Margaret Moore - [Warrior 14] by In The Kings Service Page B

disbelief. “Were you teasing me, Sir Blaidd?”
    He gave her a rueful grin and his deep brown eyes fairly sparkled with good humor. “Forgive me again, my lady. I couldn’t resist the temptation.”
    A man like him should never, ever speak of temptation to her.
    She should be furious with him for getting her so upset despite his smiles and his eyes and his good-humored loss at archery.
    She was furious with him. She had to be furious with him.
    “Good day, then, sir knight,” she said as she turned on her heel and limped quickly away, Meg scurrying along behind.
     
    “She’s something, isn’t she?” Dobbin said as he joined Blaidd. Behind them, the soldiers began to remove the butts and targets, and make their way back to the castle.
    Blaidd noticed that the disgruntled Trev didn’t linger. “You taught her well.”
    Dobbin grinned. “It’s easy when the pupil’s eager to learn.”
    “Still, it’s an unusual skill for a lady to acquire. I’m surprised her father allowed it.”
    Dobbin colored and shifted his feet. “Well, he didn’t exactly know about it.” The older man caught Blaidd’s eye and hastened to explain. “It was after she hurt her leg. They was all weepin’ and wailin’ and sayin’ she’d never walk again. She was that glum, lying abed, so I tried to think of something to help her.” He spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “I’m just a soldier, sir, and could only think of soldierly things.”
    “Clearly it was a suggestion that met with her approval.”
    A shy smile lit the man’s face. “Aye, it did.”
    Blaidd decided to take the opportunity to ask a few questions. “I gather she fell out of a tree?”
    “Aye, sir, aye. Up to a bit of mischief, she was, like always. Oh, she was a one for capers and larks!”
    “Wild, was she?”
    Dobbin looked offended. “Spirited, more like.”
    “I suppose her father was often angry with her?”
    A troubled expression flitted across Dobbin’s face. “Aye, sir, and sometimes still gets right put out. Mind, I’m not saying he don’t care about her. He was some upset when she fell, as we all were, what with her wee bones sticking out and all. Makes me ill just to think of it. I’ve heard grown men screaming from less, but not a sound did she make, not even when the apothecary set her leg as best he could.”
    Blaidd had seen plenty of broken bones himself, and he silently agreed that the ones where the bone pierced the skin were gruesome—and often deadly. “It’s a wonder she lived at all.”
    “Take more than a broken leg to kill her, even one like that,” Dobbin said, as proudly as if she were his own daughter. “And she was that determined to walk again, she wouldn’t stay still.”
    “Perhaps because a kind man had offered to teach her something usually reserved for boys?”
    Dobbin’s blue eyes sparkled. “Well, that might have been one reason.” He reached for the bow Blaidd still held. “I’ll take that back to the keep for you, sir.”
    “Thank you.”
    As Dobbin joined the other soldiers heading into the inner ward, Blaidd suddenly realized that he should have questioned him about the garrison and fortifications, not Lady Rebecca, no matter how intriguing he found her.

Chapter Eight
    S urveying the empty cot in their bedchamber, Blaidd swore under his breath. Where the devil had Trev got to? The lad had imbibed more ale than he should have, then stumbled out of the hall before Blaidd could speak to him. After that, Blaidd had excused himself as quickly as possible and left the hall. He’d hoped Trev had gone to bed, but obviously, he hadn’t.
    Maybe he’d gone to the barracks to spend some time with the friends he’d been making among the soldiers, including Dobbin. Maybe he’d gone to pay back a wager or two, for if he’d bet on the archery contest, he would have bet on Blaidd, and lost.
    Maybe he’d gone to the stables to see the horses, perhaps even fallen asleep on a pile of hay. He’d