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‘I won’t—’ She didn’t get any further as one of his hands shot out and grabbed hold of her chin, tearing her away from Adelaide and pulling her roughly towards him.
‘You’ll do as I say.’
‘No! Let me go!’
She heard Adelaide shriek and pressed her hands against his chest, trying to force him away, but his hold was too strong, his fingers digging into her skin like talons. Desperately, she tried to lift her knee and kick him instead, but he was too close, pinning her against him so that she could barely move.
‘I admit you have more spirit than most, but I can bring you to heel, too.’ His breath was hot on her cheek. ‘You’ll be here for as long as I wish it. The only way out is the roof.’
‘You’re a monster!’ She reached out blindly, her fingers clutching the nearest object she could find, an earthenware jug, and swinging it hard at his head. There was a dull cracking sound before his hold slackened and he fell to the floor.
‘Is he dead?’ Adelaide’s eyes were wide.
‘I don’t know...’ Constance stared down at the body. A pool of blood was starting to form on the tiles beneath Sir Ralph’s head, but one of his hands was still twitching. Her gaze moved to the jug. There was blood on that, too. If she had any sense then she ought to hit him with it again, to make sure that he couldn’t get up and follow them, but she couldn’t do it, not in cold blood while his eyes were still closed.
No sooner had the thought entered her head than they opened again.
‘Come on!’ She dropped the jug, hearing it shatter as she pulled Adelaide out of the room and down the stairs, her mind spinning. What had she done? Even if they managed to get through the gatehouse, it would be impossible for her to get Adelaide out of the castle without anyone seeing them and, even if they did manage to escape, Sir Ralph wouldn’t be far behind. And he wouldn’t be in any mood to be forgiving, especially towards a wife that the law said he could treat any way he wanted. Not to mention that sharing a horse would inevitably slow them down. She skidded to a halt in the middle of the hall. It was her fault that Adelaide was in this situation now, which meant that she had to save her. There was no way for them both to escape, but one of them could.
‘Here!’ She pulled off Susanna’s cloak and wrapped it around Adelaide’s shoulders, pushing her towards the door. ‘My maid’s waiting in the gatehouse. Tell her what’s happened and say that you’re escaping instead. She’ll get you out. Ride to Lacelby, tell my steward Tomas I sent you and that you’re not to open the gates to anyone except Matthew.’
‘But what about you?’ Adelaide looked terrified.
‘I have a plan, don’t worry. Now go!’
She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her rising sense of panic, waiting until Adelaide had gone before running to the fireplace and dragging Sir Ralph’s sword from its place on the wall, aware of the heavy tread of his footsteps on the steps as she did so. As plans went, it wasn’t particularly sophisticated, but it was better than nothing. At least with a blade in her hands, she had a chance of defending herself and holding him back long enough to give Adelaide time to escape.
‘Bitch.’ Her father-in-law stepped out into the hall, a livid red gash across his brow.
‘I told you, you can’t hold me here.’ Constance clasped the hilt of the sword in both hands, horribly aware of the tremor in her own voice.
‘I can do what I want.’
‘You lied to me!’ She glared at him, her heart racing so fast she could feel it pushing against her ribcage. ‘You said that Matthew was a wanted man.’
‘He will be. Once the King defeats the barons.’
‘But he won’t defeat them. Your King’s losing his power and so will you. Now keep back!’ She swung the sword up, slicing it furiously through the air as her father-in-law moved closer.
‘Or what? You’ll kill me?’
‘Don’t think that I won’t.’
He gave a mocking smile. ‘If you were capable of that, you would have done it upstairs.’
‘I can still change my mind.’
‘I don’t think so.’ He lunged towards her, faster than she’d expected, dodging first to her left side and then her right so that she turned the sword in the wrong direction. Too late she realised her mistake as he swung his body behind hers and gripped her hands.
‘No!’ She panted as he drew the blade back against her throat.
‘You said I was a monster.’
There was a hint of laughter in his voice now. Laughter mixed with venom so potent that she knew there was no way out. She was going to die right there and then, unless she could somehow break free... And she had to break free for her baby’s sake...
She lifted a leg and swung it backwards with all her remaining strength, slamming the back of her foot hard into his kneecap.
‘Ah!’ he cried out, his grip on the sword slackening for a moment, long enough for her to push it forward, to duck down away from its edge and... She yelped in surprise as another pair of hands appeared suddenly, gripping hold of the blade and wrenching it aside.
