Страница 40 из 96
"Oh," Je
"Secondly, far from mistaking you for brainless, I find you to be a female of extraordinary intelligence."
"Thank you!" Je
"That was not a compliment," Royce corrected.
Je
Je
Je
"Je
"You don't have a wife now," Je
His shoulders shaking with silent, helpless laughter, Royce held up a hand in a mocking gesture of defense. "Hair the color of mouse fur?" he repeated. "Is that the best I can do? Until recently, I thought I fancied a blond wife, with big green eyes and-"
"And big pink lips and big-" So angry was she that Je
"Yes," Royce prompted, teasing. "Big what?"
"Ears!" she burst out furiously, "But whatever she looks like, the point is, she'll make my life a living hell."
Unable to restrain himself another moment, Royce leaned down and nuzzled her neck. "I'll strike a bargain with you," he whispered, kissing her ear. "We'll pick out a wife we both like." And in that unlikely instant, he suddenly realized that his obsession with Je
Even now, his mind shied away from the thought of how she would be treated by her "beloved" clansmen when she went back to them after sharing the bed of their enemy.
The alternative of his remaining unmarried, and of going without children and heirs, was unappealing and unacceptable.
The only remaining alternative-that of marrying Je
Even now, he could not forget the feeling in his chest last night when she'd chosen honesty over pride and admitted that once in his bed, she'd not wanted to leave it. Honesty such as that, especially in a woman, was a rare thing indeed. It meant her word could be trusted.
Of course, all those things weren't reason enough to let all his carefully laid plans for his future be destroyed.
On the other hand, they weren't exactly strong incentives to give her up, either.
Royce glanced up as the guards on the castle wall sounded a single, long blast on their trumpets, signaling the approach of nonhostile visitors.
"What does that mean?" Je
"Couriers from Henry, I imagine," Royce replied, leaning back on his forearms and squinting up at the sun. If they were? he thought idly, they were here much sooner than he'd expected. "Whoever they are, they're friendly."
"Does your king know I'm your hostage?"
"Yes." Although he disliked the turn of the conversation, he understood her concern for her fate, and he added, "I sent word to him a few days after you were brought to my camp, along with my regular monthly dispatches."
"Am I"-she drew a shaky breath-"am I to be sent someplace-a dungeon, or-"
"No," Royce said quickly. "You'll remain under my protection. For the time being," he added vaguely.
"But suppose he commands otherwise?"
"He won't," Royce said flatly, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Henry cares naught how I win his victories for him, so long as I win them. If your father lays down his arms and surrenders because you're my hostage, then this victory will be the best kind-a bloodless one." Seeing that the subject was making her tense, he diverted her with a question that had been niggling at the back of his mind all morning. "When your stepbrothers began to turn your clan against you," he asked, "why did you not bring the problem to your father's attention, instead of trying to escape from it by building dream kingdoms in your mind? Your father is a powerful lord, he could have solved your problem the same way I would have."
"And how would you have solved it?" she asked with that unconsciously provocative, sideways smile that always made him long to drag her into his arms and kiss it off her lips.
More sharply than he intended, Royce said, "I would have commanded them to desist in their suspicions of you."
"Spoken like a warrior, not a lord," she commented lightly. "You ca
"What did your father do?" he asked in a cool voice that challenged her observation.
"At the time Becky drowned," she replied, "my father was off fighting you in some battle, as I recall."
"And when he returned-from fighting with me-" Royce added with a wry smile, "what did he do then?"
"By then, there were all sorts of stories circulating about me, but Father thought I was exaggerating, and that they would die away shortly. You see," she added when Royce frowned disapprovingly, "my father does not place a great deal of importance on what he calls 'women's matters.' He loves me very much," she stated with what Royce considered to be more loyalty than sense-given Merrick's choice of Balder as a husband for Je