Captured by Her Enemy Knight

by Nicole Locke

  ‘You’re not angry with me,’ Cressida said.

  ‘I’ve got to put Maisie down,’ Lioslath said, slowly lowering the child, who took off in the opposite direction immediately. ‘And there she goes. Bram, explain to her, will you, while I run off?’

  Cressida watched Maisie run, but felt Bram’s eyes studying her. Knew that Eldric studied them both.

  ‘Cressida, we won’t ever condemn you based on the deeds of your father. It’s not within us to do so. Especially not I or Lioslath. If she even caught a hint that I held you responsible, she’d find a way to keep me out of the keep...again.’

  ‘But it goes further than that,’ Bram continued. ‘You are the Archer. Am I right in thinking it was you who let loose the arrow that saved Mairead, my brother Caird’s wife?’

  So they were married now. ‘I did.’

  ‘You fought your own father.’

  Cressida didn’t want to answer. That question hurt somewhere that she couldn’t rightly explain. Everything was still so new.

  ‘Bram,’ Eldric said.

  ‘Forgive me,’ Bram said. ‘When he attacked Caird and Mairead, we were already sending missives and people to track him. Then Maisie was stolen.’ Bram looked to Eldric. ‘Maisie belongs with Gaira and Robert; they love her. But Gaira was pregnant when Maisie was stolen. They couldn’t travel far, so Lioslath and I, we’ve been gone from our home a long time, searching all the south.’

  ‘How did you get the missive?’

  ‘By fortune.’

  ‘Oh.’ Cressida looked up at Eldric.

  ‘Nothing by chance, Archer,’ Eldric told her.

  ‘After a day where the rains would not stop, we arrived in an inn and overheard two men talk about a message they had to deliver,’ said Bram. ‘They weren’t loud, we were just huddled and silent.’

  ‘It was open?’ Eldric said. ‘They knew the contents?’

  ‘When I received it, it was sealed, they merely talked of the delivering. It took me the better part of the evening to convince them I was exactly who they wanted to give it to. My clan, my hair, helped.’

  ‘You didn’t just take it,’ Cressida said.

  ‘Two men and I had Lioslath. Why resort to violence when just sharing family tales would do?’

  ‘Don’t concern yourself, Cressida, I would have stolen it, too!’ Lioslath called out as she passed the group once more.

  ‘That’s how we received it, read it and came here. If you paid those men coin, Hawksmoor, they were worth it. It wasn’t easy. They were a fair choice for messengers. But as to the rest...’

  Bram turned to Cressida and she braced herself. Once she boarded the ship with Eldric and Maisie, once she truly didn’t return to France to pursue her father, this would be the course she chose.

  It would be a great hardship for all of them. Her father knew her well, could guess at any moment what choices she would make to avoid them. But she put her life, her trust, her love in Eldric and in Eldric’s circle. With Maisie, who stumbled and laughed along the deck of a ship.

  ‘Your father has schemes that involve obtaining the Jewel of Kings and you know why.’

  ‘I know some. He trusted no one and, since I harmed him last autumn with the arrow, I’ve been in the dark.’

  ‘Can you tell us anything—?’

  ‘Not now, Bram,’ Eldric interrupted. ‘I’ve got to woo her first.’

  ‘I’ll tell him,’ she said.

  Eldric’s gaze held hers and she fell into all that he did not say as she always did, despite Bram’s sudden laughter.

  ‘I understand this all too well.’ Bram slapped Eldric’s shoulder. ‘Will you be travelling with us now?’

  Eldric shook his head. ‘We’re staying for a few days and then Cress will want to visit with her sister.’

  Bram’s eyes went to Lioslath slowly chasing Maisie on the deck. ‘Sister.’

  ‘That is why Maisie survived Doonhill, why he kidnapped her.’

  Cressida watched Bram give a hard swallow. ‘We always wondered. Their marriage was hasty, but they were so happy. I could deny her nothing. And Margaret—Maisie—doesn’t have Irvette’s hair and didn’t look like either one of them.’ Bram looked to her. ‘She looks like you.’

  ‘My father—’

  ‘I think Eldric’s correct,’ Bram said, his voice devoid of emotion. ‘We’ll talk about these matters later. A few days, perhaps?’

  ‘We’ll be a sennight behind,’ Eldric said.

  Bram gave a curt nod. When Maisie toddled close enough again he scooped her up in his arms.

  * * *

  Eldric and Cressida watched the three disembark the ship.

  ‘They’re your family now,’ he said, trying to ease the pensive look on her face. Years of her watching him, months of him pursuing her. Then in a matter of days both of their lives completely different, and yet... In all the dreams and wishes she had made as she hid in trees and travelled from camp to camp, this, right now, standing next to this man, was a dream that far surpassed any other.

  ‘I have only just accepted that Maisie is true,’ she said. ‘Anything else, I can’t quite believe it.’

  ‘How about us—are we true?’

  She laid her hand on his arm over the marks she had given him. ‘All the years of wishing, of wanting. You should be still just a wish, but you, us, may be the truest thing of all in my life. I know that. I can feel that.’

  ‘If there’s any part of you that still doubts, Archer, I mean to prove it to you.’

  Oh, yes. ‘And just where were you intending to spend a sennight with me?’

  ‘I know of an inn nearby,’ he said.

  She took her hand off his arm. ‘You want to stay at an inn that my father’s mercenaries know of, when he is but a day away?’

  ‘We’ve been on that ship, he could be in England even now,’ Eldric said.

  Cressida turned her back to him. Eldric scanned the deck. There was no sign of Terric or his men.

  ‘Cressida.’

  ‘Don’t tease about it. It’s too soon. If they are my family, I risk their lives simply by continuing to exist. We stand on a deck of a ship, when right there on the street, one of his men could release an arrow and kill you. I can’t bear it.’

  Fair enough. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, the other around her waist, and pulled her tight to him. She came to him willingly. He hoped he’d always earn the trust and love she gave him. It did come at a price. Even now, her comment was that an arrow could harm him, but not her. Did she not realise that he would protect her just as fiercely?

  ‘Then we talk about some of that future now,’ he said. ‘We need to hide, like Robert and Hugh. I owe Edward a hunting horn and an Archer. I don’t mind returning the horn to him. It was his first wife’s.’

  ‘He gave it to you on the day you negotiated? Why?’

  ‘Because he sent me on a quest. I don’t truly know. It’s not the first time he’s loaned it. It has some significance for him that we may never know. Oddly, I do wish for it to be his again.’

  ‘Then we’ll ensure it is returned to his keeping.’

  Which was a risk. By returning the horn, the King would know he was still alive and disobeying the King’s command. They’d have Howe’s men and the King’s men after them. Eldric wouldn’t fool himself that they could evade both for ever. Still, if it was possible, he’d do it for her. For the family they’d have. He’d risk everything.

  He squeezed her against him. ‘He can have the horn, but not you. Now, where to go and hide. To Ayrshire? That would hurt Bram. To Ffords? That would harm Robert. We couldn’t even go to Spain for there live Hugh and Alice. I fear travelling to any location close to the others will jeopardise their families. I won’t live in France, not after our last trip.’

  Cressida loved this man for even talking as
though they had options. Pretending they could have a life on a plot of land and a little family of their own. To live in peace. It would be theirs some day. She vowed it. But he didn’t know just how precious to her it was that his arms were around her. That she could feel the reverberations of his deep voice against her back.

  This moment was her peace.

  ‘We could go north,’ she continued to pretend. ‘Far north where the winds never die and the rocks are barren and the sea consumes all except the most hearty.’

  ‘Where is this magical place?’

  ‘To the Isle of Skye in the north of Scotland.’

  ‘You’d take us to the ends of civilisation.’

  ‘We don’t need it, you and I,’ she said. ‘You can whistle and I’ll hunt since I’ll be better at it until I train you up.’

  He chuckled. ‘It’s a good life we’ll make there, then. Along the way, we could visit your family.’

  ‘Certainly,’ she agreed. And as they watched the birds swoop in the sky, she envisaged the entire sweet dream.

  He rested his head on the top of hers. ‘We’re not going anywhere, are we?’ he said.

  ‘I do want to see my family if at all possible.’

  ‘I can see why Terric does this,’ Eldric said. ‘Staring out at the waters—the roll of it all is calming. We could even stay on this ship and never touch land again or sail far into the deepest of oceans.’

  To the end where the oceans are. Cressida turned in his arms and gazed at the man she loved. Loved enough to keep the life they needed to lead. To help themselves and others.

  ‘Because that’s where promises are kept,’ she said.

  He looked down. Confusion in his eyes. ‘Promises?’

  ‘We could sail on ships into every horizon. We could go north, to the end of civilisation. Journey. Adventures. Because far ahead is where promises are kept.’

  She laid her hand against his heart. ‘Except I don’t need far away or horizons. All the promises I ever needed or wanted are right here.’

  He placed his hand over hers. ‘What are you saying?’

  ‘You must return the horn to Edward. Yourself. Robert, Hugh and you all disappearing? It’ll never hold. We’ll put them at risk.’

  ‘But you?’

  ‘You’ll tell him of me, of my father, you will report it all except that which still protects your friends. That secret will have to remain.’

  ‘And when he decides to execute me because I didn’t bring him you?’

  ‘That’s why you don’t take me. Because I’ll be the one rescuing you.’

  ‘Cressida.’

  Eldric’s voice saying her name, warning her, and she knew what he wanted. No more circumstances where she made choices that risked her life or her soul. ‘I’ll come to him, if he still desires it. But my father has alliances and they’ll be there in the palace as well. They can’t see me, or none of this will work. That should sway him.’

  ‘You believe he’d want us in his service.’

  ‘You already are, remember?’ she said. ‘Perhaps that’s why he bargained with you to bring me to him. Not to execute, but to bring me to his side. He knows he has traitors in his midst. Perhaps he knows more about me or my father than we know.’

  ‘If he knew about your father, wouldn’t he have already done something?’

  ‘The King can’t go after the Warstones directly. They haven’t gone after him and I don’t know whether he’d survive that warfare. He’s spread too thinly. The Crusades harmed his coffers and his obsession with Scotland may be the death of him.’

  ‘I don’t want you working for the King,’ he said. ‘Your entire life has been dedicated to others. Don’t you understand I want to protect you? You were always there in the shadows. No longer should you make the difficult decisions. It’s my turn now.’

  No words could have been sweeter. ‘You’re already protecting me, saving me. But whatever the King wants, there are ways to appease him. If we simply disappear, we cannot help your friends, their families, my sister. For her, for you, I’ll do anything to stop my father’s ambitions. He cannot gain access to the gem. I may have let him go, but I won’t stop or give up. I won’t let him win.’

  Eldric gave her the gentlest of kisses. ‘We’ll win,’ he whispered against her lips. ‘We already have.’

  Another kiss.

  It was the true and right decision. No children, no lands or responsibilities between them. His parents were well. Already, he’d been conversing with Hugh and Alice. If they could combine the clans and families, if they aligned with one effort, together they could make the world right again.

  He ran his hands down Cressida’s back, cupped her to press her close, parting her thighs just a bit, just enough for what was to be between them.

  The world was already right. He ducked his head under her chin and kissed the tender skin there, felt the fluttering of her pulse.

  ‘Where,’ she shivered, ‘where was this inn again?’

  ‘Just a few steps away.’ He nudged her ear with his nose.

  ‘It’s good it’s so close.’

  ‘On that we agree.’ He pulled back, cupped her face in his hands, tucked a pale tress behind an ear and absorbed all that he saw in her stunning eyes. ‘I love you.’

  ‘I loved you first,’ she reminded him, a gleam of challenge in her eyes.

  It was a challenge he accepted and one he was eager to begin. Swooping down, he scooped her up in his arms.

  ‘I’ll love you the best,’ he promised.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this book, why not check out

  this other great read by Nicole Locke

  Her Dark Knight’s Redemption

  And be sure to read her

  Lovers and Legends miniseries

  In Debt to the Enemy Lord

  The Knight’s Scarred Maiden

  Her Christmas Knight

  Reclaimed by the Knight

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A Royal Kiss & Tell by Julia London.

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  A Royal Kiss & Tell

  by Julia London

  Chapter One

  Helenamar, Alucia

  1846

  It is an absolute truth that men and women alike desire the earnest vow of someone to love and cherish them all their days, and that nothing elicits joy in the breast of all mankind quite like a wedding.

  Recently, the most joyous occasion was the wedding of the universally admired Lady Eliza Tricklebank and His Royal Highness Sebastian Charles Iver Chartier, the Crown Prince of Alucia.

  The bride entered Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the Alucian capital city of Helenamar at half past twelve. She wore a gown of white silk and chiffon. It was fashioned in the Alucian style, cut close to the body and featuring a customary train thirty feet in length. The train was hand stitched in silver and gold thread with the symbols of Alucia and England, including the famous Alucian racehorses, the mountain buttercup and the Chartier coat of arms. England was duly represented in the Tudor rose, the lion and the English royal banner. The Alucian national motto, Libertatem et Honorem, was embroidered in tiny scalloped letters around the hems of the sleeves.

  The bride wore a veil anchored with a diamond tiara with a center stone weighing ten carats, lent to her by Her Majesty Queen Daria. Around her neck she wore a pearl necklace comprising twenty-three pearls, one for each of the provinces in Alucia, a gift from His Majesty King Karl. On her breast Lady Tricklebank wore a sapphire-and-gold brooch, a wedding gift from her fiancé, Prince Sebastian.

  The prince was dressed in a black frock of superfine wool, wo
rn to midcalf, a white waistcoat embroidered in miniature with the same symbols of Alucia and England as the bride’s train, and a silk cravat trimmed in silver and gold thread. He wore the crown bestowed on him at his investiture as crown prince.

  After the ceremony, the newlyweds rode in open carriage to Constantine Palace through a throng of well-wishers that lined the avenue for three miles.

  The king granted the prince and his new bride the titles of Duke and Duchess of Tannymeade. They will reside in the port city at Tannymeade Palace.

  Honeycutt’s Gazette of Fashion and Domesticity for Ladies

  THE PROMISE INHERENT in any wedding was delightful, but if it were a royal wedding, the paroxysms of joy might very well result in smiles permanently frozen to all the cheerful faces. It would turn the most jaded heart to gold. And if the beatific royal bride were one’s dearest friend, it would provoke cascading waves of unbridled happiness.

  Lady Caroline Hawke was over the moon at the good fortune of her dearest friend, Eliza Tricklebank, who was, at that very moment, swearing her love and fealty to Prince Sebastian. Until a scant few months ago, Eliza had been determined to be a spinster and care for her blind father for the rest of his days. She spent her days in plain gowns and aprons, alternately reading to her father or engaging in her curious hobby of repairing clocks. But then Eliza was invited to a royal ball, and a man was murdered, and she was given some gossip that pointed to the identity of the killer, and the next thing Caroline knew, her Eliza was marrying a man who would one day be king of this country. Which meant Eliza would be queen.

  It was so improbable, so impossible, that it went well beyond even the wildest fairy tale Caroline had ever heard or had the capacity to imagine.

  Seated in the front row of the cathedral, a place of honor awarded to her as Eliza’s dearest friend, Caroline was a little misty about it. Eliza radiated happiness. Caroline had never considered herself the sentimental type, but here she was.

  She shifted her gaze to Prince Leopold, standing beside his brother, Prince Sebastian. She wondered what he thought of the occasion and the happy couple. He was quite tall and had a robust and muscular figure. The broad shoulders of his coat tapered to a slim waist, then flared out again. He looked so regal and masculine that Caroline allowed herself a bit of a daydream—she imagined walking down this very aisle on his arm.