Alsneta's nephew didn't say a word. His expression appeared slightly frantic as he raised his own sword. Willa felt her heart stop as she watched it come down toward her, then she heard a shout and was suddenly thrown out of the way of the falling sword. She landed on the ground on her stomach, but quickly rolled onto her back and stared at the tableau behind her. Gawain stood gaping, his sword lodged deep in his own aunt. It was Alsneta who had pushed her out of the way.
Gawain stood frozen for a moment, then seemed to regain himself. He pulled the sword from Alsneta, watched her slip to the ground, then turned again on Willa.
Chapter Eighteen
Willa was sure she was about to die. She glanced wildly around for Hugh's sword, her heart sinking when she saw it lying out of reach beside Alsneta's prone body. She was helpless to save herself.
Willa turned her gaze back to Gawain. He stood, legs braced, raising the sword he held. Willa tensed as he prepared to bring it down on her. When the sword began to swing down, she rolled quickly out of the way. Dirt and leaves flew up in her face as the sword slammed into the ground mere inches from her head.
Gritting her teeth, she shifted to her hands and knees. Willa startled to scuttle away, but Gawain stepped on the hem of her gown, bringing her to an abrupt halt. She rose up then, and whirled to face him on her knees. If she could not escape her fate, she would face it. Willa would not die from a sword wound to the back. If Gawain wished her dead, it would be a frontal blow. She hoped her face haunted him through eternity.
Gawain hesitated the briefest second, and that was all it took to save her life. In the next moment a furious roar filled the air. Sure it was Hugh's voice she recognized, Willa sagged with relief as her would-be assassin turned to face the charging man. It was only then that she saw it wasn't Hugh who had issued that deep, feral growl. Much to her amazement, the man now battling Gawain was Jollivet.
She sat still, gaping at this turn of events. Shock held her in place as the clash of swords rang out; then a moan from Alsneta drew her attention. Still on her knees, Willa crawled the few feet that separated them.
"Alsneta?" she whispered. Her gaze moved over the cook's wound and Willa's heart lodged in her throat. The cook's shoulder had been cleaved midway between neck and arm. The slice went deep. Willa knew she would not live, but began trying to save her anyway.
"Willa?" Alsneta's eyes opened as Willa began applying pressure to the injury.
Willa tried to smile, but knew it was a miserable attempt. "Hush," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Do not speak. Save your strength."
"There is nothing to save it for," the woman breathed. "I am dying."
"Nay, you - "
"Aye. Leave off that. You are only hurting me and 'tis of no use."
Willa hesitated, then gave up trying to staunch the flow of blood. It hadn't been working anyway; even using both hands, she hadn't been able to stop the blood from oozing out. When Alsneta's good hand fluttered weakly, Willa obeyed the silent demand and grasped it tightly in her own. "You saved me."
"Aye." It was a slow exhalation. "As I walked around the side of the castle, I glanced back and saw Gawain skulking on the edge of the apple trees. I knew he was up to no good. I thought I had best follow. At first, I thought he was just going to spy on the two of you. Which would have been bad enough," she said with disgust and shook her head. "I waited, intending to reprimand him once you two left and would not be embarrassed by his actions." She paused to take another breath, the air rattling in her chest. "But then he charged you and I knew he was the one behind all the trouble. He and that no-good friend of his, Uldrick."
"Uldrick?" Willa queried.
"Aye. He went missing about the same time as that man was killed by your wolves. I didn't recognize him with his face all chewed up, but he was about the right size and coloring. It must have been Uldrick. He and Gawain must have been working for Garrod. I couldn't let him kill you. That bastard had already taken my Luvvy." She let her breath out on a slow wheeze.
"Thank you for my life," Willa said. The words seemed paltry in comparison to Alsneta's sacrifice. She had given her life for Willa, a child she had loved, and a woman she had hated, however briefly.
"I wish - " Willa began, then winced as Alsneta squeezed her hand with sudden strength.
"Nay. Do not take my death on your shoulders, as well," she snapped. "You are not to blame. You were not to blame for Luvena, either. I was wrong. I was taken by surprise and mad in my reawakened grief."
"But if I had not wished to go out that day - " Willa began sorrowfully.
"Whose idea was it the first time? The very first time the two of you sneaked out?"
Willa blinked at the question, then reluctantly admitted, "Luvena's."
"Aye." Alsneta's clasp on Willa's hand eased again. "I thought as much. I knew my girl. You rarely challenged Lord Richard's authority, but my girl..." She released a shuddering breath. " 'Twas no more your fault than 'twas hers. 'Twas fate and that bastard father of yours."
"Oh, Alsneta." Willa bit her lip as the woman's eyes focused on her. A frown creased her face.
"Do not cry for me, child. I am going to be with my Luvena, my little Luvvy." She smiled wearily. Her voice was growing weaker as her life's blood slipped out. "And I am ready for it. A mother shouldn't live to see her child die. 'Tisn't right. It makes her bitter and old before her time."
Feeling the tears running down her face, Willa turned her head and lifted her arm to rub them away with the sleeve of her gown.
"Willa?"
She turned back to see a worried look on Alsneta's face. "Aye? What is it?"
"You do not think - Do you think God will forgive me for trying to poison you?"
Reading the sudden fear in her eyes, Willa was quick to reassure her. "Aye, Alsneta. You saved my life. Surely that makes up for it. God will forgive you. You will be with Luvena."
The woman released a breath of relief and her eyes began to wander, the light in them fading. "Aye. I have... missed her. She was... my little sun..."
"Sunshine," Willa finished for her on a sob, as the life slipped soundlessly from Alsneta's body. Sunshine. It was a phrase that echoed in her memory. "You're my little Sunshine." Alsneta often had said that to Luvena as she hugged her in greeting when the two girls had come into the kitchens in search of sweets. "You're my little Sunshine, Luv."
Willa sat holding her hand until it began to grow cool in her own, then laid it gently on Alsneta's unmoving chest. She sank back on her haunches, feeling suddenly limp. Something hard was pressing into her shins, but it took her a moment to investigate. Shifting to the side, she stared at Hugh's great sword.
God had left her a weapon, but Willa had been too weak to use it. Now Alsneta was dead. She grasped the handle and lifted the sword until it stood before her. It reached higher than she did on her knees. Grasping the handles, she used it to get to her feet.
"Damn me! He ruined my best doublet."
Willa turned at that exasperated comment to see that Jollivet had dispatched Gawain. He was now standing beside the taster's prone body, examining the tear in his doublet with irritation. Letting it go, he shrugged and smiled at her as he started forward. "Ah well, better the doublet than my hide. Can Alsneta walk or shall I go fetch Ead - Jesu!"
Jollivet stopped dead as he spotted the death blow that had felled the cook. He knelt quickly at her side, checking for signs of life that obviously weren't there.
"Hugh!" Lucan crossed the great hall toward him as Hugh jogged down the last of the steps leading to the upper chambers. He'd rushed back into the castle, chasing after Willa. He'd passed through the kitchens, then the great hall, ignoring Lucan's shout as he'd run up the stairs.
It had occurred to him that just moments ago he'd been the one angry and she the one in the wrong. The tables had turned, however. And all because he could not control his lust around her.
To be fair, Willa had not helped matters. In fact, she'd deliberately incited his passions, undoubtedly to distract him. And she'd done a damned fine job of it. Just the memory of her kneeling before him and taking his erection into her mouth was enough to reawaken the passion he'd just spent. Perhaps he could offer his wife more than apologies to ease her frustrations. Then he'd opened the bedchamber door to find their room empty. She'd not returned to their chamber as he'd assumed.
After a brief glance into his uncle's chamber to see that she'd not returned there, he'd started back down the stairs. Now, as he reached the bottom step where Lucan awaited him, he forestalled whatever the man would have said by demanding, "Where is my wife?"
Lucan appeared surprised at the question. "She was outside with you, last I saw."
"Aye. But she came back in... did she not?" he asked with a little less certainty.
"Nay. She did not come through the great hall, and Lord Wynekyn and I have been sitting here since I found the two of you outside."
"God's teeth!" Hugh exploded with exasperation. The woman would drive him mad. She had no difficulty obeying Eada, or his uncle when he'd still lived. Why could she not obey him, just a little? From the first time they had met, she had seemed to be forever slipping out of his presence, or sneaking away from his guard.
"What happened?" Lucan asked.
"We had a... er... disagreement," Hugh told him evasively, starting for the doors to the kitchens. "She stalked off. I thought she had returned inside. Obviously I thought wrong. She must still be out in the garden."
"Oh." Lucan was following him. "What was the disagreement about?"
"None of your - "
"Damn business," Lucan finished with a laugh that grated on Hugh's nerves. "Never mind. I can guess."
Hugh grunted at that as he pushed through the kitchen door. "So you think."
"You think not?" Lucan asked with an amusement that made Hugh scowl. Then he asked, "Where is your sword belt?"
Hugh glanced down sharply, his hand reaching automatically for his waist. When he felt nothing but his untucked tunic, he stopped dead in the center of the kitchen and cursed more volubly. Lucan merely laughed and sauntered to the door leading out into the gardens. Pushing it open, he gestured with one hand for Hugh to lead the way. His friend had a far too confident smirk on his face, Hugh decided as he stormed past him.
He'd barely taken more than a half dozen steps when Jollivet came racing out of the trees. Hugh took one look at his cousin's face and rushed to meet him. "What is it? What has happened?"
Out of breath, Jollivet grabbed Hugh's arm with one hand, gesturing back the way he'd come with the other, and panted, "Gawain attacked Willa!"
Hugh didn't wait to hear more. Bursting into a run, he raced toward the trees. What he found made his heart stop. At first, all he saw was a woman lying in a pool of blood. Then he realized that the blonde hair that had spilled around the woman's head wasn't peppered with fiery red as Willa's was, but speckled with gray. "Alsneta."
"Aye," Jollivet wheezed, leaning weakly against the tree Hugh had earlier been trying to climb in his excitement.
"Where is Willa? Was she hurt?"
"Nay," Jollivet assured him quickly. "She is fine. Alsneta pushed Willa out of the way and took the blow meant for her. I was too far back to help Alsneta, but I arrived in time to dispatch Gawain before he could harm Willa."
"Too far back? How did you all come to be here?" Hugh asked with bewilderment.
Jollivet straightened away from the tree. "I noticed Gawain in the great hall when we came below. When you hurried into the kitchens in search of Willa, he slipped out into the bailey. He was acting - " Jollivet shrugged. "Odd. I was suspicious after having just heard that he and Alsneta were the only ones Baldulf had told of your whereabouts before the fire. So I followed him. I trailed him around the castle to the gardens behind. He slid into the apple orchard and watched you two talk to Alsneta. When Alsneta left and you led Willa deeper into the trees, he again followed. Then Alsneta spotted him and began to shadow him and I was forced to follow her."
"Dear God, you mean to say all three of you were there when - " He bit the end off the sentence, coloring with mortification. It had not been his finest hour. If they had had to witness him enjoying his wife, could they not have picked a time when he had pleasured her in return? Realizing how petty that thought was, he shook his head and gestured for Jollivet to continue.
The fop was looking more like his taunting self, but said. "I was not there, cousin. At least, I could not see anything. I was more concerned with watching both Alsneta and Gawain. Though I am sure Gawain could see from his vantage point," he added.
" 'Tis good he is dead, else I would have to kill him myself," Hugh muttered, giving the dead man's leg a kick.
"Why? What happened?" Lucan asked, then raised his hands and laughed when Hugh turned on him. "Never mind. I know. 'Tis none of my damned business."
"Anyway," Jollivet said, drawing their attention back to him. "After the two of you finished... well, after you finished," he corrected himself.
Hugh's mouth thinned. "I thought you could not see?"
"Aye. I could hear most of it, though." He grinned, enjoying Hugh's discomfort, then went on, "Willa started toward the castle, then suddenly veered off into the trees. Once you got your braies untangled from around your ankles and gave chase - " Jollivet grinned as Lucan burst out laughing.
Hugh scowled and caught Jollivet by the shirt. Jerking the smaller man off his feet, he barked, "My wife?"
Jollivet cleared his throat when Hugh released him, then continued, "After you ran back into the castle, Willa walked back to where you had been together. Gawain started to move after her, Alsneta followed him and I trailed her. I was staying back a bit, trying not to give my presence away to Alsneta. I couldn't see what was happening ahead of her very well, but I knew it was trouble when she suddenly burst into a run. I gave up trying to move stealthily and hurried after her. When I got there, she had been struck down and Gawain had turned on Willa. I fought him and won." He shrugged. " 'Twasn't until then that I realized the extent of Alsneta's wound. I knelt to see if she was truly dead and while I did, Willa ran off."