The Falcon and the Flower Part 26

Chapter 28.

Jasmine wore a woolen gown and woolen stockings and a pair of riding boots. As she sought out Isabel to see if she had some warm gloves she could borrow, she pa.s.sed an open chamber door and saw her father packing his saddlebags for a journey. He beamed at her. "Did you sleep wel , sweetheart?

Suddenly her bottom lip was quivering and she covered her face with her hands as she wept hopelessly. He put his big arm about her and sat her down before the fire. "Jasmine, I want you to be happy," he said anxiously. "I'm a good judge of men; believe me when I tel you you've one of the best in the whole realm. He has qualities that mark him off from other men."

"Then why didn't you give him your precious Isobel or Ela?"

she cried.

"That was precisely my plan, but from the moment he laid eyes on you, he was blind to them. He would have no other.

Child, your grandmother and I painted such a portrait of your inadequacies as a wife, no man in his right mind would have wanted to wed with you. In fact, I refused him outright until he forced me to yield to his demands. He told me you had spent the night in his bed and were hopelessly compromised. He insinuated that the damage he had done was beyond repair. I wanted him for a son-in-law, Jasmine, so I gave in to his demands."

"But they inherit your lands and castles," protested Jasmine.

"De Burgh did not covet my castles, he coveted only you.

Jasmine, my dear, surely he has demonstrated the depth of his feelings for you. He braved a raging river to s.n.a.t.c.h you from the arms of Chester."

She shuddered at mention of the dreaded name.

"Do you not return Falcon's affection? Are things not right between you?" he asked concerned.

"He is so arrogant. His word is law. He expects me to obey his every order, but I shal defy him til I die!" she said pa.s.sionately.

Salisbury tried not to smile. "You didn't defy Chester," he pointed out.

"Because he threatened to harm Estel e!" she cried.

"And Chester wouldn't hesitate to inflict hurt upon you if you defied him. Am I right?"

"Yes," she said, remembering Chester's cruel hands on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"You defy Falcon de Burgh because he al ows you to defy him.

Think about it, Jasmine." Her father kissed her brow and wished her G.o.dspeed on her journey. He told her he would shortly take issue with John and Chester for what they had tried to do to her.

Jasmine, wrapped in the ermine cloak with another hooded cloak over it, sat her palfrey in the snow-covered courtyard of Chepstow wis.h.i.+ng she had the chatelaine's skil s of Lady Isabel Marshal. She spoke so knowledge-ably to Falcon, almost like an equal.

"In a couple of days I intend to send a few supply wagons through to you at Mountain Ash. Heaven only knows what the harvest was like at your Welsh holding. I'l send some hams and wheels of cheese. Also some fine white flour so Jasmine won't have to eat black bread al winter. I'l include wine and cider casks and some ale too. If it's been a male stronghold for a long time I know it wil lack decent linen and any number of things. I'm wil ing to bet there isn't a single mirror in the entire castle," said Isabel, laughing at the puzzled look on Falcon's face. "Men!" she said to Jasmine.

"I'l never understand them," Jasmine said faintly.

Isabel winked. "You underestimate yourself."

"Thank you so much for your kindness, Isabel," said Jasmine, her eyes looking longingly at the warm stone strength of Chepstow.

"Go with G.o.d," Isabel shouted, as de Burgh put the spurs to his destrier and led the string of packhorses away.

Mountain Ash was approximately the same distance from Chepstow as Gloucester had been, but the terrain was treacherous. There were two ranges of mountains to climb, most of which were over twenty-five hundred feet. The first part of their journey would be far easier than the last half, and Falcon hoped to make it to the vicinity of Pontypool by dusk. It was at the foot of the first mountain range where the Castle of Usk lay beside a large lake.

Jasmine fol owed Falcon's lead, being sure to keep up with him so he could have no complaints. She was very proud of herself for sitting her saddle for so many hours without complaint or tears through the thickly fal ing snow.

Just before dusk the snow stopped to give them a breathtaking view of the lake with the Castle of Usk rising from its far side. Jasmine felt the urge to capture its beauty on canva.s.s. She swal owed her pride and spoke to her husband.

"Can we stay there tonight?"

He knew she was cold and tired and hungry, and yet something about the place made him uneasy. After a slight hesitation he shook his head. "I think we'l be better off in the tent."

She flared, "You would! 'Tis no hards.h.i.+p for you to sleep on the cold ground. I want to go to the castle, I don't trust you alone in a tent in the wilderness with none to come to my aid!"

"You do right to fear me, lady!" he said tightly. "Never say to me again that you don't feel safe with me."

She bit her lip, for she knew she had real y angered him this time.

Suddenly a lone rider with long black hair and bared arm muscles rode out from under the trees and drew rein beside Falcon. Jasmine cried out in alarm, but Falcon and the man spoke in the Welsh tongue. He gestured to the castle and Falcon asked him a question. In answer the Welshman held up the five fingers of one hand.

Falcon turned his head to look at her. "We go to the Castle of Usk after al ."

"Oh, thank you, milord. I'm truly sorry if I angered you."

He cut her short. "We don't go for your sake, my lady, we go because Chester's a.s.sasins await us."

She felt herself sway and caught hold of her saddle horn desperately to keep from fainting into the snow. Falcon chose the long way around the lake, keeping under cover of the trees and coming to the postern gate of the castle. Usk was part of the vast de Clare holdings thatj Isabel had brought to Wil iam Marshal when they married. It was a smal holding, and the marshal kept only a handful of retainers there, some Welsh, some English. It had no garrison of men-at-arms, but from his service in Wales, Falcon de Burgh was familiar with Usk.

He did not take the horses to the stables but sheltered them in a lean-to near the kitchens that was used to keep wood for the fires. As he lifted Jasmine from the saddle he felt her shaking.

How in the world would this sweet child find the courage to be a helpmate to a man like himself? For her sake he never should have married her. He opened the kitchen door and pushed her through into the hot room, redolent with the smel of delicious bread and acrid smoke. He fished into a pocket for a coin and held it out to the cook. "Where do you sleep?"

he asked.

She pointed to a smal room off the kitchen that con-j tained a single pal et. As he ushered Jasmine into the little chamber, he cautioned her, "You wil be safe and warm here. Put the bar down on the inside and do not open to any but me."

The Welsh scout who had met him across the lake was in the kitchen when Falcon came out of the smal room "Are they al five together?" asked Falcon, hoping they were not so that he five together?" asked Falcon, hoping they were not so that he could take on one at a time.

"They are drinking in the hal ," the Welshman replied.

"Let's try to separate them. 1'11 go up on the battle- ments.

Tel them you were just up there and thought you saw a rider across the lake."

The Welshman nodded his understanding. He was a member of Wil iam Marshal's household and therefore unwil ing to take a hand in kil ing Englishmen, but as a native Welshman he was not averse to seeing English kil English.

He went into the hal and told of the rider.

The leader of the men asked, "Was there a woman with him?"

"Too far off to tel ." He pointed upward. "They should be easy to spot now in the snow, although the light is fading fast."

The leader dispatched two men to the battlements, then took the other two with him to the bailey where the drawbridge was clearly visible.

Falcon crouched on the battlements with his unsheathed knife at the ready. The two men were talking as they emerged on the ramparts. "If he manages to escape, we must secure the woman at al costs. I wouldn't like to face Chester without her."

"If your arrow had found its mark in Nottingham we'd not be up to our a.r.s.es flittering about in b.l.o.o.d.y snow . . ." The voice was silenced forever as Falcon's knife went straight into the man's windpipe.

"What the Hel fire?" cried his companion, drawing his knife and backing off in a crouch.

'That's exactly where I'm sending you, my friend. The one fatal mistake you made in life was missing my back when you aimed that arrow." Falcon flung himself, knife first, upon the startled man. The force of his ful body weight fol owed. The man was thinking what an utter fool de Burgh was to jump a man holding a drawn dagger, but he never got the chance to finish the thought.

Falcon bound the two bodies together by the leather thongs of their chausses then lifted the deadly bundle onto the parapet.

One push and the pair dropped straight down into the lake with a splash that sprayed the men waiting by the drawbridge.

One cal ed up, "What the hel was that? Did one of you fal off the wal ?"

Falcon stepped onto the wal with raised sword. "Both!" he taunted.

"It's him," they cried in unison, running back into the castle, racing for the stone staircase that would carry them to their quarry.

"What's he done with the woman?" one asked. They gripped the hilts of their swords but did not unsheath them until they finished climbing. By then it was too late for the first man to draw. He had run straight onto de Burgh's needle-sharp weapon. Falcon lifted his foot to the man's chest to help him withdraw his sword and immediately engaged the other two.

Before the s.p.a.ce thirty seconds had elapsed he had drawn blood on one a.s.sailant's sword arm and the man fel back in a moment's hesitation. The secret of Falcon's success in battle was that he never, ever hesitated. He slashed the other man and met his blade with a grating metal ic sound, then he pul ed back and swung with al the power behind his arm.

As the man fel back trying to keep his balance, Falcon slipped his sword into the gut below the armor that cov-ered the man's chest. He turned to face the other sword but the man had fled. With decisive determination Falcon pursued the fifth man who was stil alive.

On his way down the flight of stone steps the Welshman emerged from the shadows. "He has fled the castle," the man said.

De Burgh s.n.a.t.c.hed the bow from the man's hand and ; one arrow from his quiver, then he took the stairs, going back up three at a time. High on the ramparts he took careful aim, his eye and his hand steady. The arrow sped its way to its target like a bird of prey flying through the night. The man's scream disturbed a flock of pigeons that had settled to roost for the night. A pair of screech owls took immediate advantage and selected a plump pigeon each for their supper. Then al was eerily silent until a lone wolf each for their supper. Then al was eerily silent until a lone wolf took up the cry and howled at the moon.

Falcon stood on the battlements a long time, oblivious to the freezing night air. Final y he went below to the kitchen and knocked on the door of the smal room. "Jasmine," he whispered hoa.r.s.ely.

"Falcon, are you al right?" she asked as she fumbled with the bar.

"No, don't lift the bar, Jasmine. Al is wel ; go to sleep." He couldn't touch her that night, not with the blood of five men on his hands. He sank down at the door and laid his head back against the door jamb. For one fleeting moment he glimpsed himself through her eyes and understood exactly her distaste for him. What dark, perverse desires had made him choose one so fragile, fair, and innocent? Jasmine was like a flower and no fit mate for a black rogue who lived by blood and sword. Splendor of G.o.d, what had made him dip his ring in her virgin's blood to stamp his brand al over the sheets? She must think herself married to a madman to do such a b.a.s.t.a.r.dly trick. Wel , she was his now, for better or for worse.

"Pauvre pet.i.te," he murmured into the darkness.

By morning they were cursing each other again. She emerged from the tiny room to find" him wolfing down a great slab of cold mutton, fol owed by hot, freshly baked bread dripping with honey.

"How dare you shove me in there for the night? It was so smal I could scarcely turn around. I was choked with flour in the air I could scarcely turn around. I was choked with flour in the air that is stored in there, and," she emphasized angrily, "I suspect the pal et was lousy!"

He looked at her incredulously. "I real y believe you expect me to apologize."

"I doubt that a de Burgh would apologize to anyone . . . not in this lifetime."

"Put your mouth to better use, lady, and fil it with hot food."

The warning in his voice boded no good for her if she disobeyed him. He strode from the kitchen to attend their horses, and the cook brought her a steaming bowl of gruel laced with cream and honey. The cook eyed the little blond creature holding the ermine fur with wonder. She had never seen a female so fair-skinned and fine-boned in her life. She seemed unreal, like a fairy princess from a child's story.

Timidly she held out a parcel of food for their journey, fearing to offend the lady by the crude-ness of the offering.

Jasmine was touched by the thoughtful gesture. "Oh, how very kind of you. I was wicked to complain of the bed you gave me, but I said it just to plague de Burgh."

The cook could hardly believe the lady deigned to speak with her. Final y she decided to warn her, "Don't anger him lady.

Last night he kil ed five men who had come to seize you."

Jasmine's first thought was, Why do people tel such outrageous tales about him, as if he were some living legend?

But she held her tongue. The tales usual y proved to have more than a grain of truth in them.

Falcon made her sit pil ion behind him as they left the Castle of Usk, and it annoyed her beyond belief that she was again being treated like a child. As they climbed higher through the mountain pa.s.s, the wind howled fiercely as if it were trying to blow them back whence they came. Fanciful y she feared the mighty spirit of the Black Mountains was putting them through an ordeal, a test of wind and ice that very few would master.

De Burgh's great, wide shoulders blocked the impact of the icy wind and sleet from her. She huddled against his warmth, clinging to him for dear life as the stal ion's hooves struck splinters of frozen earth from the hard ground.

It took them the whole day, but when they were safely over the highest peaks and descended to the sheltered val ey beneath, Falcon built a fire and set up the campaign tent beside it. He then proceeded to cut fir boughs to make a lean- to for the horses.

Jasmine unpacked food, candles, and the bedrol of furs and took them into the tent, leaving him to his cold task. He brushed the snow from his shoulders and came inside. His eyes softened as he saw that she had lighted the candles and warmed their food at the fire.

"I think the great spirit of the Black Mountains has approved our pa.s.sage. Perhaps it wil be easier from here on," he said.

She laughed, amused that their thoughts could be so alike.

He took off his cloak and doublet and spread them to dry.

"That is the first smile you have gifted me with since we were wed," he said, sitting down upon the furs to eat.

"G.o.d's feet, there has been little enough to smile about. We are escaping from enemies who wil take our lives if the cruel elements don't do it first. We're out here in the middle of this wild, G.o.dforsaken wilderness with a snowstorm raging above us that almost freezes our mounts in their tracks."

He stretched lazily and smiled up at her. "There is nowhere on earth I would rather be tonight than here with you," he said, caressing her with his eyes.

She flared, "You have the most infuriating habit of looking me over."

He smiled again. "A crime every bridegroom in the world could be accused of, I'm sure." He stretched out his hand to her. "Come and eat. The pleasure of the food is doubled when I share with you."

She sat down stiffly, wanting none of his soft looks, soft words.

"I would rather be anywhere than here with you," she said cruel y.

He was amused. He raised his head from his food and smiled lazily at her. "You cannot provoke me tonight. It is an impossibility." His eyes mocked her gently, clearly tel ing her that tricks to incite a fight between them would not work.