Guy woke up with a dry mouth and a head that was hammering him into hell. He closed his eyes again and picked back over the events of the feast. After the incident with Agnes he had deemed it prudent not to approach Katherine again that evening and had been forced to watch her instead, right up to the point when she took her leave of the company and left the room.
He had then proceeded to get very, very drunk and very mean. Even to Vasey who had come to him, tut tutting about the stupidity of letting Katherine lie upstairs in her bed on her own.
Guy rolled over on to his side and tried to think clearly. It was going to take a lot of effort to put right all the trouble that Agnes had wrought with her mischief. How was he too smooth the feathers of his dove?
And then he recalled what she had said about him being a black spider and he groaned and shut his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * ** ** * * ** *
Katherine had seen an execution before … but she had never seen people taking such pleasure in one. She looked around at the others on the stand - Lady Alice Curthoys smiling away and yet again chatting about gowns; Constance Morgan laughing with some dim-witted looking youth and Agnes Fawcett with her mouth open as if in some kind of ecstasy. Katherine glanced at Vasey who was leaning back in his chair, smirking, and then she turned to see what Guy was doing.
He was looking directly at her and had angled his chair to make it easier to do so.
Katherine forced herself to concentrate on what was happening on the raised stage below. She was feeling unpleasantly hot and uncomfortable under the awning. The sun was beating down on it, and the whole event was making her queasy. She looked down at the poor wretch having the noose tied about his neck. He was crying and shouting out.
'Oh Look!’ said Agnes with glee, ‘he's p***ed himself.’
There was a general murmur of laughter and Katherine could not stop herself from frowning before a noise in the crowd diverted her attention. A young woman was crying out to the man and being held back by other people. Katherine could not hear what she was saying but could see the agony on the woman's face.
She suddenly felt too hot and knew that if she did not get away from the sights and sounds of the execution she would faint. Standing up slowly, she intended to move, undetected, to the back of the stand and then perhaps down into the shade at the back of the courtyard. But as she stood, she felt as though the floor beneath her feet was rising and falling.
Guy saw Katherine stand and then stumble. He was out of his seat and had her in his arms in an instant.
'You are ill?’
Her face was pale and she seemed to be finding it hard to take in a breath. ‘It is too hot,’ he heard her say.
Guy took her by the arm and manoeuvred her to the back of the stand, ignoring the looks from the other spectators; ignoring whatever it was Vasey was calling after him. Supporting Katherine he led her down the steps and guided her towards a shaded part of the courtyard.
She had her eyes closed and her head down and he pulled her in to him, one arm around her waist. He was not sure if she was in fact conscious any more and to be honest, he did not care.
Holding her against him like this was something he had begun to feel would never happen, especially following the events of the previous evening. Yet here he was with her in his arms, feeling the heat and weight of her burning its way down his body. He let his other arm hang down by his side and just held her loosely, enjoying the way she had her head against his chest. He noticed how one of her hands was holding the buckle on his jacket, her delicate fingers lightly curled around it. Her breathing against him was soft, regular, mesmerising. He bent his head slightly to enjoy the perfume of her hair.
How different would my life be if a woman such as this was mine? he thought. I would be always in bed with her.
He felt Katherine stir a little and lift her head. Her eyelids fluttered open as she looked at him. It took all of his self control not to lean down and kiss her deeply on that gorgeous mouth of hers, but he knew that doing so now would ruin everything. So he simply smiled at her and waited until she had regained her composure.
‘Can you stand unaided?’ he asked her. She still looked groggy to him, but he took his arm away from her waist and despite every part of his body urging him to hold her tighter, he stepped back.
It was obvious that she was embarrassed and he saw her struggling to speak. ‘Thank you...you have been most kind. It was so hot in there and I ... I do not find executions entertaining.’
He smiled, making sure it was his best one. ‘Then we will stay here until they have finished.’
He saw a flash of panic pass over her face as she realised that she had unwittingly trapped herself with him.
‘Are there many more to die today?’ she asked, hesitantly.
‘Another five.’
‘I see,’ she murmured and he saw her blush as it started at the base of her neck and spread, beautifully upwards. It excited him to see it, knowing she was feeling shamed that she had been in his arms, or perhaps that he had seen her in such a vulnerable state.
Or could he hope that she was also burning with some other emotion? He sensed she was casting around for something to say and eventually heard, ‘You do not fight in the tourney today?’
‘No,’ he replied, ‘today I am looking after you.’
‘But if you wanted to fight, please do not miss this opportunity. There are others here who can look to my needs.’
‘Perhaps you would like me to fight in the hope that I would be injured, my lady,’ he suggested, playfully and was rewarded with a smile that suggested he had amused her.
‘No, Sir Guy,’ she said, ‘even I would not wish that on you,’ and just as she finished speaking, she looked directly up at him.
She broke her eyes away first, but there had been a connection there and it seemed to Guy as though his heart was beating loud enough for her to hear. They stood together in silence for a while longer, until a fanfare sounded. She looked at him quizzically. ‘The executions are finished. We are to move to the site of the tourney. Will you ..?’
He had held out his arm for her to place her hand upon. She hesitated for a moment and then did indeed take hold of his arm. As they walked away Guy began to believe that Katherine was within his grasp; and with the right gentle handling would it be wrong to think that tonight she could be lying in his arms?
Had his body reacted to that thought – some involuntary tremble perhaps, because he saw her turn her head slightly to look at him and in response he placed his other hand over hers.
As she accompanied Gisborne, Katherine was aware of how his arm felt beneath the leather, how strong and tall he seemed beside her. She felt him shiver and a little stab of something bloomed in her. But in an instant it was gone. These physical feelings were to be mastered; her experience of life had taught her that much. She focused her thoughts and reminded herself that the hand which now so lightly rested on her own was steeped in blood. Maybe even that of Grace and her unborn child.
And that whatever trap was being sprung for her, he was a part of it. So while Guy hoped and yearned, Katherine was thinking, you have changed your game Sir, but you are still a spider. A handsome spider who can be kind, but a spider none the less.
