Page 20 of Knight of Darkness
“One m-more m-moment, please.” Her tone was soft and he was unsure if she now stammered because she was in truth cold or from her ordeal.
“Are you decent?”
“Of c-course!” she said a little too loud.
Wymar whirled around and gathered his cloak he had left on a nearby rock. Strolling toward the bank, he saw Ceridwen sitting upon a boulder hugging herself and rocking back and forth. He came before her assessing her situation. Decision made, he took hold of one of her hands and yanked her up. Before she could protest, he placed his cape upon her shoulders, took her place upon the boulder, and then pulled her into his lap. His hands briskly attempted to rub some warmth back into her.
“N-Norwood, t-this is h-highly inappropriate!”
“The way you are shivering I assumed you were cold,” he said whilst continuing his administrations. “Stop fussing and let me help warm you.”
She stopped squirming upon his lap but he could still feel her quivering after several minutes.
“I cannot seem to stop shaking,” she at last admitted.
“With good reason, Ceridwen,” Wymar murmured pulling his cloak closer about her. He pushed her head down upon his shoulder expecting her to protest yet she did not do so.
“I have not given you leave to call me by my given name.” Her hushed tone pulled at Wymar in a way he never thought possible by a woman he barely knew.
“Given all that we have been through, you and I, you should call me Wymar at least whilst we are alone. I would not think the effort should inconvenience you overly much.”
“’Tis not a matter of inconvenience but more of what is proper.”
He gave a short laugh that ended with a snort. “Proper? You go to war dressed as a man and you are worried we are not being proper by calling one another by our first names?”
“I see your point,” she said raising her head to gaze upon him.
He watched her for several minutes whilst he pondered what she was thinking. “Do you?”
“Aye, I do.”
“At least we have something to agree upon.”
“My thanks for saving me this eve, Nor… Wymar.” She reached up and her fingers brushed along the stubble of his beard before she cupped his cheek.
He shivered at her touch for ’twas most unexpected. He was even more surprised when she leaned toward him. She hesitated but an instant before she placed a chaste kiss upon his lips. She must have realized the inappropriateness of her impulsive gesture for just as suddenly as her kiss had occurred, she jumped from his lap and began to leave the river’s side.
“I should not have done that,” she tossed over her shoulder as she climbed up the bank.
“Ceridwen,” he called to her.
“Here is your mantel,” she answered, barely looking at him as she tossed the garment into his face.
He whipped it away and reached for her hand. ’Twas then he saw her tears cascading down her cheeks when she raised her face to meet his. “Tears on so fierce a warrior as you?” he teased her gently as he wiped them away with his thumb. He hoped the words would spark her indignation. Surely that would be enough to distract her from her sadness and fear. But to his dismay, her tears did not abate.
“I am a woman before all else and even I can have a moment of weakness.” She turned away from him even though he did not let her go.
“You are hardly weak, Ceridwen. In fact, I have never met another woman with the courage to enter battle as you have done.”
“But I was weak back there,” she shouted pointing toward the river. “I should never have kissed you, let alone gone into the woods without my guards to protect me.”
“Are you truly crying over such a little kiss or are you more upset with yourself for what almost happened to you?” he questioned. He turned her around and saw the anguish upon her visage.
“Perchance all of it! I do not make it a habit of kissing men, I assure you.”
He tried to make light of the situation. “I never assumed you did with the meager sampling you gave me. ’Twas not the kiss of an experienced woman.”
“’Tis not the first time I have been kissed.” She defiantly lifted her chin as though to prove the truth of her words.
