could rail against your fate and insist on special treatment.’ He knew able-bodied warriors more peevish with less reason.
‘That would change nothing.’
He had no answer to that and the silence between them grew until, as the music ended, he realised her fingers still rested on the back of his hand. She saw them at the same moment and pulled them away, as if from a fire.
‘Will you join tomorrow’s hunt?’ Thoughtless words to cover the awkward moment. It was a deer hunt, demanding in a way that hawking was not.
And he was looking forward to it. He would ride as long and hard and fast as the running stag they chased. He would outride all the frustration of being stuck here because the King was overcautious.
Her fingers were busy with her needle again, the rhythm restored. ‘They have little patience with me on the hunt.’
‘Women ride.’ Some of them. ‘And there is no shame in lagging behind.’
‘Not as far behind as I do.’
Was her smile as wistful as he imagined? He supposed it would be a kind of death, to be left behind, trapped, while the rest of the court galloped off on a sunny summer day.
‘Come,’ he said, abruptly. He had seen slaughter enough in France. No need to witness the death of every deer. ‘I’ll ride beside you.’
Her needle shook, but her stitches did not pause. ‘Pity for the cripple?’
He grabbed her wrist, stopping her needle and forcing her to look at him. ‘No.’
She met his eyes, questioning, and he wondered what she saw there. In truth, he did not know why he had offered and more words would only make it worse.
Finally, she smiled, a slow, lovely thing. ‘I would like that.’
‘Tomorrow, then.’ He stood abruptly and with a curt bow escaped.
As quickly as that, he had committed himself to spend time with a woman who would do nothing but drag him down.
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