“I won’t.”
Cedric looked up at him with a deadly smirk spreading across his face. He stood up, facing Madoc. “I’ve never known you to be gallant. What? Do you care for her? Do you recite poetry to her, or have you skipped the wooing and gone straight to bedding her?”
Madoc tightened his jaw and dipped his gaze briefly to Tanon’s. She looked away. “I haven’t touched her. Nor will you.” He moved closer to Cedric as he spoke, his voice flat and lethal. “If you lay a finger on her, you’ll face Gareth alone. I vow I won’t help you, and though you may be able to kill the king, you cannot fight Gareth without me. For while you spent your royal years fighting your petty wars with the north and coupling with every woman who was afraid to refuse you, your brother practiced day and night, preparing himself for his true enemy. He moves faster than your eyes could follow and strikes with the precision and force of a serpent dragon. Heis Wyfyrn. Cedric, without me, you’ll die before you have time to soil your breeches.”
Cedric stared at him. The challenge in his gaze was unmistakable. “You care for her. A Norman. Would you defend my enemy to my face?” He narrowed his eyes on Madoc as if trying to read his thoughts. “Has Gareth taught you his ways, then?”
Madoc glared at him, his teeth clamped down and making the scar along his jaw twitch. “You may ask me that again while I carry his head to the battlement walls. But when he’s dead, I want her.” He heard Tanon’s sharp intake of breath, but he didn’t look at her. “I’ll seize Gareth,” he promised Cedric. “I’ll hold him still while you cut his throat. But only if she becomes mine when he’s dead.”
Cedric chuckled at him as if Madoc had gone completely mad. “And I’m to give up my war because you’ve gone soft over a Norman?”
“Nay. You’ll have your war when you break peace. You’ll have your throne when you kill the king’s heirs and his regent. You don’t need her for it. Refuse me, and you fight Gareth alone…and lose.”
Cedric eyed him, still unsure if he should trust any man who cared for a Norman. He had no choice, he realized an instant later. He needed Madoc. For now. “You’re still the most arrogant bastard I know, Madoc ap Bleiddian.” He pounded Madoc on the arm and then walked away, calling over his shoulder as he went. “Help me kill him and she’s yours. I never wanted her anyway.”
“Aye,” Madoc agreed in a low voice. He turned to look down at Tanon. She scooted away from him, dragging the hem of her gown along with her. A ribbon of moonlight fell on her face.
“You speak so easily about killing him.” Tanon eyed him narrowly and then tightened her lips. “I will hate you for as long as I have breath.”
“So be it,” Madoc said, glancing away from her contempt. “I intend to keep you alive regardless.”
*
Tanon opened hereyes just before dawn. She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked around. The fire still burned, but the men were all asleep. She guessed Cedric had left Madoc to watch her while she pretended to sleep. She had no idea where she was. She was afraid, but she knew she had to find her way back to the village and warn Hereward. Holding her breath, she slipped away from Madoc’s side.
His hand shot out and shackled her wrist.
Tanon’s heart jolted in her throat.Merde,but she hated him. She bit her tongue not to scream at him. “I have to relieve myself.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Her wide green eyes sparked with challenge. “You certainly will not!”
In the dim dawn light, she saw his lips tighten around his teeth. “Then you won’t relieve yourself.”
“Fine,” she relented with a scathing glare. “But you’ll turn away.”
He nodded and followed her for a short distance to the trees, then waited while she crouched behind a thick current bush.
Tanon eyed him from over the bush. When he turned to look toward the campsite, she crawled away another yard before she lifted her skirts and sprinted toward the denser woods in front of her.
She felt Madoc’s hands close around her waist before she even heard him moving. But she was prepared when he spun her around. Removing the dagger from where she’d kept it tied to her thigh (thanking Gareth silently for telling her to keep it with her always) she sliced the blade across Madoc’s face.
He released her with shock and numb amazement animating his features. He brought his fingers to his face. She cut him deep, just below his left ear and almost down to his jaw. He pulled his hand back and gaped at the blood staining his fingers.
“Tanon…” he lifted his eyes to her. “You—”
“Now you wear the mark of your betrayal so you may never forget it.” She backed away, pointing her shaking dagger at him. She felt tears streaming down her face but didn’t dare move her fingers to wipe them away. He was too quick and would have her dagger before she had time to blink.
“Get away!” Her teeth clattered and her heart drummed hard and fast with fear. She took another step back and darted her gaze left and right. Defeat settled over her. She could never outrun him. God help her, she wouldn’t be able to hold him off. But she had to try. “I warn you, Madoc. You cannot win. No matter what you do to me, my father will find you.”
“Tanon, give me the knife.” As he spoke, he moved toward her, cautiously, his arms outstretched at his sides. She swung and missed.
“Madoc!” Cedric’s voice boomed through the thick columns of trees. He stepped out from behind one, his eyes blazing at Tanon. “What the hell is going on?”
“She’s frightened, Cedric. I’ve got her.” Madoc called back without turning his sharp eyes away from Tanon’s. They gleamed like smoldering coals an instant before he came at her in a rush of speed that stalled her breath. Before she even had time to react, he sprang to his left and leaped behind her. Coiling one arm around her waist, he snatched the dagger from her fingers with his free hand.
“Non!”Tanon screamed. She struggled against his vise-like hold, but to no avail. Her back was pressed firmly to his chest. “Madoc,non!” She began to sob and wilted in his arms. “How could you do this? How could you do this to Gareth?”