Tyrant of the Mind by Priscilla Royal Read Free Book Online Page A

lady. Alas, Sir Geoffrey’s wife sickened with a festering of the womb. I heard tell that he took a vow of chastity during her illness, hoping that God would restore his dear wife to health and his bed. God did not keep His part of the bargain, it seems, for the illness grew worse until she died in great pain. In quick succession after her death, Sir Geoffrey lost his hand, his brother died, and he returned to take over the estates.” The wistful look disappeared from Robert’s eyes, a brittle disdain replacing it. “Waiting for him was his young ward, the Lady Isabelle. In the time it took her to lean back and lift her robes so he could mount, she had bred a child. Out of honor, and some have said love, he married her. Then she lost the babe. She has not quickened since, and, as I have heard told, she no longer cares for his left-handed caresses. Perhaps they were sweet only before the vows and the dower she gained thereby.”
    “She was a landless ward?”
    “Nay, she had lands enough to tempt a husband, but there is no denying she gained far more than she was able to give from this marriage. Still, it angers me that she drew the good Sir Geoffrey into her bed with false eagerness, only to turn her back on him after the vows. A London whore would have been more honest about what she’d give for the price of her favors.”
    Thomas saw the animosity flash in his friend’s eyes and decided it would be wise to shift the subject. “Methinks you will be happy with the lord’s daughter, however. She bears herself in a more seemly manner than her stepmother. Perhaps she takes after the mother who bore her?”
    The anger in Robert’s eyes faded, but in the murky light of the coming storm, Thomas could not identify the new emotion that took residence there. “The Lady Juliana was a gay child, as I recall. Even Henry laughed on occasion at her precocious wit and playful spirit. That aside, George has told me she has grown cheerless since her mother’s death and her father’s all too hasty marriage. He fears that the wedded state is one she no longer desires.”
    “Surely you will change her mind about the joys of marriage, Robert, if any man can.”
    As Thomas turned to clout his new friend on the shoulder with encouraging affection, the expression on the man’s face stayed his hand. Robert’s glance was shifting back and forth between the two women as they walked across the open ward toward the dining hall. His gaze had turned melancholy, causing Thomas to wonder if Robert’s unhappiness was caused by Lady Juliana’s sorrow or by some other reason altogether.
    Suddenly, an angry voice called out, shattering Thomas’ reflection, and he looked up to see Henry striding after his stepmother and sister.
    Sir Geoffrey once again called to his son to stop, but the young man only quickened his step.
    A cold shudder of premonition passed through Thomas’ body. Had Henry not heard his father’s command?
    Reaching the two women, Henry grabbed Lady Isabelle by the arm, then glanced over his shoulder with a wild look of defiance at his father.
    Sir Geoffrey called out again, this time ordering his son to leave the women be.
    Henry did not release his stepmother. Instead, he pulled her to him in an awkward embrace. As he continued to stare at his father, a glow of triumph reddened his fair-skinned face even more than the biting wind had done. Then he quickly bent his head toward the struggling woman. She turned her face away from him.
    Frozen in horror, Thomas wondered if he was trying to kiss or bite her.
    Robert started forward.
    Lady Juliana reached out, grabbing at her brother’s robe.
    Sir Geoffrey roared in outrage. With greater speed than Thomas would have credited a man with so much gray in his beard, the father leapt toward his son like a predator after prey. In an instant, he was at his son’s side. Seizing him by the shoulder with his left hand, Sir Geoffrey spun his son around, then backhanded him across the