The Lily and the Sword (Medieval 1)

“No!” he roared, and then, controlling himself, “no. You will return that gown tonight. You should never have worn it.”

Lily frowned up at his rigid profile, her heart thumping with fright and confusion. “I had nothing else to wear,” she said, lowering her voice. “You did not think to supply me with a gown.”

Radulf turned and glared at her. “You did not ask!”

“I did not know I could!”

He halted, and Lily gave a sigh of relief. The expression on his face was more familiar now, though still pale. He was cross and he was frowning. “You can make any reasonable request, lady. I am your husband and bound to consider it.”

Lily laughed angrily. “Vorgen never did! Why should you be different? You have told me you are marrying me to punish me, and now you say I have only to ask for a thing and you will grant my wish. Forgive me if I find it difficult to reconcile those two statements, my lord.”

“Nevertheless, it is true,” he replied in a voice more like a snarl.

“Radulf.”

They both looked up, startled by the interruption. A slight man in a fur-trimmed tunic stood before them, a quizzical smile upon his thin lips. His hands were encrusted with rings, a sign of considerable wealth.

“You look pale for a bridegroom, Radulf,” he went on. “And this is your wife? Lady, you are fair indeed. I can see why Radulf is keen to tame you to our Norman ways.”

Lily flushed, sensing the subtle barb behind his polite words. “I am already well acquainted with Norman ways, sir!” she retorted sharply.

He laughed. “You are more robust than you look, lady. You will need to be so if you are married to Radulf. I know of these things. I am Lord Kenton.”

Lily flicked a surprised glance at Radulf, who was stony-faced and seemingly unmoved. “I am glad to meet you,” she ventured. “I have met your wife.”

Kenton’s pale eyes were curious and strangely sympathetic, as if he felt a kinship with her. The light brown hair, though creeping back from his high forehead, was yet luxuriant about his ears. He was older than Radulf and very different. Lily felt oddly repelled.

“Do you stay in York long?” Radulf’s soft voice broke in on her thoughts. He had mastered whatever emotions had overtaken him when he came face to face with Lady Anna, but Lily caught a glitter of banked fires in those eyes.

Lord Kenton smiled and shrugged. “I leave that to my wife. She was very insistent we come to York, and now she wants to remain a little longer. There are people she particularly wants to see.”

Radulf grunted a noncommittal reply.

To Lily’s mind Lady Anna and her husband seemed a mismatched couple, the lady so tall and beautiful, the man so slight and strange. Perhaps the amount of precious stones upon his hands explained their wedding.

Lord Kenton seemed to read her thoughts upon her face, and a smug little smile pulled at his mouth. “Lady Anna is very beautiful, is she not, lady? Such a woman needs a man who can display her in the correct setting.”

Radulf grimaced. “You speak in riddles as usual, Kenton.”

“Not at all, Radulf. It is just that you are a plainspoken man. So I will speak plainly to you. My wife is my property and I will never release her.”

Lily felt a jolt down her spine, but Radulf appeared unmoved. He settled himself more easily upon his strong legs, folding his arms across his broad chest.

“Aye, that is direct. This shuffling about an issue tires me far more than a good battle. I like to see a man’s eyes over a sharp blade; then I can tell what truly lies in his heart.”

“I have great respect for other men’s property, Kenton. As you can see, I am only lately married myself.”

Lord Kenton gave Lily his little smile. “And she is beautiful…in her way. Have you used your sorcery on her yet? Once he does, lady, you will never be free of him. I am one who knows. Radulf has had a way with women since he was a boy. That is so, is it not, my lord?”

The undercurrents between the two men rippled and swirled, and Lily wondered where this odd conversation would end.

“Someone has led you astray on this matter,” Radulf said at last, his face thoughtful, his words almost tentative. “It is not for me to advise you in these things, Kenton, but do not believe all that you hear. I have been down that road before—”

“No.” He did not raise his voice, and yet that single word had enough strength in it to stop Radulf in midsentence. “I will hear no more on this. You should take your wife and go home to your marriage bed.”

Radulf bowed his head in farewell. “I intend to do so.”

As Lily moved to pass him, Kenton leaned forward, his breath hot in her ear. “Do not love him, lady, whatever you do.” Then, when Lily jerked back, “Lady, it has been a pleasure to meet one so fair. Lord Radulf is indeed a lucky man to have acquired you with your northern lands. It seems that brutality has its place.”