Page 4 of A Knight To Call My Own
“But me laird, the clan needs ye!” Connor interjected loudly.
“Needs, me?” Ian ran his hand through his hair whilst his eyes raked the two Scots afore him. He let out his heavy breath. “Aye, I suppose they may at that, but Urquhart has not been a home to me for many a year. I will not be told I must needs marry some lass I know not, just to appease the elders of a clan who did not claim me as their kin! I will not be used as some bargaining tool, just to bring peace between our neighbors.”
Ian stood and strode to the hearth where he rested his arm on the mantel. Staring into the red glowing embers of the fire, the image of a fair young lassie with flowing blonde hair came to the forefront of his mind. Her name whispered across his memories.Lynet. Just thinking her name brought a smile to his face whilst he remembered the innocent lass he had left behind. These memories were unexpected, and yet, with thoughts of her, they became welcoming all the same. If he must take a wife, why could it not be her? At least the decision would be one of his own choosing.
“Ye will come?” Angus asked with hope ringing in his voice.
Such a question startled Ian to think his face must have shown his answer afore he could verbally give it. “Aye, I will return home,” he began, but held up his hand to halt any further words from Angus who clamped his mouth shut with a snap. “I must needs travel south to Berwyck first, for I have a matter to resolve there. You may travel with us. Be prepared to leave come the morn.”
The two Scots left their group and went back to their ale, whilst Turquine and Taegan returned to their sport. Thomas took a seat next to Ian. They each grabbed their tankards and took a long pull then wiped their mouths in unison with their sleeves.
“She may not wish to marry you, you know, especially after the note you recently sent her,” Thomas offered.
Ian was taken aback. “How did you know where my thoughts were leading?”
Thomas shrugged. “What other reason would take you to Berwyck? Besides, I was of Amiria’s guard, if you care to remember. ’Twas not hard to miss the infatuation a certain young girl had for her sister’s captain.”
Ian grinned at Thomas’s words and continued to drink his fill. Confident Lynet still cared for him, he turned his attention to the food laid out afore them and began to eat with a hunger he had not known he even had. As he enjoyed what was left of the eve, it never occurred to him the lady herself might not be all that pleased with his offer of making her his wife.
Chapter Three
Lynet rushed across the outer baily, clutching the herbs the castle’s healer, Kenna, had asked her to fetch. She had taken extra care to ensure they had been crushed completely in the mortar she still held, and, with other needed ingredients, she had formed the concoction into a sticky paste. ’Twas a procedure she had executed many times over the past six years whilst under Kenna’s tutelage. She could have performed such a task with her eyes closed. Knowing who the recipient was to receive her administrations caused her to run faster to reach his side.
She saw a group surrounding his body when she neared the lists. He barely looked injured, for he sat propped up against a tall oak as though he had not a care in the world. ’Twas not ’til she drew closer that she saw the grimace on his face. Unable to miss the injury to his arm, Lynet gave him a small grin for reassurance and plunked herself down near his feet. Peeking at him through lowered lashes, she saw he watched her every move. Still…she was unsure if he was appearing ill from the wound or the berating he was receiving from the company around him.
“You fool, Rolf!” Amiria yelled shaking her fist at him. She returned her sword to its sheath afore she continued her tirade. “How could you be so careless?”
“Bested by a woman!” Bertram interjected with a laugh, as others joined in on the merriment. “He will not live this one down anytime soon.”
Fletcher leaned forward into the circle to confront the man who was currently in the process of cursing at his fellow guardsmen. “I hope whatever you were thinking on was of great worth. You will be working double time in the lists come your recovery.”
Rolf’s gaze flew to Lynet’s. “’Twas of the greatest worth,” he replied with a hushed tone.
She tried to hide her surprise at the gentleness of his words, whilst he looked upon her searching her face. Someone cleared his throat, allowing her time to tear her attention from Rolf’s sea-green eyes and begin unfolding cloth to use as a bandage. She could see a foot being tapped impatiently in her peripheral vision, its owner trying to gain her notice.
Lynet was not sure she should dare ignore such an unspoken plea. Raising her face, she saw her liege lord towered over her with a mighty frown that could only be meant for her. Arm’s folded over his massive chest, she saw his anger brewing in his fierce demeanor whilst it simmered there at a low boil ready to erupt. He held his rage in check, but ’twas only just below the surface of the calming hand of his wife who tried to placate him, if such a feat was humanly possible. He was not called the Devil’s Dragon without reason. How her sister Amiria was able to tame such a beast was still a mystery to her, but perchance they balanced one another. ’Twas apparent by the glare he leveled upon her, however, that she had once more infuriated this man looming above her.
“We will have speech, Lynet,” Dristan demanded of her.
“But, my lord…Rolf needs tending.”
“Kenna will see to it.”
Amiria’s voice reached out to her husband. “Perhaps, now is not the time, Dristan.”
“’Tis well past time if you dare ask me,” he bellowed, whilst his gaze swept the men who lazily stood about, as if they had time to spend at their leisure nothing better to do. “Well? There is training that must needs be attended to, lest you would care to continue well into the eve, instead of fill your cups with ale when the call to sup is announced!”
The men scattered like fallen leaves taken up in disarray from the force of a wild and gusty wind. With one last pleading look at her sister’s retreating form, Lynet rose, wiping her hands on the apron tied at her waist. No help would be found this day from her sibling. Dristan took her elbow firmly in his hand, and she all but ran to keep up with him. He led her to a garden bench, but she chose to stand her ground when she faced him. He was not pleased. In no way could she misinterpret his mood.
She watched, as he struggled to keep his fury under control. Apparently, her face once more exposed more of her thoughts than she would have liked, since she knew without a doubt she had erred yet again. “Rolf is a good man,” she declared softly, for she knew where this conversation was leading.
Dristan’s voice cracked like thunder in his frustration. “Aye, he is a good man but one who has nothing but the strength of his arm to offer you.”
Lynet shrugged. “Mayhap, that is all I am in need of.”
“You know nothing, Lynet, of what you are in need of. He is but my vassal. As such, Rolf is subject to the laws I set in place.”
“I thought he was your friend, or am I mistaken?”
