Castles in the Air by Christina Dodd Read Free Book Online Page B

out the injured digit. Raymond noted the child hadn’t replied to the question, but Juliana leaned to kiss it anyway.
    “She tried to stir the fire when no one was looking and burned herself on the stick,” Margery said.
    Ella made a rude noise. Margery made one right back.
    “Girls.” Juliana reproved them automatically, and reached out to stroke Margery’s cheek. “Are you well?”
    Margery smiled and nodded, but Raymond could see her chin trembled. Margery was fast approaching the difficult time of her life. Childhood would soon be left behind, for in the form of her body she gave notice of a coming beauty.
    Juliana gave her cloak to Margery, her gloves to Ella. “Put those away, please.” Margery clung a moment longer, and patting her shoulder, Juliana promised, “We’ll talk later.”
    “Mama, who is that man?”
    Ella’s voice was audible throughout the hall, and dozens of eyes fixed on Raymond. “He’s not important,” Juliana said firmly. “Please obey me, girls.”
    Not important? To be so dismissed in the hall where one day he would rule…His surge of fury took Raymond by surprise. He was important. He was cousin to the king, heir to great tracts of Norman lands, heir to an ancient title. Never again would he dance for his supper, scamper to avoid the lash, work like a peasant. And if the Lady Juliana thought he could be so easily dismissed, her mind would have to be altered.
    He was glaring at her, he realized, for although he stood in the shadows some of his hostility had projected itself across the hall. The color which had returned to her cheeks eroded. She pushed her children toward the great bed in the corner and faced him with squared shoulders and quivering chin. Raymond almost laughed at her heroics, so irrelevantin a room filled with her men, and wondered why her fear seemed genuine. He stepped forward, intent on stating his true name and true intentions, and be damned to her feelings, when the young man-at-arms stepped between him and his mistress.
    “What are ye here fer?” the soldier asked, resting his hand on the scabbard that held his knife.
    Well-muscled shoulders and a variety of scars proclaimed battle hardening, and the thread of steel in his demand returned good sense to Raymond in a rush. In a low, controlled voice, he said, “I am the master castle-builder, sent by King Henry to raise a wall on his majesty’s property.”
    The young man’s eyes narrowed. “I’m Layamon, chief man-at-arms in Sir Joseph’s absence. What’s that golden bobble ye’re wearin’?”
    Used to the amazement his barbaric decoration engendered, Raymond caressed it and smiled without humor. “’Tis the mark of an ordeal I once endured. I wear it to remind myself of the pain.”
    “Guess fashions are different where ye’re from.” Layamon extended a hand, but not in courtesy. Palm up, it demanded an accounting of this stranger. “Ye have, o’ course, proof o’ his majesty’s command?”
    Damn! This Layamon wasn’t quite as trusting as Lady Juliana, who had never thought to ask for evidence. Raymond reached for his purse and selected a letter. Layamon took it cautiously and turned it toward the fire. Afixed in red wax was Henry’s seal, and Layamon’s face lit with recognition. “’Tis indeed from th’ king,” he pronounced, and unfolded the document.
    Raymond said, “As you can see from the first lines, our liege thinks highly of my abilities.” Of his abilities to seduce Lady Juliana, but he didn’t repeat the linesHenry had penned. Instead he watched the young man’s eyes as they moved in a random pattern over the page, and relaxed as he realized Layamon could not read. As he had hoped. But Juliana could read, or so she said. Would she want to peruse the document herself? Or would she not want to embarrass her man-at-arms by indicating doubt in his wisdom? Sipping mulled wine, she watched Layamon wistfully, and Raymond nudged the young man. “I believe your lady wishes to