The Lily and the Sword (Medieval 1)

“Wait.” Radulf came up behind her, his big hot body pressing close. “Do you mean he is claiming I killed her with my own hand?”

Jervois nodded. “That is what he means, sir, though he has not said it so plainly as that. He blames you. He says that you and his wife were once…lovers.” Color stole into Jervois’s cheeks. “Lord Kenton claimed that Lord Radulf had been begging the Lady Anna to be his lover again. She was considering it. She told Kenton that she was going to meet you tonight, my lord, and give you her answer.”

Lily tried to think. “She said such things to him, her husband? Did he not stop her? Why did he allow her to go?”

Radulf gave a brief bitter laugh. “You did not know her, lady. She had Kenton twisted about her finger. Maybe he killed her himself—she might have twisted him too tightly.”

Lily turned her head to look at him, causing the blanket to slip again. Was Lord Kenton capable of murder? Anna’s face came to her then, the rigidity of her expression as she rode past Lily in the rain. She had been riding to her death and didn’t know it. Earlier Lily had celebrated the fact that Radulf did not love Anna; now she felt a sting of guilt. No woman deserved to die alone, in the rain and the dark. But it was the living with whom Lily must now concern herself.

“Why does the king send this message to you, Radulf? Does he, too, believe you guilty of this crime? I had thought he was your friend.”

Radulf looked down, meeting her eyes. His own were without expression, but Lily remembered the shock that had filled them a moment before.

“William is my friend,” he said. “He has sent to warn me, for whatever outcome William might wish for, he knows there will be questions asked. Lord Kenton is a powerful man with many friends. The king cannot afford to dismiss his accusations without hearing them properly and fairly.”

“I see.” And she did see. A powerful man with a wanton wife, one upon whom he doted. Just as Radulf’s father had doted upon that same woman. Would Lord Kenton accuse Radulf through jealousy, because in his grief he was determined someone must pay? Maybe he truly did believe Radulf had murdered his wife. Or had he killed her himself and was simply seeking a scapegoat?

Lily shifted uncomfortably, and the blanket slipped still further, catching on the very tip of her breast. Jervois stared over her head, pretending he hadn’t noticed, while Radulf reached up to catch the cloth, tucking it more securely about her shoulders in a proprietary gesture.

“It is late,” he said. “Tomorrow will come soon enough. Send a message back to the king saying that I thank him, Jervois, and will present myself before him tomorrow.”

Jervois nodded and slipped back into the shadows, treading carefully between the bulky shapes of sleeping men. Radulf closed the door and, taking Lily’s hand in his, led her back to bed.

Morning dawned bright, the smells of fresh br

ead and pies wafting through the inn. Radulf woke when Lily rose to wash her face. He stretched and then groaned when he moved his bruised and swollen shoulder, but the fever had abated, and he looked remarkably well compared to the evening before.

“You are up with the birds, lady,” he murmured.

She turned to him, trying to hide her fears behind a smile, but he saw past the mask. His face grew still, watchful, and he sat up, wincing as the movement jarred his shoulder again.

“What is it? Tell me.” Then, as she tried to find the words, “You have thought on what I told you last night and have decided you cannot live with such a man.”

Lily stared at him in amazement. Could Radulf really believe himself so unworthy? Her heart ached for him as she shook her head. “No, Radulf, I have not decided any such thing, and I wonder at you for thinking so. I was thinking of the king’s messenger and wondering what will happen today.”

A gleam dispersed the dullness in his eyes.

“And I was wondering whether you mourn Lady Anna, despite what occurred between you.”

Radulf raised a dark brow. “Mourn her?”

“You had only just begun to make your peace with the past.”

“Aye, that is true.” He thought a moment. “Although I felt only disgust for her and her manipulating ways, she should not have died like that. If Kenton killed her then he should pay.”

“And if not?”

“Then the murderer will pay. William is a just man—England will be a law-abiding land under his rule.”

“It was a law-abiding land before William invaded it,” Lily retorted. As Radulf went to rise, she pressed her hand to his chest. “No.”

He stopped, giving her a quizzical look. They both knew his obedience was an illusion. If he had wanted to rise he could easily have done so.

“I will bind your shoulder again before you go.”

He nodded. “Not too bulky, in case I have to fight.”

“Radulf, you cannot think you will be forced to defend yourself with a sword!”