“But, Lady Eadyth,” Aldgyth continued, “are there not other reasons for attending court, aside from improving the mind? Such as…” She flicked her dainty hand airily as her words trailed off.
“Such as what?” Eadyth asked suspiciously in an icy voice.
“Oh, let us say… the renewal of old acquaintances.”
Eadyth realized that Aldgyth was referring to the father of her child and rumors of her scandalous liaison with some unnamed nobleman. Would it never be forgotten? Or forgiven? Apparently, Eirik’s claims of paternity did not convince everyone.
“Aldgyth, let us be perfectly candid with each other,” Eadyth said with forced patience, much like a mother speaking to a dull-headed child. “I had the misfortune many years ago to succumb to the charms of a handsome man.” Well, that was not entirely a falsehood. The fact that the man in question had been Steven, not Eirik, need not be mentioned. “My foolish heart led to the birth of my son John, whom I love dearly. Now, you may choose to believe that I pine for another man, but I had hoped my marriage today would put those stories to rest. Apparently, my heart is still foolish in some ways, though, because it did not take into account the mean-spiritedness of some people.”
Her eyes swept the ladies to let them know she referred to each of them in her condemnation. Aldgyth’s face turned bright red and her chin lifted arrogantly as if she cared not how Eadyth regarded her, but the other ladies had the grace to drop their faces in shame. One even murmured softly, “My apologies, Lady Eadyth,” as she swept by them and stepped off the dais.
Wilfrid approached her, worry creasing his handsome face. “Lady Eadyth, my lord asks that you come to his chamber immediately. He must speak to you. I will stay to entertain your guests.”
Uneasily, she hastened up the enclosed stairway and through the torch-lit corridor to the bedchamber she knew to be her husband’s. Eadyth sensed that his summons was related to King Edmund’s representatives, and that it boded ill for her.
When she knocked, then entered Eirik’s large chamber, she had to blink her eyes several times in the dimness. The few candles and smoking torches in wall brackets barely lit the large room, and no fire was laid in the hearth on this warm May night.
When her vision cleared, Eadyth stepped back with a gasp.
Eirik stood barefoot and bare-chested, wearing only his tight-fitting braies slung low at the waist. His broad shoulders and well-shaped chest, covered with silky black hair, tapered to a narrow waist and hips. The flat brown nipples in the midst of the finely molded muscles drew her attention, and Eadyth felt an odd pulling in her breasts.
Raised in a keep of fighting men, she had seen many men in various stages of nudity. But her new husband was a rare fine specimen, Eadyth had to admit.
Oh, Lord.
She forced herself to concentrate on other things. Eirik was talking to his brother while a squire laid out a padded under-tunic, a hauberk of flexible chain mail with an attached coif and matching mail chausses, cross-gartered leather boots, his helmet and shield with the embossed raven, and all the other trimmings of a warrior.
Before she had a chance to ask the significance of the battle gear, someone said, “Kiss me, dearling.”
“What?” she choked out, looking questioningly at Eirik near the darkened alcove. He had just turned, noticing her arrival.
“Show me your legs.”
“What did you say?” Eadyth asked him stonily, humiliated that he would request such a thing of her, especially in front of his squire and his brother. His true nature would come out now, it seemed.
“Kiss me, dearling.”
“Kiss yourself, you bloody fool,” Eadyth exclaimed, her face flaming hotly with embarrassment. Was he drunk? she wondered. His voice sounded oddly hoarse.
Eirik and Tykir burst out laughing as some sort of realization seemed to pass between them. She shifted impatiently from foot to foot, unamused by their laughter.
When Eirik finally plopped down on the bed and Tykir wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand, Eadyth noticed a large gilded cage behind them containing a huge bird of many bright colors.