“That is not entirely true,” Gareth said. “You have already seen the value of a single woman. Cal is right; she may be the key to all of this.”
For some reason, that put Kevin on the defensive more than it should have and he struggled with his reaction. “If she was the daughter of a warlord, I would agree with you, but she is not. Her father is a mere merchant, so marrying her would not create an alliance of any kind.”
Gareth shrugged. “Mayhap not, but with her family so involved in the local town, she still has value,” he said. “People will know and respect her family, which would give you an advantage if you married her.”
Kevin was growing edgy. “And just how much of an advantage will it give me when they learn that her father was killed in our custody and I married his daughter? They will think I killed the father and married his daughter simply to gain a foothold. It will be seen as a conquest move.” He set his cup aside and stood up. “Bannon, you and Cal will accompany me into Pool with the lady. Gareth, you will have the command. Have the escort ready to depart within the hour.”
Before his men could really acknowledge the order, Kevin was already marching across the hall. As he spilled out into the bailey beyond, he realized he had just made a fool out of himself and he didn’t even know why.
Or perhaps he did.
It had all started when he saw her this morning.
Truth be told, he had recognized her beauty last night. There was no mistaking her shiny, silky hair and her brilliant eyes. She was wearing a dress that was scarlet in color with gold undertones, something that made her look incandescent and surreal. As he’d noticed last night, she was a fine-looking woman, finer than any woman he had ever seen. Although Kevin wasn’t a man to stare at women or even really notice them, he did have a keen appreciation for the opposite sex. He had always planned to marry well.
Perhaps that’s why his men’s words had jolted him so.
His brother had married the heiress to a great earldom. Because of that, Sean had inherited a title and vast properties. It had been an excellent match, but it had also been a love match, which was perhaps something that Kevin secretly yearned for. He had seen the way his brother looked at his wife and he hadfound himself envious. Men did not often marry for love because marriage was always seen as a way to increase one’s wealth and holdings.
Kevin was starting to think that marrying for love was more important than marrying for property. He wanted a wife whose mere presence made his heart race, a woman he could not stop thinking about from morning until night. He had heard his brother speak on such things and that was why his opinion on marriage had shifted from one of possession to one of emotion.
It was possible to love one’s wife.
Marrying a merchant’s daughter was not unattractive in and of itself as long as he had feelings for her. For him to marry for something other than wealth or property meant he would have to feel a good deal for her. All he knew was that when he saw Juliandra this morning in the light of day, she made his heart race.
He had rather liked the feeling.
Perhaps it had made such a mark upon him because he had never really met a woman who made his heart race. He had never before known the sensation. He knew it was because she was beautiful and sweet and delicate, and he liked that in a woman. She was like a fragile flower that needed his protection, and that made him feel virile and strong.
She made him feel like a man, not just a knight.
He wasn’t sure how he could explain that to others when he could hardly understand it himself.
That was why Cal’s suggestion of marriage had caught him so off guard. Up until that morning, such a suggestion would have made sense because, in fact, itwassensible. He had been avoiding using the word conquest when it came to Wybren Castle, but that was exactly what needed to happen. He had a population to conquer, or at the very least, forced into submission.
Could Juliandra be the key to all of that?
He wasn’t certain. All he knew was that it did not seem fair. He had already lied to her about her father, and his men’s suggestion that it could come back to haunt him was quite realistic. He was trying to learn about the people he was to govern, and establishing trust was part of that. In his determination to learn all he could about the locals, he had done something he would not normally do–
He had deceived.
He was using the woman he found attractive.
As he crossed the bailey towards the armory where he kept his mail and weapons, it occurred to him that his interest towards Juliandra might not end at attraction. Deep down, Kevin was emotional. He had always been the emotional type and it was something he had worked to control, so he knew he was capable of feeling as much as, if not more than, most.
What he did not know was just howmuchemotion he was capable of.
Juliandra made his heart race. That was established. But would it end at that?
He wondered.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Alittle morethan an hour after Kevin left Juliandra, she found herself riding south towards the village of Pool surrounded by a veritable gang of English soldiers. It seemed like a lot of men even though the escort couldn’t have been more than fifty soldiers, but seeing all those armed Englishmen in one place, to a Welshwoman, was intimidating. If that wasn’t bad enough, three out of Wybren’s four knights were riding escort, including Kevin.
It was a heavily armed little group.
In the brief hour that she’d spent preparing for the trip to Pool, Juliandra had time to think about her predicament. Mostly, she was disappointed that Kevin hadn’t already asked her a good may questions about the area, the warlords, and the local politics. She was hoping the sooner he had his questions answered, the sooner her father would be released. He had told her that the possibility of her remaining at Wybren up to six months was a reality, but she was hoping that wasn’t really thecase. She wasn’t exactly a prisoner, but she was fairly certain he would never let her simply walk out.
