The Velvet Promise (32 page)

"I would have done anything," she said calmly.

He looked at her then smiled, pushing her away from him. "Do you love him so much?"

"It's not a question of love. He is my husband."

"But I offered you more love than he could ever have," Walter said, tears in his eyes. "All England knows that Gavin Montgomery hungers for that Alice Chatworth."

Judith had no answer to give him.

Walter's thin lips turned to a snarl. "I will not try to reason with you anymore. It's far past that time now."

He went to the door and opened it. "Take that thing away and throw it to the pigs. When you have finished with him, bring Lord Gavin and chain him in the same way."

"No!" Judith screamed as she ran to Walter and put both hands on his forearm. "Please don't harm him anymore. I will do what you say."

He slammed the door. "Yes, you will do as I say, and you will do it before that husband you prostitute yourself for."

"No!" Judith whispered.

Walter smiled at her whitened face. He turned and opened the door again and watched as the guards dragged Arthur's body away. "Come here!" Walter commanded when they were again alone. "Come and kiss me as you do that husband of yours."

She shook her head numbly. "You will kill us anyway. Why must I obey you? Perhaps I will bring our torture to a quicker end if I disobey you."

"You are indeed shrewd," Walter smiled. "But I would have it the opposite way. For every act you refuse me, I will slice a bit from Lord Gavin's flesh."

She looked at him in horror.

"Yes, you understand me."

Judith could hardly think. Stephen, she pleaded silently, don't take longer than you said. Perhaps she could prolong Walter's hurting of Gavin until Stephen and his men began their attack. The door opened again.

Four burly guards entered, Gavin chained between them. This time Walter was taking no chances.

Gavin looked from Walter to his wife. "She is mine," he said under his breath and took a step forward. One of the guards brought the flat of a sword across Gavin's head and he slumped forward, unconscious.

"Chain him!" Walter commanded.

Tears came quickly to Judith's eyes. Tears at Gavin's bravery. Even though he was chained, he still attempted to fight. Gavin's body was bruised and battered, weak from near starvation yet he still fought. Could she do any less? Her only chance was to stall for time until Stephen arrived. She would do whatever Walter asked.

He saw the resignation in her eyes. "A wise decision," Walter laughed when Gavin's arms were spread out, the iron rings about his wrists.

Walter dismissed the guards. Laughingly he threw a cup of wine in Gavin's face. "Come now, my friend, you must not sleep through this. You have occupied my cellar a long time, and I know you couldn't have enjoyed your wife much there. Look at her. Isn't she lovely? I was ready to fight a battle for her. Now I find I don't have to." He held out his hand. "Come here, my lady. Come to your master."

Gavin's booted foot lashed out at Walter. The little man barely had time to step back.

A small whip hung over a side table. The leather was still bloody from use on Arthur's body. Walter flicked it, cutting Gavin across the face. A long gash appeared immediately, but Gavin didn't seem to notice. He lifted his foot again, but Walter was far out of range.

As Walter lifted the whip a second time, Judith ran in front of her husband, throwing her arms out to protect him.

"Get away!" Gavin growled at her. "I will fight my own battles."

Judith could only hiss at the absurdity of his words. Both of his arms were chained to a wall that was already covered with another man's blood, yet he thought he could fight a madman. She stepped away. "What do you want?" she asked Walter in a dead voice. She could feel Gavin's eyes boring into her back.

"Come here," he said slowly, careful not to get within reach of Gavin's feet.

Judith hesitated, but she knew she must obey. She took his hand, although his clammy flesh made her skin crawl.

"Such a lovely hand," Walter said as he held it up before Gavin's eyes.

"Come, have you nothing to say?"

Gavin turned his eyes to Judith's, and a chill ran up her spine.

"My dear, I believe we wish to see more of your exquisite body." Walter turned to Gavin. "I have seen it often, have enjoyed it often. She was made for a man. Or should I say for many men?" Walter looked at Judith, his eyes hard. "I said you were to let us see what lies beneath those clothes. Do you think so little of your husband as to refuse him one last look?"

With trembling hands, Judith worked at the ties of the brown wool. She wanted to take as much time as possible.

"Here! You are too slow!" Walter slurred as he threw his goblet aside and drew his sword. He slashed the tunic and surcoat away, then dug his fingers into the neck of the bodice of her chemise. His nails slashed at the soft skin of her neck. Her underclothing was torn from her in a like manner.

She bent as if to cover herself, but the point of Walter's sword on her belly made her stand straight.

Her creamy shoulders gave way to her full breasts which, in spite of misery, stood high and proud. Her waist was still small, not yet distended by the child. Her legs were long and slim.

Walter stared at her in wonder. She was more than he had imagined her to be.

"Beautiful enough to kill for," Walter whispered.

"As I will kill you for this!" Gavin shouted. He strained violently against the chain.

"You!" Walter laughed. "What can you do?" He grabbed Judith, his arm about her waist. He turned her so she faced her husband, fondling her breast. "Do you think to rip the chains out of the wall? Look at her well, for it will be the last thing you see."

His hand slid to Judith's belly. "And look at this. It is flat now, but soon it will grow with my child."

"No!" Judith cried.

He tightened his grip about her waist until she couldn't breathe. "I have planted my seed there and it grows. Think of that while you rot in hell!"

"I would think of no woman you had touched," Gavin said, his eyes on his wife. "I would sooner mate with an animal."

Walter pushed Judith away. "You will regret those words."

"No! Do not!" Judith said as Walter advanced on Gavin with a drawn sword.

Walter was very drunk and the blade fell far wide of Gavin's ribs—

especially as Gavin agilely sidestepped it. "You will hold still!" Walter shouted and aimed again, this time at his prisoner's head. The weapon, so inaccurately handled, did not slash but more slapped. The wide blade caught Gavin's ear and his head fell forward.

"Do you fall asleep?" Walter screamed as he tossed the sword aside and went for Gavin's throat with his bare hands.

Judith didn't waste a moment. She ran for the sword. Before she could think what she was doing, she took the handle in two hands and brought it down with all her might between Walter's shoulder blades. He stood suspended for a moment. Then, very slowly, Walter turned and looked at Judith before he fell. She swallowed hard as she began to realize she had killed a man.

Without warning, an enormous crash rocked the tower to its very foundations. She had no time to waste. The key to the rings about Gavin's wrists hung on the wall. Just as she unlocked the rings he began to stir.

Gavin caught himself as he started to collapse. He opened his eyes to see his wife standing near him, her nude body flecked with blood. Walter, a sword protruding from his back, lay at his feet. "Cover yourself!" he said angrily.

Judith had forgotten her unclothed state during the turmoil. Her garments lay in a heap, cut beyond repair. She opened a chest at the foot of the bed. It was filled with Walter's clothing. She hesitated. She didn't want to touch anything of his.

"Here!" Gavin said and flung a woolen tunic at her. "It's fitting you should wear his attire." He went to the window, giving her no time to speak.

Truthfully, she couldn't. The enormity of having slain a man was weighing on her.

"Stephen is here," Gavin announced. "He has tunneled under the wall and the stones have collapsed." He went to Walter, put his foot on the dead man's back and withdrew the sword. "You severed his spine," Gavin noted calmly. "I will know to watch my back. You are skillful."

"Gavin!" a familiar voice called from outside the door.

"Raine!" Judith whispered, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Gavin threw back the bolt.

"You are well?" Raine asked as he grabbed his brother's shoulders.

"Yes, as well as can be expected. Where is Stephen?"

"Below, with the others. The castle was easily captured once the wall was down. The maid and your mother-in-law wait below with John Bassett, but we cannot find Judith."

"She is there," Gavin said coldly. "See to her while I find Stephen." He pushed past Raine and left the room.

Raine stepped inside. At first he didn't see Judith. She sat on a chest at the foot of the bed wearing a man's tunic. Her bare legs hung below the hem. She looked up at him with tearful eyes. She was a forlorn-looking creature, and his heart went out to her. Raine clumped across the room to her, his leg still heavily bandaged. "Judith," he whispered and held out his arms to her.

Judith didn't hesitate to seek the comfort of his strength. Sobs tore through her. "I killed him," she cried.

"Who?"

"Walter."

Raine held her tighter, her feet nowhere near the floor. "Did he deserve killing?"

Judith buried her face in his shoulder. "I had no right! God—"

"Quiet!" Raine commanded. "You did what must be done. Tell me, whose blood is on the wall?"

"Arthur's. He was Walter's vassal."

"Come now, don't cry so much. All will be well. Come below, and your maid will help you dress." He didn't want to know why her own clothes lay slashed on the floor.

"My mother is well?"

"Yes, more than well. She looks at John Bassett as if he were the Messiah come again."

She drew away from him. "You blaspheme!"

"Not I, but your mother. What will you say when she lights candles at his feet?"

She started to reprimand Raine, then smiled, the tears drying on her cheeks. She hugged him fiercely. "It is so good to see you again."

"Always, you give more to my brother than to me," came a solemn voice from the doorway.

She looked up to see Miles, his eyes as much on her bare legs as anything. She had been through too much to blush. Raine let her down and she ran to hug Miles.

"Has it been bad?" he asked as he held her close.

"More than bad."

"Well, I have news to cheer you," Raine offered. "The king summons you to court. It seems he has heard so many reports of you from your wedding that he wishes to see our little golden-eyed sister."

"To court?" Judith asked.

"Let her down!" Raine said to Miles with false annoyance. "You hold her too long for brotherly affection."

"It's just this new fashion she wears. I hope it will set a trend," Miles said as he set her on the floor.

Judith looked up at them and smiled. Then her tears began again. "It's good to see you both. I will go and dress," she said as she turned.

Raine swept his mantle from his shoulders and enveloped her in it. "Go then. We will wait downstairs for you. We leave today. I don't want to see this place again."

"Nor do I," Judith whispered, not looking back but carrying a vivid image of the room in her mind.

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"You know of the child?" Stephen asked Gavin as they walked side by side in the Demari castleyard.

"I have been told," he said coldly. "Here, let's sit in the shade. I'm not used to the sunlight yet."

"They kept you in a pit?"

"Yes, for nearly a week."

"You don't look too starved. Did they feed you then?"

"No, Jud—my wife had her maid send food."

Stephen glanced up at what remained of the old tower. "She risked a great deal to come here."

"She risked nothing. She wanted Demari as much as he wanted her."

"That didn't seem to be true when I talked to her."

"Then you are wrong!" Gavin said with force.

Stephen shrugged. "She is your concern. Raine says you are summoned to court. We may travel together. I am also to appear before the king."

Gavin was tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep. "What does the king want with us?"

"He wants to see
your
wife and he wants to present me with one."

"You are to marry?"

"Yes, a rich Scottish heiress who hates all Englishmen."

"I know what it is to be hated by your wife."

Stephen grinned. "But the difference is that you care. I do not. If she doesn't behave, I will lock her up and never see her again. I'll say she is barren and adopt a son who will inherit her lands. Why don't you do the same with this wife of yours if she displeases you?"

"Never see her again!" Gavin said, then caught himself when Stephen began to laugh.

"She stirs your blood? You don't need to tell me. I've seen her. Did you know I threatened her life after I saw her throw the wine in your face? She grabbed my blade and begged me to end it for her."

"You were fooled," Gavin said disgustedly, "as Raine and Miles are.