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“I daresay we could take a day or two and linger here. Don’t you think?”

“Um...”

She pushed him back inside the bedchamber, shut the door, and put her arms around him.

“We’d best make certain our marriage is completely seen to, aye?”

“Completely seen to?” he echoed weakly.

“Consummated.”

“That’s what I suspected you were referring to.”

She leaned up on her toes and very gently kissed him. He remained perfectly still, lest she bump her nose and begin screaming again. She sank back down and frowned at him.

“You aren’t very enthusiastic about this,” she said sternly.

“I fear I will harm you.”

“You won’t.”

“But I already have—”

“Then you have that out of the way, don’t you?” She patted him on the back. “Now, where is our food? I’m certain you’ll need something to strengthen you for your labors.”

Damn, but the woman was persuasive.

“It will also annoy my brothers to be forced to wait on us half the morning.”

“Half the morning?” he asked weakly.

“Too long?” she asked with a glint in her eye. “Haven’t you the fortitude?”

He managed to hoist one eyebrow. “I smell a challenge.”

“Do you indeed.”

He set her aside, opened the door, and looked impatiently down the passageway.

To his satisfaction, he saw the page coming back down at a dead run.

The lad skidded to a halt, then pointed back down the passageway where Cook himself was coming along, followed by several helpers.

Colin beckoned to the cook. He allowed them to set the food down on a table, then unceremoniously ushered them back out.

He bolted the door, then turned to his wife.

“Strength for my labors.”

“Strengthen away, my lord.”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“Aye, I’ll eat enough to suit me.”

He set to his breakfast with single-mindedness, in preparation for the heavy labors to follow. Who knew when he might be at liberty to eat again?

He cleaned off most of the surfaces, but stopped just short of pulling things out of Aliénore’s hands. And then once he was finished, he wiped his hands on his hose, dragged his sleeve across his mouth, and turned to his bride.

“Finished.”

“So I see.”

His palms were, unaccountably, quite slippery. Damnation, not even an unevenly matched battle produced this kind of nervousness in him.

“Cast yourself into the fray, my lord,” she encouraged.

“I’d feel more secure with a sword in my hands.”

She laughed. “Well, you cannot bring one to your marriage bed. Why don’t you use kisses as your weapon of choice? Remember what you said, that if you began to kiss me, you might not be able to stop—”

Aye, he remembered that well enough.

So he very carefully reached out with his battle-scarred hands and touched her face. He shifted on the bench, praying that the creaking did not herald the bloody thing’s total collapse, and leaned forward.

And managed to bump her nose with his own.

Was that a whimper or a moan?

He would have pulled back, but her hand was suddenly clutching the back of his head in an inescapable grip. Damnation, where had this wench acquired that strength?

And then the sweetness of her lips commanded nothing short of his full attention. Which led to other things, of course, just as he’d known it would.

It was a burden, at times, always having things aright.

C olin wasn’t certain what time it was when he finally stumbled from his chamber. Noon? Dusk? Was that sunrise or sunset, coming inside through the arrow loops?

Damned if he knew—or cared for that matter.

He looked at the woman who walked by his side with her hand in his. She smiled up at him pleasantly. Well, she looked no worse for the wear, save her nose, of course. He suspected that he might be a bit pale and drawn though, thanks to the wear on his own sweet self.

The woman would have made an awful nun.

She’d told him so herself at one point during their lengthy and quite satisfactory marital interlude. He’d been appalled that she’d even considered such a thing. The lengths he had driven her to ...

He contemplated the potential for such pleasant marital exploits over the next few days as he led Aliénore down the passageway and down the stairs to the great hall.

Perhaps they would remain at Solonge a bit longer.

After all, Jason would probably appreciate another few days of rest at the priory.

It would be the unselfish thing. The generous thing.

The very least he could do to ensure his wife’s happiness.

That decided, he walked into the great hall anticipating a fine meal and perhaps an immediate return to bed.

Unfortunately, a calm repast was not what he found awaiting him.

The hall was full of guards, Aliénore’s brothers were pacing about with their hands on their swords, and Lord Denis looked as if the entire English army had announced they were laying siege to his keep. Colin walked quickly to the high table and stopped in front of his father-in-law.

“What is it?” he asked.

Denis turned to look at him, his face ashen. “Marie has escaped along with that cretin from Maignelay. They took a dozen guardsmen with them.”

Colin felt himself sway. He never swayed. That he should do so surely indicated fully the depths of his anxiety for his bride.

Of course, he felt none for himself. He had no fear of anyone, especially a vindictive woman and a boastful, arrogant buffoon. Twelve men to dispatch only gave him the almost unbearable urge to rub his hands together in anticipation.

He would have, had he not felt a goodly bit of apprehension for Aliénore. He made a decision.

“We’ll leave immediately,” he announced, tossing Aliénore a look. She only nodded, so he turned back to her father. “How long ago did they escape, do you think?”

“Not long,” Denis replied. “At the changing of the guard, no doubt. Four hours at most.”

“A guard was bribed?”

“Slain. Two of them.”

“You, my lord, have traitors in your household,” Colin said sternly. “Best discover them quickly. Who knows how else they might betray you?” He took a deep breath, then looked at Aliénore. “Pack our gear, lady, and don your mail shirt. I’ll see to stores. We’ll leave within the hour.”

“I’ll come as well,” Denis said. “And bring guards—”

“Nay,” Colin said. “We’ll not travel as an army.”

“But how do you intend to protect my girl?” Denis demanded. “How can you possibly—”

The man seemed to realize what he was saying and whom he was talking to, for he suddenly swallowed the rest of his words. He nodded—though a bit too reluctantly, to Colin’s eye.

“Of course. But I will still come. If nothing else, I will plunge the knife into Marie’s deceitful breast as I should have done days ago. The evil she’s wrought has been by my inaction. I will see it righted.”

“Can you wield a sword?” Colin asked doubtfully.

“Can he?” said Francois with disdain. “Of course he can. Likely show you a new thing or two. And if not him, I surely can.”

Colin eyed him with disfavor. Hadn’t he given Francois enough instruction in the lists earlier? Had he not left the man trembling in terror, quaking with respect, positively shivering with the knowledge of his own failings?

Obviously the lout had a very short memory.

“I’ll come as well, for you’ll need my skill and advice,” Francois announced. “And we’ll bring Pierre.”

“I’ll not have an army,” Colin insisted. “We’ll use stealth.”

“I can be stealthy,” Francois said, puffing up his chest. “And I’m powerfully clever.”

By the saints, was he eternally doomed to be surrounded by idiots?

Colin very much doubted that Francois had ever done anything clever in his life, but he suspected that he and his brother would likely come even if he said them nay.

Well, at least he would be burdened by two and not five.

Ali’s other brothers looked perfectly content to stay behind and guard the larder.

Well, perhaps the best way to travel unnoticed was to take these two brothers and her sire with him. It would save them popping up at an inopportune moment and ruining all hope of secrecy, or ending their lives by mistake.

“Within the hour, then,” Colin agreed heavily. “Whoever isn’t ready, stays behind.”

Francois snorted. Pierre shivered. Denis merely turned and started very quietly issuing orders to only a pair of men. Colin turned to Aliénore.

“Perhaps I should go with you upstairs—”

She shook her head. “I can protect myself.”

“You cannot hesitate,” he stated. “If you must strike, you must strike a fatal blow without hesitation.”

“Colin, I know. Besides, the keep is now safe.”

“So we thought this morning, and see where it has led us.”

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Trust me. If it comes to that, I can do what I need to.”

He suppressed the urge to haul her into his arms and never allow her to escape. She had things aright. She could surely see to herself for a few minutes. He looked at her sternly. “I’ll meet you here in a quarter hour. Don’t be late.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

He looked to see if she was teasing him, but found that she was completely in earnest. He nodded, satisfied, then turned and made his way to the kitchen. Though Lord Denis’s man was there as well, Colin preferred to see to his own supplies.

He, of course, received attention before anyone else, and he chose quickly and saw his kit packed with the same amount of haste. He returned to find Aliénore coming down the stairs with their small saddlebags and bedrolls. Pierre was following, reverently holding Colin’s mail.

Colin accepted aid in putting it on. He looked at Pierre critically afterward and decided that perhaps this lad might make something of himself after all, especially if he managed to not follow after Francois in habits and comportment. He gave the lad a nod of thanks, then turned to his lady.

He took the gear from her, hefted the food as well, and then motioned toward the door.

Her family could follow or not, as they would.

He had no intention of giving Marie and her foolish henchmen any more time to plan an ambush than they had already.

With any luck, she and Sir Etienne would be still looking for a stream to wash off the filth of the dungeon.

Colin was momentarily tempted to remain, find the traitors, and punish them appropriately for their treachery, but like as not, the traitors were the dozen who had gone with Marie.

Besides, he could afford to waste no more time.

After all, he couldn’t defend against an arrow coming from the shadows.

The sooner he left and the harder they rode, the safer they would be.

He sincerely hoped that young de Piaget was ready to travel.

If not, Colin fully intended to leave him behind.

He paused in the courtyard at the touch of a hand on his. He looked down at Aliénore, who was smiling up at him. He tried to smile in return, but he suspected he wasn’t very successful.

“All will be well,” she said.

“I’ll rest easy when his head adorns my gates and she is fertilizing my garden,” he said grimly.

“She would certainly deserve it,” Aliénore agreed. “I daresay my mother was not her first victim. Berengaria said as much.”

He shivered. “What that woman knows ...”

“A pity we don’t have her here to ask about this,” Aliénore said.

“She couldn’t help,” Colin said. “All we need is what I can provide. I don’t envy the fools when we find them.”

“Neither do I,” she murmured.

He patted her back, then watched as the stable master brought their horses. Only it was just one horse he brought. He looked at Colin with consternation.

“The lady Aliénore’s horse is missing,” he said. “Gone.”

No doubt Sir Etienne or one of the lads had it. Colin sighed. “Have you another beast of the same quality? I will pay you well for it.”

The stable master looked over his shoulder and nodded to one of his hands. Another horse was brought, Colin’s purse was lightened, and he dismissed the stable master to quickly pack their gear.

Unfortunately, they weren’t through the gates before her family was riding along behind them. Colin scowled and turned his face forward. There was no hope for secrecy now. They would just have to rely on speed to save them.

That and his sword.

He spared a brief thought for the very pleasant and productive morning he’d spent with his bride. He looked at her to find her watching him with a smile.

It was the same sort of smile she’d been wearing an hour before.

“I am less than pleased about this hasty journey,” he announced.

“I daresay you are,” she said dryly.

“And you aren’t?”

“If you’ll remember, my lord, ’twas I who suggested we might pause for a few days at Solonge and tend our marriage.”

“I had been about to suggest it,” he said archly.

She laughed at him.

Damn her.

He scowled, but it was without much irritation behind it. “I suppose you have it aright,” he admitted unwillingly. “Rest assured, however, that I will make certain in the future that you have ample chance for adequate rests on our journey.”

“You are a most solicitous husband,” she said solemnly.

He grunted at her, spared her one last look, spared one last thought of regret for the comfortable bed they’d left behind at Solonge, and then turned his attentions to the task at hand.

Namely, reaching the priory with everyone intact, especially Aliénore.

Now that he’d finally managed to wed her and bed her, he certainly wasn’t going to allow anyone to take her away from him.

He pitied the souls who might try.