Read Blood Sword Legacy 04 - A Knight to Remember for Free Online

“We cannot continue. Please do not follow me.” She moved past him, but he grabbed her to his chest. Heat filled his body.
    “You are mine, Rowena!” he shouted, louder than he intended. “I will not release you!”
    His voice carried a sharp authority that came as natural to him as his dark hair.
    She gasped at the ferocity of his outburst, but shook her head. “Nay, I am not.” She pressed her lips to his one last time. As she drew away from him she softly said, “We can never be. I am promised to another.” Then she turned and ran from the cave. He ran after her, but stopped short when the men on horseback approached her.
    Were they a threat to him? Was he a pirate? Would she reveal his hiding place? He moved back into the shelter of the cave, but watched. She shook her head and pointed down the beach. The group of men took off at a gallop. She turned and looked up at him. For one long moment, he thought she would come back to him. He moved outside the cave. Her body jerked when she saw him.
    “Rowena!” he called and ran toward her. She turned from him and ran. And in that instant of clarity he remembered. Dinefwr, sailing for Wendover to claim his bride. The pirate attack, then the storm that destroyed them all. He was Rhodri of Dinefwr! A prince! And she, Lady Rowena, was his betrothed! Elation filled him.
    His men! They searched for him! He whooped and threw sand up into the air. He hurried back into the cave and donned the meager clothing she had brought for him. With hope and love flying high in his heart, Rhodri took off down the beach to find his men. Anticipation burned in his belly, creating a nervousness he had never experienced. This night would find him wed and abed with his secret angel.

    *

Six

    “Mercia! Where have ye been?” Lord Cedric demanded, as she hurried up the dirt path to the manor. He cuffed her harshly when she passed him without a word. He yanked her hair so hard her feet flew from beneath her. His red face puffed in fury. “Where have ye been, wench?”
    She could only shake her head as she came to her feet. She could not tell him. He would see her nailed to the manor doors. Knowing the one thing her father could not abide by was tears, she broke down and flung herself into his arms. He immediately recoiled. “Off me, girl!’’ He turned to Agatha, who stood nearby wringing her hands. “Take her, old woman, and see her to bed. Do not let her out of yer sight!”
    Mercia’s heart broke into a million tiny pieces. The pain so great she did not know if she could survive it. Never had she thought such emotions hid inside her. Never had she thought she could love so deeply. Never had she dreamed of a man such as the dark stranger she had run from.
    Agatha steered her into her chamber. Mercia refused to allow herself to be undressed. His scent clung to her clothes, to her hair, to her skin. She would never bathe again. She wanted always to be surrounded by him. Her tears for her father had been a ruse, but now they flowed freely, hot and thick, unending. Rowena’s weak attempts to soothe her sister went unwarranted. Agatha’s insistence she eat was ignored. As the sun rose, Mercia’s heart sunk into the deepest, darkest pit of despair.
    Desperately she wanted to leave this place and fly into his arms. Desperately she wanted to feel his hard strength. Desperately, with every part of her being, she wanted to spend the rest her days with him in that little cave where no one or nothing would disturb them. But she could not. She was promised to the church. And ‘twas there she would die!

    *

    “Mercia!” Rowena squealed. “He’s here! He’s here! My prince has come!”
    Mercia rolled away from her sister. She did not care if the king of England made an appearance. She would not move from her bed. Not for her sister, not for anyone.
    Rowena grabbed her hand and pulled her from the bed. “Ready yourself! Father insists we greet him together.”
    Mercia rolled over and looked