L'eau Clair Chronicles 04 - Lady of the Keep by Sharon Schulze Read Free Book Online Page B

to do all you can to help me protect
my child, milord. I know your brother to be a kind and honorable man. Tis clear
to me that you are no less so. The FitzCliffords have dealt fairly with the FitzGeralds till now, and I believe you’ll continue to do
so.”
    “You honor me, milady.”
    Sighing, she turned her gaze to the sea. “I cannot tell you these
things to your face, milord. ′Tis too embarrassing. I hope you don’t
mind.”
    “Nay, do what you must.” Since he already found it difficult to
distance himself from her, perhaps this might help.
    “When MacCarthy gathered everyone in the bailey, his brother Hugh
dragged the maids and me from my solar, where the men had sent us when the
assault on the castle began. Hugh is a rough man, coarse of tongue and foul
minded. ′Twas only Brigit’s intervention that kept him from stripping me
to my shift before we reached the bailey. As it was, he’d ripped my tunic and
unbound my hair, bruising my face and arms in the process. He forced me to
stand before them all looking as though I’d just . . . ”
    As her voice faded away, she reached out and grasped Connor’s
hand in a tight grip. Her words made his blood run hot; when he finally met
Hugh MacCarthy, he’d see that the bastard paid for what he’d done that day.
    “It looked as if he’d taken me already,” she continued. “His men
proved as foul mouthed as he, shouting their filth and stirring my people into
a frenzy, though they could do nothing to protect me.” Her fingers tightened.
“Indeed, the MacCarthys’ men used it as an excuse to lay about with fists and
cudgels once again. My servants were no threat to them, yet they seemed to take
great pleasure in ‘subduing’ them.”
    The picture she painted did not surprise him, though he found it
disgusting. He knew well the pleasure some men took in wielding whatever power
they had over any within their reach who could not—or would not, he thought
with a frown—fight back.
    He turned his hand beneath hers and laced their fingers together.
“I’d expect no less from dishonorable men.”
    She looked at him, her eyes bright with tears, but didn’t free
herself from his hold. “Dermot joined us on the landing then. He looked nothing
like his brother or his men—he was clean, his garb fine, of good quality. He
approached us and bowed to me most courteously before knocking Hugh off his
feet with one blow. I thought then that he would prove different from Hugh and
the others, perhaps free my people, or at least cease their torment. He’d
treated me with courtesy … But ′twas all a sham.”
    Connor’s respect for the woman beside him grew with each word she
spoke. ′Twas obvious she was the daughter and sister of warriors, for she
had a keen eye and a clear manner of describing what had happened. She must
have been frightened at the time—terrified, more like—yet she’d taken notice of
her surroundings, made judgments based upon what she’d seen. “What did Dermot
do?”
    “He stepped over Hugh, still sprawled on the landing, took me by
the hands and led me away from his brother. ‘I will spare your people,’ he told
me. I was so pleased, for they’d done naught but serve their rightful lord.
They had no choice in the matter, and didn’t deserve to be punished for it.”
    “That wouldn’t stop most men in MacCarthy’s position from doing
so,” Connor said. “It happens all the time. Given what you’ve said about his
family, I find his offer surprising.”
    “I did as well,” she whispered. “Still, I couldn’t help but be
glad they’d be spared any further punishment. I should have realized as soon as
he said the words that someone would
have to pay the price for his generosity.”
    “′ Twas you who paid,” Connor
muttered, disgust at such cowardice making his voice shake. “He took you in
return for sparing them.”
    “He gave me a choice,” she said quietly. “A night’s passion with
him in return for their lives.