Ranulf told me—”
“Then he lied. My dear brother has a way of twisting things to suit himself.”
“He did not lie about you,” Alys snapped.
“What did he say about me?” he asked softly.
“That you robbed, burned and murdered. That you attacked innocent travelers…just as you did us a few moments—”
“Ranulf is no innocent.”
“So you say, but I think—”
“I’ve no time to trade insults with you, Sister.”
“Fine. Give me a horse, then, and I’ll be on my way.”
“And leave the wounded behind to die?” he asked in that silky voice she was coming to hate. “Is that not against the oaths you swore to aid mankind?”
“I did not vow to aid criminals.”
Gowain tsked. “I did not know the church made such distinctions. Are not all men worthy in God’s eyes?”
Alys stiffened. He might be a brigand, but he was a clever-witted one to trap her so. “I could have ridden away when the fighting started,” she said with a calm she didn’t feel. “I stayed to help Dickie, and I will gladly see to the others. All I ask in return is an escort to Newstead when they are well. Is that too much to ask?”
“Nay, it is not,” Darcy said quickly.
Gowain’s glittering green gaze remained locked on her wary one, holding it so that she couldn’t look away. “Providing you are not Ranulf’s spy. ‘Twould be folly to let her go if she means to betray us…especially now.”
The last must have held meaning for Darcy, because he nodded, expression dour. “I will set someone to watch her on our ride to camp.”
“If you move Dickie, you consign him to death;” Alys said. “For jolting about in a wagon with his wound unstitched would kill.him. I will not, I cannot in good conscience, leave till he’s properly—”
“I cannot spare more time,” Gowain snapped. “If you are so concerned for them, I suggest you use it to bandage them rather than issue edicts.” He turned and stalked away.
“Clod, cold, unfeeling clod,” she muttered.
“Nay, he is not that,” Darcy said. “You do not know him, so you cannot see what it cost him to give that order. But there are many lives depending on him. We must reach our camp, and swiftly, lest Ranulf return.”
I hope he does, Alys thought. I hope he comes and kills you all. Fortunately, she was wise enough not to voice such an unnunly hope aloud. Nor did she really want all these people killed, but it would give her great satisfaction to see Gowain meet an outlaw’s just rewards…the hangman’s noose. As she bent to tend Stork, her hands shook so badly she could scarcely bind the wound. Partly it was sharing a measure of the pain the young boy felt; partly it was fear for herself.
What would happen if they discovered she wasn’t a nun?
“You were rude to Sister Alys,” Darcy said when they were well away from the scene of the battle.
“I have greater worries than hurting the feelings of a spoiled, prideful nun,” Gowain growled, his mind on the perilous journey to safety. They rode at the head of the swiftly moving column, with a rear guard as well as men afoot to sweep away traces of their passage. It had taken time and work, but his rebel band ran as smoothly as the king’s army in France.
“She is uncommonly beautiful for a nun.”
“I did not notice.” But he had. He could still recall the feel of her small, slender body against his. His nerves still tingled from the spark that had passed between them. One instant he’d been furious with her, the next, swept by desire. Jesu, he was truly a lost cause if he lusted after a nun. And one who might well be in league with Ranulf.
And yet. She had the softest eyes he’d ever seen. Large, expressive blue eyes so dark they’d appeared black in the dim forest glade where she’d tended Stork, Sim and Martin.
“We are fortunate she was there, else we’d have lost three good men,” Darcy said.
Gowain grunted. She had spared him the terrible weight of Stork’s death, yet he didn’t want to be in her debt. In the brief few moments they’d been together, she’d made him feel things he didn’t want to feel. Especially for a nun.
“Curious she is not wed.” When Gowain refused to be drawn in, Darcy went on. “Though she is one of the most comely women I’ve seen, she is not a tender young maid, I think. No girl would have such fire. How old would you judge her to be?”
“Why, thinking of bedding her?” Gowain asked nastily.
“Of course not I did but speculate.”
“Cease prattling about her and speculate instead on whether what we took today is enough for our purpose.” Word that a trio of supply wagons moved along the road toward Eastham had prompted Gowain to risk a daylight raid. The guards and drivers had abandoned their cargo and fled into the woods without a fight.
“We hadn’t the time to examine everything,” Darcy said. “But I saw sacks of beans and flour, which we sorely need, two kegs of ale and several of salted beef.” He patted his belly. “’Twill be good indeed to eat something besides root soup.”
“Welcome as the food is, I’d rather we had taken Ranulf.” Gowain’s hand tightened on the reins. “Then we could stop living like hunted animals.”
“Soon,” Darcy said gently. “This haul brings us that much closer to making our move against him.”
“Aye.” But the knowledge that it would soon be over, one way or the other, brought little solace. Thus far, he and his men had fought defensively, to stay alive, to free those oppressed by Ranulf and to get food with which to feed them. The next step was a huge one. The taking of Malpas Keep itself. The battle required careful strategy and superb timing. “But even if all goes according to plan, we still may suffer heavy casualties.”
“The men know that. They are prepared to sacrifice—”
“Well, I am not,” Gowain exclaimed, thinking of Stork and the others, possibly bleeding to death in the wagon because a delay might cost more lives. “Jesu, do you think I want to buy back my estate with their blood?”
“It is not just your lands we fight for,” Darcy reminded him. “It is our very lives. We could not last the winter without food and better shelter. Nor can we provide for the increasing numbers who flee from Ranulf’s tyranny. The people who’ve joined us are nearly more desperate than we are.” He paused a moment, considering Gowain’s unyielding posture.” “If only the king would grant your request for a hearing.”
“King Richard has no time for dispossessed men such as we,” Gowain said bitterly.
