Chapter Three #2
It was an enormous compound with massive ramparts built up around an enormous bailey to the south and a motte to the north. She’d never seen anything so large.
The group had entered the castle on the southwest side of town through a massive stone gatehouse, entering the complex that was vast and fortified.
Several hundred soldiers were in residence at this time because of de Winter’s presence and they were camped out in the enormous bailey, creating a quagmire of mud, chaos, men and animals.
A vast great hall sat in the middle of the bailey along with several outbuildings. The whole area smelled like a swamp.
Built within a circle of ramparts to the north was a powerfully constructed keep, although the keep had been partially demolished by Henry II because it had been an unlicensed fortification eighty years prior.
Lady Katharine’s ancestor, William de Warenne, had built it during the conflicts between Empress Matilda and King Stephan, giving rise to a very fortified and illegal bastion.
Henry, when he assumed the throne, went through the countryside destroying all of these unlicensed castles in the hopes they would never be used for an uprising ever again.
But somehow, he failed to demolish all of Castle Acre Castle’s massive keep. Two stories of it still remained.
Davyss had brought her to the second floor of the crumbling keep and left her in one of the two chambers, bolting the door from the outside.
He’d barely said a word and she, exhausted from her day of struggle and upset, hadn’t shown any resistance.
From the lancet windows to the north and west, she could see the small town beyond.
It was a quiet place, certainly not as large as the berg she came from.
Thetford was much bigger. As the day waned, her sense of homesickness and despair grew.
He left her with no food, no drink. Devereux spent a good deal of time and energy attempting to figure out how she could climb out of the windows and not kill herself, but the room was so barren that there was nothing she could make a ladder or a rope with.
She could have jumped, of course, but it was several feet to the ground and she didn’t want to break something.
So she gave up on the idea of escaping and sat down in the chilly room, waiting for the moment when de Winter would decide to let her out again.
She was thirsty and growing hungry. As the wait became excessive, so did her animosity.
It was late afternoon by the time she heard the door rattle.
Startled from hours of silence and inaction, she instinctively leapt to her feet as the door opened.
The first face she saw was that of the de Winter priest. She took a closer look at him, noting he had wild gray hair, wild gray eyes, and huge scarred hands.
He didn’t look like any priest she had ever seen.
She couldn’t help but notice he stood somewhat behind the door, as if using the panel as a shield against her.
“My lady,” he greeted, eyeing her warily. “I came to see if you required anything to make your stay more comfortable.”
She lifted a well-shaped eyebrow at him. “Can you seriously ask me that question as you look at this desolate room?” she wanted to know. “I have been locked in here for hours with no food, nothing to drink, and no comforts whatsoever. And you think to now come and ask me that question?”
He looked around the room, sighing faintly. Then he took a step inside and stopped using the door as a shield.
“Perhaps we started out on the wrong note,” he said with some regret. “My name is Lollardly. We were not formally introduced earlier, but I am Sir Davyss’ personal priest.”
Devereux eyed him. “Is this how the de Winters normally treat women? Locking them in cold rooms with nothing of comfort?”
He grunted softly and scratched his head.
“My lady, this was not my doing. It would be exceedingly more pleasant for us both if you would stop being so confrontational. I realize this day has been something of a shock for you but surely you know this was not my doing. I was following orders. If you choose to hate me because of my sense of duty, then so be it. But you should also realize that our association will be as pleasant, or as adversarial, as you make it. The choice is yours.”
Devereux simply stared at him. Without a response, Lollardly saw no need to stay and he began to close the door quietly. Just before he closed it completely, Devereux spoke.
“Lollardly?” she said.
He stopped. “My lady?”
She took a step towards him, her expression a mixture of loathing and resignation. She finally settled for complete resignation.
“If it is not too much trouble, I should like something to eat,” she said quietly. “I have not eaten all day. And perhaps a fire would be nice; it is cold in here.”
Lollardly nodded firmly, as if she had just given him an intense command. “It shall be done, Lady de Winter,” he said. “Anything else?”
She felt as if she had been struck by an unseen hand at the formal mention of her new title. It took her a moment to recover her shock and distaste.
“My things,” she said. “Everything was left behind at my father’s house. I will need my things.”
Lollardly nodded. “A few of Davyss’ knights rode for your father’s home a few hours ago. They should be returning shortly.”
She frowned at the thought of warriors handling her clothing and personal items. She hoped her father had sense enough to have his servants pack her trunks before the knights got their blood-stained hands on everything.
“Will there be anything else, my lady?” the priest interrupted her thoughts.
She eyed him, shaking her head after a moment. “Nay,” she replied softly. “Except… well, if this is to be my bed, there is no mattress on it. I will need one.”
“We are already seeing to that, my lady.”
There was nothing more to say and he shut the door softly.
She didn’t hear the bolt slip through the bracket but she couldn’t be sure that there wasn’t a knight out there, just waiting for her to open it.
If it was a test, she would pass it. Quite frankly, there was no use escaping and returning to her father.
He would only turn her back over to her husband.
So she sat on the floor against the wall opposite the hearth and waited.
Except for an occasional bird flying past the windows, her environment was largely silent.
Her thoughts had settled somewhat from the turbulent day although her distain at what had happened was still a powerful thing.
She mostly blamed her father but knew, deep down, that the man had only been doing what he thought best for his daughter.
An advantageous marriage that had been proposed to him by Lady Katharine de Winter had been both a surprise and a blessing.
Only a fool would have refused. If she was honest with herself, she understood why he did it.
Time was shiftless and shapeless up in her prison.
She truly had no idea how much of it had elapsed when she heard the door latch give and the panel push open.
An enormous man entered the chamber clad in a tunic, breeches and massive leather boots.
Seated against the wall, Devereux watched with trepidation and curiosity as the man entered with a tray in his hand.
He was clean-shaven with cropped dark hair. Devereux truly had no idea who the man was until he looked at her. Sultry hazel eyes and a face that surely Adonis was jealous of gazed steadily at her. He smiled faintly.
“My lady,” he said in a soft, deep voice. “I have brought you something to eat.”
She had to look again; realizing it was Davyss, she rose stiffly from the floor, inspecting him as if she was just seeing him for the first time.
He was completely without armor, his face as smooth as a baby’s bottom and his dark hair clean and cut.
The rough linen tunic fit his powerful chest and enormous arms like the skin of a grape and she could see the muscles flexing as he moved.
He had a tight waist, tight buttocks, and massively muscled thighs.
And those hands… she imagined that his fist would be almost as large as her head.
My God, she thought to herself. He was the most handsome creature she’d ever seen.
But handsome or no, it did nothing to ease her animosity towards him.
“So you have come to feed your caged animal?” she moved towards him, slowly. “How chivalrous.”
His smile faded. “I apologize for locking you in,” he said. “You must understand that this is a military encampment. I have hundreds of men on the grounds that would not think twice before molesting a woman. What I did, I did for your safety.”
She reached him and the food. “If that is true, then you should have had me bolt the door from the inside so no one could get in. As it was, you put the bolt on the wrong side of the door. Anyone could have unlocked it.”
He shook his head. “The door was guarded on the landing. Moreover, had I told you the threat when I first brought you here, in your current hysterical state, I doubt you would have believed me. You would have disregarded my warning and tried to flee into an encampment of five hundred men who would have gladly taken you to sport.”
She eyed him, attempting to determine if he was telling the truth. Unable to reach a conclusion, she reached out for a piece of hard, cold bread. She was starving and took a large bite.
“You could have at least left me with food and water,” she scolded.
“This keep has been unused for years. I had to send my men to collect even basic necessities.” He watched her stuff her mouth with the bread, feeling rather caddish about locking her up without any comforts. He moved swiftly for the door. “I have something for you. I shall return.”