Page 48 of The Bodyguard Who Came in from the Cold
Margery forced a smile as Anne and Cicely led her outside. The night was still warm; the stars glistened in the dark sky high above the torchlit battlements. A hush settled over the ward, and she could suddenly hear many voices raised in song.
As the gates were opened for the minstrels, the others rushed forward to greet their visitors while she remained in the darker shadows near the keep.
A man stepped near her, and the torchlight glittered in his blond hair. Gareth.
“Are you all right?” he asked impassively.
“I’m fine,” she said with a strained smile. What else was there to say? She struggled not to feel thrilled at being alone with him in the shadows, where a person could stumble on them any time. Yet she didn’t move away.
“I assume you heard about my challenge to Sir Humphrey.”
“I wish you had not put yourself in danger on my account,” she said softly.
“Danger?”
The arrogance in his voice made her smile.
“He is no danger to me. I’ve studied his methods: he is hotheaded and overconfident. It will defeat him in the end.”
She hugged her arms against the chill and leaned back against the wall to look up at him. “And you are not overconfident?”
His teeth flashed in a smile. “Not overly. Just certain I will defeat him.”
14
Ladies Anne and Cicely walked on either side of Margery as she left the chapel. The day was depressingly gray and overcast; the clouds seemed as heavy as her heart. She hated having men fight over her.Herhusband would be tactful, a man who could let slights go.
“Margery,” Cicely said, “please change your mind. You do not need to watch these men fight.”
“Hawksbury is my castle. I must be involved in everything that happens here.” She glanced sternly from one twin to the other. “And if I’m not at the tiltyard, one of them might kill the other.”
“No, surely…” Cicely began.
Margery felt a momentary stab of dread. How could she watch Gareth be attacked and not wince with every blow? What if he wasn’t as skilled as he thought?
The tiltyard usually rang with the clash of metal, and the cheerful shouts of the soldiers and knights. But this morning it was eerily quiet, as if the gloom and the impending battle preyed on every mind. Men stood in small groups, talking in low voices. The wind picked up, raising swirls of dust. There was no sign of Gareth or Sir Humphrey.
Sir Wallace strode toward them, a grim expression on his face. “Mistress Margery, you should not be here.”
“I want to be here.” She kept her voice calm, reasonable.
“This is like a squabble between two boys. I am sure they’ll just?—”
“Two boys with swords, who hate each other. Sir Wallace, ask some of the pages to fetch benches for my ladies and me. We are not leaving.”
He clamped his mouth shut and turned away.
As benches were being placed for them and more spectators gathered, Gareth finally entered the field. He didn’t wear full armor, just a plated brigantine to protect his chest and back. He wore a shield on his left arm. If he saw her, he gave no sign.
Sir Humphrey arrived next, wearing no armor at all, as if Gareth could not lay a sword on him. He boasted and strutted and laughed with his friends. Gareth waited alone in the center of the tiltyard, his face calm, watchful. His focus seemed totally on Sir Humphrey, and Margery shivered at his intensity.
He wouldn’t kill Sir Humphrey—would he? Men fighting over her was bad enough, but no matter what the romantic songs said, the thought of men dying for her repulsed Margery.
Sir Wallace strode into the center of the tiltyard to stand near Gareth, and Sir Humphrey left his cheering friends. The three men talked together, but the wind carried their words away. Was Sir Wallace going over the rules?Werethere rules? When he offered both combatants blunted swords, she relaxed the smallest bit.
Sir Wallace put a hand on the shoulder of each man, smiled, and said loudly, “For our spectators, who might not be aware of the true nature of this contest, this is a training exercise only, not a fight to the death.”
Margery heard some scattered boos and hisses, but when she frowned toward the crowd, they settled down.
