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The ring of swords drew her attention. She turned her attentions away from her father and concentrated on what was going on in front of her.

Colin might have fallen and his clothing might have been mud-splattered, but apparently he was finished with humoring Osbert.

He seemed to cast every bit of himself into his assault until there seemed to be no separation between him and his blade.

Osbert was allowed no chance to rest and recover.

Whereas he had been the aggressor, now he was fully on the defense and hard-pressed to keep that to an acceptable level.

And then Colin pulled forth strength and skill from a reservoir no merely mortal man should have possessed, and finished Osbert with half a dozen decisive, merciless strokes.

Osbert’s sword went flying.

He went down on his knees.

And Colin turned to the unvanquished of the garrison.

“By twos, now,” he said. “I’ve a mind for some true work this morning.”

Osbert fell over into the mud with a groan.

Her father shook his head. “What a man. Too bad he has no kindness in him. I should have been glad to have him as a son otherwise.”

Ali had to bite back a reply, then bit her tongue anyway when she realized she was near to defending Colin in glowing terms to her sire.

By the saints, she was supposed to want to flee his presence at her earliest opportunity.

She wasn’t supposed to point out any good qualities he might have had.

Had coming home caused her to lose all her wits?

Or had she just seen enough of Colin over the past several weeks to make her realize that he was not entirely the man his reputation made him out to be?

She drew her hand over her eyes and sighed. Her life had become a tangle she wasn’t sure she would ever unravel. Then again, with all the dangerous souls about her, she might have more aid than she wished in unraveling that snarl. She wondered if any of them were nearby to offer her that help.

She looked around her father’s back to see if Sir Etienne had disappeared. At least then she might retrieve her cloak and pull it on before any of her brothers decided to come to the lists to look under her shorn hair to see the kind of man Colin of Berkhamshire took on as a charitable endeavor.

Fortunately, Sir Etienne was gone.

Unfortunately, Marie had come to take his place.

Ali looked around frantically for somewhere to hide, but found nothing but an open field too wide to flee across and stone walls too high to surmount.

“Interesting display,” Marie drawled, coming and slipping her arm through Denis’s. “Don’t you think, my love?”

“Hmmm,” he agreed.

“If anyone can find that disobedient girl, he can, wouldn’t you say?”

“Aye,” came the answer.

“And what a man to take her in hand when he does find her. I’m certain he’ll think up an appropriate punishment for her,” she purred. “That kind of man thinks that way.”

Ali watched as her father shook off Marie’s hand. “I pray he does not. The girl has already suffered enough.”

The change in Marie’s expression was frightening in its swiftness. “You always did pamper that silly twit.”

“She is my daughter, Marie. And I wish to heaven I’d never listened to you and allowed her to be betrothed to that man. I would have her now, safe, instead of wondering what horrible things might have happened to her.”

And with that, he walked away.

Ali looked off over the field, pretending that she hadn’t heard. A pity her father had listened to Marie. If he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have fled.

But then she wouldn’t have known Colin.

And she couldn’t help but feel that knowing him hadn’t been completely without merit.

“Men,” Marie said in disgust. “But you’re one of them, aren’t you?”

Ali only ducked her head and prayed fervently that Marie wouldn’t come any closer.

But she did.

Marie slipped her arm through Ali’s, just as she’d done with her father. “You’re his man,” she said softly. “What is he like? Have you seen him with any women?”

Ali shook her head.

“But he’s cruel, is he not? Hard and unyielding? Surely a man like that has no gentleness in him.”

Something Marie didn’t sound displeased by in the least.

Ali could only nod and wonder how she might possibly extricate herself from this situation. She began to sidle to the right, but Marie was having none of that. Her fingers dug into Ali’s upper arm to hold her.

“Skinny, aren’t you?” she asked. “And pretty, for a knight.”

Then she said no more. Ali didn’t dare look at her.

But suddenly she found that she had no choice.

Marie’s claw had grasped her by the chin and wrenched her face around.

Ali tried to look away, but that was even less successful than avoiding Marie in the first place.

She found herself soon with no choice but to meet her stepmother’s eyes.

The triumph in those eyes was complete.

“Well,” Marie breathed with a slow smile. “What do we have here?”

Ali found, quite suddenly, that she couldn’t breathe. Terror? Nay, she’d never felt it before, if this paralyzing stuff that washed over her at present was what it truly felt like.

“My lady, you’re frightening my little lad.”

A large hand came to rest gently around Marie’s wrist.

“Release him, if you will.”

Ali wondered how it was that Colin had arrived to rescue her so quickly.

Well, never mind that; he was there and that was all that mattered.

She jerked her arm away from Marie, leaped behind Colin, and used him as a fine, large barrier to hide behind.

Who would have thought he would become her deliverer? She closed her eyes and began to pray.

“Why, that is quite a womanly guardsman you have there, to my mind,” Marie said smoothly.

“And it pains him, believe me,” Colin said, “so I try not to speak of it overmuch. Now, might I escort you back inside? Surely this weather is too foul for a lady such as yourself to endure.”

Marie tried to look around Colin’s shoulder, but Colin stepped to block her view. Then he gave Marie no choice but to accept his arm and go back toward the hall. Ali kept Colin between herself and her stepmother, then snatched up her cloak and pulled it around her and over her face.

But she knew in her heart it was too late.

Marie knew.

All that remained was to see when Marie would choose to reveal her. It would be, no doubt, at the worst possible moment.

She wondered if she might manage to escape through the gates before the alarm was sounded.

She tried right then, but she suddenly found herself hauled back alongside Colin by the back of her cloak.

His grip said that he wasn’t about to let her go.

She was thereby forced to listen to him converse with Marie.

It occurred to her as they reached the great hall that he was certainly babbling about more unimportant things than she’d ever heard in her life, but perhaps victory did that to a man.

Though she’d seen Colin vanquish others before and he certainly hadn’t frothed at the mouth in quite this manner.

She found herself dragged into the great hall and could do nothing but allow it. Sir Etienne was standing near the fire in the midst of the hall.

“Tonight,” he snarled at her as she passed. “His solar.”

She rolled her eyes as she continued her unwilling journey across the floor. First Sir Etienne, then Marie, then Sir Etienne reminding her of the thievery she must commit. Could anyone else arrive to make a demand of her?

A breathless squire began trotting alongside her.

“My lord Berkhamshire is astonishing, isn’t he?” he panted.

Ali glared at him. As if she wanted to discuss any exploits of the man who refused to let go of her at present!

“Tell me of him, won’t you?” said another who had suddenly appeared at his fellow’s side. “It must be exciting traveling with him. Danger, intrigue, secret assignments.”

Ali would have snorted, but her tunic was beginning to strangle her and she didn’t have the air for it. She was finally deposited against the wall; Colin took his seat next to Marie and began regaling her with all manner of tales Ali was almost certain he was making up on the spot.

Then again, the man simply couldn’t lie.

Could he have actually leaped from windows thusly? Vanquished scores of enemies with but himself and his sword? Been paid such vast sums of gold for mercenary endeavors?

The squires were panting at her side, listening with their mouths hanging open and their tongues lolling out in disbelief.

For herself, Ali could have wished for far less danger, intrigue, and secret assignments.

And when Marie threw a single smile over her shoulder at Ali, she knew she was on the verge of experiencing far too much of all three.