"You touched me? A Howard touched me?"
"I have been touching you since I met you."
"I shall have to
bathe."
"Whatever accomplishes that is worth it."
"Continue!" she spat at him.
He smiled at her. How easy she was to provoke to passion. "There was no Peregrine tent, so I took you to another."
"To Colbrand's?" she asked eagerly.
"Nay, not there. I would rather have thrown you into a pit of vipers than take you there."
"With a Howard I would rather go into a pit of vipers."
Tearle snorted. "I knew I had much to do and you would be a hindrance to me, so I gave you a draught of— "
"You have poisoned me," she whispered. "How long do I have to live? I must go to warn my brother. Does he die also?"
She was almost outside before Tearle caught her. He grabbed her shoulders and put his nose to hers. "Do you not hear? No one is hurt. I have not come to hurt you. I gave you a drink to make you sleep so I could do my work without your hindrance."
"Without my sounding an alarm," she said, jerking out of his grip.
"That, too." His voice softened. "Come, sit down. Eat."
"I would never eat what a Howard touched."
He took her plate from the cot, tore away a piece of bread and ate it, then cut off a piece of meat. "The food is not poisoned."
Zared was still not convinced even though she was very hungry. "Why are you here?" she repeated.
"I came…" He trailed off, for he didn't know why he was there. Some part of him said he wanted an end to the hatred, but another part knew that if it weren't for that angry young woman, he wouldn't care what happened between his brother and the Peregrines. He had no idea why he was so interested in her. There were many other women prettier. Others who were richer. Nearly all women were sweeter-tempered than she was. Yet there he was, and he didn't think he could leave if he wanted to.
"I came to end the feuding," he said at last.
"To end…" Zared was so stunned she sat on the cot.
"You see, my brother is obsessed with the hatred between our families. Your entire family is concerned with little else. No, do not deny it. It is all you talk of, and I have seen the way you are prisoners in that falling-down castle of yours."
Zared was amused at the idea of ending the feud. She knew him to be cowardly and weak-fleshed, but was he stupid also? "How do you propose to stop the fighting? To give us back the land your family stole from us? Will you give my brother Rogan the title of duke that should be his?"
"Why, no," Tearle began, and at that moment he had an idea. "I shall end the feud by marrying a Peregrine to a Howard. We will join our families."
"Do you have a sister hidden away who you plan to marry to Severn? Some drooling idiot of a sister you will try to foist on my handsome brother?"
He smiled at her. "I thought perhaps I would marry you."
Zared made the mistake of trying to breathe and laugh at the same time. She choked rather spectacularly.
Tearle pounded her on the back and handed her a mug of watered wine. She gulped the wine while trying to move out of his reach.
"Me?" she said at last. "Marry me? Me marry a Howard?"
Tearle stiffened. "What better could a Peregrine hope for? You have no dowry." He looked her up and down. "You are not even a full woman."