Chapter 2
Merewyn waited in the shadows of the stable until Alex, Rory and Guy left the armory, their squires following after them with fresh clothing.
Knowing the men would be at the river for some time, she left the shadows and headed for the manor.
She did not wish to encounter Alex again so soon.
Her stomach twisted in knots as she remembered her bedchamber was only a stone’s throw from the one Maggie had told her Alex shared with Raoul.
She entered the manor just as Lady Serena came through the wide opening that led to the hall, the two buildings being joined. “Oh, Merewyn, I have been looking for you. There is something I want to show you.”
“Yea, my lady?”
“ ’Tis in your chamber.”
They ascended the stairs to the chamber that was Merewyn’s alone.
Lady Serena opened the oaken door and gestured her inside.
In front of her stood the table where she laid her bow and quiver of arrows.
Beyond the table, sunlight from the window streamed in through the open wooden shutters.
To her left was a small bed and, on the right side of the room, a larger one to which Lady Serena walked. Merewyn followed.
There, lying upon the fur-covered bed was a beautiful gown of amethyst silk. The bodice and matching hooded cloak were trimmed in an elaborate gold weaving.
“ ’Tis lovely,” said Merewyn reaching out to touch the silk, shimmering in the light from her window. She had never owned a gown the equal of this one.
The Lady of Talisand smiled. “It is for you, Merewyn, to wear this night.”
“I am more than grateful, my lady, but why?”
Lady Serena gave her an indulgent smile.
“I know you are content with your archer’s clothing and your simple gowns of linen and wool, but tonight is special and you are now a woman grown.
I would have you attired in clothing to match your beauty.
Rory and Guy’s sisters will be in silk, as will Lora.
Emma would be angry with me if I allowed you to dress in less fine a manner than her daughter. She still thinks of you as hers.”
“Lady Emma is very kind, but I have not lived with Sir Geoffroi and her for many years.” They had taken Merewyn into their home after her mother’s death, but after she took up the bow, Lady Serena had invited her to live in the manor.
When she returned from Wales, it was to Serena’s home Merewyn had gone.
“You are more a mother of the heart to me than any other.”
“It pleases me to hear you say it.” Lady Serena sat on the edge of the bed, next to the gown. “You have become the daughter I once thought to have, Merewyn.”
She beamed at hearing the words. “Truly?” She was still living with Lady Emma when Lady Serena had lost a girl child, born a few years before Tibby. It brought Merewyn great joy to think she might have filled the void left by the loss of Serena’s child.
“Indeed, yea.” She stood. “Now, say no more and accept the gown. The gold necklace Emma gave you will be beautiful with it.”
Guy’s sister, Bea, and Rory’s oldest sister, Alice, were a few years younger than Merewyn’s friend, Lora.
In the time Merewyn had been back, she had noticed the three women were much admired.
With powerful knights as their fathers, Merewyn was certain they had never feared being caught alone in the woods.
Mayhap it would not hurt for her to dress like them in the hall.
She met the older woman’s expectant gaze. “I will wear it and gladly.”
Lady Serena gave Merewyn’s clothing a long perusal. “I expect you should have a bath. I will see that the lads bring hot water and a tub to your chamber. My maidservant, Nelda, can assist you with the gown when you are ready.”
* * *
Merewyn sank into the steaming water with a sigh, inhaling the flowery scent of the soap while reflecting upon her encounter with Alexander.
She had noticed more than his towering height.
No longer was his body that of a stripling lad.
His broad shoulders that had once promised strength had gained muscle with his knight’s training and his face had lost its boyhood look, gaining instead a man’s strong jaw and high cheekbones.
Together with his long black hair, they rendered him darkly handsome.
She did not wonder the women spoke of him in hushed whispers.
She had expected her childhood adoration of him to fade with time and distance, that seeing him again would free her of the memories that had bound her to him during the years she had been away.
But she had been wrong. The moment she had gazed into his piercing gray eyes and heard his voice, it had all come rushing back.
Only the wave of longing that had washed over her was not a girl’s adoration of a remembered hero. It had been a woman’s desire.
She ran her fingers through the warm water and imagined running them through the waves of his long hair and touching the dark hair on his chest she had glimpsed from the neck of his tunic. He would pull her to him and her breasts would be crushed by his weight as he held her.
Her nipples formed tight buds and the caress of the water became his caress as her breathing became more labored. What would it be like to lie with him?
Her bow, leaning against the wall of her chamber, spoke a word of silent condemnation for her wild imaginings.
“I know who he is and who I am,” she said aloud to the bow.
“You do not have to remind me.” She shook her head, her wet hair splashing water over her face, waking her out of the fantasy and reminding her of Alex’s reputation and what she could expect from such a knight.
He was arrogant; a knight who’d had many women. Beyond that, he was Talisand’s heir and she a bastard of ignoble birth. He would wed a highborn lady, a marriage likely arranged by the king, and she would not marry at all. Having compared all men to Alex for so long, how could she wed another?
Her heart constricted at the possibility of Alex with a more worthy woman. Mayhap when that day came, she would be far away in Wales where Rhodri’s archers would welcome her bow.
Did Alex suspect his absence had been the cause of her interest in archery?
Nay, he would not have guessed that when he left to become a squire, she had been alone and afraid, in need of a weapon to defend herself.
But now things were different. The change had come with her first archery contest after her return home.
The men stared in admiration and kept their distance.
She looked again at her bow. “You have gained me respect in men’s eyes.
For that, I will always be grateful and, thus, I will heed your warning.
” Her archer’s clothing had been carefully made to conceal her womanly curves.
It was what she had wanted, this distance from men, mayhap even as to Alex, for were he to draw close and see her as a woman like the others, vulnerable to his masculine presence, she feared she would be helpless to resist him.
But tonight, for Lady Serena, she would don the gown of a lady.
* * *
Alex took his seat on the dais between his father and Sir Geoffroi, Guy’s father.
He would have been happy to sit at the long trestle tables where his father’s men ate, but tonight he and his companions were in the place of honor, as sons being welcomed home from war.
It was a stark contrast to the cold nights in Normandy and those on the way home from London when they had crouched before an open fire with only a few hares to share between them.
In battle and traveling the length of England, he and his men had been gray, dust-covered figures passing in a blur.
Often they were coated with mud from the rain-soaked moors.
But tonight, the men-at-arms had doffed their mail to don fresh linen tunics, the knights wearing woolen and velvet.
Only the king’s court presented a more opulent display.
Because it was expected of the Red Wolf’s son, Alex had worn a fine woolen tunic of midnight blue embroidered with silver thread on the shoulders, a gift from his mother.
The Lady of Talisand had expectations for her sons’ appearance, particularly Alex as the eldest. He was glad when she had taken no issue with his longer hair.
His father had reacted to it with raised brows, but said nothing.
All of William’s younger knights had grown their hair long to mirror their sire.
Alex was happy to go along with the new fashion because it freed him from cutting his hair.
It was enough that he must shave his face for he could not abide a beard.
He had left his sword in his bedchamber, knowing none would be permitted in the hall this night.
But the dagger at his belt, a gift from the king, was no less formidable a weapon.
He could kill with it and had. In the four years he had served William Rufus, Alex had ended the life of more than one man at the king’s command.
It was a knight’s service and he accepted it.
Servants hurried into the hall, placing trays of meat on the tables and the trenchers that served to hold their food.
A kitchen wench filled his goblet with wine. Alex nodded his thanks and, ever hungry, filled his trencher with slices of venison, spooning over it the juices into which he would dip his bread.
Maggie had outdone herself with a fine feast of venison, roasted in a vinegar and pepper sauce, hare spiced with what smelled like rosemary and thyme, and a peacock skinned, roasted and redressed in its own feathers.
The delicacy was not often served at Talisand.
He had first tasted the peafowl’s rich, dark meat in Chester at the home of his foster father, Earl Hugh.
Biting into the chunk of peacock, Alex shot a glance at Guy, eating on the other side of Sir Geoffroi. The young knight was flirting with the young women at the tables, enjoying his new status.