Midnight Shadow

by Laurel O'Donnell

  Her father nodded. “That’s how I felt when I took your mother as my wife.”

  Bria stared into her father’s eyes. He’d loved her mother very much. She wanted her life to be like his. She wanted to feel the love he had felt for her mother with her husband. She threw her arms around him. “I’ll do as you wish, Father.”

  “This is not as I wish. It is as it has to be.”

  ***

  Bria stood at the altar, staring up at the chaplain. Her palms were sweating, and she had to wipe them on her dress more than once. She half hoped one of the dozen witnesses would find a reason to object to the whole thing, and her eyes darted nervously around, looking for some kind of salvation: the chapel roof, the ornate glass windows, the elaborate statues lining the church like guardians. Finally, she looked at Terran. He was gazing at her with such calmness Bria was taken aback.

  He reached out and placed his hand over hers. His gentleness startled her, but his touch soothed her. She turned her gaze back to the chaplain, her anxiety washed away by a simple touch from Terran.

  The chaplain finished the uneventful ceremony and blessed the union.

  She was the wife of Terran Knowles.

  A simple ceremony had changed her life forever, a ceremony she’d once imagined would be attended by all of her friends, by Mary, by Garret, by hundreds of guests, a ceremony sealed by a kiss.

  Instead, she didn’t even have a special dress made for the occasion, but wore a simple dark green velvet dress she’d worn a dozen times before. And now the deed was done. The decree in the betrothal papers had been fulfilled. She didn’t know what she was feeling, but it was certainly not the happiness of a new bride. A wife.

  What a terrifying word.

  In the next whirlwind moment, Terran ushered Bria out the doors of the keep. In the courtyard, a double line of mounted men awaited them, Kenric in the lead. Terran escorted Bria to a waiting horse and helped her mount, then mounted behind her without a word.

  She couldn’t help but notice the cart filled with bags of gold in the middle of the line. All these men, all these soldiers were here to guard her dowry.

  Terran’s arm swept around Bria, clasping her tight against him as if she were his possession. Before she could register her annoyance, a tremor shot through her body at the touch of his strong arms.

  The horse whinnied and reared slightly as Terran took the reins in his hands.

  She’d barely lifted her hand in farewell to her father and grandfather, who stood in the doorway of the keep, dwarfed by the massive wooden double doors and looking as forlorn as Bria felt, before Terran kicked the horse forward.

  Then she was moving through the inner gatehouse. The speed of the horses quickened as they rode toward the outer gatehouse. People stood at the sides of the castle watching, their expressions a mixture of pity and devastation.

  Bria tried to glance back, but could see only Terran’s shoulder. A strand of her long hair had come loose from her braid and Bria had to push it away from her eyes. As she turned back to the path of her future, she saw the last structure of her castle loom before them, the outer gatehouse. Panic flared through her, and she had a strong instinct to leap from the horse and run back to her home, the only life she’d known.

  Instead, she lifted her head, letting the wind whip her hair behind her, and faced what the future had in store.

  They burst forth from the castle, riding toward the village.

  Who would have thought two weeks ago she would be married to her enemy, sitting in his arms, approaching his lands?

  My lands, she corrected herself. My people. A calmness washed over her. My people. And I have a vow to keep to Mary. I will see to it they are protected. One way or another.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  As the entourage galloped through Knowles Village, there were very few cheers, and even fewer happy faces. Terran noticed more than one person shaking his head at the sight of Bria. Were they displeased with her? Not that it mattered.

  The sun was beginning to set over the horizon as his castle appeared in the distance, marking an end to a very long day and several very long weeks. It seemed like another lifetime since he’d arrived at Castle Delaney to seek Bria’s hand. Now that he’d secured it, he must instruct Kenric to get on with paying the king’s tithe, paying his knights, and seeing that there was enough food to last the winter and...

  ... and these were things he knew he really didn’t give a damn about. He steered his thoughts elsewhere. He’d sought Bria’s hand for her dowry, and in the hope that the challenge of gaining her hand would rouse the spirit he had lost. But it hadn’t been the challenge of winning Bria’s hand. Bria herself had roused his spirit. At first her intellect had provoked him. Then it was her secrets.

  Bria shifted in his arms, drawing his gaze to the top of her head. Little strands of rebellious curls had freed themselves from the tight braid. He hated that braid and wanted to see her hair freed from its constraints. She was at her most beautiful when her long tresses hung loose and free. Terran found himself leaning into those strands, inhaling deeply the fragrance of lavender. He rested his cheek against the top of her head.

  Something else became very apparent. With each of the horse’s steps, her bottom rubbed against his manhood like a lightning strike. He hardened instantly. Just the thought of her tiny buttocks pressing so intimately up against him sent desire spearing through him. He clenched his teeth, trying to get his passion under control, but it was next to impossible. He had to think of something else.

  They rounded the hillside, continuing in an arc toward the castle. Castle Knowles rested near one of the highest mountains in the land. Surrounded by cliffs on all but one side, the fortress was virtually impenetrable. But Terran no longer admired its beauty or its strategic defenses as he once did. He’d lived here all his life and was unimpressed by its grandeur.

  He needed something else to bring that spark of excitement back into his life. He’d thought he found it with Odella, but he’d been wrong. Fatally wrong.

  His arms tightened instinctively around Bria.

  They approached the castle head on. Terran glanced behind him at the long line of armored men. He had tripled the number of guards to his entourage, for the dowry was substantial, an amount enough to pay his men and his taxes to the king.

  And there was another reason. Terran knew the Midnight Shadow wouldn’t let his lover go. He’d expected some sort of confrontation with his enemy, but their journey had been uneventful.

  As the castle walls loomed higher in his vision, his tension eased. The Midnight Shadow wouldn’t be bold enough to attack them in front of Castle Knowles.

  Terran glanced down at his bride’s head. He now knew his attraction to her was much stronger than he could have imagined. They could have a good marriage. But could Bria ever let the Midnight Shadow go and let Terran be her husband?

  It’s irrelevant, he told himself. She’s mine.

  They rode through the outer ward and into the inner ward. Terran eased Bria to the ground and dismounted. He gave commands to Kenric to secure the gold in the treasury. Then he turned toward his castle. He had many things to see to, boring things. His steward, no doubt, had a list of things needing his immediate attention.

  As he turned, his gaze stopped upon the small woman standing where his warhorse had been before the stable boy had led him away. Around her, his men were dispersing, but she stood motionless, her hands clasped before her, her large blue eyes trained uncertainly on him. Bria looked so lost that for a brief moment, Terran had the urge to sweep her into his arms and assure her everything would be all right.

  He took a step toward her, but suddenly a voice called out, “M’lord!” Terran turned to find a blond woman standing on the stairs to the keep. Every detail about her was impeccable, from her horned headdress to her slippered feet. She was a marvelous woman to look at, and Terran used to love to do that. But now another woman needed his attention.

  But the woman came to
ward him, holding out her slender hand. Terran brushed her knuckles with a kiss. “Lady Kathryn.”

  “Yes.” Her haughty blue gaze swung to Bria.

  “Lady Kathryn, meet my wife, Lady Bria.” He turned his gaze to Bria and was crushed by her crestfallen expression. But she straightened her shoulders and marched up to them.

  “A pleasure,” Bria said, expressing anything but.

  Terran stared in confusion at Bria. Her large eyes all but danced with fire as she gazed upon Kathryn. Kathryn’s reaction was just as baffling. Her eyebrow rose in disdain. Then both women turned their gazes on him.

  Terran smiled enigmatically, but he’d never felt so burdened and strained before. He felt expected to do something, but he didn’t know what they wanted. “Kenric!” he called out.

  His cousin strolled over to him.

  Terran’s eyes shifted from Bria to Kathryn and back again. “Show Lady Bria to her room.” Something flashed in her blue eyes like the distant glint of lightning. Was that hurt or anger? She lowered her eyes before he could figure it out.

  Terran’s gaze shifted to Kathryn’s, and he saw victory shining in her blue eyes. Strange, Terran thought. He’d never realized before how dull her eyes were. They were pale blue and hard, almost like stones set into her sockets.

  Terran stepped past Bria and paused. “I will come to you tonight,” he promised his new bride. Then he took Kathryn’s arm and moved into the keep. Kathryn was aglow as they strolled through Castle Knowles’ halls. She primped for the peasants who watched them, holding her chin high. Terran tried to restrain his impatience.

  They turned down a dark hallway, their footsteps echoing. Kathryn was strangely quiet. She could talk for hours about herself, but now her mouth remained shut. Something was wrong.

  “What brings you here, Kathryn?” he asked brusquely. Terran paused before the closed door of the room she always occupied when at Castle Knowles, although the last time had been over a year ago.

  “My darling,” she cooed, leaning back against the door. “Why are you so cruel to me?” She placed her hands on his chest.

  Terran had once found her coy manner irresistible, before Odella. “I’m not cruel, Kathryn,” he said softly. “I just know your games.”

  “Games?” She pouted those once sensual lips. But now Terran could only see one pair of lips in his mind’s eye.

  “You wound me.” She took his hand and placed it upon her breast. “Deeply.” Her voice took on a husky tone.

  Terran leaned forward. “Our relationship is finished. It ended long ago. You know that.”

  “Of course,” she said, “when you were marrying Odella.” She arched slightly so her breast filled his palm. “I couldn’t come between you and my sister.”

  Terran’s jaw clenched fiercely and he looked away from Kathryn.

  “I came as soon as she died,” she whispered.

  “I see,” Terran said.

  “To comfort you,” she said softly. Her lips were but inches from his now.

  “So when your sister died, you came to Castle Knowles to... comfort me,” Terran clarified.

  She nodded.

  “Only to find me married.” He reached around her and opened the door.

  Kathryn almost spilled into the room, but she quickly righted herself. She shrugged slightly. “A mere inconvenience.”

  Terran’s eyes narrowed. Bria was his wife now, and the thought of her as a mere inconvenience boiled his blood. He entered the room and lit a candle. “What do you want, Kathryn?”

  Kathryn came up behind him to hug his broad shoulders. “I want things to be as they were before.”

  Terran grabbed her hands and removed them from his body. “Before what?”

  Kathryn lifted her chin slightly and tried to look hurt. “I want you to love me.”

  “What we shared wasn’t love, and you know it.”

  Kathryn didn’t flinch. “You did love me. Until you laid eyes on Odella.”

  “I never loved you, Kathryn, before or after Odella,” Terran growled. “I always made that clear.”

  Kathryn crossed her arms and pouted.

  “Why are you here?” Terran demanded.

  “Truly, my lord, I came as a friend to comfort you. I know how much Odella meant to you.”

  Terran found this hard to believe. There wasn’t an unselfish bone in Kathryn’s body. She did things only when they benefited her. “Why didn’t your father accompany you?”

  Kathryn looked away from him, playing with a piece of fabric on the wooden table. “He wanted to, but he was busy.”

  Terran grunted. Something must have happened between Kathryn and her father. Last Terran heard, Kathryn was bedding one of her father’s friends.

  “So who is this little mouse of a bride you’ve taken on?” Kathryn asked. “You obviously don’t love her.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Kathryn lifted her smug eyes to meet his. “If you did, you wouldn’t have left her alone on her arrival to your castle.”

  Terran stared at Kathryn, dismayed. He hadn’t thought of that. Instead he’d wasted time seeking the reason for Kathryn’s arrival at Castle Knowles. He hadn’t considered his new bride’s feelings. The memory of her standing so forlornly in the middle of his castle courtyard sent guilt rushing through him. “Damn,” he murmured and started for the door.

  He’d no sooner stepped into the hallway when Kenric came running toward him.

  “She’s gone!” Kenric exploded.

  “What do you mean?” Terran demanded, anxiety prickling the back of his neck. Images of her in the Midnight Shadow’s arms danced mockingly in his mind’s eye.

  “She ran away. I can’t find her.”

  “Did she leave the castle?”

  “By now she could have.”

  “Damn it, Randolph,” Terran growled, “find her. She’ll be heading back to Castle Delaney. Send men to search for her.” He stormed off down the hall. “Find her!”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Bria rode hard through the forest, tears burning her eyes. Terran had left her to be with his mistress on the very day he’d married her. She’d be damned if she’d wait patiently for him to come to her. She wanted nothing to do with Terran Knowles! She didn’t want to live with him, she didn’t want to share his bed, and she certainly didn’t want to be his wife. She wiped aside the tears running over her cheeks. Then why are you crying? a mocking voice inside her asked.

  The answer came to her abruptly. Because she’d begun to believe in his kindness. She saw him as something other than a tyrant.

  But he’d given her to Kenric, the man who’d killed her friend. Bria had watched with disbelieving eyes as Terran disappeared inside the doors of Castle Knowles with Kathryn. But disbelief quickly left her, replaced by a cold assessment of her situation. Terran had apparently flaunted his lover before his first betrothed, Odella. Why not before her?

  When Kenric reached for Bria, his hand wrapping around her arm, Bria had turned confused eyes to him. The eyes starring back at her were from hell itself. He smiled evilly at her, relishing the moment.

  Bria lurched forward, catching him off guard. He’d lost his balance and fallen down a stair, losing his grip on her. Bria ran. She’d almost made it to the outer gate when she realized she needed a horse. She mounted one of the guard’s horses that remained in the courtyard and raced for the castle gates. She rode as fast and as hard as she could, fearing that any moment they’d raise the drawbridge and lower the portcullis.

  At first she had no idea where she was going. She rode past the eyes of curious peasants, past the inquisitive and even a bit amused gazes of the guards. It wasn’t until she escaped the castle and reached the forest that she understood where she was heading. It wasn’t home.

  She was riding to the Midnight Shadow. Ever since Terran had found the mask, she’d left her Midnight Shadow costume hidden with her sword, and it was lucky she did. She needed it now. She needed to be brave, to stand up to t
hose who were doing wrong. She didn’t want to feel the stinging, burning agony swirling in her chest.

  When the clearing came into view, anticipation sparked in her veins and a calmness settled her tumultuous spirit.

  The Midnight Shadow was waiting for her.

  ***

  Kenric searched the streets, the houses, but Bria was nowhere to be found. He grimaced. That girl is going to pay for this, he promised himself. Ruining a good night of wenching and drinking. He shook his head and reined in his horse, turning back to the castle. At least he’d collected some taxes and frightened some farmers. The night wasn’t a total loss.

  “Terrifying women is no way to get respect.”

  Kenric whirled.

  A man clad all in black stepped from the darkness of the forest, a dark hood hiding his face.

  “You,” Kenric snarled.

  “Only tyrants rule through fear,” the Midnight Shadow whispered. He flung back his black cape and pulled his sword from its sheath. It hissed like the hot flame of justice.

  Anxiety gripped Kenric. He looked around, but none of his men were anywhere to be seen. His horse danced nervously beneath him.

  “Come, Kenric,” the Midnight Shadow said. “Meet me in battle.”

  Kenric hesitated. Perhaps if he waited, his men would appear.

  “Coward,” the Midnight Shadow whispered into the darkness. The word carried to Kenric’s ears on a light breeze. “By the time your men return, I’ll be long gone. Face me now.”

  Kenric refused to dismount, holding tight to the horse’s reins. It would be foolishness, he told himself, to fight in the dark. He looked around once more, hoping some of his men would appear, but the road remained empty. He turned back to the Midnight Shadow. “Your lover is now in our hands. Knowles married her to bait you.”

  “Here I am,” the Midnight Shadow whispered. “Come and get me.”

  Kenric hesitated again, his horse circling. “We shall meet again,” Kenric promised. “And the advantage shall be mine.” He spurred his horse, moving down the path to flee into the night.