Page 27

S he could hear voices.

Delaina wasn’t certain how long she had been hearing them.

They were muffled at first, only to disappear.

Darkness fell again. Then the voices came back, louder than before, and someone was putting something cold and wet against the back of her head.

It stung. The light and brightness of the world exploded around her, and she was awake, having no idea where she was or who was talking around her. In a panic, she struggled to sit up.

“Easy, lady.”

Someone was holding on to her, keeping her in a supine position. She wasn’t on the floor, because whatever lay beneath her was soft. Delaina stopped struggling, but her head was throbbing. Wincing, she opened her eyes to the chamber around her.

People were standing over her, looking down on her. Blinking, she tried to orient herself. There were several men around her that she didn’t recognize.

But one she did.

Hugh Despenser was looking down at her with concern.

“Lady Delaina?” he said. “Can you hear me?”

Delaina blinked again, putting a shaking hand to her head. “I hear you,” she said. “Where am I?”

“How do you feel?”

“Terrible.”

He held up two fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

She blinked, looking at the fat digits. “Two.”

Hugh smiled with relief. “Saints be praised,” he said. Then he looked off into the chamber, fixing on whoever was there. “You fools could have hurt her severely. Be grateful that you did not damage something, because I would have taken it out on your hide.”

“She was fighting, my lord,” a man said. “She was causing a ruckus, and we had to stop her.”

“You did not have to hit her with the hilt of a sword.”

“Would you prefer she attract attention, my lord?” the man said. “I thought we were trying to be discreet.”

Hugh grunted unhappily, waving his hand at the men. “Get out,” he said. “And take the other women you brought with you. I have no need of them.”

“Do we return them to The Pox?”

“Take them back and leave them,” he said. “Give them a coin and tell them not to mention they were brought to Westminster. Is that clear?”

“It is, my lord.”

Delaina could hear the door open and close as the men departed the chamber. Hugh returned his focus to her. When their eyes met, he smiled.

It was a frightening sight.

“I am glad you are not badly injured, though you should remain still,” he said. “It has been a few years since we last saw one another. Do you remember me?”

Delaina still had her hand on her head. “I do,” she said. “Despenser the Elder.”

Hugh nodded. “That is correct,” he said. “I am sorry to hear about Daventry. He was well liked.”

Delaina didn’t know what to say to that.

She was feeling groggy and nauseated, so she simply closed her eyes.

It was then that she realized someone was either holding her head or had an arm behind her.

She could feel fingers and something fleshy supporting her neck.

Opening her eyes, she craned her neck back a little to see that a man in mail and a royal tunic was behind her, supporting her.

Instinctively, she recoiled.

“Stay still, my lady,” the man said. “I swear you will not be harmed. Everything will be well, I promise.”

Delaina thought she recognized the voice. She’d heard it before. With a burst of strength, she sat up, recoiling from whomever was supporting her only to see that it was another face she recognized.

Her confusion grew.

“Sir Denys?”

Denys had been kneeling next to the couch where Delaina was lying.

In fact, he hadn’t left her since he’d seen a few of Hugh’s men, royal soldiers whom Hugh paid personally, bringing three women onto the grounds of Westminster.

They were carrying one of them, and given the brilliant and distinctive hair color, he recognized Delaina right away.

He had no idea how they had managed to get their hands on her, but Magnus was nowhere to be seen, and his concern, and perhaps even fear, consumed him.

Taking Loring St. Aldwyn with him, Denys and his big weapon had intercepted the men at sword-point, demanding they give the lady over to him, but they would not.

He threatened, and they refused. An odd standoff in the ward of Westminster went on for several minutes until Hugh himself had been notified of the issue.

It was his personal appearance that broke up the standoff, but only after the men agreed to turn Delaina over to Denys.

He’d carried her into Hugh’s apartments personally.

He’d also tended her personally, for she had a walnut-sized lump on the back of her head.

He was as confused as she was, to be truthful, because he had no idea what had happened and was trying desperately to remain neutral so that he would be allowed to remain with Delaina.

Loring, however, had been sent away, but not before Denys muttered to him:

Find Magnus in London.

No one seemed to know what was going on.

But Hugh knew. He knew very well what was going on, even if no one else in the chamber did.

As the moist river breeze filtered in through his windows, he faced Delaina as she sat up on one of his fine couches, gripping the sides to steady herself.

He had one of his servants pull up a cushioned chair so he could sit as he addressed her. He moved his appraising gaze over her.

“It has been some time since I last saw you,” he said. “I was right. Like a fine wine, you’ve only grown more beautiful with age.”

Delaina heard him, but she was more interested in why Denys was there and why she was there. She looked around the room, as much as her woozy head would allow, but there was no Magnus.

Then it began to come back to her.

Hugh Despenser knows of Daventry’s death, and he further knows that you, the Ruby, were in Daventry’s possession. He has asked me to bring you to him, but I will not do it.

Magnus wasn’t here, but Hugh was here. Denys was here.

Did Denys bring her to Hugh?

She was more confused than ever.

“What am I doing here?” she said, her voice quavering. “Why did you bring me here?”

Hugh didn’t seem moved by her obvious fear. “You are a Jewel, my dear,” he said. “Jewels must be protected.”

“That does not explain why I am here.”

Hugh sat back in his chair. “You are very valuable, Lady Delaina,” he said plainly. “You are valuable to me and to the king. We simply could not let you hide away. Your role in the kingdom is an important one.”

He made it sound much more than it was, as if she was part of something grand. But Delaina knew the truth. She knew what her life really was.

“I am no one of importance,” she said. “If I hide away, as you say, you can simply find another young woman to replace me.”

Hugh held up a finger. “Untrue,” he said.

“Much time and money has been spent on you, making you who you are today. You have been trained in the art of seduction and love. You have been educated in all the noble subjects, a woman above all women. You are a courtesan, and a finer one has never lived. When Daventry died, that left you without a lord, and you are too valuable not to utilize. Like the greatest treasure, you must be given only to the worthiest man.”

That was exactly what she didn’t want. Delaina’s head was clearing a little more with his praiseful explanation, and it was a struggle not to become physically ill.

Here she was, back where she didn’t want to be, back in the royal fold to be used for royal purposes.

That had been her life for years. A life she had run from.

Just when she thought she might actually break free, with a possible future with a man she actually wanted, something terrible had happened.

She hadn’t broken free at all.

She was worse off than she was before.

Without anything to say to Hugh, nothing by way of argument, she simply hung her head. It was aching, and she was feeling sick, so she couldn’t stop the tears that were forming. It was all such a bloody nightmare. Every hope and dream she had given thought to since Daventry’s death was finished.

She was finished.

“I would not worry, Lady Delaina,” Hugh said, not oblivious to her upset. “I have a fine lord in mind for you. He is a powerful man and would treat you well. You are quite valuable, my lady, and no man will mistreat something of value. Aren’t you grateful?”

Delaina refused to answer.

Hugh frowned. “Well?” he demanded. “What do you have to say to all of this? You will be taken care of. Does that not please you?”

Those words weren’t helping her. He was trying to bully her.

She put a hand to her face, wiping away the tears that were falling faster now.

When Hugh realized she wasn’t going to reply to him, he grew annoyed.

In his mind, she was doing something important, something she was suited for.

He couldn’t understand why she didn’t see it the same way.

But she didn’t.

Hugh wasn’t the only one who realized that.

Denys did, too. He’d been watching the exchange carefully, seeing that it was only going to get worse, especially when Magnus arrived.

He’d sent Loring for his friend and knew it was only a matter of time before Magnus made an appearance.

Perhaps he didn’t agree with Magnus’ affection toward a courtesan, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t unsympathetic to what Magnus was feeling.

As Denys has told him, he was surrounded by brothers who were in love with their wives.

He knew the extent that a man in love would go to in order to protect the woman he loved, and he didn’t want to see Magnus in a volatile situation with Hugh.

As he’d told Magnus, Hugh would win.

And that gave Denys an idea.

God help him, he hoped it would work.

“My lord,” he said, turning to Hugh. “May I have a word with you, please?”

Irritated with Delaina as she sat on the couch and silently wept, Hugh gave a dramatic shrug and rose from the chair. “What is it, de Winter?”