The Taming (27 page)

Alone, Rogan had gone to the Howard fortress. As he and Severn had parted in the forest, Severn had clasped his brother to him, a rare gesture between Peregrine men that would not have happened before Liana came and softened them.

“Bring her back to us,” Severn said softly. “And…I don't want to lose more brothers.”

“I will find her.” He gave Severn one last look. “Take care of Zared.”

Severn nodded, then Rogan was gone.

Rogan found that his stooped, leg-dragging stance made his back ache, and the Howard men who ordered him about often punctuated their orders with kicks and shoves. He made note of their faces and hoped someday to see them on a battlefield.

He skulked about the castle, hauling swill, doing whatever he could to be near people who were talking. The castle was abuzz with gossip about the treachery of the Peregrines, how they were trying to steal what rightfully belonged to the Howards. The people speculated on Liana and said she wasn't good enough for Oliver's young brother. Rogan snapped a broom handle in half at that, which caused a cook to beat him with a leg of mutton.

He ate what he could steal, and since the Howards, on the Peregrine family's estates, were so wealthy, they never missed the food. He slept in a corner of the stables or in the mews with the birds.

He worked and he listened, keeping his uncovered eye open for anyone who looked as if he might know something.

It was in the third week, when he was about to give up hope, that a man kicked him in the small of his back and sent Rogan sprawling in the dirt. “Come with me, old man,” he said.

Rogan picked himself up and followed the man, planning his death as they climbed the stairs. The man handed Rogan a broom. “Go in and clean,” he'd said, and unbolted a thick, iron-clad door.

Inside the room, Rogan stood for a moment blinking, for there was Liana, her lovely face bent over a tapestry frame, her hair covered with a cap of white linen. He couldn't move, but just stood there and stared at her.

She looked up. “Well, go on,” she said. “You have better things to do than gawk at the Howard prisoner.”

He'd opened his mouth to tell her who he was, but then the door was opened behind him. Rogan had scurried into the garderobe, staying by the doorway to listen. He'd breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a woman's voice, but as he continued to listen, he heard Liana call the woman Jeanne. Was this the Jeanne he'd once been married to?

He left the garderobe and began moving about the chamber. Neither woman paid him the least mind. He looked at the woman Jeanne and he thought she was his first wife, but he wasn't sure. Their marriage had been brief and over with a long time ago, and besides, she hadn't been very memorable as a wife.

He listened to the two women and heard stories of his own indifference, how he was drinking and hawking and couldn't care less about his wife being held prisoner. He smiled when he heard mention of the baby Liana was carrying. But he lost his smile when he saw that Liana believed every word Jeanne was saying. Did women have no loyalty? What had he ever done to deserve his wife's distrust? He had given her a roof over her head, food in her belly—as well as a brat—and he had even given up his women for her. And he had come to save her from the Howards.

He was so disgusted by her disloyal behavior that while he made arrangements, bribing guards and retainers with money that was needed elsewhere, and went to her room every day, he didn't reveal himself to her.

So now he was here, and after all he'd gone through to find her, she wasn't even grateful.

“What were you doing outside the castle walls?” he asked, frowning. “I gave you orders not to leave the grounds.” The little cap over her head was so fine it was nearly transparent and he could see how little was left of her hair. If he ever got his hands on Oliver Howard, the man's death would be long and painful.

“I was going to get herbs to soothe the nettles. Gaby said you rolled in them.” She was sniffing loudly.

“Nettles!” he said under his breath. “You caused all of this because you went to get herbs for nettles?”

Liana was beginning to realize that he
had
come for her, that all the reports she'd heard of his indifference were false. She leaped off the bed in a flurry of silk and flung her arms about his neck and accurately planted her mouth on his.

He held her so tightly her ribs nearly broke. “Liana,” he whispered against her neck.

She stroked his hair, and more tears came to her eyes. “You did not forget me,” she whispered.

“Never again,” he said, then his voice changed. “I can't stay longer. Tonight there is no moon. I'll come for you and we'll leave here.”

“How?” She pulled away to look at him. It seemed that she forgot from one moment to the next how splendidly handsome he was. Even under weeks' worth of ashes and dirt, his face was—

“Are you listening to me?”

“Intimately,” she answered, snuggling her hips against his.

“Behave, and listen to me. Do not trust Jeanne Howard.”

“But she has helped me. She may have saved my life. I was burning up with fever and—”

“Swear to me,” Rogan said fiercely. “Swear to me you won't trust her. Don't confide in her, don't tell her I've been here. She's betrayed my family once, and if she betrayed me again, I would not live. I could not fight off Howard men alone as I am now. Swear to me.”

“Yes,” Liana whispered. “I swear.”

He had his hands on her shoulders, and he gave her one last long look. “I must go now, but tonight I will come to you. Wait for me, and for once, give your loyalty to me.” He smiled just a bit. “And clean up this room. I've learned to like cleanliness.”

He kissed her once, hard and fiercely, and then he was gone.

For a long while Liana leaned against the door. He had come for her. He hadn't been drinking and hawking while she was held prisoner. Instead, he had risked his life by entering the Howards' domain alone. He hadn't said that he didn't want her.

Dreamily, she began to pick up all the things she'd thrown at him. She didn't want Jeanne to see the mess and ask questions.

Tonight, she thought, he was coming for her tonight. As she began to think less romantically about his coming for her and more realistically, she began to be afraid. What if he were caught? Oliver Howard would kill Rogan. She sat down on the bed, her hands clasped tightly, and the fear beginning to course through her body made her rigid.

As the sun began to set, Liana's fear settled into her bones until she felt as if she were seeing herself from a distance. Slowly, she rose, removed the silk gown Jeanne had loaned her, and put on the peasants' clothes she had been wearing when she had been taken. She put the silk gown back on over the peasants' garb, then sat down to wait.

Every muscle in her body was tense as she sat still and stared at the closed door. She heard the castle grounds quieten as the workers went off to their beds. A servant brought her supper on a tray and lit a candle, but Liana didn't touch the food. Instead, she waited for the night to bring Rogan.

At about midnight, very slowly, the door opened and Liana stood up, her eyes wide.

Jeanne stepped into the room, her eyes on the bed, then, startled, she saw Liana. “I thought you'd be asleep.”

“What's wrong?” Liana whispered.

“I don't know. Oliver is very angry and he's been drinking. I overheard…” She looked at Liana. She didn't want to say what she'd overheard. In all areas except one her husband was a sensible man, but when it came to the Peregrines, he lost all sense of proportion, of honesty, of sensibility. Today she'd overheard Oliver saying he meant to kill Liana and deliver her body to Rogan. “You must come with me,” Jeanne said. “I have to hide you.”

“I cannot,” Liana said. “I must wait here for—”

“Wait for what?” Jeanne asked. “Or do you wait for someone?”

“No one,” Liana said quickly. “No one knows I'm here, do they? How could I be waiting for someone? I was just sitting here, that's all.” She closed her mouth. She couldn't tell Jeanne that Rogan was coming for her. Jeanne could tell Oliver. But if she moved, how would Rogan find her? “This room is so nice,” Liana said. “I'd rather stay here than move to another. I don't think I could bear a cold room.”

“Now is no time to think of luxury. I am concerned for your life. If you wish yourself and your child to live, come with me now.”

Liana knew she had no choice. With a heavy heart she followed Jeanne down the torch-lit stairs. She followed her out of the tower, across the dark inner ward, and at last down steep stone steps into the cellar of one of the gate towers. Here were huge bags of grain, in places piled almost to the ceiling. It was a dank, dark, moldy-smelling place, the only window an arrow slit high above her head.

“You cannot mean for me to stay here,” Liana whispered.

“It's the only place I could find where no one will look. This grain won't be needed until spring, so no one will come in here. I have put wool blankets there, and there's a chamber pot in the corner.”

“Who will empty it?” Liana asked. “The old man who comes to my room seems stupid enough to be safe.”

“Not this time. I will come tomorrow night. I trust no one but myself.” She feared that when Oliver found Liana gone, he'd offer a reward for her, and if he did, anyone was likely to turn her in. “I am sorry. This is a hideous place, but it's the only safe place. Try to sleep. I will come tomorrow.”

When Jeanne left and bolted the door behind her, the sound echoed in the round stone room with its vaulted ceiling. It was absolutely dark and cold as only stone that had never been heated could be. Liana struggled forward, stumbling over bags of grain to find the blankets Jeanne had left. When she found them, she tried to make a bed on the lumpy bags, but there was no way to make them comfortable.

At last, settled with the hard, dusty bags under her and two inadequate blankets over her, she began to cry. Somewhere outside, her beloved Rogan was risking his life to find her. She prayed that he would not do something foolish when he found she was gone. But even if he kept silent, he would never find her in this cellar, for no guards or servants knew where she was now. Only Jeanne Howard knew where Liana was.

Jeanne did not come the next day. Liana had no food, no water, no light, no warmth. And as the day grew into night, she had no hope. Rogan had been right about Jeanne: She could not be trusted. Liana began to remember that it was Jeanne who had told her of Rogan's not caring that she was held prisoner. It was Jeanne who had made her believe in Rogan's treachery.

Jeanne came on the night of the second day. Quietly, she opened the door and stepped into the cold, dark cellar. “Liana,” she called.

Liana was too weary and full of anger to answer.

Stumbling over grain bags, Jeanne began to feel her way about the room, gasping when she touched Liana. “I have brought you food and water and another blanket.” She lifted her skirt and began untying bundles. She held a gourd of water to Liana's lips, and she drank greedily, then Jeanne handed Liana cold beef, bread, and cheese.

“I could not come yesterday. Oliver suspects that I have had something to do with your escape. He has set everyone to spying on everyone else. I'm afraid of even my own ladies. I had to plead illness and have my food brought to me in my room in order to get you something to eat.”

“I am to believe you gave up your own meal for me?” Liana asked, her mouth full.

It was dark and she couldn't see Jeanne's face, but there was a pause before she spoke. “Something has happened,” Jeanne said. “What is it?”

“I have no idea what you mean. I have been here alone in this freezing place. No one has come or gone for two days.”

“And it has no doubt saved your life,” Jeanne snapped. “You are the wife of my husband's enemy, and I have risked much to keep you healthy and safe.”

“What risk? Your lies?” Liana wished she hadn't spoken.

“What lies? Liana, what has happened? What have you heard?
How
have you heard anything?”

“Nothing,” Liana said. “I have been held in close confinement. I could not have heard anything.”

Jeanne walked away from her. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the blackness and she could see shadows of the grain bags and the darker outline of Liana. She took a deep breath and looked at Liana. “I have decided to tell you the truth, all of the truth. My husband means to kill you. That's what I overheard when I took you from the tower room. He has no use for you. He never meant to take you, you just appeared, so to speak, and he took you on impulse. He hoped to force Rogan to surrender Moray Castle to him. What he actually wants is to take every blade of grass the Peregrines own.” There was bitterness in her voice.

Jeanne continued. “I don't know what to do with you now. I can trust no one. Oliver has issued a death threat to anyone seen helping you. He knows you're still in the castle, because since he took you, he has had the guards look at the face of every peasant who enters or leaves the walls. His men are even now combing the woods outside the walls.”