Free Daughters of the Dagger 04 - Amethyst by Elizabeth Rose Page B

looked at her uncle and shook her head. “I am sorry, Uncle Clement but I cannot keep quiet any longer.”
    “Quiet about what?” asked Matilda curiously.
    “I was the one to come up with the idea of building the gatehouses off centered in order to secure a better defense for the stronghold.”
    “You are lying and shall be punished for that,” spat the earl. “Marcus, do something about her behavior. Throw her in the dungeon.”
     
    Amethyst just looked at Marcus, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she fought it back. Would he really be such a tyrant that he would throw his own betrothed into the dungeon? Especially when he knew she was telling the truth?
    “Well, Marcus, what do you have to say?” asked his father.
    “I can’t throw her in the dungeon,” he said, his eyes interlocked with hers. She felt a connection between them and hoped he felt it too.
    “Why the hell not?” snapped his father. “No woman should be able to speak as such and not be punished for it.”
    “I can’t, because the dungeon is not yet finished.”
    Amethyst’s heart sank at that comment. So he was no better than his father after all. She’d thought she’d seen a speck of decency hidden away under his hardened exterior, but now she knew she was wrong. He was an exact double of his father and he would never change.
    “Then lock her in the tower or something,” suggested the earl.
    Amethyst’s eyes stayed interlocked with his, and she felt as if Lord Marcus was probably the meanest man she’d ever met. She should have heeded the archbishop’s warning , as well of that of her uncle. But she’d always tried to see the good in everyone, and the best of every situation. But this was one person and one situation that she was starting to believe had no good attached to it at all.
    “I can’t do that, either,” he said, still staring at her.
    “Why not?” asked his father.
    “Because … because she is not lying. She really was the one to come up with the wonderful plan, and she will already be punished enough by having to marry me.”
    Marcus took off at a good clip across the courtyard, and his father hurried behind him, complaining and talking, waving his hands wildly in the air. Amethyst just stood there with her mouth open, not believing what Marcus had just said aloud.
    “You really came up with a plan for the castle?” asked Matilda. “You must be very smart, indeed.”
    “Or very dumb,” she said, turning and walking over to where the gatehouse would be constructed. She’d said her piece and now she knew others would feel the consequences for what she’d just done. She hoped her uncle would not be reprimanded because of it. And she hoped Lord Marcus would not take her roughly on their wedding night in punishment for going against his word. She tried very hard, but could not think of how this could possibly end up in a positive light.

Chapter 7
     
    Marcus had avoided his father the rest of the day, not wanting to talk about Amethyst. He wasn’t happy since she went back on her word and told his father she was the master mason’s assistant. And he was furious that she revealed that the idea of the gatehouses came from her.
    But part of him felt ashamed that he’d even asked her to keep quiet in the first place, as he was finding out that she, indeed, was very capable of the position. Marcus didn’t know what to do about the whole situation. He’d never seen a woman take charge of a whole crew before, and so successfully. He’d seen her from across the courtyard directing the men, and they were all working much more proficiently because of her.
    And when he s aw her taking a hammer and chisel to the stone, he knew she was a woman who could do anything. Even the job of a man.
    This intimidated him, and also put him in a very awkward position. He’d worked hard at gaining his reputation of being one of the best and also most ruthless border lords in all of England. Men looked up to him because