"Hugh."
A tap on Hugh's shoulder startled him awake and nearly sent him plummeting off his saddle. Regaining his balance at the last moment, he shook his head in an effort to wake up and peered bleary-eyed at the man beside him.
"Lucan." Hugh shook his head again, finding it hard to order his thoughts. A glance at the sun showed that he'd not slept long. Perhaps a matter of moments. It was still in the same position it had been in when his eyes had fluttered shut. Damn, he was getting too old for this nonsense. He was exhausted.
"What is that about?"
Hugh followed the other man's gesture to the body in the center of the clearing and grimaced. "He came rushing out of the woods just ere dawn this morning, sword raised in attack."
Lucan arched an eyebrow at this news. "That does not look like a sword wound on his throat. Nor his face."
"Nay. Those beasts of Willa's did that."
Lucan whistled, his gaze moving to the dead man again.
Hugh peered at him too, then shifted uncomfortably and asked, "Did you bring anything for me to eat or drink? My throat is as dry as dust."
"Oh, aye." Lucan unhooked a sack from his saddle and handed it over, his gaze returning to the dead man as Hugh dug out the ale skin. "This could be a good thing. If we can convince Willa that 'twas you who killed the man, she may be grateful enough to agree to wed you."
Hugh shook his head as he tipped the ale skin up and gulped from it greedily. Pulling it away after several moments, he gasped, "No need. She has agreed to marry me. She is packing even as we speak. Still."
Lucan grinned. "Still?"
"Aye." Hugh grimaced. "They have been packing since dawn."
Lucan goggled at this news. "There cannot possibly be that much to pack! 'Tis a small cottage."
"Aye," Hugh agreed in mournful tones. "But there is also a stable, and her animal menagerie."
"Animal menagerie?"
"Do not ask," he said with a grimace, but Lucan did not have to ask. Baldulf chose that moment to bring the fully loaded cart out from behind the stable. It was piled high with junk. A crooked chair, animal cages, baskets and sacks of unidentifiable items.
Willa followed. She barely cast a glance their way before going into the cottage. Baldulf urged the horse to draw the cart forward until the back end stood a bare foot or two in front of the door, then followed her inside. They were both back a moment later, piling more baskets and bulging sacks on top of those already in the cart.
Lucan watched the goings on with wide eyes. "Are they just now getting to the cottage?"
"Aye." Hugh watched with resignation as the pair disappeared inside the small building again. "Willa started in the cottage, but then left Eada to finish the packing there while she went to aid Baldulf in emptying out the stable."
The two warriors watched silently as Willa and Baldulf came out with more baskets and sacks and dumped them in the cart.
"Maybe we should offer to help?" Lucan suggested as the pair headed back into the hovel.
Hugh shook his head. "I offered earlier. They said I would just be in the way. They wished to see to it themselves."
"Hmmm." Lucan looked uncomfortable with the idea of sitting about while Willa, Eada and Baldulf worked. "Well, what are your plans for him?"
Hugh followed his friend's gaze to the corpse still lying in the clearing and grimaced. "I thought I should have him taken to the village. Perhaps someone there will know who he is."
"He is a bit of a mess," his friend commented doubtfully. " 'Tis not very likely anyone would recognize him even did they know him."
"Aye." Hugh agreed, then shrugged. "Still, it cannot hurt to try."
"Hmm." Lucan nodded. "You are sure he was by himself?"
"Aye. At least I believe so. I am sure the wolves would have gone after others had there been any lurking in the woods after the first man attacked." Hugh glanced toward the cottage as Willa and Baldulf came out again with more junk to add to the cart. "Baldulf! "
The guard set down his burden, then walked over to stand before the two mounted men. Earlier Hugh had found it so difficult to mount that he was now reluctant to dismount. It wasn't his head that troubled him. That was a trifling injury, which Eada had admitted after poking and prodding at it until he was ready to bellow at her for her trouble. Nay, 'twas his derriere that pained him. The tenderness he'd noticed there earlier seemed to be increasing with every passing moment. It was bad enough just sitting on it, but the movement to climb in and out of the saddle agitated the tender spot until he had to bite his tongue to keep from groaning in pain. He was beginning to believe that it might be a saddle sore after all. Whatever it was, 'twas damned painful.
"Aye, m'lord?"
Baldulf's voice drew Hugh's attention away from his tender rump and he managed a smile that he suspected was closer to a grimace. "Is there going to be room on the cart for our friend there?"
Baldulf turned to peer from the corpse to the cart and back. "Nay," he decided, then added, "But I'll fetch my horse from the stable. We can drape him over the animal and tie him hand and foot under the belly so he does not fall off."
Hugh was tempted to let Baldulf tend to the matter, but then decided with resignation that he must tackle it himself. He would have to dismount after all. "Bring the horse around. I shall see to the matter."
Nodding, the soldier moved off toward the stable. Hugh waited until he had disappeared from sight, then gritted his teeth, took a deep breath and quickly swung his leg up and over his saddle to dismount. Searing pain promptly screamed at him from behind, eliciting a grunt as he dropped to the ground. Fortunately, Lucan seemed not to notice.
Hugh found himself standing completely still, afraid to move. Trying to appear as if he was standing still simply because he wanted to, Hugh listened as Lucan informed him that the men he'd sent to Claymorgan had returned. They had not learned anything of use. They had asked absolutely everyone in the castle and its environs, but no one seemed to know anything.
Baldulf returned with the horse and a length of rope, and Hugh was forced to move again. He winced as the tenderness in his posterior increased with each step. The pain seemed to increase with movement. Sitting on it was uncomfortable, but only in a throbbing sort of way that could almost be ignored. Movement, however, made the pain excruciating.
With Lucan's help, it was a simple matter to heft the body onto the horse and tie it down. Then Hugh was faced with the matter of remounting, which he knew from experience would be worse than simply moving. Resigned to the sudden increase of pain, Hugh gritted his teeth again and got the matter over with quickly. This time, however, he could not prevent a gasp of pain from slipping out and tried to disguise the sound with a quick curse.
"Something wrong?" Lucan eyed him curiously.
"Nay. Caught my finger on..." He let the sentence trail away and waved vaguely at his reins, too embarrassed to admit that he was developing a sore on his butt.
"M'lord?"
Hugh glanced down to find Baldulf at his side again. "Aye?"
"Everything is loaded."
Hugh glanced toward the cart. Eada was seated patiently on one side of the bench seat. Willa was nowhere in sight. "Where - ?"
"Willa is just fetching her mount now," Baldulf explained.
"Jesu..."
Eyebrows rising at that awed comment, Hugh shifted on his horse and followed Lucan's gaze. Willa was riding her horse out of the stable, and she was an impressive sight. Her long golden tresses flowed around her shoulders. Her posture was upright, her grip on the reins secure, her thighs pressing firmly into either side of her mount. It was her position astride her horse that had drawn the awed Jesu from Lucan. She was also wearing men's braies and an oversized white blouse that billowed in the breeze as she slowed to a stop, then dismounted to check something on her mare's flank.
Hugh gaped at the way the braies lovingly hugged her shapely butt, his expression one of horror more than awe. He urged his mount forward with every intention of berating the wench for her unladylike behavior and insisting that she change and ride sidesaddle. Baldulf prevented him from doing so by calmly taking hold of his reins.
"When we first brought her here from Claymorgan we dressed her as a boy in an effort to keep her safe," the man announced.
Hugh stared at him.
"Disguised so, she had to ride as a boy. 'Twas necessary. She had to ride as a boy to be able to go to the fairs. 'Twas the only way for her to see his lordship at first."
"I thought he did not see her for the first five years," Lucan murmured. His attention on Willa's bent form was so fixed, he was completely oblivious to Hugh's mounting irritation.
"Aye. That is so. They could never actually meet and speak, and Willa never even knew that his lordship was there, but he could see her. Watch her enjoy the games and sweets and see for himself that she was well. 'Twas the most he allowed himself those first years. Of course, once she started to grow... er... womanly, we had to stop dressing her as a boy. Still, when he later did finally allow her to visit him, she went dressed as a boy but with a cape to help hide her figure. She never left the cottage on horseback in any guise but as a boy. 'Tis the only way she knows how to ride."
Hugh heard the entire explanation, but was too busy glaring at Lucan to acknowledge it. Becoming aware of Hugh's displeasure and of how rude he was being by ogling his friend's soon-to-be bride, Lucan cleared his throat and muttered something of an apology. He also shifted his gaze away from Willa as she remounted.
"A problem with Hilly's hoof?" Baldulf asked as she joined them.
When she did not answer, Hugh gave up scowling at her outfit and glanced up to find her concerned gaze on the white cloth Eada had wrapped around his forehead.
"You are bleeding through," she said with dismay.
" 'Tis nothing," Hugh assured her.
" 'Tis not nothing, my lord. A mere hour ago you were sure you were at death's door. I knew we should have left the packing of our things until after we got you back to Hillcrest and put you to bed."
Hugh felt himself flush as Lucan cast a sharp look his way. He'd not told his friend of his attempt to convince Willa to marry him by making her think he was dying. He had his pride.
"You are quite flushed," Willa fretted now. "Mayhap I should ride with you, just to be sure you do not fall off your mount and expire. You may hold onto me and save your strength that way."
Hugh opened his mouth to assure her again that he was fine, but did not get the chance. She'd already urged her horse next to his and was slipping from her mount to his own in a rather neat little maneuver. Settling against his chest, she then reached back to take his hands in her own and place them about her waist.
"Just hold on and rest against me," she instructed, taking control of the reins. "Save your strength."
Hugh had opened his mouth to protest that he was not weak and needed no coddling, but now snapped his mouth shut again. He was not feeling weak. At least not in the head. He couldn't say the same for the rest of his body.
The feel of her nestling against him was decidedly distracting. So distracting the pain in his posterior became something of a distant sensation. He forgot it entirely as he became conscious of her behind pressing against his groin and the bottoms of her breasts brushing the tops of his hands as she moved.
"Damn." Hugh wasn't aware he had breathed the word until Willa nearly unseated him by turning to ask if he was alright. Put off balance by her sudden shift, he grabbed wildly for something to hold onto and found himself cupping her sweet, soft breasts. Her eyes, bare inches in front of his own, dilated in shock even as Hugh's did.
"My lord?" The words came strangled from her sweet lips. "Are you well?"
"Aye," he said gruffly.
"Then mayhap you could hold onto something else?" she suggested, her voice rather breathless.
Hugh blinked at her words, slow to comprehend them until he became aware of the way she was blushing and heard a muffled chuckle from Lucan. Clearing his throat, he abruptly removed his hands and settled them at her hips. He held her firmly so he would not give in to the temptation of seeking out her breasts again. Hugh then took a moment to toss a repressive glance Lucan's way as Willa urged his mount into line behind the cart, which Baldulf was already heading out of the clearing.
Hugh was hard pressed not to reclaim the reins from her. He was not one to give up control easily. However, he managed to resist the urge. He was not as successful at keeping his thoughts in line. She was soft yet firm in all the right places. She smelled of lemons and sunlight and had agreed to be his wife. He would no longer need to worry about how he was going to feed his people. The worst of his concerns were over... or so he thought.
Hugh supposed that one of the men on the wall must have heralded their arrival. Wynekyn and Jollivet were waiting at the top of the stairs to the castle when they rode into the bailey. The older man rushed down the stairs as Willa drew his mount in at the base of the steps. Before Hugh realized what she was about, the chit had slipped from under his arms, and dropped to the ground.
"Uncle!" she called as she hurried forward.
"Child."
Hugh frowned as he watched the reunion. They greeted each other as if it had been years since their last meeting, when he knew it had been little more than a week. Oddly, he found himself disgruntled at the obvious and easy affection between the two.
"I thought you were her godfather, not a blood relative," he grumbled irritably. Dismounting with care, he moved forward to take Willa's arm as their embrace ended.
"I was. I am," Wynekyn laughed.
"But godfather is such a long title and I used to muddle it when I was young." Willa grinned. "I called him God for short, which got quite confusing when Father Brennan taught me about religion."
"She thought I was Him," Wynekyn explained with a chuckle.
"Aye." She pulled away from Hugh to give the older man another impulsive hug. "I could not understand why - when he claimed to love me so much - he would not do the tiny little tasks I asked of him."
"What tasks?" Lucan asked curiously, dismounting to join them.
"Oh, little things, really," Wynekyn murmured dryly. "Every time I went to see her she made a different request. One was to make it so that her papa could see her again. Another was to bring her mother back from the dead so that she might be like other children. Then she wished me to make the days longer so that she could play more. And I believe during one visit she asked if she could not have a pony of her very own. Oh! And all the sweets in the world."
Willa wrinkled her nose slightly and explained, "Eada does not favor sweets."
"Finally, after I explained that I simply could not do some of the things she asked of me, she exclaimed 'But of course you can, you are God,' and I understood her confusion. Eada and I tried to explain about godfathers to her, saying that they were rather like a surrogate father or an uncle, and she said, well, why did we not just call it uncle. I said that was fine, and she has called me uncle ever since."
"What a perfectly charming story!"
They all turned to Jollivet as he finished sashaying his way down the stairs. Walking directly to Willa, he caught her up in an exuberant embrace, then set her back down and grinned. "Hello, lovely. We have yet to be properly introduced. I am cousin Jollivet, your second choice for husband should this lummox here prove inadequate. All you need do is let me know and I shall make you a widow, then wed you myself."
Hugh was so taken aback to realize that Jollivet had somehow learned he was Willa's second option as a husband, it took him a moment to notice the awed expression on her face as she peered at his younger cousin. The moment he did, however, irritation and a touch of fear rose up within him. Fortunately, before he could make a fool of himself, she reached out to caress the sleeve of Jollivet's bright purple coat and exclaimed, "What a lovely material!"
Jollivet glanced down at himself and nodded. " 'Tis lovely, is it not? And 'twould look perfect on you. A lovely foil for your hair. Much nicer than the accoutrements you are wearing at the moment, my dear. If you do not mind my saying so, the lady of the manner should not arrive looking quite so destitute. You would have done better to emulate Lady Godiva than to arrive dressed so. Certainly your hair is long enough and full enough to be a decent covering." He reached out to lift one of the shimmering tresses that reached nearly to her knees; Hugh slapped his hand away.
"Enough, Jollivet. Cousin or no, if you continue to make a nuisance of yourself, I shall - "
"Who is Lady Godiva?" Willa interrupted curiously.
"A famous horsewoman," Wynekyn answered quickly, a slight flush on his cheeks. Clearing his throat, he went on, "Speaking of clothing, I have a surprise for you."
"For me?" Willa turned to him, her eyes widening with excitement. "What is it?"
"Well, 'tis part of the reason I left so precipitously after Hillcrest's death. I realize my leaving so soon distressed you, my dear, but I did have to find and inform Hugh, as well as King John, of Richard's death. Then, too, I wished to be sure you would be outfitted properly for your wedding." He smiled suddenly. "I had a new gown made for you to be married in."
"A new gown?"
"Aye. Come, I placed it in a room above stairs and am eager to see if you like it." He took Willa's arm to lead her inside the castle, then suddenly paused and turned back. "Oh, Hugh, I almost forgot, I have spoken with the priest and he assured me that the wedding can be held the moment the two of you are ready." He glanced between Hugh and Willa now. "I am assuming that all is well? That you have settled matters and are ready to marry now?"
"Aye." Willa and Hugh gave the answer as one.
"Good, good, then perhaps you should send someone to fetch the priest. There is no sense delaying. Cook and the other servants have been working like mad these last three days to prepare. I think all is ready."
"I take it you have found the letter and resolved the problem of her name then?" Hugh said with a feeling of relief that faded when he saw Wynekyn's troubled expression. "You have not found the letter?"
"Damn me, nay." Wynekyn's shoulders slumped. "I was going through Richard's things again this morning when a servant hurried in to tell me you were riding for the castle with Willa. I was so excited I forgot - "
"What is the problem with my name?" Willa interrupted curiously.
Wynekyn forced a smile and patted her hand reassuringly. "Never fear, my dear. We shall find the letter, and then the wedding may be held. Hugh, perhaps you could - What is it, Willa?" he asked when she tapped on his arm to get his attention.
"Why do you need this letter?"
"We must have your last name to put on the contract, my dear. Richard promised he would leave a letter with your name in it for me, but there has been some difficulty finding it," he explained, patting her hand again. He then turned to Hugh to continue, "Perhaps you could assist me, I have searched his chamber several times already and - Yes, Willa, what is it?" he asked a little less patiently this time.
"I know my name."
"Of course you do, dear." He turned back to Hugh, opened his mouth, closed it, and jerked his head back around in amazement as her words sank in. "You do?"
"Well, of course, my lord."
"What is it?" Hugh asked when Wynekyn seemed stymied by this information.
"Willa Evelake."
"Evelake," Hugh murmured with a smile.
"Evelake," Wynekyn echoed, his forehead furrowing as if he were trying to place the name.
"Is everything alright then?" Willa asked anxiously. "The marriage may be performed?"
Wynekyn's expression brightened. "Aye! Aye, yes. Hugh - "
"I shall send someone to fetch the priest."
"Good, good. And perhaps - "
"I shall see to everything, Lord Wynekyn," he assured him patiently. "Why do you not take Willa above stairs and show her the gown you had made for her so that she may prepare herself.
"Yes, yes." Beaming now, the older man took Willa's arm and turned her toward the stairs again.