Page 60 of Bold Angel
Caryn propped herself up in bed beside her sleeping husband. She felt different this day, wiser in the ways of the world, more feminine. More womanly. She wondered, did it show? Ral’s eyes came open and she realized he wasn’t asleep, but had been watching her from beneath his heavy black lashes.
“What are you thinking?” he asked. “What has made your lovely brows draw together so?”
Caryn tucked a strand of her thick auburn hair behind an ear. “I would know, Ral, what will happen to the people should you fail to get your land?”
Ral grimaced and sat up in bed, propping his massive shoulders against the carved wooden headboard. The first rays of dawnslanted in through the narrow slit of window. A chill pervaded the room, but it was warm beneath the furs atop the blankets.
“There is money still owed for the building of the keep. Once the crops are in, I must once more levy a burdensome tax. ’Twill leave the villeins with less than enough for the winter and little in the castle stores. I had hoped they could clear and plant new land this spring, but already ’tis too late. We can survive the winter—though ’tis bound to be a lean one. The following year, many of the villeins could starve.”
Caryn shivered. “Is there no other land the king might grant?”
“None close by that would be suitable for planting—’tis all too steep and rocky.”
“What of anotherdemesnesomewhere else?”
“The choice ones have all been claimed. Most of the others would require more money to rebuild than could be taken from them.”
Caryn fell silent. When she felt Ral’s weight leave the bed, she glanced up to see he had drawn on his tunic and now stood staring out the window.
“Had you married a woman of property,” she said softly, “you would have all the land you need.”
“I married you. That is all that matters.”
“You could have married Eliana de Montreale. She has more wealth than—”
“What do you know of Eliana?” he asked, whirling to face her. His look was so fierce, she wished she could call back the words.
“Naught but that she was once your betrothed.”
“Who told you?”
She wet her lips. “Her brother, Lord Stephen. He says she will soon come to visit.”
“What else did he say?”
She hesitated only a moment. “That you dishonored her by refusing the marriage.”
He grunted. “Who is he tospeak of honor?”
“You cared naught for her then?”
“I cared for her—once. But even had I not, I would have married her if… things had been different.”
“What things do you—”
“Enough of this! I will not discuss Eliana. Not here, not now—not ever!”
She forced herself not to glance away. “As you wish, my lord.”
Ral’s hard look softened and he crossed the room to the bed. “I do not mean to be harsh.” He bent and kissed her lips. “Had last night been other than your first night of passion, I would take you again, make you forget your foolish questions.” He placed her hand on the long hard ridge beneath his tunic. “Already I want you again.”
Caryn felt the heat burning into her cheeks. “As you say, ’tis probably best we wait.” Shewasa little sore, yet even as she said the words, her pulse had begun to quicken.
“Tomorrow will be soon enough for you to resume your wifely duties.”
“Duties…? It seems a strange word to describe the pleasures you have shown me.”
He smiled at her with warmth. “’Twould not surprise me, Cara, to discover your worth is far greater than that I would have received should I have married another.”
