Denys dismounted. Silently, he went over to her, close enough to remove the satchels she was carrying on her back. Once he removed them completely, he nearly staggered with the weight.

“God’s Bones,” he muttered. “What do you have in here? Rocks?”

Delaina wasn’t comfortable enough with him to tell him what, exactly, she was carrying, so she simply nodded. “Nearly,” she said. “Where will you take me?”

Slinging her satchels over one big shoulder and indicating his horse with an extended arm, he began to move toward his steed. “Come, my lady,” he said, returning to a polite demeanor now that she was acting in kind. “I know of a place.”

Delaina looked at him. “Where?”

He showed her.

*

“You did what ?” Magnus said, shocked.

“I took her to The Pox,” Denys said.

Magnus’ jaw dropped. “The Pox?” he repeated, aghast. “You took her to that sordid place?”

Denys nodded. “Thing about it, Magnus,” he said.

“She could not be safer anyplace else. All of the doors to the chambers that are rented are reinforced with iron, with great big bolts on them. An army of barbarians could not break through those doors if they tried. It seemed to me that it would be the safest place for her if she is running from Daventry’s son. That’s the last place he’ll look.”

Magnus had to admit there was some sound logic there.

He wouldn’t have picked The Pox, the seediest, most questionable tavern in London, but Denys did have a point.

Because of the clientele it had, the rented chambers were like prison cells.

Even the walls were reinforced, or so he’d heard.

The owner of the place had grown weary of constantly replacing doors and walls, so he’d had them built with oak and iron to keep paying patrons safe.

But it was still no place for a lady.

“I suppose there is some wisdom in your decision,” he said after a moment, raking his fingers through his hair. “But that place…”

“I know.”

“And how long does she intend to remain?”

Denys shook his head. “I do not know,” he said. “She was not even going to accept my help until I told her she was being stupid about it. She seemed… panicked.”

Magnus frowned. “Panicked, indeed,” he said. “She seems to think Daventry’s son will be after her now that the father is gone.”

Denys shrugged. “Whatever her fear, it was enough to drive her out into the night with two satchels strapped to her back.”

Magnus looked at him in disbelief. “Truly?”

“Truly. Heavy ones, too.”

That was the measure of the lady’s fear. Not that Magnus had discounted it, but perhaps he hadn’t given enough credit to her terror. Clearly, Denys had seen the proof.

Another interesting event in a long and eventful night.

Magnus had been reflecting on their conversation since Delaina departed Westminster.

Somehow, someway, he was certain that he must have given her the wrong impression of his intentions, and, if so, the burden of the bad behavior was on him.

He couldn’t imagine what he’d done, but hearing that Denys had called her stupid for her stubborn behavior somehow gave him hope that he might be able to smooth things over with her and genuinely be of some assistance.

If she’d allowed Denys to escort her to The Pox, then perhaps there was reason to be optimistic that Magnus could help the woman somehow.

She seemed badly in need of it.

“I should have put more stock in the fear she tried to relay to me,” Magnus said after a moment.

“She seemed nervous, but not reckless. The truth is that women like Lady Delaina are property. A possession and nothing more. I do not blame her for wanting to leave that life, but I admit that I’m curious to know how she fell into it at all. ”

Denys shrugged. “Who knows?” he said. “I will say that I’ve never seen a woman quite as beautiful as her. She has something over a mere mortal woman.”

Magnus grunted in agreement. “True,” he said. Then he glanced back at the hall, hearing the distant sounds of the feast, the music and the laughter. “Speaking of mortals, they’re going to be there all night. Mayhap I’ll slip over to The Pox to see if the lady needs further assistance.”

“Why?” Denys asked. “She did not ask for any further help from me. She’s not keen to have us around, you know.”

“I know,” Magnus said. “But she’s a helpless woman. We would be remiss to dump her at The Pox and simply leave her there to fend for herself. A woman of that beauty? It’s pure madness to leave her alone.”

Denys’ gaze lingered on him a moment. “Magnus,” he said. “Forgive me for overstepping, but why the insistence on helping her? We’ve known other women to suffer some measure of discomfort or tragedy during our service, but you seem to be going out of your way for Lady Delaina. Why?”

Magnus paused, considering the question. “I don’t know,” he said. “There’s something about her that makes me feel a good deal of pity for her, I suppose. As a knight, we are sworn to protect the weak.”

“She’s not weak.”

“She’s a lone woman.”

“She’s not your duty.”

“I am well aware,” Magnus said, starting to become annoyed.

“Are you wondering if I am attracted to her? I would have to be dead not to feel some kind of attraction toward her, but it will go no further. She’s a courtesan, Denys.

Do you know what my mother would do to me if I came home with a courtesan on my arm? ”

Denys grinned. “Probably the same thing my mother would do to me.”

“Exactly.”

A faint roar of laughter came from the hall again, causing both knights to turn to see if they could isolate the cause of the revelry. But there was nothing obvious. After a moment, Denys turned back to Magnus.

“If you are going to go to The Pox, then you’d better hurry,” he said. “I’ll need your help with the drunken warlords when they want to go home.”

Those were essentially the same words Magnus had spoken to Denys when the man had departed to follow Lady Delaina, and Magnus grinned, dipping his head in acknowledgement before rushing off into the darkness, toward the stables across the road.

Denys watched him go, the smile fading from his face. Magnus seemed awfully concerned for a woman he’d just met, which wasn’t like him. The Magnus he knew didn’t notice women. They certainly noticed him, but he simply didn’t have time for them.

Except one.

Apparently, he had time for the one he shouldn’t make time for at all.

And that wasn’t a good thing.

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