through the priest's neck in one swift, deadly motion. The priest was propelled backward just as Duncan jerked Madelyne free.
Father Laurance was dead before he hit the ground.
The table crashed against the far wall, overturning the candles. Flames immediately began to lick the dry wood.
Duncan ignored the fire. He gently lifted Madelyne into his arms. She sagged against his chest. 'You took the longest time getting here,' she whispered against his neck. Her voice was ragged and she was weeping softly.
Duncan took a deep, settling breath. He was trying to rid himself of his anger so that he could be gentle with her. 'You are all right?' he finally managed, though his voice was as harsh as his fury.
'I've seen better moments,' Madelyne whispered.
Her lighthearted answer calmed him. Then Madelyne looked up at him. When he saw the damage to her face, he was furious again. Her left eye was already swollen. The corner of her mouth was bloody and there were numerous scratches on her neck.
Duncan wanted to kill the priest all over again. Madelyne could feel the tremor that passed through her husband. His eyes mirrored his anger. She reached up, touched his cheek with her fingertips. 'It is over, Duncan.'
Gerald and Anthony rushed into the church. Gerald saw the fire and immediately ran back outside, shouting an order for aid to the gathering men.
Anthony stood next to his leader. When Duncan turned and started out the doorway, his vassal lifted one of the boards out of the way, the only remnant of the door Duncan hadn't destroyed.
Madelyne could see how worried Anthony was. He was frowning as ferociously as Duncan was. She tried to give him comfort to let him know she was still fit enough.
'Have you noticed, Anthony, how my husband likes to walk through doors?' she asked him.
Anthony looked startled for a moment, and then a slow grin settled on his face.
Duncan bent down, guarding Madelyne's head as he walked through the opening. She rested her cheek against his shoulder. It wasn't until they'd reached the doors of the castle that she realized she was still crying. A leftover from the fright she'd just had, she thought with a shiver.
By the time they reached Duncan 's room, Madelyne's teeth were chattering. Duncan wrapped her in blankets and held her on his lap while he tended to her bruised face.
He was sweating from the heat of the fire he'd started in the hearth for Madelyne. ' Duncan? Did you see the crazed look in his eyes?' Madelyne shivered over the memory. 'He was going to… Duncan? Would you still love me if he'd raped me?'
'Hush now, my love,' Duncan soothed her. 'I'll love you forever. That was a foolish question.'
She was comforted by his gruff answer. Madelyne rested quietly against his chest for several minutes. There was much she needed to tell Duncan and she needed strength for the duty.
Duncan thought she might have fallen asleep, when she suddenly blurted out, 'He was sent here to kill me.'
Madelyne turned in his arms until she was facing him. The look in his eyes chilled her again. 'He was sent?' His voice was soft. Madelyne thought he might be trying to keep his anger hidden. It wasn't working, but she didn't tell him that.
'I went to the church to tell Father Laurance he was invited to dinner. I caught him unawares because he wasn't dressed in his robes. He was dressed just like a peasant, but of course you must have noticed that too. Anyway, his hands weren't covered with bandages either.'
'The rest,' Duncan instructed when Madelyne stared at him so expectantly.
'There weren't any scars. The priest was supposed to have burned his hands, remember. He couldn't say mass because of his injuries. Only there weren't any scars.'
Duncan nodded for her to continue. 'I didn't say anything about his hands. I pretended I didn't even notice, but I
thought to remember to tell you. Anyway,' she continued, 'I told him we'd received a letter from his monastery and that after dinner you wanted to speak to him. That was my mistake, though at the time I didn't know why,' she added. 'The priest went into a rage then. He told me Louddon had had him sent here. His duty was to kill me if the king granted you his favor instead of Louddon. Duncan, how could a man of God have the soul of the devil? Father Laurance knew his game was up, I guess. He told me he was going to get away but not before he killed me.'
Madelyne sagged against Duncan 's chest again. 'Were you frightened, Duncan?' Madelyne asked in a whisper.
'I am never frightened,' Duncan snapped. He was so incensed over the priest's treachery, he could barely concentrate.
Madelyne smiled over her husband's statement. 'I meant to ask you if you were concerned, not frightened,' she amended.
'What?' Duncan asked. He shook his head, forcing his anger aside. Madelyne needed his comfort now. 'Concerned? Hell, Madelyne, I was furious.'
'I could tell you were,' Madelyne answered. 'You reminded me of my wolf when you were stalking my captor.'
Duncan let her sit up so he could kiss her. He was very gentle, for her lips were too bruised to allow true passion.
Madelyne pushed herself off his lap. She took hold of his hand, tugging until he stood up and followed her across the room. She sat down on the bed and patted the space next to him.
Duncan took off his tunic. He was drenched from the heat in the room. He sat down beside his wife, put his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her against him. He wanted to hold her close and tell her how much he loved her. God's truth, he thought he needed to say the words more than she needed to hear them. 'Madelyne, were you frightened?'
'A little,' Madelyne replied. She would have shrugged, but the weight of his arm wouldn't allow the gesture. Her head was inclined and she was tracing circles around his thigh, trying to distract him, he supposed.
'Only a little?'
'Well, I knew you'd come for me, so I wasn't terribly frightened. Yet I was beginning to get a bit irritated when you didn't appear at the door right away. The man was tearing my gown…'
'He could have killed you,' Duncan said. His voice was shaking with anger.
'Nay, you wouldn't have let him kill me,' Madelyne told him.
Lord, she had such faith in him. Duncan was humbled by it.
The slow circles Madelyne was making with her fingertips were moving toward the junction of his legs. Duncan grabbed hold of her hand, settled it against his thigh. His wife was probably so distraught, she didn't realize what she was doing, or how it was beginning to affect him.
'Lord, it's gone warm in here,' Madelyne whispered. 'Why would you want to start a fire in this weather, Duncan?'
'You were shaking,' Duncan reminded her.
'I'm better now.'
'Then I'll go downstairs and get this letter from the monastery. I am curious to learn what his superiors have to tell us,' Duncan announced.
'I don't want you to go downstairs just yet,' Madelyne said.
Duncan was immediately solicitous. 'You must rest for an hour or so,' he told her.
'I don't want to rest,' Madelyne answered. 'Will you help me out of these clothes?' she asked her husband in such an innocent voice, Duncan was immediately suspicious.
Madelyne stood between her husband's legs and didn't help at all while her husband pulled her clothes off her. 'What made you come to the church when you did?' she suddenly thought to ask him.
'Maude's boy saw the bastard hit you. He came to tell me,' Duncan answered.
'I didn't know Willie followed me into the church. He must have run back out before the priest barred the door. Willie must have been terrified. He's only five summers. And you must reward him for coming to fetch you.'
