Ria Cantrell - Celtic Storm 03 (14 page)

“I don’t like him,” she said in her defense, knowing the lie for what it was.

“No, you don’t, do you? The fact of the matter is that you are falling in love with him.”

Rhianna whipped around, practically unseating herself from the horse and she met the eyes of the man behind her.

“Love? You jest. I do not even know him.”

“Perhaps not, which is why you thwart him and fight him. You do not know him yet, but you are falling in love with him.”

“That is not possible.”

“Isn’t it? And the crazy thing is that I think he is falling in love with you, as well…despite your ill manners and attempts to hurt him. I should not tell you this, my lady, for he is my dearest friend, but I have known Erik Ragnorsen my entire life. He has never, in all my years as his friend and squire brother, then brother knight, known him to act in a dishonorable way. He vehemently did not want to marry you, either, but he knew he would do his duty, as bidden by the king.”

“He didn’t?”

“No. He was told you were old and a practitioner of the dark arts. He was loath to marry you.”

“I am not old nor do I dabble in the dark arts,” she argued defensively.

“Of course, that became clear. But you are a stranger to him as well, but he…I have never known him to be in love. He has enjoyed female companionship, but I have not known him to love someone. I beg of you, my lady, do not persist in your humiliation of him for as honorable as he is, even he has limits.”

Rhianna opened her mouth to argue, but clamped it shut instead.
Love, could that be possible? Could she be falling in love with the man who infuriated her more than any other human being had ever done in her life?
The idea was madness! Love, indeed!

Finally, she gathered her thoughts and with one last ditch effort for her argument against Erik, Rhianna said, “Well, he may not have wanted to marry me, but he stands to gain my lands and my keep.”

Drew cleared his throat, thinking that for him that may matter, but for Erik, it did not. He said, “My lady, while your lands are rich and well-tended and I daresay, even quite profitable, it matters not to Erik. He is not like me, a landless knight. He comes from a very well-healed family of considerable means. He is the heir to his father’s lands and fortune. He has no need of yours.”

That shed new light on the situation. Why would Erik agree to such a union if he had nothing to gain from it? Was it that he was so honor-bound that even marriage to a stranger was something he would do, regardless of his resistance? But as Rhianna culled the words of Erik’s friend, she remembered something that Erik had said that had taken the fight out of her. He said he would not be able to forgive himself if something happened to her. She wanted to forget the other things,too, that he had done that were not because the king commanded it. She could not forget the pride she saw in his face when she tended to the sick, or the tender way he had arranged her cloak about her to keep her warm. For that matter, she could not forget the way she felt when he kissed her, nor did she want to really. When he had asked if she agreed to the betrothal, she did not hesitate to it. Was that love?

Rhianna had never been one to fight and show such rudeness, it was true. So why then, did Erik Ragnorsen provoke such behavior from her? She had said some terrible things to him and she
had
tried to humiliate him. She was grateful, at least, that this time, the only witness to it was Sir Andrew Brandham. Rhianna felt awful. Drew had said Erik was loath to marry her as well. She had not thought about that. Did she fancy herself such a prize that any man would be delighted at the prospect of marrying her? In truth, she had never given it much thought at all, but she did not even think that Erik would be horrified to enter into a marriage to    someone he did not know. She had only been brooding about her own feelings of being forced to marry. She had not given Erik’s feelings any consideration in the matter. Rhianna had not thought that he was only following orders from the king. This put things into a new light for her.

She had been horrible to the man and for no real reason. If someone had treated her brother as she had treated Erik, she would be rife with fury. Rhianna hung her head in shame and she said, “I am sorry. You are right. I have been most ungracious to Erik…and to all of you.”

Drew said kindly, “I know you are just frightened…you don’t know him, t’is true, but as his friend, I can assure you, he is a good man. Honor comes before anything else in his life. I ask you to just give him a chance, m’lady. He deserves that much.”

Rhianna nodded, sadly. She said quietly, “I hadn’t thought he would not want to marry me.”

Drew chuckled and he said, “He drank himself sick at the prospect of it. Of course that was before he met you and I dare say; your chatelaine gave him quite a scare when she greeted him instead of you.”

“Andarra? Why?”

“Because he thought she was you. I think he was so relieved that Andarra was not his betrothed, that even mud-caked and filthy, you were like a beautiful angel to him.”

“He…thought…he was supposed to marry…An--Andarra?”

“Indeed.”

Rhianna burst out laughing and she then remembered, how Erik had as well and that she had thought he had gone mad.

“Oh, dear. Poor Erik.”

“I know. And when you came in as angry as a madwoman, covered from head to toe in mud, even that was better to being married to a woman old enough to be his grandmother.”

“It would be, wouldn’t it?” 

Drew sobered and he said, “Aye, it would but not if you persist in the quest to emasculate him, I dare say Andarra would look like the better prospect. Do you understand?”

Rhianna ceased laughing and she said, “I know you are right. What should I do? How can I fix this?”

“That you will have to find out for yourself. I am not the man to school you in these matters. I can only speak on behalf of the man who is my friend. I know he is starting to care for you…and in fact, I think he is falling in love with you.”

“Yes, well I don’t know about the love part, but I think I owe him more than what I have given him thus far.”

Drew dismounted and helped Rhianna down. She looked into his handsome face and she said, “I do not know how to thank you, Sir Drew.”

“You do not need to thank me, My Lady. I am only glad you are safe.”

“I am not thanking you because you and Erik saved me from plummeting to the rocky earth.”

“I know, m’lady.”

He winked at her and took her hand to lead her into the keep.

~~~~~

When Erik returned, it was some hours later. He had ridden through the outlying lands and assessed what would be needed to protect Rhianna’s holdings and village. His anger had abated somewhat, but his heart felt heavy. Things were not going well with the girl at all. It was obvious she had disdain for him by her actions. He had penned a letter to the king to ask if he could be released from this arrangement. It was clear that the lady of du Montefort held little regard for him. That was no way to forge a marriage.

Only her kisses told him something else. Erik really did not know what to do. In truth, he was not certain that marriage to her would be the best course, but something niggled at him that he may not be able to walk away; even this early into it.

He sat down at one of the tables left assembled in the great hall and a serving maid came to him to see if he required anything. He asked for a mug of ale and she smiled warmly up at the handsome man. As she walked away from him, Erik noticed that she tossed a flirtatious look over her shoulder and she swayed her hips enticingly. He sighed. The serving maid had made no bones that she wanted him, but Erik’s heart was not into a casual dalliance tonight. As she returned with his ale, Drew also approached. The girl curtseyed and hurried off to get another mug for Drew.

Erik was none too happy with Drew at the moment. First, it appeared that he had gained Rhianna’s trust more so than he, himself, had and then Drew had undermined Erik in front of her. He cast Drew a look of impatience over his mug and took a deep draught of it as his guard and friend sat beside him.

“I need to talk to you, Erik.”

“Hmm, I am not quite in the talking mood.”

“Good, then it should be easier for you to listen.”

Cold blue eyes like a Nordic wolf raised to Drew and he said, “Go on, then.”

“It’s about the girl.”

“Naturally.”

“Well, I have talked with her. She is sorry for the things she did.”

“Is she? Is she sorry for claiming to go meet a lover?”

Drew smiled at that statement, for her other offenses seemed much worse to him than that, but her false claim had put a nail in his friend’s heart.

“Yes, I suspect she is sorry for that, too. When a woman is falling in love, she does many things she should not.”

“Oh, and she is falling in love, now is she? And who might the poor unfortunate bastard be who is so worthy of her affection?”

“Well, I would not call him a bastard. His parents would be sad to learn that he was not their own.”

Erik was not in the mood for games or riddles. He snapped, “What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

“She is falling in love with you, Erik. Any fool could see that.”

Erik laughed bitterly into his drink. “Ha! Me? That is rich. She despises me and I am not so fond of her right now, either.”

“She does not despise you. She is scared to death of you…well not you, exactly…marriage. It could be marriage to anyone that has her acting this way. She is afraid to marry…and you just happen to be the
poor bastard
given that task.  But, mark me, Erik, she is smitten with you. I can tell.”

“Oh, and you are an expert at love now, are you?”

Drew frowned in earnest. He was indeed not an expert in love. He had never been in love with any one girl, for any one period of time. He would much rather play the gallant with any varied females that crossed his path, but he somehow knew that when it came to love, he would be able to tell. He answered soberly, “I am no expert, t’is true, but I can see the signs. You love her and she loves you. It is that simple.”

“I do not love her. I do not even like her at the moment.”

The smile returned to Drew’s face and he said, “She said the same thing about you, actually.”

“She is a willful, pain in the arse.”

“And, so?”

“So, nothing. She makes me so angry. It is all I can do to not take her over my knee and teach her a lesson.”

“Perhaps you should. It would get it out of your system and she will know you mean business. And then you can get down to the business of loving her once and for all.”

For the first time that night, Drew saw Erik crack a smile. He said, “You are mad, I am convinced. Still, the idea of it is rather pleasant to imagine.”

“Well, maybe you should go to her chambers now and
discuss
the matter with her,” Drew winked. His friend did not deny that he would like to get back to the business of loving the lovely and feisty Rhianna. He watched his friend down the last of his ale, slamming his tankard down and then bound up the stairs, two at a time toward the lady’s apartments.

~Chapter Nineteen~

As Erik paused outside of the Rhianna’s chambers, he really did not know how to proceed. It was one thing to fantasize about punishing her; it was entirely another thing to act upon it. It
was
her house after all and he was a guest, although quite an unwanted one at the moment. He really did not have the right to discipline her. It seemed that just imagining it quelled his need to, anyway. He thought perhaps he should try to talk to her, but he warred with what to say to her. Erik started to think that he should just leave it for the night and try again tomorrow.  He was about to turn to leave when he thought he heard soft sobs coming from within. Was the girl weeping? Erik raised his hand to knock on the door, but he heard the sound again. Something was wrong. He had been quite hard on her, and what if Drew was right? What if she was developing feelings for him and he had hurt her with his words? Erik did not want that. His heart softened at the sound and he tried the latch, thinking she would have barred the door. Instead, it gave easily and he let himself into the room.

The room was dim and unlit. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and he found his way to the bed. There, lying amid furs was Rhianna sobbing fully, but as he peered closer, he could see she was asleep. Erik did not know what to do. He thought to wake her, but he did not want to frighten her. She was sobbing so hard, it seemed as if her heart was breaking.

Kicking off his boots, without much further thought, he climbed beside her and gathered her into his arms. He kissed her hair and whispered, “Sshh, it’s alright now. You are not in any danger.”

He felt her start at his touch and he said, “It’s me, Rhianna.”

Her eyes flew open and she scrambled from his grasp to the far end of the bed, clutching the bedcovers to her chest. She stammered, “What are you doing here? You should not be here.”