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"Oh, nay," he cried at once, backing toward the tent. "My lord sent me for salve for your mare. I--"
"I'll take him the salve," Merry argued at once, turning to set the mug down and pick up the bit of salve she'd laid out on a piece of cloth. "But ye shouldna be out in the rain ailing as ye are, and ye certainly canna sleep out there in it."
"Well I cannot sleep in here," he squawked as she straightened.
"Aye, ye can," she said firmly, and then took pity on his panic and said, "I will explain things to me husband and he shall agree. Jest--"
Merry came to an abrupt halt as Godfrey, his face squinched up with panic, suddenly snatched the salve from her and fled the tent.
"Well, hell," she muttered, moving to the flap to see him racing through the rain to the horses at the end of the camp. She wasn't at all used to being disobeyed and simply watched with a scowl as he hurried to where Alex stood talking to Allan. The moment the boy had his lord's attention, he appeared to babble a string of words. She saw her husband's eyebrows go up, and then he reached out to press the back of his hand to Godfrey's head. The concern that suddenly claimed his features made her relax somewhat.
Merry let the tent flap fall into place and moved back to the furs then. She was sure Alex would agree with her and insist the boy sleep in the tent with them. And once he marched Godfrey back here, she would give the lad hell for flouting her instruction and running off like that. No one at Stewart would have dared disobey her so, and she wasn't going to have it at d'Aumesbery. The smooth running and very safety of the castle and its people depended on respect for their lord and lady and obedience when they gave an order. Merry knew she was still considered a stranger and would have to earn the respect, but she wasn't waiting for the obedience.
She was pacing the tent, working herself into a bit of a lather as she silently practiced what she would say to the boy. Merry disliked reprimanding anyone, but especially anyone she liked, and she rather liked Godfrey. He seemed a good lad to her, well, except for this disobeying her business. Merry was glowering over that when the tent flap rustled, announcing someone's arrival. Hand tightening on the empty mug she still held, Merry turned expectantly, but her husband entered alone. "Where is Godfrey?"
"I sent him to sleep."
Merry scowled at this news. "I told him he was to sleep in here with--"
"I know. He told me," Alex assured her with a faint smile. "But he did not seem comfortable with the prospect so I ordered him to go sleep in the back of the wagon with Una."
Merry's expression cleared at once. She'd quite forgotten Una telling her that the men had taken the tarp that covered the goods during the day and arranged it over the back of the wagon so that she had something of a tent of her own. Without their tent and the chests in it, there should be enough room in the back of the wagon for both Una and Godfrey without the pair being uncomfortable.
Realizing that Alex was awaiting her comment, she nodded and murmured, "That was a good idea."
"He also confessed that he disobeyed you and rushed out to me after you had ordered him to lie down and sleep. I did not reprimand him," he said, and when Merry stiffened, added, "Your order countermanded mine."
When Merry didn't hide her confusion, he reminded her, "I sent him to retrieve the salve from you. To obey you, he had to disobey me. To obey me, he had to disobey you. He was in a bit of a spot."
"Oh, aye," Merry agreed as she realized the truth of his words. "I suppose the wagon is just as good as the tent. At least he is out of the rain."
"Aye," he agreed, and caught her hand to draw her closer. "And not in here preventing me from doing this."
Merry's eyes widened and then drooped closed as he lowered his head and kissed her. The kiss started out sweet and questing, but soon turned passionate, and as she let the empty mug slip from her fingers and reached up to help her husband strip their clothes away, Merry thought that his arm and head must not bother him as much as she'd feared...and that it was indeed a good thing the lad wasn't in the tent with them.
chapter Nine
Where diya want this?"
Merry straightened from laying out the last of the furs and glanced to Una. The maid had been snappy ever since rising that morning. Even finally crossing the border back into their homeland of Scotland hadn't brought her mood around, and Merry was getting tired of her surly behavior. Her gaze shifted to the small cloth bag the woman held.
"Just set it on the chest there, please, Una," Merry answered, keeping her voice even and mellow. Her mouth tightened, however, and irritation got the better of her when the woman turned and tossed it carelessly on the chest. She snapped shortly, "Be careful with those, Una. You know they hold my medicinals."
Una scowled at the mild reprimand, but moved to check on the contents of the bag, and Merry eyed her with exasperation. "What is the matter with you today? You have been growling and snapping ever since you got up this morning."
"I didna get a wink o' sleep last night."
Merry's eyebrows rose slightly at this claim. "Was the back of the wagon so hard? If so, mayhap ye should take a couple of these furs for this eve then?"
"Nay, it wasna me back that was bothering me but Godfrey's front," Una snarled. She set the bag back on the chest with a little plunk.
"Was he snoring?" Merry asked, trying to get to the bottom of the matter. "Or was it his coughing?"
"Nay, it wasna his coughing though he did a fair bit o' that, too," she said dryly.
Merry clucked with exasperation and propped her hands on her hips. "Well, spit it out, woman. Ye've been in a foul temper all day and I would ken why."
"Because I spent the first part o' the night fightin' off Godfrey rather than sleepin' and then when I finally got free o' the lad, I crawled under the wagon to try to sleep there, but couldna because 'twas damp and cold. O' course I'm testy."
Merry's hands dropped from her hips, her eyes going wide with amazement. "Fightin' off Godfrey?"
"Aye." Una scowled and then explained in a low growl, "The little bastard was as randy as a goat. And he understood the word 'nay' about as well as one, too. If he were not so fou with drink I'd ha'e no' got away."
"What?" Merry asked with shock. "But he was ill last night, 'tis why Alex had him sleep in the wagon."
"He wasna so ill he couldna muster the sword between his legs and try to make himself a man." She paused and bit her lip and then admitted, "He's well built in that area, by the way. The boy carries a claymore between his legs as compared to most men's short sword. Though I damned near snapped it off last night."
Merry bit her lip at this news, but then shook her head. "I just--Godfrey seems so sweet. I canna understand--"
"Oh, I know." Una shook her head. "I couldna credit it, either, 'tis no' like him at all. The boy's as shy as a bird around me and every other female. And after I got thinking about it today, I wondered if he wasna out of his head with fever...Though he didna seem that hot to me," she said, and then offered, "It could have been a mild fever combined with the drink."
"The drink?" Merry asked with surprise.
"Aye. I could smell wine on him."
Merry shook her head. "I am sure the only drink Alex brought was a couple of bottles of wine. They were to be a gift for his sister, but he opened one last night and--" She stilled and then said, "I gave Godfrey a tonic mixed in wine last night. I didna ha'e anything else at the time. But 'twas only half a mug. Surely that little bit of wine wouldna affect him in such a way?"
Una shrugged. "Something affected him. He was slurring his words and clumsy as an ox, but hard and wantin' despite all that." She grimaced. "He definitely wasna himself, that is certain."
Merry was frowning over this when one of the men came to tell them that sup was ready if they wished to join the others. She murmured a word of thanks and followed Una out of the tent, her mind taken up with Godfrey. It was hard to imagine the lad behaving so badly, but she was sure Una wouldn't lie about something like that. Merry just di
dn't know what to think.
Alex stood to greet her with a kiss on the cheek as she reached the fire. Merry managed a distracted smile, but her gaze was searching for the boy who was on her mind. "Where is Godfrey?"
"I sent him to lie down in the wagon when we stopped. He seems worse today than he was yesterday and needs his sleep."
