Read Sworn Loyalty - A Medieval Romance for Free Online

liquid tracing a silvery path down her throat and into her stomach. He waited for her to finish, then moved down to unwrap the bandage from her leg.
    Blood was crusted all along the wrapping, and he used the mead on a cloth to dab away at it, working his way down to the wound itself. The tension in his brow eased.
    “No infection that I see,” he told her. “Still, you need to lie still for the day. Get as much sleep as you can. Are you up for some food?”
    Her throat ached with rawness. “Maybe an apple.”
    He rebandaged the wound with fresh wrappings, then tucked the covers back around her. Soon he was at her side with an apple, cutting off slices for her, handing them over one by one.
    When she was finished, he moved over to the shutters, peering out without touching them.
    Mary followed his movements with her eyes. “Anything yet?”
    He shook his head. “Some pilgrims passed early this morning, and a short while ago a farmer went through with his wagon. Our tracks outside the walls, at least, are now nicely covered. No sign of our pursuers yet.”
    “I give them two more days,” mused Mary.
    Erik looked over with a question in his eyes.
    “They would have found our first horse’s prints from where he waited for us,” she explained. “So they would start by looking everywhere we could have gotten to on that horse. A relatively small radius.”
    “And when that fails, they will keep working their way outwards,” agreed Erik. “Plus, as you mentioned, they will think it unlikely I would head in this particular direction.”
    His eyes shadowed, and he turned, looking at the thin arrow-slit which pointed west. He slowly moved across the room, hesitating a moment before leaning his head to look through the narrow gap. “You can just about make out the keep from here,” he murmured. “That was my home, until ten years ago.”
    And for the past ten years, that keep has been my home.
    Mary’s heart filled with a longing to stand by his side, to wrap her arms around him, to soothe his tormented soul. She ached to feel his hands twine into hers. She fought down the desire with effort. The emotion would interfere with her ability to do her duty.
    If only she could tell him –
    She pushed the thought away. She did not know how much longer she would have to hold back information from Erik, but Lady Cartwright had been clear on this point. Mary had to evaluate him for as long as she could, learn as much as possible about him, before revealing the truth. She had to find out if he was free of Lynessa.
    Mary’s brow shadowed. It had been Lynessa who had created the schism, those ten long years ago. Lynessa had driven Erik from his mother’s side, had made Lady Cartwright vow in fury that she would never take him back.
    But surely he was no longer under the blonde’s spell, not after she’d led him to his certain death?
     Waves of dense darkness descended on her. Her thoughts muddled and drifted away like sparks floating up from a dying campfire.
     
    * * *
     
    Mary wearily pushed the hair from her face, struggling up to a seated position. Gentle morning sunlight was streaming through the gaps in the shutters, and Erik was standing at them, attentively watching the forest beyond.
    Mary drew her gaze along his profile. The painting in the keep had been of a young man, a lad on the cusp of maturity, preparing to set out into the world. The soldier before her was weathered, toned, someone who had seen what life held and had tested himself against it. There was a strength within him, a passion that she had never sensed in all the years of staring into the canvas eyes.
    She remembered how he had looked at her, just before turning to fight the five wolves’ heads in the crumbling courtyard. He had laid his fingers against her cheek, and her heart had flamed to life –
    He suddenly turned, and she dropped her eyes to her lap. Her cheeks blazed with a heat she knew had nothing to do with any fever.
    In a moment there