Мериел Фуллер – Commanded By The French Duke (страница 2)

She heard a muffled groan. ‘The axle’s broken,’ Ralph shouted up to her, coming back. ‘I’ll have to fetch some help before we can shift this thing.’

‘Then I’ll come with you,’ Alinor said, shuffling to the edge of the seat.

Ralph held up a hand to forestall her. ‘Probably best if you stay here, my lady.’ He glanced at the voluminous fabric that spilled out from her girdle and draped over the seat, material that would hamper her stride. ‘With the greatest respect, I can move more quickly on my own. Besides, someone needs to stay with the cart; those sacks of grain are worth a lot of money.’

‘A whole winter’s worth,’ Alinor agreed. Ralph’s words made sense.

‘Will you be all right on your own, my lady? I’ll not be gone long. I seem to remember passing a farmstead a couple of fields back.’

‘Of course,’ she replied confidently. ‘I have my dagger—’ she touched the leather scabbard hanging from her plaited waist belt ‘—and no one would ever dream of attacking a lay sister, or at least someone dressed as one!’

Ralph laughed. ‘Not unless they wanted to risk eternal hell and damnation!’ He waved casually and loped off along the way they had come.

Alinor sighed. Wriggling her spine against the cart seat, she allowed the reins to drop beside her. Out of habit, she kneaded her left forearm, trying to alleviate the slight, constant ache that had plagued her since her accident, a small frown crinkling the skin between her finely etched brows. The oxen stood patiently, ears flicking idly at the flies massing above their heads. There were more trees now, along the river: sturdy beech, willow, stubby hawthorn dotted the flat, wide valley. The earlier cloud had dispersed and now the rising sun filtered through the shifting leaf canopy, casting a dappled glow.

A warmth suffused her body. Closing her eyes, she lifted her chin, drinking in the balmy heat across her skin. If only she could forget, for a moment, what had nearly happened. The breathless rush as she had helped the girl into her clothes; the headlong sprint across the moon-soaked land, huddled together in hooded cloaks, hiding behind trees, stealing along ditches like thieves. A long, juddering breath caught in her chest at her own daring, the subterfuge. There was no knowing what her stepmother would do if she discovered the truth of what Alinor had done.

‘Make way, in the name of Prince Edward!’ A harsh, guttural voice barged into her senses. Alinor’s eyes popped open in horror; she jumped to her feet, panic slicing her innards. A group of horsemen were gathered on the other side of the bridge; nay, not horsemen, knights, for they wore helmets and chainmail, their red surcoats emblazoned with three gold lions. The mark of the King, and his son, Prince Edward!

Her chest hollowed out in fear, a debilitating weakness hammering through her knees; she wondered if she would fall. God in Heaven, where had they sprung from? They had approached so quietly, it was as if they had materialised from the very trees, like ghosts, ghastly apparitions!

‘We need to cross this bridge,’ one of the soldiers shouted up at her, hoarse tones emanating from a shiny metal helmet. ‘Move the cart now, Sister!’

Sister. Of course, from her garments they believed her to be a nun. Alinor stared at them, terrified, trying to find the words, the courage to address this formidable group. A dozen men or so, chainmail hauberks glinting and winking in the sunlight, lower legs encased in riveted plate armour. They were armed: swords, pikes, maces and shields; the lead knight carried the King’s red banner on a pennant. Her mouth was parched, fear cleaving her tongue to the roof of her mouth. What would they do to her, these soldiers of the King? ‘I...I cannot,’ she managed to say, but her voice emerged as a pathetic whimper and they failed to hear.

‘Speak up, woman,’ the lead soldier bawled at her, leaning forward in his saddle as if to hear her more clearly. ‘What ails you? Why do you not move?’ He threw a comment back to his companions; they laughed in response.

Alinor flushed; no doubt the soldier’s words had been derogatory. She cleared her throat, summoning up the power in her lungs, the nerve to speak more loudly. What was the matter with her? It was not like her to be intimidated by knights; she came from a high-ranking family who had entertained the King and Queen and their entourage on several occasions. She had a perfect right to be here, on this bridge, as much as the next man, and anyone could have an accident, couldn’t they?

‘The axle is broken on the cart,’ she shouted out in loud, clear tones, tilting up her nose in the hope of projecting an air of superiority. ‘The servant has gone to fetch help; he should be back very soon.’ Beneath the folds of her gown, she crossed her fingers.

‘Then it seems we have a problem,’ the soldier replied, throwing his thick-set body down from his horse and moving towards the bridge. ‘Prince Edward rides not far behind me and expects us, as his outriders, to clear the way for him. He’s in a hurry, Sister, and does not like to be held up.’

Standing on the cart, Alinor shrugged her shoulders, her arms spread wide, palms upturned. ‘What can I do?’ she replied. ‘I cannot move the cart by myself...’

‘Then we’ll have to help you.’ The soldier strutted boldly towards her. ‘First, we need to lighten the load.’

‘The sacks are quite heavy to carry,’ Alinor explained, ‘but two of you would manage...’ Her mind tacked back to earlier in the day, her breath fanning out like a veil in the pre-dawn air, when Ralph and his younger brothers had loaded the cart. It had taken two of them to lift each sack...

‘I have no intention of carrying your measly sacks anywhere,’ the soldier replied, his voice muffled by the helmet as he squeezed past the oxen to the back of the cart. Drawing his short sword, he slashed violently at the first sack, cutting the coarse hessian from top to bottom. Grain poured out, spilling over the side of the bridge, down, down into the rushing water. A whole field’s worth of harvest.

‘What are you doing?’ Alinor squawked at him in disbelief. Anger rose in her gullet, mirroring her fear. Panic rattled through her veins, but she had to overcome it, to fight it, for how could she let this thug, this ruffian, behave in such a way? How could she allow the nuns’ hard work to disappear beneath a river’s churning current? ‘How dare you!’ As the sack emptied, the soldier tossed the flapping remnants of the sack over the stone parapet and moved on to the next sack. At this rate, the nuns would lose everything!

‘Come on, men!’ The soldier ignored her furious words, curving one heavy arm upwards to summon his companions, as he moved along methodically. ‘Come and help me!’

‘No! No! Stop! You cannot do this! You have no right!’ Alinor yelled at the soldier, jumping down from the cart. Grabbing at the soldier’s arm, she pulled down hard, preventing him from slashing into the next sack. Pausing, he twisted around, holding the flashing blade up to her face, foetid breath wafting over her from the crossed slit in his helmet.

‘Take care, Sister,’ he warned. ‘I’m not in the habit of killing innocent nuns, but I’m sure I can make an exception on this occasion if you continue to goad me.’

The knife-point quivered beneath her nose. Silver in the sunlight, glinting, dangerous. How easy it would be to run away now, to acknowledge the fear that dragged at her belly, the fear that sapped the ligaments in her knees. She could simply turn tail now and hear the soldiers’ taunting laughter pursue her as she stumbled away. But it wasn’t in her nature to give up, to give in to people like this. They were bullies, pure and simple, and she wasn’t about to let them get away with this.

‘You don’t scare me,’ Alinor scoffed back at him. ‘I’m sure your Prince would have something to say if he knew what you’re doing!’ Her fingers scrabbled for her scabbard, fumbling for her dagger within the leather holder.

Within the shadowed confines of his helmet, the man scowled. ‘The only thing the Prince is thinking about is beating the rebel Simon de Montfort and he doesn’t care how he goes about it,’ the soldier hissed. ‘He wouldn’t give a fig for the likes of you. So step back, Sister, and let me do my work.’

He turned away again, about to cut into the next sack.

Rage boiled through Alinor’s veins, hot, surging; drawing her knife, she slashed down on to the soldier’s bare hand, cutting into his palm. He cried out in pain, blood spurting from his callused flesh; her attack was so unexpected that he dropped his short sword in surprise, blade clattering to the stone cobbles below. In a trice, she had kicked it away, sending the weapon spinning into the gloom beneath the cart. In the same moment, she saw her opportunity: the jewelled helm of the soldier’s long sword gleaming out from his scabbard. Her nerves jittered—was she really about to do this? There was no time to think about it. With both hands on the sword helm, she wrenched upwards, withdrawing the shining metal blade easily, and stepped back so the tip waggled dangerously towards his throat. She had helped her father on with his chainmail enough times to know where the weak spots were, where a blade could pierce the skin.