Page 48 of Saxon Blade Norman Blood
She let out a scream of frustration. “I did not want you to kill him, but you didn’t have to tell him he was welcome to have me, as if I were a piece of meat to be sampled. What if he had accepted the offer?”
He made a dismissive gesture that pierced her heart. “I knew he was only trying to fault my commitment to the cause and prove I do not consider him an equal. He only used you as an excuse to show me he was not so easily convinced. He didn’t really mean to bed you.”
“Well, next time you gamble, do it with your own body, with your own honor. I do not belong to you to be used in your power struggles!”
Rowena made no effort to stop herself from shouting at him. She was too raw. This scene coming so soon after thecataclysm of the previous day made it impossible for her to remain cool-headed.
“I did the best I could to spare you from his advances,” he said through gritted teeth. “Which is more than you had the right to expect in the circumstances. May I remind you that I do not owe the woman who tried to kill me twice any—”
“And what about poor Margot in the kitchens?” she cut in before he could finish. “You threw her in this monster’s path without her even knowing anything about it.”
Rowena knew he had only used her as a way of diverting Leowald’s attention away from herself, but she could not help being outraged on the girl’s behalf. Margot deserved better.Womendeserved better.
William punched his palm with a closed fist and glared at her. She had never seen him so irate, not even when he’d found out she was in his bed to kill him, but she couldn’t pretend not to be hurt by his callousness.
“I seem to be spending my time saving you from men’s advances and getting little reward for my pains. Once, you used the hand I extended in help to try and kill me, and today you’re accusing me of being no better than a heartless beast. If nothing I say will persuade you of my good intentions, then go to the kitchens and ask to see Margot. Go,” he roared, gesturing toward the door. “Then come back and tell me I was wrong to offer her to save you—if you dare. I will look forward to hearing your apologies.”
There was a knock, and the door behind them opened.
“Some refreshments for the Saxon lords,” a servant announced, coming toward them.
“You’re too late. They’re gone,” William barked, looking as if he would like nothing more than to overturn the tray. “Out of my way!”
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Fueled with righteous anger, Rowena stormed to the kitchens, determined to meet Margot. William had thrown her a challenge, and she would rise to it. Even if the girl was of somewhat loose morals—and she dearly hoped that was the reason she’d been selected for the unsavory task of bedding Leowald—she did not deserve to be treated as if her agreement was a foregone conclusion.
“I would like to speak to Margot,” she told the cook, a tall lady wearing a surprisingly white apron.
The woman shook her head. “There is no Margot here. There is a Marguerite if that would serve?”
“No, I’m sure Lord William said Margot.”
“Lord William? I would be surprised. He knows full well there is no Margot here, never has been.” She frowned. “I cannot think what he could mean by it.”
Heat burned Rowena’s cheeks. “No. But I do,” she murmured to herself.
He had maneuvered like a true diplomat, making the girl up on the spot to saveherfrom Leowald’s advances, whilst keeping his trust and compromising no one’s honor. He had indeed done his best to help her, only she had been too stubborn to see it.
How could she ever face him now?
Would he expect her to apologize for her heated, unfair words? He had been incandescent with rage, and she could not blame him. She should have listened to his explanations before lashing out at him. Their next encounter would be painful, butRowena had to agree she deserved every reproach he deemed fit to address her. After all, she could hardly expect him to endanger the fragile alliance he was building with the Saxons for her sake.
As he’d pointed out, she had no right to expect his help at all. She was worse than nothing to him—she was the woman who wanted him dead. In those circumstances, any other man would not have hesitated in throwing her into Leowald’s arms just to teach her a lesson.
I am not any man.
His words rang in her ear. No, he was like no man she had ever met.
William de la Falaise constantly surprised and intrigued her. At first, she had done her best to suppress those unhelpful feelings, as she could not afford to think about the man in such terms, but as days went by, she found it harder and harder to ignore them.
Had she not witnessed the scene in her stepfather’s study, she would never have credited him with anything other than consideration and open-mindedness. As shehadwitnessed the murder, she knew William capable of ruthless violence.
Still, with her, he had never been rash or disrespectful, doing no more than raising his voice. Even today, when beside himself with rage, he had left the room rather than let her experience the full extent of his displeasure.
And now that she knew she would never kill him, there was nothing stopping her from giving her feelings free rein. This last barrier had been removed.
Lost in her musings, she almost ran into one of the two servants who was coming toward her.
