Page 67 of Bold Angel
What had once been the neatly ordered yard in front of the stables was now littered with straw and smelled of manure. There were overturned barrels and baskets, and pigs rooted among what appeared to be an upended barrel of garbage. In front of the grainery, hounds had dug great holes and even now fought each other to uncover a half-buried bone.
Ral’s astonished gaze flew to the place in front of the stairs leading up to the keep where his vassals would be waiting. If he had expected a glittering welcome from his wife, men-at-arms, and servants, the one he received was as tarnished as a fire-smoked pewter mug.
His men were there, milling nervously about, casting him sheepish, worried glances. His servants were there,their garments unkempt and unwashed, their faces pale and taut. And his wife was there, standing next to Richard at the bottom of the stairs. At least he thought it was his wife—in truth, he wasn’t so sure.
He drew rein on his horse, swung himself down, and began striding toward her. The woman up ahead—a small, unkempt creature with dirty auburn hair and a soot-smudged face—saw him and started to smile. She wore a ragged brown tunic, grease-stained and torn in several places, and hadn’t bothered with shoes.
“What goes on here?” Ral bellowed, coming to a halt before her, his hands balled tightly into fists.
Caryn merely smiled. “Welcome home, my lord. ’Tis good to have you returned.”
Ral glanced around the bailey, taking in the grunting pigs and rotting mounds of garbage, thinking he was certain to awaken at any moment from this terrible, hellish dream.
“You will tell me what has happened,” he commanded, keeping his voice as even as he could.
“Naught has happened, my lord. Surely you can see that for yourself.”
He worked a muscle in his jaw and then strode past her, taking the stairs two at a time up into the keep, not bothering to close the heavy oaken door.
Caryn followed him in, noting with satisfaction the stunned look on his face as he registered the awful condition of the hall. His neck was red and his mouth had thinned into a furious line. Behind her, Richard and Geoffrey and a number of the men walked into the hall just as Ral turned to face her.
“Why?” he asked with soft menace. “Why have you done this?”
She pretended to look perplexed. “But I have done nothing, my lord. ’Twould seem that is clear.”
He took several angry strides in her direction, gripped the top of her arms and dragged her up on her toes.
“You will tell me what this is about. You will explain to me what you have done and why you have done it.”
He glanced once more around the hall, noting the refuse on the floors and the unpleasant smell drifting up from the rushes. “Then I will humiliate you as you have done me. I will drag up on the dais in front of the servants and the men, toss up your skirts, and beat you within an inch of your life.”
He let her go, stepped back and eyed her with a look of fury that said he meant every word.
Caryn wet her lips. She had known the risks before she started; she wasn’t about to back down.
“I am surprised you are displeased, my lord. In fact, I am surprised that you bothered to notice. ’Tis certain you noticed naught of our labors the last time you came home, though all in the castle worked from dawn till dusk to try and please you. Since you cared naught for what we did before, I did not believe you would notice when we did nothing.”
Ral’s thick black brows drew together in a frown. “The last time I was home, Braxston Keep shone like it never has before.”
Caryn’s own brow arched up. “You are telling me you saw the work we had done?”
“Of course, I saw it. ’Twould have taken weeks of labor to accomplish such a feat. ’Twas a place a man could be proud of.”
“Then why did you not say so? Why did you allow your men to destroy our efforts? Why did you stride in here and take your pleasure then ride away without so much as a ‘by your leave’?”
For the first time, Ral looked uneasy. “I did not think much about it. ’Twas selfish, I suppose… and thoughtless. I had much on my mind… the men back at Caanan, Lord Arnaut, and the king.”
“Do you have any idea how much I loath such duties? How much I would rather have been out riding, or visitingthe people in the village?” That was the truth, though she had discovered her accomplishments could be surprisingly rewarding. So much so, it had taken a will of iron not to caste aside her vow of retribution and set the castle in order again.
He was looking at her strangely. “If you loathed the task so much then why did you do it?”
Caryn felt the heat rising into her cheeks. She wondered if Ral could see it beneath the smudges of grease. “Because I wished to please you.”
He eyed her cautiously. “And today?”
Caryn straightened her shoulders and her chin came up. “I would be certain you understand how hard your people work to please their lord. What better way to learn than by comparison?”
Ral glanced once more around the hall, and Caryn held her breath. He surveyed every corner, saw the beautiful paintings and the tapestries carefully hung, then saw the barren hearth and dirty linens. The vile odor of the rushes drifted up, no longer sweetly scented with dried flowers and herbs.
