A Knight With Grace: Book 1 of the Assassin Knights Series (6 page)

She slept little that night, fitfully tossing and turning. Having come up with no plan for her future, despite her praying, she remained in the cottage when morning came. She paced, desperately trying to come up with a plan of escape.

The sun was high overhead when William called to her, “Lady Grace. Are you hungry?”

She rubbed her stomach. Yes. She was hungry! She and Curtis had eaten very little on their trip. She hesitantly moved to the open doorway, her hunger overriding her caution. She had to keep her strength up for the coming ordeal.

Sir William stood over a small fire, roasting something on a spit.

Grace lifted her chin, debating whether to refuse him. But the smell of the meat made her mouth water and she left the safety of the cottage to approach the campfire.

He didn’t look at her as she approached. He bent to turn the spit.

She sat across the fire from him where she could observe him while pretending to look at the food. His dark hair hung in waves to his shoulders. He knelt on one knee, the other bent before him. He wore a simple green tunic and black leggings. His sword was strapped to his waist.

He reached across to her, holding out a small loaf of bread.

She took it with a mumbled, “Thank ye.” She told herself to go slow as she bit into it. She didn’t know when she would eat next. The bread was fresh and flavor erupted in her mouth. Her eyes almost rolled in enjoyment. She finished the loaf in only a moment. It was delicious!

“I thought he kidnapped you, but I see I was wrong.”

Grace lifted her gaze to him. “Why would you think Curtis kidnapped me?”

“Your father told me.”

Her father thought she was kidnapped? Maybe he would be relieved she was safe. Maybe... But she didn’t think so.

“When you disappeared, your father was concerned. You are lady of Willoughby Castle. You would make for a fine ransom.”

Ransom? That had never been their plan. She and Curtis were going to build a future together. She shook her head and looked back at the spit and the meat William was roasting. It looked like rabbit. “I paid Curtis to take me away.”

William snapped his gaze to her in surprise, raking her from head to toe thoughtfully. “You must have been very desperate to get out of the marriage.”

It wasn’t just the marriage. She wanted to be away from her father. “We were going to make a home here.”

His gaze shifted to look at the cottage before turning back to her. “It didn’t occur to you that this would be the very first place your father would look?”

She opened her mouth and then closed it. It hadn’t.

“It must not have occurred to Sir Curtis, either. Although any soldier would know that.”

“What are you saying?” Grace demanded.

William shook his head. “Just that if I were taking the woman I loved away...”

She straightened and corrected him by declaring, “He was my friend.”

“Pardons. If I were taking my friend away, I would go to a place that had no connection to me. If someone was trying to find you, home would be the first place to look. Next, any relations. Aunts, cousins. Seems suspicious to me, that’s all. Why would he bring you to the first place he knew they would look?”

Grace scowled. She stared down at her slippered feet. “Perhaps he didn’t know they were going to search here. His father died a long time ago. He said he left this cottage to him.”

“He grew up here.”

Grace nodded. “Yes. But he had not been here for some time.” She scowled and raised her gaze to him. “You shouldn’t belittle a dead man. It is dishonorable.”

“I am not belittling him. I am simply pointing out facts. Once I found out his name, Sir Curtis Mortain, he was easy to find.
You
were easy to find.”

Easy to find, her mind repeated. Curtis would never have wanted her to be found! This was to be their home. They had talked about the garden and... Why would he bring her to his family home? Doubt plagued her and this made her angry. “Your logic doesn’t make sense. Curtis had nowhere else to go. This was a good choice. I mean... why would Curtis have wanted my father to find me? He would have been thrown in the dungeon!”

William’s gaze shifted to the rabbit. He cut off a piece of meat with his dagger and handed it to her. “You said you paid him. How much?”

She stared at the rabbit he offered, her anger outweighing her hunger. Curtis would never have brought her here if he knew her father would find them! Would he? “It doesn’t matter.”

William lowered the rabbit. “But it does. He was a young knight. If you had paid him enough, he wouldn’t need you. Maybe he only wanted the coin.”

His words made her re-think her recent time with Curtis. Every time they had stopped, Curtis had left her. Almost as if he were anxious to be away from her. What had he been doing? She swallowed down the uncertainty, but it had already snaked a path into her mind. Sadness filled her. Had he really deceived her? “He said we would live here.”

William’s gaze moved slowly over her. “You should consider yourself lucky, Lady Grace. He could have simply killed you.”

Shock rocked her. “Curtis was honorable,” she defended vehemently. “He would never have hurt me! We were friends!” It couldn’t be! William was just trying to confuse her. She had thought that perchance Curtis might come to love her someday. But more nagging thoughts came to her, more questions. Curtis had never kissed her. He had not even tried! Stunned at the realization, she turned and slowly made her way back into the cottage.

William combed down Hellfire, speaking to him in soft tones. His horse had been his only one true friend through all of this. And they were both getting older. The horse tossed his head and William patted him on the nose. “She just needs time.” He cast a glance at the opening to the cottage. Lady Grace had not emerged since earlier that morn, although he had heard her moving about. She must be thirsty, if not hungry. He was glad she ate a loaf of bread. Perhaps he had been too harsh, too early. After all, the man she had paid to take her away just died. Died. William shook his head as he moved to put the brush back into his saddle bag. Curtis had been brash and reckless attacking a trained knight. But William had not wanted him to die. After the brutal fighting in Jerusalem, he had made a vow never to kill again. And he hadn’t. Sir Curtis had fallen on his own dagger after a less than honorable attack.

Grace’s accusation that he had killed Curtis pierced him like a dagger. While he knew he had not killed the young knight, the fact she believed he did was enough to tighten his chest in despair. He had wanted to shout at her that it was not true; he had wanted to shake her into seeing he had not hurt Curtis, that it had been Curtis’s own foolish, dishonorable actions. But in his experience, people believed what they wanted to believe no matter what one did or said.

He looked down the overgrown road and wondered how long it would be before her father’s men came for Lady Grace.

Footsteps sounded behind him and he turned to find Grace carrying a pile of wood from the cottage. She placed it outside the building and turned to enter again. “What are you doing?” he called, approaching her.

She lifted her chin and dusted off her skirt. “I am cleaning my new home.”

She was stubborn. He forced down his smile. She had put her golden curls up, at the back of her head and somehow that accented the soft lines of her face and jaw. She had long lashes, high cheekbones, and full lips. She moved to turn away and he called softly, “Grace. I will not force you to return. But your father’s men will. I would say you have only a day before they arrive.”

She turned to him, a troubled frown on her brow. “I have no desire to return.”

“I don’t think that matters to your father.”

She glanced back at the cottage. “Let them come,” she said in an unconvincing defiant voice. “I will never return.” She turned to enter the cottage.

“Do you need help?”

She froze and stood that way for a moment. Then, she glanced over her shoulder at him. “You would help me?”

A curl of golden hair hung over her cheek and her blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight; a sheen of sweat made her brow glisten. Lord, she was beautiful! “It is my duty as a knight.”

Confusion shone in her eyes as her gaze moved over him. She nodded. “You have a shovel,” she stated. “You can start clearing the garden.”

He watched her disappear into the cottage. For a moment, he debated what the use of clearing a garden she would never get to tend was. He sighed softly. It didn’t matter. It would give him something to do. He removed his tunic and picked up the shovel.

William finished when the sun was just past noon. He wiped the sweat from his brow and surveyed his work. The weeds were gone, having been pulled and heaped into a pile. The ground had been turned over and prepared for the crop. If there was any. He couldn’t imagine where Lady Grace was going to get seed. It wasn’t a very big garden. If this was what the Mortain family had been paying a tithe on, it was amazing they hadn’t starved.

“It looks good. The land looks fresh and ready for the seeds.”

He didn’t turn to know she stood just behind him. He nodded.

She handed him a flask.

He was pleased to see she had been drinking. She probably got it from Mortain’s steed. He had seen her come out to the horse once during the day. He took it and drank deeply. It was not the best ale, but he was thirsty and it didn’t matter. He handed it back to her and noticed the dark rings beneath her eyes. “You should not overwork yourself. It’s been a long week for you.”

She looked at him with those large, blue eyes.

Even with the dark rings shadowing her eyes, his heart missed a beat. Strange. Her hair was unkempt with fly-away strands blowing gently in the wind; half of it had fallen from the tie she had put it up with. There was a smudge of dirt on her cheek. Her dress was a mess. One sleeve was ripped from the elbow to the wrist and the front of the blue gown was smeared with mud. He was stunned that through all of that he still thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. It was fitting she wanted nothing to do with him. More penance, he thought, and looked at the garden again. “What were you going to plant?”

She laughed softly, a chuckle that sounded strangled. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I guess the idea was better than the reality.”

“As so happens with many things,” William agreed. He put the shovel over his shoulder and walked to the side of the cottage. “It’s going to rain. I will put the horses in the cottage with you tonight.”

“Where will you sleep?”

“The tree will offer me enough shelter. I shall be fine there.” He put the shovel down and turned to her. “I have bread. Are you hungry?”

She nodded and a strand of her golden hair fell forward over her cheek. She brushed it aside. “We can eat inside. I found two chairs sturdy enough to sit in.”

He returned to Hellfire and picked up the two bags at his hooves and followed her into the cottage. He was surprised at how clean the small dwelling was. She had removed the broken furniture and swept the floors, removing the mattress. It was almost presentable. Two chairs were positioned near the cold hearth. He had half expected the room to be as it was when he had arrived. She had actually done a lot of work. It would have made a fine home. For someone. She sat in one of the chairs, he the other. He removed a loaf and handed it to her.

She took a bite. They ate quietly. “Will they come tomorrow?” she asked after she had swallowed. “My father’s men.”

“At the earliest, yes. If they followed the clues I did. If not it could be later, but they will come.”

She silently ate her bread, chewing thoughtfully.

William didn’t want to distress her, but he knew she was going home. One way or the other. Her father’s men would not dally with her as he was. They would haul her on a horse and be off for the castle within minutes of finding her.

“You said it was your duty as a knight to help me.”

He swallowed a bite of the bread. “I will not raise my sword against your father’s men.”

“I would not ask you to. That would only lead to your death. But if I asked you to help me, you would be bound by your duty as a knight.”