The Duke and the Dryad (Elemental Series) (8 page)

“Should I be frightened of
the animal?” he asked.

“That’s up to you. But if you so much as lay a hand on me
again, I can guarantee Zev would not think twice about tearing out your throat to protect me.”

“Call him off, and I’ll put away the sword.”

She gave the mental command and the wolf backed away and darted off through the forest.

“Is this where you live?” he asked, motioning with a jerk of his head to her hut.

“Aye.”

“Well, aren’t you going to ask me in?”

“What for?” The thought both scared her and excited her at the same time.

“Never mind.” He turned to go, then
stepped back toward her. “I can’t let you stay here. You need to come back with me to the castle. We had a deal.”

“I would come back with you to fulfill my promise, but you need to let me return here every night in order to regain my strength. I cannot survive locked away
like a prisoner within your stone walls. I need to feel the earth beneath my feet and breathe in the essence of the forest life around me if I am to survive in your world.”

He looked down to the ground and to her feet.
“Where are your shoes?” he asked. “And how did you walk all the way here from the castle barefooted?”

“I don’t need shoes. That only keeps the earth’s vibrations from running through me. You should try it sometime and you’d see what I mean.”

“Well not tonight, my little sprite. Now get what you need and let’s be on our way.”

“I don’t need anyth
ing. I already have what I need now that I’ve been refreshed. And are you going to agree to my terms and let me return each night or not?”

She was afraid he was going to deny her the request. Then he slowly nodded.

“If that’s what you require, then so be it.”

She followed him to the horse and he put his arms around her waist and helped her into the saddle. Now that she was refreshed, she felt
his own vibrations running through her even more than before. Her body cried out for him, and when he pulled up into the saddle behind her and wrapped his arms around her, she felt the warmth of his embrace and lay back in his arms. The fae part of her warned her not to go with him, but the human part knew that there was nowhere else she wanted to be.

Chapter 5

Wolfe woke the next morning, once again, having slept in the great hall. This time, he was lying in the rushes scattered on the floor, and next to the hearth. A mangy dog strolled over, first sniffing him and then licking his face. He pushed the damned thing away from him and sat up, brushing the stiff marsh grass out of his hair. The fire had died and the chill from the cold stones ran through his body. Damn, he missed his bed. But starting tomorrow, he’d have it all to himself.

He got to his feet, running a hand through his hair, wondering what the hell he’d been thinking to let Rae talk him into
letting her leave every night. He wanted her in his bed so bad that he’d been able to think of nothing else. And though he thought he’d been showing her he was in control by not taking her the other night, now he regretted it. For now he’d now see her during the day and come nightfall he’d be hot and bothered and once again all alone.

“Lord Wolf
e, sleeping in the great hall again? Is something wrong?” Sir Braden sat at the trestle table with several of Wolfe’s knights, pulling his long hair back into a queue as he spoke. There were wooden goblets on the table as well as a flagon of red wine. They were finishing off what looked like the meal to break the fast.

“Nay, I like sleeping on the floor
having my face washed by the tongue of an animal that probably just licked its own ass, you fool. Now tell me, why didn’t someone awaken me when the meal was served? Instead you all sat here watching your superior sleeping atop the rushes like a dog and didn’t even bother to stir me? I should have you all flayed and quartered for letting me be so humiliated in front of the entire castle.”

“We were go
ing to wake you,” said Sir Theodore, one of his loyal knights of many years. The man was nearly old enough to be Wolfe’s father, but you’d never know it for the shape he was in and the speed by which he could wield a sword. “The girl told us you’ve been tired lately and to let you sleep.”

“The girl? What girl?” he growled. “And since when is any female giving orders in my place?”

“The elfin girl with the pointed ears,” said the smaller and quieter of the two knights, Sir Norman.

“Rae-Nyst?” he asked.

“I believe that is her name,” he answered.

“You are not to take orders from her, ever. Do you understand? And she is not an elf, dammit. She is a – oh never mind.
He put a hand to his aching head. “Someone get me an ale and some food quickly, I am famished.”

“Aye, my lord,” answered Sir Braden, calling
over a servant boy with cheese and bread upon his tray. The knight retrieved it, laying it on the table. Then he grabbed the flagon of wine and poured some into his own cup, offering it to Wolfe.

Wolf
e settled his aching body on the bench next to them and proceeded to quaff down the wine and then rip off a hunk of bread with his teeth.

“Tha
t is brown bread, my lord,” reminded Sir Braden, “and meant for the lower class. I would call at once for the white bread that is served at the dais.”

“Never mind,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I am too hungry to wait.”

“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable sitting upon your padded chair at the dais rather than this hard bench, my lord?”

“Sir Braden, I’ve already slept on the floor
, been bathed by a mutt, and also been embarrassed in front of the whole castle by a girl who decides to give orders in my place, so what does is matter?”

“My, you certainly are cha
nging,” surveyed the knight. “Just last week you sent the stuffed pheasant back to the kitchen because it wasn’t cooked exactly to your liking. You also punished the kitchen servants for not filling the salt cellar to the top. And you –”

“That’s quite enough, Sir Braden. Now all of you get out to the
practice yard, anon. I am leading the training personally today as the earl is paying us a visit at the beginning of next week and he’ll expect a strong army awaiting him.”

“Last time
Lord Clive paid us a visit, we were forced into a needless battle,” complained Sir Braden. “Is he planning on doing that again when he arrives? It does seem the man likes bloodshed.”

“He is my superior, though I outrank him in title
. But by marriage he has authority to give orders for battle as seen necessary if he thinks ’twill benefit the king.”

“Aye, my lord, I will ready the men and weapons at once.
And I apologize if I came across as disrespectful.”

His knights left the table, leaving him to himself.
He couldn’t be sore with Sir Braden, as the man had only voiced his own thoughts completely. For years he’d been like a puppet on a string, all but bending backwards to please his uncle. If he hadn’t felt guilty for being granted the title his uncle coveted for himself, mayhap he would have challenged the man’s orders by now. But Wolfe noticed the same thing Sir Braden just pointed out. Every time the earl graced them with a visit, blood was shed and many lives were lost. He quickly finished eating and made his way out to the bailey. There he saw Waylon, as well as Baxter, his bailiff.

“Good morning,” they said to him with a slight bow. Wolf
e just grunted and continued walking, then stopped in his tracks. He turned back to the stables. He would make a quick visit of his demesne and see for himself the state of his field. He still couldn’t believe Rae actually plowed it herself. And after the amount of work he’d given her to do, he was sure she’d be tired and begging him for a respite before the sun hit the highest point in the sky.

He rode through the courtyard, ignoring the acknowledgements from his soldiers, the servants
, and even the vendors now inside his gates. ’Twas a beautiful sunny day already and he was sure ’twould be hotter than hell come midday. His little sprite would surely be in need of rest and refreshing. He almost felt bad for her now that he’d been so demanding. He’d given her the work of six people, and there was no way she would ever be able to accomplish this on her own.

He stopped at the far field first. No one was there, but as
he’d been told yesterday by the reeve, the dirt was perfectly tilled. And if he wasn’t mistaken, the empty furrows were already planted with cabbage, carrots and turnips, as he’d ordered.

He dismounted, shaking his head, bending down to dig up a patch with his hand to assure himself the seed
s were underneath. Sure enough, ’twas so. Then he stood and scanned the field that spread all the way to the base of Mount Calila. ’Twas as if three men had worked all night to accomplish this, and he wasn’t sure that she hadn’t convinced someone to help.

He made his way to the henhouse next, slipping inside, and carefully checking under the fowls for eggs. None. Then on his way out the door he saw several baskets all filled with eggs –twice as many as were normally collected in one day.

“This can’t be.” He left his horse and hurried over the ground, nodding at the villeins as he made his way to the barn next. He already had made up his mind that she’d had help and they were all lying to him, until what he saw next made him stop dead in his tracks.

There, in the barn were his milk cows, lactating into buckets beneath them with no one pulling on the teats.

“Impossible,” he spoke aloud, seeing the amount of milk filling the buckets quickly. He wasn’t even sure he’d have milk anymore now that his breeding bull was gone and most the calves were heifers. “What is going on here?” he said a bit louder.

Rae walked into the barn to collect the milk pails, surprised to see Wolfe in the village instead of at the castle. The villeins had told her he seldom came to inspect his demesne, nor did he make sociable visits – ever – to the serfs that worked his land.

“Lord Wolf
e?” she asked in question, causing him to turn on his heel. The look on his face told her he was not happy.

“What kind of witchery is going on here?” he ground out.

“None, my lord.” She walked past him to the collect the milk pails. The cows stopped filling the buckets as soon as she did. “I thought you’d be pleased that not only the field is planted, but the eggs collected and the milk drawn as well. And ’tis still morning.”

He walked up behind her and she could feel his anger emanating from him though he didn’t say a word. She looked up to see the darkness in his
grey eyes.

“You are no longer required to work the land or with any of the animals, do you hear me?”

She straightened her stance and met his gaze with her own. “I was only doing as ordered,” she reminded him. “Have I displeased you in some way?”

“Aye.” He paced, running a hand through his hair. “Nay. I mean – I don’t know.
” He turned to look at her, throwing his hands up in a mock surrender. “All I know is that you are using some sort of magick to accomplish these tasks, and I would not stand for it. Do you hear me?”

“I know no
magick, my lord. I simply have a connection to every living thing upon the earth. I only use my ability to speak to the earth and the animals and make requests to them. They are more than happy to oblige.”

“Nay. No more. You are not to speak to them or ask them to do anything again. ’Tis not right.”

“How so?” She crossed her arms over her chest, watching him pace the floor again like a caged animal, as she waited for his answer.

“I commanded
you
to do the tasks, no one else.”

“And no
one else helped.”

“That’s not true. You commanded the – the – nature – to help you out.”

“I commanded not. I simply asked. If you would try it once in awhile you would see how willing nature is to accommodate your needs. You really don’t need to struggle nor fight it.”

He looked over to the milk
cows and then back to her. “I don’t fight nature – only man.”

“Then mayhap you should change that too.”

“Dammit, woman, I am a warrior, and that’s what I do.”

“And I am an elemental. This is what I do.” She held out an arm and motioned toward the milk pails.

“I don’t want you working in the village anymore. I can’t have you doing magick in front of my people. They are already starting to talk.”

“If I am commanded to stop working with the earth, then I shall die. And if I
am dead, you would lose your bull’s replacement. I would stop working in the village if you so desire, but at least allow me to tend the orchard and gardens within the castle walls.”

“I have no gardens,” he relayed
. “Just dirt and stone.”

“Then allow me to create some for
you. I think you suffer from not having a lady to see to the castle’s grounds and beauty.”