“What will happen when we reach Rennoc?” Radulf repeated her question, and answered it. “I know not, Lily.”
“My lord!”
Radulf turned as Jervois pulled his mount to a rattling halt. The animal looked as if it had been ridden hard, and the young captain reined in closely beside Radulf to murmur his news. The two men spoke a moment, their expressions serious.
Lily watched them curiously.
Radulf was now gazing between his horse’s ears, frowning, deep in his own thoughts. Jervois had dropped back. When Radulf had still not spoken after several minutes, Lily ventured curiously, “Something concerns you, my lord?”
Radulf shot her an impenetrable look. “There is always a need for concern, Lily. And caution. In all things.”
A tingle ran down her spine. Was he giving her a warning? He was suddenly so distant. What had Jervois told him?
Lily twisted around to look at the other man, but his face was also closed, no more readable than Radulf’s. Lily turned in time to see Radulf’s broad back as he spurred his horse into a gallop, riding up the line to the front of the column. As if by some prearranged signal, Jervois moved to take his place.
“Has something happened?” Lily asked him, not expecting a proper answer. “You have been away.” She had noticed Jervois’s absence since yesterday but had not thought to ask where he was—Would they have told her anyway?
“My lady?” Jervois raised his blond eyebrows in surprise. “I have been…solving a puzzle, but now everything is going as planned.”
“You are not afraid of attack?”
Jervois considered her. “It would be foolish indeed to attack such a well-prepared band of men, lady.”
“Nevertheless, Lord Radulf does not relax his vigilance?”
Jervois smiled, the tension smoothing from his face until he looked suddenly very young. Almost as young as Lily herself. “No, lady, he does not relax. That is what makes him such a good soldier. He trusts nothing and no one.”
Another warning?
Lily had come to believe suspicion was part of Radulf’s nature, and not just in the execution of his duties. Radulf was not a man who gave of himself easily; he guarded his emotions as closely as he guarded her.
And yet he had made love to her as if he were starving.
But none of this altered the fact that she must escape before they reached Rennoc. The truth would be out as soon as she rode through Rennoc’s gate.
The soldiers guarding her had increased their watchfulness. For every step Lily’s mare took, there were now several soldiers right beside her. Grim-faced and eagle-eyed, they did not allow her out of their sight. How could she possibly elude so many men? Lily’s tension increased, her neck and shoulders beginning to ache. Her gray eyes were underlined with faint shadows of tiredness as she constantly searched the surrounding countryside for a way out.
They stopped again at midday, but this time when Radulf sought her out it was not to drag her off into the woods and make love to her. Instead he caught her chin in his fingers, turning her face for his perusal, a frown that might have terrified any other woman drawing down his dark brows.
“You should have told me no last night,” he murmured. “You needed your rest.”
Lily laughed shakily. “My lord, I did not wish to tell you no,” she mocked.
Radulf smiled, his thumb stroking her jaw, while between their bodies and beneath her cloak, hidden from the men, his hand slipped down to gently cup her breast. Lily drew a ragged breath, knowing she should pull away but unable to do so. He caressed her until her eyes were half closed and her lips parted and her legs trembled.
And then, when she was dazed and willing, he leaned even nearer and said, “We are close to Rennoc, lady. You are almost home.”
He was watching her, judging her reaction. Lily swallowed and managed to nod calmly, while her heartbeat quickened with fear and anger. Had he touched her only to put her off her guard? Was he really so devious, so cruel?
“We could ride hard and be there by nightfall,” Radulf went on, his voice soft in her ear, “but I fear you are weary. Trier Monastery is a short ride east of here. We will rest there tonight and you will have a proper bed, and tomorrow you can return home to your father.”
A reprieve.
Did he see the flicker of relief in her eyes?
“Thank you, my lord.”
Radulf nodded, and Lily watched him walk away, calling out for his men to remount. The monastery was her last chance. Radulf would only increase his watchfulness tomorrow on the ride to Rennoc.