Velvet Song (Montgomery/Taggert 4)

Gently, Rosamund took Alyx’s leg, lifted it, turned it this way and that, seeing no external signs of injury.

“My name is Raine Montgomery,” he said, his back to them. “I prefer my name to being referred to as . . . whatever animal you choose.”

“And should I preface it with ‘your majesty’ or will ‘your lordship’ do?” She knew she was greatly daring and had no idea what his wrath would be like, but she was still angry over the way he’d forced her to stay in his camp.

“Raine will do fine,” he said, looking back at her, smiling. “I find the rules of society are fairly useless in this place, and what may I call you?”

Alyx started to speak, but Rosamund pulled her leg in such a way that Alyx gave an involuntary squeal of pain and lifted straight off her seat. Trying to control the tears in her eyes, she clenched her teeth and said, “Alyxander Blackett.”

“What’s wrong with the lad?” Raine asked.

“He’s pulled some of the muscles and there is nothing to be done except bind it and let it heal by itself. I can offer no medicine, perhaps a poultice tonight but nothing else.”

Raine ignored Alyx’s I-told-you-so look as he held the tent flap open for Rosamund and watched her leave.

In seconds, Alyx dressed again while Raine’s back was turned, and she tried for a normal tone of voice. “She’s a beautiful woman,” she said, trying not to betray how interested she was in Raine’s answer.

“She doesn’t think she is,” he said, “and it’s been my experience with women that they must believe themselves to be beautiful before they are.”

“And no doubt you are very experienced with women.”

One of his dark eyebrows lifted as he smiled at her.

“Get up off that scrawny rear of yours and let’s get to work.”

Trying not to be hurt by his too personal comments on her body, Alyx followed him outside, his big legs eating up ground at a furious pace as she hurried along behind him. Without pausing, he grabbed a large loaf of black bread from a makeshift brick oven, tore it in half and gave a piece to Alyx, who looked at the loaf with some consternation, as the bread was more than she normally ate in a day.

Raine, eating his way through the heavy, solid bread, led her through the village of outlaws. All the shelters were shoddy things, not even hinting at permanence, and the smells emanating from them were horrible. Obviously, there were no sanitary ordinances here as there were in her pretty, walled town.

“Not much, is it?” Raine asked, watching her face. “What can you teach people who empty their chamber pots on their own front doorsteps?”

“Who are these people?” she asked, looking in disgust at the filthy, tired-looking women ambling about doing various housewifely chores while men sat and spit, now and then looking up at Raine and Alyx with insolent glares. Without realizing she was doing it, she stepped closer to Raine.

“There,” he said, pointing, “that one killed four women.” His voice held a great deal of disgust. “Stay away from him. He likes to terrorize anything smaller than he is. And that man with the patch over his eye is the Black Runner, the highwayman. He became so famous he had to retire at the peak of his career,” he added sarcastically.

“And them? The men huddled by the fire?”

Raine frowned slightly. “They are suffering from melancholia. They are farmers, displaced by the enclosure acts. They know nothing except farming and, as far as I can tell, want to learn nothing new.”

“Enclosures!” she gasped. “No wonder they hate you.”

“Me?” he asked, truly astonished. “Why should they hate me?”

?

??You have taken their farms, put fences around what was their land and put your nasty sheep in the pens,” she said smugly, letting him know that not everyone of the non-nobles was as uneducated as these louts.

“I have, have I?” he said, not smiling but a dimple giving away his amusement. “Do you always judge an entire group of people on the actions of one? Is there no villain in your little town? If this villain picked my pocket should I hang everyone in town for justice’s sake?”

“No . . . no, I guess not,” she reluctantly admitted.

“Here, eat this,” he said, handing her a hard-boiled egg and taking away what was left of her loaf and eating it himself. “You’ll never grow any bigger if you don’t eat. Now we’ll try to do something about your lack of muscle.”

With that comment, he led her through the trees toward the sounds she’d been hearing since she’d arrived. When they reached a large, cleared area, she halted, eyes wide, staring at the scene before her. Men, many men, seemed to be trying to kill either each other, their horses or themselves. Men lunged at one another with swords, at stuffed dummies with lances or performed bodily contortions wearing stones strapped to their bodies.

“What is this?” she whispered, not knowing how to react.

“If the men are to survive, they must know how to fight,” he said, his eyes on the men. “Here, you two,” he bellowed so loudly Alyx jumped. With two furious strides, he reached two men who’d dropped their swords and gone after each other with their fists. Raine grabbed the back of the rags they wore, shook them like dogs and tossed them apart. “Men of honor do not fight with their fists,” he growled. “As long as you are under my rule you will fight as if you were decent men and not the scum you are. If you break my training again, you will be punished. Now get back to work!”