A Knight With Grace: Book 1 of the Assassin Knights Series (3 page)

Grace glanced at the inn over his shoulder. She could see the light of a fire flickering through the shutters. She didn’t want to stay in the stable, alone, and unprotected. She didn’t want him to leave her.

“Don’t worry,“ he said softly. ”I would never let anything happen to you.” He sauntered out of the stable.

The horse whinnied behind her as she watched Curtis enter the inn.

“Check the inn!” a voice called from outside the stable.

The voice woke Grace and she sat up straight in her position in the corner of the stall. It took her a moment to remember where she was.

She stood and hurried to the door of the stable. She craned her neck to peek out. A garrison of soldiers sat atop horses in a half-moon position around the inn. She quickly backed into the stable. Her father’s men! The open door of the inn cast a glow of firelight on the blue crossed pattern overlain with a black knight crest on their tunics. It was her family crest. What was she to do? Where was Curtis? He had been in the inn for a long time. She must have dozed off, she realized. Dread filled her and she looked around the stable. Curtis’s horse and one other were in the stalls, but there was no sign of Curtis. He hadn’t come back. She would have to hide. She refused to go back to her father, to the castle. Two empty stalls completed the stable. She moved to the last stall. The stall was filled with hay.

“Look in the stable!”

Apprehension filled Grace, twisting her stomach. There was no other choice. She raced toward the corner of the stall and dug into the hay quickly. She dove into the hole she made and pulled hay down over her head and around her body so it covered her. She hoped she was covered well enough to block her body from the view of the men. She tucked her feet in, pulled her knees against her chest and tucked her skirt around her feet. She reached out and pulled more hay around her and leaned back, hoping to stay invisible to their probing gazes. They couldn’t find her! Her heart hammered in her chest. Her breath came in short gasps. She couldn’t see because of the hay and she closed her eyes to pray.

CHAPTER 5

G
race heard footsteps crunching on
the brittle hay. They stopped for a moment and then started again, coming toward her. She held her breath and didn’t move. Not an inch. She clenched her hands in the velvet fabric of her skirt and squeezed her eyes closed tightly. She couldn’t go back. She wouldn’t. Never again.

A long moment passed and she thought at any moment she would be seized and hauled from her hiding place. She waited. Her heart pounded in her chest and in her ears. Still, she waited. But no one laid hands on her and eventually the sounds of the steps moved out of the stable, fading into the distance. She let a soft sigh issue from her lips. She was still too afraid to leave her hiding spot. She was still too fearful she would be discovered. So she remained hidden. Alone. Where was Curtis?

Her hand itched as the hay scratched it, but she dared not move.

More footsteps broke the silence.

They’ve come back! They knew she was hiding in the stable and they returned for her! Grace held her breath. Tears entered her eyes.

The footsteps seemed hurried as they rushed into the stable. They moved back and forth along the aisle before the stalls. “Grace?”

She thought she recognized the voice, but then she realized it might be wishful thinking, so she remained hidden beneath the hay.

“Grace!”

She did recognize the voice! She shoved the hay from her head. “Curtis!” she gasped.

He rushed back to the stall she was in and stood in the opening as she pushed the hay away from her body. She stood up and dusted the hay from her dress. “Are they gone?”

A crooked smile settled on his lips. “You look like a wench after a tumble.”

She stepped out of the stall, gently pushing him back. “Are they gone?” She rushed to the doorway and peered out.

“They’ve gone.”

Grace whirled on him, angry and fearful. “Where were you? We should have left hours ago!”

“I’m sorry. You were right. We should not have stopped here,” Curtis agreed. He held up a small bag. “But I got bread for us.”

What had taken him so long? All that time for a bag of bread? She eyed it doubtfully, but nodded. “We should go before they come back.”

Curtis pulled his horse from the stall and helped her to mount. He swung up behind her, his arms going around her as he grabbed the reins.

Grace dusted more hay from her hair as they rode out of the stable. She noticed a dark-haired woman standing in the doorway of the inn, swaying her hips back and forth, smiling at Curtis as they passed. When Grace twisted around in the saddle to look at Curtis, she saw he wore the same smile the woman had. He nodded to the woman before spurring the horse down the road.

They stopped at the side of a small stream to rest. The sun was directly overhead, beating down through the foliage of the forest trees to dapple the leaf-covered ground.

Grace moved to the stream and bent, rinsing off her face with the cool, fresh water. They had been traveling all morning and she was hot, sore, and hungry. She sat back on her bottom. She should have felt relief and joy, but she only felt sad and lonely. She cast a glance over her shoulder.

Curtis brushed his dark hair from his eyes. He was tall and strong, a fine knight. But he had no idea how to care for her or for himself. He was too used to be sheltered inside a castle, too impulsive and self-serving. She put her hands against her forehead. What was she doing? This suddenly seemed like a very bad idea. It was too late to go back. Besides, she never would. She would run and live the life of a commoner before marrying Sir William. Yes, she was doing the right thing. The only thing she could do. Grace stood as Curtis tied the brown horse to a nearby branch. He reached into one of the bags tied to the saddle. He pulled out a small loaf of bread and took a large bite.

Grace walked over to him. “Might I have some bread?”

He opened the bag and looked inside. Then he glanced at the small piece of bread remaining in his hand. He held it out to her.

She stood for a moment, shocked. “Is that all that is left?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“You ate the rest of it?” she asked, taking the bread from his hand.

“I need to keep my strength to defend you!” he protested.

Irritation grated on her. He had eaten the bread they needed to hold them over until the next town! And she had eaten none of it. Good Lord! How selfish Curtis was! He was like a child, a boy who never thought of others. She took the offered bread and broke it in half. She gave him some. He was right. He needed his strength. She stared down at the bread in her hand. She should have been starving. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was the uncertainty of the future, but she wasn’t hungry.

He handed her a flask.

She took a sip of the warm ale and handed it back to him.

“You look pale. Are you feeling all right?” Curtis asked.

Grace looked at him in disbelief. “I’m worried. I’m frightened. I’m tired.”

“Do you want to go back?”

“Never!” she hissed. She shook her head and waved away her worry. “It’s too late. I can’t go back. And I don’t want to.” She looked at him, suspiciously. “Do you?”

“I am yours to serve,” he said with a slight bow.

“Stop it,” she admonished. “Don’t make fun of me. I want to know if you are having doubts. I need to know if you want to return to Willoughby Castle.”

He took her hands into his and looked sincerely into her eyes. “I won’t leave you, Grace. You don’t have to worry. I will only return if you want to return.”

Grace sighed softly. “Thank you.”

Curtis nodded and tugged her toward a tree. “Sit here. Rest.” He sat on the ground and leaned back against a tree. “Come rest your head on my shoulder. I will tell you of our future.”

Yes, a distraction. It was exactly what Grace needed. She sat beside him, tucking her skirt about her thighs and ankles. He opened his arms and she leaned her head against his chest.

“We shall live in the woods far from Willoughby Castle. In the fall, the leaves shall turn to a brilliant red and gold.“ He picked up a strand of her hair. ”Much the color of your locks.“

Grace closed her eyes, imagining the picture his words painted. Beautiful. Peaceful. Serene. She needed that kind of calm in her life. She desperately wanted to block everything else out.

“My father hath bequeathed a small cottage to me upon his dying bed. It is slightly north and west of Sir Breton’s lands, on the border. I grew up there. I’m sure it will need some work, as no one has lived there for years. But it will be perfect for us. It won’t be what you are used to. It is no castle.”

Grace didn’t care how small it was. She didn’t care where it was. She only cared it was not with her father. “Is there room for a garden?“

“We will plant a garden with enough food to sustain us. I shall chop wood for the fire.”

“We will have a goat. And some ducks,” Grace added. She would be with her friend. It would be a happy place.

“And my horse and sword.”

Grace nodded. “Of course.” His horse. She sighed softly. Their images of their future lives were vastly different. She still thought he imagined being a knight in a cottage. He wasn’t really thinking about a home or a garden. He was not the knight she had prayed for. She had thought he might be; she had convinced herself he could be, but she knew deep in her heart, he was not her knight. Still, he was the next best thing. And he was her friend.

“I’m sorry, Sir William, but I have not seen a woman matching that description come this way.”

William handed the inn keeper two shillings. “Thank you.” He walked toward the door. This was the only inn on the road. He didn’t think she would have come this way, too many people would have seen her. He also spoke to Captain Trenton as he rode back to the castle. The Captain assured him she had not come this way. He said they had already searched the inn. William searched anyway. Things could be overlooked and he had this feeling...

He paused at the door of the inn to glance around the room. It was almost empty, only two tables with patrons eating at them. Two men, travelers by the looks of them. It made no sense. She couldn’t have just disappeared. Had her kidnapper taken her the opposite way? Into the forest? Could his instincts be wrong? He opened the door and stepped out into the sunny day.

He glanced around the yard. His gaze fell on the stable. A dark-haired woman emerged carrying a bucket in two hands.

He moved to her and took the bucket from her. It was full of water. “Are you taking this to the inn?”

“Aye,” she said, cautiously looking him over.

He carried the bucket to the door of the inn. She hurried to step in front of him, standing rather close to him. “Aren’t you a helpful one? And so strong. Surely there is some way I can repay you.” Her smile was coy and seductive.

William stared down at her. Her teeth were brown and a front one had fallen out. He was not aroused by her in the slightest. “There is one way.” He set the bucket down.

“Oh,” she laughed low in her throat.

“Have you seen a noble woman with golden hair?”

She placed her hands on his chest and then laced them about his neck, pressing her body against his. “I see lots of noble women.”