‘Is it true, my lady? Are we really surrendering?’
Juliana met Ulf’s dour gaze and nodded regretfully, raising her voice so that the rest of her men could hear her, too.
‘We’re surrendering, but Sergeant Lothar has given his word that no one will be harmed.’
‘We can still fight.’ Ulf glared in the direction of the keep. ‘You know we’ll follow your commands to the end, my lady.’
‘I know.’ She put a hand on his arm. ‘And I’m grateful, but if we can surrender peaceably then we ought to do it. I only hope that Stephen understands.’
‘You did your best, my lady. No man could have done better.’
She smiled weakly. ‘You’re a loyal friend, Ulf. Did the guards do as I asked?’
‘Yes, my lady, but I don’t know if it will work. If they do a thorough search...’
‘Then hopefully they’ll see an empty storeroom and move on,’ she forestalled him. ‘I know it’s not the best plan, but it’s all we can do. It’s the safest place for now. Maybe later...’
She faltered. Maybe later what? She didn’t have an answer to that. All she could do now was take things one step at a time and try to keep Haword’s secret for as long as she could.
Ulf grunted, lowering his head like a bull. ‘This is all his fault.’
She looked around to find Lothar already striding back towards them, his stormy temper showing no sign of abating as he fastened his sword belt with a vicious-sounding snap.
‘Lady Juliana.’ His gaze narrowed perceptibly at the sight of her hand on Ulf’s arm. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Yes.’ She pulled her fingers away, reluctant to inflame his temper any further, though it seemed already too late for that.
‘Sergeant.’ Ulf took his sword from its scabbard and tossed it into the dirt. ‘It seems you’re the one disarming me after all.’
‘So it seems.’ Lothar’s pale gaze fastened on the Constable interrogatively. ‘Ulf, wasn’t it?’
‘Aye.’
‘Do you have any skill with that?’ He nudged the blade with his foot.
‘As much as you, I’ll wager.’
‘Then you must be truly exceptional.’
Juliana held her breath, wondering how best to intervene. The two men were eyeballing each other in a way that made her skin crawl.
‘In that case, you’d better keep it.’ Lothar flicked the blade up with his foot suddenly, catching it in mid-air and tossing the hilt back towards Ulf. ‘Stay with your lady. Do you understand?’
‘Understand what?’ A jolt of surprise turned into a fresh stab of panic. Why would Ulf need to stay with her?
‘Tell them to lower the bridge.’
She dug her heels into the dirt, resenting the order. ‘Not until you tell me why Ulf needs to be armed.’
‘He doesn’t. It’s a precaution.’
‘Against your own men?’
‘Not mine.’
‘Sir Guian’s, then?’
He didn’t answer and she put her hands on her hips angrily. ‘This is my castle, I have a right to know!’
‘It was your castle. Now lower the bridge.’
‘It’s my castle until I surrender it to Sir Guian and I don’t want there to be any fighting, not for any reason. Do you understand?’
She held his gaze as a tense silence stretched out between them. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her men watching, waiting to see what would happen. She wasn’t sure what the outcome was going to be herself, but she refused to back down.
‘No fighting,’ she repeated the order, more firmly this time.
‘As you wish.’ He spoke tersely, as if he were forcing the words past clenched teeth. ‘Now lower the bridge.’
She sucked in a breath. Did he understand? She hoped so, though whatever was about to happen was already beyond her control. She might as well lower the bridge and find out what it was. She was tired of sieges and arguments, tired of everything... A wave of exhaustion rolled over her, making her legs teeter unsteadily.
‘Lady Juliana?’
Lothar’s voice prompted her and she blinked a few times, trying to wake herself back up again. She was supposed to say something, wasn’t she? Something about lowering the bridge? The words were there in her head, but the idea of putting them together seemed like too much effort all of a sudden. When was the last time that she’d slept? Not at all the previous night and only a light doze the one before that. No wonder words weren’t making sense any more. What was she supposed to say again?
‘Oh... Lower the bridge!’
‘Are you feeling unwell?’ Lothar’s face swam into view, managing to look angry, exasperated and concerned all at the same time.
She shook her head, fighting an ill-timed and incongruous desire to laugh. She definitely couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that. But at least he wasn’t looking quite so ferocious any more. If she wasn’t mistaken, he and Ulf had just shared a look of mutual confusion. That was a definite improvement in their relationship. Perhaps he thought she’d been drinking her own poppy milk medicine, she thought with amusement. The idea had certainly tempted her often enough. If she drank just a little then she could sleep through a whole night for once. Sleep and let somebody else take charge, just for a while...
‘Juliana!’
His hand gripped her arm suddenly, pulling her backwards and out of her daze as a bay-coloured destrier thundered to a halt in front of her, followed by a troop of armoured soldiers. She gave a small yelp, shocked less by the spectacle than by the intimate use of her name, not to mention the feeling of Lothar’s hand wrapped around her upper arm, close to her breast. They’d barely touched since their kiss the previous evening, all except for one unintentional moment when she’d reached past to cut his bindings, and the spontaneous thrill that raced through her body made her heart start to pound as heavily as the destrier’s hooves.
‘Lady Juliana.’ Sir Guian dismounted in front of her, his expression even more smug than she’d anticipated. ‘I see you’ve come to your senses at last.’
She stiffened, trying to maintain some sense of equilibrium as the quivering sensation in her stomach was replaced by a violent churning. She squeezed her hands into fists, digging the fingernails into her skin as she fought the urge to lash out. For a moment, she thought she felt Lothar’s grip tighten as well, as if he were experiencing the same impulse.
‘I’ve agreed to surrender on condition that no one is harmed, if that’s what you mean, Sir Guian.’
‘Very well. I’m prepared to be lenient as long as no one interferes with my business.’ The Baron threw a contemptuous look around the bailey before beckoning his soldiers forward. ‘Not that there’s much here to take.’
‘Hold!’ Lothar’s voice arrested them. ‘There won’t be any looting.’
‘What?’ Sir Guian looked as if he’d just been told to take a running leap into the moat.
‘I said there won’t be any looting. Lady Juliana and I have come to a different arrangement.’
‘What kind of arrangement?’ The Baron’s gaze flickered from her head to her feet in a way that made her feel nauseated. ‘I should have been party to any discussion.’
‘You had that opportunity four months ago.’
‘You had no right to agree anything without me!’
‘I think you’ll find that I do.’ Lother’s voice took on a dangerous edge, though the Earl seemed not to notice.
‘We’ve been waiting here for months! My men deserve a reward.’
‘For doing what exactly?’
‘For the siege!’
‘You want a reward just for waiting?’
‘It’s more than that and you know it! I’ve spent my own time and money...’
‘And the castle is won. Surely that honour is reward enough.’
‘The Empress will hear of this.’
‘Then go back to Devizes and tell her.’
Juliana followed the exchange with a growing sense of amazement. This was—or had been—her castle and yet Lothar seemed to be the one fighting for it. No matter what he’d promised, she hadn’t expected him to actually take sides against Sir Guian, though now she was afraid that his aggressive manner was only making a bad situation worse. His grip on her arm was becoming tighter the longer he spoke, as if he were barely controlling his temper. Even more alarming was the fact that his soldiers appeared to be thinking the same thing. Easily distinguishable in black, they were gradually detaching themselves from the Earl’s men and positioning themselves defensively in front of hers.
‘As you wish.’ Sir Guian suddenly seemed to notice the threat, too, his lips twisting in a smile as frigid as the atmosphere between them. ‘Then I accept your terms, Lady Juliana, whatever they are.’
‘Thank you, Sir Guian.’ She did her best to sound conciliatory. ‘Then Haword is yours.’
‘I’m honoured.’ A triumphant gleam appeared in his eye. ‘In that case, Lothar, you may give my greetings to the Empress. I believe I can take over from here. It’s time Lady Juliana and I became better acquainted.’
She felt bile rise in her throat. The way he was looking at her made it abundantly clear what kind of acquaintance he had in mind. Apparently the way she’d fought him off last time hadn’t deterred him at all.
Then she noticed the silence, so heavy it seemed to shroud the entire bailey. No one was moving either, as if all of the soldiers had frozen where they stood, all of them looking in one direction—towards Lothar and the expression of utter, unmitigated rage on his face.
‘No!’ She reacted instinctively, spinning around and placing herself in front of him as the Baron seemed belatedly to realise the danger he was in, backing away with a look of horror. Lothar’s grip on her arm was painfully tight now, but she forced herself to smile, grasping at the first words she could think of.
‘You can’t go until we’ve said farewell. I bid you a good journey, Lothar... Lothar?’
She stretched up on her toes, trying not to quail before the full force of his tight-lipped fury, forcing his gaze to meet hers. Merely smouldering before, his eyes were positively blazing now, as if there were actual fires behind them. She didn’t understand his reaction, but if it was something to do with her then she had to be the one to appease him. Tentatively she reached up and put her hands on his shoulders, felt the muscles strain beneath her fingertips. Every part of him seemed coiled and ready to do battle.
‘Lothar?’ She repeated his name softly. ‘No fighting, remember?’
For a moment, she thought he hadn’t heard her. Then his gaze shifted, his pupils honing in on her face before gradually focusing, the swirling, Stygian depths fading from stormy black to pale grey.
‘Juliana?’ His voice sounded strained.
‘Yes.’ She practically sagged with relief. ‘Goodbye, Lothar. Please send my greetings to the Empress.’
‘I will.’ He seemed to bring himself back under control finally, clenching his jaw as he looked past her shoulder. ‘But not yet. Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear, Sir Guian, but I won’t be leaving immediately.’
‘What do you mean?’ The Baron’s voice held a distinct trace of fear.
‘I mean that my men need a rest. We’ll stay another night, if that’s acceptable to you, my lady?’
He looked down at her, his breathing still ragged, and her heart seemed to skip a beat. Was that acceptable to her? She’d only just come to terms with the idea of him leaving. Now she had no idea how to feel about him staying.
‘Yes.’ She hardly recognised her own voice.
He nodded, his expression softening briefly and then turning inscrutable again. ‘In that case, it’s time you got some sleep, my lady.’
‘What?’ She pulled her hands away from his shoulders, shocked to realise that they were still there. Somehow she’d forgotten that she was standing with her arms around him in full view of all their soldiers! Even Sir Guian was looking at her strangely.
‘You need some rest. Ulf and I will take it from here.’
‘Ulf?’
She turned to her Constable, but he only shuffled his feet. So much for following her orders to the end!
‘No.’ She folded her arms, glaring at both of them. ‘I’m not a child to be sent to bed.’
‘It would be best if you did.’ Lothar’s tone was implacable again.
‘No!’
‘Would you prefer to be carried?’
‘You wouldn’t dare!’
‘Wouldn’t I?’
He arched an eyebrow and her cheeks flamed with indignation. He didn’t look like a man who made idle threats, but how dare he threaten to humiliate her in such a way! After she’d calmed him down! After she’d prevented a fight! After she’d been prepared to deal with Sir Guian in her own way! She felt as if she’d just been stabbed in the back. He would never dream of doing such a thing to a man. If he was trying to demonstrate that she wasn’t chatelaine any longer, he was certainly making his point.
‘Last warning, my lady.’
She summoned as much contempt into her gaze as she could muster and then spun on her heel, muttering a string of invectives as she stormed furiously back towards the keep. She’d retreat for now, but if Lothar thought that she was simply going to follow his orders then he could think again. She had far more important tasks to occupy herself with than sleep and she was determined that he wasn’t going to find out about any of them!