By Queen's Grace Read Online Free PDF Page B

repair. I have been chased through brambles and frightened nearly witless, thanks to your nefarious band. You snatched me from the safety of the abbey and are taking me to.” Her voice caught. She took a deep breath and cleared herthroat before she continued, “&h;I know not where. Think on all you have put me through today and tell me again that you mean me no harm.”
    He did think, for just a moment, his mouth curving into a frown. Then he shook off his thoughts and had the gall to say, “All will be well, Lady Judith. You will see.”
    She tossed up her hands in frustration and took the last steps to the stream. A splash of cold water drew the heat from her face but did nothing to ease her upset. Oswuld allowed her a moment of privacy to care for bodily necessities before they returned to the campsite.
    The men sat near the fire, watching the roasting rabbits turn brown. Oswuld guided her to a nearby boulder, where she perched to wait for her share of the meal. Her stomach grumbled loudly, but no one paid it any heed. Mercy, the meat was taking a long time to cook. She dragged her attention away from the juice that dripped and hissed in the fire.
    “You owe me an explanation, Thurkill,” she said.
    Scrunched down beside the fire, Thurkill gave the rabbit another turn before answering. “I do at that, Lady Judith, and I suppose now is as good a time as any to give it.” He stood and scratched at his beard. “Where to start?”
    “You might begin with why I have been abducted.”
    Thurkill smiled. “To make you our queen, of course.”
    “What?” she blurted out.
    “You find that hard to believe?”
    “‘Tis possibly the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!” she said, voicing her immediate reaction.
    “But true, I promise you.”
    Judith opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again. Her reasoning simply wasn’t keeping up with this absurd conversation. A queen, indeed! She thought back on all of the assumptions she’d made today about these men andtheir purpose. Obviously, she’d missed some vital link in her conclusions.
    “Queen of what?” she couldn’t help but ask.
    “England.”
    She leaned forward. “England already has a queen-my aunt Matilda.”
    “Matilda will no longer be queen when Henry is no longer king. His reign will end soon if all goes well.”
    Judith trembled with horror. Thurkill calmly, with a smile on his face, spoke treason.
    She could manage no more than a choked whisper. “You intend to displace King Henry.”
    “And put a Saxon on the throne.” Thurkill’s smile faded. “These Normans have ruled our land far too long. We intend to send them all back to Normandy and reclaim the lands they stole from us at the Conquest.”
    Unthinkable. Impossible! “You would need a vast army, well armed and trained and-”
    “Aye, my lady, and a man capable of leading our army to victory. We have the leader and are amassing the army.”
    “Who would dare.?”
    “I cannot tell you, not until we reach the safety of his holding,” he said, and turned back to his rabbits.
    Judith’s thoughts churned, not wanting to settle on her part in these men’s plans. But once it gelled, she felt compelled to confirm it.
    “This leader of yours, ‘tis he you wish me to wed.”
    Thurkill looked up at her. “He is of noble Saxon blood, but not royal. Marriage to you will strengthen his claim to the throne, make the shift of power more acceptable to the royal houses of other countries.”
    The royal house of Scotland would be the first to come to England’s aid. “Acceptable to my uncle Alexander, you mean.”
    “And others.”
    “‘Tis a foolhardy undertaking.”
    “‘Tis England’s only hope.”
    Judith closed her eyes and drew a long breath. Thurkill wouldn’t be moved by her arguments, nor would the other men. If they’d followed Thurkill on this villainous adventure to capture her-to make her their queen, of all the ridiculous notions-they must believe in the rightness