“If anyone pays, it will be me.” Nesta slid her arm around Genith’s waist. “You know what to do?”

“Aye.”

“Can you do it?”

Genith nodded. “I can do it.”

CHAPTER 6

Anglesmore was a. man’s world. Nesta had absorbed that impression on riding through the gate, but it became abundantly obvious as the household gathered for the evening meal.

There were many more males than females. Furthermore, although some of the women showed aging faces, almost all the men’s were youthful. Boys crammed the lower tables and created a raucous noise that thundered through the great hall. Marcus had an abundance of squires, and even his knights appeared new to their spurs.

Nesta knew why. There were no older men because they all had been killed. After the siege in which Marcus’s father had lost this castle, there had been a massacre.

The noise diminished to a gentle roar when she and Genith entered. Many of those male eyes were momentarily distracted by her sister’s beauty.

Marcus waited in front of the high table. He had donned a courtly sapphire pourpoint that emphasized his broad shoulders and lean muscularity. His dark blond hair had been neatly groomed, although errant short locks insisted on carelessly skimming his temples. His face, which could form harsh planes in anger, appeared calm and beautiful in the hall’s glow of candles and torches.

Nesta’s heart rose at the sight of him, and she glanced anxiously at her sister. Arguments and browbeating could be thwarted, but what if Genith became mesmerized by the man himself?

He pointedly did not look at her, but only Genith. Nesta felt herself melting all the same, and once more checked for Genith’s reaction. She needn’t have worried. Genith seemed not to notice Marcus’s appeal, but only his danger.

As they approached the high table, Genith’s hand suddenly gripped hers. “Look,” she whispered desperately.

Nesta tore her attention from Marcus. Another man was easing over to stand beside his lord. Nesta took in the man’s priestly vestments.

Marcus intended to perform the betrothal now, prior to the meal, with the whole household as witnesses.

Genith’s grip got tighter. “Not here, in front of hundreds. I cannot.”

“Request the chapel. It is a small thing, and he will not deny you.”

They found themselves at the table, facing Marcus and the priest. Marcus did not appear eager, but neither did he appear unkind.

“I regret that you do not have a kinsman here, Genith, but although it is customary for one to give me your hand, it is not necessary,” he said.

“Nay, not necessary.” She still clenched Nesta’s hand, and her trembling traveled through that connection.

Nesta squeezed back in reassurance, and tried to transfer some will to her.