I turned my face to him. “A few bruises and scrapes, Rob, nothing serious.” His hand slid into my unbandaged one, unthinking, like it belonged there.
“A man, either one of the Nottingham knights or dressed to look like him, drew her outside of the city and tried to kill her,” Essex explained, his face ever stern. He were watching me, and watching Rob, and looking at our hands.
Rob’s hand tightened on mine. “He’s dead?” Rob said, looking at me.
I nodded. “He had me,” I admitted. “I wasn’t expecting it, and he nearly got me. Essex stopped him,” I said, looking to the earl.
“How were you there?” Rob asked him.
“I saw them going out. The knight refused my escort of the lady, and the more I thought about that, there was no good reason he would do such a thing. So I followed you,” he told me.
Rob’s frown turned grim and dark. “Prince John tried to assassinate you.”
“Again, it would seem,” I told him. “Who else was with these knights and wants me dead?”
“I should have been there,” David said.
“Yes,” Rob said. “You should have.”
I pulled my hand away from Rob’s. “Rob!” I snapped.
“And I should have been there,” Rob snapped back, turning away from me with a curse. “If he can get to you here, Scarlet, you will never be safe.”
“Oh, stop, the lot of you,” I said, glaring at each in turn. “I’m not safe. I was never safe. Of course he wants to kill me. He also seems to want his brother dead, and I will not let that happen.” My eyes rested on Rob. “If you want me to be safe, we need to pay the tax, protect the money, and bring Richard home.”
Rob sucked in a breath, shaking his head. “How about we start with cleaning you up, and then we’ll save the kingdom.”
I crossed my arms, then winced when it made me feel a bruise on my side. “Fine.”
Essex bowed to me. “My lady, I should go speak with Winchester, but we should speak tomorrow. I have a matter I’d like to discuss with you.”
I nodded. “Very well. Thank you for your valor today, my lord.”
He straightened, and nodded once.
Rob brought me inside, fixing me up, cleaning the scratches on my face. Nothing needed stitching, and he didn’t speak to me until he were finished.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “Will you hunt with me?”
I looked at his face, his handsome face, and nodded. “Yes.”
That night I slept in the hayloft, half hoping Rob would go there looking for a place to sleep, but he didn’t. I slept alone, cold and wary as the night crept on.
I woke in the early morning, and before I found Rob, I found Essex in the Great Hall, eating bread. He saw me and stopped, coming from the table to me.
“My lord,” I said to him, inclining my head.
“My lady,” he said, bowing. “Do you have a moment for us to speak?”
I nodded, glancing at Rob as he entered the hall. “Yes. Why don’t we walk down to the tournament grounds?” I suggested. It were the only part that were close to the castle and still far enough to allow us privacy.
He nodded once, and offered me his arm. I hesitated for a moment, but I took it.
Once we were away from the noise of the others, he glanced at me. “I’ve been frank with you thus far, my lady. I’m hoping that’s a trait you appreciate.”
My eyebrows pulled together. “Yes. Quite so.”
“I support your efforts to curb the power of the prince,” he told me. “And I believe that I can help you win Isabel’s favor. But as yesterday clearly demonstrated, you are vulnerable.”
“I will always be vulnerable,” I admitted.
He looked at me. “Not necessarily. You command a tremendous amount of land and wealth now; if you were to ally with another earl, your power would be greater than that of the prince.”
I stopped. “Ally.”
He drew a breath. “Before I left her, the queen mother asked me to consider whether you would be a suitable wife for me.” I stepped back. “I told her no. Yet over the past days, you have impressed me, and that is not easily done.”
“My lord, I—”
“You care for the sheriff,” he said low. “And you have already guessed my affections lie elsewhere. But both of those are people we cannot have, Lady Marian. And I do believe we could be friends, which is more than I’ve hoped for in a match. More importantly, it would protect us both against Prince John. And your grandmother would be very pleased.”
“Stop, please,” I said.
He looked at me, with his same stern expression. “Consider it.”
I shook my head slow. “No, my lord. Thank you—you’re right that it would be a wise decision. We’d be powerful beyond measure, and maybe that would stop Prince John. Or perhaps it would make him more angry, and more desperate. But I won’t let Prince John steal my choices or force my hand. Especially not concerning this.”
His mouth opened, but I shook my head.