Chapter Two #2
He reached down and picked her up, holding her against his broad chest. They gazed at each other a moment as if sizing one another up, onyx eyes against brilliant blue.
He thought she might actually demand to be set down by the way she was looking at him but, strangely, she did not. She simply stared at him.
“Your father is in a wonderful place of light and joy,” Cortez said quietly. “He is living with the angels. They are taking great care of him and someday, if you are a very good girl, you will be able to see him again.”
She stared at him with her bottomless eyes. “Where do the angels live?”
“In Heaven with God, our Holy Father. Have you not been told this in church?”
She blinked, thinking. “I do not like church.”
“You do not like it? Why not?”
Her brow furrowed. “It is a scary place.”
He turned away from the pony’s stall and began to move out into the morning sunshine. “Why is it scary?”
She put her little arms around his neck to hold on.
He was very tall, much taller than her father, and Sophie felt as if she were on top of a very high tree, looking down at everything.
But she missed her father so much that she rather liked being held by this strange man who had been very kind to her. It made her feel safe and comforted.
“Because the priest yells,” she said frankly. “He sings scary songs.”
Cortez laughed softly and patted her chubby little leg. “Aye, they do yell. I think church is a scary place, too.”
She looked at him, grinning. Cortez winked at her, becoming more enamored with her by the moment. “Now, tell me the truth,” he said gently. “Where is your nurse?”
She scrunched her nose up, making him laugh again. “I do not know.”
“You do not know?”
“Nay.”
“Hmmm,” he wriggled his eyebrows as they emerged into the sunlight. “Do you think that she is looking for you?”
Sophie shrugged, averting her gaze by pretending to look at his tunic, and he dipped his head to try and look her in the eye. “Do you think she is frightened that you are missing?” he asked gently.
Sophie twitched her nose and pursed her lips, torn between guilt and not caring.
Cortez didn’t push her. He patted her leg again and passed from the stables into the enormous lower bailey.
To the south, he could see his men beginning to break down their encampment; fires were being doused and horses wrangled.
Above, white clouds scattered across the sky in the sea breeze blowing in from the south.
He could hear the scream of gulls riding the drafts.
Glancing to his right, he could see the Corfe’s mighty keep soaring to the sky, knowing that somewhere inside, Lady Edlington was being informed that her daughter was with de Bretagne and more than likely having fits over it.
He fully expected to see her any moment.
But first, he knew it was imperative that he gain Sophie’s cooperation.
If he were to accomplish his task, then having the child on his side would be paramount.
He didn’t want to create a scene with a terrified mother and child, demanding they accompany him back to Sherborne.
What he had to do needed to be done with foresight and care. He had to be sly.
“Lady Sophie,” he slowed his steps, watching his men efficiently break camp. “Would you like to go on an adventure?”
She stared at him curiously. “An ad… ad…?”
“Adventure,” he finished for her. He pretended to think. “Let me see; an adventure is something fun, like a journey or mayhap a visit somewhere. Have you ever been away from your home?”
Sophie shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “I have always been here or to church.”
“Where it is scary.”
“Aye.”
He wriggled his eyebrows. “I live in a place called Sherborne Castle. My castle is a big place with many ponies and dogs and rabbits. It is surrounded by a big lake. But it is a sad place.”
He had her interest; she was focused on his words. “Why is it sad?”
“There is no princess there.”
“No princess?”
He nodded. “I need a princess so that my home will not be sad. Would you like to be the princess of my castle?”
Sophie’s big eyes glittered with the possibilities.
Before she could reply, Cortez caught sight of people spilling forth from the upper bailey.
He was not surprised to see Lady Edlington leading the pack.
Clad in a dual-colored surcoat of deep blue and pale green, like the colors of her eyes, she approached with a stricken look on her face.
The sea breeze had picked up, streaming her beautiful hair behind her like a banner.
It also plastered her garment against her body, affording Cortez and any other man who happened to notice her, an unobstructed view of her magnificent figure.
She had large breasts, more than likely due to childbearing, and a tiny waist. Cortez was torn between absorbing the lines of her spectacular body and gazing into her magnificent face.
There was nothing about the woman that was imperfect.
But he forced himself away from thoughts of her body, realizing he had been correct in using her daughter to coerce her to leave her chamber.
He could have laid siege to the keep for days and never achieved what one tiny girl had managed to accomplish in a matter of minutes.
Lady Edlington came straight at him and held out her arms.
“Give me my baby,” she demanded quietly.
Cortez’s gaze was cool. He looked at Sophie, who was staring down at her mother. Surprisingly, the little girl didn’t immediately reach for her mother. Cortez ignored the demand.
“Lady Sophie and I have been visiting her pony,” he said casually. “She is a delightful child.”
Diamantha was beginning to lose her calm demeanor. “Give her back to me, de Bretagne,” she lowered her voice. “She is of no use to you.”
He lifted his eyebrows at her. “I beg to differ, madam,” he said. “She is of great use. She released you from your chamber, did she not?”
Diamantha dropped her arms, looking at Cortez as if he were the most contemptible creature on earth.
She struggled not to lose her temper, knowing it would only work against her.
She cursed herself for being stupid enough to let Sophie out of her sight, although she had let the child go with her nurse early that morning to feed and dress her.
She had no idea that Sophie would escape the older woman although she should have guessed.
Sophie was always desperate to see her pony first thing in the morning. Diamantha’s gaze moved to her daughter.
“Hello, sweetheart,” she purred. She had a sweet and low voice. “How is General this morning?”
Sophie had her arms wrapped around Cortez’s neck. “He is eating,” she said. “Mummy, I am hungry. Can I have porridge and honey?”
“Of course,” Diamantha lifted an expectant eyebrow at Cortez as she held her arms out to her daughter. “We shall go inside and break our fast.”
Cortez met her gaze, his dark eyes glittering. But instead of handing over the child, he began to walk towards the upper bailey with the girl snugly in his arms. “I rather like porridge and honey,” he told Sophie. “May I have porridge, too?”
She nodded. “Annie says it is mush.”
“Who is Annie?”
Sophie pointed to an older woman standing behind Diamantha, wringing her hands worriedly. “My nurse.”
Cortez grinned at her, patted her leg, and continued on to the keep.
Frustrated and the least bit furious, Diamantha collected her skirts and stomped after the pair.
She caught up to them in short order, sticking close to her daughter as the enormous knight held her.
She couldn’t help but notice that Sophie didn’t seem the least bit distressed.
The little girl had been inordinately attached to her father and the man’s absence had rocked her deeply.
Diamantha hadn’t the heart to tell her daughter that her beloved father was never coming home.
At some point she knew she would have to, especially in light of her betrothal to Cortez, but she simply wasn’t ready to yet.
As Cortez and her daughter moved to the path that led through the gatehouse that protected the upper ward, Diamantha fell back slightly and eyed Cortez as the man walked ahead of her.
He was keeping up a running conversation with Sophie, smiling at the child as he spoke.
Little Sophie held on to his neck, nodding her head on occasion and even speaking once in a while.
But Cortez seemed to be doing all of the talking and he had Sophie completely enthralled.
At first, Diamantha had naturally been irritated and fearful that the big knight had physical possession of her daughter, but as they walked up the hill and into the gatehouse that led to the upper bailey, she was beginning to feel something else.
In spite of her resistance to everything Cortez represented, she couldn’t help but be softened by his manner with Sophie.
It was almost enough to ease her, but not quite.
Darker thoughts filled her head. Seeing Cortez again reminded her of their last conversation, of the discussion of Robert’s death.
Cortez had not couched his delivery of the details.
In fact, he seemed to have been rather forceful in the way he had spoken, as if to emphasize the fact that there had been no chance for Robert’s survival.
Diamantha had spent the better part of the evening weeping about that, so very shattered at the description of her husband’s mortal wounds.