Page 82 of Bold Angel
“Surely the others know your secret, those you travel with on the road.”
“My friends do, but no others. I pray you will not tell Lord Ral.”
A dozen thoughts buzzed through Caryn’s mind. “Does Richard know?”
She shook her head, making her long hair shimmer. Her lips turned down, betraying a moment of sadness. “At times he looks at me oddly and I think that he suspects. I would tell him if I could.”
“Then why don’t you?”
She chewed her bottom lip, torn by indecision, then she sighed and came up from the floor. “My name is not Ancil. ’Tis Lady Ambra. I am the daughter of Edward of York.”
“I have heard of him. I thought your father was dead.”
“That is true, my lady. Before I ran away, I lived at Morion, with my mother’s brother, Charles.”
“Why did you leave?”
“I was betrothed to Lord Beltar the Fierce. He is rich and powerful, while my mother’s brother is poor. Beltar was willing to marry me, though I had only a very small dowery, and my uncle liked the idea of having a wealthy relation.”
Caryn thought for a moment. In the back of her mind she remembered something of Beltar… something she had heard.
“Aye, now I recall. Lord Beltar claimed you were carried away from your home against your will. He offers a reward for your return.”Sweet Mother Mary, more trouble for Ral should Beltar find her here.
“He is ugly and mean. Once he tried to force himself on me. I vow it made me sick.” She stiffened her spine. “I will not wed him. I swear I will not marry until I can marry for love.”
Caryn’s insides twisted. “’Tis a difficult notion in such times, but a noble one all the same.”
“Then you will keep my secret?”
Caryn thought of what Ral would do if he found out. “Aye, but do you not miss your home? Are you happy to be traveling as a man?”
“I was happy for a time.”
“And now?”
“Now I have met someone.…”
Richard.“I will help you, Lady Ambra. Mayhap you will be the one woman who is lucky enough to find love.”
***
Caryn shifted in her chair before the fire pit, where she sat with needle in hand. The delicate embroidery edged the sleeves of a while silk chainse. She pulled the length of thread through the fabric, wondering if Ral would notice her careful work and thinking how the small task helped to ease her troubled mind. In the past she had loathed such duties, now she found the work oddly soothing.
“Why do you not go to him? ’Tis obvious that is what you want.”
She glanced up to find Odo beside her, his blue eyes probing, his question stirring unwanted thoughts.
“’Tis not a matter of what I want but of what he wants.” Caryn watched as thelean Norman knight sat down on a stout wooden bench. Flames from the hearth deepened the highlights in his bright red hair. “For now ’tis me he wants. Who will he want on the morrow or mayhap next week?”
“What happens on the morrow is of no importance. He desires you, as you do him. That is all that matters.”
“If you think that, then you know naught of what is important.”
Odo scoffed. “’Tis almost as if you grieve for him.”
Caryn’s eyes searched his face. His orange-red brows drew together as he worked to understand. “Have you never loved, Odo?”
“Nay. Love is for fools.”
