Chapter 5 #2
“Many ladies can play chess,” interjected Countess Ermentrude in Merewyn’s defense while pulling a needle through the cloth she held. Then winking at Merewyn, she added, “Do manage to win, young lady.”
Merewyn smiled at the plump countess. “I will certainly try.”
Earl Hugh glanced up only for a moment before returning his attention to the board in front of him, puzzling over his next move.
Rory and Guy nodded to her encouragingly. “You are our last hope to see Alex’s streak of victories ended this night,” said Guy.
With his open palm, Alex beckoned her to the empty bench across from the chessboard he was setting up with the pieces from his last game. “Let us witness this new skill you have acquired. Mayhap I can teach you a move or two.”
Merewyn was certain he could teach her many things but whether chess was one of them remained to be seen.
* * *
Alex took a swallow of his wine and tried to relax, doubting Merewyn knew more than the rudiments of the game but happy to teach her more. Any reason to spend time with her pleased him.
The hearth fire blazed as a servant added another log, but the lute player had stopped playing for the moment.
There were no other sounds in the hall, save for the occasional whisperings of his mother and Lady Ermentrude.
Rory, Guy and Sir Geoffroi had gathered around the other game, leaving Alex and Merewyn alone for the moment.
His enticing opponent inhaled deeply and let out a breath as she took her bottom lip between her teeth and considered the board.
The swells of her breasts pressed against the edge of her velvet gown.
He tried to keep his mind on the game ahead but, in truth, her presence was distracting.
Merewyn was far more interesting than any game of chess.
Glancing at the black pieces on his side of the board, he moved one of his pawns forward. As he had been taught, it mattered not which color began the game. “I will move first. That way, you will have time to think.”
She looked down at the board and brought her elbow to the table, her fingers playing about her delicate alabaster throat. Turning her unusual blue eyes on him, she said, “I expected you to make the first move, but I do not need time to think, not yet anyway.”
Her slender fingers wrapped around a pawn and caressed it before moving the piece forward.
His mouth watered. When he looked up, beneath her long lashes she watched him.
His mind strayed to the afternoon he had wandered into her chamber drunk and encountered those same seductive eyes, then filled with anger.
He blinked and forced himself to focus on the game.
Mayhap he needed a knight. He moved the piece, carved and painted to look like a black knight, forward two squares and to the left.
He was feeling quite confident until Merewyn licked her lush bottom lip while studying the board.
His groin swelled in response and he shifted on the bench, thankful his tunic covered his reaction.
He was certain her seductive movements were innocent, but she could not have made him want her more had she set out to do so.
Merewyn glanced up once before moving her white knight forward.
His mind wandered, seeing again her thighs clenching the sides of her pony as she galloped by the targets, rapidly loosing arrows with deadly accuracy.
Dragging his mind back to the game, he straightened in his seat and moved his bishop across from her knight.
Satisfied with the move, he folded his arms and waited for her next move.
The game continued with both of them making careful moves, Merewyn surprising Alex with her skill. He had known she was intelligent, but the way she played chess told him she could be clever, as well.
Shifting on her bench, Merewyn appeared to carefully consider her next move. One of her long fingers played with a strand of flaxen hair lying across her shoulder. The strands caught the light from the candles turning them into liquid gold. His fingers itched to touch the silken strands.
Two more pawn moves and he captured her knight, thinking he had her. But then his eyes fastened on her hand moving to the delicate skin of her throat.
After what seemed but a moment’s passing, Merewyn looked up and smiled. “Checkmate.”
* * *
Thrilled she had won but reluctant to act too much the victor, Merewyn offered Alex another smile.
“Fortune was with me.” When she had spoken the word that proclaimed her the winner, Alex had looked startled, as if waking from a dream.
With him watching her, it had taken all the concentration she could muster to maintain any strategy at all.
Unsure she could do it, her hope had risen when he continued to appear distracted.
Mayhap he had been tired of the game having played several rounds.
“You may have had fortune on your side,” he said, “but you also displayed a fair amount of talent. Rhodri might have been a good teacher, but you must have been a keen disciple.” He dipped his head to her. “Well done, my lady.”
She thanked him. Because Alex’s praise meant much, she resisted the urge to correct him for calling her a lady when she clearly was not.
Countess Ermentrude stood and gave a small cheer; Lady Serena nodded her head, smiling.
Rory and Guy left the other game and came to congratulate her and tease Alex. “Felled by the fair damsel!” proclaimed Guy with glee.
“We dare not tell the king of your loss to a lass,” chimed in Rory with feigned terror.
Alex grinned at Merewyn. “We will see who wins the next game.”
Pleased she had won, Merewyn did not think Alex minded the jests he endured from his fellow knights. Mayhap he would win the next game as the gleam in his eye portended.
Talisand’s lord, having defeated Earl Hugh, rose from his bench. Joined by Lady Serena, he proposed a toast. “To the talented ladies!”
Everyone raised their goblets. Countess Ermentrude downed her wine and proudly said, “I love to see a bold knight vanquished at chess by a lady. ’Tis one of the few battlefields where we can be the victor.”
Earl Hugh hastened to give his opinion. “ ’Tis best it is so.”
Lady Serena rolled her eyes and clinked her goblet against Ermentrude’s, the two exchanging a grin.
“We had best retire,” said Alex’s father. “The bells toll Compline and our next stop is Shrewsbury. Beyond that, a long road awaits us to London.”
Merewyn did not disagree and, with the others, ascended the stairs to her chamber, thinking of a rematch with Alex. She was not being very true to her plan to keep distance between them. In truth, she relished any chance to be with him, even if it meant losing a game of chess.
As it turned out, their stop in Shrewsbury was brief, but she got to see Alex’s brother, Roger, whom she had not seen since she left Talisand for Wales. His chestnut hair, the same color as his father’s, made him look much like the Red Wolf, save for his brown eyes.
Their host, the old earl, Roger de Montgomerie, had begged his friend, Earl Renaud, for time to show them the Benedictine Abbey he had founded. Merewyn was glad Earl Roger prevailed.
Talisand had a beautiful stone chapel built by Lady Serena’s father, but it paled in comparison to the church at Shrewsbury.
At least four times larger, the abbey church dedicated to Saint Peter had massive rounded stone arches the chapel in Talisand lacked.
A long walk on a gray stone floor led to the magnificent nave with tall windows that allowed light to flood the church.
“ ’Tis another Norman cathedral that replaced a Saxon church,” remarked Lady Serena, “but this one is beautiful.”
When Merewyn told Alex it was not like any she had ever seen, he was quick to reply. “Westminster Abbey in London is even more magnificent. ’Tis much larger and grander than this one. The Conqueror himself was crowned there as was his son.”