Chapter 7
The second day was worse, and the morning of the third was awful. Elisande had never been so sore. All she wanted was a hot bath and a real bed, preferably behind solid walls.
“If I die before we reach the priory, just bury me wherever I land. Don’t bother to bring me back. My bones can’t take it.”
Geoffrey laughed as Henry raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not going to die. And no one is leaving you anywhere.”
“I am not made for this. I feel one hundred years old.”
“You don’t look it,” Geoffrey replied, which earned him a sharp glance from Henry.
“We are almost there. You’ll be fine.”
“Says the man who has worn metal as clothing most of his life.”
Geoffrey laughed again. “She’s funny, you must admit.”
Henry let his smile free. “Yes.” He looked to Elisande. “Are you quite done?”
“I’m not being dramatic. I promise. This is awful.”
“Try the guilt for putting you through this on for size.”
She met his gaze and realized he meant it. “You actually care?”
“Have I not done everything I can to help you through it?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“It wasn’t because I don’t care.”
“I thought it was simply because you had things planned for me.”
That prompted raised brows from the other men.
“Come. I shall take you to the stream before we set off.”
“But—”
“Come.”
He held out his arm, and she realized it was not just an invitation, but an order.
She took it and let him lead her to the stream.
“Get a drink, splash your face, and take a moment to gather yourself. It will help.”
She groaned as she lowered into a squatting position. “Are you sure I am not broken for the rest of my life?”
“Quite sure.”
“How?”
“The first few times you ride in armor, you think you’re going to die afterward. But you don’t. You won’t either. You’re just sore. It will go away with time. The priory may have some kind of concoction for it as well. The sooner we are there, the sooner we can ask.”
“God must have some remedy.”
“A good massage of the muscles will help as well.”
She looked up at him. “And who is going to do that?”
“I will. After.”
There was no question in her mind what after meant. After their vows were said and her body became his property.
She stared down at the stream and splashed her face with water to cool her heating cheeks.
“At least that’s something to look forward to. Relief.”
“In more ways than one.”
She swung around to study him, but he was staring off in the distance.
“You sent her in a cart.”
“What?” Elisande bolted to her feet despite her sore muscles.
Sir Henry grabbed her hand and tugged her along with him back to the camp.
“Mount up and ride. There’s a cart ahead. Surround it!”
“No!” Elisande yelled.
Sir Henry picked her up and tossed her on the back of her horse. “Follow us.”
“You’ll terrify her.”
He didn’t reply, but mounted his own destrier. The warhorse surged forward as soon as he leaned in.
“No!” Elisande screamed again, urging her horse into a gallop to follow the thunderous knights. “Alger! Run!”
There was nothing she could do.
The destriers surrounded poor Alger’s cart in moments. They must have been camped on the other side of the ridge without a fire.
His old nag came to a halt, no match for the black warhorses.
Elisande ignored her screaming thighs and rode directly between Sir Geoffrey and a soldier. She threw herself off her horse and pitched to the ground.
“My lady!”
She didn’t know who had yelled to her. The only thought in her mind was, I must get to Hilda first.
She stumbled to her feet and gripped the side of the cart to keep herself upright.
“Lady Elisande!”
“Eli!” Alger’s tone radiated shock as he reached for her.
“Don’t touch her, boy, or it will be the last thing you do.”
Alger’s hands yanked backward immediately at Sir Henry’s threat.
“Where is she?” Elisande asked, skirting around the side of the cart without waiting for a response.
“In the back,” Alger said quietly.
Elisande tore the blanket off, revealing shining blonde hair. “Oh, thank God you’re okay.” Elisande vaulted into the cart, her aches and pains forgotten as she hugged Hilda to her chest.
Hilda giggled, as if they were playing hide-and-seek and she’d just been found.
Elisande rocked her against her body, uncaring what was happening around her. All she cared was that Hilda was safe.
“Eli, it’s bumpy. Bumpy, bumpy, bumpy.”
“I know, darling. Bumpy, bumpy, bumpy. Are you okay?”
“Cold.”
“Of course, darling.”
Elisande wrapped the blanket that had been covering her around her shoulders. Hilda’s blonde hair stood out like an angel’s halo.
“Lady Hilda.” Sir Henry’s voice came from behind Elisande.
Hilda giggled and reached for the doll on the floor of the cart.
Elisande looked over her shoulder at Sir Henry, watching confusion line his features as Hilda clutched it to her chest.
“Mine,” she said to him in her childlike voice. “Eli, bumpy, bumpy, bumpy.” She bounced with her doll.
Sir Henry’s gaze locked on Elisande. “What didn’t you tell me?” His attention cut to the girl who appeared to be a full-grown woman, but whose words and actions said otherwise.
“Hilda, this is Sir Henry.”
“Henry,” Hilda repeated in a singsong voice, but her eyes stayed glued on her beloved doll.
“Sir Henry, this is my niece, Lady Hilda.”
Never in Henry’s life had he been more surprised. The girl was simple. She was angelic in appearance, but simple.
His men were silent, surrounding the cart and the Saxon at its reins.
“I’m sorry, Eli,” the man said. “We tried to make it.”
“It’s okay, Alger. They won’t hurt her—or you.”
Henry decidedly did not like the man’s familiarity with the way he referred to Lady Elisande as Eli.
“Will you, Sir Henry?” She caught him with a pointed gaze at the end of her words.
The way she had ridden like a warrior queen through his men and jumped from her horse to put herself between them and her niece had been nothing short of heroic.
But the greatest shock of all was the girl herself. Like a child in a young woman’s body.
Lady Elisande had referred to her as a child. Henry hadn’t understood that she meant it literally.
He rubbed his hand down his face and looked from one female to the other.
“You truly thought I was some kind of monster,” he finally said to Lady Elisande. “To think I would …” He trailed off, as he had no idea how to finish that sentence.
“I didn’t know. I had only heard the horror stories of William the Conqueror’s knights who had no mercy. I had to protect her.”
“And her father …”
“Left her.”
He shook his head, unable to comprehend how the baron could call himself a man.
He met her gaze once more. “And this is why you never married.”
Lady Elisande simply nodded in response.
Everything made sense. His lingering questions were answered.
The lengths to which she was willing to go to protect the baron’s daughter.
The reason she had stayed behind to give them a chance to escape.
Why she never married. It was selfless and, quite frankly, made him feel things he had never expected to feel for a Saxon woman.
He had intended to come, to conquer, to force a union, bed the bride, preferably sire an heir to seal the claim to the land, and continue to live his life.
He had never expected … never dreamed … he might come to respect or care for the woman whose hand he would take in doing his duty to his king.
And yet that was exactly what was happening.
“You have nothing to fear from us,” he told her. “With regard to Lady Hilda or anything else. Do you understand?”
Lady Elisande’s expression softened. “Yes.”
“Good. Now”—he looked to the man she had called Alger at the reins—“how far is the priory?”
“Another half a day by cart. Probably two hours on horseback, especially those steeds.”
“We will ride at your pace, ensuring your safe arrival.”
The man looked shocked.
“You will?” Lady Elisande asked.
“We will. Back on your horse, my lady.”
“But—”
“You think your bones rattle now? A horse will feel like the finest conveyance after a couple hours in that cart.”
“Hilda is doing fine, Eli. She thinks it’s a game.”
Henry looked at the man sharply when he referred to her as Eli again.
“She is Lady Elisande to you, now and forever. Understood?”
The man looked like he might swallow his tongue. “Yes, sir.”
“Sir Henry,” Lady Elisande began.
“We can speak on horseback.” He held out his hand to her. “Come, my lady.”
One of his men brought her mount around, and Sir Henry lifted her into the saddle.
“Besides, you can’t be all that sore if you are able to take a flying leap and nearly land it.”
“It was out of fear for my niece’s safety.”
“And quite the display of courage.”
“Eli?” This came from Hilda.
“I’ll be right beside you, darling. All the way.”
The way she spoke to the girl and how valiantly she had acted in her defense made Henry realize he had underestimated just how ferociously she would protect her own children. A better mother for his heirs he would not find. He was certain of it.
“Come. Let’s move on. We have hours to go, and everyone is eager to arrive.”