“I’m sorry, my lady, but no.” Sir Ceryn mounted his stallion and looked down at her, then nodded at the keep. “Please return inside, my lady. I will not leave the bailey until I see that you’re safe inside.”
Claire surveyed the two dozen men assembled and ready to rush out to meet the enemy, and she realized she was holding them up. Frustration welled up at her inability to help them, and she gathered up her skirts and inclined her head to Sir Ceryn and all the men in a manner of respect. “God be with you, sirs.” She rushed into the warmth of the keep and turned in time to witness two dozen armored men storming out of the bailey with their swords drawn.
* * *
An eerie orange glow flickered on the horizon, and Galien urged his horse to full speed and shouted for his men to follow him into the heart of Minrova. Screams and the familiar sound of clashing swords reached him, and his thoughts at once shifted to Claire. Was she safe within the fortified walls of the keep?
He struck down a man wearing Hohenzollern colors, and his men did the same as they worked their way toward the keep, felling the enemy as they took the assailants by surprise. Judging by the way many of the Hohenzollern deserters staggered to hold their swords, they must have imbibed too manyspirits before committing the folly of attacking Minrova. The cowards had evaded Galien and his men for days, until they found a fresh trail leading in the direction of the village in the late afternoon. They’d ridden hard for hours hoping to reach Minrova in time to assist the men Sir Ceryn commanded in Galien’s absence.
Galien surveyed the village during a lull in action and counted five blazes, but the villagers were bravely working to extinguish the flames, and two of the fires were nearly put out. The recent snow kept the deliberately set fires from spreading between buildings, and he moved on through the horde with his men following his lead, striking down every Hohenzollern man who dared cross their path, and riding down those who attempted to flee into the forest. Galien had no mercy for these assailants. “Kill them all!” he shouted over the clashing of weapons. “Take no prisoners!”
Halfway through the village Sir Ceryn rode up with his sword drawn and turned his horse to trot beside Galien. “The keep? Has it been breached?”
“No, my lord. All in the keep are well, including your lady wife. We rode out of the bailey while the Hohenzollern men were still setting the fires, and none of them managed to climb the walls or breach the portcullis. They were ill prepared to fight.”
Galien thanked Sir Ceryn, and the men swept through the village carefully in search of any remaining attackers. The few they found offered little resistance were easily felled, and once the village was secured and Galien assessed the danger had passed, he helped to douse the flames of the last two fires, heaping snow atop the diminishing flames until only ribbons of smoke remained to whirl into the dark sky.
His heart slowed from its erratic pounding and he rode for the keep with his men, anxious to hold his sweet Claire in his arms. The Hohenzollern men had obviously lured Galien out of Minrova with the first fires they set, and the cowards had misjudged the capacity of Minrova to defend itself even in his absence. Galien was confident Sir Ceryn would have prevailed over the assailants, but he was still glad to have ridden into the village at the height of the attack. His people were safe, his men were safe, and most important of all, his lady wife hadn’t been harmed. He hoped the ordeal hadn’t frightened her too much.
After passing his horse off to a squire, Galien strode into the keep, his heavy armor clinking against his chainmail. “Claire!” He searched the great hall and found no one, and he rushed upstairs to their chambers, only to find it just as empty. The blankets were pulled up tight on the bed, and the room appeared tidy except for Claire’s open trunk and a pair of slippers in the middle of the floor. He frowned as his concern deepened. “Claire!” Had Sir Ceryn erred in his report? Had some of the Hohenzollern men managed to breach the keep after all?
Galien searched every wing and bellowed his wife’s name, and he rushedto the great hall after it became apparent that no one, not even a servant, was to be found in any corner of the keep. His men searched about the keep as well, shouting for someone,anyone,to make their presence known. Beyond the kitchen and near the storage rooms, he paused at a door in the dimly lit hallway. The shrill sound of a crying infant had him flinging the door open.
“Claire?”
He blinked and stared into the blade of a knife, and his gaze traveled beyond the weapon to the blue-eyed beauty grasping it between shaking hands. “Claire.” He reached for her hands and lowered the knife, then drew her into his embrace. She threw her arms around him and shuddered, and behind her many of the servants waited in the shadows, anxiously peering out the open door. A servant girl rocked and cooed her wailing child.
“I’ve been calling your name, wife. Why didn’t you answer?”
“I’m sorry. We couldn’t hear much on account of the baby. Are you all right?” She pulled back and her gaze swept up from his feet to his head, and back down again.
“I am fine. All my men are safe as well. We tracked the bloody Hohenzellorn men in a long circle through the forest that led back to Minrova. They are all dead. They won’t hurt anyone else again.” He stared at the ladies, servants, and children in the storage room. “All is well. You may come out now,” he shouted over the baby’s cries.
He escorted Claire to their chambers and called for the servants to bring up a bath. His squires removed his armor and made a hasty retreat, and Galien bolted the door before turning to his wife, a fervent longing for her mixing with his relief at finding her safe, and amusement at discovering her armed and protecting the women and children of the keep, just as she’d done at Hohenzollern.
“Where did you get the knife?” he asked, nodding at the weapon she’d placed on a table next to his sword belt.
“I swiped it from the kitchen,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips. “I used to have a larger one with a bejeweled handle, but a beast of a man made me drop it.”
He grinned and backed her against the bed and worked her dress open and pushed it down over her shoulders. “A beast of a man? Is that so?” he asked, biting the soft lobe of her ear.
“Oh!” she said, reaching for him as a shiver rippled through her. “Aye, my lord, the beast made me drop my knife, and then he stole me out of a castle and forced me to marry him.”
“Forced you to marry him?” he asked with a mock gasp.
“Aye, and he spanked me for resisting him on our wedding night.”
“I’m sure he had a very good reason to redden your little arse, Claire.”
She trembled as she stood before him in her thin chemise, the taut peaks of her breasts tenting the sheer fabric. He cupped her mounds and squeezed,thinking her size had increased as he trailed kisses down her neck when her head fell to the side. She moaned and her hips lurched toward his, her center pressing hard against his straining cock.
“Tell me,” he said. “Does your story have a happy ending?”
She smiled against his lips after he kissed her. “Aye, my lord. The ending is most romantic. You see, the beast conquered my heart, and likewise I conquered his. We love each other very much.” She placed his hand on her stomach, her eyes lighting up the room. “And soon we will have a child together, our first of many, I hope.”
Excitement abounded in his heart, and he clutched her face and kissed her again. “Are you certain?” He returned his hand to her stomach, rubbing in a circle.
“Aye, my lord, I am quite certain. I just realized it myself not long after you rode off in search of the Hohenzollern men. I haven’t bled in two months, and I feel different.”
