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She was the wife of Terran Knowles.
A simple ceremony had changed her life forever, a ceremony she’d once imagined would be attended by all of her friends, by Mary, by Garret, by hundreds of guests, a ceremony sealed by a kiss.
Instead, she didn’t even have a special dress made for the occasion, but wore a simple dark green velvet dress she’d worn a dozen times before. And now the deed was done. The decree in the betrothal papers had been fulfilled. She didn’t know what she was feeling, but it was certainly not the happiness of a new bride. A wife.
What a terrifying word.
In the next whirlwind moment, Terran ushered Bria out the doors of the keep. In the courtyard, a double line of mounted men awaited them, Kenric in the lead. Terran escorted Bria to a waiting horse and helped her mount, then mounted behind her without a word.
She couldn’t help but notice the cart filled with bags of gold in the middle of the line. All these men, all these soldiers were here to guard her dowry.
Terran’s arm swept around Bria, clasping her tight against him as if she were his possession. Before she could register her annoyance, a tremor shot through her body at the touch of his strong arms.
The horse whinnied and reared slightly as Terran took the reins in his hands.
She’d barely lifted her hand in farewell to her father and grandfather, who stood in the doorway of the keep, dwarfed by the massive wooden double doors and looking as forlorn as Bria felt, before Terran kicked the horse forward.
Then she was moving through the inner gatehouse. The speed of the horses quickened as they rode toward the outer gatehouse. People stood at the sides of the castle watching, their expressions a mixture of pity and devastation.
Bria tried to glance back, but could see only Terran’s shoulder. A strand of her long hair had come loose from her braid and Bria had to push it away from her eyes. As she turned back to the path of her future, she saw the last structure of her castle loom before them, the outer gatehouse. Panic flared through her, and she had a strong instinct to leap from the horse and run back to her home, the only life she’d known.
Instead, she lifted her head, letting the wind whip her hair behind her, and faced what the future had in store.
They burst forth from the castle, riding toward the village.
Who would have thought two weeks ago she would be married to her enemy, sitting in his arms, approaching his lands?
My lands, she corrected herself. My people. A calmness washed over her. My people. And I have a vow to keep to Mary. I will see to it they are protected. One way or another.
Chapter twenty-four
As the entourage galloped through Knowles Village, there were very few cheers, and even fewer happy faces. Terran noticed more than one person shaking his head at the sight of Bria. Were they displeased with her? Not that it mattered.
The sun was beginning to set over the horizon as his castle appeared in the distance, marking an end to a very long day and several very long weeks. It seemed like another lifetime since he’d arrived at Castle Delaney to seek Bria’s hand. Now that he’d secured it, he must instruct Kenric to get on with paying the king’s tithe, paying his knights, and seeing that there was enough food to last the winter and...
... and these were things he knew he really didn’t give a damn about. He steered his thoughts elsewhere. He’d sought Bria’s hand for her dowry, and in the hope that the challenge of gaining her hand would rouse the spirit he had lost. But it hadn’t been the challenge of winning Bria’s hand. Bria herself had roused his spirit. At first her intellect had provoked him. Then it was her secrets.
Bria shifted in his arms, drawing his gaze to the top of her head. Little strands of rebellious curls had freed themselves from the tight braid. He hated that braid and wanted to see her hair freed from its constraints. She was at her most beautiful when her long tresses hung loose and free. Terran found himself leaning into those strands, inhaling deeply the fragrance of lavender. He rested his cheek against the top of her head.
Something else became very apparent. With each of the horse’s steps, her bottom rubbed against his manhood like a lightning strike. He hardened instantly. Just the thought of her tiny buttocks pressing so intimately up against him sent desire spearing through him. He clenched his teeth, trying to get his passion under control, but it was next to impossible. He had to think of something else.
They rounded the hillside, continuing in an arc toward the castle. Castle Knowles rested near one of the highest mountains in the land. Surrounded by cliffs on all but one side, the fortress was virtually impenetrable. But Terran no longer admired its beauty or its strategic defenses as he once did. He’d lived here all his life and was unimpressed by its grandeur.
He needed something else to bring that spark of excitement back into his life. He’d thought he found it with Odella, but he’d been wrong. Fatally wrong.
His arms tightened instinctively around Bria.
They approached the castle head on. Terran glanced behind him at the long line of armored men. He had tripled the number of guards in his entourage, for the dowry was substantial, an amount enough to pay his men and his taxes to the king.
And there was another reason. Terran knew the Midnight Shadow wouldn’t let his lover go. He’d expected some sort of confrontation with his enemy, but their journey had been uneventful.
As the castle walls loomed higher in his vision, his tension eased. The Midnight Shadow wouldn’t be bold enough to attack them in front of Castle Knowles.
Terran glanced down at his bride’s head. He now knew his attraction to her was much stronger than he could have imagined. They could have a good marriage. But could Bria ever let the Midnight Shadow go and let Terran be her husband?
It’s irrelevant, he told himself. She’s mine.
They rode through the outer ward and into the inner ward. Terran eased Bria to the ground and dismounted. He gave commands to Kenric to secure the gold in the treasury. Then he turned toward his castle. He had many things to see to, boring things. His steward, no doubt, had a list of things needing his immediate attention.
