Her entire body jerked when Thomas grasped her elbow from behind. "That, demoiselle, can EASILY be arranged!" he growled near her ear. Brenda narrowed one eye and hissed something beneath her breath in reply, but then Thomas thrust her forward again towards her inevitable destiny.

Brenda's eyes wandered as she strove to ignore Hawk's tent looming before her. Two men squatted close to the brightly burning fire preparing the afternoon meal, a luxury enjoyed only while encamped. A horse nickered quietly, drawing Brenda's gaze to a young squire tending Hawk's massive warhorse. In truth, there were no men milling about. Each man had a duty and tended it diligently.

Brenda continued her perusal, straining to find signs of weakness about the camp. She and Julia had to escape Hawk. To that end, she searched for the most likely path for their flight. The more information she had concerning Hawk and his entourage, the better she would be able to prepare her father for the retaliating attack she was sure would be swift and deadly. Yes, she prided herself, she would lead Julia out of this predicament as surely as she had led her into it.

She was so busy proclaiming her bravery and silently cataloging the Hawk’s armed strength that Brenda never saw the large tree root jutting up out of the ground. The toe of her heavy convent boots caught in it and she felt herself pitching headlong towards the ground since her hands were still bound behind her back. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for an abrupt rendezvous with the ground that never came.

Strong hands gripped her shoulders, and when Brenda opened her eyes again, she found herself staring into the bluest orbs this side of heaven. They crinkled with laughter as Jax set her back on her feet. "Mon Dieu, Thomas! I know I told you to deliver the second Barrett sister to me forthwith, but I certainly never expected THIS degree of promptness!" He set her back firmly on her feet with a broad grin. "I am honored that you are so *eager* to join me in my tent!"

Loud guffaws from around the camp stained Brenda’s cheeks with embarrassment. She gritted her teeth and wrenched free from Jax’s hold. "Unhand me, you slimy son of Satan!" But even as she furiously spun away from him, the smile never left Jax’s face.

He bowed gallantly at the waist, sweeping a hand in the direction of his tent. "After you, my lady!" Brenda squared her shoulders, lifted her chin defiantly, and then stomped past him while the rest of Jax’s men gave her an impromptu round of applause.

The dimness inside the tent momentarily robbed Brenda of some of her bravado. Her steps faltered and she stopped where she stood to take stock of her surroundings. Hawk was obviously a man in need of few comforts. The floor of the tent still consisted of the dirt, rocks, and grass covering the ground all around them. A simple wooden table with a single tallow candle and single chair graced a small area of the tent, Hawk's only concession to convenience. Brenda's eyes were inexplicably drawn to the large pallet at the back of the structure. Mounds of furs were the only indication that someone, namely Hawk, slept there. A brazier at the end of the pile supplied warmth should the night turn chilly. At the other end, a tall perch rose from the furs, a hooded beast perched on the wooden branch.

The flashing of a bright shaft of light behind her signaled the flap of the tent being pushed aside so that the Hawk might enter. "So, demoiselle……." His smirking confidence set her teeth on edge. "I trust that you and your sister have found your accommodations suitable."

Brenda took a deep breath and stiffened her spine. "I demand, sir, that you release my sister and myself immediately and return us to our father." The silence that followed her claim caught Brenda by surprise. Was the Hawk actually going to grant her request? Did blood actually run through his veins and not ice water as rumored?

The rumble of Jax’s low chuckle behind her banished Brenda’s hopes. "You DEMAND, demoiselle?" He stood close enough behind her to whisper near her ear, moving so stealthily that she never heard his footsteps as he approached. When she visibly bristled at his rhetorical question, he laughed aloud. "You are HARDLY in a position to make demands, Lady Brenda." Jax sauntered to her side and went to the side of the tent to cluck softly at the winged creature roosting there.

Brenda felt her temper firing like dry straw on a summer’s day. "My sister and I were under the protection of the abbey! Your men had no right to take us prisoner!"

Jax continued to stroke the hawk’s breast gently before turning back to face his feisty captive. "I do not believe that the right of sanctuary pertains to abbeys, Lady Brenda," he said, strolling slowly towards her. "Nor does it extend beyond the walls of the house of god."

Brenda felt her confidence ebb as Jax discounted her argument. She would never cower in the face of this enemy, though. "Once again, Lord Hawk, I must most strenuously demand……"

"YOU are in no position to make demands, Lady Brenda!!" Jax’s shout caused Brenda to visibly startle. He came to stand before her with a fierce glare. "YOU will tell me *now* about the defenses mustered by Lord Barrett!"

Brenda’s eyes narrowed with hatred. "I cannot think while thus bound." She strained at the leather thong that linked her wrists. "Free me at once."

Jax’s chest puffed out with irritation. "I’ll ask you again, Lady Brenda – how many men-at-arms?"

"And I’ll *tell* you once again, Lord Hawk – I cannot *think*……"

"I’m not ASKING you to think, demoiselle!" Thomas, who had been silently watching the interchange from the entrance to the tent, shrank back and exited discreetly when he heard the tone of his ally’s voice. Jax stood nose-to-nose with his hostage, his hands propped on his hips, his arms akimbo. "I’m ASKING you to just tell me the number!!"

Brenda let out an exasperated puff of air. "Thirty-five!"

"THIRTY-FIVE???!!!!" Jax threw up his hands and laughed loudly. "You seriously expect me to believe that Lord Barrett intends to defend his keep with only thirty-five men-at-arms?" He glared at Brenda again. "Didn’t the good sisters at the abbey tell you that lying is a sin, Lady Brenda?"

"You did not TELL me not to lie, Lord Hawk," Brenda simpered sarcastically. "You TOLD me to tell you a number!"

"Christ’s blood!!" Sparks of blue-green fire lit Jax’s eyes. He ran his fingers through his tousled blonde locks and paced a circle in front of Brenda before coming to face her again. "Does your father expect that I will take the keep from him by force?"

"No, he thinks you mean to share mead with him and then throw down dice for it." Brenda’s smile, as charming and enticing as it might have been under other circumstances, was beginning to grate on Jax’s nerves.

Jax uttered a string of obscenities in French that made Brenda cringe. He stalked over to a side table and poured a meager amount of an amber liquid into a glass, downing it quickly. "Are you certain that you and the other woman are sisters in truth?" He nodded in the direction of their tent. "The Queen of the Vale of Tears?"

Brenda didn’t shrink before Jax’s wrath. "My sister tells me that your brother was kind to her when she fainted under your questioning." She arched one eyebrow at him critically. "Are you certain that YOU and he are brothers in truth?"

The table rattled when Jax set the glass down hard. Jax shrugged off his chain mail hauberk, leaving himself clad only in a sweat dampened chemise, before turning to glare at Brenda. "I will ask you one last time, demoiselle," he growled, walking towards her. "How does your father intend to fortify the keep?"

"In truth, MADAM," Jax snarled, "I begin to think that perhaps your hands are NOT the most powerful implement in your arsenal!" He glanced downwards, shifting his weight in uncomfortable remembrance. "Perhaps I should instead have your FEET bound! Or perhaps you should be gagged as well, to prevent the acid that drips so freely from your tongue!"

As Jax stalked over towards where the hawk perched in silent contemplation of the scene before him, Brenda stifled a giggle. "Your pardon, my lord. I was not aware that I struck such fear into your heart!"

To her surprise, Jax stopped short, his back to her. He stood frozen in place for a moment, silently staring at the hawk. When he finally spoke, his voice was composed…….and deadly. "I believe you have finally hit upon the root of our problem in communicating, Lady Brenda."

She swallowed hard. This cool confidence was certainly not what she expected. "Your pardon, my lord Hawk?"

Jax strolled slowly over to the hawk’s perch. "Fear, Lady Brenda." He stroked the bird’s breast gently, earning a bristling of feathers and a soft screech of contentment from his namesake. "Different species display the fear they feel in different manners." Jax deftly removed the bird's hood, dropping it to the ground. He nonchalantly reached into a bag partially covered by the furs and drew out a wiggling mouse. The hawk screeched happily when she caught the scent of her snack. She waited patiently until her master offered up the morsel. "Your sister, for example, demonstrates her fear by her tears and fainting spells in the face of what she perceives as impending doom."

"Her fears were well-placed, considering the stories we have heard of your exploits, Lord Hawk." Brenda’s chin was still raised in defiance, although she cringed inwardly at the fate of the poor, defenseless rodent.

Jax ignored the jibe. "Your defense reminds me more of the hawk, Lady Brenda." He smiled at her cannily and she felt the first prickle of true fear and uncertainty.

"I………I do?"

"Absolutely." Jax ambled back towards her, but not before snatching a small piece of linen from the table. "In the face of perceived danger, you bare your claws and scold your enemy mightily, even though the battle may be futile."

Brenda swayed from side to side ever so slightly, a nervous dance she often performed when confronted by Mother Lila for some infraction of convent rules. "I often speak before I think, my lord." A faint blush stained her cheeks. "’Tis a fault I’ve been told of before."

"Then the way I see it," Jax went on, circling behind Brenda to her consternation, "what we need to do is to calm those fears, demoiselle! And I know just how to do it!"

"But……." When Brenda tried to turn around to see what Jax was doing, he gripped her shoulders tightly and kept her facing front. Before she could draw a breath, he took the strip of linen and placed it firmly over her eyes, wrapping it around her head and tying a sturdy knot amongst her curls. "MY……….MY LORD HAWK!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!"

Blinded and bound, Brenda almost jumped out of her skin when Jax’s voice sounded near her left ear. "Are you familiar with falconry and hawking, Lady Brenda?"

"Mmmmm………..my father……..keeps some falcons," she finally stammered. Her heart was beginning to pound a rhythm so loud she feared that Jax could hear it. "Bbbbb…..But I was never allowed to get too near them……"

"Hmmmmm……." Brenda’s head jerked to the side as she attempted to follow the sound of Jax’s voice. He circled around her, pleased that his plan appeared to be working. "’Tis a shame, demoiselle. They are truly magnificent creatures." He paused, watching as her previously stiff posture slumped a little. "But like you, hawks and falcons may exhibit fears at new surroundings and react fiercely." He turned back to her, his hands clasped behind him. "We often find it useful to hood the bird to filter out the unsettling circumstances that inspire the fear."

"The only unsettling circumstance around here is YOU, my lord!" Brenda spat furiously. She stamped her foot for emphasis. "I demand that you release me NOW!!! DO YOU HEAR ME???!!!"

The echo of her demands came back to haunt Brenda in the stillness of the tent. Her chest heaving with frustration, she felt hot tears escape the blindfold and begin to run down her cheeks. Adding to her fury, Jax would not answer her, but instead circled around her broadly, not giving any clue as to his whereabouts.

She jumped visibly when she felt Jax’s breath ruffle the hair near her right ear. "The hood is quite useful in training the hawk to respond to his master’s control, demoiselle." But when she thought she felt his lips trace the side of her neck, something sizzled along her nerve endings down to her toes. "It renders the creature quite helpless and dependent, do you not agree?"

The pounding in her ears almost made it impossible for Brenda to hear Jax’s murmured question. He had turned the tables on her most effectively, reminding her of his tactical superiority. But for some unknown and discomfiting reason, it had also seemed to heighten his masculinity – his towering potency compared to her fragile, petite femininity.

"I will ask you once again, Lady Brenda – how many men-at-arms does your father have?"

Brenda shivered and shook her head, fighting to clear it. Did she actually feel his finger caress the side of her cheek lightly, or was she imagining it? Was that the feather-light touch of his hand on her hair, or was it the movement of air caused by someone entering the tent?

"I………." She fought the sob that choked her windpipe. "I do not know, my lord Hawk," Brenda finally replied. She rubbed her cheek against her shoulder to try to dry the errant tears. "I have not been to Barrett Keep in some two years."

"Yes……you and your sister were residing at the convent." Jax strolled to stand in front of his less-animated captive. "But surely you returned home for holidays or special occasions." He leaned closer. "I’ll settle for any information, even though it be outdated."

Brenda’s chest burned as she struggled to draw a breath. Uncertainty and being at the disadvantage in a situation had never set well with the strong-willed brunette. "I………I was not allowed to return to my father’s keep, Lord Hawk. Not for *any* reason."

"Now allowed?" Brenda was so distraught over her helpless condition that she didn’t hear the surprise and softening in Jax’s voice. "God’s wounds, demoiselle! Why not?"

"I………" When Brenda lowered her head to stare sightlessly at her feet, Jax saw freely-falling tears wet the dust there. "I displeased my father, my lord."

Bile rose unbidden in Jax’s throat. He took a shaky breath as he fought the urge to strangle Lord Harlan Barrett with his bare hands on sight. Short of some grievous sin, he could not imagine any transgression so severe that it would warrant that kind of banishment. He backed away from Brenda so that she could not see his distress at her father’s cruelty to one so clearly innocent. Vexing, perhaps – infuriating to be certain. But obviously possessing a soul as void of evil intent as the day she was born.

Jax strode silently over to the table and poured himself another stiff draught of mead. After downing it in one swallow, he turned back to stare at his most intriguing hostage. She was a dichotomy, to be sure. One moment, hissing and spitting like a wild cat refusing to be tamed. The next, weak and vulnerable like a wounded lamb needing to be tended.

As Jax attempted to solve the puzzle that was Lady Brenda of Barrett, the lady herself grew more and more uncomfortable at his prolonged silence. When she shifted her weight, her breasts pressed against her tunic so that their clear outline was visible to the Hawk. As his thoughts immediately strayed to whether she was as unpredictable in bed as she was out of it, Jax sprang away from the table and strode towards her, swearing under his breath.

"Mmmm…….my lord?" Brenda turned blindly towards the sound of his feet just as Jax came to stand before her. He removed the linen from her eyes in one swift movement, causing her to blink rapidly at the sudden flood of light. "My lord?" she repeated. This man was surely an enigma. "Have……..have I offended you?"

She looked up into his crystal blue eyes, her own soft brown ones reminding him of a helpless newborn doe. "THOMAS!!" Jax’s shout made Brenda startle. She took a breath to ask again if she had done something to anger him, but the Moor re-appeared in the door to the tent before she had the chance. "Take Lady Brenda back to her tent. I am finished with her." The look in his eyes made Brenda wonder even more what he was thinking. Could that have been tenderness she saw? Or even compassion?

Just as she opened her mouth to question Jax’s abrupt termination of her interrogation, Thomas took her arm from behind. "I…….." The leather binding bit into her wrist as the Moor pulled her towards the entrance of the tent. "I must insist again that you untie me, my lord Hawk……"

"Take her back – NOW!!!!" Jax’s exclamation echoed throughout the camp as Thomas pulled back the flap of the tent. Once the flap had closed again behind them, Jax swore and tunneled his fingers through his hair. He stalked over to the hawk’s perch and rubbed his namesake’s breast, drawing a loud squawk when his touch was firmer than normal.

"Precisely the way I feel, my friend," Jax growled at the bird, casting a glance over his shoulder at the spot Brenda had occupied just minutes before. "Precisely how I feel."

#####

"Brenda!!" Julia rose from a spot on the floor and rushed to greet her returning sister as jubilantly as she could with her hands bound. "I was fraught with concern!"

Brenda waited until Thomas exited and closed the tent flap behind him, her head held defiantly high. "I am *fine*, Julia," she replied loudly, just in case the Moor was still near enough to hear their conversation. "There was no need to worry."

Julia’s eyes widened as Brenda walked briskly over to the blankets where they had slept the night before. "No need to fret?" She scurried to follow her sister, who had already lowered herself awkwardly to the ground. Brenda closed her eyes and took a shaky breath as she breathed silent prayers of thanks. She had survived her first encounter with Hawk. More than survived – for a time, she thought she actually had won the upper hand with the notorious Norman. But then – when he turned those breath-stealing blue eyes on her, especially when they reflected something other than derision or impatience – Brenda felt something she never had before in her young life. Not only helplessness. Something about Lord Hawk’s proximity made her insides go all warmy-barmy and tingly – and it had frightened Brenda nearly witless.

"Brenda?" The question in Julia’s voice snapped Brenda out of her self-doubts. The older sister crouched down to sit next to the younger on the blanket. "Did the Hawk not question you about father’s strengths as he did me?"

Brenda knew she had to hide any sign of weakness from Julia. *One* of them had to remain strong in the face of the Hawk. "He did," she replied, lifting her chin proudly.

"And did you answer him?"

"I did NOT."

"And he wasn’t vexed? And he didn’t threaten to cut off your tongue or pull out your fingernails or drain the blood from your veins and drink it or tear out your……."

"DID HE DO THAT TO YOU??!!" Brenda could not prevent the exasperated outburst at her timid sibling.

Julia sat back apace. "Well, no – not exactly……"

"Then he did not do that to ME, either!"

Julia narrowed one eye as she gazed at Brenda’s curiously emotionless face. "Brenda?" she whispered, attempting to get her usually loquacious sister to tell her what had happened. "What DID the Hawk do to you?"

Julia almost fell back onto the blankets when Brenda rose to her feet with a loud snort. "We must escape." The younger Barrett sister began to pace back and forth inside the small tent rapidly. Things were not going at all well. Although she had anticipated the Hawk’s interrogation, she had NOT expected to react to his physical presence like some weak-kneed tavern maiden.

"Brenda?" Julia frowned at the agitated brunette. "What did Lord Hawk say to you?"

"Soon." Brenda stopped in place and lifted her head to glare at her older sister, ignoring her question. "No. Sooner than soon. We must escape NOW!" She started to pace again, staring at the floor as she muttered determinedly. "We’ll need some kind of disguise so as to trick that heathen who guards us – other clothing perhaps….."

"Where would we get other clothing?" Julia looked as though her sister left her common sense back in the Hawk’s tent. "All of our clothing is at the convent, and I seriously doubt that the Hawk will send for it……"

Brenda stopped again and grimaced at her sister. "Not OUR clothing, Julia! STRANGE clothing!" Her face suddenly lit with inspiration. "MEN’S clothing!"

"MEN’S clothing?" Julia’s face lost color. "But to get men’s clothing, then there would need to be …….." She hiccuped, nearly hysterical. "……NAKED men!"

Brenda started to pace again and paid no attention to her sister’s histrionics. "Not necessarily. Not if they weren’t using the clothing at the time." She chewed on her lower lip as she paced. "And horses would be nice. It’s a long way back to the convent from here….." She grimaced and shot a disgusted glance in the general direction of the Hawk’s tent. "Knowing that barbarian, he’d probably batter down the convent walls in search of us." She shook her head firmly. "No. ‘Tis farther, but we’d be safer if we went to Barrett keep. Of course, a longer journey on foot increases our chances of being caught, so we’d *definitely* need those horses…….."

"Horses? And men’s clothing? And to undertake a journey of THAT proportion?" Julia surprised Brenda when she laughed heartily. "Brenda, have you gone MAD? How do you expect us to get those things when we cannot even convince Lord Hawk to unbind our hands?"

Brenda stopped and her lips pouted in realization. "Very true, Julia." She looked backward over her shoulder at her hands and tugged at the leather thong linking them. "So that must be our priority. Getting the Hawk to trust us enough to release us from these ridiculous bindings." Her face brightened and she rushed over to where an incredulous Julia still sat. "Perhaps that can be *your* part of the scheme, Julia! Since you have already established a relationship with the Hawk’s brother!"

"Me?" Julia blanched and she shrank away from Brenda. "A rela……rela…….relationship!!??" Every virginal instinct in Julia’s body went into overdrive. "I merely said the man was kind to me, Brenda! Nothing more!"

Brenda straightened and lifted an eyebrow. "But ‘tis a start." She stalked away from Julia again to try to peer out of the crack in the tent flap. "’Twill be getting the horses that presents more of a problem, I think." Then she stood upright again in thought. "Unless we simply find some shelter in the woods at night until we can reach Barrett keep….."

"Ohhhhhh, noooo……" Julia shuddered and shook her head rapidly. "I refuse to sleep on the ground." She skittered back farther on the blanket. At least here we have a tent. Out alone in the woods, with nobody to protect us from strange travelers or wayward bandits……."

"You have a point." Brenda sighed and made her way to the blanket to join Julia. "There is much to plan, dear sister," she sighed. "Much to plan and much to be done." She stared into space, remembering the blue-eyed, blonde-haired scoundrel beyond the tent flap who had disturbed her so. "And it needs to be done NOW!"

#####

Eighteen hours later, Brenda despaired of her plan ever seeing the light of day. The Moor had remained outside their tent, constantly on guard. His only relief came in the person of the Hawk’s brother, but Jerald seemed impervious to Julia’s attempts to draw him into conversation. Of course, Brenda was not at all convinced that Julia had done her best at trying to establish a connection with her enemy. Every time the older Barrett sister tried to utter any words to Jerald, her face turned a bright shade of crimson and she croaked like a bullfrog.

The Hawk had sent for neither sister again since his interview with Brenda. Although she attempted to gain some information on what he was doing, the blond Norman kept himself apart from his captives and all of her queries went unanswered.

Brenda was pacing the tent, trying to formulate some plan of escape again, when Julia’s anguished cry rent the silence. "I shall go MAD if I have to spend many more hours in this godforsaken tent!!"

She glanced over at the tear-stained cheeks of her older sister. "Take heart that the Hawk hasn’t attempted to question you again, dear sister." Brenda glared in the direction of his tent. "Or thought of some other fiendish ways to try to get the information he needs from us."

"But I’m so BORED, Brenda!!" The younger Barrett for once was thankful that her hands remained bound behind her. But for that, she would have marched over to the blanket and slapped some sense into her whining sibling. "There’s nothing to do, nothing to see, nobody to talk to……"

"Well, you COULD have somebody to talk to, Julia!" Brenda’s temper got the better of her and she hissed at Julia. "In fact, you could help both of us get OUT of this miserable place if you wouldn’t just freeze up like a withered old maid every time you have to talk to something clad in chain mail!!"

Julia’s lower lip quivered. "I’m………I’m doing the best I can, Brenda," she wailed. Brenda sighed in disgust as another fit of weeping appeared to be approaching. "I just……..well, I don’t know how to talk to men!" She sniffled and wiped her cheek on her shoulder. "I never was comfortable around the boys who came to visit the keep." It was the older Barrett’s turn to stare into space longingly. "You know how happy I was at the convent, Brenda – reading, and singing, and spending so much time in silent contemplation……"

"The convent life……." Brenda’s lips thinned sarcastically. "Ahhhh, yes…………I’m sure you know how much *I* miss it!"

"Now, Brenda," Julia scolded. "There were things there that you enjoyed……….the reading, and the sewing, and working with the village children……"

Brenda tipped her head to the side in silent concession. "That’s true. I did find some peace teaching the children and working on my tapest……"

Julia almost fell over when Brenda suddenly rushed over to where she sat with an exultant shout. "You are a GENIUS, Julia!"

"Me?" Julia regained her balance as Brenda giggled and did a happy little dance around the interior of the tent. "I’m a genius? What did I say?"

Brenda smiled wickedly and turned to her sister. "You, dear sister, may just have come upon the means to getting us back to Barrett keep!"

To be continued…….