Joanna Davis - Knights In Shining Armor Read Online Free Page B

future.
     

Three
     
     
                 
     
                  Emeline pinned a bland smile to her face and plaited her hair into a interwoven braid. She put on a clean, practical dress of bright green wool and squared her shoulders. She would not respond to anything he did or said to provoke her. And he was trying to provoke her. He had to be. For what reason she had no idea. Why else would he have said… Surely he wouldn't actually do any of those things he said he would do?
                  She thought again about her Aunt Annabelle in the Scottish Highlands. It had been many years since she had seen her elderly aunt. At her own wedding in fact. Perhaps she could go there when she left. She looked around her room. Once her people were settled she would find a way to leave. But it must be before next Michealmas. That gave her almost a half year to make arrangements. She didn't truly believe he would harm her. But he didn't have to.
                  Watching him wed another would hurt enough.
                  She sighed and stared out the window, absentmindedly fingering her necklace. She stopped suddenly, realizing what she was doing. If he saw it… he would know she still harbored feelings for him. He would have a good laugh, knowing she had cared for him all this time while he had let her slip so easily from his mind. Him knowing was more than she could bear. So long as he didn't know how deeply he was hurting her, she could hold her head high and ignore his barbs.
                  She pulled the chain over her head and stared at the simple gold ring that hung from it. With unnecessary force, she threw it into the fire, where the coal embers were still glowing faintly from last nights fire.
                  She watched as it was swallowed up by the soot.
                  Now he would never know.
     
     
     
     
    **********
     
     
     
     
                  Rowan walked through the Castle courtyard. There were servants everywhere this morning. Young, old, men and women,  though very few guards appeared. One of the men told him that they had deserted one by one after the death of their master. He'd been a hard man apparently, and had hired men of the same ilk. Men without loyalty or honor.
                  Rowan frowned, wondering if that included his treatment of his young bride. Perhaps he'd been cruel to her. Or beaten her. Or forced her to his bed. Not that she hadn't had a say in the matter. After all, she had already promised herself to another. To him.
                  He might have been a mere mister from inauspicious beginnings but he'd had more will and determination than a hundred high born young men combined. He would have provided well for her, even if it took him a little time. He'd been unstoppable once he joined the Royal Arms. At first he'd had something to prove. Over time though, he'd strove for something different.
                  Revenge.
                  He had known in his heart that this time would come. That a day would arrive when he'd have the advantage over her. When she needed him for something. This particular scenario was one he had never dared to imagine. But he'd had many fantasies about how his soldiering would bring him to her attention. That she would regret what she'd done. Everything he'd dreamt of had finally come to pass.
                  Today.
                  He had slept poorly the night before, tossing and turning. Now that he'd made his decision he could do little but plan his attack with military precision. He meant to have her and he would. There was nothing she could do to gainsay him. She was merely a woman, while he was a man and her lord and master. He'd tell her tonight after dinner, he decided with a smile.
                  He'd even be a considerate lover, and make sure she was well satisfied.