Edward was exceptionally displeased at Victor’s attitude, now in the open for all to see. He cocked an eyebrow and uttered a simple phrase that would force Victor to behave himself. “No wife, no knight.”
Victor’s lips pursed irritably at the threat but he covered it quickly by draining what was in his cup. He slammed the cup back to the table, wiping his bearded mouth with the back of his hand.
“I already have a servant who has been acting chatelaine for many years,” he said, not looking at either Edward or Annavieve. “She will teach the lady what she needs to know. Now, where is the food?”
Annavieve felt as if she had been slapped in the face. It was clear that the man had no interest in her, in any fashion. He couldn’t even be polite about it. Her life of obedience was soon to be one of sorrow with an indifferent husband. She would much rather return to the convent, for at least there she was with women she considered her family. This pompous duke had no care whether she lived or died. Surely the king could see that, too. She hoped so, at least, because she intended to have a word with the man before he sealed her fate forever. Surely the king didn’t wish to consign her to a life of misery.
With a heavy heart, Annavieve was distracted from her thoughts when a servant brought around a bowl of warmed rose water for her to wash her hands with. Splashing her fingers inthe bowl, she dried them off on a piece of linen on the man’s arm. As trenchers of food began to come forth, filling the hall with smells of roasted meat, movement at the hall entry caught her attention. Facing the doorway, she could see three large men standing in the entry, now speaking with a servant who had gone to meet them.
Curious, Annavieve watched as the man in the lead, a positively enormous man with a shaved head, looked in her general direction when the servant pointed at the table where they were currently being served. Across the hazy room, she locked eyes with the massive man and, even at a distance, felt a jolt when their eyes met. Something bolted through her, like an unseen lightning strike, shocking and unexpected. There was something powerful and penetrating about the man’s gaze even across the room, an intensity that grew stronger by the moment.
Shocked, Annavieve lowered her eyes and looked back to her food. She was too confused to look at the man again, unbalanced by her response to him, for she had never felt such a thing in her entire life. Startling as it was, it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation in the least. In fact, she rather liked it, and she realized that was what disturbed her most.She liked it. More confusion ensued.
But she couldn’t dwell on it. Forcing thoughts of the massive knight aside, she focused on the succulent beef that had been placed before her. Taking the knife that had been placed next to her trencher, she cut away some of the steaming strings and tucked bits of beef into her mouth. It was delicious. As she went to cut more for herself, an enormous hand gently but firmly took the knife from her.
“Allow me, my lady,” a very deep, quiet voice spoke as a body sat down next to her. “Ladies do not cut their own meat. With all of the men at this table, I should think someone would know that.”
Startled, Annavieve looked up into the face of the man with the intense eyes and the second time their eyes met there was enough of a jolt that she was physically rocked by it. It wasn’t so much the expression on his face or the glimmer in his eyes, but more the sheer intensity of the eyes themselves. There was something very deep and mysterious behind those green eyes. There was also something exceptionally cold. When he smiled at her, politely, she had to make a conscious effort to smile in return.
“It is kind of you, my lord,” she said. “I am quite capable of cutting my own meat, however. You need not trouble yourself.”
He had already cut several small bites off the meat. “No trouble at all, I assure you,” he said. “Forgive me if I am being rude since we have not yet been introduced, but I could not stand by and watch a lady cut her own meat.”
He was very chivalrous in spite of the coldness in his eyes. Annavieve’s smile turned genuine. “You are very kind, my lord,” she said again, watching him carefully cut her meat, “but, truly, you need not inconvenience yourself so.”
Kevin pretended as if he didn’t hear her. He continued cutting her meat, leaving small, delicate, bite-sized pieces on her trencher next to the pile of boiled carrots with dill and pieces of onion. Since he was determined to do the gallant thing by helping her with her food, Annavieve stopped her protesting and simply sat politely while he began cutting up the carrots. Never in her life had she had a man tend her so carefully and it was actually quite astonishing. In less than a minute, this mysterious man had made her feel more important and respected than anyone had ever done in her entire life. Without even realizing it, the man had made her feel special as she had never felt before, ever.
As he cut the last of her carrots, Annavieve found herself inspecting him. He was extremely big, broad through theshoulder, and the simple tunic he wore strained against arms as big around as her torso. Hands the size of trenchers used the knife with skill. She knew he was also quite tall from what she had seen of him in the doorway and as she looked to his scalp, she could see that his dark blond hair was growing back in soft stubble. He had a square jaw, hard as granite, a straight nose, and those cold eyes were lovely. Aye, they were quite lovely, as was the rest of him.
“Hage!” the king suddenly cried as if just realizing who was sitting at his table. “Hage, come here. Leave the lady alone and sit with me.”
Kevin set the knife down deliberately and Annavieve swore she heard the man sigh. When he looked at her, she smiled politely.
“Thank you for your assistance, my lord,” she said.
He simply nodded his head at her, rising to his feet and stepping over the bench. Annavieve watched him go although she was trying to pretend like she wasn’t. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of him. He was polite and handsome, and simply looking at him made her heart beat strangely.Hage, the king had said. Obviously, Edward knew him. Annavieve watched, a smile playing on her lips, as the big man moved down the table, heading towards the king.
Oblivious to Annavieve’s reaction to him, although strangely disappointed that Edward had pulled him away from the stunning young woman, Kevin faced the king and his counselors at the other end of the table.
“Your Grace,” he greeted formally.
Edward shoved one of his advisors down the table, indicating for Kevin to take the man’s seat. “Please, sit,” he said, waving at the servants to bring food. “I must introduce you to my cousin, the Duke of Dorset. He is to be your new liege. Victor, may Ipresent Sir Kevin Hage, known to ally and enemy alike as the Scorpion.”
Victor, who had thus far been paying attention to one of the young and attractive male servants, now found himself facing an absolutely colossal knight. Dressed in a tunic and leather breeches, the warrior with the shaved head and intense green eyes had the look of a killer. That was Victor’s first instinct; that the man was a professional killer in every way. Victor could see it in every move he made and every breath he took, and Victor had seen enough knights in his time to know that. Instantly, he was smitten with the vision before him.
“Hage,” he greeted calmly, his eyes raking the man from head to toe. “I am to understand you are a legend.”
Kevin’s reaction was impassive. “To some I am, my lord,” he said. “To others, I am a nightmare.”
“Then you are not a humble man.”
“Should I be, my lord?”
Victor was deeply pleased with his answer. He smiled, a genuine gesture. He liked knights with an overabundance of self-confidence.
“Most definitely not,” he said. “You understand that the king has gifted you to me in service.”
“I do, my lord.”
