Daughters of the Dagger 04 - Amethyst (12 page)

“Yes,” she agreed. “I would like to know that I’m well protected while my husband is gone.”

Marcus made his way to the door, then stopped and looked back to her. “Come here, wife,” he said, and she ran to him and threw her arms around him. He reached down and kissed her so passionately that she could think of nothing but going back to bed and repeating their act of consummation.

“Promise me you’ll come back alive,” she whi
spered, looking up into his tired eyes.

“I promise you that as soon as I return we’ll pick up right where we left off.” Then he turned and headed out the door.

Amethyst just watched him trying his best not to limp as he hurried down the corridor with the two squires right behind him.

“I’ll be waiting,” she said in a soft voice, starting to realize that being married to a border lord was never going to get any easier.

Chapter 12

Amethyst did her best to kee
p busy while waiting for Marcus’s return. She delved into her work with her uncle, and the construction of the two gatehouses was going well, as well as the work on the barbican.

“Amethyst,” said Matilda, coming to see her. “What is it you’ve been doing out here every day?”

“Matilda, I am happy you came to watch the construction.” She put down a hammer and wiped her hands in the front of her work gown. “Come, and I will show you the progress thus far.”

Matil
da followed her to the barbican, and they made their way around workers and climbed the spiral staircase inside one of the two towers on either side of the gate.

“Be careful,” she warned the girl, “as the stairs are not yet even and very treacherous.
” They climbed to the top most portion of the building which was nearly half complete and looked over the side to the passageway being constructed connecting it to the front of the outer gatehouse.

“This is amazing
,” Matilda said, peering carefully over the edge.

“See that?” asked
Amethyst, pointing to the center of the two towers but down below. “A huge iron portcullis will be lowered up front, as the first way to stop an intruder. Actually, when this is all finished, there’ll be another drawbridge in front of the barbican that can be raised for extra protection, but that will be built last.

Then, as they go forward, should they
happen to break through,” she pointed to a wooden doorway being put in place. “There will be two sets of heavy wooden doors at different points in the passageway that cannot be opened once the drawbars are slid into place behind them.”

“That looks very secure,” Matilda said in awe.

“But that’s not all. Follow me.” Amethyst led her down the stairs and through the passageway, stepping around the workers in the process. “I have convinced my uncle to add extra arrow loops here and all the way down the off-centered passageway to the gatehouse and through the second passageway leading to the inner ward,” she pointed out. “That will enable our soldiers to lie in wait and shoot at them as they pass through.”

“
And as an extra precaution,” she continued, pointing upwards, “between these towers, the passageway will be covered with a ceiling with murder holes cut into it. That’ll enable our men to drop rocks, debris, or even pour boiling oil or water atop our attackers to stop them from moving forward. And then of course, they’ll have to get though all of this and over a second drawbridge before they even get to the inner gatehouse that protects the entrance to the castle.”

“I do say
, you’ve thought of everything, Amethyst, I am very impressed.”

“Thank you,” she said,
“but since it is still far from finished, we are still very vulnerable to attacks. But once it is done, we should be very well protected. Now, if I could only be half as successful of coming up with a way to protect my husband while he’s out chasing down the Scots, I’d possibly be able to sleep at night.”

“My cousin is a war lord, Amethyst. He’ll be fine. He always is.”

“I hope you’re right.” Amethyst couldn’t stop thinking of Marcus and wondered what could be taking so long to hunt down and retrieve his father. She prayed that nothing had happened to him. She’d started to miss him immensely these past few days, and every time she started to worry, she’d busy herself with another task and try to stay positive about the entire situation.

“Lady Amethyst, can you come inspect the
barracks?” asked a worker.

“Aye,” she said, heading over to the
two-storey building that housed the soldiers. Matilda stopped to talk to one of the women along the way.

The first floor
of the barracks was being used as extra stables for the horses as well as to keep extra weapons and supplies. The frame had been built first and filled in with wattle and daub. The wattle, or wooden pieces and sticks were woven together in the walls and filled in with daub, a wet mixture of soil, clay, straw and even dung, that hardened when it dried. Slate was being used for the roof, as well as the roof on the castle’s corner towers. It was much more expensive than wood, but it helped protect against fires.

“It’s looking good,” she told him. “
But be sure to pack the daub into the walls a little tighter or the soldiers will be feeling the harsh breeze come winter.”

“Aye, my lady, thank you,” said the worker with a nod of his head.

She turned around quickly and almost crashed into Benjamin.

“Did you need anything, my lady?” the boy asked. He had been following Amethyst ar
ound all week and she was tired of being shadowed. She knew Marcus had told him to stay and protect her, but actually, it was to keep him from getting killed and to benefit Marcus as well since he wouldn’t have to risk his life to save the boy again.

“Nay, Ben, I’m fine,” she said, and then heard a shout from the top of the battlements.

“It’s Lord Marcus,” yelled the guard. “He is coming over the ridge. There’s many people right behind him.”

“Let
’s go,” she said to Benjamin, grabbing Matilda by the arm as she ran to the front gate. She made her way through it, and over the drawbridge to meet the men.

A crowd gathered around and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her hus
band riding toward her with his squire and his father as well.

“Marcus!” she cried, and ran up to meet him.

Instead of the warm welcome she thought she’d get after having been apart so long, he just nodded and said in a low voice, “Amethyst,” and kept on riding.

“I’m so happy you are not hurt again,” she said talking and running at his side at the same time.

“Get the dungeon ready,” yelled his father to the guards, and that’s when she noticed who trailed behind them. A few of the earl’s men who had been captured were with them, and tied to the back of their horses were a half dozen Scots. She stopped and watched as the prisoners stumbled by, being pulled forward by the men on horses. And to her utter shock, three of the prisoners were women, and one of them was holding a young child.

The woman with the child stumbled, and Amethy
st ran forward to catch the young boy and keep him from hitting the ground. The Scot looked up to her with sad and frightened eyes, and the child started crying.

Angered, she ran to catch up with Marcus who was just dismounting his horse
inside the courtyard. She could tell by the way he moved that his wounds were still hurting him.

“What happened?” she asked. “And why have you taken women and children as prisoners?”

“It wasn’t my choice,” he grumbled and handed his reins to his squire. Marcus walked over to talk with his father, and Amethyst joined Peter who was taking the horses to the stable.

“Peter, what is going on?” she asked.

“Lord Marcus was able to bring back his father and his men,” he said. “Although there was a battle in order to do it.”

“But why
are there prisoners? And women and children no less?”

“
The men are the chieftain and two of his best warriors. The women are the chieftain’s wife and daughters. The young boy is the chieftain’s son. ’Twas by the order of Lord Marcus’s father that they were taken prisoners, and he has set a ransom. He said that they would pay for what they’d done by capturing him, and he took as many prisoners as they’d taken when they captured him and his men.”

“And t
he Scots just let him do it?” she asked in shock.

“They had no choice.
The earl threatened to kill the women if they tried to come after them. Besides, he had their leader.”

“Why didn’t Marcus do something about it?” she asked. “How could he go along with such a plan?”

“Lady Amethyst, he may have fought it if he wasn’t still ailing from his wounds. He doesn’t complain, but I can tell he is far from feeling like his old self. Besides, I think since his father has been here, his spirit has been broken.”

“Thank you, Peter,” she said, looking across the courtyard where the guards were hauling the prisoners to the dungeon. The earl left Marcus’s side to give directions, and Amethyst took the
opportunity to go talk to him privately.

He was pulling off his armor as he walked to the great hall. He threw each piece to the ground as he did so
, and she could tell he was angry. Benjamin hurried after him, collecting the discarded armor.

“Husband, can I talk with you?” she asked, following at his side.

“Wife, I am hungry and tired and want naught more than a good night’s rest.”

He stopped fo
r a second and removed the chest plate, and Benjamin assisted. Then when the last piece was off, he headed once more for the castle.

“Why would you take women and children prisoners?” she asked, following him up the stairs
and to the solar.

“Damn it, I told you I had no choice, now don’t ask again.”

“But you could have objected to your father’s wishes. This is your castle, not his.”

He stopped in his tracks, with his hand on the lat
ch of the door and turned to face her. “You have no idea what it’s like to live as me, so don’t tell me what to do.”

He opened the door and went inside,
removing his weapons, then pulling off his chain mail, followed by his tunic. He sat on the edge of the bed and removed his boots next.

“You know the Scots won’t just sit back
and do nothing,” she told him. “By bringing the prisoners here, your father has all but invited a battle to our very door.”

“You
think I don’t know that?” His words were harsh and clipped. “This castle needs to be secure quickly. And the building needs to be finished already. Tell the workers that they will start to work throughout the night from now on. And send a messenger to the neighboring towns and bring more workers back immediately.”

“I am your wife, not your mes
senger,” she said, shocked by the orders he was spewing forth. “And the workers you have, are already threatening to leave because you haven’t paid them in quite a while. They have families back home that are counting on that money to survive. You can’t expect them to work for free – like me.”

“God’s bones
, Amethyst! Don’t you think if I had the funds, I would have paid them already? I can’t afford to finish this damned castle, but I have no choice and have to complete it. We’re about to be attacked and my defenses are so weak that the Scots can take us out with one swift blow. My father’s motive was taking prisoners and setting a ransom to be used for building the castle, as well as revenge for what they did by taking him prisoner as well. Now just do what I order and stop trying to command this castle because you have no authority to do that. You are only a woman, so don’t forget it.”

She just stood there with her mouth open, not believing the way her husband was speaking to her. Especially after the intimate moments they’d spent together. She felt like crying, and she wanted to run
at the same time. She wanted to lash out at him and scream at the top of her lungs and tell him what she really thought about him and his disrespect toward women right now, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t, because she’d seen his gentle, caring side, and she knew he had goodness inside him as well. But the more he was around his father, the more he became just like the vile man, and his ruthless behavior started up once again.

“Come
here, Amethyst,” he said, lying back on the bed and waving her over to him. “I promised you we’d pick up where we left off, and we will.”

She walked slowly to his side, but there was no way she could couple with the man now that his
harsh, warlord side was showing. Where was that gentle man who gave her a purple rose and also the ring of his own deceased mother? She longed to find that man again, but she knew she would have to dig deep right now to find him.

She glanced
down to the ring on her finger, and thought that mayhap this marriage was naught but a farce after all. Just when she thought she knew her husband, he switched back to his darker ways, and she realized she didn’t really know him at all.

She slipped the ring from her finger and
gently laid it on the table next to the bed. He looked up in surprise.

“What are you doing, wife?” he asked.

“My name is Amethyst,” she said, missing the way he had called her Amy. “And I am no longer sure I want to be married to a man like you.”

She ran from the room before he could answer, slamming the door and hurrying down the hall. She needed to get as far away from him as possible. She couldn’t be with a man who took women and children
as prisoners, even if the initial idea was not his own.

She ran out of the castle, ignoring Matilda as the girl tried to stop her to see what was wrong. Night was closing in, and she knew she couldn’t go outside the walls of the castle now, especially since the Scots may be attacking at any minute. There was only one place she could go to be alone, and if Marcus ever found out
where she was headed, she knew he’d be furious. She turned and made her way to the back castle wall, and ducked through the archway that led to Marcus’s private rose garden.