Seduced (22 page)

"By what name is he called?"

"Aubrey. After my father." She edged forward,
looking ready to spring at him if need be.

"'Tis a fitting name. He will be proud of
it."

He snapped his legs straight and studied her.
Little did she resemble the elegant Lady Letia who visited Raptor
and Hunter Castles. Nor did she resemble the heedless spitfire who
dared send arrows streaking from the battlements. Nay, her hair
straggled wet and dripping over her ears, soaking her robe. Her
eyes were not fierce but filled with fear as she tried to slip
between him and the cradle.

Good. She would do anything to protect her
young. He might have need to use that weakness. He nodded and gave
a curt reminder.

"Dinna forget. To the count of sixty."

Freki padded over to stand beside her. His
lips started to quiver into a snarl.

"Ssst!" Raik pointed a demanding finger at
Freki's nose.

The big, black jaws clamped together.
Satisfied, Raik nodded again and left the room. The men
followed.

Letia did not miss how Raik nodded at the
dog—and at her. Why, the man thought he controlled them both. She
huffed in disgust then shivered in turn.

Such fear had coursed through her when he
stared at Aubrey's face. And hair. Had he sensed 'twas his son? She
gathered her sleeping babe to her breast and held him tight.

"Come, lady." Maud grabbed the cradle and
hustled toward the bedchamber. "Best we get on the other side of
that door afore he returns. Humpf. He would likely strip naked in
front of us and think naught about it."

"He would think, all right. But it would be
that we relished the sight of him."

"Well, now. I would not close my eyes, mind
you. 'Tis not oft I have the pleasure to see a proud tarse."

Letia did not care to chance such an event.
"Saints, Maud. How could you think that?"

"I am not in my grave, Letia." She grinned.
"Uh huh, even at rest, that one's sex stirred fond memories of my
youth."

Letia shook her head and tucked Aubrey in his
warm bed, then sat on a low stool to towel-dry her hair. Maud
combed out the tangles and brushed it to fall in dark curly waves
down her back.

Neither spoke. Both were aware of the men in
the connecting room. Each time Raik spoke, Freki made low, warning
noises. Hearing his squire removing his armor, and knowing his
clothing soon followed, Letia blushed. What she had seen of him
when she sewed his wounds, and what she had felt of him in the
dark, flashed in her mind.

Strange, though, that it was his unseen back
she pictured. His broad shoulders would taper to lean, taut
buttocks and muscled legs sprinkled with dark, manly hair. When she
heard a splash as one foot entered the tub, she knew he straddled
it. Her face heated. She pictured the heavy ballocks she had
caressed swinging between his thighs,

'Twas a good thing Maud was combing her hair,
for if she saw Letia's face, she would believe her beset by
fevers.

"...no need. This cloth will do well enough."
Raik's voice.

He had declined to wait for a servant to
bring a fresh bathing cloth? The same cloth that she had intimately
rubbed over her body was now doing the same on his. Letia
swallowed.

The men's voices blended, but bits of
sentences were clear.

"...dislike the haste." Raik's voice
again.

"...a battle on yer hands, if ye...afore the
evening meal..." A chuckle sounded in the man's voice. Surely, that
was the pleasant one called Cormac who escorted her to the
room.

Bits of laughter followed like men do when
they tease another's temper. A loud splash, as if Raik had surged
up from the tub, caused Freki to snarl and bark. It reminded the
men the women could hear them, for they lowered their voices.

She shrugged and studied the clothing spread
out on the bed. A froth of pale yellow turned out to be a
long-sleeved, sheer smock beside a deep green kirtle with wide,
flowing sleeves, their openings higher in front than in back. Thin
gold braids lacing through the bodice held the kirtle near
closed.

"Not that one, Maud. The tan smock and brown
kirtle will do..." she started to object.

"Tsk!" Maud shook her head. "Nay. Did you not
see the king's men with Lord Raik? They will note even the least
resistance to his orders. As it is, the king will not be pleased
when he learns you emptied a quiver of arrows at the man he made
Baron of Seton. Best not provoke him further. "

Letia's teeth clenched and her body tensed as
hard as stone. Were she a man, she would find relief on the
practice field. Swinging a spiked flail at the end of a chain
attached to a wooden shaft released frustration, while the clang
and thuds of it striking a shield proved satisfying.

Maud shook her head and made soft, soothing
sounds with her tongue.

"You fret aforehand, lovey. Wait till you
learn his plans and what he expects of you."

Letia held up her arms for Maud to slip the
yellow smock over them. 'Twas so sheer it leant a golden haze to
the room as it slid over her head.

"He finds me unsuitable as a woman," she
muttered.

She twitched her shoulders and arms, helping
the long sleeves to reach her wrists and the skirts to sliver down
over her body. Its softness whispering over her flesh awakening a
sensual pleasure.

"Aye. Perchance he does. But his eyes seem
drawn to linger. He searches for the woman beneath the armor."

Letia wrinkled her nose and shook her
head.

"Mayhap he convinced the king he could
protect Seton for him as its baron in name only?" Her words,
muffled by the heavier green kirtle falling over her head, were
hopeful.

Maud plucked at the yellow smock beneath,
arranging it at the opening between Letia's breasts and the
sleeves.

"This new baron does not strike me as being
content with half measures!"

She started lacing the gold braid across
Letia's chest.

Letia's brows arched when she looked down.
When she had worn it last, there was but three-finger's width
between the two sides. Now there was a handbreadth opening
revealing gleaming flesh beneath the filmy yellow. She tugged at
the braid trying to narrow the gap showing there.

"Leave off. Your body is fuller now." Maud
batted Letia's hands away and finished lacing the bodice.

The closer she came to being ready to go
below, the faster her heart pounded. What did Raik expect of her
today? His curt orders for her to dress to appear before her people
did not tell her of his plans. What if he meant to make an example
of her for her defiance? After she had denied him entrance to the
castle, he had the right. She could imagine feeling him gripping
her elbow with his mailed fist, could hear his cold voice
denouncing her as a traitor.

How could she have been so heedless of
consequences? Had he not been skillful at deflecting her arrows,
she could have injured him.

Killed him.

Had she done so, she would be in the dungeon
now and her dear little babe would be at another's breasts. What
would have happened to him? She pressed her hand over her lip to
stifle a cry.

Maud, about to wrap an elegant gold chain
around Letia's hips, stepped back to study her face.

"Are you ill?"

"Nay."

"For truth? If you have need to spew, best to
get it over with. No? Then stop gurgling and hold still."

She brought the heavy chain around Letia's
waist and tied it so it draped low on her hips, its shimmering ends
dangling just short of her soft leather shoes peeking beneath her
skirts.

Letia's fear had drawn all her attention and
she had failed to note the solar was now quiet. She gave a startled
gasp hearing a sharp rap at the door.

"My Lady?"

Leofwan's voice. She sighed with relief and
motioned for Maud to open for him. When he entered, his stern gaze
and tense shoulders told her he was still vexed that she had
allowed her anger to override her promise to Warin.

"Lord Raik asked we escort you and Seton's
heir."

"Aubrey sleeps..."

Letia got no further when Cormac cleared his
voice and stepped from behind Leofwan.

"The baron thought mayhap ye would still be,
um, angered. If ye do not wish yer woman to carry the lad, I would
be honored." He walked with slow, deliberate steps over to the
cradle, giving her the chance to obey Raik's command.

"Nay." Letia reached the cradle afore Cormac.
"You will wake him." She eased the babe up to lay in her arms,
thankful she had swaddled him in his warm blankets.

She felt like a prisoner being led to a
sentencing, for as they left the room, she found four guards
waiting to escort them. Two went ahead, followed by Leofwan. Cormac
supported her elbow as they descended the stairs, with Maud and the
last two men trailing behind. When they reached the bottom, she
nodded her thanks for his steadying support. Strangely, the great
hall was not their destination.

Cormac sensed her question and smiled down at
her.

"Seton's people have gathered in the bailey
and are awaiting you."

Letia's held breath expelled in a slow
stream. The last time she had stood in front of the keep's doors
with the people below, 'twas to tell them their baron had passed.
Her scalp crept now, wondering what Raik would require her to
say.

When she came out into the open, she would
have thought a celebration about to take place, for not only was
Sybilla, her niece and Warin's sister-by-law there, but everyone
living in the keep awaited them on the landing. On each step
leading up to the entrance, a king's escort stood on either side.
Their vivid clothing reminded her of the way Sybilla chose to
outline her gardens with the most brilliant flowers planted on the
outer edges. Below in the bailey, warriors mingled with castle
folk. Even the Black Raptor's men outside the walls had come
within.

One man, taller than the others, stood on the
landing, his back to her.

Raik.

Remembering the wicked vision of his naked
back near made her stumble over her feet.

He turned, garbed in a shirt that rivaled the
sun. Over it, a brilliant, red sleeveless tunic flowed to the top
of his black boots. A large gold pin held an elaborate red cape
lined with yellow silk around his neck. He flung the right side
over his shoulder in an impatient gesture as he turned. A gryphon
embroidered with gold threads dressed the tunic's front. Light
flashed on the lustrous red stone of the bird's eye, making it
appear to blink its disapproval of her.

After seeing his splendor, she silently
thanked Maud for insisting she not wear her mousy brown
clothing.

"Lady?" Raik's face was taut, his jaw and
lips stern. Cold blue eyes studied her.

He must have approved what he saw, for he
nodded ever so slightly then stepped forward to replace Cormac's
hand on her right elbow with his own. Aubrey squirmed and made a
slight sound, drawing Raik's gaze. When the babe burped and tiny
bubbles formed on his pursed lips, his eyes warmed.

Raik turned back to face the crowd.

"As ye know, by the Treaty of Durham, Seton
Castle sits betwixt two kings. A Norman Castle in a land now under
King David of Scotland's domain.

"During my
visits
at Seton, ye knew
me as Raik of Raptor Castle. But today, I return as yer new baron
by decree of both King David and King Stephen"

People turned to each other in surprise. Raik
raised his voice and they soon quieted.

"Seasoned warriors ken the widow de Burgh
canna hold the castle alone and keep it secure...."

Letia tensed and jerked her arm, attempting
to pull away. He shifted his hand from her elbow to the soft flesh
above it, anchoring her firmly.

"King Stephen attempts to stave off one enemy
of Seton. He has ordered Sir Julian of Chatton and his men to
reinforce Roger de Newburgh at Warwick Castle. But when Sir Julian
learns Baron de Burgh no longer holds Seton, he will attempt to
seize control here."

Worry hummed through the crowd. As he waited
for them to adjust to his news, he stared down at the Lady. If he
tilted his head toward her angry, flushed face, no doubt he'd hear
her teeth gnashing together. He willed her to look at him. She
would not. Had he usurped a man's control at Seton, he would expect
such heated resistance. But Letia was a woman. 'Twas time she
learned to act as one.

Raik held up his hand and nodded. The crowd
quieted.

"No doubt ye wonder what is to become of the
baron's son, young Aubrey." He looked down at the babe, then back
at them. "The kings have appointed me ward over de Burgh's heir, to
protect and teach him the ways of a warrior and man. And as a
future baron. Earlier today, I caused the king's scribes to put in
writing a declaration that Aubrey de Burgh is to be my heir. Sirs
Leofwan, Edmund and Cormac and Father Paul have signed as
witnesses."

Letia gasped. Had she thought him so greedy
he would usurp the child of his inheritance?

"In the past, Baron de Burgh and his lady
have been kind to all within reach."

The faces looking up at him seemed to be
dreading his next words. From the corner of his eye, he noted
Sybilla's frightened face as she grasped her daughter close.

If Letia stiffened any more than she was at
this moment, she would turn to stone. For her to think he would be
as cruel as Julian was like aiming spittle at his face. He took
several deep breaths, willing the anger to leave him.

"Life at Seton will go on. I will protect and
feed ye, will see that everyone is sheltered." He gazed sternly
around the bailey, needing them to understand their continued life
here must be earned. "But for this, ye must pay a price."

Cries of dismay rang out.

"We have no coin! How can we pay?"