Simon gave him a hard stare. “I hope you can say that when they’re scooping your entrails out and you’re still alive to feel it.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“Such as?”
“The day my heart was ripped out of me. I assure you the king’s executioner could never equal the pain I felt the day I saw our mother die.” He stared at the far wall where his father’s table had once stood. “I never faced all of it until yesterday. And now....”
“Now?” Simon prompted.
“I can’t say ‘tis all better for I still ache, but that hollow part of me has somehow been filled.”
Simon frowned. “What hollow part?”
It suddenly dawned on Draven just what he was saying. It had been years since he shared such confidences with Simon.
What had Emily done to him?
Stiffening at the thought, he looked at Simon drolly. “The hollow part between my ears. Now go and leave me.”
Emily went downstairs to wait for Draven, but he never showed. The servants had cleaned away the remnants of the dais and when she had tried to speak with Simon, he had offered a feeble excuse and vanished.
She felt like a pariah as she sat before the burning fire in the hall waiting for Draven’s return. One of Draven’s hounds sat by her side and she idly stroked his ears as she stared into the sparks. Most of the castle’s occupants had retired and she wondered if Draven had any intention of returning to the hall this night.
“What are you doing here?”
She jumped at Draven’s deep voice behind her. “Do you ever make a sound?” she snapped as her heart pounded.
“I thought you heard my footsteps on the stairs.” He moved to stand behind her chair.
Emily looked up at him over her shoulder. “I would ask you what brings you here, but I assume ‘tis time for you to start your nightly vigil.”
“Aye.”
She reached up and took his hand. He squeezed her fingers gently, then lifted it to his lips and kissed the backs of her knuckles. Warmth filled her at the gesture.
He released her hand and fished in his purse for a minute. Emily frowned.
“Close your eyes.”
She did as he commanded. He placed something cold and heavy around her neck. Emily stroked the object with her fingers and knew it for a necklace.
Opening her eyes, she looked down to see the emerald necklace the merchant had tried to talk her into at the fair in Lincoln.
“Draven?” she asked in disbelief.
“I saw the way you looked at it at the fair and I wanted you to have it.”
“But how?”
“I sent Druce for it the night before we left.”
Warmth filled her at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”
He nodded.
Emily rose from her seat and kissed him gently on his cheek.
Draven closed his eyes to savor the feel of her lips on his skin.
