Page 73 of King’s Knight

Merewyn despaired at the news that her Welsh friends might be in danger, but she took heart that they were worthy warriors who had successfully fought back the Normans more than once. Mayhap they would again.

“Might I see Merewyn alone for a moment?” Alex asked from his pillow where his eyes had begun to droop.

“Of course,” said Ermentrude, promptly shuffling Rory and Guy from the room as she left the chamber.

When they were alone, Alex squeezed her hand. “Is it true? You carry my babe?”

“Aye,” she said, suddenly shy. “I only learned of it after you left to meet the king. And then I did not want you to know.”

“Why?” he asked, his brows drawing together in a frown, his gray eyes turning flinty.

“Because you might be tempted to defy your king and marry me.”

“Ah,” he said, laying his head back on the pillow and closing his eyes for a moment. “Jamie said as much.”

“Jamie told you?”

He opened his eyes. “He said nothing of a child, only of your concern for my relationship with the king.”

“I did think of returning to Wales—”

“I would have come for you just as I did.”

“In the end, as Owain made to leave, I realized I could not do it. But he gave me no choice.”

“Did he touch you?”

“Nay.”

“If he had, I would hunt him down. I was very angry with you until I realized you were his prisoner. Then my anger kindled toward him. Had you not stopped me, I would have killed him.”

“I am glad you did not,” she said with a small smile. “He wanted to marry me. It was only after I refused to go with him he took me. We have long been friends. To him, you were the villain.”

Alex appeared to be succumbing to the potion as his eyes drifted closed. “ ’Tis good we are wed,” he murmured.

“Nay,” she said, shaking her head, “we are not! Why do you say that we are?”

He opened his eyes. They were suddenly serious. “When we returned from London, I consulted Father Bernard to confirm I was right. He told me that we needed only to say it was our desire to belong to each and once the bond was consummated, the marriage was complete.”

Merewyn felt her cheeks heat.

“We said the words, Merewyn, and I meant them. Did you?” His black brow was raised in challenge.

She nodded. Nothing could make her deny the truth of what she had told Alex that night in London.

He smiled. “Since you carry my babe, it will be clear to all the marriage has been consummated.”

Tears filled her eyes. She wanted it to be true more than all else in the world, but she could not let him do it. “But what of the king? He has already chosen the woman he would have you wed.”

“Lady Adèle?”

Reluctantly, she nodded.

“I will not wed her.” He smiled, his eyes closing. “I have already wed the woman I want.”

“I cannot let you defy your king, Alex. You would only come to hate me if I did.”

Alex did not open his eyes. His speech was now slurred. “We will speak of this more when I wake.” With that, his hold on her hand loosened and a moment later, he was fast asleep.