Page 123 of The Daughters of Avalon
Giles had but needed his dispensation to give the illusion he was Stephen’s loyal man—to keep those bastards off his lands. Even now, there were ships due to arrive at his port with men enough and supplies enough to begin reconstruction—all save for the stone he must procure, and perhaps that dilemma might be solved now by speaking to the very man whose aid Rosalynde was seeking—the lord of Aldergh. The ex-king’s man had access to a sizable quarry, and it was for that reason alone he had managed to construct and maintain such a monstrosity as Aldergh. If the earl of Wallingford could hold back a siege for a year, Aldergh could do it for three.
He realized Rosalynde was still staring at him, perhaps waiting for confirmation. “Aye,” he said.
His brother, as always, was clueless. “What is she talking about, Giles?”
He turned to Wilhelm now, gauging how much he could say without betraying his oaths, and then said in jest, “I mustn’t be so dreadful with a blade, after all.” And he gave his brother a lopsided grin.
Wilhelm tilted him a look of confusion, bemused, perhaps as he should be. More than once Giles had tried to tell him thathe was not the man he believed, although if the dispatching of the Shadow Beast wasn’t proof enough, there wasn’t much more he could say—or do. And nevertheless, he could say this much: “I am sworn to protect the Holy Church from its enemies, no matter what form they take.”
Wilhelm pointed into the woods. “What was that?”
Giles shrugged, again. “That… I don’t know, brother, but this lady might enlighten us…” He returned his gaze to Rosalynde Pendragon, entreating her with a tilt of his head. “As you were saying, Lady Rosalynde… what, pray tell, is a Mordecai?”
Rosy cheeked, Rosalynde averted her gaze. “He’s my mother’s… manservant, but… I did not know…” She shook her head, and if she meant to say anything more, her words seemed disinclined to come.
Unwittingly, Giles’s attention fell upon the rip in her dress, exposing her middle to his brother’s eyes—and for the first time in his life he understood Wilhelm’s jealousy over Lady Ayleth. He didn’t wish for any man to see Rosalynde this way—not even his staid and loyal brother.
Swallowing hard, Giles walked away, returning a moment later with the cloak Rosalynde had placed in his satchel. He tossed it down beside her, and she pushed it away. “That is my mother’s,” she said. “I would not wear it lest I were dying!” And with a bit more ardor, she added, “’Tiscatskin!”
Dear God. Cat fur.
Giles grimaced in disgust.
God’s truth, the more he knew of the dispossessed lady of Blackwood, the more thoroughly he disliked her.
Removing his own cloak, he handed it down to Rosalynde, pleading wordlessly for her to cover herself, and wondering what was wrong with him that he had not offered his own cloak long before now. Was he so poor in spirit that he would only respond to a lovely face?
Thoroughly displeased with himself as much as he was with the entire situation, he turned away, commanding Wilhelm to disband their camp. “We’ll be leaving at once,” he said. And then he sighed. “This time, we’ll keep to the woodlands, out of sight of those bloody birds.”
Wilhelm nodded, and, for once, without any complaint, he rushed to do Giles’s bidding.
In the meantime, Giles returned to Rosalynde, reaching out his hand. “Would you trust me with your book, Rosalynde? I will keep it safe.” And he would. Now that he understood who and what she was, he suspected he understood why she had safeguarded the tome so jealously. “I will put it in my satchel and guard it with my life.”
The bookhe was requesting was lying beside her. For all that he was still in possession of that weapon, he might simply have taken it, simply by bending to retrieve it. After the feats Rosalynde witnessed in that glade, she would never have challenged him… But… he was asking.Nicely. And more… there seemed to be a new accord between them… a thread of familiarity… perhaps only natural after having endured such a harrowing experience.
Nodding, she reached over and lifted up thegrimoire, handing it over to him, even as her own actions confused her.
How willingly she was now proffering the one thing she’d vowed to die for.
With a nod, Giles took the book, then offered Rosalynde a hand. Alas, if she expected nothing more to come after their previous ordeal, she would have been wrong. A sudden jolt passed from his fingers as their fingers met, and yet, startled though she was, she did not pull away. Once the initial shock passed, it left her with an infusion of warmth that traveled fromthe tips of her fingers, to the very center of her being, right down to the tips of her toes. She curled them reflexively, because the sensation was so… so… evocative.
Bards crooned about love at first sight… of lords and ladies whose hearts burned as one… andthismust be how they felt.
Somehow, she sensed that he, too, must have felt it… at least so it seemed by his blink of surprise.
Bound by destiny, to destiny bound,
Another to one, and one to another...
Dizzied by the sensation, Rose wavered on her feet, until Giles caught her and steadied her. Tears sprang to her eyes, because the feeling was so intensely powerful. And nevertheless, oblivious to what was transpiring between them, Wilhelm rushed around, dutifully picking up their belongings and putting out their fire.
Only by now there was another fire burning in Rosalynde’s heart… simmering to the very depths of her soul… its heat coloring her skin until every part of her flushed.
Freely choose, or choose to be free.
As you will it, so mote it be.
Rosalynde blinked. Quite literally, she saw stars bursting before her eyes, and even as the soft, silken voice breezed through her mind, she realized what it was… She’d heard the voice only once before in her life… back in the glade… whilst the Shadow Beast held her in its talons. It was, she realized with awe, the voice of the goddess.
