by Donna Grant
“Out,” he ordered the servants.
When the door closed behind the servants, Roderick walked to her and took her in a toe curling kiss. She sighed and melted against him, letting the blanket fall at her feet.
He pulled back and gazed down at her. “I need to see Val and Hugh.”
“I understand,” she said, hoping he didn’t see too much disappointment in her eyes.
He made a sound much like a growl. “You must know I wish to stay.”
She laughed when he rubbed his stiff rod against her. “I know. I just didn’t want the night to end.”
“It won’t,” he promised and released her to retrieve his weapons. “I must go before I throw you on the bed and ravage you again.”
“If I can’t tempt you, then you had best leave,” Elle taunted as she lifted one leg and placed it on the edge of the wooden tub.
“Don’t be long,” Roderick said before he slipped out the door.
Elle sighed as she sank into the hot water. Not because the heat helped melt some of the iciness from her bones but because she looked forward to seeing Roderick.
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Chapter Twenty-Four
Roderick raced to his chamber. He stripped his clothes and tossed them in a corner as he hurriedly washed with the cold water left in a bowl for him. He and the other Shields never worried about clothes. The Fae took care of all of that.
He lifted the lid to the trunk by his bed and found clothes just to his taste. And as he knew they would, they fit perfectly.
With his boots back on, he stood and gazed at his bed. Images of the night before flashed in his eyes, and he longed to return to Elle, but there was much to do. Just as he reached for his sword, he felt something behind him. His hand closed over the hilt the same time he swung around.
Aimery easily side stepped the blade and cocked a brow at Roderick. “Do I take that to mean you didn’t want your weapons returned?”
Roderick cursed and lowered his sword. “I had no idea it was you. I felt something and attacked.”
Aimery frowned. “Have you ever felt my presence before?”
“Nay,” Roderick answered as he strapped on the scabbard and sheathed his sword.
“Strange, don’t you think?” he asked.
Roderick raised his gaze to the Fae commander. “Aimery, things stopped being strange the moment I became a Shield.”
Aimery chuckled, a sound Roderick rarely heard. He eyed the Fae again as he ran his hands through his hair.
“Thank you for giving Elle her weapon,” Roderick said after several moments had passed and Aimery hadn’t spoken.
He shrugged. “There was no real reason to deny their request. If able, ‘tis her and her people that will end the evil here, as well as giving you a clue as to how to end it on your realm.”
Roderick closed his eyes. While he had been with Elle, he had forgotten the awful pain he lived with every day, the yearning to return to his realm to see his family again, but more than that, the forgiveness he needed to beg for. Instead, he had only thought of her and the happiness she had given him.
He opened his eyes and looked at Aimery. “You delivered the weapons?”
Aimery
nodded.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“What is there to say?” Aimery asked. “You are grown men. I don’t stop any of you from finding what little happiness you can while during your duty.”
“But this is different,” Roderick argued. “Elle is different.”
Aimery dropped his arms and took a step toward him. “Aye. She is. More than you realize.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Roderick hated it when Aimery gave hints to A KIND OF MAGIC
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things but never spoke. “Don’t do this, Aimery. Tell me.”
“You already know,” the Fae said.
“By the gods,” Roderick hissed and turned away to pace. “Lecture me on keeping away from the very women that could aide us, reprimand me on keeping my mind on my duty and not on … other things.”
“It wouldn’t do any good,” Aimery spoke calmly. “Besides, what you and Elle shared was mutual. You did not take advantage of her. She wanted you as much as you wanted her.”
Roderick stopped pacing and ran a hand through his hair. “Then why do I feel as though I have betrayed you and the Shields.”
“Only you can answer that,” Aimery said.
“I want her.”
Aimery nodded. “I know.”
Roderick sank onto the bed. “Yet, I cannot have her, can I?”
Aimery didn’t reply, which was all the answer Roderick needed.
“No one really knows the future,” Aimery finally said. “Only time will tell.”
When Roderick raised his gaze, Aimery was gone. There was no use cursing the Fae since he wasn’t there to hear it. Instead, Roderick rose and walked from his chamber. He had a sinking feeling that the harpies would attack very soon.
“There you are,” Val called as Roderick stepped into the great hall. “Hungry?”
“Starving,”
Roderick
answered, though it wasn’t food he wanted. What he yearned for sat in a hot bath upstairs.
He tried to ignore Val’s watchful gaze as he helped himself to the platter of food on the table. Finally, he could take it no more.
“What?”
he
asked.
Val shrugged. “I know not. You look … different.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked before taking a bite of the warm bread.
“I have no idea,” Val said with a grumble. “Have you spoken to Elle this morning?”
Roderick stopped chewing and glanced at Val. “Aye. Have you?”
Val shook his head as he took a drink. “I wondered how she fared during the cold night. She isn’t used to this weather.”
“She fared fine.”
He waited for Val to ask him how he knew that, but thankfully, his friend didn’t.
“My weapons were returned last night.”
“I figured they would,” Val said. “I also think we need to finish preparations.”
Roderick set down his knife and turned to Val. “I agree. I think our time is about to run out.”
“Do you know something?” Val asked, staring at him closely again.
“Nay,” Roderick answered and turned away. “I just have this … feeling that the harpies are closing in.”
“You have never had anything like this before.”
Roderick rubbed his neck. “I know.”
“What do you think it is?”
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“I haven’t a clue, but I sincerely hope I’m wrong.”
Val tapped his finger on the table. “I don’t think you are. In Rome, we learned to listen to the instincts of the people that were able to channel certain things.”
Roderick chuckled and looked at him. “I am not a seer, Val.”
“This I know,” Val said. “However, you sound convinced of your feelings, and I have known you long enough to trust you.”
Hugh walked up and stood between them. “Trust Roderick for what?”
“He thinks the harpies will be here soon,” Val answered.
Roderick turned his face to Hugh and his questioning gaze. “I cannot explain it.”
“No need,” he replied. “Let us start immediately then.”
Val and Roderick scooted their chairs back and rose from the table to follow Hugh from the hall. Suddenly, Hugh stopped and turned to them.
“Roderick, did Elle receive something this morn?”
“Aye,” Roderick answered. “Aimery gave her a weapon. And Mina?”
“Her as well.”
“I knew he would,” Val said and walked from the hall.
Roderick waited for Hugh to cont
inue for it was obvious something bothered him.
“What is it?”
Hugh shrugged. “I am not comfortable with Mina being involved with this.”
“Me either, but we need both her and Elle. If it were up to me, I would lock them away until it was all over.”
Something changed in Hugh’s gaze as he stared at him, and it made Roderick uncomfortable. It was as if Hugh could see into his soul and what he and Elle had done the night before.
“How did Elle fare last night?”
Roderick ground his teeth. “She fared well.”
“Good,” Hugh said and smiled widely.
Thankfully, Hugh ended the questions and turned to exit the castle. Roderick followed but stopped at the door and looked back. He had hoped Elle would have come down by now, but he suspected Mina had trapped her.
He shut the door behind him and stepped out into the chilly air as snow began to fall. His gaze lifted to the sky, listening for anything odd. So far, nothing, but he knew, knew just as he knew the moon would rise that night, that the harpies were on their way.
“Roderick,”
Hugh
called.
He hurried to Hugh and Val and the handful of knights that Hugh had personally picked.
* * * *
Elle hated to rise from the warm water, but she had no other choice if she didn’t want to turn into an icicle when the water began to turn cold. She jumped out of the tub and stood before the roaring fire on a rug and hurriedly toweled off.
The towel wasn’t the fluffy, soft cloth she was used to, but she made do. Her teeth were chattering as she wrapped her arms around herself and ran to where she had discarded her clothes and lingerie the night before, only to find them gone.
Since she was turning blue, she grabbed the blanket she had used earlier and A KIND OF MAGIC
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wrapped it around her. That’s when she spied her clothes neatly folded on a stool near the wall. They looked clean, as if someone had washed them.
Remembering how Aimery had taken care of the weapons, something urged her to check the chest at the foot of the bed. She opened it to find her lingerie inside. She squealed with delight at spying her expensive garments.
“Thank you, Aimery,” she said.
“What are you thanking him for?” Mina asked as she stepped into the room.
“Your weapon?”
Elle laughed. “Well that, too, but this,” she said and held up a sapphire blue bra.
Mina’s eyes widened. “What is that?”
“My
lingerie.”
“What?”
Elle laughed again and decided it best to show instead of tell. She dropped the blanket, not caring that she was nude beneath and clasped her bra in place and tugged on the matching panties.
“The saints,” Mina said in awe.
“They are wonderful,” Elle said, delight pouring through her.
Mina knelt at the chest and shifted through them. “So, Aimery brought these to you?”
“I guess. And I didn’t even ask for them.”
“And the gowns?”
Elle was about to put on her gown from the day before but stopped at Mina’s words. “What clothes?”
“These
gowns.”
She walked to Mina and the chest and looked inside to see the beautiful gowns.
“Oh, my,” she said as she held up a dark blue gown.
“Put it on,” Mina said as she stood.
Elle hurried to comply and wasn’t surprised when it fit. “Amazing.”
“Aye, the Fae are like that. The color brings out your eyes.”
Elle bit her lip as she thought of Roderick.
Mina laughed and began to lace up the back of the gown. “And Roderick will love you in it.”
“What?” Elle tried to act as though she had no idea what Mina was talking about, but she knew she failed miserably.
Mina tied off the gown and walked around Elle until she faced her. “I’m not as blind as my husband or Val. I could practically see the tension between you and Roderick. And since you’re smiling this morning, I gather everything has worked out.”
Elle had never been so embarrassed. In her own time, sleeping with someone that interested you wasn’t a bad thing, but this was Medieval England. Things were different.
“Please, don’t think badly of me.”
“Why would I?” Mina asked, her lips turned down in a frown. “You are my friend.”
“But things are different here.”
Mina laughed and rolled her eyes. “Not so different.”
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Elle blew a breath out of her mouth, unaware just how much Mina’s approval meant to her until that moment.
She sat and let Mina brush her hair and pull it into a thick braid that fell to the middle of her shoulder blades. Elle stood out with her bangs, but she didn’t mind. She still loved the haircut, which was something that occurred maybe once every ten years for her.
“We must hurry,” Mina said as she walked to the door.
Elle grabbed her new weapon and followed her. “Why?”
“Then men are waiting for us.”
“For what?” she asked as she lifted the hem of her skirt and prayed she didn’t tumble down the narrow stairs.
“We must prepare for the harpies.”
Elle stopped. The harpies. How had she forgotten about them? She looked around the great hall and thought of Mina and Hugh and the people of Stone Crest. Her thoughts then skidded to Val and Roderick. Would they all come out of this alive?
“Elle?”
She looked down at Mina’s questioning gaze. “I don’t know how to use my weapon.”
“That will be rectified this morn.”
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Chapter Twenty-Five
Elle followed Mina into the bailey, quickly tying her cloak while juggling her bow and arrows. Her eyes immediately scanned the crowds until she found Roderick.
The sun glinted off his golden waves, and she itched to run her fingers through the shoulder length locks again.
Suddenly, he turned and looked at her. They shared a secret smile before he and Val walked toward her.
“Up already?” Roderick asked.
Elle was hard pressed not to laugh while she shivered. “Actually, I’ve been up awhile. I found a few…interesting…items in my room.”
“Aimery brought her a few things,” Mina explained. “The chest is filled with gowns and a few other things.”
“Other things?” Val asked. “Like what?”
“Personal items,” Elle said and glanced at Roderick.
Val grumbled beneath his breath. “We need to go.”
Roderick turned and motioned to someone Elle couldn’t see. He turned back to her. “We are going to the monastery and the Druid ruins.”
Elle didn’t answer him, just looked at the horses being brought to them. It had been a long time since she had ridden, and only with a western saddle. She didn’t know how she was going to manage in a dress.
“You’ll do fine,” Roderick whispered as he walked her to a small gray mare and hooked her bow and arrow on the saddle. “She has a sweet disposition, and I promise that I will not let anything happen to you.”
“You better not,” she said over her shoulder as she reached up to pat the mare.
“She’s pretty.”
“Not as beautiful as you,” Roderick whispered right before he lifted her onto the horse.
Elle didn’t have a chance to reply as he walked to the white horse beside her and mounted. Butterflies flew madly around in her stomach, and all she could think of was leaning over and tasting his scrumptious mouth again.
Lord, the man could kiss.
Just thinking about it made her a little dizzy and managed to warm her a tad. He should have a warning label
next to lips.
She giggled at her thinking that turned into an outright laugh as Val looked at her strangely. “Nothing to worry about. My wits are about me,” she told him.
“I hope so,” Val said as he nudged his horse and rode out of the gates.
