Unbidden (The Evolution Series) (31 page)

The entire crowd gasped
as one.

David tossed the lance
. It sung low through the air, quickly coming to a vibrating stop in the ground at the plunging horse’s front feet. The pony, already wild-eyed, skidded to a dead halt, nearly tossing Sewell over his head, then reared up while backing wildly off the lance it could no longer see but could feel against its belly. Sewell slid off backwards in a heap, rolling to avoid the stamping hooves. David was on him in a thrice, pulling back his head and aiming his spata at his jugular.

“Done and done!” the emperor shouted
. “David of Bavaria has defended his betrothal to Rochelle of Alda. Let no man question it further!”

Theo chuckled
. “God forgive me, I never tire of that trick either.”

David shoved Sewell away, then dropped heavily to his knees
. Rochelle’s concern for him overwhelmed any feelings of relief or joy. She began to climb the fence again. Theo stopped her. “Wait here,” he said. “I will bring him to you.”  He turned away, then added, “He is a bit of a bear after battle. Do not get your feelings hurt.”

Spectators already surrounded him
. It worried her. What if someone attacked him now?  In a moment, she could see his sweaty head above the crowd, Theo’s spectacular cap close by. As they approached, she found herself speechless, unsure what to say. Not to mention that he looked downright mean. The blood and dirt were bad enough, but there was fury in his face. The high emotions of the fight could apparently not be turned off by victory.

She thrust the skin of liquid at him.

“Are you going to try to poison me now?” he said sharply.

She reeled back as if he had struck her again, clutching the medicine to her chest.

Marian grabbed it from her to push it at him again. “It is for yer head, ye great big lout. Go soak in it if ye do not want to drink it. She has paid enough for her sins.” 

Theo grabbed the pouch,
then cuffed David on his good shoulder. “What is wrong with you?  She came to your aid!  She only wants to help you.”

“The Black kept going for my head,” David shouted
. “Who else could have told him to do that?”

“Your damned brother, that is who!” Theo yelled back at him
. “Rochelle is the one who saw The Black coming after you with that rock, you jackass. Without her, I never would have warned you in time.”

David’s eye
s met hers. An unholy fire blazed there, burning away any soft feelings he had ever had for her. She had lost him. Knowing what he did about Riculf, of course he assumed she had also betrayed him with The Black. He would never believe Theo’s words in defense of her. She blinked her eyes against the prickle of tears. She would not weep. Not here. Not again. “I admitted everything to you last night,” she said firmly. “Everything!”

Marian put her arm around Rochelle’s shoulders protectively
. “Think nothing of it, girlie. He has just got the bloodlust to work out. Better to let him do it on his own.”

A man shouted to David
. “The emperor wishes to see you in his camp immediately.”

“Of course he does,” David yelled back hotly, not at all pleased with another demand on his time. “Let me get cleaned up first.”

“You are expected before sunset.”

“Theo, go with her to your house
. I will see all of you back there later.”

He wavered a bit on his feet. Rochelle could see he was still dazed from the blow to his head
. As he moved toward his tent, the crowd surged around him. Among them could be Doeg or God only knew who else.

“You must go with him,” Rochelle
begged Theo. “Even if he does not understand the real threat, you do. You must go with him!  Here, put this on the wounds and there are clean bandages in here, too.”

He nodde
d. “I will stay with him. I might just hit him over the head myself, once or twice, before I start nursing him back to health.”  Several of Theo’s men had found him. He ordered them to see Rochelle and Marian safely back to the house.

Rochelle watched until Theo caught up with David before she allowed the guards to help her and Marian slowly through the crowd
. Perhaps she would never see him again. The idea panicked her. The press of the crowd added its own claustrophobic anxiety. As she searched for an escape route, her eyes fell on Doeg. He did not see her. His face was contorted with anger, but at least he appeared to be leaving the area as well. As if he felt her eyes on him, he swiveled his head to look at her. He glared for a moment with those frigid blue eyes, then cleared the anger from his expression, replacing it with one of patronizing victory. Whatever the purpose of his battle against her, he considered himself the ultimate victor, though he was not completely satisfied with today’s outcome. He was happy to see her disgraced, but had not wanted David to win. With a curt nod, he disappeared into the sea of people.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Rochelle sat in the dark shadows of Theo’s porch, her back against the chilly stone wall, her knees under her chin, her cloak pulled closely around her. The sun had set about an hour before and people passed on the street without seeing her
. It did not matter if they did. She hadn’t changed her clothes or tidied her hair, and she did not care who knew how wretched she was.

She’d had no sign or word of David, but she had no delusions about her future. If he believed her capable of using her knowledge of his head wound against him
, there was not much hope he would want to marry her. She wasn’t out here waiting for him or hoping he would hurry. As she saw it, he could delay his inevitable rejection of her and the accompanying eviction from Alda as long as he wished.

No, she’d come out here because she simply could not bear the festival atmosphere in Theo’s hall on the day when she had lost everything
. The Damsels, in fact most of the people she’d encountered, watched her with an unsettling combination of disdain, pity and envy. The most obviously handsome and able warrior, the victorious warrior, had been the one she’d betrayed, hence the disdain. He’d not only knocked her into the dirt and shouted at her during the course of the event, hence the pity. In spite of all that, she was betrothed to him, hence the envy, however short-lived it would be.

The denouement had yet to be acted out
. His decision to break with her would certainly be made public soon enough, and would set her forever in their eyes as an object worthy of little attention at all. She would be the one rejected by David of Bavaria. Poor. Unlanded. Nobody.

Only she knew the most important thing she’d lost:  the love of her life
. She’d thrown it away before she’d even known what she had.

Two forms on horseback materialized from the darkness
. Torches in the pillars of the porch cast light on Theo and David as they dismounted. David had obviously bathed, now wearing a fine set of clothing and a warm black cloak lined with fur. He did not look at all like a man who, just hours before, had been stabbed and nearly had his skull crushed. He was, in fact, so handsome her heart clenched. He was surely not hers any more, and the sight of him brought a sinking pain.

They did not see her push herself to her feet. S
he did not want to be caught lurking in shadows, so she announced her presence. “I am here,” she said simply as she walked forward into the light of the torch by the front door.

David stopped and met her eyes
. He seemed subdued. “Why are you out here?”

“I am very glad that you won, but I did not feel very celebratory. Nor very welcome at the party.”

They stared at one another until Theo broke the strained silence. “It is bad enough that they hold a party without me. Have my guests been rude to you?”

Rochelle laughed without humor
. “I not only hired Riculf, apparently I told The Black to bash my betrothed’s brains out. None want their darling daughters near me, in case my particular strain of stupidity is catching.”

David had the courtesy to look pained as Theo first glared at him then stalked to the door
. “We will see about that.”

“No,” Rochelle protested over her shoulder
. “Leave them. I do not care what they think. I can hardly stand my own company of late. I certainly do not want theirs.”

“Theo,” David said quietly
. “Tell Marian I am taking her daughter for a walk.”

Rochelle slowly turned her head back toward him
. She would certainly follow him to the end of the earth and beyond but still had to bite her tongue against several questions coming immediately to mind, choosing the one most pertinent to his safety. “Where is Doeg?”

David replied easily, “He left for home
. The crush of people no longer suits him, either. Theo, I will expect to see you later.” 

Plans to rejoin his friend could not bode well regarding his plans for her
. Theo opened the door, letting the sounds and light of the boisterous party out onto the street for a brief moment before shutting it away again. Just like her brief interlude of love, here then gone, closed off by a heavy door she would never be able to open. Rochelle sighed, overwhelmed by the exhaustion of her defeat.

David shifted uncomfortably
. “Theo tells me I owe you an apology,” he said, the suggestion of a flush rising to his neck.

“Apology?”  Rochelle, so immersed in her own misery, had no idea what he could be talking about.

“He tells me I struck out at you and sent you sprawling,” he cleared his throat awkwardly, “after you had leapt across the emperor and a fence to come to my aid.”

“Oh that, yes, well, that was nothing compared to….”  She waved vaguely with her hand, hoping to indicate everything he had suffered today.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked bluntly, his eyes boring into hers with an uncomfortable intensity.

She unconsciously lifted
her hand to her breastbone. His gaze followed. The bruise was tender but hadn’t given her a moment’s worry tonight. “I am fine, though I am glad you had already stuck your semi-spata in The Black.”

He paled
. “You are certain you are not damaged?  I am not in the habit of striking women. It was —”

She steppe
d forward to reassure him, even now when he was about to remove every hope of happiness from her future. “You were not yourself for just a few seconds. There was no harm done.”

His hands flexed and he shifted his feet in the dirt
. She could not read his eyes. “Let us walk,” he finally suggested.

Dread and excitement bubbled up in her stomach
. He hadn’t discarded her outright. Her own tournament, her own battle for their future perhaps still lay before her. Rochelle breathed deeply, trying to calm herself as they walked down the street at his usual brisk pace. Sounds of distant revelry echoed through the town.

“How is your head?” she ventured hesitantly.

He reached up to prod his forehead with his fingertips. “Not bad. I have had two doses of your potion. It is holding the worst at bay.”  After another moment of awkward silence, he added gruffly, “It was very thoughtful of you to bring it to the field.”

The unexpected kindness was too much
. “I did not tell The Black anything,” she blurted. “I would never betray your injury to an adversary.”

David lifted a hand to silence her. “I know
. Both Theo and Louis have their own idea about who did. I do not agree with them. I also do not believe it was you. After all, it was not Riculf going after my head.”  He glanced at her, as if realizing he had just put salt on the wound of her guilt.

She blinked
hard against the wetness in her eyes. She strode beside him, his pace still rapid enough to suggest a purposeful destination. “Still, my part was bad enough. Witnessing the result of it was the worst punishment. Seeing you in danger, bleeding…it was too much. I hated it.”  She paused with a shaky sigh. “I hate myself.”

David only grunted noncommittally.

They walked for a few minutes, until he asked,  “Are you not going to ask me about my meeting with the emperor?”

“I am not sure I should.”

“Hmm. Well, it was very interesting. He was full of all manner of bad advice.”  His hand unexpectedly twined with hers. She kept her eyes forward as hope rose a little higher.

“What kind of advice?”

“You have redeemed yourself a bit in his eyes, but he still thinks I should break the betrothal.”

They climbed the gentle rise toward the church
. The combination of exercise and nerves made her breathless.

“You certainly lack your usual curiosity tonight.”  He looked down at her with a wry smile
. “Are you too full of guilt and self-loathing to ask the question?”

“As long as I do not make you say the words, there is still a possibility.”

He finally stopped to face her in front of the church. “A possibility of what?”  He lifted his hand to the side of her face, his eyes suddenly burning into hers.

S
he couldn’t look away. She swallowed the dread in her throat. “That you will give me another chance. Once you say you have broken the betrothal, there is no chance. You cannot expect me to be in a hurry to hear those words.”

His thumb rubbed over her cheek
. “And if I say I will give you another chance?”

Her free hand rose toward his chest then dropped again
. She was afraid to touch him, afraid to believe. “If you give me a chance,” she whispered, her eyes locked on his, “I promise I will not betray you again. I will be a good wife. Oh, I have fallen so in love with you.”  She sighed, turning her lips to his palm, dread and fear falling away. This was David, her David, his rough palm cradling her face. Whatever intimacy he allowed her tonight, be it words or touch, she would take it.

Her warm kiss sent sparks down his arm. The quiet pledge, the gentle sign of affection was all it took to bring the banked fire of his love for her, of his desire, to a full roar
.

He brought his lips to hers savagely
. All the frustration of the last month, all the possessive feelings he’d felt in battle today, came surging forth. None would have her except him. No more terms. No more denials.

He kissed her breathless, until she whimpered against him, her hands tangled in his cloak as he held her tight against his chest. He began to move backward, forcing her to keep pace with him, straining to keep her lips joined with his
. He pulled away when they reached the steps to the church, slipping his arm around her waist so they could climb, step by step, side by side.

He opened the door, the distinct “snick” of the latch echoing around the empty basilica
. A few hanging oil lamps glowed down the center, casting just enough light for an errant worshiper to find his way to the altar. David hadn’t come here to worship God. A moment later, the object of his devotion stood in the soft glow.

“This is the church,” she said nonsensically, backing away from him until her back hit a massive stone pillar
. He followed to plunder her lips again. “Is it a sin to kiss in here?”  she sighed as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“Not tonight,” he replied, then silenced her with his mouth, his tongue tasting her lips
. He reached up to lift the veil from her head, his breath catching as her thick mahogany hair shone in the soft lamplight. “Take it down,” he ordered, watching as her shaking fingers found the golden pins and placed them in the veil still in his hands. She shoved her fingers through the locks, emboldened by the yearning flame in his eyes. He crumpled the veil with the pins within and tossed it on a bench, then raked his own hands through her hair until the mahogany mass flowed down her back. “Beautiful,” he said, in awe. “I wish to see your hair every time we are alone.”  He rained more kisses on her face before bending to nuzzle at her neck. “How could you ever think I would part with you?”

She wrapped her arms around him
. “I could not believe you would ever forgive me.”

He slipped his lips
to her ear. “I forgive you. I want you. I love you beyond all reason.”

He was stating his claim on her, his intentions toward her, and finally, Rochelle could accept it
. Joy pealed within her as she tightened her hold on him, safe again in the circle of his arms, her cheek against the firm plane of his chest. “I am so happy,” was all she could choke out, her knees nearly collapsing when he lifted her chin to smile down into her face, his expression so open and ardent it stole her breath.

She went up on tiptoe to kiss him softly
. She had never felt so female. Desire pooled in her belly, and she could feel the proof of his own arousal pressing against her. She wanted him, and reached for another kiss, this time twining her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her. He accommodated her as he loosened the clasp on her cloak, letting it pile on the floor around the pillar. His hands moved heavily over her torso, wanting to touch every part of her at once. She arched slightly, offering. He took, sliding a hand to her breast, testing, relearning the feel of her under his hands. It was not nearly enough. He found the laces of her tunic to loosen them and push it off her shoulders, gently tracing her collarbone with one finger. She could not stop a sharp intake of breath at the skin-to-skin contact.

She tugged at the immense clasp of his cloak
. “Help,” she whispered, desperate to touch him as well. He kissed her neck and shoulders as he dropped it to the floor for her. Her hands swiftly passed over the wool layers covering his arms and chest, feeling the firmness of his muscles, the small flexes that belied the power held within.

He growled in his throat, moving in closer, trapping her against the pillar, hips to her belly, his thigh nudging between hers
. His hands became more reckless, sliding up her waist to cup both her breasts possessively. She pressed against him, remembering the stables, finding the slight pressure at her crotch utterly intriguing.

“God in heaven,” he breathed, bracing his forearm above her head. “We had better slow down.”