Page 30 of Bold Angel
“Richard will assist in any way he can,” Ral finished, “but the authority now belongs to you.”
And the responsibility,Caryn thought with an inward groan. “I will speak to him forthwith.” She just prayed that Richard, knowing her as he did, would see the potential for disaster and help her find a way around it.
“I see you are dressed for riding. Might I ask where you are going?”
“To the village. I would visit some of the cottars.”
“As long as Geoffrey goes with you.”
For the first time she noticed his plum velvet tunic, more elaborate attire than he usually wore. The gray silk chainse beneath it had been embroidered with matching plum thread and his shoes were of soft black kid leather.
“And you, my lord?”
“I hold court this day, though I’ve a few things to see to before then.” He started to leave, but she caught his arm.
“Would you know aught, my lord, of a yellow-striped cat? ’Twouldseem she has misplaced her brood and the little ones grow hungry.”
Ral frowned. He looked past her skirts to the mewling sounds coming from the corner. “The cat is dead. ’Twas injured yesterday morn during the tilting. One of the men seemed to find it amusing to target the cat instead of his squire.” The line of his mouth turned hard. “I do not believe he will entertain himself thusly again.” His expression said the man had been dealt with and would not soon forget his lord’s displeasure.
“What of the kittens, my lord?”
“She must have carried them within from out in the stables.” His hard look softened. “They are much too small,cherie,to survive long without her. I will see they are dealt with.”
“Dealt with? You do not mean to drown them?”
“There is little choice, Cara.”
Caryn clutched his hand. “I beg you, my lord, do not order them killed. I will care for the kittens.”
“There is naught you can do to save them. They are too small to take food from aught but a nipple.”
She flushed at his use of the word but didn’t let go of his hand. “I will find a way to feed them.”
Ral seemed to ponder her words, and Caryn held her breath. “You may have until the morrow. Should they still be unable to eat, the deed must needs be done. I will not see them suffer.”
Caryn let go of his hand, though oddly she found she did not want to. “Thank you, my lord.”
His eyes ran over her face, then returned to settle on her lips. There was something intimate in the warm look he gave her, approval mayhap, and something more. Caryn felt herself responding to that look, felt the heat spreading into her cheeks then moving lower down.
With a brief nod of his head, Ral turned and walkedaway. In the wake of his leaving, the corridor seemed dark and empty, more so now that he had gone.
Caryn stared at the place he had stood, wondering at the melting sensations she had felt just to look at him, and recalling his compassion. It was difficult to think of this man who was lord as the same brutal knight who had been among the soldiers that terrible day in the woods.
Yet she knew that it was so. Lord Ral had never denied it. More often of late, she wondered exactly what his role had been and whether or not he had taken her sister. More than ever before, it bothered her to think that he had.
At the door to the keep, she saw him pause, stopping to speak to someone entering the castle. Caryn recognized Lynette’s throaty voice and the golden bright color of her hair. Ignoring the anger she had no right to feel, she turned away from the pair and went in search of a way to feed the kittens.
Caryn tossed back her hair. If Lynette was the woman he wanted, ’twas only for the best. Still, she could not ignore the dull uncomfortable thudding of her heart, or the feeling of isolation that had just increased tenfold.
***
“Going riding?” Words from the willowy blonde herself. “’Tis certainly a poor day for it. ’Tis cloudy outside and a cold wind blows from the north.” Lynette strolled into the center of the hall, golden hair gleaming, complexion smooth and elegantly pale, not sun-touched and lightly freckled across the nose as Caryn’s was.
“’Tis brisk, not cold,” Caryn said. “Besides, I do not mind the weather. I ride into the village, not that ’tis any concern of yours.”
Lynette laughed, though the sound was nothing like the rich throaty purr she shared with Ral. “’Twould seem the sort of riding you are best at.” A perfect blond brow arched up. “I enjoy the ride of a two legged steedmyself—the pleasure is by far the greater. But there is little you would know of that. Did you know more, your husband would not have abandoned your bed.”
“’Tis enough, Lynette.” Richard moved between them as Caryn took a step in the taller woman’s direction. “As the lady has said, ’tis no concern of yours.”
