Chapter Five #2
She was calm, much calmer than she had been only moments before, but Chad thought she sounded rather sorry for herself.
Not that he blamed her. “My mother and sister have gone to bring you more clothing,” he said gently, trying to comfort her because he felt as if, ultimately, he was the root of her problems. “They will return shortly but before they do, I must speak with you. The men that were chasing us – Henry’s men – are here at Canterbury.
They are in the keep. As I told you, they have come to take you on Henry’s orders but not for the reasons we believed.
I am told that Henry does not wish to take you hostage. ”
Alessandria looked at him, her eyes widening with surprise. “He doesn’t?”
“Nay.”
He thought he saw some outrage flash across her face. “Then you were wrong?” she said. “You took me from Newington for no reason at all?”
He held up a hand to soothe her rising anger. “It was still the right thing to do, my lady,” he said. “Henry does not want you as a hostage but he has another purpose for you. He wants you as a wife for one of his knights.”
Her outrage turned to confusion. “A wife for – ?” she couldn’t even finish the sentence, so great was her bewilderment. “Why would he want me as a wife for one of his knights? I am of no political value to anyone. It makes no sense.”
Chad wondered just how much to tell her, thinking to spare her fear, but he opted for all of it. It was her life and she had a right to know what was happening.
“With your cousin, Tiberius, married to the daughter of one of Henry’s greatest supporters, marrying you to another of Henry’s knights would only strengthen his ties to the House of de Shera,” he said quietly. “It is a political move, my lady. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Alessandria had to digest that. It was shocking to say the least. “But… but I am a ward of the church,” she said, baffled.
“I have spent the past six years at Newington, living a simple life. I am not a fine lady with fine skills. I know how to sew and weave and harvest vegetables and mix herbs for healing, hardly the skills the wife of a fine knight needs. Does Henry even realize this? Does he even know anything about me or does he see the name and assume I am a fine and cultured lady?”
Chad folded his big arms across his chest, leaning back against the doorjamb.
“I am sure that he sees only the name,” he said honestly.
“That name means something to him. The knights that were chasing us… one of them is the man slated to be your husband. He was coming to the priory to marry you, so he says.”
She cocked her head curiously. “You sound as if you do not believe him.”
Chad shrugged, averting his gaze. “I do not,” he said frankly. “I do not really believe that Henry wants a marriage. I believe that the knight told me that to lead me astray from Henry’s true goal with you.”
Alessandria wasn’t a fool. She was, in fact, rather astute. She could see where he was leading. “You mean as a hostage?”
Chad simply nodded. “I have been discussing your situation with my father and he believes it would be safer for you if I took you to Isenhall Castle to be with your family,” he said.
“I must agree with him. Better to take you to your cousins and let them protect you. My mission was to remove you from the priory and I have done that. Now, I must take you to Isenhall so that your family may protect you.”
Alessandria deliberated on what she’d been told.
It was unpleasant to say the least. Even if Henry didn’t want her as a hostage but rather a bartered bride, she wanted no part of a marriage contract.
She wanted no part of politics or intrigue or whatever else her cousins were involved in. It was a big and frightening world.
“When you found me at the priory, your first words to me were that the men who had killed my father were now coming for me,” she said quietly. “Do you remember the words you spoke to me?”
Chad nodded faintly. “I do.”
“Is Henry one of those men?”
Chad sighed faintly. “I do not know if he truly wants you dead,” he said.
“In fact, I do not know what he really wants of you. All I know is that men who want you for Henry’s purposes, whatever they may be, are here and I cannot give you over to them.
I will take you to Isenhall where you will be safe. ”
“And I am not safe here?”
Chad reflected on the conversation he’d had with his father about putting his mother and sister at risk should Henry decide to ride on Canterbury.
“My father believes you will be safer with your kin,” he said, avoiding telling her that she was creating danger for his entire family.
He didn’t want to hurt her for something that wasn’t really her fault.
“They are the Lords of Thunder, after all. They will make the right decisions for you and they will protect you from Henry.”
Alessandria studied him a moment. He seemed rather sedate but with an edge of frustration about him.
It was difficult to put her finger on but she got the distinct impression he was sorry that he had involved himself.
He wouldn’t look her in the eye, which seemed strange for him.
She’d never seen that side of him before.
“I did not ask for any of this,” she said, feeling defensive for reasons she did not understand. “You can just as easily return me to Newington and no one would be the wiser. I want to go home, Sir Knight, and my home is not Isenhall. I want to go back to the priory.”
Chad looked up at her, hearing the anger in her voice.
“Chad,” he finally said. “Please call me Chad. Sir Knight sounds so… formal and stiff. I would hope after experiencing the raging river together and sneaking across miles of forest and swamp to reach Canterbury that you and I would have formed a bond, like brothers in sorrow and all that.”
Her defensiveness eased somewhat. Plus, he had the hint of a smile on his lips, which told her he was jesting with her a bit, trying to lighten the mood. She gave in to his attempt, smiling weakly.
“I have never called a man by his Christian name before,” she admitted. “I have not known enough men to become comfortable enough to do that.”
“I would hope you are comfortable with me.”
She shrugged. “Obviously, I am somewhat, if I am standing here with only a drying towel to protect my modesty.
She watched him grin to that statement. She rather liked his smile and as she watched the curve of his lips, she felt some curiosity about him.
So they were brothers in sorrow, were they?
Odd that he should say that. Although she had friends at the priory, she’d never truly been through the tribulations with them that she’d experienced with Chad.
He was right – it had bonded them somehow.
They were now linked in a way she’d never before experienced.
It made her want to know a little something more about the handsome knight with the long blond hair.
“Chad is an unusual name,” she finally said. “I have never heard that name before. What is your birth name?”
His smile broke through. “Chadwick,” he said. “It is a very old name meaning the warrior’s city.”
“Oh.”
“Alessandria is an unusual name, too.”
“I know. The Mother Prioress didn’t like it and only called me Aless. She said that was a proper, humble name.”
“I like it very much. May I call you Aless, too?”
She flushed; he could see it. “If you wish.”
The mood between them had eased, growing more comfortable now.
They were speaking of something other than Henry and marriages and hostages, now coming to know one another on a more personal level.
Chad thought he might have even felt a spark of something between them, of warmth perhaps, but he quickly chased that thought away.
She wasn’t meant for marriage. That was very clear.
Unlike his brothers, who had no interest in marrying, Chad had some interest in it. But finding a suitable candidate had been something of a challenge. In looking at Alessandria, it crossed his mind that had the circumstances been different, she might have been a worthy candidate, indeed.
But that was impossible and he had a mission to complete.
The woman needed to be cleaned up, fed, and properly dressed so that they could flee Canterbury as soon as possible.
The longer they lingered, the more chance there would be of being unable to escape de Serreaux and his men unseen.
That was his priority and he forced himself away from the feelings of attraction and back to the situation at hand.
“My mother and sister will return shortly and I am sure my mother can help you with the red color that leeched onto your skin from the dress,” he said, indicating her skin.
“I wish you had all of the time in the world to bathe and be comfortable, but unfortunately, we do not have the time. You must bathe and dress as quickly as you can. We must leave for Isenhall while Henry’s men are eating and resting. It will buy us time.”
Alessandria looked down at her red hands, embarrassed that she was such a mess. “I grabbed the garment in haste,” she said. “I was afraid… I am so ashamed that I acted in such haste. I hope your mother is not too harsh with me.”
Chad eyed her. “She will not be harsh at all,” he said. “It was an accident. You had men in this room while you were in a rather compromised position. Anyone will understand that.”
Alessandria continued to look at her red-stained hands, her gaze inevitably trailing to the bathwater, now lukewarm, that was a faint shade of red. She sighed.
“I feel as if I have made a mess out of everything,” she said. “I burned the blanket then ruined the garment. It would be well within your mother’s right to beat me.”