Defiant (17 page)

Ivan’s reckless fighting style was a sharp contrast to Jared’s unfailing patience. Mayhap she should have kept silent rather than encouraging Ivan.

She slid back until she could go no farther.

Ivan lunged.

Jared’s staff came up this time for the parry. The wood creaked but held and Jared stepped to one side.

Carrying both the dagger and staff, he rounded on Ivan and ran lightly backward.

The move puzzled her because it temporarily put him at a disadvantage. Ivan wheeled around blindly, nearly whacking her in the head with his sword.

Gwyneth jumped back, suddenly understanding that Jared’s move was to draw the battle away from her, to protect
her.

Guilt settled in her chest. She tried to shake it off, to think of the ladies in the prison she needed to save and all the reasons she must get rid of Jared, even lie or cheat to do so, but the unfairness, like the sharp stench of a bog, pricked her.

She looked from one man to the other. Jared was calm, in control, but deadly intent gleamed in Ivan’s eyes. Dread coursed through her as she realized this would be no friendly tournament competition where the loser would come away with naught more than a few bruises and a chink out of his pride. Blood spill would be the outcome here.

Jared might die.

His death would be on her conscience forever, the same as if she had murdered him herself.

For all his sins against her, Jared had been forced into the marriage. He might not be totally innocent, but he did not deserve death.

“Wait!” She lifted her hands trying to ward off the fight between them. Somehow she had to stop them.

“Too late for that, lady wife.” Jared’s shoulders tightened. Overhead, the hawk circled, waiting, watching. “You have prompted yet another man into doing your bidding and now we will finish this.”

“Aye!” Ivan echoed. “The victor claims the woman.”

“Nay!” She scurried from the cave, ready to race between them. “Cease! I am not a prize to be fought over!”

“Do not fear, my lady,” Ivan called, not even looking at her. “I will slay the beast for you and you will forever be rid of him. ”

Montgomery and his knights formed a ring around them, preventing her from getting close. She pushed, but they closed the ring tighter so that she could not pass.

“Stay where you are, lady wife, while I take care of this boy of yours! ”

She elbowed Montgomery, but he did not budge.

Jared and Ivan were now circling each other, both down in a fighting stance. Jared held his staff with two hands in front of his body and Ivan brandished his sword above his head. The engraved scales of the dragon that was carved into the wood were clearly visible.

Large hands grasped her and hauled her out of the way. She squirmed, thinking for an instant that Jared was in two places at once, then realized that she was being rooted in place by Montgomery.

“Best to obey your husband,” he said grimly. His eyes, a flashing cobalt blue, snapped with anger despite the dry tone of his voice. Splotches of mud splattered his tunic, proof that he had been out all night scouring the land looking for her.

She struggled, trying to move forward, but he half dragged, half carried her several yards away. He was as tall as Jared, and just as impossible to control.

“Leave be!”

“Bah! You can watch the unfolding of your folly from here. Mayhap it will teach you a lesson in proper behavior and decorum.”

Helpless, she trained her gaze back on the fight. Her heart pounded.

Montgomery’s men laughed and cast bets.

Jared and Ivan circled each other, each crouched, thighs flexed and their guard up.

“I will win your hand from this barbarian, my lady,” Ivan called chivalrously. But he never looked at her, not even for an instant. ‘Twas as if his words were merely for show. Like his clothing. And inside he was of an altogether different nature.

There was a sickening thunk, and Ivan crumpled to one side. The dagger stuck out of his shoulder and blood oozed from his tunic.

One knight whistled and cheered from atop his horse, but another man had dismounted to get a closer look.

“Heavens!” She squirmed, trying to get away from Montgomery.

Jared leapt forward, both hands on his staff, one near the tail of the engraved dragon. He was quick and powerful, but unhurried: grace rather than force. He twisted the staff this way and that—up to his shoulder, down to his waist, from one side to the next.

She’d never seen anything like it afore in her life. ‘Twas as if he moved by magic in some sort of strange exotic dance.

The men circled each other. Attack. Counterattack. Attack. Counterattack.

The sword and the staff came up, then at the very last second, when Gwyneth thought they would smash together, Jared twisted his torso and brought the end of the staff farthest away from Ivan in a quick arc. It caught Ivan’s hand in a hard whack and his sword dropped to the ground. Ivan yelped and dove for it, but Jared snatched the weapon from the ground.

The men took in a collective breath. One gave a shout of approval. Gwyneth would have clutched her chest if she had been free to do so.

Montgomery held her by the shoulders but paid no heed to what she was doing.

Jared lunged toward Ivan, clearly the victor. He flashed her a look that sent a shiver down her spine.

Nay! Nay! Nay!

Jared’s dagger headed straight to Ivan’s chest. “Yield.”

The points of Ivan’s shoes flopped; he tripped over his own feet and fell into the dirt. His outlandish clothing proved to be his downfall. He scrambled backward on his arse, redfaced and panting, toward the outer edge of the circle of men.

Jared advanced, blade lifted.

One of the men surrounding them laughed and gave a small clap. “Look at the young pup!”

“A fool in foolish shoes!”

“Beat by a man with a stick. ”

“Never seen anybody move like that. ”

Ivan shielded his face with his hands as Jared leapt atop him.

Seeing that the fight was finished, Montgomery let go of her and moved closer to his men.

Wheeling on her heels, Gwyneth slid a few steps away, hoping to sneak to the horses before anyone saw her. She had to reach Irma, get to the brothel, and come up with a plan. The past two days had been a disaster. She slid two more steps. Then two more. No one looked her direction. Twigs snapped but the men were so intense on the drama between Jared and Ivan they paid no attention to her.

Her legs quivered, but she willed herself to be patient, to not walk too quickly.

The squire’s horse, a medium-sized mare, was close to her. His attention was fixed on the fight. She closed the distance, her mind racing with hope, latched onto the mare’s neck, and swung quickly atop its back.

Not daring to glance back, she walked the horse through the forest—slowly at first, and then, as she was more and more assured that she wasn’t being followed, urged the horse faster. She had no clear idea of where she was heading. Her heart beat so hard it pounded in her ears as she raced for freedom.

Within a few moments, she entered the edges of the city. Early morning sun beat down on the closed shutters of houses and shops. Only a few people were moving about—a tinker toting his wares, a cart filled with hay, a few walkers, a carpenter with a bag of tools, but mostly the streets were quiet. Still no sight of Jared. Ha! Surely she could hide somewhere within and then pick her way back to Windrose—find Irma and her sister. She had been attacked before because she had not hidden herself very well, but this time she would be more cautious. Somehow she would find a way out of this situation.

“Gwyneth! Wife!” Jared’s voice boomed behind her.

Heavens!

She sped her mount into a gallop, passing the cart of hay. Hooves thudded on the cobblestones. Cold prickles went up and down her legs.

She glanced behind her. Jared raced toward her on Montgomery’s steed. Even from this distance, the fury coming off of him was palpable. Determination shone in his eyes.

Oh, sweet saints.

“Hurry! Hurry! “ She urged the mare, kicking its flanks frantically with her heels.

Jared was on her within seconds, his large hands reaching across her body, grabbing for her reins.

“Nay!”

He drew her horse up short and with one hand he dragged her from her mount.

She squirmed and kicked. “Get away! ”

“Cease, girl. You’ll make both—”

She screamed as she saw the ground speed upward. At the last moment, Jared twisted his body so that she was cushioned. His back thumped hard against the ground and breath fled her lungs as she landed against him.

She scrambled to her feet, intending to run, but he snatched her wrist afore she could take a step. Yanking her in his wake, he snatched the reins of both of the horses.

“Help!”

The tinker turned her direction.

“Silence, wife! “ Jared’s chest heaved in great panting breaths.

The man looked back and forth at the two of them.

Jared gave the man a furious glare. “Pardon, sir. My wife is in need of discipline. Just move along.”

“Your wife, you say?”

“Aye.”

“The marriage was forced—” Gwyneth started, but before she could explain, Montgomery clattered down the cobbled street on the third horse and pulled up short.

The tinker snatched his cap from his head and gave a polite nod. “Lord Montgomery.”

“G’day,” Montgomery said. “Just move along. These two have just been wed and have a few issues to work out. ”

The man nodded.

Gwyneth smarted.

As far as men were concerned, a husband had every right to expect his wife to be in subjection to him.

“Sorry to bother you, sir,” Jared said cheerfully. His lips turned upward into a jaunty smile. “I’ll just take care of my
wife
now.”

“Nay!” she said, but the man nodded at Jared and James. How bloody unfair!

“Looks like you’ve got enough trouble.” The tinker snatched the handles of his cart and began pushing it down the road. Pans and knives and silver hair-combs jangled.

Legs apart, hands on hips, Montgomery faced Jared. “Jared, I fully release Gwyneth to your care. Best of luck with the training. Consider my stallion a wedding gift. I will take the other horse back to my men.”

Gwyneth gasped. “You can’t just leave me here with him.""Sure, I can.” Montgomery handed the reins of his own horse to Jared. He took the reins of the horse that she had ridden in her escape attempt and rode away.

“But he kidnapped me!” she exclaimed to his back.

She saw her brother-in-law shrug. The ogre! How on earth could her sister have any love for him?

“Silence your lies, Gwyneth,” Jared gritted out, “else I’ll gag you.”

In an upstairs window, a shutter snapped open and a woman with a sleeping cap peered out into the street.

“Please!” she called to the woman above them, who closed the shutter as quickly as she had opened it. No help there.

A young lad carrying firewood glanced her direction.

Perhaps she could use him.

She shook her hair and pointed at Jared. “This man stole me.”

The lad gaped at her. A familiar male reaction. Good.

Squeezing her arm, Jared yanked her close to him.

She squirmed but it was like trying to fight iron chains.

Fury flowed off of him. “Cease,
now,
woman.” He swung them both onto his mount and wheeled the horse around into a gallop.

A pox on women!

Frustration yanked the brittle strings of Jared’s patience as he pulled Gwyneth close, clamped his hand over her mouth, and debated the best course of action to take her in hand. He needed to establish himself as her lord once and for all.

She wiggled and squirmed, but fortunately James’s horse was very well trained and Gwyneth was small. Her hips ground against his crotch, making that part of him swell uncomfortably. What was it about this infuriating woman that made his body react so strongly?

But in his heart, he knew. She was fiery, intelligent, brazen, a challenge. The way she had manipulated and used Ivan was infuriating beyond measure, but her cleverness was something to be admired. As much as he hated to admit it, she fascinated him. Just as she had the first time he’d seen her.

Her pretty face and seductive mannerism made men do foolish things. At the brothel, all she had done was blink her beautiful sky-colored eyes at him, and he had fallen straight into her deceitful web. Just as Ivan had done.

So long as she preyed on the idiocy of men to take up her cause, she was a bloody menace to peace and order and civility. He had no doubt that if he had not sped away on the horse, one of the men would have changed their mind about helping her. Keeping her in line was imperative.

She shook her head back and forth against his palm as they trotted down the cobblestones to the edge of the city. A blacksmith’s hammer rang in the air one street over.

“If you swear not to make a spectacle, I’ll release you,” he said.

She nodded quickly. Her long braid bobbed.

Slowly, he lifted his hand from her mouth.

She worked her jaw back and forth a few times, but said naught. Good. Subdued at last.

They passed more houses, more shops. A young burly-looking lad carried a heavy canvas sack up the street. His boots marched on the cobblestones in a hard clomping rhythm and a dagger was tucked in his belt.

Gwyneth caught his eyes and, afore Jared realized her purpose, tilted away from him, fluffed her hair, and batted her eyes brazenly at the boy. “Lad! Lad!”

The faithless vixen! Furious, Jared spurred the horse into a gallop afore the boy could react.

Gwyneth gasped as the horse rounded a corner and her cheek bumped against Jared. Anxiety filled her chest at the brooding look on his face. His tunic was damp with sweat and she could practically smellhis anger. Worst of all, she felt alone. So very alone. Ivan was defeated. Her family had abandoned her.

The houses and shops blurred past as Jared rushed the horse at a breakneck pace.

The pensive look of darkness on his face made her shiver and double her determination to find someone to help her.