The Conqueror (Hot Knights) Read Online Free Page B

freed her the night before. If she proved unmanageable, he could have tied her to the bed.
    Now there was a provocative image—the Saxon woman bound to the bedposts, her arms and legs splayed wide.
    Nay, he would not allow his thoughts to roam along such pathways. She was a prisoner, and he would treat her as he would any other captive. It was a matter of honor that a knight held for ransom must be dealt with respectfully.
    But she was no knight, and, as Rob had pointed out, there was no hope of ransoming her. Using her to entrap the other rebels was equally improbable. She was useless as a prisoner.
    So, why did he keep her? Because he did not know what else to do was the answer that came to him. Having spared her life twice, he would look even more of a fool if he killed her now.
    And why take a life when he did not have to? Especially that of a woman. She did not match his usual taste in bed-partners, but she undoubtedly had some crude appeal. The longer he looked at her, the more she aroused his lust.
    He imagined the warrior wench’s body beneath his, bucking and straining...
    Then what would he do with her, having satisfied himself? She would not be easy to tame, to mold into a trustworthy, useful servant. He might have to beat her, to pound some servility into her thick Saxon skull.
    The thought displeased him. He did not have time to undertake such a project.
    Impatiently, he turned away from the bed. He would let her alone, give her some time to consider how fortunate she was that he was generous to women.
    He moved to the door and left the room. Outside, he shoved his short sword in to the doorjamb to lock her in, and then went down the stairs.
    As soon as the Norman left, Edeva climbed gingerly off the bed and moved her aching body toward the storage chests in the corner. She began to refold and smooth the garments the Normans had carelessly thrown down. Tears filled her eyes. Pigs! They did not appreciate what they despoiled.
    Nay, that was not true. She had heard their admiring words. They knew the workmanship was fine. They had compared her embroidery skills to that of Norman noblewomen.
    The memory did little to ease her fury. The garments in the chest belonged to her! She was mistress of Oxbury!
    The knot in her throat tightened. Her father had been killed at Stambridge, her eldest brother at Hastings. Her mother was dead two years of a fever. She, Beornwold, Godric and Alnoth were all that were left of their family.
    She was a prisoner, and her brothers were forced to hide in the woods like wolfsheads, while the Norman pig slept in her parents’ bed and pawed through their possessions as if he had a right to them.
    Anger and grief almost overcame her, but she shook them off and moved to a smaller chest behind the others. She opened the chest and lifted up the yellowed linen. Underneath, three exquisitely crafted weapons rested on an old scrap of dyed leather. Jewels glinted from the handle of a dagger sized to fit a woman’s hand. A short sword with a pommel of braided gold and a smaller, plainer knife lay beside it.
    Edeva lifted the dagger, her breath quickening. The Norman had aided her in one way. When she saw him going through her parents’ things, she had remembered the weapons stored away. Here was the means to fulfill her vow.
    She removed the dagger and the smaller knife, then smoothed back the linen and closed the chest. The short sword would be too difficult to hide. She would have to manage with the smaller weapons.
    Her hands trembled as she searched the room, seeking a place close at hand, yet hidden so she could take her enemy by surprise. She finally decided to hide the smaller dagger in a crack in the wall behind one of the tapestries, the larger one in the bed itself.
    When the weapons were secured, she lay down on the bed, her plan solidifying in her mind. She would wait meekly on the bed, and when the Norman tried to climb on top of her, stab him in the throat. It would probably not