Lespada Read Online Free

than to set her straight on the course their marriage would take after her natty little display of manners.  Snapping his fingers at the knights, he jabbed a thumb at the door.
    “Gather your mounts and secure transportation for the lady,” he commanded. “I will join you in a moment.”
    Devereux was still standing near the altar with Lollardly; she was frankly a bit dumbfounded from her conversation with Lady de Winter.  She was still trying to reconcile the event in her own mind. But the old priest eyed her critically as he moved past her and Devereux gazed back as if daring the man to speak harshly to her.  She was still upset with him for going along with this travesty of a marriage ceremony.
    Surprisingly, she did not try to run when the knights moved out. She stood where they had left her, watching her father bolt from the chapel and thinking the man to be a horrible coward. She knew he had only married her to de Winter to be part and parcel to the de Winter fortune. He was greedy that way.  Feeling the least bit abandoned and, not surprisingly, exhausted in the light of her embattled wedding ceremony, she watched with some trepidation as the knights and the priest filed from the hall. 
    All except for Hugh; he marched upon her with an expression of hostility. Since all he had known from her since the moment of their association was violence, she hardly blamed him.
    “You will wait here until we can bring about suitable transportation for the trip to Castle Acre Castle,” he eyed her. “If you give me your word that you will not try to escape, I will not bind you.”
    She gave him a look that suggested she was bored with his statement. “If I wanted to flee, your bindings could not hold me,” she fired back. “Go get your horses. I am not going anywhere.”
    “Do I have your word, lady?”
    “I said it, did I not?”
    “That is not an answer.”
    “It is enough of an answer for you. Do you doubt me?”
    Hugh almost entered into an argument with her that would undoubtedly end in some manner of fist in his eye. But he caught himself in time, begging off for the sheer reason that Davyss was only a few feet away; he knew his brother would handle this banshee of a woman and they would all be the better for it.  Still insulted with the fact that his charming and debonair self had not melted her with a first glance, he cast her a withering glare and quit the chapel.
    When it was finally cold and empty, Devereux emitted a pent up sigh.  Like a bubble of tension bursting, she suddenly felt deflated. She realized that tears were close to the surface but angrily chased them away, feeling despondent and disoriented. 
    She would wait for the knights to return to take her to her prison of Castle Acre.  It wasn’t far from her burgh, the great castle with the massive ramparts.  Lady Katharine de Winter lived there at times; when she was not in residence, there were always groups of soldiers in and out of the place.  Sometimes they would come into town and wreak havoc in the taverns.  Devereux had spent her life knowing when to stay indoors and locked away when the soldiers were about.  She had spent her life staying clear of the knights and other warriors who would, at times, pass through her town.  She had never even seen her husband although she knew he had spent time at Castle Acre Castle periodically.  She had often heard rumor to that effect. Now she was a part of that world she had attempted to stay clear of.  She tried not to hate her father for it.
    From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the altar.  It was beautifully carved and had the rarity of a cushion before it on which to kneel.  Devereux found herself wondering where the priests were that usually inhabited this priory. She wondered if de Winter’s knights had chased them off.  With another heavy sigh, she made her way to the altar, gazing up at the gold-encrusted cross and wondering how drastically her life was going to change