Dark Deceptions: A Regency and Medieval Collection of Dark Romances(153)

“Mayhap,” he agreed softly as he moved around. Once he was comfortable, he cast William a long glance. “I understand that you tried to tell me of this situation last night but Lady de Poyer would not wake me. Is this true?”

William looked at him. “Who told you that?”

“I did,” George said helpfully from the other side of the room.

William gave George a rather exasperated expression before returning his focus to Keller. He hadn’t told Keller of Chrystobel’s intercession when he had gone to rouse the man, fearful that her actions would bring her husband’s anger against her.

“She said that you were injured and exhausted,” he said. “I told her that it was an urgent matter but she said unless the Romans were pillaging the castle and murdering people in their beds, she was not going to wake you. She was very firm about it.”

“And you naturally complied.”

“I had little choice.”

Keller suspected as much. He held William’s gaze for a moment before exhaling heavily and looking away. “I suppose that if I am angry with anyone, it should be her,” he muttered. “But I cannot bring myself to do it.”

William could see that the man was calming and he was thankful. “She was only thinking of your health,” he said. “You were injured and you had not slept in two days.”

Keller pondered his wife’s protective instinct. He’d never known anyone to be protective over him, ever, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He felt humbled, but he also felt suspicious. Why should someone care for him so much that they would be willing to protect him? He cleared his throat softly, uncomfortably.

“This is something very new for me,” he admitted quietly. “Is this how a woman normally behaves? That is to say, are you sure she was only thinking of me?”

William fought off a grin. “Of course I am,” he said. “She certainly wasn’t doing it to be cruel.”

Keller seemed rather perplexed by the thought. “Women can be domineering,” he said. “I have seen it. Are you sure she wasn’t trying to dominate me?”

William couldn’t help the smile. “God’s Bones, de Poyer, of course not,” he said. “She was doing what you would have done in the same circumstance. Would you not have tried to protect the woman if she was lying there, injured and sleeping?”

“Of course I would have.”

“Then you can understand what she was trying to accomplish. She was protecting her husband, and that happens to be you.”

It was a foreign concept. As he sat there and pondered the fact that his wife was evidently concerned for him, a soldier entered the solar. Keller, and the other knights, turned to focus on the man who was singularly fixed on Keller.

“What is it?” Keller asked.

“An army approaches, my lord,” the soldier said.

Keller’s brow furrowed as he stood up stiffly from his chair. “What army?” he asked. “Are they flying colors?”

The soldier nodded. “De Lohr pennants, my lord,” he replied. “Blue and yellow.”

Keller looked at William, satisfaction in his expression. “Our reinforcements are here,” he said. William was already moving, shooing George and Aimery out of the solar as Keller followed, speaking to the soldier as he went. “Open the gates and send out riders to greet them.”

The soldier fled as Keller continued on his normal pace, heading for the keep entry, but as he passed the stairs that led to the upper floor, he came to a stop. He looked at the stairs, narrow dark stone leading up a narrow dark passage, and thought of Chrystobel on the floor above him. As lady of the keep, it was her job to make arrangements for visitors, so Keller headed up the stairs to inform her of their arrival. By the time he reached the chamber door, he realized he was actually a little giddy at the thought of seeing her. He made sure to smooth at his hair, a weak attempt at grooming, before knocking on the door.

Rapping softly, he waited a few seconds before lifting the latch and opening the door. As the panel swung open, he immediately spied Chrystobel sitting by the hearth with some kind of sewing in her lap. Izlyn was sitting at her feet, playing with sticks from the kindling. It would seem that building with sticks was her favorite pastime, as Keller had seen her do it before. Chrystobel smiled brightly at him when their eyes met.

“Greetings, husband,” she said. “Are you finished meeting with your men?”

Keller stepped into the room. “Aye,” he replied, unwilling to elaborate on the subject he and his men had discussed. When he’d left his wife, he’d only told her that he was meeting with his men and nothing more. “We were interrupted by the announcement of approaching visitors. I’ve come to tell you to expect several more men for the evening’s meal.”

Chrystobel set her sewing aside and stood up. She was dressed in a surcoat of dark green wool that fit her delicious figure snuggly. In fact, she looked alluring and beautiful, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her shapely torso and gently flaring hips as she approached him.

“Of course,” she said seriously. “I will make sure there is enough food for all.”

Keller’s dusky gaze lingered on her. “Thank you,” he said, his mind returning to what William had said as he looked at her. She was protecting you. He felt like the most fortunate man in the world but in the same breath, he couldn’t believe that such a glorious creature could actually feel something for him. The thought only made him feel giddier. “I believe these visitors will be staying with us for some time. They are English knights, sent to reinforce my ranks, so if you could prepare a spot in the keep for them to sleep, I would be grateful.”