He broke away from her. “You are an icy bitch,” he growled, then crushed her closer to him. She gasped as the air was forced from her lungs. He took advantage of her open mouth and seized it again, thrusting his tongue inside until Judith gagged. His embrace hurt her; his mouth disgusted her.
Arthur pulled away from her again, loosening his hold, but he didn’t release her. His eyes showed anger at first, then changed to mockery. “No, you are not cold. No woman with such hair and eyes could be. But who is it that melts that ice? Is it Walter with his hand-kissing, or perhaps it is that husband of yours?”
“No!” Judith said then closed her lips.
Arthur smiled. “For all Walter thinks otherwise, you are a poor actress.” Arthur’s face turned hard. “Walter is a stupid man, but I’m not. He thinks you came to this place out of love for him, but I don’t believe it. If I were a woman, I would hope to use my beauty to free those I loved. Is it your plan to bargain yourself in exchange for your mother’s and husband’s release?”
“Let me go!” Judith demanded, twisting in his arms.
He held her more firmly. “You cannot escape me. Don’t even try.”
“What of Walter?” she challenged.
He laughed. “You play the game well, but beware that you play with fire and will get burned. Do you think I fear a bit of slime like Demari? I can handle him. Who do you think thought of this idea of annulment?”
Judith stopped struggling.
“Ah! So I have your attention. Listen to me. Walter will have you first, but you will be mine later. When he has grown tired of you and begins to take other women, you will be mine.”
“I would sooner bed a viper,” she hissed as his hand bit into her arm.
“Even to save that mother of yours?” he said in a deadly voice. “You have done a lot for her already. What more would you do?”
“You shall never know!”
He pulled her against him again. “Won’t I? You think yourself a lady of some power while you hold that fool Demari in your hands, but I will show you who has the power here.”
“What…what do you mean?”
He smiled. “You will know soon enough.”
She tried to recover from the awful feeling his words gave her. “What are you going to do? You wouldn’t hurt my mother?”
“No, I’m not so unsubtle as that. Only a bit of fun. It will do me good to see you squirm. When you have had enough, come to my bed some night and we will talk.”
“Never!”
“Don’t be so hasty.” Suddenly Arthur released her. “I must go. You have my words to think about.”
When she was alone, Judith stood very still, breathing deeply to calm herself. She turned toward her room, but was startled to see a man standing quietly in the shadows. He leaned lazily against the opposite wall of the hall. A lute was slung across his broad shoulders, and he idly used a knife to trim his nails. Judith did not know what made her look at him, except that he could have heard some of Arthur’s threats. Yet her eyes were drawn to him though he did not raise his head to look at her. As she stared at him, he lifted his face to look at her. His dark blue eyes looked at her with such hate that she gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she bit the back of it.
She turned and ran down the hall to her room where she threw herself onto her bed. The tears came slowly, fighting their way up from the pit of her stomach before they found release.
“My lady,” Joan whispered as she stroked Judith’s hair. They h
ad grown closer in the last few days as the difference in their stations was lessened. “Has he hurt you?”
“No, I have hurt myself. Gavin said I should have stayed home with my sewing. I’m afraid he was right.”
“Sewing,” the maid questioned, smiling. “You would have snarled the threads worse than you snarl things here.”
Judith looked up, aghast. Then, through her tears, she said, “You are good for me. I felt sorry for myself for a moment. You took Gavin food last night?”
“Yes.”
“And how did he look?”
Joan frowned. “Weaker.”