Return of the Warrior

by Kinley MacGregor

  “I shall be but a moment.”

  Adara watched as Christian got up to leave. He hesitated in the center of the tent with a package in his hands.

  “Is something amiss, my lord?”

  “I…” He looked as if some matter had him torn. After a pause, he returned to her cot and set the package beside her. “I shall see you outside.”

  Adara frowned as he all but ran away from her.

  Why?

  “I don’t bite,” she said, then smiled as she remembered biting him a time or two the night before.

  Her entire body grew warm again as she remembered the way he’d held her. The way he’d felt inside her. Thrilled with the memory, she untied the parcel, then froze as she saw what it contained.

  It was a gown of the softest red silk that was trimmed in sable. Elaborate gold trim decorated the hem and sleeves. There was also a silk bliaut to wear beneath it and a golden mantle.

  Truly, ’twas a gown fit for royalty.

  Adara got up and washed, then dressed. She wished herself home, where she had a full-length looking glass, so that she could see the beauty of the gown that shimmered in the dim light of the tent. She quickly combed and braided her hair, then wove it around her head.

  As she finished, she heard someone ask for admittance from outside the tent. Adara pulled back the flap to find a short bald man who carried a square leather box in his hands.

  “May I help you?”

  “I am looking for a lady named Adara. Are you she?”

  “Aye.”

  He looked relieved as he handed her the box. “This is for you, my lady. I hope you like it.”

  Adara opened the box and felt her jaw fall open at what it contained. ’Twas a golden crown encrusted with diamonds and rubies, as well as a necklace and two brooches to match.

  “Where did this come from?”

  “My lord, the master jeweler of York. He is truly the finest in all of England.”

  “But who commissioned it?”

  “It was a collection my master prepared for the faire this coming fortnight that he’d hoped to sell. A monk came in yester afternoon, saw it, and purchased it immediately. He bade my master to have it delivered to you this morn.”

  She couldn’t believe Christian had gone to such expense for her. “Thank you. Tell your master that I adore his work. ’Tis truly the finest I have ever beheld on any continent.”

  He beamed delightedly. “I shall tell him, my lady.”

  Adara blinked back her tears as the man left her and she returned inside the tent. Her hand shook as she removed the crown, then placed it on her head. The good jeweler had even included pearl-tipped pins to hold it in place.

  She’d never expected her husband to do something so thoughtful.

  She used the brooches to fasten her golden yellow mantle into place, then put her necklace on. Even though she had finer gowns at home, none of them had ever been more beautiful to her than this one.

  As she turned to leave, a thought struck her. Christian’s mother had been dressed in scarlet and gold when she and Christian had married. Had he done this apurpose?

  But then, she knew he didn’t remember their wedding. Not the way she did.

  Wanting to thank him for his gifts, she left the tent to find her husband. He was in the middle of the camp, with knights all around him.

  She paused as she saw him there. He was again garbed as a black-robed monk, but he had taken time to shave this morning. There was no sign of the sword she knew he had strapped to his hips and she could barely catch a glimpse of his mail-covered leggings beneath it.

  He was handsome, her prince. More so than any man in the group. He, Phantom, Ioan, Lutian, and three men she knew not at all were standing in a circle as they discussed some matter.

  Her heart light, she approached her husband from behind.

  Ioan was speaking. “You know, Abbot, I hear wormwood helps with that problem.” He held his hand up and crooked his finger down as if it were suddenly limp.

  All the men save Christian laughed, while Christian glared murderously at Lutian.

  “Look to the good of it,” Phantom said as he sobered. He appeared to be imparting grave advice to her husband. “I hear all men have trouble from time to time with their sexual performance. Mind you, I have no personal experience with that, but…” His voice trailed off as he looked past Christian to see Adara glowering at him.

  Struggling not to strangle the men who mocked him, Christian turned to see what had disturbed Phantom to find Adara standing behind him.

  His groin jerked awake at the vision she made in her finery.

  She was beautiful. The gown fit even better than he had hoped. Unlike her peasant garb, this one laced in the front and at the sides, pulling the cloth into a perfect fit that showed every lush curve of her body.

  The only thing that sparkled more than her jewels were her brown eyes.

  “Thank you,” she said softly before she kissed his cheek. “I had a most wondrous night.”

  Christian was too dumbstruck by his lust to even respond.

  Lutian bristled at her actions and if she didn’t know better, she’d swear he was jealous. “Nay. Tell me this isn’t so. Why are you kissing him, my queen? It was me. Me. I’m the one who told him what to do. He had no idea how to please you. None. He was lost and confused when he sought me out. He didn’t even know how to do the most basic thing. It was me, all me.”

  Every man there gaped at Lutian’s words.

  “Christ’s toes, Christian,” Ioan said in disbelief. “Are you a monk in truth? Don’t tell me you had to take advice from the fool on how to please a woman? You should have come to me. At least I know what I’m doing.”

  “You can’t be a virgin,” Phantom said. “What about that Norman tart in Hexham? Surely you did more than talk to her when the two of you vanished to her room?”

  “Nay,” another knight said. “I saw him drunk in Calais with two women.”

  “Aye,” another knight began. “I was with him in London when he vanished for three days with a widowed countess.”

  Christian ground his teeth as this conversation quickly degenerated, while Lutian continued to take credit for instructing him on how to please Adara.

  Lutian still held Adara’s attention. “I’m the one who got him—”

  Enraged, Christian lunged for the source of his current humiliation.

  “Christian!” Adara snapped as he seized her fool. “Don’t hurt Lutian.”

  He wanted to do much more than hurt the fool. He wanted to tear the man’s head from his shoulders. Growling in frustration, he let the fool go.

  “Thank you, my queen.”

  “’Tis my place to hurt him.” She glared at her fool and smacked him on his arm. “I fully intend to take this up with you later.”

  She walked over to Ioan. “And for your information, my lord…” She lifted his hand and put his index and middle finger upright. “I assure you that there is nothing wrong with Christian’s technique or prowess.”

  Corryn, who had paused beside the group after Christian had lunged at Lutian, broke into laughter.

  Ioan hissed at her. “What are you laughing at?”

  “I was just thinking of why we can’t go to Scotland anymore. Someone should tell Christian about your little problem.” She held up her pinkie and wiggled it, then burst into laugher.

  “You’re not supposed to know anything about these matters!”

  Corryn rushed off before her brother could grab her.

  He yelled out something in Welsh, then glowered at all of them. “We needs be going. Break your fast, my lady, while we pack your tent.”

  “And I wasn’t a virgin when I took her,” Christian called after him. “I’ve had more than my fair share of women.”

  Adara propped her hands on her hips and gave him a miffed look.

  Christian started sputtering. “I mean, I was—”

  “Surrender before you sink in even deeper,” Phant
om said, clapping him on the back. “You should have held your silence.” He inclined his head to her. “Later, my lady.”

  The group broke apart to leave her alone with her husband, who was still squirming a bit.

  “I am sorry they teased you,” she said quietly.

  “Don’t be. I’m rather used to it, though not quite on that subject matter, I have to say. Up until you—”

  “You had best stop referring to these other women, husband, else I might seek retribution on you after all.”

  “I’m sorry, Adara.”

  “It’s all right, I am teasing as well. For the most part.” She took his hand into hers and squeezed it tight. “But I do thank you for the gifts. They were most welcomed and unexpected.”

  He looked at her sheepishly. “But there is one missing.”

  “There is?”

  Adara frowned as he pulled up the hem of his robe to reach his purse.

  “There’s one last thing that you should have.”

  He took her left hand into his and slid a large ruby ring onto her third finger. Adara’s throat tightened at the sight of it there.

  A wedding ring. A real one.

  Without thinking, she walked into his arms and kissed his lips. He seized her fiercely and crushed her to his chest as he gave her a hot, exhilarating kiss.

  “Should we leave your tent intact for a bit longer, since you seem to have found your missing manhood?” Ioan asked as he passed by them.

  Christian pulled back to glare at his friend. “My patience runs thin, Lladdwr.”

  “As long as the steel to your sword is as thin, I have nothing to fear, eh?”

  Christian gave her a disgusted look that made her laugh.

  “You certainly know how to pick your friends, my lord.”

  As Christian led her toward the wagon where they’d packed up their foodstuffs, she saw a great commotion as an earl rode into camp with three knights behind him.

  “Ioan ap-Rhys?” he called angrily.

  Ioan sauntered out from his men to address the nobleman. Corryn came up behind her brother to see the man, too.

  “What have you with me, my lord?”

  “My steward told me that you were packing your camp to leave. What do you think you’re doing?”

  Ioan looked around his men. “Leaving.”

  The earl glowered at him. “You cannot leave. I forbid it.”

  Ioan gave him a devilish grin. “Well, see, therein is your problem. We are all freemen here. Not a serf amongst us. We come and we go as we please.”

  “I have paid you good money!”

  “Corryn!”

  His sister moved to his side. “Aye, brawd?”

  “Have you the earl’s purse?”

  She handed it to Ioan, who in turn handed it to the earl. “I prorated our services, but the refund is all there for the rest of this month.”

  The earl’s face turned bright red. “I need this army. You cannot do this!”

  Ioan shrugged. “I can do anything I please, my lord. I lead more men than you.”

  Cursing them all, the earl snatched the money from him, then led his knights away.

  “Why did he need your army?” Adara asked Ioan after they left. “We are not putting his people into danger by taking you from him, are we?”

  Ioan shook his head. “Rest assured, Majesty, the earl didn’t need my army. He had a minor skirmish with a serf rebellion that was quelled before we even arrived. My men were here for no other purpose than to intimidate his peasants and townsfolk.”

  “We’ve long grown weary of being here,” Corryn said. “The knights are fat and lazy.”

  “Careful, little Spider,” Ioan warned. “They think you’re a man and might attack at such an insult.”

  Corryn gave Adara a droll stare. As soon as Ioan left them, she came forward. “No man here believes for an instant that I am male. But none dare to contradict him for fear of his sword, nor will they come near me. You would think I carry the plague.”

  Adara laughed. “Be grateful you have such a brother, Corryn. He loves you.”

  “I know. It is what keeps me from poisoning his mead at night.”

  Christian listened to them talk for a few moments as he dwelled on what Adara had said. According to Lutian, her brother had betrayed her. Though how he could have, Christian would never understand.

  He went to get her some bread, cheese, and wine to break her fast, while they spoke about Ioan’s death at his sister’s irate hands.

  Christian handed the bread to her after Corryn left them. “Do you miss your brother?” he asked quietly.

  She paused for an instant as if his question startled her. He held her wine while she tore a piece of bread. “In truth, I do my best not to think of him at all.”

  Christian watched the way she daintily ate her food. Like a queen. She was flawless in her manners and bearing.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She swallowed her bread and offered him a sad smile. “There is much in life that I wish were different.”

  “Am I included in that?”

  She looked up at him as if she were studying him. “At times, aye. But this isn’t one of them. I find you oddly endearing.”

  He frowned at her words. “Oddly endearing? I think I have been insulted.”

  She tore a small bite of bread and offered it to him.

  His eyes never leaving hers, he leaned forward to feed from her hand. He took her fingers into his mouth and gently nibbled them before he pulled away.

  He swallowed the bread. “Are you seeking to tame me, Adara?”

  “Nay, my prince. I seek only to claim you. I don’t mind your wildness in the least.”

  He was struck dumb by her playfulness as she stepped past him to join Corryn, who was ordering a group of men about.

  Christian took a deep draught of the wine she’d neglected.

  “You’d be better off to pour that down your breeches,” Phantom said as he joined him.

  “What say you?”

  “The look of you says it all. You’re aching to taste her again.”

  Outwardly, Christian scoffed even though he knew that attitude for the lie it was. “You are mistaken.”

  Phantom paused beside him. “Nay, Christian. Lie to yourself if you must, but never to me.”

  Christian frowned at him. “Why are you still here? It’s not like you to travel with a group.”

  “You offered me land.”

  “Which I know means nothing to you. Not really. Why have you always been at my back all these years?”

  “I respect you, Christian. You should be king, and if you are determined to seek your throne, then I am determined to help you.”

  Christian couldn’t have been more stunned by his words. “What has gotten into you?”

  “I wish I knew. Promise me that should I discover what it is, you’ll exorcize it.”

  Christian laughed. “I wish the same promise from you.”

  Phantom looked back at Adara, who was busy castigating her fool. “I know what plagues you, my brother, but from that I hear there is no cure.”

  Christian sobered as he feared Phantom might be right. His wife was slowly seeping into his very soul.

  He heard Ioan giving the call to mount. It’d been a long time since he’d traveled with an army. God be with all of them. They would have a long, hard journey ahead of them and then a battle.

  He only hoped they all made it.

  Adara spoke little as they traveled. Her gaze kept drifting over the knights and archers of this army.

  “Is something wrong, Majesty?” Ioan asked.

  “I was just thinking that even with the addition of my army at home, our numbers are too few to go up against Elgedera and win. Perhaps we sought you out too soon.”

  Christian laughed at that. “There will be more soldiers to come.”

  “Aye,” she said, remembering the man he had mentioned, “but this Lucifer will have how many men? A few dozen?”


  “About that,” Ioan said. “He had just under three score when last I saw him.”

  Her stomach drew tight in apprehension. “’Tis not enough.”

  Phantom gave her a wicked grin. “I cannot believe I’m about to say this. But have faith, my lady. The Lord will provide for us.”

  Adara had no idea what he meant by that until they reached Calais, where they stopped to rest and restock. The men had decided that the easiest way to move the army would be overland, which would be more grueling than traveling by sea, but would allow them to stay together in force for morale and safety.

  It would take them approximately five months from Calais to reach Taagaria, which was two months longer than it had taken her by sea to find Christian. It was something that concerned her greatly. ’Twas a long time for Thera to be on the throne without her.

  Ioan had claimed his men could cover the distance in half that time, which set off an argument between him and Christian over the greatness of Ioan’s army versus their being too tired to fight once they got there.

  “If we crawl down there like snails, the Elgederions will have too much time to prepare for our force,” Ioan had growled as they supped the first night after they left York. “I’m sure by now the little garrison that they sent to kill you has headed back home to tell them that we’re coming.”

  “They won’t be prepared for us,” Phantom had said with a sinister laugh. “Trust me.”

  Christian had shaken his head. “I’ve no wish to stress the men or the horses. A strenuous pace would cost us much in illness and injuries. What good does it to reach Elgedera with only a portion of our force?”

  Ultimately, Corryn had come up with a compromise that left them traveling faster than Christian wanted, slower than Ioan could tolerate, while both men cursed the pace completely, every step of the way. However, Ioan had sworn that if any of the men or horses became injured or unduly stressed, he would slow his army to Christian’s pace.

  Of course, Ioan had cheated a bit and pushed the army hard to reach Calais in just over a fortnight.

  Now they were trying to find a place to stay without pitching tents, but it looked as if Calais were under siege. Everywhere they went, there were soldiers already there.