Chapter 4 - continued
Azalea's heart raced. It pounded so hard, it made her eyes hurt. For the second time this evening her vision got blurry, but this time she didn’t even contemplate the mortification of what was going to happen. Steadily she swept into unconsciousness.
But before she could do so much as sway, strong arms picked her off her feet and held her fast. Thorn had effortlessly caught her in mid strive. Pressing her limp body against his own, he pinched her arm. Azalea´s eyes fluttered open.
Thank God, she had only been out for a mere second, if she had any luck at all, no one had noticed. No one but the man holding her.
Green eyes. Beautiful green eyes gazed down at her, looking worried. She blinked. Those eyes were the most unbelievable shade of green. Mossgreen? She couldn´t help but smile. So this was what it felt like to be held in the strong arms of a handsome knight.
“I could stay like this all evening,” Thorn drawled.
Lips drawn into a seductive smirk, eyes trained on her, he was handsome.
“Oh,” Azalea breathed, suddenly remembering where she was, “Oh, no!”
She steadied her legs beneath herself and stood up, relieving her weight from his arms. As she brushed his hands off her body, she thought she heard him murmur, “Pity.”
Azalea had never been an over confident woman. But basking in the attention of an exceptionally good looking knight did something to a woman.
As for the man in question, he grinned at her mischievously, his gaze never wavering, never lessening in intensity.
“Why, I believe you have not a single decent thought on your mind, milord!” she exclaimed, reading his mind from his expression.
“Maybe not decent, but at least a dozen,” Thorn teased.
“A penny for you to keep them!”
Her reply wrenched a loud bark of laughter from his throat. Taking her hand, he bowed and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
“Thorn of Kenneth, milady. Ever at your service,” he introduced himself.
Azalea curtsied, “Lady Azalea, niece of Henry.”
“I am delighted to make your acquaintance, lovely Lady Azalea,” he offered his arm.
Putting her hand in the crook of his elbow, Azalea looked up at him. Surprised, she found herself comparing him to the knight she had quarrelled with. Even more surprised, she found him lacking. Whatever was wrong with her? She put a hand on her stomach to concentrate on her breathing.
“Are you feeling alright, princess?” Thorn´s face had turned to hers and he was looking serious again.
“Yes, yes. I´m just still a little dizzy, that´s all.”
He shook his head and grunted, “Never got the point of those bone traps you women tie yourself into.”
Azalea smiled. Men and their understanding of fashion. She would have her maid loosen the laces a bit as soon as she found her and everything was going to be all right. With him leading her to a comfortable chaise, she forgot about the horrid news she had received from her aunt. She was just another young woman at a dance.
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Chapter 5
The following day proved to be tedious. Already it was evening. After having had to wait for unnerving five hours Lord Jared Vulgar was finally admitted to the king. There were few things Jared didn’t dislike. Having to wait was not one of them.
“My king!” he greeted, bowing as he entered the king’s reside.
“Ah, Lord Vulgar! Come in, come in!”
“You wanted to speak to me?”
“Yes, indeed…”, the king sighed, “about your service of late.”
Jared worked his jaw. Now it would come. Now or never.
“I have decided to grant your wish to become head of the Serpents. If you still want that, that is. You will be untouchable by heathen law and will have to answer to nobody but myself.”
Jared almost laughed out loud, this was even better than he had hoped for! He was going to lead the kings personal executioners, the hidden force that was trained to kill unseen, unnoticed and infallible.
“Of course, Your Majesty! Thank you.”
“Oh, but don’t thank me too soon! There are quite a few drawbacks, as well you know. You will cease to exist as a person of court, you will vanish from the face of the earth as far as I’m concerned. As for your desire of my niece Azalea’s hand in marriage…”
Jared held his breath. If he would be allowed her hand, he would be the most powerful man in the whole of the kingdom – apart from the king himself.
Azalea’s land held strategically important potential and was generally a most flourishing stretch of soil. If only he could have it…
A flash of greed sparkled in his eyes when he thought of what he would be able to do.
He banished the thought immediately. The king was a most suspicious man and one to easily read another if he chose. Jared bleached his mind and spread an open expression over his face.
“I assume you know about the will”, the king waited for Jared to nod, “Then you know that a wedding would have to take place within the week, before she turns three and twenty. After that very date my sister in-law will inherit. An option I would not like to see turning into reality”, the king looked at Jared as though for approval.
The Lord however did not feel inclined to speak, there was too much at stake and Jared was not sure as to what the king wanted to hear.
“Anyhow. It is obviously impossible to marry Azalea to a man who is no longer in existence… In the end you have to choose whether you want to lead a gang of lethal men or gather the greatest wealth of the country,” the king sighed, “You have to choose between two very enticing kinds of power.”
Jared nodded. His options really were none. How could he choose wealth over immunity of the law? He was being offered the one thing he had always waited for – the chance to repay his deadly foe. There was no way he would marry the wench! It hurt though – her fortune would have been a nice addition.
Jared nodded solemnly, “I understand.”
“You may leave now.”
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Unaware of how carefree her life was discussed, Azalea silently sat in a rocking chair in her chambers. Her fingers were clenched tightly around the embroidery she had been working on.
Her aunt had left but minutes ago, leaving a copy of her father's testament behind. Azalea wished she hadn't. There in neat script on heavy paper was her sentence. And it would have been exceedingly simple to avoid it. All she would have had to do was get married. She blinked, for five years, she had declined men who asked for her hand sight unseen. She had only on the rarest occasions taken the time to get to know them, knowing they were only interested in her riches, always waiting for the one man who would sweep her off her feet and make her happy forever after. For all she knew he had even been among them. And now it was too late, there was no way she could find a suitable husband within five days, much less see through a wedding.
At that moment a knock on her door made her look up and the person she had least expected to see stuck her pretty head into the room.
“Elisabeth!”
“I'm so sorry to bother you, Lea, but mother asked me to come and collect some of the pearls,” she eyed Azalea's jewellery box, “Silly her thinks you might try and hide some of them away.”
Her voice didn't sound as though she thought the idea silly at all.
Azalea didn't stare like someone with less self-control would, she just pierced her cousin with a very intense look.
“Why would I hide my jewellery?”
Elisabeth didn't miss a beat, she smiled beautifully, “Don't you think calling them yours stretches the truth a little?”
Two could play this game. “Who's would you call them?”
Her cousin gave a tiny nod of approval, she might not be nice, but she was a fair sport. Without acknowledging Mary who was just entering the room, she left.
“What was that all about?” Azalea's maid instantly inquired.
“My aunt wants to make sure I don't hide away my jewels before she can get her hands on them.”
Mary grunted.
“She gave me a copy of the will. Everything will rightfully belong to her in less than a weeks time.”
She breathed in deeply and blinked back the tears in her eyes, hating herself for her self-pity. She brought her hand up to the necklace she was wearing, it had been a gift from her mother when she was nine. Would she have to give it away? The simple gold band and flower lavaliere couldn't be worth much.
“Is there truly not anything we can do about it?”
Azalea smiled at her maids word “we”, “No, I would have to wed until my birthday.”
Mary's face turned all business, “What happens after your birthday? What will become of you?”
“I don't know. She said she'd provide for me, but honestly, I can't imagine her coming up with a suitable dowry. I suppose she'll send me to some convent sooner or later, it's what's done with women who're on the shelf.” Azalea felt her skin grow cold, she hadn't realized that that was going to happen until she'd spoken the words.
Mary nodded once, pursed her lips and Azalea could watch a gleam she had never seen before enter her maids eyes.
“I will bring you one of my dresses, milady. Tonight we are going out!”
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“There's a dance.”
Reign looked up from polishing his sword. He didn't particularly fancy dances but anything to do was really better than just sitting about in a canvas tent.
The raids that had crippled the kingdom for the past months had inexplicably seized. With scouts roaming the vicinity there was really nothing for him to do but wait. Wait for them to continue. Wait to bring them down. It was all but unbearable.
Every raided village, every burning field, every murdered farmer fuelled the all consuming rage that threatened to burn him alive. He was not a child any longer. He could and would fight. And he would win. This time he would not fail.
Torment, who had approached him knew what Reign was going through. He felt the same pain, the same torturous memory, the same cold.
"We will get them", he said, conviction in his voice.
