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“Here, Mary Alys, take this,” she pushed her silk handkerchief into the small hand. “I might not see ye on yer birthday and I want to make sure ye have a gift.”

Mary Alys looked astonished at the beautiful cloth. “For me?” she gasped.

“Aye,” Jordan said. “Take good care of it, lass.”

Mary Alys’ smile was as bright as the sun. “Oh, thank you, lady, thank you!”

They were all smiling when Mary Alys bound off, including Deinwald. Jordan turned around, her smile vanishing when her eyes fell on him.

“Yer a nasty brute, Deinwald Ellsrod,” she scolded.

He hid his smile and tried to pretend indifference to her statement. “If it pleases my lady.”

“It doesna,” she snapped. “Get out of my way.”

Turning her nose up at him, she showed him her back and marched away. The other knights and Jemma smiled broadly and followed.

Somewhere between the buttery and the smokehouse they picked up Corin, Lewis and Jason. It looked like a line of trees following the two young women, certainly an unnecessarily large escort. Had Jordan stopped to think about it, only William, Paris, Ranulf and Marc were missing. But she was paying more attention to the newness that was Northwood.

They stopped at the cold house and the old woman there offered them all wedges of ‘green cheese,’ which were a soft cheese with herbs and bits of onion mixed in. Only Jordan and Jemma took delight in the treat. The knights stood silently behind them, content to watch the two beautiful women happily stuff their mouths. It had been a long time since any of them had seen beauty this fair and they meant to enjoy it.

Jordan had no idea how long William had been standing behind them. When she caught sight of him, her expression must have given away her surprise because the knights and soldiers looking at her swung around with incredible speed. They knew before they even turned around who was there and what trouble they were in for.

William’s expression was unreadable. He stood with his legs braced apart, arms crossed over his chest casually. He eyed each and every man deliberately. Jordan almost smiled and asked him to join them, but she realized that William was angry. His body or his face did not give him away, but she knew just the same.

“I was wondering where all of my knights had gone,” he said mildly.

Jordan could feel the tension in the air. The stiff bodies in front of her told her that indeed they were in a hell of predicament, although she wondered exactly why. They hadn’t been doing anything but escorting the ladies on their walk. Then, of course, all of the possible reasons for his anger flooded into her mind; the men were neglecting their duties in order to follow her and Jemma about like guard dogs. She knew that whatever punishment they received, it was her fault.

She handed Jemma her cheese and pushed her way to the front of the group, right in front of William. It almost looked as if she were going to try and bodily protect them from William’s wrath.

“ ’Tis my fault, sire,” she said earnestly. “I insisted on going for a walk and out of the kindness of their hearts, they accompanied me.”

He looked at her and she was nearly physically impacted by what she saw in the dark angry eyes.

“This is no casual stroll, my lady, it is a herd of sheep,” he said evenly. “If you were, mayhap, being attacked by thirty Scots the odds would be even, but that is an unlikely event in the bailey of Northwood.”

He might as well as slapped her in the face. His comments stung her and her initial reaction was to back away, but she did not. She felt responsible for the actions of the knights and she would not back down in their defense.

“That would be an unlikely event in any case, considering the cost of peace,” she shot back quietly. “These men meant no harm, sire, and yer assessment that nine men could fend off thirty Scots is both arrogant and untrue. I do not appreciate having my kinsmen so blatantly insulted.”

She caught a flash of softening in his eyes followed by a larger flash of anger. This William before her, the hard and cold commander, was not the William that had made such sweet love to her last night. This was the William she feared and on occasion, despised.

“I was not attempting to insult anyone, simply stating a fact,” he said.

She inhaled deeply and stiffened. Several vicious retorts sprang to her mind, but she could not force one of them from her lips. She was deeply hurt by his remarks. Why did he have to be so bloody complex? What had started out as a plea for the knights had now turned into a personal battle between the two of them.

“I willna forgive ye for that,” she whispered, turning her back on him. “Come, Jemma.”

“Hold, madam.” It was not a request but a direct order.

’Twas not the wisest move to keep walking, but she did. She was angry and upset, and her whole day was ruined.

“One more step and I will truss you up until I have finished dealing with my men,” he said in a low voice.

She almost kept going. But, in a flash of sanity, she realized that he would do exactly that and she did not want to be embarrassed any more than necessary. For that reason, she stopped, with Jemma beside her, and turned to face him angrily.

He knew she had stopped but didn’t look at her. Instead, he was focused on his men.