‘It’s my castle until I surrender it to Sir Guian and I don’t want there to be any fighting, not for any reason. Do you understand?’

She held his gaze as a tense silence stretched out between them. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her men watching, waiting to see what would happen. She wasn’t sure what the outcome was going to be herself, but she refused to back down.

‘No fighting,’ she repeated the order, more firmly this time.

‘As you wish.’ He spoke tersely, as if he were forcing the words past clenched teeth. ‘Now lower the bridge.’

She sucked in a breath. Did he understand? She hoped so, though whatever was about to happen was already beyond her control. She might as well lower the bridge and find out what it was. She was tired of sieges and arguments, tired of everything... A wave of exhaustion rolled over her, making her legs teeter unsteadily.

‘Lady Juliana?’

Lothar’s voice prompted her and she blinked a few times, trying to wake herself back up again. She was supposed to say something, wasn’t she? Something about lowering the bridge? The words were there in her head, but the idea of putting them together seemed like too much effort all of a sudden. When was the last time that she’d slept? Not at all the previous night and only a light doze the one before that. No wonder words weren’t making sense any more. What was she supposed to say again?

‘Oh... Lower the bridge!’

‘Are you feeling unwell?’ Lothar’s face swam into view, managing to look angry, exasperated and concerned all at the same time.

She shook her head, fighting an ill-timed and incongruous desire to laugh. She definitely couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that. But at least he wasn’t looking quite so ferocious any more. If she wasn’t mistaken, he and Ulf had just shared a look of mutual confusion. That was a definite improvement in their relationship. Perhaps he thought she’d been drinking her own poppy milk medicine, she thought with amusement. The idea had certainly tempted her often enough. If she drank just a little then she could sleep through a whole night for once. Sleep and let somebody else take charge, just for a while...

‘Juliana!’

His hand gripped her arm suddenly, pulling her backwards and out of her daze as a bay-coloured destrier thundered to a halt in front of her, followed by a troop of armoured soldiers. She gave a small yelp, shocked less by the spectacle than by the intimate use of her name, not to mention the feeling of Lothar’s hand wrapped around her upper arm, close to her breast. They’d barely touched since their kiss the previous evening, all except for one unintentional moment when she’d reached past to cut his bindings, and the spontaneous thrill that raced through her body made her heart start to pound as heavily as the destrier’s hooves.

‘Lady Juliana.’ Sir Guian dismounted in front of her, his expression even more smug than she’d anticipated. ‘I see you’ve come to your senses at last.’

She stiffened, trying to maintain some sense of equilibrium as the quivering sensation in her stomach was replaced by a violent churning. She squeezed her hands into fists, digging the fingernails into her skin as she fought the urge to lash out. For a moment, she thought she felt Lothar’s grip tighten as well, as if he were experiencing the same impulse.

‘I’ve agreed to surrender on condition that no one is harmed, if that’s what you mean, Sir Guian.’

‘Very well. I’m prepared to be lenient as long as no one interferes with my business.’ The Baron threw a contemptuous look around the bailey before beckoning his soldiers forward. ‘Not that there’s much here to take.’

‘Hold!’ Lothar’s voice arrested them. ‘There won’t be any looting.’

‘What?’ Sir Guian looked as if he’d just been told to take a running leap into the moat.

‘I said there won’t be any looting. Lady Juliana and I have come to a different arrangement.’

‘What kind of arrangement?’ The Baron’s gaze flickered from her head to her feet in a way that made her feel nauseated. ‘I should have been party to any discussion.’

‘You had that opportunity four months ago.’

‘You had no right to agree anything without me!’

‘I think you’ll find that I do.’ Lother’s voice took on a dangerous edge, though the Earl seemed not to notice.

‘We’ve been waiting here for months! My men deserve a reward.’

‘For doing what exactly?’

‘For the siege!’

‘You want a reward just for waiting?’

‘It’s more than that and you know it! I’ve spent my own time and money...’

‘And the castle is won. Surely that honour is reward enough.’

‘The Empress will hear of this.’

Tags: Jenni Fletcher Historical
Source: readsnovelonline.net