Protected by the Warrior

Watching the young squire dash off, he could hear the sounds of supper preparation. ’Twas late in the day, and the evening meal had been delayed until word came down from the solar that mother and babe were safe from the dangers of delivery for the time being. Though his stomach growled, Kenneth ignored his hunger and returned to Adrien’s chamber. The pallet bed Adrien had used when he first arrived was shoved into one corner, its original space now occupied by a large desk and several chairs, a wardrobe and several trunks. Dropping his oiling cloth on the desk, Adrien leaned back heavily in his seat. The meal came, and Kenneth encouraged his baron to eat.

Adrien looked up and blew out a sigh. “My thanks to you, Sergeant. Your quick actions saved Lady Ediva.”

Kenneth straightened. “Nay,” he admitted tightly. “Clara saved her, milord. I merely retrieved her. I had—”

Adrien carried on as if he hadn’t heard Kenneth. “Ediva was doing fine, smiling, feeding the babe, and suddenly, she paled and fell back onto the pillows. Our son nearly rolled off the bed when she went limp. Margaret caught him just in time. I don’t know what would have happened if Clara hadn’t returned so soon.” He straightened quickly. “She stepped out of the chamber after the delivery. Where did she go?”

Kenneth swallowed. “I sent her to the jail below the stairs.”

Lord Adrien’s brows shot up. “The dungeon? You threw her in the dungeon? What did she do wrong?”

Kenneth pulled the missive from the pocket of his surcoat. Adrien took it. Standing, he read aloud,

Dear brother, I greet you in the name of our Lord and pray for your health. My new and dear wife does well in her pregnancy and I enjoy each day with her. I hope Ediva is also fine.

But this is not a social letter. Only today have I discovered the true reason for the offer of Clara, the midwife, to you, by my guild masters, when I asked for someone to replace yours. Though I had sensed Clara’s reluctance to leave Colchester, I assumed ’twas due to nervousness on her part. She was, after all, moving by herself to an unknown place to fill a position vacated by a death. Now I suspect she had no wish to leave but was given no other recourse by those in town.

However, the reason the guild masters recommended her is enough for me to write this letter. It began last year when Taurin, Duke of Evreux, took a mistress, a destitute farm girl whom he purchased as a slave from her parents shortly after arriving in England, because his wife is barren. The slave girl conceived, and in her seventh month of pregnancy she fled Lord Taurin’s grasp. I am told that she made her way to Colchester. Clara took care of the woman and eventually assisted as she delivered a boy. The child was born two months ago. Clara kept the mother and child in her home.

Shortly after the child was born, while I was in London at King William’s request, some of Lord Taurin’s men arrived here to search for the mother and son. They went to my sergeant at arms, who refused to assist them in their search, for they came without writ or summons. These men eventually approached the guild masters, who retrieved Clara, but by this time, she had hidden mother and child and refused to reveal where they were.

After that, my sergeant forced Taurin’s troops to leave empty-handed.

When I returned, your request for a midwife was waiting for me and I sought out the advice of the guild masters, who immediately offered Clara, so I sent her right away. You must understand that I had not yet been debriefed by my sergeant.

Later, when Clara’s younger sister was discovered living alone in Clara’s old house, I investigated this matter more fully and discovered the real reason why the guild masters had recommended Clara. Fearing Taurin himself would come to Colchester with more troops and the king’s summons, the guild masters sought to thrust their problem onto you and your village.

I will deal with the guild masters and their trickery myself, but I cannot guarantee anyone’s safety should Lord Taurin come for his mistress. I can, however, warn you of Clara’s dangerous secret and stubborn character. I trust you will act wisely when dealing with her. She will bring only trouble for you and the people under your protection if she doesn’t reveal the mother and babe’s location.

But, as you probably have realized now, dear brother, I am also sending you Clara’s younger sister. The guild masters suspect that this girl, Brindi, may know where the slave is hidden. I cannot say whether that is true—she refused to answer the question when it was put to her. Regardless, she cannot be allowed to live here alone, nor can she be returned to her aged mother.

Be careful, Adrien. Taurin is not to be trifled with. He is as crafty as the guild masters here are. Be cautious dealing with him and with your midwife.

Your brother in blood and in Christ,

Eudo

Adrien looked up at Kenneth. “Her sister is here? How old is this girl?”

“She’s about ten years of age,” Kenneth answered as he folded his arms. “After Clara returned to Lady Ediva, I found her in the bailey and sent her to the kitchen. The cook can always use an extra set of hands, though I did not see the girl there later.”

“Such trickery.” Adrien inhaled deeply, then sighed. “Should Lord Taurin arrive here, I want to be ready for him.”

“Aye. And it sounds like the guild masters in Colchester would be quite happy to tell Lord Taurin where to look, especially since it would take him away from their town.”

“True. They’re a devious lot.”

Kenneth studied Lord Adrien. “Do you know Lord Taurin, milord?”

“I know only of him. He did not fight at Hastings. Regardless, his family has enough influence with King William to earn him an estate without military service. His land is to the west, I believe.” He paused. “All this trouble over a runaway slave.”

Who is too foolish to realize her child would be better off with his father, Kenneth thought. Lord Taurin had wealth from Normandy. Couldn’t the mother see that the father would be able to give his son far more than she could?

Giving up the child may save her own life, too. And it would spare the town from Lord Taurin’s anger. Nay, for the sake of Dunmow, ’twould be best if the child was found and handed over to Taurin. Even a blind person could see this.

Kenneth stood tall. “We need to find this girl and her child immediately,” he stated. “’Tis best for Dunmow if we hand the child over to Lord Taurin as soon as he arrives.” Adrien nodded his agreement. “But,” Kenneth continued, “what punishment should be laid upon the midwife who brought this trouble to us?”

Adrien stood and rubbed his cheek. “As much as I would like to punish Clara for her secrecy, I cannot forget she has saved my wife’s life. I will address her deceit, but in my own time.”

Of course. Kenneth suspected that Adrien would keep her handy until his wife and son were well out of danger. He couldn’t blame the man, for Adrien loved his wife with a powerful love that Kenneth secretly envied. Not for love’s sake, but for the peace and happiness such love gave his baron.

“What are we to do with Clara in the meantime?”

Adrien sighed. “As much as I am grateful to her for saving Ediva’s life, I won’t have the woman near my wife or child unless she’s absolutely needed. Escort her to her hut and watch her closely. Indeed, you must guard her well. Who knows what Lord Taurin will do should he find his way here. I won’t lose Dunmow’s only healer.”

Adrien scrubbed his face with his hands, then rotated his arms as if to loosen stiff muscles. Kenneth frowned. Lord Adrien had pledged to Lady Ediva that he would keep all of the people in the keep and the village of Little Dunmow safe. He grimaced. That meant even Clara of Colchester, for all the trouble she’d brought.

“I wonder where she’s hidden the pair,” Adrien finally mused.

“We’ll find out soon enough. Clara will eventually reveal their location, either by accident or by traveling there herself. She’s been with Lady Ediva for days now, so she’ll want to check on them soon. Though not tonight, I suspect. She’s far too tired. But when she does, I will follow and bring the child here.” Kenneth steeled his spine. “’Twill be an easy task.”

Adrien nodded. “Do whatever is necessary to keep everyone safe. ’Tis a dangerous time for Saxons who defy Norman law, and our king will not be discriminatory with his punishment if he takes Lord Taurin’s side.”

Kenneth silently agreed. King William could easily provide Lord Taurin with a writ allowing him to do whatever he felt necessary with his slave girl and the babe—and take whatever degree of justice he saw fit against those who had hidden them, willingly or no. After all, wasn’t the king illegitimate himself, and hadn’t he earned his place in history by being recognized as his father’s heir? Aye, King William could easily mete out heavy punishment to many Saxons should they refuse to turn over the slave and her child.

But hadn’t the king abolished slavery? Aye, but that wasn’t the issue. ’Twas not even the issue that Lord Taurin had purchased a slave in the first place. Nay, disobedience was the issue. “I’ll discover the location of the child, my lord. I promise.”

Kenneth turned to leave, but Adrien stopped him. “Sergeant, be careful. We both know that Clara is a good healer, but should she learn what you plan to do, I doubt her thoughts will stay on healing. She appears to be full of guile.”

“Indeed, milord, but I am no fool.” At the door, however, Kenneth hesitated. He’d fought at Hastings, defended his king and his baron with his life, and was not afraid of dying. But he knew Clara. He’d been sent to Colchester to deliver her here and had found her temper and disposition matched her fiery hair perfectly. Aye, fighting a woman whose scorn could sear meat would make the battle for England’s crown seem like a squabble between kittens.

* * *

Clara continued to work with Lady Ediva, encouraging her to take some strong broth and nettle tea. That done, she helped the babe to suckle properly.

Ediva cringed. “I ache all over, Clara. He hurts me.”

While Ediva’s tone was weak and petulant, Clara knew ’twas more from fatigue than personality. Ediva had already decided she wanted to feed her own babe and not hand him over to a nurse. “Aye,” Clara agreed softly. “He will until you get used to him, but ’tis just for a short time, and then you can rest. Remember how I said that ladies who refuse to nurse often waste away?”

Ediva obeyed, and after, Clara showed Margaret how to rub some herbed oil on her mistress. Finally, all was cleaned up, and Clara tucked Lady Ediva into her bed for some much-needed rest. The wide-eyed boy lay swaddled in a cradle between the bed and the well-stoked brazier, a sealed skin of warm water set beside him to keep the chill at bay. Margaret dozed on her pallet at the far end of the room while Clara guarded them all. Her hand throbbed where she’d slammed it into the dungeon door, but the dim light of evening made it impossible to deal with.

She was too agitated, anyway, her thoughts far away from her own pain. Rowena and her child were safe. The only other person who knew of their new location was her small sister, Brindi, whom she’d told before sending her home. Should Lord Taurin—

A tear dropped down onto her lap as she rose. Nay, Brindi was safe and far away from Colchester. Clara had returned the girl to their aged mother, to their home near the seaside and away from the clutches of the guild masters who’d forced her out.

She fisted her hands and the left one stung sharply. She’d acquired a splinter from the door to the dungeon, and now that she wasn’t busy, it throbbed. Forget it. She’d deal with it on the morrow when the light was better. The end of the day was fast approaching.

Clara paced to the window, anxious for some air to clear her mind. She quietly eased the vellum shutter from the window, wanting only a few breaths of fresh air before she blocked out the cool evening again.

She leaned forward. Having abandoned her wimple and veil earlier, the light breeze brushed over her neck and through her thick hair. Glad for it, as her cyrtel clung to her and was in need of laundering, she stretched out as far out as she could manage.

The window had a direct view of the village below, in particular, her small hut at the center. Her gaze automatically fell on it.

In the darkening evening, a shadow passed in front of her home, someone thin and stealthy. A breath or two later, the door, set at the side of the hut, opened. Then, as Clara stared hard, a lamp was lit, spilling light onto the small herb garden for a brief moment before the door shut tight.

She gasped. Someone was in her home.

A sharp rap cut through her and she jumped. After a glance around the solar, and noting all was as it had been a moment before, she heard the knock again. Someone was at the door. Quickly, she set the vellum frame back into place and hurried to crack the door open a tiny bit.

Kenneth stood at the threshold.

“’Tis time for you to return to your hut,” he growled out softly.

She stepped out into the corridor. “And not to the dungeon? Have I earned a reprieve somehow? Oh, mayhap you’ve come to your senses and realized I have done nothing wrong!”

“Anyone who deliberately puts an entire town at risk should be imprisoned, but, nay, Lord Adrien pledged to Lady Ediva he would protect all in Little Dunmow. Apparently, that includes you. I will escort you home.”

Did he think her a fool? She’d have to be addled not to realize that Kenneth would want Rowena’s child given to his father and, as a result, would stay close to discover her location.

Ha! If Kenneth believed that by dogging her footsteps day and night she would, out of frustration, finally tell him where she’d hidden Rowena, he was sadly mistaken. She was the oldest of several children and had dealt with all her siblings’ childish ways. She could easily outlast this one man’s pestering.

But ’twas a moot point. “I am not ready to leave Lady Ediva yet.”

“Is she still in danger?”

“Nay, but—”

“Is the babe safe? Is Margaret there to watch them?”

“Aye, but—”

“Then there’s no reason for you to linger. By not resting, you risk your own health. Lord Adrien will come here soon, and with Margaret’s help they will be fine dealing with Lady Ediva and her babe. Now, get your cloak.”

Irritated that she’d been interrupted and annoyed even more that Kenneth was right, Clara pursed her lips.

“As I suspected, your stubbornness will be your downfall.” He turned. “Stay, then. Lord Adrien will not be happy to see you after he ordered you home to sleep. I expect he’ll suggest the dungeon instead. Or, just as unpleasant, the grand hall. By the way, all the soldiers have been celebrating the birth of Lord Adrien’s son....”

“Fine,” she snapped. She was not unreasonable. And, aye, she needed a good night’s sleep. “Wait here.”

She slipped back into the solar, carefully took her wimple and veil, and fitted them hastily on before throwing her cloak over her shoulders and returning to the corridor.

In the flickering torchlight, she noticed Kenneth’s mouth turn up at the corners ever so slightly. She huffed as she marched past him and his smug insolence.

Downstairs and out in the bailey, they waited for the gatekeeper to open the small door within the larger gate, and Kenneth stepped out first, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Obviously satisfied that all was safe, he held out his hand to help her step through. She took it, finding it warmer and stronger than she expected. But as soon as she was safely on the path that wound down into the village, she tugged her hand back.

The late-spring night had turned colder than she’d expected. Clara looked up at the display of stars, bright because the quarter moon had yet to dominate the darkness. Clear skies always went with chilly nights. She pulled her long, dark blue cloak closer while darting a glance at Kenneth, noting that the cold didn’t seem to bother him. He wore only a lightweight cloak tossed over his broad shoulders and a knee-length tunic over snug leggings. The leather thongs that secured them pressed against his sculpted muscles. Long and lean, he was the very essence of both ease and readiness.

Clara slowed as they approached her hut. Only a short time ago, she’d spied a stealthy figure enter her hut. Now, as they rounded the corner of her hut, she could see light bleeding from around the edges of the old, worn door. Her intruder was still there.

Was it Rowena? Had the young mother slipped into the village with her child? Clara swallowed. Was her babe sick? Was that why Rowena risked a visit?

Clara turned, determined to capture Kenneth’s attention to keep it away from the door. “You have seen me home, Kenneth, and I thank you for it. Good night.”

The man laughed, a noise that bore little resemblance to humor. “Do you expect me to depart? ’Tis not what will happen. Since we now know why you were sent here, don’t you think ’twould be best if you were guarded? Surely you realize that your own life is at risk should Lord Taurin arrive.”

“Then why didn’t Lord Adrien insist I stay in the keep?”

Kenneth took her upper arm and continued to guide her up the short path toward her door. “No doubt he won’t have you that close to his wife.”

She steeled her spine and yanked back her arm. “I would never hurt Lady Ediva!”

He took her arm again, this time at the elbow. “Of course not. You aren’t that foolish.”

She pursed her lips into a thin, tight line, not willing to engage him in an argument if Rowena lingered behind her closed door. She knew Kenneth’s type. Hidden strength came with those wiry muscles, so different from her clan of shorter, thicker Saxons. And she had no strength tonight to do anything save trudge to her door.

Still, her foolish tongue belied her fatigue. “You’ll find it a waste of time to guard me. If you’re hoping I’ll slip away tonight, you’ll be hoping in vain. I’m dead on my feet and I plan to do nothing but sleep.”

“Good. It has been a long day for both of us.”

She stalked up to the door, hoping her long cloak would block the thin light seeping under it. “Since you are so set on guarding me and there’s only one way in and out of my home, I suggest you spend the night out here. I’m not the sort of woman who allows men in her home overnight.”

“And I am not the sort of man to be enticed inside, woman, certainly not by so sly a female as you.”

She shot him a blistering glare. “You have a lot of—”

A short, harsh clunk sounded within the hut. Before Clara could draw her next breath, Kenneth had shoved her behind him.

She heard his sword scrape free of its leather scabbard just as Kenneth’s booted foot connected with the door.

Clara gasped. Kenneth was prepared to kill whoever was inside!

Chapter Three

Kenneth charged into the hut, a single thought slicing through his mind. Protect Clara. And he would do so even if it cost him his life—

A downward shot of dun-colored clothing met his glare and he stabbed at it in the dimly lit hut. A whimper, weak and childlike, reached up to him as his sword snagged a scrap of wool and tore it free from a small body. Another soft cry rent the air in front of him.

A child? Immediately, Kenneth pulled back and lowered his sword, accidentally elbowing Clara. Her fingers curled around his lower arm as if to hold him still. The cowering soul in front of them whimpered again.

“Wait!” Clara whispered in his ear as she leaned forward, so close he could feel her sharp gasp brush his neck. “Brindi?”

Kenneth blinked. The sister? He focused on the heap of pale clothes cornered in front of him, scarcely visible in the low lamp flame the intruder had kindled. The bundle moved and he saw how small it was. ’Twas indeed a child! He blew out his breath, trying to will his heart to stop racing at the horror that could have happened.

He’d nearly killed the little girl.

Clara shoved past him and dropped at her sister’s huddled form. The small girl lifted her head as her whisper penetrated the hut. “Aye, Clara, ’tis me.”

As Clara drew her sister to standing, Kenneth sheathed his sword and hastily turned up the wick on the old lamp on the table. The thin light strengthened to fill the room.

“How did you get here?” Clara exclaimed as she gave the girl a hard hug. “I sent you home to Mama!”

Brindi kept her head buried in her sister’s cloak, and Kenneth could barely hear her answer. “Mama sent me to you. She was always angry at me, saying I ate too much. I didn’t want to be there anymore.”

Clara set her away from her to search her face. “When did she send you?”

The girl shrugged. “A few days ago.”

“A few days ago! Have you been walking here since?”

“Nay, she sent me to Colchester.”

“Didn’t you remind Mama where I was sent?”

“Aye, but she kept forgetting. I hid in your old home, but the guild masters found me and told Lord Eudo. I said I didn’t want to go home to Mama. She’s too old now. But he said I was too young to live alone and I must go to you.”

Clara glanced over at Kenneth.

“Lord Eudo’s courier delivered her to the keep,” he explained. “She was supposed to stay in the kitchen with the cook. Obviously, the child disobeys as easily as her sister.”

Clara shot him a scathing glare, which he deflected immediately. Aye, her mother had pushed her own child out of her home, and his threatening her with a sword after the ordeal she’d already endured was harsh, but, he argued with himself irritably, if she’d stayed in the keep’s kitchen as she’d been told to do, he wouldn’t have nearly killed her just now.

“You knew Brindi was here and you didn’t tell me?” Clara’s voice was a mere breath of shock.

He stiffened. “You were in the dungeon. I would have seen she was cared for. I’m not a beast.”

“But you knew she was at the keep all the time we were walking here? That she was brought here like a sack of grain?”

“Aye.” He tightened his jaw. “In Lord Eudo’s letter, he warned his brother that the guild masters feared a confrontation with Lord Taurin—”

Clara’s brows shot up as she interrupted him to ask, “You know him?”

“Nay, I have not met him. But I read the missive that explains how Lord Eudo discovered the truth about why you were sent here.” He shook his head. “You brought trouble to your people with your own stubbornness and refusal to reveal a slave girl’s location. I suspect that once the townsfolk discovered Brindi, they feared the same of her and shipped her off to Lord Eudo. I don’t blame them a jot.”

Clara pulled her sister closer and covered the child’s ears. Then, with a glower at him, she set Brindi down on one of the two benches, the child’s back to him. She kept her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “What do you know about Rowena?” she asked Kenneth over her sister’s head.

So that was the slave’s name? ’Twas a good start to finding her location. He kept his face impassive. “I know enough. You have no right to interfere with a Norman lord’s personal affairs. And you certainly do not have any right to send fear through the town of Colchester or bring trouble to Dunmow.”

“If I caused any fear, ’twas for good reason. And I have every right to help save a person’s life.”

“The girl and her child would not have been hurt!”

She let out a laugh. “I beg to differ! She has run away from a cruel man. If he catches her, he’ll kill her!”

“How do you know what Lord Taurin will do? ’Tis clear he wishes to keep the child, and if so, ’twould hardly be in his best interests to kill the girl on whom the babe depends.”

Her eyes flared. “What is the punishment for a slave running away?”

He shrugged, looking away, not wanting to tell Clara that slavery had been abolished. ’Twould have Clara heading to London to demand Rowena’s release, right from King William. “A beating?”