Revealing A Marchioness's Heart (The Chronicles of Loyalty)

by Jessie Bennett

  She fell asleep thinking of the summer days in the garden; when times had been much simpler and happier.

  7

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The dawn sun was creeping up when Nora awoke, finding Ricardo crouching by the fire. He was poking at it, trying to get it high enough to cook breakfast. For a man who had not slept all night, he looked surprisingly fresh and cheerful. Nora pushed herself up from her makeshift bed, a hand going to her hair. Even after weeks on the road, she still cared what it looked like. Especially when Ricardo’s handsome face was less than half a foot away from hers.

  “Where’s Peter?” she asked, looking around.

  “He went down to the river to see if he could shoot us some breakfast. There is tea, if you like,” he said, pointing to the pot of water boiling on the stove.

  She nodded, and then glanced behind her as Alexander grunted, rolling over.

  “He’s fine, leave him,” Ricardo shook his head as he dipped a tin mug into the boiling pot. “He’ll sleep for an hour more if we let him.”

  “You didn’t sleep at all?” Nora asked and he smiled with a shrug.

  “I find I don’t need as much sleep as the others. Natural energy, I suppose. Life is so full of excitement, why waste it sleeping?”

  “I like my sleep,” she said, accepting the mug. “I’ve never been one for mornings. But nights, the moon, the darkness, that’s what I live for. A time when everyone else is asleep and the world belongs to you.”

  “A night owl,” his eyes sparkled. “You will be able to rule your lands by day and write poetry by night.”

  She laughed, and their faces were even closer as they tried to keep their voices low. “I don’t write poetry,” she said. “Except in my head, and it sounds horrible.”

  “Show me,” he whispered, his long lashes practically brushing against her forehead.

  “My poetry?” Her breath came in a whisper. “It’s…in my head.”

  “Then let me feel it.” He was smooth in everything that he said, every movement that he made. Before she knew what was happening, he was kissing her. They were soft, gentle long kisses that seemed to be endless. She felt shivers down her spine, her entire world spinning as he brought a long fingered hand up to her face. His moustache tickled, but his mouth was soft underneath as they kissed. She leaned into it, so that their chests were pressing together and his tongue pushed inside the folds of her lips. She had never been kissed before, and if this was what kisses were like, than she never wanted to stop. How did anyone get anything done when there was this intoxicating world of kisses to enjoy?

  He finally pulled apart from her, and she was delighted to find that she wasn’t the only one at a loss for breath. He was staring into her eyes like she was the most desirable thing on Earth.

  Her hand went up instinctively to her neck, her scarf having fallen down in her sleep. She averted her gaze, but he grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him.

  “Nora, it’s okay,” he said softly, and her eyes widened.

  “I just…”

  “You are beautiful,” he whispered, touching her face. Gently, he pried her fingers from her neck and laid his own hand over her scarring. “You are beautiful and don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  “But…”

  “They add to your beauty because they show your strength,” he said. “I think, whatever you went through, it would have been easy to die, to give up and not survive. But you did not choose that option. You pulled through, and here you are. Anyone who cannot see that is a fool and not worth your time.”

  It would have been easy to give up and not survive.

  Alexander felt those words like a dagger in his heart as his mind slowly rejoined the world of consciousness. For Nora, yes, it would have been. For him, the same choice had been made, and the only reason he had chosen survival was because… He knew what was happening behind him and didn’t let it go on for too long. He rolled over, and the two of them practically fell apart, as if they had been caught stealing the crown jewels. Nora had the good sense to look caught at least, whereas Ricardo just looked smug, raising his eyebrow at Alexander.

  “Where’s Peter?” Alexander managed, pulling the blanket tighter around him. Unlike the other two, his natural state seemed to be lying down when he could manage. Constantly hung over, dizzily drunk or low on energy, he wasn’t about to get up when he didn’t have to do so.

  “Finding us food, I hope,” Ricardo said with a shrug. “Or he’s finally became sick of us and abandoned us.”

  “Mmm,” Alexander closed his eyes, wondering if he could manage to get back to sleep. He said nothing as to Nora’s burning cheeks, and she was grateful for it.

  “Alright?” Ricardo asked after a bit and Alexander grunted in response, opening his eyes again.

  “Your dress is crooked, Nora,” was all he said, heaving himself up at last. She blushed scarlet, shifting to fix her it. Only Ricardo seemed to be acting natural about the whole thing, poking the fire and wondering if they’d get anything to eat today. “Oh,” Alexander looked up at the sky, blinking in the bright sunlight. The liquor was still coursing through his bloodstream, and he would normally think this was a good morning, except for the fact that once it left his system, there was no more. The past few days had been easy, considering what was to come.

  “Alexander?” Nora asked, seeing him turn a shade of pale she hadn’t seen before. She picked up a water canteen, handing it to him, but he brushed it away. Water wasn’t what he was craving at the moment, and it would only make it worse. She tried again, but he knocked it away so hard that it almost spilled, giving her a dirty look. She shrugged, dismissing it. She was getting used to his new attitude, although it was like knowing a completely different man. Sometimes she was baffled that this man, who looked exactly the same as the man who raised her, could be so different. “Okay then.”

  Just then, Peter came through the underbrush, a huge grin on his face and several fish on a string.

  “Hey, I thought we were going to have venison for breakfast,” Ricardo said, getting up from his spot to reach and take the fish.

  Peter rolled his eyes. “This isn’t a restaurant,” he said, looking around. Peter wasn’t bright, but he could pick up on emotions almost instantly. “What’s going on?”

  “I can do it,” Nora held out her hand for the fish, trying to change the subject, and Peter looked surprised.

  “You can gut fish? What do you know; you ain’t just a pretty face.”

  Alexander gave him a look, holding his knees as he tried to get a grip on his day. His mouth felt like cotton, and he wasn’t enjoying the chattering in the early morning.

  They rest of them fell into silence, making the morning preparations in silence. Nora did know how to gut a fish; because Alexander had taught her to one spring day. It seemed that Alexander was not destined to be a noble even then. He said nothing as she slit it open, cleaning it and then sticking it into the fire. Every once in a while, someone glanced over at him, but he didn’t participate in the chatter that was going on, staring off into space.

  “I like my fish well done,” Peter grinned at her, crouching beside her in fascination. She turned it over twice, watching the fire intently. “Nora?” he asked when she didn’t respond, and she turned her head to him with a smile.

  “Hmm?”

  “You understand? Well done?”

  “Yes,” she grinned. “Black.”

  Ricardo smirked, handing her a second fish to gut. “Exactly,” he replied, and for a moment everything was jovial and happy.

  She could live like this, out in the woods with the two of them, no stress, no worries. She wasn’t afraid; she wasn’t looking over her shoulder every moment.

  “Ricardo,” Alexander’s gruff voice broke into their laughter. Ricardo turned around from where he was crouched beside her, teasing her with a fish gut. She wasn’t as repulsed as he’d expected her to be, giggling and pushing his hand away. “Water?”

&n
bsp; Ricardo grabbed the water canteen, heading to give it to him. Nora watched out of the corner of her eye as the two exchanged muttered words between them. She watched for so long that she wobbled on her haunches, completely distracted.

  “Don’t mind them,” Peter said, nudging her, and she almost lost her balance. “The two of them have always had some sort of secret world. They get each other.”

  She cocked her head, the words confusing as she tried to translate them. “You are all friends, yes?”

  “Yes,” Peter grinned. “But the two of them were here before me. Ricardo is good for him; he keeps him from drinking himself stupid.”

  Nora shook her head. “Before, once, it wasn’t like this,” she answered, frustrated with her lack of language. “Before…he laughed.”

  “Laughed?” Peter asked in surprise. “In two years, I’ve seen Alexander smile, maybe a handful of times. But laugh? Not even when he’s drunk.”

  “With his wife, all the time,” she said and Peter’s eyebrows shot up through his hairline.

  “Alexander has a wife?” he asked, and Nora colored, realizing that Peter didn’t know. She shook her head, looking back down at the fish.

  “I misspoke,” she said, but Peter didn’t believe her. They fell into silence for a few moments, and then there were footsteps behind them, crunching on leaves as Alexander and Ricardo joined them.

  They didn’t take long for breakfast once it was cooked, eating fast and packing up. However, it appeared that whatever Ricardo had said had made a difference, because Alexander boosted himself up onto his own horse and then held his hand out to Nora. She smiled, the tension dropping, hopping up behind him. She put her arms around his waist; not as firm as it was five years ago. She gave him a little squeeze and he actually went as far as to pat her hands, clasped tightly together.

  “Comfortable?” he asked, and she made a noise of approval. “Alright,” he clicked and his horse took off, following the other two down the path.

  It wasn’t a bad start, and once they got into a comfortable pace, Nora spoke again. “What do you know about my prospective husband? The one we are going to see?”

  “Nothing,” Alexander replied. “He is a noble, I think, and one that the king trusts.”

  “But about him?” she prompted and he shrugged.

  “What do you want, Nora? A love match?”

  “No,” she scoffed, knowing what noble marriages were made of. It wasn’t about love, not if she could get a good safe match. The sooner she started producing heirs, the sooner she would be safe. However, Alexander had a non-noble marriage, and no one had complained. Until last night, she’d thought that their marriage was perfect and happy. It appeared to have been, until the day that Mary had run away. “But maybe I can get to know him a little bit?”

  “What do you think we are taking you to do now?” he asked gruffly as they cantered along.

  “A man you don’t know, who you are hoping won’t slit my throat in my sleep and take my fortune?”

  “Uh,” Alexander cocked his head at her accuracy. “You don’t have to be so morbid about it.”

  “I’m just pointing it out to you,” she replied as the horse trotted along and they fell into silence again. It was hard to talk when the horses’ hooves were taking over the conversation, and she leaned her head against his back, closing her eyes. After a while, she managed another attempt at conversation. “Do you want to marry me? It would solve a lot of problems for both of us.”

  “That it would,” he replied, emotionless. It wouldn’t be the first time that a noble had married his ward to combine their lands. “Except for the fact that you want to be married to a man you could love, Nora, even if you aren’t in love with him.”

  She squeezed his waist gently. “I do love you, you idiot,” she answered, and he sighed.

  “I won’t leave you in the hands of a terrible man. You will have a good match,” he muttered as they rode. “Besides, if we got married, the king would have a fit. Our lands combined would outshine his, so he’d never allow it.”

  “I could be queen,” she replied and got a little chuckle out of him, despite himself. “I would be good at it. I’ve ruled your lands and mine for five years now.”

  “You’ve done what now?” he asked, and she squeezed his waist.

  “Do you think that your land is an overgrown field? Once you didn’t come back, I took over. Your rents are collected and in your account, the fields are sown, the tenants are happy and the crops are sold. Although I ate your goat because it ate my skirt one day.”

  He turned around to glance at her in surprise. He vaguely remembered Ricardo saying this last night, but now it was all coming rushing back to him. “You’ve taken care of the estate for five years?”

  “Well, my servants did,” she admitted.”I couldn’t let it…go to shambles. It’s there, ready…in case you or Mary ever decide to come back.”

  It was the part about Mary that caught him right in the chest, and he knew he needed to set the record straight.

  “Nora, Mary isn’t coming back. She was banished, a criminal…and it is likely that she no longer draws breath. I haven’t seen her since she walked out the door and neither of us are likely ever to again. The marchioness is dead, do you understand that?”

  “Yes,” she said, but she clearly didn’t believe him for a moment. Alexander and Mary were the greatest love story she had ever known; neither could draw breath without the other. Mary was still alive somewhere, she was sure of it. For without her presence on this earth, Alexander couldn’t possibly continue to live. She had never met two people so perfect for each other, so in love and so in synch. Her parents hadn’t had a love match, although it was a good enough marriage. However, Alexander and Mary were a match made in heaven, and the model of the kind of marriage that she wanted some day. Mind you, neither of them was scarred by fire. It appeared that their scars lay below the surface, places people couldn’t see. Nora was quickly learning that those were just as damaging as the one she carried across her face and neck.

  However, Nora had an idea, an idea that wouldn't have come to her if it weren't for all of this. She thought that she hated Alexander's drinking, she hated that Mary was gone, and she hated that Ricardo's heart would likely never settle, not enough to honor her.

  However, it all seemed to come to her an instant. There was a solution to all of these problems. She had learned that life was too short to worry about the next fifty years. She needed to worry about the now. Now, she had answers.

  8

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “I think we can camp here for the night,” Ricardo said when they reached a clearing at dust. “We aren’t more than a day or two’s ride from the castle.”

  Nora had never heard sweeter words. She felt like her legs were going to fall off and her arms were permanently stiff. She was used to riding, it was one of her favorite activities, but certainly not for this amount of time and not strapped to someone else. At this rate, she was pretty sure that she never wanted to ride again. She would be so grateful to be on solid ground. However, to her surprise, Alexander protested.

  “We should press on,” he said. “It’s not yet dark and we could make it there tomorrow if we ride through the night.”

  “Alexander,” Ricardo gave him a look as he slid off his horse and went to help Nora down. The strong arms around her waist made her shudder in pleasure. “The marchioness is tired; she needs rest.”

  “The marchioness is far stronger than you are making her out to be,” Alexander countered, but swung off his horse anyway.

  To Nora’s surprise, his hands trembled as he dropped the reins, sweat pouring down his face. She was enjoying Ricardo’s arms wrapped around her waist as Peter went to search for water for the horses. However, she still cleared her throat to speak. “Are you well, Lord?”

  “Fit as rain,” he replied, leading the horse to a tree.

  Nora sighed, leaning against Ricardo’s strong body. “Well, at least we
can all have a decent conversation tonight without talking to a drunken man.”

  “That,” Ricardo winced. “Is the problem.”

  “Hmm?” She turned around to glance up at him. His touch was intoxicating enough, and she couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to drink when they could be touched by him.

  “I think that the Alexander you and I know are two very different people,” Ricardo managed. “And mine drinks in order to function. Without the drink, he is unwell.”

  “With the drink, he is unwell,” Nora countered and Ricardo shook his head, smoothing down her hair.

  “Don’t worry about it. We have better things to worry about.”

  “Like what?” she asked, looking up at him again. He kissed her flat on the lips then, and she blushed scarlet to the roots of her hair. She was completely stunned that this beautiful, perfect man would even be looking at her, let alone wanting to kiss her. Ricardo was the kind of dream that girls had, but never achieved. He was smooth, suave and gorgeous, and he was focused on her. “Ricardo,” she breathed and he put a finger to her mouth.

  “Hush, love,” he replied, giving her another kiss as Peter came crashing back through the bush with water. He had a way of finding water in a desert; he was in touch with the land.

  As they started cooking for the night, using supplies from last night, Nora found herself comfortable, even happy by the fire. She could live this kind of life, forever, if she hadn’t been born into nobility.

  The laughter from the fire floated through the forest, reaching Alexander’s ears as he leaned against a tree just on the outskirts of the clearing. He knew he was about to enter a very unpleasant few days, withdrawing from the alcohol. He had been through it several times before, whenever long country missions took him far away from the nearest tavern. Already, the sweats had started and his vision was a bit blurry. His head pounded and he closed his eyes as he tried to focus on the sounds around them.