by Denise Lynn
The distinct snap of a twig in the forest broke through the haze of desire swirling around her. Instantly, Elrik pushed her to the ground, covering her with his body right before she heard the twang of a bowstring being released and the whoosh of an arrow flying no more than inches above them to thud into the trunk of a tree right behind them.
‘Find him!’ Elrik shouted at his already moving men as they crashed deeper into the darkening forest.
‘Not again.’ Avelyn groaned at the thought of once again being forced to flee someone seeking to kill her.
‘What do you mean, not again?’ Elrik pushed off of her and rose. Standing over her, he asked, ‘This has happened before?’
Light from the fire flickered across his face. If his brusque tone hadn’t alerted her to his irritation, the hard frown narrowing his eyes to glittering slits would have made it clear.
She looked away, nodding. ‘Yes.’
‘When?’
‘A few days after I set off on my own.’
Avelyn flinched at the nearly growled curses escaping his mouth before he asked, ‘And you didn’t think that important enough to mention?’
Now she understood why people feared him. There was no leniency in his tone, nor in his cold gaze or unyielding stance. This was not the same man who mere heartbeats ago kissed her until her senses swirled. He reminded her of the men at her father’s keep, the ones who thought nothing of quelling their anger by using their fists on someone weaker and smaller. She’d found herself on the receiving end of their ire a time or two and now, to her horror, her lower lip quivered, but knowing better than to ignore his question, she shakily answered, ‘No, I never—’
‘Stop!’ His shout cut off her reply. When she turned away, hoping to avoid what could possibly be the strongest fists she’d ever encountered, he reached down to grasp her hand and pulled her to her feet. ‘Don’t you dare think to appease me with tears, it will only make things worse.’
‘I was not trying to... I would never...’ She paused to catch her breath and swiped a hand across her damp cheeks. ‘I am not crying.’
‘Good.’ He stroked a thumb beneath her eyes. Instead of making any comment about the tears he’d wiped away, he said, ‘Now tell me what happened. From the beginning.’
She blinked at his now mild tone. That was it? His tirade was over? No blows, no slaps or further shouting? She looked up at him, warily meeting his stare.
He shook his head and sighed. ‘Because I encounter it so often, it is easy for me to recognise fear on another’s face. I know not what you have experienced at your father’s keep, but I do know Brandr and his men.’ He placed a hand over his heart. ‘Avelyn, I swear to you neither I, nor my men, will ever bring you harm.’
Unable to find the words to express her uncertainty, or relief, she could only nod her acceptance of his vow. Besides, if they were less than a day’s ride from King David, he would be rid of her soon. She frowned at the twinge of pain that thought caused.
Elrik waved towards the log they’d sat on earlier. ‘Come, sit and tell me what has happened since you left your father’s protection.’
Once seated, she began. ‘I didn’t take enough food with me, so I ran through my supplies in the first two days.’
‘How did you eat after that?’
‘I think it was the third evening when I saw a few loaves of bread cooling in a cottage window and I stole the smallest one.’ She shrugged away her guilt. ‘Some drunken sot tried to stop me, but he tripped over a rut in the road, so I got away.’
‘That’s probably the man they say you killed in Duffield.’
‘No!’ Avelyn jumped to her feet. ‘No, I killed no one. He was still cursing at me after he landed on the ground. I swear he was alive.’
Elrik pulled her back down on to the log. ‘I didn’t think you did.’
Images of the murderer who’d been caught and punished at her childhood village flashed through her mind, making a tremor of dread flash down her spine. ‘Why would you think that when you have only known me a few days? How will I convince anyone of my innocence? Dear Lord, what will they do to me?’
‘Hush. You worry for nothing. Logic says it wasn’t you. Why would anyone trying to escape her family kill a man over a loaf of bread when it would needlessly draw attention? You don’t seem to be that foolish.’
Another thought crossed her mind. ‘Even had I killed someone, how would anyone have known it was me?’
Elrik chuckled. ‘You didn’t believe your father would allow you to escape without sending someone to bring you back, did you? They followed you into England before Brandr went to King David for assistance.’
After giving her a few moments to mull over his explanation, he prompted, ‘What happened after that?’
Avelyn sighed. ‘The next day I wasn’t as lucky. But the following afternoon I joined the others at the castle gates waiting for scraps.’
‘Which castle?’
She shrugged. ‘A big one?’
Instead of chastising her for not knowing, he asked, ‘Did any of the others comment about your presence?’
‘No. The village was so large that I doubt if any could say who lived there or who didn’t.’
‘Likely it was the Earl of Derby’s keep.’
‘Perhaps. If so, someone needs to tell him to take better care of his people. The child I gave most of my share to looked as though she hadn’t eaten in days.’
‘I’ll be sure to tell him, the next time we meet in battle.’
His mocking comment gave her pause. ‘Are we in enemy lands?’
‘You have been in King Stephen’s domain since you stole that loaf of bread. Did you not take that into consideration when you decided to travel south?’
‘No.’ She honestly hadn’t. ‘I knew I had to watch out for thieves and murderers, so I kept off the main roads. But other than that concern, I wanted only to reach the coast, so I gave it little thought.’
‘You should consider yourself lucky.’
‘Not in the least. After all, I did get caught.’
‘Yes, you did. At great risk to myself, I might add.’
She glanced up at him to gauge his mood and caught the twitch of his lips. He was teasing her. ‘You needn’t have put yourself in such a dangerous situation, not for a mere woman.’
‘More than just a mere woman.’ He nudged her shoulder. ‘A king’s great-granddaughter.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Avelyn waved her hand in the air with a flourish, as if to brush off her lapse in memory. ‘I forgot.’
‘What happened after you begged at the gates?’
‘I found an unguarded, falling down and blessedly empty stable to spend the night in and started out again the next morning. That afternoon I was resting against a tree when an arrow landed a hairsbreadth from my nose in the trunk. It sent me running until I could run no more. After that, I found my way to the village inn where you found me.’
Elrik frowned. ‘Brandr’s archers wouldn’t have missed twice.’
‘So, who is it, then, if not one of my father’s men?’
‘All I know is that King David hinted at someone seeking to bring you harm.’
Avelyn swallowed the lump of fear forming in her throat. ‘You mean my death.’
‘It would serve no purpose for your father to have you killed. He would stand to lose much.’
‘Then who?’ It wasn’t as if anyone could profit from her demise.
Elrik shrugged. ‘Bolk, perhaps.’
‘Bolk!’ Shock that he would try such a thing caused her tone to rise.
Elrik looked at her, one eyebrow hitched up in question. ‘And now you are insulted that the man you wish not to wed might not want you either?’
‘No. That isn’t what I find surprising. I would be pleased should he not wish to make me his wife. But to kill me
rather than cancel whatever agreement he has with my family is a little drastic.’
‘You have no way of knowing how much it might cost him to do so. Perhaps having you meet an unfortunate end might prove less costly. Or maybe it isn’t Bolk. It could be someone who wants their own connection to the man and considers you nothing but an obstacle who needs to be removed.’
She hadn’t wanted to rush to King David’s court, but now it might be the best option for her safety. ‘Do you think that if King David can be persuaded to set aside this marriage that whoever is after me will give up their chase?’
‘There is no way of telling. But you can’t rely on King David’s decision being in your favour.’
Her heart sank at the thought of still being forced to wed Bolk. Especially after she’d gone through so much to escape the marriage. ‘Well, then I suppose I will have to find a way to convince him.’
The stomp of booted feet as the men returned to the clearing put a halt to their discussion. Unfortunately, they were alone.
Elrik rose, asking the obvious, ‘He got away?’
‘Yes,’ Samuel answered.
Fulke added, ‘There’s more than one. We found a spot further up the road where three or four horses had rested, probably in readiness to escape.’
Elrik glanced up at the stars starting to dot the sky. ‘It is too late to try following them. Be on alert in case they double back.’
Instead of both taking up their earlier positions along the edge of the road, the men split up. Samuel went to the back of the clearing, patrolling along the edge of the woods, while Fulke returned to his position along the road.
Elrik looked down at her. ‘You might want to get some sleep. We leave at the first light of day.’
His suggestion worked like some odd spell, because all at once exhaustion settled over her. Avelyn yawned as she rose to return to her bed of blankets. ‘And you?’
He followed her to the makeshift pallets. Pulling his bed roll closer to hers, he answered, ‘Will be right here.’
But instead of stretching out beneath the covers as she did, he sat up on his bed watching, his gaze sweeping every inch of the trees and bushes surrounding the clearing.
Did he expect her would-be murderer to return? What if they did?
Avelyn rolled over to face out towards the clearing.
Would she be lucky enough to avoid their arrow a third time?
She pulled the cover over her head. While she wished not to wed Bolk, she didn’t wish to escape her fate by dying.
Not yet.
There was too much left to discover, too many other things she wanted to experience.
Even though these last thirty or so days and nights had been fraught with danger and hunger, they had been wondrous.
She’d never been on her own, or away from home by herself before and she rather enjoyed the freedom. To walk alongside rushing streams, take her boots and stockings off to splash her bare feet in the icy water without anyone admonishing her to behave like a lady, made her feel like a carefree child once again.
Even her time with Hannah and the others at the inn had been an experience to cherish. Strangers had offered her not just shelter from the unending rain, but food and companionship.
Her father would consider the women nothing but whores beneath his contempt. His own actions would have no place in his opinion.
She, on the other hand, had found them to be kind and more compassionate than anyone she knew under her father’s roof. They reminded her of the women from her childhood village—doing what they had to do to see to the welfare of their families.
She saw no shame in their actions, not when the coin gained went to put food in the bellies of their children.
How could that be considered sinful? Would it not have been more of a crime to let the children starve?
Unable to breathe easily in the close confines under her cover, Avelyn pulled it off her head and once again rolled over to study Elrik.
A flush raced up her neck to heat her cheeks. Had she not run away, she would not have experienced her first kiss. And, oh, what an experience that had turned out to be.
No, those after her could not be allowed to succeed—she wanted to know a man’s touch before she died.
She studied the line of his stubble-covered jaw. Intent on the task of guarding her, the hard, immobile planes of his face appeared carved in stone.
She quelled the sudden urge to soothe the hardness from his jawline, to run a fingertip over the fullness of his lower lip, to trace the barely perceptible crookedness of his nose and to smooth away the deep frown line between his dark brows.
More desperately, she fought to quell the desire for him to provide her first experience of a man’s touch.
With a choked breath she pulled the covers off her shoulders. His gaze swept the clearing once more and came to rest on her before hiking his brows up into an unspoken question.
Avelyn wondered if a stroke of his hand would feel as hot.
‘Elrik?’
He shook his head. ‘No.’
No? Did he possess the ability to read her mind? ‘I haven’t asked you anything.’
His lips twitched up into a half-smile. ‘It requires no magical power to know what thoughts tease your mind. The night air is cool.’ He paused to nod at her. ‘Yet you’ve thrown your cover aside. The heaviness in your gaze is not from lack of sleep and, if I am not mistaken, the shimmer covering your forehead is not from a fever.’
He again shook his head. ‘No, Avelyn. Go to sleep.’
‘But...’ She let her complaint trail off, uncertain what to say. He wasn’t wrong, she did long for him, for his touch, his kiss, for things she’d only heard about and not yet tasted herself.
He rose and stepped close to crouch down beside her. ‘Don’t misunderstand me.’ He traced one fingertip along her cheek. ‘I would like nothing more than to gather you close and spend the night discovering all of your secrets. But, Avelyn, you are not mine and I will not use you in such a manner.’ Elrik pulled the cover back up to her chin and tucked it down around her shoulders. ‘Go to sleep and leave these thoughts alone, save them for another time, another man.’
* * *
From his position at the edge of the road, Elrik glanced up at the sky. Daylight was beginning to break through the thinning clouds. Soon it would be light enough to start out on the last leg of their journey. Tonight they would all be sleeping in a bed instead of on the hard ground. Even a pallet in the hall at King David’s court would provide more comfort than they’d found these last several nights. He wondered at his strange longing for comfort—either he was getting old, or he needed to get as far away from Avelyn as quickly as possible.
Just being around her was making him long for things he’d given no thought to for more years than he could remember.
Odd things, like the comfort of a bed. He turned to look at her. And even odder things, like the gentle voice, the soft touch that only a woman could offer.
Elrik groaned. Yes, it was most definitely time to hand her over to King David. Why then did the thought of doing so make him ache with loss?
He slapped at a non-existent spot of dirt on his thigh, before heading across the clearing to shake her shoulder.
‘Avelyn, wake up.’
She bolted upright. ‘What!’
Laughing at her surprise, he motioned towards the sky. ‘It’s time to get up.’
‘But I just fell asleep.’
That wasn’t quite true, she’d fallen into a fitful slumber nearly the moment he’d bid her to go to sleep. Although, from the amount of tossing and turning she’d done all night, she probably felt as if she’d slept mere moments. ‘I am sure you feel that way, but it is nearly daylight.’
Other than a quick nod, she gave no comment, a sign that she was either upset with his refusal
last night or embarrassed by her desire. Either way it made no difference as by day’s end they would not be alone in each other’s company, they would be surrounded by a court drowning in curiosity.
It took little time to break their fast, see to morning necessities and clear camp. Samuel and Fulke worked quickly, seemingly as eager to end this journey as he. The only one in their party who tended to linger was Avelyn and, while he understood her reluctance to make haste, every moment out in the open put her in danger.
Elrik secured the rolled-up bedding to her saddle and held out his hand. ‘Come, we need to be on our way.’
She stared at him a few moments, a question furrowing her brow, but finally accepted his assistance on to the saddle without saying a word.
Once he was certain she was secure, he paused and looked up at her, waiting silently for her to meet his gaze before saying, ‘I truly wish things could be different between us, but they can’t. I am not sorry to have met you, or to have kissed you, Avelyn. I am only sorry that I have upset you by doing so.’
She tentatively reached out, before sighing, then cupping his cheek. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for. I only wish there were many more miles between here and King David, that is all.’
He couldn’t resist turning his head into her touch and placing a kiss against her palm. Then, regretfully, stepped away to mount his own horse.
Elrik led the group from the clearing. They rode in a tight formation, Samuel and Fulke guarding not just his back, but also Avelyn’s. Nothing was going to happen to her while in his care. He and his men would be more vigilant now that he knew just how closely danger lurked.
It took a little while, but eventually Avelyn’s distress eased, letting her appreciate the warmth of the sun upon her face, the light breeze ruffling her hair and the company of the men riding in front and behind her.
Samuel and Fulke talked quietly of nothing important between them. Unimportant to her—things like needing a good bath, or getting the time to clean their armour.
Wondering how far it was to the village, she called out, ‘Lord Elrik?’
