Chapter Six
Luke led the way through the forest. He was grateful Nessa trailed him. That way, he wouldn’t have to look at her curves and think about how close they had been, at how much he had wanted to taste her lips. He quickened his steps, moving around trees and over roots. Darkness had descended around them and Luke knew they would have to rest soon. A road came into view in the distance. Luke slowed his pace. Beyond the dirt road, he saw a small village. Nestled between two small hills, thatched buildings lined the road and farms dotted the distant landscape.
Luke scanned the buildings. Few villagers were out. Could he bargain for a horse here? Nessa came to a halt beside him with a sigh. Even though Luke tried to keep his mind on his mission, he found himself looking at her. She stared at the village wistfully. Her hair hung in waves over her shoulders. Her hands were fisted in her skirts, hiking them up. The hem was torn and caked with mud. Her chest rose and fell with her breathing. Luke found himself staring at the rounded curves of her breasts through her cotton garment with desire. She shifted her large blue eyes to him and he snapped his gaze up to her face. It was a mistake. His stare was drawn to her lips, her lovely moist, full lips. It wasn’t until she scowled that he realized she had said something.
“Will we stay here?” she repeated.
Luke shook himself. He was tired, he told himself and jerked his gaze back to the village. “No,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.” Yes, it was dangerous. His thoughts, her lips. He was betrothed to Mel and yet he had not thought of her once.
“Listen,” Nessa said, cocking her head to one side. “Do you hear that?”
Luke concentrated. A soft sound was coming from their right, just behind the bushes. It sounded like... weeping.
Nessa moved toward it.
“Nessa!” Luke hissed and reached out to grab her, but she was gone, following the sound.
Luke went after her.
Nessa halted, listening.
“We don’t have time,” Luke told her sternly.
Nessa tilted her head. She wasn’t listening to him. Her eyes slowly widened in realization. “It’s a child.”
Luke heard it. A soft hiccupping whimper. He began to shake his head, but Nessa rushed toward the sound.
She paused before a tree, bending down near a bush. “Hello?”
The sobbing stopped immediately.
“Are you all right?” Nessa asked.
The shrub rustled.
“We’re not going to hurt you. I’m Lady Nessa from Castle Greymount.”
The bush moved, shifting, as if someone was moving behind it. “Is he a knight?” a small, tentative voiced asked from inside the thick shrub.
Nessa glanced back at Luke with a small smile. “Yes. He is Sir Luke.”
There was a long silence before the bush parted and a small, thin girl emerged. Her brown eyes were wide and moist, tear streaks cutting through the dirt smeared on her cheeks. Her brown hair hung about her shoulders in long limp tresses. Her cotton smock was dirty and frayed. She shuffled her bare feet. “Are you strong?” she asked Luke.
Luke glanced at Nessa. He nodded. He didn’t have much experience with children, so he decided to let Nessa talk.
“He’s a great knight,” Nessa assured the girl. “Do you need his help?”
Her lips turned down in a pout. “He took Sunny.”
“Sunny?” Nessa echoed.
“My cat.”
Cat? Why would anyone take a cat? Luke stepped up beside Nessa, his hand moving to the pommel of his sword. “Who took your cat?”
The little girl’s lower lip jutted out in a pout and tears filled her eyes. “He said he was hungry. He said he was going to eat Sunny.”
At first, Luke thought it was a child’s quarrel, but eating a cat was not something a child would do. “Who did?”
