His response was immediate but unspoken. He just looked at her coolly, and finally Thomas spoke.
“There’s nothing wrong with your right hand,” he observed.
Simon flexed it, leaning down to pick up the knife he’d dropped rather than skewer his sister-in-law. “No,” he said.
“I imagine there’s nothing wrong with any other part of you, either.”
Simon smiled faintly. “I can’t imagine that’s any concern of yours.”
“We like large families. Children and nieces and nephews,” Thomas said.
“Let’s see if we survive the next few days,” Simon replied. “Then we can worry about procreation.”
“I’m still a maid,” Claire announced in a pugnacious tone of voice.
“My condolences,” Simon murmured. “I’m certain Thomas will take care of that problem when he has the time. At the moment I think your sister’s safety is of greater concern.”
“There wasn’t time for Brother Jerome to marry us,” Thomas said. “We can wait until Lady Alys is safely bestowed.”
“Bestowed where? In her husband’s care? I doubt she’ll welcome that,” Simon said coolly. “You could see her safely back to that convent she came from. I imagine that’s as welcome a place as any. Or she can make her home with you if she so chooses.”
“I can protect them from Lord Richard, if that is a concern of yours.”
Simon smiled. “I don’t anticipate that that will be a problem,” he said gently.
Thomas nodded, understanding immediately. “I’ll take her wherever she wishes to go.”
Lady Claire had obviously had enough of being ignored. “What are we going to do?” she demanded. “I don’t want her to spend another night in that horrible cage.”
“The night is half over. If you can manage some patience we can free her tomorrow, during the fair. In the confusion you should be able to escape.”
“You have a plan?” Thomas demanded eagerly.
“An idea,” Simon replied. “It requires careful preparation and accurate timing. Richard doesn’t know her spoiled little ladyship has taken off, or that you went after her. If he spies you tomorrow, he’ll simply assume that Lady Claire is still locked in her solar and you’ve come to offer your help.”
“Do you think he’ll believe it?” Thomas said doubtfully.
“Richard has a great deal on his mind. He won’t be wasting his suspicions on one of his loyal knights. In the meantime, keep that impatient creature quiet, would you? Take her somewhere and tup her while I work on it.”
“We’re not married, my lord.”
Simon muttered a curse in Arabic. “Then bind and gag her and dump her in a ditch and we’ll fetch her later.”
Thomas turned. “She’s not here,” he said in an ominous voice.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s gone,” Thomas said in a desperate voice. “And if I know my lady, she’s gone after her sister.”
“Hell and damnation,” Simon muttered. And he started for the clearing.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was a fortunate thing that Thomas du Rhaymer caught up with Lady Claire before Simon did. He tackled her before she reached the edge of the clearing, landing on top of her with a muffled “ooof.” If Simon had been the one to catch her he might have delivered the sound thrashing she so richly deserved.
He kept walking through the forest, stepping over the entwined, bickering couple. She was blistering him in a shrill voice, Thomas was holding her still, and Simon moved on, shaking his head in wonder. How two sisters could be so dissimilar was a question not soon to be answered. Lady Claire was a rare handful, but Sir Thomas was more than up to the task of taming her. They’d deal a lot better with each other once they managed to get into bed.
And in truth, in certain ways Alys was more like her rebellious half-sister than one might first think. Her beauty was more subtle but undeniably luminous, her bravery quieter but surely as fierce. And he had little doubt her rage could equal Lady Claire’s monumental proportions.
Lady Claire was silent now, and he could hear the faint, soothing murmur of Thomas’s voice, the soft rustle of clothing as he left them behind, and he wondered vaguely which would prove stronger, Thomas’s moral resolve or Claire’s determination. Either way, the battle would keep them busy for the next few hours.
He paused at the edge of the forest, watching the encampment with wary eyes. The four guards usually stationed at each corner of Alys’s makeshift prison had abandoned their posts and moved closer to the fire. They were passing a wine skin around, one had an arm slung around the serving woman’s plump figure, and Alys had been forgotten.
He could go up to the back of the carriage and part the curtains. He had no idea whether there was lock on that side as well, or whether he’d be able to open it without a key. Circumventing locks was one of his many talents, but the stakes had never been so high.
What would she do if she woke up and saw him? Scream in denunciation? Cry out in fury? Either would get them both killed, but she had no reason to trust him, every reason to despise him. If he had any sense he would leave her alone in her cage, go back to the tent he shared with Richard, and see if he could complete a workable plan for tomorrow, now that he knew he had an ally.
He paused outside the wagon, hidden in the shadows and the looming forest. No one could see him; no one could hear him. He moved closer, hoping for a sound from beyond the thick curtains, but his wife slept. Hating him.
Alys lay huddled beneath the covers, desperate for warmth. Her head was cold, her nose was cold, but she couldn’t bury her face in the animal throws without suffocating, and she had no desire to speed that particular fate.
She could hear the guards laughing. She wondered if Simon were laughing as well.
She could almost feel him watching her. His still, golden eyes moving slowly over her face, his hands reaching for her.
