by Hannah West
Adrian growled with frustration as he tried to sit up and a hand pushed him down. “Leave me,” he rasped roughly.
A gasp caught his ear and he turned blurry eyes to the person which it belonged. As his eyes slowly focused his mouth slid south.
The vision before him could be nothing more than an angel. Her heart shaped face was worried, a small pout settled on lush ruby red lips, a halo for dark chestnut hair that fell in thick waves to her waist. A waist which was small caught between a well-endowed chest and ripe hips and all was wrapped up in a free flowing white gown that gave her a simple grace. She was not beautiful like the woman he had seen at Court over the years when he had been there, but striking with her high cheek bones and flashing green eyes.
The longer he stared the more confused he became. He was far from a religious man, but surely he had not landed in heaven. Had he?
No, being in heaven would not hurt so much, but then where had this angel come from?
He peeled his eyes from the young girl and looked around. From what he could tell he was laying in the feathered bed in a stone room at a castle. But he had no memory of how he got there.
His eyes lashed back to the girl and she was slowly backing away from the bed, her eyes darting for the door.
A feeling of unease slithered down his spine much as it had every time an attempt on his life had been made.
The girl could be a spy or an assassin; it wouldn’t have been the first try at something so unorthodox.
He narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t take that chance now that he had an important power bestowed upon him.
With no weapon within reach he would have to use his hands. So be it.
The girl chose the wrong person to kill. He didn’t like killing women but he would do his duty.
Silently he rose from the bed and growled with pain as he stocked the girl. She was far enough from the door he knew he could catch her if she didn’t run. Currently she was frozen with fear, glued to the spot with the wide eyes that reminded him of a trapped deer.
A dark twist of his lips he launched himself at the girl tackling her into one of the stone walls and tumbling with her to the floor. She screamed. He grunted with pain and slid on top of the girl, hands encircling her creamy throat. He pressed both thumbs over the center, feeling her heart beat, he squeezed a little and she shut up.
Tears pooled into her amazing green eyes.
“Who sent you to kill me?” he rasped.
“No one,” she whispered harshly.
He squeezed tighter and she coughed.
“Don’t lie to me, girl. If you tell me I will make your death quick and painless.” He eyes flashed steel, “And you better do it quick.”
On the other side of the door the pounding of boots could be heard and a deep voice giving them orders. But they would be too late.
Sarina tried to swallow and her throat burned as she tried to suck in air. When she didn’t answer he squeezed again.
“I saved…you,” she pleaded. What she really wanted to come out was that she saved his life and she was not there to kill him, but he was crazed with fever and didn’t know what he was doing.
“Liar,” he growled and lifted her head from the ground.
Sarina knew in that moment that she was going to die. If he smacked her head into the stone she would be done for, so she closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
She opened her eyes that brimmed with tears long enough to get one last look at the man who would have been her husband and then closed them again.
The door to the bedchamber burst open slamming against the stone wall with a silencing echo and knights rushed into the room behind the Nordic giant who had taken her.
His stormy blue eyes darkened to black as he took in the image of his old teacher and friend kneeling over the girl with her neck in his large white-knuckled hands. Her head raised just enough so that if her head slammed into the ground her brains would be bashed out. The wild look in Adrian’s eyes told him that he was nervous and confused.
Slowly walking forward, hand out reaching Alrek talked to his friend. “Adrian, let the girl go. You don’t want to hurt her.”
“She was in here alone, Alrek. She could be-” Adrian started.
“She is not!” Alrek said sharply as he glared down at his friend.
“Release your hold on her, you fool! She saved your life. Without her you would have been six feet under in an unmarked grave by the rode. And due to your own foolishness to boot.”
Slowly uncurling his fingers from the girl’s throat, Alrek stepped forward and snatched the girl from Adrian’s grasp.
Hiding her behind him, Alrek addressed the guard to remove her from the room.
Green fire flashed in her eyes and she gave a sharp command to the knight and they backed down. Her voice was hoarse, but she glared Alrek down.
Her eyes found Adrian’s as he rose to his full height which was two heads taller than herself and she glared at him as he glowered at her.
“Nice to see you once again in the land of the living, my lord. I am the Lady Sarina of Kildenry, nice to meet you. I would be most pleased if next time I see you in bed that you refrain from killing me.” With a stiff curtsy she turned and walked out of the room, the knight behind her.
The only one to remain was Alrek who hid his smile at the look of shock on Adrian’s face.
The Lady Sarina Alrek came to know was not that bold, but then again she had the right to be mad that her future husband almost crushed her throat and bashed in her head. She had claws, that one, when provoked.
“I suggest that you find a way to make amends with your future wife. You will find she is not easy to forgive you her possible death.” Alrek looked at his friend’s stunned expression. “I know you do not trust easily, even women. But your whole life is changing and if you are stuck in the past then you will never grasp your dream in your hands. It will slip away like dust in the wind.”
Adrian ran a tired hand over his aching head. “It twas’ the fever. I swear. I wasn’t thinking clearly, but you are right, Alrek. I have been on the battle field for over a score of years and trust little in others. But can you not blame me for my reaction? Did this not happen just before we left to come here.” His eyes hardened. “She had no place in being in here alone with me while I was bedridden.”
“Think about your words, Adrian. She saved you from infection from the wound on your back you said not to worry over. You fainted atop your horse, I took her and she healed you back to health. She just happened to also be the lady of the keep you are in and your betrothed. She has tended you night and day for over a fortnight with little to no rest. If she deserved anything, it’s your trust for saving your life. That is how you came to trust me, who is both a pagan and a Viking.”
Taking in a deep breath to calm the pounding in his head, Adrian laid back on the bed and sank gratefully into the soft feather depths. Gritting his teeth he closed his eyes.
Less than an hour awake and he was well onto his way of dumping his future peace into the cesspit.
“I don’t know what to do,” he replied quietly. “I can do war, battle and blood. But I know nothing of soft noble women who have feelings of their own.”
Alrek went to the door and looked in at his friend one last time. “Do the only thing a man can do when faced with the impossible. Try. I have yet to see you fail.”
Quietly closing the door behind him, Alrek went in search of Lady Sarina.
Chapter Five
Her throat burned from where his fingers had grasped her neck and clenched. She knew he had not done it apurpose, but he had scared her none the less. But she could not blame him. As a man as close to the king, even as a warrior as seasoned as he, must have had his share of death threats.
Sarina had an inkling that was what her lord thought this morning when he saw her. He had mistaken her for someone who had tried to kill him in the past.
Sarina blushed. Listen to her call him her lord!
Her betrothal contract was set to arrive any day and then from there the bans were set to be read. In three weeks’ time she and all her father’s land and wealth would be his.
Her breath quickened at the thought she wasn’t sure yet if the huge Norman lord would fit into her life, but change was coming. She could feel it.
Sarina smiled, she would make this work and she would be happy again; have a family.
Adrian groaned into his hands as he sat on the edge of the bed covered in furs. His head was pounding and he was already pissed off. Alrek had told him the complete tale of what had happened. Adrian now had to find a way to make up for almost killing his young bride.
He gritted his teeth. By the saints, he thought, I am going soft in my old age.
If only he wasn’t so quick to react, to first listen, to question, then to act.
Because if in battle you question first you end up dead rather quickly with a sword in your gut.
There was a sharp knock on the door and Alrek swaggered in. A gold brow rose as he took in the image of his old lord and friend setting naked on the edge of the bed.
“I came up here to tell you the evening meal will be ready in an hour. I ordered a bath for you in a chamber off of the kitchens. It seemed a good idea to bathe the stench from your person before you sit next to your betrothed. Mayhap a shave too, hmm?”
“Are you saying she could not be charmed by me in my current state,” he asked, using rusty humor.
“You, my friend, could charm a snake with your growls and looks alone. But your stench would offend a skunk. You were quite handsome last time I saw your face beneath that forest you are growing,” Alrek laughed.
Adrian stroked his beard. He hadn’t had time to shave his face within the last year while he was on campaign with the king for the end of the war and him working for the king day and night. He had grown used to it, never thinking on it more than a fleeting thought. “Do you think she finds it distasteful?”
Alrek looked at him quizzically. “Your beard? I haven’t had time to notice yet, and you have seen her twice. Just a thought though, it might make it difficult should you try to kiss her. It might tickle her and she might laugh at you if she is still not afraid.”
“Begone, you dolt!” Adrian bellowed as his friend strode to the door and let himself out.
Adrian sniffed himself and winced. A bath was indeed of great need. He smelled worse than his horse.
Sarina made her way to the kitchens to have a final word of dinner with Cook when she heard splashing from the bathing chamber off by the servant stairs.
Who was in her bathing chamber?
Curiosity peaked she quietly drew up to the partly opened heavy oak door and looked in. Her eyes widened in shock.
Setting in her large brass bathing tub was his lordship, bare bottomed!
He sat reclined, his head tilted back with his eyes closed. His arms made of thick ropes of muscle laid heavily on the tubs curved rims, his knees bold and large stuck slightly above the water, bent because he was too tall to fit in the tub with ease. His face when relaxed seemed less harsh and tender in the fire light.
There was now a longing in Sarina’s heart that he might one day soften his expression when looking upon her. To give her a look of kindness.
His fingers, long and true, tapped lightly on the rim, but as her eyes looked over his well-honed body tears pricked her eyes. His beautiful body was riddled with scars. Some thick and ugly, others long but thin.
How much pain the man had to go through to become the man he was now. She had heard the story of Death’s Shadow and now she was convinced they were all true. But no matter his past, she wanted to be bound to this man in ways she couldn’t understand.
Curling her fingers into a fist at her side she backed away from the door and went to find Cook. Sarina wiped her tears on the sleeve of her gown.
Chapter Six
Adrian knew someone was watching him, but he forced himself to relax in the hot water. He had already washed from head to toe and wanted to simply enjoy the temperature of the bath. When he saw the person had left he opened both eyes and rubbed his cheek. His beard was rather long and might it get in the way of him kissing Lady Sarina’s bold lush lips?
He scoffed. He had no idea as he had never even so much as kissed a woman before. And Lady Sarina was all woman, even for being so young.
When he got up the courage to try, he would find out. But now was the time to get up, get dressed and find his way to the head table. His stomach growled at the delicious smells beyond the door from the kitchens.
Once dressed in a clean royal blue tunic and black leather leggings, Adrian strode into the open hall of the castle. He felt naked without his chainmail, but he forged on remembering some of his courtly tips his king and queen had imparted on him before he left. It was the little things that could please a woman, the king had said, every woman liked a man who smelled better that a stable and didn’t wear his mail to the table.
Feeling exposed and foolish, he glowered at everyone who dared gaze at him. As he sat down gently, mindful of his wound, in the lord’s chair at the high table, he saw Lady Sarina wasn’t yet present. Adrian rubbed his chin and remembered that the wound there had left a rather thick scar on the bottom left of his jaw. It had been a gift from the one woman who he thought he could have trusted. Lady Sarina had paid for that scar this morning.
Would he still be pleasing to her eye after she saw it?
Adrian had a problem finding the lady of the castle. He was unsure as of yet what he was going to do to make it up to her, but then again he had no idea how to appease a lady. Battle had allowed him little thought to anything other than keeping his head atop his shoulders and his men in line. Alrek seemed to know something of women, but he would not ask that fool for advice lest he want to be a besotted pup.
No, his orders from his king was clear. Marry the chit, get her with child and have an heir while keeping the people under his rule via rule of the king. England was only newly won and with most of the last standing nobles giving in or dying, most was as good as could have hoped for.
To be honest in three weeks hence he had no idea how he was going to handle being bound to a woman, much less a noble woman with royal blood who was used to fine and rich things. He himself preferred to live simply and only take what he needed. It had sickened him to be at court and see what the noble considered living simply. Rich silken clothes, gems bedecking fingers and gowns alike. No, he preferred to be with in a tent, next to the field of battle.
Walking down the dim stone corridor a maid knocked into him and fell to the floor in a flurry of skirts with a muffled squeak. Before he could begin to offer help the maid saw who he was and was gone before the dust could settle on the ground. With a growl he headed down the stone staircase.
The hall was busy with activity, the rushes were being cleaned and the floor scrubbed of all filth. It was a grand keep to behold and larger than half the castles he had seen on his way here. There was a large central fire place behind the head table, another four, two set on each wall in the main hall and three long tables for knights and servants alike to sit during meals. Colorful tapestries hung on every wall giving the room an open warm feeling he was sure would turn dark and gloomy without them. The keep was in good repair and kept up, it made Adrian wonder who had been running the castle the last year during the war in which the last earl had died.
Adrian spotted Alrek across the hall and went over to the tall Viking, who was watching the proceeding with a careful eye.
"Who has taken the keep into hand while the last earl was away?"
Alrek turned ice blue eyes to his friend. "The lady of course."
"Lady Sarina? Surely you jest."
A twinkle entered Alrek’s eyes. "Surely not, my friend. The lady has many skills to commend her, running the keep and lands be one of them. Her people could not think higher of her then they did their king. She has skills even you do not, Adrian."
This puz
zled him. What could a woman know other than how to sew and make a man's life hell?
"She can do something other than sew?" Adrian asked with a scowl.
"From what I heard, the lady is more learned then any man this side of the country over. She knows the womanly arts, true, but she has a good head for reading and figures as well. She kept her father's books and even helped with the last king's work as well if she was at court. You are marrying a great lady." Alrek winked, "The serving wenches here could not praise her enough."
Adrian let out a rough bark that could have been called a laugh. "You would of course go to the serving wenches. Do not anger their lady, you may not live."
Alrek mock growled at him. "At least their lady likes me."
That hit a nerve and Adrian glared at his friend. "Be gone with you. I have things to see too." And with that he pushed himself away and left Alrek by the fire.
"Make sure one of your duties is making up with your betrothed!" Alrek called after him.
Chapter Seven
Sarina was dressed in her mail and getting ready to spar with her men when she saw her new lord striding into the lists, looking angry and fit for a fight. She shrugged and quickly gathered her sword and headed the same way. She picked out Sir Walt for her first mock battle in training and started on today's work.
She smiled. She had missed training while looking after her new lord and now she had been relieved of her duties. She was gladdened to see him out in the lists, but he had best be careful not to reopen his wound.
Sarina bit her bottom lips as she noticed him sparring roughly with a few of his men. She was worried about his wound that much movement had to hurt.
"Enough," she called to Sir Walt.
He immediately put his sword away and bowed. "Yes, my lady."
Before she had time to do a complete turn she saw one of the man hit Lord Adrian in his injured side and him go down to the ground clutching his side. Sarina ran to him crying out, "Let him be, you knaves!"
