Juliana Garnett by The Quest Read Free Book Online Page A

ring back onto a shaking finger, she said in a bitter tone, “I understand well the honor of most men and have found nothing to recommend it.”
    “I am sorry, milady.”
    She didn’t say anything for a moment but finally inclined her head and turned around to face forward. “Aye, Sir Knight. As am I.”
    As the lady settled back against him, the woolen cloak snug around her form and cushioning his chest, Guy had the thought that she was much stronger than she appeared. Few females of his acquaintance would have suffered the rigors of the day without loud complaints and wailing, yet beyond her first protests, this lady had made no other murmurs. She had to be uncomfortable. The clime had grown chill and damp, and the road was hard. Yet she bore her discomfort more silently than she did her indignation at being taken hostage.
    He hid a grin. It occurred to him that Rolf of Dragonwyck might have met his match in this one small female. She possessed a stubborn streak to match that of the Dragon’s, and he anticipated most interesting days ahead. Howwould Lord Rolf react to a woman who dared say him nay? It should be most entertaining to observe.…
    Their pause had not gone unnoticed. The Lord of Dragonwyck waited until they had ridden abreast of him, then kept apace.
    “Is there trouble, Sir Guy?” His words were directed at his knight, but his gaze shifted to Annice. She met it steadily. Nay, not for her the cowering prisoner. Rolf le Draca would soon discover that he had no meek maiden in his care, but a woman full-grown and well versed in defiance. Not for nothing had she endured the beatings and rages of her husband with an unbowed head. It was that, she had often thought, that had enraged Luc most. ’Twas a small victory, to be certain, and had often cost her dear in bruises and stripes, but her inner spirit had taken great satisfaction in the triumph.
    “Nay, lord,” Sir Guy said, taking Annice by surprise. He shifted her slightly in the saddle, one arm holding her to him. “I but paused to situate myself more comfortably.”
    “We do not stop until nightfall.” Dragonwyck gestured toward the east. “Then we shall rest only a short time. If we ride hard, we will reach our destination before Seabrook’s knights can find us.”
    The past hours had not been spent on any road, but riding over thicketed vales that had no more than sheep tracks as lanes. Avoiding villages and scattered cottages, le Draca clearly intended to reach Dragonwyck with none to mark his passage.
    Annice clutched at the high pommel of the saddle with both hands, her voice steady. “And do you think you can withstand both Seabrook and the king’s combined forces, my lord?”
    “John is in Poitou,” he said abruptly. “When I left, he was at Geoffrey’s castle of Mervant, with no intention of leaving France too quickly.”
    “When he learns of this outrage against a ward he safely placed, he will hasten to send troops to lay siege at your gates.”
    “Let them come.” A merciless smile curled his mouth. “If they think to effect a rescue, I shall send out a portion of you at a time until they have the whole. Do you think, my lady, that would satisfy them?”
    She stared at him. A chill settled in her internal organs that rendered her speechless. There was no doubt in her mind that Rolf le Draca would do what he threatened. Frozen with fear and horror, she watched as he gave her another mirthless smile and wheeled his horse. He rode away without a backward glance.
    Shivering, she barely heard Sir Guy’s murmured words; they made no sense to her anyway. All she could hear was le Draca’s mocking voice sounding her doom.
    God help her. And she had once thought, however naively, that the Dragon possessed a soul.
    Light from sputtering torches placed in sconces on the castle walls were all that illuminated the dark night when the small band came to a halt at Dragonwyck’s fortifications. True to his word, Rolf had paused for only