His Abducted Bride (15 page)

“I don’t have all the answers,” he finally said.

“What do you know?”

“Nothing, really. I’m trying to piece everything together.” When she sighed, he held her hands and placed them on his chest. “I can’t tell you anything until I’m sure of what’s going on. It would help if I can learn more about him. Do you know anything else, anything at all?”

She shrugged. “When I started writing, this world had four major kingdoms and I had to give each four rulers a name. King Petros was a filler. I devoted no more than a couple paragraphs to him. I was more interested in his kingdom.”

“That doesn’t help.”

“Well, it’s all I had in mind for him. He wasn’t even a secondary character.”

“But you thought he might be in a second book, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t outline the book or anything but yeah, if I wrote a second book, he’d be the villain in it.”

“So he’s the bad guy.”

She let go of his hands and gave him a gentle poke in the chest. “And he might not be a bad guy considering how awful you were supposed to be.”

Though he chuckled, she sensed a hint of apprehension in his expression. “Yeah, maybe. At any rate, I don’t want you to worry. We’ll see to it that your knights are comfortable and can send a good word back to your people now that they know you’re fine.” He kissed her. “By the way, thanks for telling them you want to be here.”

“It’s the least I can do since I’m sharing your bed.”

This time when he chuckled, his mood was brighter. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. Care to join me for breakfast.”

“It’d be my pleasure.” She accepted his arm and he led her out of the room.

***

“You’re not going to stay longer?” Sandy asked as Gavin turned to leave the courtyard during sword practice later that day.

He placed his sword in the sheath. “I’m done practicing for today, but you should stay and continue.”

“Why?”

“Because you should hone your skills. You’re not too bad.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”

“I meant it as a compliment.” He placed his hands on her arms and kissed her. “Considering you knew nothing about handling a sword when you first came here, you do very well. But, you need more practice.”

She glanced at the sword in her hands and nodded. “Alright, though it’s a shame we’ve been married for such a short time, and you’re already running off to be away from me.”

Amused, he gave her another kiss. “I’m not running off to get away from you. I just want to check on your knights and make sure they’re comfortable.”

“Shouldn’t I do that? I’m their queen.”

“And now I’m their king. Just have fun playing with the sword and I’ll be back soon.”

“Playing with the sword?” she asked, her tone giving away her disbelief. “You think I’m out here to play?”

“‘Playing’ is the wrong word.” He had no intention of ever letting her onto the battlefield, but there was no need to tell her that. “Practice. I meant you should practice.”

Though she didn’t look convinced, she relented. “Okay. I’ll stay here and practice,
not
play.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

He hurried into the castle and motioned to the guard waiting for him. “Are the knights in the planning room?”

“Yes, my lord,” the guard replied as they strode down the hall. “They’re expecting you.”

“Good.”

He glanced over his shoulder. Sandy hadn’t followed him. The last thing he needed was to put her in harm’s way. When he reached the planning room, the guard opened the door and let him in. The guards standing in the room shut the door to ensure their privacy.

The knights rose from their chairs and bowed.

“Thanks for meeting me here,” he said as he retrieved King Petros’ letter and the map of their world. “I don’t want the queen or anyone else getting word of what we’re going to discuss.” He examined everyone in the room. “Agreed?”

“Yes, my lord,” they replied.

He placed the map on the table and gestured for his four guards to approach the table so everyone could read the letter. “What do you make of this?”

“I read it as a threat,” Sir Raleigh, one of Sandy’s knights, said.

“Yes, I take it that way, too,” Gavin agreed. “But there’s something else of interest. He mentioned that by bringing the author into the story, the plans he’s been working on for the past year might be compromised. Do any of you know what he means by that?” He glanced at the three knights.

“Well,” Sir Raleigh slowly began, “he mentioned something about capturing a magician with great power.”

“What would he want with a magician?” Sir Handel, his guard, asked.

“Magic,” Gavin thoughtfully replied. “Unlimited magic at his disposal. But even magic has its limits.”

“What limits?” Sir Handel asked.

“He can’t force someone to do his will. They must choose to do what he wants. And since my sword can pierce through magic, he’s potentially vulnerable if I were to fight him.” With a sigh, Gavin rubbed the back of his neck. There was something they were missing. He was sure of it. “What do you know about him?”

“Not much. His character was never developed in the book.”

“But he attacked you and your men? Without any provocation?”

“I don’t know if I’d say it was without provocation. He thought we kidnapped the author.”

“But why would he care?” Gavin asked. “She hadn’t done anything with him in the book. What could he have to gain or lose from it? Did he say anything that would give us a clue into his motivation?”

Sir Raleigh glanced at the other knights and one said, “He kept saying something about no one standing in the way of his destiny.”

Gavin considered his words and realized by taking Sandy into the story and changing it, he possibly changed how the second book might have played out. Maybe that’s what bothered King Petros. It made sense if that was the case. “But why did he assume you kidnapped her?”

With another glance at the other knights, Sir Raleigh said, “My knights and I had met prior to the author writing the final scene of this story. In this meeting, we agreed that it might have been hasty on her part to kill you off.”

“We were aware that you didn’t want to be the villain and thought it was unfair that she didn’t consider an alternative ending for the story,” another knight added.

“If the author won’t listen to one character,” Sir Raleigh began, “then what hope do the rest of us have? Nothing went against our wishes in this story, but we didn’t want to take our chances if she wrote a second book.”

“Somehow the fact that she’s here is preventing King Petros from doing something,” Gavin thoughtfully replied. “I suspect he needs her back in her world.”

“Can having the author in this story stop any of us from doing something?” Sir Handel spoke up.

“I didn’t think so but apparently it can,” Gavin said, turning his attention to the map. “He was last seen in Crystaline.” He pointed to Sandy’s kingdom.

“Yes.” Sir Raleigh placed his finger at the valley and moved it to the castle. “He went in this direction. This area of the valley is the weakest part of the land because the floods last year devastated it. Most people left to seek a new life elsewhere.”

Gavin nodded. Any intelligent warrior would choose the path of least resistance. “And he brought an army with him?”

“Yes,” Sir Raleigh replied. “Ten thousand men were with him.”

“Not to be insensitive to your loss, but you held up well if all you lost were three men.”

“It’s because the author strengthened us through a rigorous exercise routine.”

That was to her advantage, Gavin thought. He examined the forest surrounding his land and wondered which way King Petros would likely come through. Since his forest was enchanted, he stood a good chance of delaying him, but he doubted King Petros would give up until he arrived.

“Sir Handel,” Gavin began, “ask the magician if he can detect any weaknesses in the forest. We’ll want to focus our efforts in those areas.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Gavin placed his hands on his hips and sighed. “There’s not much else we can do right now except wait and watch for any sign of suspicious activity.”

“Agreed, my lord.”

He looked at Sir Raleigh and the other two knights. “Will you assist when the time comes to go to battle?”

“Yes, my lord,” Sir Raleigh replied and the other two nodded their consent.

Good. He’d secured Sandy’s warriors for battle. “Oh, and one last thing. We don’t need to tell the author about this. I don’t want to worry her.”

“Understood.”

Satisfied, Gavin dismissed the group.

Sandy swung her sword and one of Gavin’s men blocked it. She couldn’t be sure but it seemed like she was the one who was putting forth all the effort. He wasn’t even sweating. She realized Gavin had instructed the guard to go easy on her but even so, she suspected he was trying to make her believe she was better at sword fighting than she was.

Lowering her sword, she wiped her forehead and struggled to catch her breath.

“Is my lady alright?” he asked.

She waited for a few moments to answer him because that’s how long it took for her to take a good, deep breath. “I’m not good at this, am I?”

“Oh, you shouldn’t think that way,” he kindly admonished. “The king gave you a sword because he knew you could handle it.”

“I don’t know.” She sheathed the sword then wiped her hands and face with a towel a servant handed her. “I think the king is letting me do this sword thing because he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.”

“That’s preposterous.”

“Is it? I’m his wife and I’m the author of this book. Maybe he wants me to believe I’m the great warrior I made myself out to be when I was writing. But I’m not a warrior in real life. I’m a waitress at a diner. My biggest feat is balancing a group of plates in my arms without dropping them. That’s not exactly the kind of thing that helps on a battlefield.”

“Are you planning on going to war?”

“Well,” she considered his question and shook her head, “no. I don’t see any reason for it. I guess this whole thing is a waste of time. Maybe I’d be better off doing something else. Though,” she studied him and the others in the courtyard, “why do all of you look as if you’re preparing for battle?”

“Don’t think of it as preparing for battle,” he replied. “Think of it as polishing our skills.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

But it still didn’t make much sense. There was no threat and without her writing the story, there was no chance of getting any conflict in this land. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked up at the walls. How many days had she been up there and in all that time, there weren’t nearly as many men guarding the place as there were now? Her three knights climbed the steps to one of the walls and talked with two guards. One of the guards gestured to the west. What was all that about? Her kingdom was to the south, so they couldn’t be talking about Crystaline.

“Are you done already?”

She turned in time to see Gavin entering the courtyard. “What are they doing?” she asked, pointing to her knights.

“Oh, the guards are showing them around, getting them acquainted with Havenshire. Are you ready to wash up before dinner?”

“Don’t they already know this land since they came here?”

“They came through the enchanted forest.”

“I thought it was hard to get through there. Or didn’t you keep the enchantments I created in the story?”

“I kept them.” Slipping his arm around her waist, he led her into the castle. “But your men have been granted permission to come here since you’re now the queen here.”

“How did the forest know who they were?”

“The magician saw to it that the knights would be recognized and given safe passage.” He kissed her cheek. “It’d be in bad form for me to hurt your men.”

“Okay.” She glanced at the belt around her waist and removed the sword from the sheath. “You should have this.”

He took the sword and studied her. “Why? Don’t you want it?”

“No. I might be a warrior on paper, but I’m not one in real life. There’s no sense in pretending to be something I’m not.”

“But you can be, if you give it time and plenty of practice.”

“Yeah, I guess.” She shrugged and slowed her steps as they went up the stairs. “My heart’s not in it. I thought it would be exciting and adventurous if I was a mighty warrior, but the truth is, I’d rather be on the sidelines and cheer the warriors on.”

“In that case, I’ll be a warrior for both of us.”

Catching his grin, she chuckled. “Well, you certainly have a big enough ego for it.”

They reached the top of the stairs and headed for their bedchamber. The silence that passed between them was a comfortable one. She liked knowing that they could share a stroll without feeling the need to always say something.

Later, while they were bathing, she asked him, “What would you like me to wear at dinner tonight?”

His eyebrows rose. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. Dead serious.” She soaped her hair and face, relieved to get the sweat off of her. Sometimes she missed taking a shower. The bath did the job, but there was something soothing about closing her eyes and letting the water massage her skin. Rinsing her hair, she asked, “Well?”

He glanced at her, as if not believing she wanted to know but finally said, “Okay. I love it when you wear red and black. So I’d like to see you in a dress that is one or the other or a mix of both.”

“That can be arranged.”

He set his washcloth down and studied her. “What’s this about?”

“Nothing,” she replied with a shrug and poured the cup over her hair, rinsing it again. “I just thought I’d do something you like, that’s all.”

He hesitated to respond but smiled. “Really?”

“Yeah. Once in a while I try to do something nice.”

Chuckling, he rose from the tub and wrapped the towel around his waist.

“You’re done already?”

“Yep. I didn’t even need a bath since I missed most of the sword practice out there.”