Noble Knights Historical Romance Collection

by Jody Hedlund

  I broke into the pond clearing while swinging my sword. The four men on the shore were taken off guard for only a moment before they had their weapons unsheathed and ready to fight. They formed a barrier at the edge of the water. A glimpse beyond them told me the worst had already happened. Captain Foxe sat in a rowboat in the middle of the pond holding a taut rope that draped over the side into the water. I had no doubt Sabine was on the other end already at the bottom of the pond.

  I couldn’t stave off my roar of fury. I lifted my sword and swerved toward the four men on the shore. All I could think about was swimming out into the pond and pulling Sabine up from the dark depths. I didn’t know how long she’d been submerged, but I knew that I didn’t have a moment to lose.

  With a rage born of desperation, I lashed at the men barricading my advance. I sent one of them toppling into the water so that he landed on his backside. I clashed swords with another with my uninjured arm. I tried to latch onto my dagger with my other hand, but the weakness and agony from my shoulder wound made my reflexes slower than I was accustomed to. Before I could draw my dagger, one of the men swung his sword close enough to graze my side through my leather jerkin.

  I felt a burning in my skin, but fumbled for my dagger anyway. The fourth man circled behind me and raised his sword to plunge it into my back. With my injured leg, I couldn’t twist in my saddle with my usual agility. Already fighting off two men, I realized I didn’t have the strength to fight another, no matter the energy pulsing through me. As I braced myself for the tip of a sword piercing my back, I heard only the crash of brush and a scream of agony.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Sir Derrick and Sir Collin had caught up with me. One of them had saved my life; I didn’t stop to see who. I took advantage of the brief break in the barricade and plunged my horse forward into the water, my eyes fixed on one place: the boat and Captain Foxe. I knew that my horse could take me at least half the distance before the water became too deep. We splashed furiously, water and mud splattering my face.

  “The good news is she sank right to the bottom and stayed there,” Captain Foxe shouted almost gleefully. “She’s not a witch after all.”

  My fury drove me onward, until my beast was swimming and no longer touching the bottom. “Pull her out of the water. Now!”

  “You don’t need to be in such a hurry,” Captain Foxe said, peering into the murky water. “She’s dead.”

  I released the reins and pushed off the horse. I couldn’t rotate my injured arm into the motion required for full strokes, so I had to paddle and kick my feet to propel myself through the water. Even so, I moved faster than I ever had before. I couldn’t accept that I was too late. I couldn’t bear to think that she was dead. I had to get to the rope and pull her up. I had to save her.

  “Pull her up now,” I yelled again, ignoring the fire racing through my injured limbs.

  Captain Foxe only laughed, his pointed teeth showing in his twisted grin, a grin that told me I might have won against him on the battlefield earlier in the week, but that he was the ultimate victor because he’d taken the one thing that had mattered most. The woman I loved more than my own life.

  One thought rippled through my mind over and over. The woman Bennet loves. The woman Bennet loves. The woman Bennet loves.

  I was that woman. He loved me.

  Although I’d sensed his affection, a part of me hadn’t been able to believe it would last. But suddenly I knew with certain clarity that it could. His kiss that day he’d rescued me from the battlefield hadn’t been a simple good-bye kiss. It had also been filled with the depths of his love. Yes, he’d rescued me out of honor, because he was the kind of man who would rescue any woman from danger. But the kiss had been brimming with something more, something deeper and more passionate. He’d put his love into the kiss. He’d wanted me to know that fact in our parting moment, a moment we’d both believed would be good-bye forever. He’d silently pledged an undying love that would transcend time—even if we could no longer be together.

  I’d still been too insecure to believe that a man like Bennet could truly want to be with me forever, that his love went deeper than my skin to my heart. If Bennet could accept me, then surely it was past time to fully accept myself for the way I was. I couldn’t change it. Couldn’t hide it. Couldn’t deny it. I was unique and beautiful in my own way. I had to learn to love myself unconditionally, just the way that Bennet had begun to love me.

  As the blackness closed around me and as my lungs burned with the need for air, I finally let that truth sink into me and wrap around me.

  Bennet loved me. Unconditionally.

  The truth of it penetrated deep and made me realize I didn’t want to die. Not yet. Not until I had the chance to tell him that I loved him too.

  As I languished against the slime and muck of the bottom of the pond, I scrambled to find a way to survive. I wasn’t powerful enough to swim to the surface and overtake Captain Foxe. Not with my hands bound.

  The only way to survive was to pretend I was dead, to stay under the water. But at the same time, I had to find a way to draw in another breath.

  Slowly and gently I glided up the rope, praying I wasn’t swaying the boat, until I could see the light penetrating the cloudy surface. At the slight outline of the boat, I gripped the bottom, feeling my way to the opposite side from where Captain Foxe had tied the rope. Then slowly, I pushed my face to the surface, only letting my mouth break through at the rounded wooden edge of the boat. I was careful to keep the tension on the rope taut so that he wouldn’t realize I’d risen. I took an enormous gulp of air, then I slipped back under the water and under the boat, using the rope to keep myself afloat. My foot bumped against the hull and I stiffened, waiting for him to realize I was just underneath him. But for several long minutes, all was still.

  I slipped to the surface several more times, each time waiting until my lungs felt like they would explode before I chanced another breath. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep up the charade.

  And then I thought I heard shouting and splashing. Was Captain Foxe planning to pull me to the surface? If so, what should I do? Pretend I was dead? Show that I was alive and pray that he’d let me go since my sinking to the bottom had proven I wasn’t a witch?

  I brought my face to the surface again and this time allowed myself to cautiously raise my head. Captain Foxe’s shadow spread out over the water behind me, revealing that he was standing up in the boat now.

  “Don’t come any closer,” he shouted to the opposite side. “Or I’ll sever the rope and you’ll never see her again.”

  I wasn’t sure who he was shouting at, but it didn’t matter. I had the advantage. He wasn’t paying attention to the rope. He thought I was dead at the bottom of the pond. Now was my chance to throw him off guard.

  I barreled my shoulder into the side of the boat. It rocked, but barely. I shoved at it again, this time harder. His shadow wobbled, and he cursed. Once more, I heaved against the boat, attempting to put all my strength into the movement.

  This time, his balance was thrown off so that he lunged too far to one side. His shadow tottered as he attempted to right himself. But I gave the boat one last rock that sent the captain over the edge into the water.

  I wasn’t sure what to do or how to make my getaway. A rope bound me by the waist to the side of the boat and my hands were tied behind me. I had no way to free myself.

  “Sabine?” I was surprised to hear Bennet’s voice. Holding on to the edge, I began to kick my legs and scurry around until I reached the prow and saw him swimming toward me awkwardly with one arm. His dark eyes widened at the sight of me, and a relief so powerful fell over his features that I had no doubt he’d imagined me already dead.

  “You’re alive!” He veered toward me, his eyes never swerving from my face, studying every inch as though I were the rarest artifact he’d ever uncovered.

  I nodded. “I don’t think I’m a ghost, although I may look rather ghoulish a
fter spending time in this muck.”

  When he reached me, he hoisted me over the side of the boat and then clambered in after me. The boat swayed and I thought for sure he’d capsize us both, but he flopped down next to me, and within a few seconds the boat stilled.

  In the distance, I could see Captain Foxe paddling toward the shore and struggling to keep his head above water. One of Bennet’s friends was swimming toward him. The other remained on the bank where he was tying up the last of the other bandits.

  Next to me, Bennet was sprawled flat on his back, too breathless to speak and too stunned or weak to move, except for his chest heaving in and out. My own chest was doing the same. My chemise was wrapped around my legs and my hair stuck to my face and body in tangled waves. I slid down so that I was lying next to him. The rope around my waist looped over Bennet, almost as though it was binding us together.

  Never once did his eyes leave mine. After a moment, he lifted a hand to my cheek and peeled away a wet strand, letting his fingers linger on my cheek. “You left without saying good-bye.”

  “I shouldn’t have.” There was so much I wanted to tell him, but I didn’t know where to begin. “I should have stayed—”

  His fingers slipped to my lips and the gentle pressure stopped my words. “It’s all my fault—”

  “You’re not entirely to blame,” I started. But this time, instead of using his fingers to cut off my words, he dipped in and grazed my lips with his. The touch was exquisitely soft and brief, but was enough to render me speechless.

  Sunshine poured down on us. Even though I was cold and drenched, warmth spread over my body. Every nerve was tuned to his nearness, the length of him next to me, the rasp of his breath on my cheek.

  He touched his forehead to mine. “I beg your forgiveness for my callousness that day on the battlefield when you revealed your arm.”

  “No, I should be the one begging your forgiveness. I should have told you about my blemish sooner. I wasn’t honest—”

  His lips brushed against mine again, so sweetly and tenderly that my toes curled with the pleasure of it. “It shouldn’t have mattered,” he whispered. “I was a fool to think that it did for even a moment.”

  I could only stare at his lips hovering too near mine.

  “You’re a beautiful woman in so many different and unique ways,” he continued. “And the spot on your arm only makes you all that more special.” The universe within his eyes reflected an adoration that confirmed what he’d just spoken. Did he really think I was beautiful? Not in spite of my blemish, but because of it?

  I started to shake my head. “You can’t really think that—”

  He stopped my protest with another kiss, this one harder and more decisive. And much too short. “I like how this works.” He tipped his head back and smiled. “I think I’ve finally discovered the secret to silencing you.”

  “Um-hmm,” I managed. Yes, there were very few things that could take the words out of my mouth. But his kisses could make me lose all thought.

  He combed another strand of wet hair off my face. “I love you, my lady. And after you departed from Maidstone, I feared that I’d never have the chance to tell you.”

  “Oh, Bennet,” I breathed, my body thrumming with renewed energy and life.

  “I don’t deserve your love in return. I won’t even ask for it.”

  “I—” The pad of his thumb caressed my bottom lip, and I sucked in a breath at the intimate touch.

  “But I hope you’ll give me the chance to prove my love to you every day of my earthly life and throughout eternity.”

  My heart quavered with the beauty of this moment, the beauty of this man before me, and the beauty of his love. “Will you finally let me talk?”

  “Maybe.” He smiled.

  “Will you let me talk if I tell you that I already love you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then, I already love you,” I whispered. “I have all along. I’ve never stopped. And I never will.”

  “Bennet!” came a call from the shore. “How are you faring?”

  Bennet lifted his head at the same time I did, so that both of us peered over the edge to witness Sir Derrick wrap a last cord around Captain Foxe’s hands. Sir Collin was rubbing down Sir Bennet’s steed and standing on the bank, staring at the boat, his blond hair shimmering golden in the sun. At the sight of our two heads poking up, he grinned. “Looks like you two are just fine. Maybe Derrick and I should leave and come back later?”

  Bennet managed a half grin before falling back against the hull with a groan. It was only then that I saw the blood pooling with the puddles of pond water beneath us. I gasped and sat up as best I could in my tangled garments and ropes. Blood saturated his shoulder and his thigh.

  “You’ve opened your wounds.” Alarm shot through me. “And you’re losing a great deal of blood.”

  “You sound worried about me, my lady.” In the bright sunlight, his face was suddenly pale and reminded me again of all the danger I was bound to attract over the years as a result of others judging me as a witch. Could I really continue to put him at risk? Like this? Or even worse?

  “People will still think I’m a witch, Bennet,” I said resignedly.

  “No, they won’t,” he replied, his voice weak. “You sank in the drowning test. We’ll make sure everyone knows. And even if they still accuse you, I don’t care what they think. We can’t worry what other people say about us. We both know you’re innocent. And that’s all that matters.”

  “But I’ll put you in danger, and I won’t be able to live with myself knowing that I’m bringing harm to you.”

  “I’m a knight, Sabine. I can handle it.” Once the words were out, he closed his eyes and grimaced.

  I pushed myself to my knees and turned my bound hands to him. “Can you cut me loose?”

  His dagger was out and glinting in the sun before I could blink. He slipped it into the hollow spot between my hands, and in one swift cut the rope fell away. I flexed my sore joints for a moment before reaching for one of the oars. “Let’s return home before you bleed to death. Danger or not, I prefer to have you in one piece and preferably alive.”

  “Oh, so you’ll have me then?” he asked with a slow and devastatingly handsome grin. “Does this mean you’re in agreement with my plan to allow me to spend every day of my life loving you?”

  My heart thrilled again at the thought. “As long as you’re in agreement to let me have melted cheese on bread in the middle of the night whenever I want.”

  “I’ll make the specialty for you, my lady, just the way you like.” His voice rumbled with something that set me on fire. “Then I’ll bring your treat back to you so that you won’t even have to get out of bed.”

  I couldn’t look in his eyes just then. I was too overcome with the thought that we’d indeed share a bed. “Very well, sir.” Somehow I managed to keep my tone level. “Then you meet my highest requirement of all. I think we shall get along quite nicely.”

  He shifted, and his face hardened in obvious pain as he raised himself out of the hull.

  “Lie back down,” I gently urged. “I think I’m quite capable of rowing us back to shore without your help.”

  He shook his head and instead kneeled in front of me. “I want to make this official,” he said softly, his eyes melting me. Even though more blood seeped from his shoulder wound, he reached for my hand. And when he started to tug at the fingertips of my glove, I suddenly realized his intention. I tried to jerk my hand away, but he held it with a firmness that surprised me for a man in his weakened condition.

  With deliberate slowness, he rolled the glove down my arm. At the first sight of the wine-colored stain, I turned my head away, too embarrassed to face him, too afraid that I might see revulsion in his eyes again. At the soft pressure of his lips against my arm at the stain, I gasped and jerked my attention back. He gazed upon my blemish with almost reverence. As he rolled down the glove, he continued to follow with his lips, making a warm tr
ail down the length of the stain.

  I didn’t realize I’d held my breath until the glove finally came all the way off and fell into the bloody water that filled the bottom of the boat. Bennet’s kisses finished at the lower edge of the stain right above my ring finger. His last kiss lingered the longest, his eyes bright with promise and love.

  “I love every part of you,” he whispered without breaking the powerful hold of his gaze. “I would consider it my greatest blessing and honor to have your hand in marriage and to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  He’d kissed my stained flesh and hadn’t been repulsed by it. In fact, quite the opposite. He’d enjoyed kissing my arm much more than he ought to. The heated look in his eyes told me that our courtship would need to be shorter rather than longer.

  “Will you marry me, Sabine?”

  “Yes,” I breathed with a happiness that I’d never known before. “Yes. Yes. And yes again.”

  Chapter

  23

  “So this is it,” I said to Grandmother, squeezing her arm at the wide doors of the chapel. “You finally have to stop bossing me around today, now that I’ve found someone else to do your job.”

  “As if anyone could boss you,” she said wryly as she fidgeted with her elegant diamond necklace.

  “And you won’t have to resort to any more sneaking around behind my back,” I said with a sideway glance at the dear woman to whom I owed everything. If not for her conniving, I never would have met Bennet.

  Grandmother stared straight ahead at the carved doors. “I have no idea what foolishness you’re talking about. I would never resort to sneaking around.”

  “Then you weren’t the one to send a servant down to make sure Bennet and I were locked together that night in the pantry?”

  She snorted her reply.

  I smiled. “I wouldn’t doubt you’d feigned illness all that time just so that we’d have to stay.”