Read The Breaking Dawn (The Kingdom of Mercia Book 1) for Free Online

a
long, narrow antechamber, lit by flickering torches. Corridors led off it, to
the left and right, to storerooms. There were great oaken doors at one end –
the way outside.
    The privies lay through those doors, in the yard
beyond the hall. Merwenna hurried toward the doors. She was half-way across the
space, when a sudden noise made her pause. It was a muffled groan – and it was
coming from one of the narrow corridors that led down to the tower’s store
rooms.
    She swiveled toward the sound and looked into the
shadowed passageway to her right.
    What she saw there, froze her to the spot.
    Seward and the slave girl he had flirted with
earlier in the evening, were coupling in a frenzy. Her brother had the girl up
against the wall and was thrusting into her. The slave’s skirts were hiked up
around her hips, her shapely legs clasped around him.
    Merwenna stared, her shock turning to horror.
    What, for the love of the gods, are you
doing?
    What should she do? Part of her wanted to shout at
him, to make him stop, whereas another just wanted to turn tail and run.
    Had Seward completely lost his wits?
    At this precise moment, the young man did not
appear to care about the consequences of his actions. Instead, his mouth
devoured the girl’s. His hand’s clasped her buttocks as he rammed into her.
    Merwenna could watch no more. She was too mortified
to say anything. She did not want him to know that she had witnessed this. It
was best if she slipped away quietly; best if she continued on her way to the
privy and pretended she had seen nothing.
    She backed up two steps and collided with a hard
wall of muscle and leather. She cried out in alarm and tried to side-step the
obstacle – but an arm clamped around her torso in an iron band. She looked up
and saw the stone-hewn face of Rodor, the warrior who had led the queen’s guard
earlier in the day.
    Rodor ignored her. Instead, his cold gaze was
riveted on the couple entwined in the shadows just yards away.
     
     

Chapter Five
    Seward’s
Shame
     
    “I am truly sorry, Milady,” Seward repeated, his
voice low.
    Merwenna glared at the back of his head and fought
the urge to kick him. It was a bit late for apologies.
    The queen regarded Seward impassively. Her two
daughters and three sons had gathered behind her, looking on wide-eyed at the
young man who had just given an account of himself.
    A poor one, in Merwenna’s opinion.
    Dawn had just broken over the Great Tower of
Tamworth. Pale light filtered in from the narrow windows high up in the tower,
illuminating the dust motes that drifted in the air. Inside the hall, the mood
was somber. Servants moved gingerly about the edges, preparing griddle bread
and rousing the glowing embers in the fire pits. Many were distracted in their
work; their gazes flicked constantly to the small group that stood before Queen
Cyneswide.
    Merwenna waited behind Seward, her cheeks burning
in humiliation. The slave girl stood next to Seward. Her head was bowed; her
hair a dark curtain shielding her face. The girl’s shoulders were slumped in
defeat, trembling slightly as she wept. Ever since Rodor had interrupted the
lovers, the girl had not uttered a word.
     “I know you come from an isolated village,
Seward,” the queen spoke eventually, “and perhaps you are ignorant of the ways
of others. Yet, I cannot believe that you did not know that to touch a king’s
slave is forbidden.”
    Merwenna’s stomach twisted at these words.
Cyneswide spoke calmly, yet there was no mistaking the flinty edge to her
voice.
    “Please forgive me,” Seward bowed his head and
Merwenna caught the sincere regret in his voice. “I never meant to give
offence. I’m a fool.”
    “Indeed you are,” the queen sighed, exasperated.
“You do realize that if this girl bears your child, the king will deal with her
harshly.”
    Seward looked up and glanced over at where the
slave stood, her head still bowed.
    Merwenna caught a glimpse of his face, and the
purple