The Commander's Desire (27 page)

Elwytha wondered what that meant. Nothing
good, most likely. Mayhap the healer sensed trouble coming her way?
In truth, Elwytha saw it all too clearly herself, coming in the
form of Richard for her wedding, day after tomorrow. Would the
Prince allow Richard in the castle after this attack on the
Commander? Not to mention the attack upon her, although she doubted
this would trouble the Prince’s mind.

Elwytha rode at an easy gait beside her
betrothed through the woods. He asked, “Your head is well?”

“
It’s fine.” She’d drunk a
small sip of the healer’s potion that morning, and already the dull
pain she’d awoken with had diminished. Today the sun shone, and the
earth was wet from the melted snow. Small patches of white still
clumped in the shadows of rocks.

They rode in silence for a while longer, then
broke into sunshine and grassy hills. Sir Duke increased his gait.
Doubtless the warm sun on his ears brightened his spirits, as it
did Elwytha’s.

The Commander directed the black stallion
closer to Sir Duke, and Elwytha guessed he wished to speak to her.
She sent him an inquiring glance.

“
Tell me, Elwytha,” his deep
voice rumbled. “Does Richard truly desire peace?”

Alarm skittered through her, but it was a
reasonable question after the attack yesterday. What could she say?
“Richard hates you,” she admitted.

“
And you, too?”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“
Richard’s men attacked us
both yesterday, Elwytha.”

She looked away uncomfortably. “I know. I
don’t understand it.”

“
Does he see you as a threat
to his crown?”

Elwytha felt indignant. “I wouldn’t steal it
from him.”

The Commander pressed deeper. “Does Richard
understand your honor enough to trust you?”

“
We’re the only ones left of
our family—except cousins. He loves me! He would never hurt me.”
Elwytha could not accept this horrible possibility—that Richard
would betray and kill her, just to secure his throne from her
potential threat. Richard would never think she’d kill him to gain
power, either. It was preposterous. “I would
never
hurt him,” she exclaimed. “He
knows this well.”

“
Filial love beats strong in
Richard?”

“
He is loyal to family,” she
insisted. “It is true, he can be self-absorbed. And deceitful.” She
bit her lip, afraid she had said too much. Richard was her brother.
He’d never betray her, and she would never betray him, either.
Honor to clan was the highest code she could uphold. “As I said,”
she reiterated evenly, “Richard hates you for killing Thor. Likely
he wished to ambush you to mete out justice. His men likely saw me
as a threat since I carried a sword, so attacked me as
well.”

More silence stretched as they rode. He
asked, “Will you uphold the peace, Elwytha?”

Her lips parted, insulted. “I did not slay
you with the sword,” she said with asperity. “What further proof do
you require?”

“
You fought well. But mayhap
you intended only to defend your life?” The steel gaze pierced into
her, as if trying to read the truth in her heart.

Elwytha felt ridiculously hurt and ever more
offended by his questions. “I told you I would fight with you. I
kept my word. Does that count for nothing, Commander? Verily, you
tossed me your sword. Do you then trust me so little?”

“
I wish to trust you,
Elwytha. But your brother’s peace feels like no peace at
all.”

As it was not. What a tangled web! And she
felt like the trussed insect, right in the center. What words
wouldn’t betray Richard, but would tell no lies to the Commander?
Truly, she wished to protect him from her brother. If the Prince
allowed Richard in the castle for their nuptials, she would need to
form a plan to protect the Commander. How, she knew not. If only
she could convince Richard to agree to peace. How simply this whole
mess would straighten out then.

“
Elwytha?” His deep voice
recalled her attention. “Is it peace?” A demand lurked…velvet
cloaked…for an answer.

She gathered her thoughts. “I wish for peace,
Commander. And if Richard has doubts, then I will attempt to
convince him that peace would be best for everyone.”

“
He respects your opinion so
highly?”

“
Yes, Richard respects me,”
she agreed. “I can best him with the sword. He will consider my
words.” But for how long, was the question. Once Richard set his
mind upon a plan, he was difficult to reason with.

“
And yet he feels no threat
from you.” Elwytha heard the faint disbelief in her betrothed’s
words.

“
I cannot read Richard’s
mind, Commander. When he comes, I will attempt to speak to him.
More, I cannot promise.”

“
Warn your brother that
treachery will end in blood. His blood.” A fearsome mask hardened
the Commander’s face and his eyes felt like steel daggers, piercing
into Elwytha, warning her.

Fear trembled inside her. How quickly the
whole false peace could crumble. And if it did, not only Richard’s
life would be in jeopardy, but hers, as well. For she had no doubt
that Richard would reveal her part in the whole wretched plot.
Elwytha quailed at the thought of the Commander’s fury unleashed
upon her.

She said, “I would send him a missive about
the new wedding date. If you wish, I will convey your warning, as
well.”

He nodded. “Agreed.”

They rode on now, silently. The closeness
they’d shared at the loch and at Fern’s hut seemed gone now.
Elwytha felt very alone, as if already the Commander’s anger lashed
upon her soul. But she would not betray him. She would not. To her
dismay, she wanted him to believe her. To trust her. To like her.
To look upon her with favor.

And yet she deserved his warning words.
Hadn’t she come to the Prince’s castle intending to kill him? How
he would hate her if he knew that now. That thought made her
shudder. Nay. He could never find out. It all had to work out
peaceably. It just had to.

“
You are cold?” His tone had
softened, and she looked at him quickly. “You shudder inside your
cloak.”

“
Nay. The sun is warm.” But
her heart felt cold…and she realized with dismay that only his
smile could warm it.

They rode in silence for a long time, and ate
bread for lunch while still riding. As they passed the hunter’s cot
where they had sheltered from the storm, Elwytha realized they
finally neared the castle. Her thoughts turned to their wedding—the
wedding that may not be. And then her mind turned back still
further, to that first day she had arrived at the palace, thinking
to marry the Prince, of all people. She snorted at that horrifying
thought. Instead, she had been given to the Commander.

Now she looked at him, riding silently beside
her, and a question occurred. “Why did you agree to marry me so
quickly when I first arrived?”

He took some time forming his response. “It
seemed a good plan,” he said at last. “I wished for peace, and I
wished for a wife.”

“
Any woman would have done,
then?” she inquired, feeling ridiculously slighted.

“
I thought so. But I was
wrong.”

“
Wrong? Not you, the
Commander of all the Prince’s forces? Pray, don’t you always make
sound, strategic judgments?”

A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. “What I
mean, Elwytha, is I did not know I desired you. You, alone. A woman
with much spunk. Any other would not battle me like you do.”

“
You like our fights?” she
asked with some surprise.

“
I like your spirit,” he
said. “I like the way we are together.”

Elwytha glanced down, feeling shy as he spoke
these words of passion to her. Her cheeks felt warm, but then she
forced herself to meet his steady gaze. “I did not know I pleased
you so well. Mayhap I should think up new arguments to vex you, if
you like them so much.”

“
Or new hairstyles to pain
my eyes,” he agreed with a grin.

Elwytha laughed out loud. “Nay. For verily,
they pained my head still more.”

At last, they reached the castle. Already the
drawbridge was lowered. Guards must have watched for their
approach. Stable boys took the horses to feed and care for them,
and Elwytha and the Commander stopped by the kitchen for a tasty
morsel to last them until supper. Elwytha’s stomach rumbled
mightily as they entered the warm kitchen.

Mary fluttered her hands in the air. “Land
alive! We were worried to death about the two of you. Come in. Sit.
You must be hungry.”

Speedily, she assembled a feast of fruit,
cheese, and bread. Then she settled across from them. “Tell me what
happened,” she urged. “I’ve only a minute.”

Elwytha told much of the tale and Mary looked
properly horrified. “And your head. Are you aright?”

“
Thanks to Mistress Fern,
I’m fine.”

Mary looked at the Commander. “The same
Mistress Fern who healed you all those years ago?”

He nodded, and Elwytha wondered what had
happened to him. Mary spoke up, since her betrothed didn’t look
about to.

“
She snatched him from the
brink of death, she did. If not for her, our Commander wouldna be
here today. The King left him for dead. They all did, as the life
bled out of him.” She shook her head. “It’s a miracle, it is. A
right miracle. And glad we are you’re with us today. Aren’t we,
miss?”

The Commander glanced at Elwytha, as if
wondering her response, but she couldn’t help but smile. “I cannot
imagine my life here without him in it.”

Mary clucked. “You need to rest, miss.
Perhaps a hot bath before supper. Go along, now. You take good care
of her, lad.”

“
I will,” he said quietly,
and as they left the kitchen, Elwytha felt his large hand on her
lower back, warm and possessive. For the first time, she didn’t
wish to flee from him.

How could that be? Did she believe him
innocent of her brother’s death? Did she trust him so completely
now? No logical answers existed, but in her heart…in her heart she
longed for it all to be true.

Chapter
Seventeen

“You live,”
the Prince greeted
the
Commander. He sat at a round, highly polished wooden table in his
sumptuous living quarters. Red and blue tapestries lined the walls,
and polished wood warmed the floors. Late afternoon sunlight
streamed in a narrow window, lighting the room, and a fire burned
in the grate. “Sit. You wish a drink?”

The Commander sat, but refused the drink. The
Prince regarded him. “You walked into a trap.” It was less a
question than a statement.

“
Yes. I knew it, and
prepared for it.”

The Prince took a sip of ale and stared at
him directly, lip faintly curled. “Did your princess betray
you?”

“
No. She fought valiantly.
Almost to the death.”

The Prince raised an eyebrow. “She chooses
you, then?”

The Commander heaved a breath. He still did
not know. “I would believe so.”

“
We will see, will we
not?”

He nodded.

“
What happened?” the Prince
demanded, his voice as cutting as a fine blade.

“
An ambush awaited us
outside the pass.” The Commander described the battle and Elwytha’s
valiant fight, and her injury.

“
Six horsemen.” The Prince
dwelled on this for a moment. “And they attacked Elwytha as well.”
His eyes narrowed, thinking. “Mayhap her traitorous brother reveals
his hand?”

“
I believe so,” agreed the
Commander. “But Elwytha insists she wishes peace.”

“
She would convince her
brother to love peace as well?”

“
She says she will
try.”

The Prince nodded. The dark eyes blackened to
obsidian. “You will be prepared?”

“
Yes. And you?”

The Prince smiled. “I have been prepared from
the beginning. If Richard betrays us we will have peace—with one
thrust of the sword.”

“
And of Elwytha?”

“
Allow her to play her hand
fully, Commander. Let her true character shine forth. And if she
fails you…”

Alarm tightened the Commander’s chest. “You
will leave her in my hand,” he thundered in a low voice.

The Prince eyed him. “I will. I trust you to
choose wisely.”

The Commander did not know if his foolish
heart could subscribe to wisdom where Elwytha was concerned. He
could only hope—and pray—that she would not betray him.

* * * * *

Elwytha rested in the tub, clean at last. The
warm water felt heavenly, and relaxed all of her sore limbs. The
ride, the deadly battle…all now ached through her body. She hadn’t
noticed the pain before—perhaps because she’d imbibed of Fern’s
noxious potion earlier today. But her head didn’t ache so much now,
so she’d decided to forgo the nasty stuff.

A towel supported her head
and she closed her eyes, seeking further rest. To her dismay, the
battle against her brother’s men sprang to mind, as vivid as if
happening anon. They had come for her. They had attacked
her
. Elwytha remembered
this afresh.

Had Richard ordered them to kill her, as well
as the Commander? Or had his men fought her because she carried a
sword?

No answers settled well within her brain. It
made no sense. Why would Richard order her killed? Did he see her
as a threat to his crown? Would he murder his own sibling so
coldly?