She pushed outside the tent into the chilly morning and sucked in the largest breath she could.And then another.And then another.
For the first time since its founding, the abbey was going to belong to someone.Yes, the king had used words likepatronage, and other people might use words likeprotection, but there was no hiding what it really was at the end of the day: belonging.
They would belong to Adelais, and therefore to the Norman king of England, through her fealty.
“Tate,” came a voice from behind her, and Tate wheeled to see Adelais outside the tent too, her cheeks flushed under her freckles from the cool air.“Are you well?Can I help?”
Tate laughed.A choked, bitter sound.“You mean like how you helped for the last three days?Lying to me about what would happen to my abbey?I showed you things I’m only supposed to show our pilgrims.I told you everything you wanted to know.And now I’ve betrayed my abbey to someone who’d betrayed it first.How do you think that makes me feel?”
Unhappiness creased the Wolf’s face.“Don’t cry,” Adelais said, her eyes on Tate’s face, her expression displeased as she tracked the tears beginning to streak to Tate’s jaw.“I hate that you’re crying.Is it truly that bad?Belonging to me?I’ll be good to you, Tate.How can you doubt it?”
Truly that bad?
A broken church hierarchy, an entire conquest, and what felt like a whole world ready to pour hellfire on anyone who enjoyed pleasure on top of both those things?That bad that Tate had been ready to give this wolf her heart after only three nights alone together?
“Unless you can save the heart of Far Hope from William’s grasp,” Tate said, “then yes, it is that bad.”She straightened, tears still dripping down her face, and looked Adelais in the eye for the last time.“And when the cave is empty and the sisters are gone and everything that made Far Hope what it was is forgotten, I hope that it was worth it to have your treasure, Adelais of the Maine.I hope that it’s some comfort to think that you’ve found Far Hope’s secrets at last, even if it was at the cost of anyone else finding them ever again.”
And then she turned and went back to the abbey, tears burning at her eyes the entire way.
Eleven
THE WOLF
ADELAIS STAREDat Tate’s small form as she walked off, her heart like a fish on land, flapping and panicked.
Sheneverfelt panicked.Not in battle, not at court.This should be nothing—this should be easy.She had pleased her liege lord, and he’d rewarded her.Not only that, but he’d rewarded her with the one place on earth she’d like to own.
But here she was standing like a wounded rabbit, ready to spring away and hide, leaking blood everywhere as she went.
Hide!
Adelais of the Maine!
What had she come to?!
William came out of his tent, having to duck his tall frame under the flap.
“I want you in Exeter by tonight,” he said without preamble.“I need the fear you bring to a field to end this siege.And then you may return here to make any arrangements you see fit as the new owner of Far Hope.”
“Yes, my lord,” Adelais said, her mind still following Tate, still hearing those pained, bitter words.It is that bad.“Whatever you need.”
The duke studied her a moment.“It is no bad thing to go after what you want, Adelais.It’s what makes you unmatched in combat.”
It was indeed what made her a good warrior.But perhaps it had made her a bad lover too.
Except that wasn’t the entire truth, was it?Tate liked it when Adelaistook –she liked it all too well.But this was different.This wasn’t taking something freely given.This was stealing, plain and simple, no matter which words she and William had used to make it sound more palatable.
The abbey had belonged to itself before Adelais; now it wouldn’t any longer.And whatever belonged to Adelais also belonged to the king of England.
The same king who’d burned hundreds of innocent farmsteads on his way to Exeter just to show his displeasure.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Adelais said, her panic solidifying into an urge to fix this, fix everything about it.“But is it possible that I could anchor Devonshire for you elsewhere?Maybe closer to the coast, like near the River Tamar?—”
He held up a hand.His men behind him were readying horses; she knew she’d have to give the order for hers to be readied too.He’d expect her in Exeter soon after he got there himself, even though she had an entire camp that needed packing up first.“I want you here, Adelais, and I won’t brook any further discussion on the topic.”
“But the abbey?—”
“We’ve been blessed by Stigand to do with it what we will.It’s a small abbey, Adelais.We’re not talking about Cluny here.If a few sisters have to find new nunneries to join, so be it.”
