Champion of the Heart (27 page)

“I want you to understand I am not abandoning you,” she said from behind him, placing her hands on his rigid shoulders.

Fox bowed his head. “I know,” he whispered. He turned again to her, taking her face in his hands. “I know.” He bent his head to hers, pressing a kiss to her lips. It was a sad kiss, a kiss of farewell.

***

As they rode toward Ruvane village, Fox held Jordan close to him, knowing this would be the last time he could touch her, the last time he could hold her.

He brushed his cheek against her hair. She belonged with other nobles. He could never subject her to the life he led. Yet to allow her to marry Vaughn was unthinkable. He couldn’t imagine her in Vaughn’s arms. He didn’t want to. And someday, somehow, he would kill Vaughn.

“This way,” Jordan said, jarring Fox from his thoughts.

Fox looked down the road she pointed to. It led to the outer reaches of the Ruvane lands. He glanced back down the main road leading into Ruvane village and then steered his horse down the less traveled road.

He could feel her excitement as they rode down the barren road, the stiffening of her body, the anxiety bubbling within her, making it almost impossible for her to sit still. Something was going to happen. He was sure of it. His body reacted to her excitement, tensing and releasing in anticipation.

As they moved over a slight hill, a house rose before them. It was a rather large house, if not a bit decrepit. A trap? The thought flared in Fox’s mind. His gaze scanned the surroundings. There were no horses, no sign of soldiers in wait.

Jordan would never do that to him. Not again. Or would she? She had been writing notes and trying to get out of the castle. Fox immediately dismissed the idea.

As they neared the house, a small girl emerged from the building, struggling with a bucket that was obviously too big for her.

Jordan slid from the horse, racing toward the girl. “Kara!” she shouted.

Kara lifted her gaze to Jordan and instantly her face transformed from a scowl into a beaming smile filled with pure joy. “Lady Jordan!” she screamed. “Lady Jordan!” The girl dropped the bucket, spilling the contents, and raced toward Jordan.

The door to the house opened and a small squadron of children emerged. When they saw Jordan, they all squealed just as excitedly and ran after Kara.

Kara launched herself at Jordan and Jordan caught the girl in mid-flight, swinging her around once before pulling her to herself and holding Kara tightly.

Fox watched with curious eyes as the group of children greeted Jordan with huge smiles and warm hugs. Are these her children? he wondered. There is a boy who must be at least nine! She would have had to have been pregnant when he had last seen her ten years ago. It wasn’t possible.

“Where have you been?” one older girl asked.

“We’ve missed you,” a young boy complained.

“I cried for you,” Kara said.

“I know,” Jordan replied. “I know. I’m sorry I was away so long.”

Fox stared in awe at all of the children. These children couldn’t all be Jordan’s. It was impossible. Two of them were less than a year apart in age.

The young boy approached him. “Who’s he?” he asked Jordan, keeping his distrustful gaze on Fox.

Jordan rose with a small girl on her hip. Her eyes were shining, and the smile on her full lips was warm and genuine. “That’s my good friend, Fox,” Jordan answered.

Good friend. Fox hadn’t heard those words for years. The sheer simplicity of those two words, and the honesty with which she spoke them, transformed his cold soul, melting it into something warm and comfortable.

“The Black Fox?” the older boy gasped.

“No,” Jordan answered. “Just Fox.”

“These are your children?” Fox finally asked Jordan.

Jordan nodded, proudly. The children formed a circle around her. “I built this place for them -- with father’s help, of course. They have no parents. I love them as I would my own.”

Shock and unabashed pride and awe welled inside Fox. He grinned sheepishly. And I had thought she had children of her own flesh and blood. I should have known. Then a realization struck Fox. No other man had ever touched her. He had been her first, her only. The thought was thoroughly and dangerously arousing.

There was a tug at his boot and Fox looked down. The young girl who had been carrying the bucket stared up at him. Dark curls fell across her face. “Will you eat with us?” she asked.

Fox hesitated at the idea. He looked back down the road they had just come from. He had to return to Castle Mercer.

“Please,” Jordan said.

Fox turned back to look into the blue eyes of heaven. He had never been able to resist her. And now was no different. He swung his leg over his horse and dismounted.

They dined with the children that evening and Fox met the older woman who helped Jordan with the children. Abagail had been taking good care of them in Jordan’s absence, but Fox could see the large rings under her eyes, the slumping of her shoulders. The children were obviously a lot of work for her.

Fox turned his gaze from Abagail to Jordan. The children sat around her, one small girl in her lap, two seated beside her, and the older two children standing behind her.

“...and Jason fell into the muddy patch in the garden,” the older girl was saying. “We told him not to go there but...”

The children adored her. They had fought over who would sit beside her, who would bring her ale and her trencher. Jordan was their protector, a mother to all of them.

Jordan looked up and her gaze locked with Fox’s. She set the small girl onto the bench at her side and stood. “I need to speak with Fox,” she said quietly.

Five sets of suspicious, angry eyes swung to him. He bridled under the impact, but followed her out the door as she promised to return to the children. When she shut the door on the strange, untrusting silence following them, Fox found himself grateful for the moment alone. He had felt like fighting to sit beside her, too. For just an instant as they walked quietly together, Fox knew contentment as he imagined what their life could have been together. He looked down at her and smiled. She was beautiful. She was everything he could have ever wanted -- and so much more.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t understand.”

Jordan grinned at him. “Fox, I was thinking. Mary Kate should be here. She should be with my children. She can play with them and be with them all the time. She can be the child she is supposed to be.”

Fox stiffened for an instant.

Jordan touched his arm. “It’s not safe for her at Castle Mercer. Here she can get the proper food and love that she needs.”

Fox ground his teeth. She was right. There was no sense in trying to make up reasons why Mary Kate should stay at the castle. But did he have to give up the girl as well as Jordan? Fox nodded. “You’re right, of course,” he said softly. “I’ll bring her back here so she can see what it is like, and then let her decide.”

Jordan pressed a kiss to his lips.

Fox lifted his head to gaze at her. Those accursedly blue eyes would haunt him forever. He groaned softly and looked away. If only things had been different for them. But he was a criminal, a commoner.

“I don’t care what you are, Fox,” Jordan said quietly, as if reading his mind. Her voice was thick and husky. “You’ll always be my friend.”

Fox pulled her to him and kissed her, hard, desperately. He felt wetness on her cheeks and pulled back to see her eyes full of tears.

“I love you, Fox.” She turned and raced for the house.

Fox couldn’t move for a long moment as he watched her leave. Was he doing the right thing? If he was, then why did his chest hurt so damn much?

I
love you, Fox.

Fox rode slowly back toward Castle Mercer, Jordan’s simple phrase repeating itself over and over again in his mind. Jordan was lovely, more lovely and charming than any woman had a right to be. He still found it hard to believe she had actually said those words to him. Again. How could he possibly let her go so easily?

A bleak, depressing emptiness had already crept into his heart though he had been away from her for only a few hours. They had made love, and it had been the most magical, wonderful experience in his life. He already ached to hold her in his arms again, to touch her face, to run his fingers through her hair, to kiss her sweet lips. But it could never happen again. It would only make it harder on the both of them.

Fox approached Castle Mercer. The silence settled around him, deepening, leaving only his thoughts to plague him with images of Jordan in Vaughn’s arms. Her betrothed’s arms. Fox gritted his teeth. They had all been friends once, the absolute best of friends. But who would have thought Vaughn would have betrayed him?

And now I have betrayed him, Fox realized. I have taken his woman. I have taken the virginity that was to be his and stolen it for my own pleasure. It was a treasure that could never be replaced or restored. The thought brought some sort of placating vindictiveness to Fox. Vaughn would never be able to experience that mysterious and enchanting moment.

As he approached the drawbridge, his horse suddenly pranced nervously beneath him, taking shying steps away from the castle. Alarms immediately rang in Fox’s head. Not a word, not a sound greeted his arrival. Usually the birds cawed or a dog barked, but there was nothing.

And where was Mary Kate? She usually rushed out to cover his tracks with her big leaf. Fox glanced down at the ground, thinking of the girl. To add to his unease, he noticed a wide, chaotic mass of what appeared to be hoof prints in the dirt. He couldn’t tell for certain.

Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

Fox had learned long ago not to doubt his instincts. He quickly dismounted and swatted his horse. The animal galloped away over the field.

Fox entered the outer ward, keeping to the shadows of the castle wall, his hand firmly gripping the hilt of his sheathed blade. He didn’t see anything obviously wrong within the courtyard, but the unpleasant feeling he had in the pit of his stomach wouldn’t go away. It remained, traveling through his body, tickling the hair on the nape of his neck as he continued to move through the shadows.

Fox slipped beneath the inner gatehouse, moving into the inner ward. The inner courtyard was empty as well, the Keep silent. Fox moved toward the decrepit building. Maybe he was imagining things.

Maybe.

And then he spotted something in the middle of the courtyard. In the dirt and dust, a set of tracks caught his attention. Horses’ hooves. He moved to the middle of the courtyard. In the rising sun stretching through the courtyard, Fox stared at the ground, turning round and round. All about him, the tracks of horses were pressed into the dirt. This time he was certain.

Someone had invaded Castle Mercer.

Fox’s eyes slowly rose from the horse tracks to the Keep. Father and Michael. His friends. He started to charge forward, ripping his sword free of its sheath, but then quickly brought himself to a sudden halt.

What if they were still inside?

Fox quickly merged into the shadows. He sneaked into the Keep, pressing himself into any pool of darkness he could find, the dark shadows welcoming him like an old friend. The hallway was empty, silent. Where was his father? And Michael? What had they done to Beau or Pick and the others?

Fox’s jaw clenched tight and his fingers gripped the leather handle of his weapon firmly as he thought of who would dare to enter Castle Mercer.

Evan Vaughn and his soldiers. It could be no other.

Fox continued into the Keep, moving deeper and deeper into its crumbling interior. He apprehensively glanced down at the stone floor as he moved, dreading the sight of spilled blood, but he saw no sign of bloodshed anywhere in the hallway. Were they gone or were they hiding, waiting for him?

As he cautiously moved down the dark, empty hallway, Fox’s ears became more and more attuned to any noise, any sound. Where was his hound? Where was Doom? He strained to hear something, anything, any sign of life or activity, but there was no sound in the castle at all. None.

He came upon one of the traps they had rigged up in the hallway and saw the ghost had been released and torn to shreds by an angry blade.

Fox moved more quickly down the hallway as the dread inside him grew stronger. What had happened here? Where was Mary Kate? She knew of a dozen places to hide in the castle. Surely she had escaped the invaders.

As he approached the meal room, Fox slowed his progress. He moved cautiously up to the door, listening for any sound of the intruders in the large room beyond. But the silence was deafening. He could hear his own heart beating in his chest, his own blood rushing in his ears. His own careful footsteps sounded like the heavy pounding of falling rocks.

He pressed his back against the wall beside the door. The shadows that hid him loomed up around him, suddenly becoming more like eerie patches of dangerous mystery than friendly cover. Could they be hiding his enemies as well as they hid him? He peeked around the doorway, into the meal room, scanning every dark shadow, every dark crevice.