Willa felt warm cloth being draped over her and blinked her eyes open. She turned to see that it had indeed been Lucan she'd heard. He'd removed his doublet and was even now laying it over her waist and hips. Even as she opened her mouth to thank him, she saw that Jollivet was there as well, and was shucking his own doublet. He rushed forward to drape it over her upper body. Baldulf was right behind him with his own doublet. It went over her legs. Even as he stepped away another man was stepping forward to add to her covering.
Willa peered around in amazement. There were at least six more men lining up to cover her nak*dness. Of course, she wasn't nak*d anymore. In fact, as garment after garment was piled on top of her, Willa found herself with a new problem. She was growing exceedingly warm, but found she did not have the heart to reject a one of their offerings. They all looked so solemn as they buried her under the mountain of clothing, one would think she was dead. So Willa suffered the now uncomfortable heat and murmured her thanks, grateful when Hugh grunted and started forward again.
She listened idly as Lucan verified that the guard had heard his shout, roused the others and hurried out in search of them with torches. Lucan had found the arrow in the tree and Baldulf had found her gown on the cliff. They had deduced what had happened and started to follow the river in search of them.
As the men spoke, Willa had a sudden realization. Her husband spoke differently around the men than he did when alone with her. Around the men he mostly grunted and nodded and made short one- or two-word comments. When alone with her, he often spoke in full sentences. Hugh also tended to walk a little taller, brace his shoulders so they looked wider, and kept a much sterner expression around the men than he bothered with when they were alone.
She pondered these oddities all the way back to camp, and was still pondering them when Eada rushed forward to greet them.
"Are ye alright?" The woman asked anxiously, following Hugh as he carried Willa to their tent.
"Aye." Willa smiled at her over Hugh's shoulder. Then Hugh stepped into the tent.
"Let me see her," Eada ordered, waving him out of the way the moment he'd set her on their makeshift bed.
Willa cast her husband a sympathetic look as he moved out of the way. His expression was disgruntled and she knew he found it hard to put up with Eada's bossiness at times.
" 'Tis a chill night for a swim," Eada commented as she stripped away doublet after doublet, handing each one to Hugh.
Willa merely grimaced, then released a breath of relief as the last of the garments came away. Eada began to examine her for injuries. "I am fine."
" 'Tis not you I am worried about," Eada said distractedly. " 'Tis the babes."
"Babes!" She and Hugh cried the word as one. Willa sat up abruptly on the furs, while Hugh dropped to sit on them, the doublets slipping from his hands. Eada rolled her eyes at their reaction.
"Well, I told ye he would plant twins in ye the first time he bedded ye," she said with exasperation.
"Oh... aye. You did... I had forgotten." Her gaze slid to Hugh and she saw that he'd quite forgotten, too. He looked about as stunned as she felt.
"I think they're alright." Eada straightened. "Ye must be more careful, though."
"She will be," Hugh said staunchly, and Willa immediately felt concern grip her. She had a feeling his idea of careful and hers might clash. He was looking rather stern again... and there wasn't a single man there to see it.
Willa opened her eyes and sat upright. After Eada had declared her alright, Hugh had suggested she rest. He'd then stood at the flap of the tent to give his orders to his men before returning inside. Willa had just managed to make herself comfortable when he'd joined her in their makeshift bed and dragged her to his side. She'd been a tad annoyed as he arranged her like a rag doll half atop him, but had pushed the feeling away, deciding that his protectiveness was rather sweet, until he'd shoved her head against his chest and ordered, "Sleep."
"Sleep."
Willa shook her head, sure for a moment that she was imagining that voice. Her memory was playing tricks with her.
"Sleep," Hugh repeated, this time grabbing her arm to tug her back onto his chest. He pressed her head down as he had before and lay still.
Willa pursed her lips, irritation running through her. She started to say that she was not tired, then changed it to, "I need to drain the dragon that is not a dragon."
"Agai - " He cut the complaint off and sat up, taking her with him. "Of course. The babes are probably bouncing on your bladder."
Willa grimaced at this description and pulled away from him to search for her gown. She dressed, then stood to await Hugh as he donned his belt.
Once he was finished, he took her arm and led her out of the tent. Willa had expected him to lead her into the bushes right away, so she was surprised when he paused and barked out, "Rufus, Albin, Kerrich and Enion!"
The four guards rushed forward.
"Come," was all he said. Then he walked Willa into the woods, followed by the four men. After several moments, he stopped and turned to the men. "Rufus, you, stand there. Albin, over here. Enion - "
"Husband," Willa said, interrupting his arrangement of the men in a square around the tree. A horrible suspicion was coming over her.
"Aye?" He appeared irritated with her interruption.
"What are you doing?"
"Stationing the men," he explained. Then he turned back to point to the third man. "Enion, right here, and Kerrich there. What is it, Willa?" he added as she tugged at his tunic to get his attention.
"The men. What - I mean, why are they here?"
"To help me guard you, of course."
He said it as if she must be daft not to have realized this. She had realized it, but had hoped she was wrong. She wasn't.
"Go ahead," he prompted when she merely stared at him.
"Go ahead?" she asked weakly. "You expect me to - With them - I - "
"Oh." He smacked himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand, apparently just realizing the problem. Then he ordered the men, "Turn your backs."
He waited until the four men had all pivoted so that they stood with their backs to each other as well as to the spot Hugh intended her to use. Then he nodded his satisfaction and glanced at her expectantly.
Willa released a whimpering sound. This immediately elicited an alarmed expression from Hugh. "What is the matter? Are you not feeling well?" Willa closed her eyes and immediately felt his hands clamp onto her wrists. "Willa?"
Her eyes popped open. They were blazing. "I cannot water the dragon with them here."
"Drain the dragon," he corrected with a frown.
"What does it matter?" she exploded. "I haven't a dragon to drain, but you know what I mean."
He released a put-upon sigh, as if she were the one being unreasonable. "Willa."
"Do not 'Willa' me!" she snapped. "I am not doing it with them here!"
"Why?"
"Why?" She stared at him, wondering how she'd neglected to notice that her husband was a complete clodpole.
"Aye. Why? They will not see you," he pointed out reasonably. But he was looking even more concerned over her outburst than he had at her whimpering.
Willa supposed she shouldn't be surprised. She did try to be a dutiful wife, but there were just some limits to these things. Or perhaps she was growing comfortable enough with him to allow her true nature to reign. Trying for calm, she said, "They will hear me."
"Hear you?" he asked with a disbelieving laugh, and Willa glared at him.
"Aye. They will hear me. That is enough to make it impossible."
They were silent for a moment, Willa glaring at him, Hugh appearing to chew the matter over. Then he cleared his throat, turned to the men and ordered, "Sing."
There was a brief silence; then each of the men turned to peer uncertainly at Hugh. He scowled at their disbelieving looks. "Aye. You heard me. Sing."
The men now glanced at each other, then back. One of them - Willa believed it was the fellow named Kerrich - cleared his throat and asked, "What should we sing, my lord?"
"I do not care. Just sing," Hugh said with exasperation, then added, "As loudly as you can."
There was another moment of silence. Then Kerrich began to sing in a rusty baritone. Willa caught the first few words of what sounded like a rather ribald song, and then Rufus began something entirely different. Apparently, he didn't know that song. Enion and Albin were quick to follow, singing two entirely different songs from the first two. The woods were polluted with four different songs in four different keys, the noise becoming a horrible clashing clangor.
"There!" Hugh shouted with satisfaction. "Now they will not hear you."
Willa gaped at him briefly, then stomped around him and started back toward camp. Hugh grabbed her arm to stop her. "I thought you had to drain the dragon?"
"I do. But I refuse to do so with four men standing guard. 'Twas embarrassing enough with just you," she shouted.
He frowned at this announcement, then yelled back, "Willa, I have heard that being with child makes women unreasonable, but surely you realize that I cannot send the guards away? Not after what happened last time. You cannot wish to risk your life as well as our babies' simply to save some embarrassment?"
That made her pause. She stared at his resolute face for a moment. It was obvious he would not be moved on this matter. It seemed to her that her options were either to relieve herself in the center of the singing men, or hold it until they reached court. It was a two-day journey to court. It could be the following evening before she could relieve herself. Willa was incapable of waiting that long for a privy. Deciding that someone was going to pay for this, she stomped to the center of her four-point guard. Pausing, Willa glanced around at the backs facing her, then at Hugh, who nodded encouragingly.
As the awful clashing noise carried on, Willa tended to business and wished she were dead.
Chapter Twenty
Willa paced the length of the room and kicked the bed. She then paced to the other end and kicked at one of the two chairs in front of the fire before repeating the sequence.
They had reached court early that morning... after four days traveling to make a two-day journey. Muttering under her breath, Willa kicked at the bed twice this time as she paused before it. As she'd feared, Hugh's idea of being careful did not mesh with hers. Much to Willa's mortification, the incident in the woods with her singing guard had been repeated many times during the last two and a half days. On top of that humiliation, Hugh had insisted on traveling at a much slower pace "so as not to unsettle the babes." Willa had spent this much slower journey in the back of a cart because he was sure that "riding could not be good for the babes." He'd also overseen her meals, insisting she eat plentifully to "help the babes grow strong in her belly." Worse than that, though, was how he'd taken to hovering over her like a mother over a sick child, until Willa thought she might pull her hair out... or his.
Nay, she decided as her pacing took her to the bed again, worst of all was the fact that he'd sworn off touching her in a sexual manner, for fear of "jostling the babes while they may be sleeping." Aye. She missed that most of all. If the man could not tell her he loved her, the least he could do was bed her.
This time rather than kick the chair by the fire, she dropped unhappily to sit in it. They had been at court for barely an hour and already Hugh had been called to see the king. She supposed at this very moment, he was showing King John the letter from Papa Richard and telling him how her father, Tristan, was trying to kill her.
Willa stared at the fire in the fireplace with dissatisfaction. Hugh had determined that her complaints at his smothering behavior and her singing guard were merely the result of her being with child. That reasoning made it easy for him to discount her complaints, and Willa could just throttle him for it.
Why hadn't he declared his love for her? Not that Willa had told him of her feelings expecting a declaration in return, but it did seem that his offering one would have been the polite thing to do. It would have been nice. She was carrying his children, after all. She was his wife. Eada had said he would love her. She wanted him to love her. Why didn't he love her?
Her cantankerous thoughts were interrupted when the chamber door opened and a young maid entered. Willa eyed her with annoyance. After four days without peace, Willa had wished only to be alone on arriving here. The moment Hugh had left to speak to the king, she'd urged Eada to visit the market to see if there weren't some things here she couldn't easily get at Hillcrest. The older woman had not needed much prodding to abandon her.
"I was sent to see if there was anything you wished for, my lady?" The maid sounded sweet-natured, which merely annoyed Willa all the more.
"Nay." She knew she sounded surly, but could not help it. Willa felt surly. Which was unusual. She generally had the sunniest of dispositions. Perhaps being with child was affecting her after all, she thought, then quickly pushed the thought away.
"Well, if you are sure?"
The girl had half turned toward the door when Willa suddenly sat up and asked, "Do you know if Lord D'Orland has arrived yet?"
"Aye. He has." The maid smiled, pleased to be of some assistance. "He arrived yester morn. Do you know him?"
"Nay," Willa admitted unhappily; then her gaze sharpened on the girl. "Do you?"
"Oh, aye." The girl's smile widened. "He is one of King John's finest warriors."
"Is?" Willa asked curiously. By her calculations, her father must be nigh on sixty, at least. "Surely, he does not still ride into battle?"
"Aye." The girl looked sad. " 'Tis a broken heart that sends him constantly riding off to war."
"A broken heart?"
The maid nodded. "Everyone knows the tale. He loved his wife more than life itself, but she died with their child some twenty years ago. He has sought out battle after battle ever since. Some say he hopes to die and join them, but God has not taken him yet." She shook her head mournfully. "When not at war, he is here more often than at D'Orland. They say he cannot bear the memories that fill his castle. He is a very kind man. All the servants are happy to wait on him."