Chapter 54

It was well past dawn on the archery field when William struck his first bull’s-eye of the day under Jenefer’s guidance.

He grinned at the cheering onlookers while the other five archers grumbled.

“All it takes is practice,” Jenefer told them as William loped toward the target to retrieve his arrows. “Soon you’ll all be hitting bull’s-eyes.”

They’d been practicing for the good part of the morning. After a night of troubling dreams involving Lady Alicia, Jenefer had risen from her bed at first light, snatched up her weapon, and lit out alone for the archery field.

Shooting always relieved her anxious brain. Each successful launch of an arrow restored her sense of control. Centering her mind—on her form, her bow, the wind, the target—kept her thoughts from straying. There was nothing as satisfying as the thunk of an arrow lodging in the straw. Sending a shaft spiraling into the bull’s-eye felt like a small victory.

She’d hit three bull’s-eyes when a group of curious onlookers began to gather. William had spotted her and quickly collected his fellow archers so they could watch what he claimed was “a master at work.”

But Jenefer had quickly tired of being a spectacle. She’d invited the archers to the field to begin giving them instruction. Now that she knew it was unlikely Morgan’s men would be fighting against her uncle’s forces, there was no reason not to mold them into the finest archers possible. After only a few hours, she could see improvement.

“That’s enough for today,” she decided. If they practiced too long, their arms would be useless on the morrow.

But that wasn’t the only reason she wanted to leave the field.

The nightmares disturbing her slumber all night had centered on Lady Alicia and the harm she might do to Morgan. But she was more worried about Miles, who was small and helpless. She knew Bethac would protect the child with her life. And Feiyan could fend off an attacker. But neither of them could keep the lady from demanding that her own son be brought to her. And Jenefer feared what a neglectful mother might do with an unwanted child.

As the men collected their weapons, she slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder and made haste toward the nursery.

She could hear Miles’ wails as she climbed the steps. But they weren’t coming from the nursery. Her heart dropped. The babe was in Morgan’s bedchamber.

Trying to stay calm, she lifted her hand to knock.

Then she hesitated at the door. What if Morgan was inside? She couldn’t stomach seeing the reunited couple in bed together, with their beautiful child nestled intimately between them.

But something in Miles’ voice sounded wrong. Not his usual plaintive wailing, his cries were full of distress, desperate screams that were suddenly muffled, as if someone had…had smothered them.

Her thoughts went wild with panic. Privacy be damned! She burst in the door.

Lady Alicia was bent over the bed with one knee on the pallet. She’d seized the coverlet in both fists and was pressing it down over the squirming bulge stop the bedsheets. She had a horrific expression on her face. An expression of cold, calculated drive. Without compassion. And utterly soulless.

For an instant, Jenefer was too shocked to move.

In the next instant, though Alicia never shifted her gaze from the bed, her features were transformed as if by magic. Her icy mask suddenly cracked into a fretful pout, and her eyes widened in childlike concern. Even the determined pressure of her hands became tender caresses as she slipped the coverlet down from Miles’ red face.

“Morgan, I’m so glad y—”

“What are you doing?” Jenefer demanded, jarred from her daze.

Once Alicia realized it wasn’t Morgan at the door, her innocent manner quickly turned to hostility. She picked up Miles and gripped him to her chest, almost like a shield. He arched his back and writhed in her arms.

“What are you doing here?” she snapped. “You’re supposed to be gone.”

Jenefer paid no heed to Alicia’s words. She was more concerned about the babe’s welfare and getting him out of the woman’s grasp. What Jenefer had seen might have been her imagination, but she didn’t think so. Miles’ mother had been trying to suffocate him.

Jenefer’s first urge was to attack, to forcibly snatch Miles away. But she was unnerved by the crazed unpredictability in Alicia’s eyes, a look that said she wouldn’t hesitate to toss the babe out the window before surrendering him to Jenefer.

So Jenefer subdued her warrior instincts and fought her impulse to fight, even though Miles’ distraught wails were tearing at her heart. Instead she took a cautious step inside the room.

“Why don’t you let me calm him?” she asked.

“Get out!” Alicia barked.

Startled, Miles screamed.

Jenefer gulped. Fear sent a cold shiver through her blood. She dared not leave the babe alone with this madwoman.

She tried reasoning with her. “Once he’s quiet, we can talk,” she said, managing a sympathetic smile. “Who can think while Miles is wailing like that?”

“Miles?” Alicia scowled.

Jenefer silently cursed herself for her slip. “Allison. I meant Allison.”

Alicia squeezed the squealing babe closer to her. His arms waved in helpless protest. She was apparently deaf to his cries.

“You stay away from him,” Alicia sneered. “And stay away from Morgan. I won’t have you sharing your nasty lies with him.”

Jenefer flushed. If Alicia knew what else they had shared, she’d be livid.

But that was in the past. Now Jenefer’s only concern was keeping his son safe.

Alicia narrowed her eyes to glittering slits. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to steal the infant from me.”

“Nay, I only—”

“You think by laying claim to the infant, you can have his father.”

“’Tisn’t true.”

“You think if Morgan believes your filthy lies,” Alicia bit out, “you can get rid of me and take my place.”

Her grip tightened around Miles’ chest as she spoke. Jenefer could hear him struggling, coughing between his wails, and she knew she was going to have to take action, regardless of the risk.

Alicia gave her an ugly, twisted grimace of a smile. “I’ll see the babe dead before I let you get your conniving hands on him.”

Jenefer’s heart plunged into the pit of her stomach.

Left with no other choice, she was forced to resort to her warrior ways. She whipped an arrow from her quiver.