Page 144 of Forbidden

The instant Duncan touched Amber, she sensed some of the tension leave both of them. At the moment, his memories weren’t stirring. He was concentrating only on the present and his duties as Erik’s seneschal.

While Amber sat beside Duncan on the raised dais in the great hall, he listened to complaints, resolved them, and listened again. As he listened, he caressed her hand, recalling for both of them the pleasure and peace they had found in the hours before dawn, when their interlocked bodies had defeated the memories which stalked Duncan like a pack of wolves.

“Has it been a tedious morning?” Amber murmured.

“I have come to believe that all pigs should be hamstrung,” Duncan muttered as the next vassals stepped forward.

Amber saw who the petitioners were and hid her smile.

“Ethelrod must have let his pig root about in the Widow Mary’s garden again,” Amber said.

“Does it happen often?” Duncan asked.

“As often as Ethelrod and the widow lie with each other.”

Duncan gave Amber a sideways glance.

“The pig is quite fond of Ethelrod, you see,” Amber said in a voice that carried no farther than her husband.

“No, I don’t see,” Duncan muttered.

“The pig follows Ethelrod like a faithful hound.”

Duncan’s smile was a white flash beneath his mustache.

“I begin to comprehend,” he said. “Does Ethelrod have an enclosure stout enough to hold a pig?”

“No. Nor can he afford one. He is but a serf.”

“Do they wish to marry?”

“The widow is a freeholder. If they marry, any children they have would be serfs.”

Frowning, Duncan watched the couple who stood so uneasily in front of their new seneschal.

“Does Erik lack for serfs?” Duncan asked very softly.

“Nay. He is a strict lord, but not harsh,” Amber said. “No one flees his service.”

“Has Ethelrod been a faithful vassal?”

“Aye. He has never shirked.”

“How is he thought of by the people of the keep?” Duncan asked.

“They bring their problems to him sooner than they bring them to the priest or to the lord of the keep.”

Duncan kept Amber’s hand within his as he turned back to address the couple standing in front of him.

“Widow Mary,” Duncan said. “Other than Ethelrod’s status as serf, have you any objection to him as a husband?”

The woman was so startled by the question, it took her a moment to answer.

“Nay, lord. He be a hard worker and a kind man to those as is weaker. But…”

“But?” Duncan said encouragingly. “Speak, woman.”

“That pig of his will nae see the inside of my cottage save it enter on a roasting spit!”