a few paces beside. Despite the fact that Robert was trying to disengage himself, Mariel let out an irritated sigh. He had given her sweet words and devotion the night before, but the rogue no doubt was flattered by the attention. What man wouldn’t feel a boost to his ego, knowing women found him irresistible, even if the lady annoyed him? She bit her lip and frowned.
“Feeling territorial, my dear?” Will teased, leaning across Robert’s place setting to whisper in her ear.
She shooed him away like an irritating fly. “I’ve already informed His Lairdship that I’ll never be the maiden who falls all over herself just because an eligible bachelor bestowed a smile upon her.”
“Ah. Well if looks could shoot arrows through the heart, yours would have murdered my cousin Anna,” he retorted, taking out an eating knife from its sheath and using it to impale a cut of ham.
“No.” She turned and gave him a fake smile. “They would have indeed murdered him.”
Will tipped his head back and laughed as he plucked the morsel off the knife tip, tossing it into his mouth. “Sounds treacherous. He would do well to keep one eye aimed at his back around you, dear Mariel. My cousin Anna didn’t take the hint at supper yester eve,” Will said. “’Tis her heart that will learn the hard way that not all ambitions come to fruition. I tried to warn her when supper was through but, she only insisted more fervently that she would try anew. I’m certain she greeted him at his door this morn to double her efforts.”
“My, you walk so fast, my lord,” Anna said, flushed from the exertion as Robert arrived at his seat.
Mariel bit her tongue but knew her annoyance shone clearly on her brow.
“Why so grumpy, woman?” Robert smiled, leaning down to her ear.
“I’ve never been known for my rosy disposition, as you know,” Mariel retorted. “Thorns. Remember?”
He chuckled, sliding his arm free from Anna’s clutch as she reached to him again.
“I’ve quite a polite disposition, my lord,” Anna said, offering a doting smile, placing a hand on his arm again.
Mariel rolled her eyes.
“Lady Anna,” Robert said, looking to Will, who shrugged and gestured for him to continue. He rounded to face the young lady. “I have been ever patient with you, though I would like for you to watch one thing very carefully and tell me what you see.”
He looked at Mariel, snagged her chin, leaned down, and stole a slow, sensual kiss from her lips as Will whistled. His tongue pushed into her mouth, and he laved it across hers. Stunned, Mariel froze, then pushed Robert away, shaking her head at his cheeky grin.
Anna gasped.
“My dear lady.” He chuckled, ignoring Mariel’s admonishing frown and reddening cheeks. “I hope to leave no doubt in your mind. Whilst your conversations have been pleasant, I have tried, both gently and in more clear terms, to put off the notion that I wish for more than a kind acquaintance with you. The lady seated here, in the seat reserved for the Lady of Huntington, is the lady I pursue, and you do both her and me disrespect by flaunting yourself. I bid you enjoy my hospitality for as long as you wish whilst visiting Will. But I hold no interest beyond friendship with any woman apart from this one.” He took Mariel’s hand and squeezed it, then continued. “I have no doubt there is a lucky man out there who would be your perfect champion, Lady Anna, if you have faith enough to wait for him.”
Red-faced and with tears threatening to burst over her eyes, Anna took a step back and leveled a hateful glare at Mariel, who withdrew her hand from Robert.
“I shall pack to leave this day, my lord,” she muttered, bowing her head.
“Lady Anna,” Mariel said, dropping her napkin to her trencher and pushing back her chair. “You do not need to leave.” She sent a scathing look at Robert, who rolled his eyes and shrugged, a classic Mariel move if there ever was one, though he gave her a discreet wink.
She shook her head.
“No, he, eh, he makes his point clear,” Anna said, yanking her hand free and looking over Mariel’s tunic and trousers, now cleaned and mended, yet still shabby. “Try as I might, I cannot figure out what he sees in you.”
“Remain civil, Lady,” rumbled Robert with a rare coldness to his voice. “You speak to my woman.”
Mariel smarted and turned away with embarrassment. “’Tis all right, Rob.” She would step toe-to-toe with a man any day to defend herself, but what Anna said hurt.
“Anna,” chastised Will, now also rising. “What has come over you, cousin, to offer such rudeness?”
“’Tis not all right, love,” Robert said, returning his attentions to Anna. “Packing and leaving today is a sound plan, Lady. I bid you follow through on that arrangement.”
Anna shrank back at the unexpected backlash. Mariel’s eyes widened. To withdraw hospitality from a guest was rarely done, especially by the benevolent Earl of Huntington who welcomed everyone.
“’Twill be Christmastide soon, so I’ll be needed back in York,” Anna whispered, scurrying back out of the great hall.
Robert looked now to Mariel, standing silently with her mouth agape. He didn’t smile, didn’t speak.
“What are you staring at?” Mariel’s said with more of a bite than usual, then quickly tempered her tongue.
“You. You frowned reprovingly at me as Anna chased after me. As if you still don’t believe what I’ve told you. If you thought Will’s cousin or any woman held my interest, you were wrong. I pledged my heart to you last night, and at some point I expect you to start believing me.”
“You hurt her feelings,” Mariel said.
Robert scoffed. “I’ve dropped so many obvious hints to her my maids would need to sweep all the day long to collect them from the floor. There was no other way to let her down, Mari.”
“But now she hates me.” Mariel sighed.
“I hardly think her opinion of you is worth the concern,” Robert said, waving off the remark as he pulled out his seat and plopped down, helping himself to the eggs and ham laid out before him. Mariel slid back into her seat, too, and began eating. “She hates you because I like you, not because she knows you. And in truth, she’s jealous of your beauty.” Mariel rolled her eyes, inviting vehemence. “You think you’re not beautiful? You are. Beautiful and capable, and not afraid of seemingly anything, attributes that make Anna, and others like her, jealous, for they’ll never measure up. They seek a man to dote on them, lavish them in riches, give them status and thus, control over other women. It’s a game that leaves distaste in my mouth.
“Do you think that I like their attention? You think it feeds my ego and makes me proud? You’re wrong. When I was a lad, it was flattering. But I’m not a lad anymore, and I learned long ago that those females fixing their attentions on me only want the Earl of Huntington’s wealth and prestige. I sense that you favor me for other reasons, and I know this because you’ve tried to leave me over and over again, and I’ve had to fall at your feet to beg you to stay.”
Will, beside them, coughed at the revelation, though his intense focus on his food showed he tried to ignore them. Mariel remained silent. Why couldn’t she give in and trust him? She shook her head and finished her meal while Robert remained equally contemplative beside her, until it was time to depart to Robert’s personal champ de tir, a yard detached from the castle and enclosed in a private wall with an expanse of green lawn.
The field was secluded, with no windows overlooking from the outer curtain wall except for arrow slits from the cornering towers. Few guards manned them, since the field was only used for archery training, and Huntington’s archers were currently attending other castle tasks. Jonathan climbed the stairs to the parapet and retrieved a bundle of quarterstaffs from a storage tower while Alan pushed a target into position down the field. When they were finished, Robert motioned for all to gather together.
“We know not when Nottingham will plan his next eviction,” Robert said, so we’re going to practice archery first, then the quarterstaff, then swordsmanship—”
“We’ve already perfected such time and again. And indeed I’m already a fine archer,” John grumbled, dropping the quarterstaffs in a pile.
“What’s the matter, Little John?” Robert teased. “You’ll get your chance to dazzle us with your staff soon enough. Most of us have practiced well with you, but Mariel needs to learn.”
“Little John?” Jonathan fumed. “Are you still persisting with that?”
“Well, the name does fit, man,” Will replied, ducking out of the way with a jovial laugh as the man threatened to land a jab of his staff upon his midsection.
“Why did I even agree to entertain this rabble?” Mariel sighed to herself, a hand perched on her hip.
Will shrugged. “You’re stuck with us. And you belong to Robert now. And I’m guessing you aren’t the kind of woman who’ll remain cloistered indoors, whilst your man goes out to have all the fun.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I need not practice at archery.”
John, squinting as the sun reached its midday zenith, turned to her. “I’ve seen you dazzle the crowds at the tourney, Lady Mariel, but let’s see what you can do without warming up.”
Robert grinned and folded his arms. “Yes, Elmer. Let’s see you hit the bull’s eye with cold muscles.”
Mariel whipped loose an arrow from her hip right where she stood, nocked it, drew back her shoulder blade, and released her arrow. It lodged in the center of the bull’s eye. Turning to Robert, she gave him a superior smile, but Robert stepped into position, nocked his own arrow, and let it shoot down the champ. It split her arrow down the middle, also hitting the center.
“’Twould seem we’re still evenly matched, Mari.” Robert grinned over his shoulder.
“Are we?” She rolled her eyes and pulled loose three arrows from her hip, clenching them between each finger, and nocked them in quick succession upon each release. They also split each other down the middle until the metal tips could no longer find lodging and the long stem of arrows fell.
“All right, now you’re just showing off.” John groaned.
“Quarterstaffs,” she said, ignoring him. “I suggest we move on. Archery seems to be something of a mastered craft.”
“Well done, my beauty. You are indeed a master of the craft. Your father knows not the prize he lost.” Robert chuckled.
He dusted a light peck on her cheek, when Alan called out.
“My lord?”
Robert turned over his shoulder to see Alan pointing across the champ de tir at David, who ran toward them with haste, having returned from spying on Teàrlach MacGregor, sweat saturating his face. Robert jogged to meet him, his bow still in hand. The others gathered round.
“What news, man?” he demanded.
Mariel lingered on the periphery. Seeing David brought her imminent peril crashing down on her once again.
David passed Robert a missive. Robert unfolded it and scanned the script.
“Crawford’s man, Teàrlach, spoke the truth to us. He indeed said that whilst he saw Mariel leaving here on an argument with me, after escaping from her window, that he then saw her traveling the forest with a band of hooded thieves.”
“That’s good news, then, yes?” Will piped up. “’Twill corroborate the fact she shot her father with the hooded thieves and not associate it with us.”
“Yea and nay,” Robert continued, reading the message while David fidgeted impatiently and motioned for Robert to read the bottom part. Robert obeyed. “Crawford might believe Teàrlach, but he’s still coming to Huntington to have words with me about how I captured Mariel, with Nottingham accompanying him in support. David here”—he gestured—“left to return here as soon as he learned this, though Crawford and Nottingham were already packing supplies and gearing up to leave. They didn’t wait for daybreak and are…” He kept reading. “…likely only a few hours behind you?”
His eyes shot to David, who nodded.
“Did you take the forest paths to save time?” David was nodding, then began a series of animated charades. “But Crawford is riding the main roads in full haste?”
David nodded at his comprehension. Robert looked at Mariel. His eyes were blank, but she knew his mind was churning.
“Practice is cancelled, men. Collect your things and congregate in the great hall. We’ll meet him as he comes, and tonight I take Mariel to a priest to marry her.”
“What?” both John and Will said in unison.
“You? Marrying?” Will asked.
Robert was still gazing at Mariel when he answered his cousin. “Yes. ’Tis the only way I can protect her.”
“Unless The Beast sees fit to slaughter you for taking such liberty with his property without his blessing,” Will said.
“Nottingham is coming with him, and Nottingham is not entirely daft, despite our leanings to the contrary,” Robert said. “If I die, along with so many other injustices on his watch, King Richard will make William de Wendenal answer for it.”
But Mariel felt her chest pinch as the all too familiar feeling of her lungs squeezing seized her breath. She shook her head.
“I have to leave,” she croaked, striding toward the exit, breaking into a jog, then a run.
“Dammit,” Robert cursed behind her and she heard the missive crumpling, then his footfalls as he chased after her.
He caught up to her under a stone portico through the wall.
“Mariel, stop,” he said, grabbing her arm.
She wrenched herself free, but he grabbed her again with such strength, she realized he had never used his force on her before. His grip could not be undermined, and a stern look claimed his brow.
“Running off now sends you fleeing right out into his waiting hands. Don’t be daft. Don’t do this to me again.”
“Do this to you?” she said incredulously. “Harold Crawford doesn’t have death in his eyes for you, but he does for me!”
“God be damned, Mariel!” he shouted, his voice deep and booming, and for once, not an ounce of mirth could be seen on his face. She cringed. For a moment, she feared him. But he grabbed her hand and yanked it to his chest, placing it over his left pectoral. “You hold my heart, you foolish woman. Can’t you see that? If you run off and get captured… ’Twill be more than I can bear!”
She stared into his eyes, feeling the thumping of his heart beneath her palm.
“But if we work together,” he said, “I’ll keep you well-hidden until we can depart in the night. I’m going to take you to wife. I ask once again that you submit your stubborn will to me and trust me to keep you safe. Once your sire leaves East Anglia, I’ll pen him a missive and explain that I forced you to the altar, despite your objections, and that I wish to harbor good will betwixt him and me. I’ll do what I must to prevent him from taking his wrath out on you. God woman, I’d let Nottingham murder me in cold blood before I’d let any harm come to you! Why won’t you foking believe me?”
Trembling, she stood silently, her lips threatening to quiver and her eyes threatening to pour, when she dropped her bow and threw her arms around his neck in desperation. He encircled her with as much force in his arms, gripping her waist and the back of her head to clench her against his chest.
“Quit toying with my affection,” he whispered in her ear beneath the shadow of the portico, squeezing her harder still, even though she knew her nails bit into his shoulders. “Take a deep breath and think. If your father’s man, Teàrlach, lied to him, then he comes here to ask about how I captured you and about your escape, not in search of you within my walls. Let’s go inside and hide you well. I swear on my honor I’ll keep you safe.” He turned and bellowed, “Jonathan!”
John jogged over to them, his own effects in hand, while the other men cleared the pitch with efficient speed and made haste for the castle.
“Yes, Robert?”
“Post sentries in the forest, on the curtain wall, and each parapet. I want word as soon as Crawford approaches the village. Mariel will be in hiding and under no circumstances are his men allowed to wander unattended through my halls or grounds. I leave with Mariel as soon as supper ends to take her to wife in secret, returning before dawn on the morrow.”
Jonathan nodded, though his eyes were furrowed with…disappointment? Mariel couldn’t decipher.
“Lady,” he suddenly addressed her. “I have to ask, despite my friendship with Robert…” He looked at Robert as if to say he cared not if he was pummeled. “Are you certain you wish to marry him?”
“You cross a line, man.” Robert growled.
“I’ve agreed, aye,” Mariel replied.
“But do you want to bind yourself to him, or do you only do it for protection?”
She hesitated. She wanted to marry him. She wanted to trust him. Robert, whose eyes had narrowed angrily at John’s query, now looked to her. She knew John still had feelings for her. There was nothing wrong with him. He was a good man.
“I wish to,” she murmured, and though Robert still hadn’t said he loved her, she wanted so badly to release her distrust, to simply throw off the mantle of insecurity bred into her and embrace Robert’s words. “As I think he wishes as well.”
Jonathan rounded on Robert with anger in his eyes. “You would take to wife a woman on a whim, simply to protect her?”
Robert stepped forward. John didn’t back down, hands perched on his hips, until they stood nose to nose. “I waste valuable time right now and won’t entertain this conversation further. I make this decision after deep thought, and you will back down now, for I know you still vie for her.”
“I wish nay to come betwixt two friends,” Mariel said. “If this arrangement will ruin the fraternity you share…then I choose not to go through with it and beg you, Robert, not to obstruct my departure.”
“You think I don’t want her?” rumbled Robert, balling his fists to throw a punch when John took a step back, then another.
“No…” John said, sensing something in Robert’s demeanor that was violently protective of the woman before them both, something Robert was unable to say. “No. He might be too much the coward to say it, but he loves you…I can tell.” He nodded. “I won’t bring the matter up again.”
He stepped around them and took off to the castle in a jog to fulfill Robert’s orders.
Robert grabbed Mariel’s hand. “I’m marrying you, Mari,” he stated with conviction. “We’ve no time at all to tarry.”