Chapter Ten
Joanie threw open the door, then slammed it shut behind her. Leaning against the slatted wood, she let her head fall back as she fought to catch her breath.
“Is he coming?” Diana blurted from where she sat in bed, her knuckles white from squeezing the fold of her blanket.
“No,” Joanie said, breathless. “At least I don’t think so.” And then she realized Diana couldn’t have known about the man with black eyes. She, of course, had meant the master. “I don’t know when Geoffrey will come.”
Diana released her death grip and smoothed the blanket over her lap. “You looked like you were running away from someone just now.”
“I was,” Joanie said, still trying to slow her racing heart. “But not from the master. There was another man.”
Diana sat straighter. “What man? Did he hurt you? Are you alright?”
Joanie put out a calming hand. “I’m fine. He ... he frightened me, but he didn’t hurt me.”
“Who?”
Joanie shook her head. “I don’t know his name. He was tall with very long black hair, and his eyes...” her voice trailed off as a shiver shot up her spine. “They were like the night sky before it snows — cold, empty, and teeming with power just beneath the surface.”
“Ahh,” Diana said, nodding knowingly. “Randolph Tweed.”
Joanie hurried to Diana’s bedside and sat down. “You know him?”
Diana shook her head. “I’ve never spoken a word to him, but I’ve seen him in the hall on occasion.
He keeps to himself, barely speaking to anyone, his eyes as cold and unfeeling as the dead.
I’m told he is favored by the keeper, but all the maids in the castle are afraid of him.
One of the girls told me that he keeps to his room most of the day and only comes out at night.
She says he wanders the streets. They believe he is a dark angel or even the devil himself — beautiful to look upon but wicked to his core. ”
Joanie’s hand flew to her throat. “He bade me go away with him.”
Diana’s eyes widened. “He didn’t?”
Joanie nodded. “He did.”
Diana clasped her hand to her chest. “Keep away from him, Joanie. He has the evil eye. He’ll put a curse on you or worse.”
“I hope to never lay eyes upon his dark soul again,” Joanie said. “I can’t imagine why he approached me in the first place.”
Diana laughed softly and cupped Joanie’s cheek. “Whereas I am not surprised in the least. How could he resist you?” Then she sighed. “I wish I could have been there to hear you sing.”
Joanie blushed and looked down at her hands at rest on blue silk. Suddenly, she drew a sharp breath. “Your tunic!” She jumped to her feet, and with trembling hands, she furtively pulled the borrowed garments over her head, which she then hung carefully in Diana’s wardrobe.
She scanned the floor. “Where’s my tunic,” she cried to Diana, her heart once more pounding.
“Check behind the screen,” Diana urged. “That is where you changed.”
“Of course,” Joanie said, circling around the screen where she picked up her soiled tunic and kirtle off the floor near the tub and pulled them on. Quickly plaiting her hair, she then crossed the room to the basin and washed the rouge from her cheeks and the charcoal from her eyes.
“Did I get it all?” she asked, returning to Diana’s bedside.
“Yes, but it makes no difference. You are still beautiful. How did Geoffrey react when he saw you?”
“I am confident he did not know it was me.”
Diana’s eyes widened. “But that’s wonderful. Then he never has to know.” She pointed toward the hearth. “Dust ash on your face. Put oil in your hair.”
Joanie shook her head. “No, Diana. I did this to protect you. Anyway, mayhap we worry for naught. Simon had hoped my performance would be celebrated, and I believe it was. The master’s fury may not be as fierce as we think.” She sat down and put her arms around Diana’s shoulders.
“Do you really believe that?” Diana asked softly.
Joanie shrugged. “If I am wrong, I will still withstand the brunt of his anger.”
“You cannot keep protecting me, Joanie.”
“You cannot stop me.”
Diana smiled weakly. “There is little I can stop now.” A mirthless chuckle escaped her lips, soon becoming a painful cough.
Joanie supported Diana’s head. When her body eased, Joanie started to help Diana lay back down, but then she froze.
They locked eyes. A parade of thunderous footsteps echoed down the hallway.
“The master is coming,” Joanie cried.
A moment later the door flew open, and Geoffrey’s massive body filled the frame. He stormed into the room, followed by his guards and Simon. He narrowed his eyes on Diana and crossed to her bedside. “Where were you?” he growled.
Joanie scurried across the bed to the opposite side, putting herself between the large, furious man and her pallid mistress. Her heart pounded like a drum in her head. Still, she met Geoffrey’s gaze, lifting her chin defiantly.
“She was not well,” Joanie said simply.
Geoffrey stopped in his tracks. His eyes narrowed on Joanie. And then they flashed wide, and his nostrils flared. “You!”
Before Joanie could respond, he pulled back his hand and struck the side of her head, driving her back onto the bed.
Her vision blurred, and she grappled for Diana when she heard her scream.
Gripping her head between her hands, her vision cleared in time to see Diana’s fragile body careen across the room.
“No,” Joanie shouted, ignoring her throbbing head. She would be damned before he laid another finger on Diana. Damned or dead. Crawling off the bed, she put herself once again between Geoffrey and Diana.
“You will not hurt her, not now, not anymore,” Joanie shouted.
She closed her eyes as Geoffrey’s hand pulled back again, but the pain never came.
She opened her eyes and found Simon holding Geoffrey’s wrist from behind.
“Why do you do this?” Simon gasped.
Joanie’s eyes widened. She had never heard Simon question the master before. He had always stood by when Geoffrey saw fit to punish them.
“Joanie dazzled them. She...she was celebrated. They adored her,” Simon said.
“She defied me,” Geoffrey thundered. “They both did.”
He pushed past Joanie, toward Diana.”
“No, Geoffrey. You mustn’t,” Simon implored.
Geoffrey’s hand lashed out in a blur. A breath later, he had Simon’s face pinched between his merciless fingers. “Stay out of this, Simon, as you’ve always done, or you will regret it.”
Simon was the stronger man. Joanie held her breath, waiting, hoping for him to fight back, but his arms remained stiff at his sides. Still, he did not surrender. “You will kill her,” he managed to say. Geoffrey looked Simon in the eye for several moments. Then he dropped his hand.
Simon rubbed his cheeks. “She is sick, gravely so.”
Geoffrey turned, but he did not cross to where Diana lay sprawled out on the floor.
Instead, he closed the distance between him and Joanie.
She kept her head down, her heart racing.
Then he crooked his thumb and gently lifted her chin.
His soft gaze churned her stomach. She hated the admiration she saw in his eyes more than his fists.
He turned her head from side to side, studying her.
Then his eyes roamed over her figure before a slight smile curved his lips.
“My own hidden jewel. You will sing again tomorrow night, but this time — you sing for me.” He dropped his hand to his side as he shifted his gaze to Diana.
“You have two days to recover or else you are finished, and Joanie will take your place.” Then he turned on his heel and left the room, his guard, including Simon, falling in line behind him.