Free The Holding - Book 1 in The Medieval Knights Series by Claudia Dain Page B

wedding night, the last person in the world she would have wished to speak of would be her warrior husband, who might at any moment come bounding up the stairs, but she was not Lady Cathryn. If her lady wished to know more of this man she was wed to, then Marie would tell her all she knew and then keep her ear to the ground for more.
    "'Tis said that he is silent in battle, not voicing cry as other knights do to heat their blood and strike fear into the enemy. Also," she added hesitantly, not comfortable with the subject matter, "he comes to envelop and encompass his opponent as silently and completely as the fog enshrouds the land."
    "So they call him 'the Fog,''' Cathryn said softly; then she added under her breath, "I had thought it might have been for the color of his eyes."
    Marie offered nothing more, sensing that Cathryn was lost in thought, but what those thoughts were, she could not say. Lifting her head suddenly, Cathryn spoke again.
    "But tell me more. Surely you know more than I, for none of his people would dare to speak to me of him as they would speak among themselves, and I would know all I can of him."
    Marie did know more, but it was not information she thought Lady Cathryn would be cheered to know. She had not come by her knowledge of William le Brouillard in any straightforward fashion; she had heard bits and pieces as she kept to the corners, and overheard even more as his men settled themselves in Greneforde. In truth, she had been nearly caught more than once, but she had escaped detection. If being prideful was not a mortal sin, she would have been proud of her ability to hide in plain view.
    "Most of the talk was of his fighting skill, my lady."
    "To be expected among knights, surely," Cathryn answered.
    "But I heard little of—"
    "Tell me," Cathryn pressed quietly. "There is nothing that you could say that would not be of keen interest to me."
    "His fighting skill was spoken of most highly," Marie began hesitantly. "He has fought in the Holy Land and in many of the lands between here and there, and was always the victor. It is for this reason that King Henry values him so highly, that and for his loyalty." Seeing that she had Cathryn's rapt attention, Marie continued with more confidence. "His family lands, in Normandy, have been lost to him through some misstep of his father's. His childhood was spent wandering, and he has been land hungry since his accolade. The king knew this; in fact, I gathered that anyone who has spent even a little time with him would know his hunger for land of his own. Greneforde was gifted to him for his service to King Henry."
    Marie had said nothing that Cathryn had not known or astutely guessed; in truth, his personal history was not unlike many, yet to hear the words—to hear that Greneforde was gifted to him—struck a nerve that she could little soothe.
    "So," she began with thinly concealed pain, "Greneforde was given to him, and with Greneforde comes Cathryn."
    Marie realized instantly that she had blundered in her recitation, for Lady Cathryn had never before shown even a hint of the raw emotion that was seeping out of her now. To lose one's home to a stranger was bad enough; to lose oneself to the same stranger as an afterthought of little value was worse. But she said nothing; she simply retreated from the subject as if it had not been broached.
    "Would you like to bathe, my lady?"
    Marie could not know it, but she had given her lady the means to regain her composure with that question. Would she like to bathe? Knowing, as she did, how her new husband cherished the act of bathing? Knowing that he had commanded her that all the inhabitants of Greneforde should bathe?
    With a serene smile, Cathryn answered, "Nay."
    Almost as an afterthought, she added, "And avoid bathing yourself, Marie, as you continue to keep yourself hidden from sight. I would be more familiar with le Brouillard's men."
    "Lady," Marie began nervously, "he is your husband and your lord. Is it