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Ral spent the next two days fortifying the castle. With food supplies short and Malvern’s forces cutting off the village, he was uncertain how long they could stave off their attackers. Still, he intended to hold his ground for as long as he possibly could.

Though he said naught to Caryn, he knew that should help not reach them in time, Stephen would give no quarter. It would be certain death for him—and an even worse fate for Caryn.

On the third day of their return, the guard signaled movement outside the walls of the castle.

Climbing the steep stone stairs to the battlements above the keep, Ral watched in grim fascination as Malvern’s men swept into the field across from the drawbridge, his green and white pennants flying, lines of armor flashing in the sun.

Behind him, Beltar’s forces moved into position around the castle.

Ral’s hands unconsciously fisted. All too soon, the siege would begin. He shuddered to think of the dismal conditions they would be forced to endure, the hunger and disease, the violent deaths his people would suffer, not only here, but also in the village.

He remembered such battles in his past, remembered men walking over the bodies of their fallen comrades, piled into the moat to form a bridge. He remembered boiling oil rained down through the brattice, remembered men screaming in agony as they suffered a fiery death worse than hell itself.

He remembered only too well and yet there was nothing he could do.

Only time could save them. Time for the knights he had summoned to arrive. Time for support from the king.

From his place atop the parapet, Ral watched his enemy’s army assemble.

With Braxston’s archers and men-at-arms at the ready, with their arrows notched and shields in place, with good men manning the walls, they awaited the first assault.

Hearing movement behind him, he turned to see Caryn pull open the door that led outside, step out on the parapet and walk toward him.

Worry tightened her features and uncertainty darkened her eyes.

When she reached his side, she leaned toward him, and he drew her against his chest.

“I am glad that you have come,” he said softly.

She glanced out at the army in the field. “I was lonely. I missed you and the uncertainty is torture. At times, I think that the waiting is the worst part.”

“Nay, cherie, it only seems so until the fighting begins.”

“Can we hold them?”

“For a time. After that, ’twill rest in the hands of God.

” He looked out at the hundreds of men in the assembled army, at the siege tower and the catapult being shoved into position.

A battering ram waited in the distance beside a giant, metal-plated tortoise that would serve as cover while the men worked to construct a makeshift bridge.

Stephen is well-prepared, Ral thought bitterly, his stomach twisting at the thought of what lay ahead.

He glanced down at Caryn, felt her soft body against him, and for a moment forgot the hellish days they must endure.

Instead, he noticed the sunlight reflecting on her flame-dark hair, the way it glistened and shimmered.

He recalled the silky feel of it as he had taken her last night in their bed.

He had needed her fiercely, and she had filled that need again and again, her feminine curves enticing him, her body responding, becoming so much a part of him they had seemed almost one.

He touched her cheek, tilted her chin with his hand. “There is something I would say to you. Something I should have told you long before this.” Her fine dark auburn brow arched up and he smoothed it with his finger.

“What is it, Ral?”

“’Tis not a thing easy for me to say. In truth, for a time, I did not believe such a feeling existed.

Since I have met you… since you have become my wife…

I have discovered it does most surely exist, and I am the most fortunate of men to have known it.

” He smiled at her with all the tenderness he felt in his heart.

“I love you, Cara. I have known it for some time, but I could not say the words. I love you and for me there can be no other woman. Not now. Not ever.”

Tears filled her eyes and she spoke his name softly, her hand coming up to his cheek. “I never thought to hear you say it. I prayed for a day such as this, but in my heart, I did not believe it would happen.”

“I should have told you sooner. Mayhap if I had there would have been less hurt between us.”

“’Twas I who should have spoken, but I was afraid of losing you. You are the husband of my heart and I will love you forever.”

“Cara…” Ral bent his head and kissed her, a tender, gentle kiss to show her the love in his heart.

When he finished, he held her against him, looking over her head toward the field that would soon erupt in battle.

Death surrounded them, yet he felt content as he never had before.

Caryn leaned into him and he tightened hi s arms around her, holding her for long, achingly tender moments.

If only he could be certain of her safety, what happened on the morrow would not matter. Ral stared at the mighty forces they faced, at the death and destruction just beyond the walls, and knew he could be certain of naught.

***

The wind blew bitterly across the parapet, tugging at Caryn’s braided hair. For a while she had been able to escape the harsh reality of men about to make war, of lives to be lost, of the horror about to begin.

“They have been ready for some time,” she finally said, breaking into the silence. “Why do they not attack?”

Ral shook his head. “I do not know.”

“Our men seem more than ready. ’Tis a comfort to know you have trained them so well.”

“Aye. ’Tis an advantage we will need, to be sure.”

They watched and waited a good while longer, till a man on the tower shouted down to Ral and pointed wildly toward the field. In an instant she saw the reason, for behind Stephen’s army, another group of armored men and horses appeared.

“Dear God,” she whispered, her stomach going hollow, “he has enlisted even yet more men.”

Tense and strained, Ral stepped toward the edge of the parapet, then to her surprise, he smiled. “Nay, my love. ’Tis King William’s army, no other.”

“William? If that is so, why does Beltar ride with him?” ’Twas for certain that he did.

Through the center of the encampment next to William, who sat tall and proud, stout and aloof in the saddle.

The king rode toward them, Beltar to one side, Stephen on the other.

A meeting of some sort had occurred, it would seem, for as they drew near, it was obvious Beltar bowed to William’s command—and Stephen was bound in chains .

“Come,” Ral said. “With William arrived, we are safe.” His hand rode at her waist as he guided her back inside the keep.

She could feel his relief in every powerful stride, and her own relief grew with each step they took down the stairs.

Recalling the words of love he had spoken, her own love soared.

He had pledged his heart and committed himself to their future.

With the king’s arrival, and an end to Malvern’s treachery, that future had only begun.

They made their way down the stairs and across the great hall, then down the wooden stairs leading out to the bailey.

“Wait for me here,” Ral said with a reassuring smile and a quick kiss on the lips.

Anticipating his needs, his squire had Satan saddled and ready, the huge black destrier prancing and pawing the earth.

Ral swung effortlessly up on the horse’s back, though he wore his heavy chain mail, and Aubrey handed him his conical helmet.

As Ral pulled it on, Odo and Girart and twenty mounted knights rode toward him across the bailey.

Calling for the drawbridge to be lowered, Ral nudged the black horse forward.

The stallion clattered across the heavy timbers then they reached the opposite side, the men making a well-formed column behind them.

As the last of the knights crossed the bridge, Caryn raced toward the gatehouse, arriving at the same time Ambra did.

“’Tis Lambert and Hugh,” the slender girl said, pointing excitedly toward the men in the field. “I could see them from my window. William must have set out for Malvern the moment he received news of Lord Stephen’s betrayal.”

“Thank the Blessed Virgin. I had not dared to hope for such a thing. ”

“What think you of Beltar? He seems to have sided with the king.”

“The man may be ruthless, but he is no fool. I do not believe he ever intended to incur King William’s disfavor.

He has far too much to lose. Once William learned of Stephen’s alignment with the Ferret and the part he must have played in the attack on his tax collector, Beltar was forced to withdraw his support. ”

“And without it and against such odds,” Ambra said, “Stephen’s own men would surely turn against him.”

Caryn smiled. “Aye. ’Tis certain that is what happened.”

They reached the top of the stairs, Caryn’s heart pounding with excitement, and looked out across the field toward the armies of armored men.

Close to the front, the king and his lords were talking, arguing heatedly, it seemed.

Oddly, when they had finished, Ral dismounted and so did Lord Stephen.

Someone cut Malvern’s bonds and to Caryn’s horror handed him a sword.

“Sweet God in heaven,” she whispered as Ral pulled his own sword from its scabbard.

“They mean to fight,” Ambra said.

“Aye.” The word came out brittle and shaky. No matter that Ral was the finest warrior in the land, no matter that his body was honed to perfection, Stephen de Montreale was no coward. He was tough and strong and he was desperate. God only knew what he would gain should Ral be defeated.

Her fingers trembled against the wooden support beneath the roof of the gatehouse. Blessed Virgin, please let him win.

The men raised their blades and the ring of metal against metal echoed across the field with each clanging blow.

Caryn shivered at the sound, desperately afraid for her husband, willing him not to lose.

Stephen’s thrusts were clean and fiercely delivered, yet they were sporatic, as if the events of the day had somehow dulled his senses.

Still, he fought like a madman. Had Ral not met each of his blows with cool control, the man would have seen him dead.

As it was, Malvern soon began to tire and Ral’s heavy blows began to take their toll. Blood appeared on Stephen’s tunic, a streak of bright red visible even from the distance.

A blow sliced into his thigh and he went down on one knee then came back with a vicious arc of his blade that nearly caught Ral full force.

He blocked the blow, but in doing so, left himself open.

Caryn held her breath, her knuckles white as Stephen lunged toward him, sure his blade would connect with Ral’s chest. Instead, Ral stepped backward and at the same time thrust his blade forward, the tip sinking in, driving deep into Stephen’s malevolent heart.

For a moment the handsome blond lord just stood there, unable to respond, unwilling to believe that in an instant he would be dead. Then he toppled over, falling like a broken twig sailing toward the earth.

Caryn released a small sob of relief, her hand going up to her throat, tears burning the backs of her eyes.

“He is all right, my lady,” Ambra said, smiling and gripping her hand.

“Aye. Thank God he is safe.”

Even before Stephen’s body was dragged away, Beltar signaled to his men and they began to pull back from their positions.

The king said something to Ral then turned to his knights and continued to call out orders.

Mounting Satan, Ral motioned to his men and they rode back toward the castle, giving Caryn a chance to climb down from the platform and make her way across the bailey to await his return.

With her heart pounding nearly as fast as her feet, she reached the base of the wooden stairs leading inside the keep and turned to look for Ral.

She smiled as she watched him riding forward, sitting his huge black horse so straight and proud.

In minutes, he stood before her, a radiant smile on his face.

“The fighting is ended,” he said, “even before it has begun.”

“Aye. ’Twould seem God has answered our prayers.”

“Stephen is dead. His lands and those of his sister have been confiscated by the king. We are safe from his villany at last.”

“What of the villagers?” she asked. “Their homes sat in his path. Have they suffered greatly from Malvern’s mistreatment?”

“There was a good deal of raiding, but no one was hurt. The king has agreed to replace the villeins stores from the riches at Malvern.”

“And the bounty?”

“Is ours. Braxston’s people will at last have the land they deserve.”

Caryn went into his arms and he held her against his mail-clad chest. “I love you, Ral.”

He smiled, his eyes alight with joy, his hold one of fierce possession. “’Twould please me greatly should you come with me upstairs and show me just how much.”

“But the king—”

“William will not arrive before supper. Richard can see that the hall is made ready.”

Caryn smiled, leaned forward, and kissed him on the lips. “Then ’twould be a pleasure to accompany you, my lord.”

Ral tipped her chin with his fingers, bent his head and kissed her, long and deep. “I love you, wife of my heart,” he said softly. Sweeping her into his arms, he smiled as he headed for the stairs.