Knights of Honor Books 1-10: A Medieval Romance Series Bundle

by Alexa Aston

  Reaching the great hall, she said, “I’m going to eat something quickly. I will meet you outside soon. I know David and Drew will be gathering up the horses we are taking with us.”

  “I’ve told Toby and Stephen to help with that,” Tristan said.

  They parted ways and she ate some bread and sipped ale while Elysande gave her last minute instructions over the care of the horses that would accompany them to Essex.

  “You know, Elysande, all these horses will be perfectly fine. David will be there. Drew and I can assist him. Both Sir Stephen and Sir Toby are most capable knights.” She squeezed her cousin’s hand. “You worry too much.”

  “And you don’t worry enough,” Elysande quickly retorted.

  Nan rose, wondering for the first time if Elysande had an inkling of what had passed between her and Tristan. “It’s time.” She glanced to where her father and Michael sat on Elysande’s other side. Both men stood in unison. Her father embraced her, dropping a soft kiss on the top of her head.

  “Write to us when you arrive at Thorpe Castle and again before you leave,” he told her. “If not, your mother will be frantic.”

  “And also when I arrive at Bexley,” she said. “I believe Margery may be with child again. You know how she gets very ill early on and can’t stop retching.”

  Geoffrey shook his head. “Let’s keep that from Merryn for now or she’ll be off to Bexley to care for her.” He grinned. “I need a little time alone with my wife now that Edward and Rosalyne have left Kinwick and Hal and Elinor are settling in after their wedding, but we will both come for you in a few months. By then, I hope Margery will be able to keep her meals down.”

  Geoffrey kissed her again. “Be safe, Nan. Stick by Drew. Do your best for Lord Tristan’s men and enjoy your time with Ancel and Margery.”

  They walked to the stables together. David and Drew had the selected horses ready.

  “Are you sure you don’t wish for any of my men to accompany you, Lord Tristan?” asked Michael. “I can easily summon Sir Martin and Sir Ralph and they could be ready to ride with you. Just say the word.”

  “Nay,” Tristan said. “Six of us should be able to watch out for five horses. We’re only two days away from retrieving my sister and less than two after that to Leventhorpe lands.”

  Elysande pressed sacks of food upon each rider. “Cook has made some things for you to eat while on the road.”

  Nan allowed Drew to help her onto Nightfoot before he mounted his own horse. She waved to Elysande, Michael, and Tucker and blew a kiss to her father, then they spurred their horses on and rode away from Sandbourne.

  The countryside they passed had turned a deep green as June bloomed throughout the landscape. Nightfoot enjoyed the long ride that first day and was still frisky the next morning. Fortunately, she knew her horse well and could control his high spirits.

  They stopped mid-afternoon in order to water and rest the horses and drew from the food the Sandbourne cook had sent.

  As they sat facing each other in a circle, Nan asked Tristan, “How long until we reach where your sister fosters?”

  He used his baselard to cut a slice of cheese. “We should be at Shercastle in another three hours or so.”

  “What is your sister’s name?” David asked, tearing a piece of crust from some bread.

  “Gillian,” replied Tristan. “She has fostered with the baron and baroness for many years. Lady Magdalen is quite fond of Gillian and has threatened not to give her back to me.”

  “Would it be possible for her to remain at Shercastle?” Nan asked. “Do they have a son she might wed?”

  “They have two sons but both are spoken for. One is already wed and one is supposed to marry this summer.”

  “Is your sister betrothed?” Nan was curious since she knew Tristan himself wasn’t and remembered he had spoken of his obligation to see his sister wed.

  “Nay. In fact, I hope to find her a husband in the near future.”

  Nan noticed he glanced David’s way when he said this. Her cousin was too busy eating a fruit tart to have noticed. She wondered if Tristan might be considering David as his future brother-in-law.

  Once Drew and Sir Stephen brought the horses back from the nearby stream, everyone remounted and continued toward Shercastle. Hours later, they were granted permission to enter the gates of the castle.

  “More than likely, Lord Wymun will ask us to stay the night. Let’s ride to the keep first,” Tristan told the others. “If the invitation is extended, we’ll need to get all the horses settled in their stables.”

  Their party rode through both baileys. Nan saw a couple awaiting them, standing arm in arm. A young woman stood slightly apart from them. As they drew near, she knew beyond a doubt that this was Tristan’s sister. She was very petite and possessed the same tawny hair her brother had. As Nan dismounted, she noticed Gillian’s eyes weren’t the brown rimmed in gold of her brother’s but the light blue color of a summer sky instead.

  The baron and baroness greeted them and, as Tristan predicted, asked them to remain overnight in order to start their journey to Thorpe Castle afresh in the morning. He agreed. Only then did Tristan turn to address his sister.

  “How do you fare, Gillian?” he asked formally, making no move to embrace her.

  “I am well, Tristan. Thank you for coming to retrieve me.”

  Nan was stunned. She assumed that it had been months since the pair had seen one another yet neither seemed inclined to touch the other or show any outward sign of affection. If she had been separated from any of her siblings for that long, Nan would have clung to them, laughing and crying at the same time, happy to be in their presence again.

  Instead, Lady Gillian turned abruptly without a further word and followed Lord Wymun and Lady Magdalen.

  Drew edged next to her. “Do you find that a bit odd?” he whispered.

  “I most certainly do.”

  Tristan instructed his men to move all of the horses to the stables, both the ones they’d ridden and those he’d purchased from Lady Elysande.

  “I’ll help you,” Drew offered.

  It was only then that Nan glimpsed the look on her cousin’s face. David’s eyes followed Lady Gillian’s progress as she made her way up the stairs to the keep. Wordlessly, he began to follow.

  Nan chuckled to herself. It seemed David might be smitten with Gillian Therolde.

  Chapter 11

  Tristan quickly figured out that David Devereux was interested in his sister. The knight had sat next to Gillian and shared a trencher at the evening meal with her, their heads close together as they spoke in quiet tones. Tristan watched the pair as they retreated to a corner of Shercastle’s great hall after they finished eating and continued their conversation until Tristan finally interrupted them, telling Gillian it was time to retire since they would rise early and leave at first light the next morning.

  Since Gillian had no horse and had never learned to ride, David immediately volunteered the next day to be responsible for her, taking her up into his saddle. Twice when they stopped to rest their horses, the two strolled the nearby woods, side-by-side. No one said anything but it was obvious to all present that the couple was taken with one another.

  Tristan now stood across from the young knight as they finished up their watch guarding the camp’s inhabitants and horses. Soon, Toby and Stephen would come to relieve them so they could get a few hours of sleep before they broke camp. Tristan noted how seriously David took his sentry duty. He had not uttered a word since it began. The knight’s eyes swept across the dark at intervals, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

  This was a good man and soldier. David came from a respected family. He would make a fine husband for Gillian, while Lord Michael and Lady Elysande would be kind to her. Tristan believed when it came time for David Devereux to return to Sandbourne, he would speak to Tristan about wedding Gillian. For now, he would take Lord Michael’s attitude and say nothing to either of them.

  A bru
shing sound captured his attention and he knew his men reported for duty. He told them all was well and left them to return to their camp. The fire’s embers burned lowed but he could make out the shapes of his remaining companions. Gillian slept on her side, her hands curled under her chin as if she were in prayer. Nan and Drew both slept on their backs, Drew’s sword next to his right hand and Nan’s bow and quiver resting on each side of her. David went and lay several feet from Gillian, unsheathing his sword and placing it within reach.

  Tristan eased to the ground, his eyelids heavy and his body tired from long days in the saddle. His healing thigh had held up well and hadn’t troubled him during their travels. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  Until something woke him. A hissing. He opened his eyes and looked around without sitting up. In the shadows, Tristan saw Nan and Drew slinking off. For a moment, jealousy flared within him. He knew the two were friendly and that this was no romantic tryst they sneaked off to. But where were they going in the dead of night?

  He grasped the hilt of his sword and quickly touched David’s shoulder. The knight shot up, his sword in hand.

  “There’s trouble,” he whispered. “Stay with Gillian.”

  Determination filled the young man’s eyes. “I will keep her safe, my lord.”

  Tristan nodded and then followed Nan and Drew. As he did, he heard faint sounds coming from the area where they had hobbled the horses.

  Someone was there. Someone who didn’t belong.

  Why hadn’t Stephen or Toby called out a warning?

  In the quiet of the cool night, the whiz of an arrow broke the stillness, followed by a loud grunt. Then a cry of pain and astonishment. Tristan began running, knowing Nan and Drew did the same. The clang of two swords striking together sounded three times, then someone uttered a loud groan.

  As Tristan reached the horses, he saw men scrambling onto mounts and taking off. Nan and Drew slice through the loose rope around their horses’ legs and jumped onto their backs to follow. He glanced around and saw two strangers lying on the ground. An arrow protruded from the chest of one. The other lay still in a pool of blood spilling from him. Tristan turned and froze.

  Toby and Stephen lay sprawled on the ground, their eyes staring vacantly up at the night sky.

  “No,” he moaned hoarsely. “No.”

  The three had fostered together and been the closest of friends. He had known them over a score, from childhood to becoming men. Tristan trusted only a handful of people. These two were the ones he had turned to in his darkest of days. They had stood by him and supported him and come to live at Leventhorpe when he became its earl.

  And now these treasured friends lay dead.

  Rage surged through him as he freed Skybourne. Sheathing his sword, Tristan leapt onto the animal. He drove the beast hard, miraculously catching up to Nan and Drew and the men they chased. As he came close, he watched Nan pull an arrow from the quiver slung over her shoulder. She tossed her reins to Drew, who caught them and held them steady as Nan fixed the arrow and drew back her bowstring. The arrow sailed through the air, striking the first of three riders in the back of his neck. The man fell from his saddle.

  Again, Nan released an arrow and struck another man in the same place. His hands dropped the reins and flew to his neck before he rolled lifelessly to the ground.

  Their three horses galloped past both of the fallen men. Tristan pulled abreast of Nan and Drew as she yanked a third arrow from her quiver. How she could ride at breakneck speed and fire with such accuracy amazed Tristan, much less that Drew could keep her horse on course as he did. The two moved as one, needing no words between them. He realized their years of training together bonded them in a way he might never understand.

  Nan’s arrow flew through the air again. This time, her aim was off. The arrow alighted in the fleeing man’s left shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder at them but continued to race down the road without altering his pace.

  She drew another arrow and quickly sent it on its way. Again, she missed bringing down her target. The arrow hit the man’s right shoulder. The second injury was enough to cause him to slow his horse and bring it around to face them. He released the reins and held his hands up to show he was no longer a threat to them, grimacing as he did so.

  Drew flipped the reins back to Nan and the trio brought their horses to a halt. The squire leapt from his horse and stormed over to the man. He yanked him from the saddle and slammed his fist into the stranger’s nose.

  As Tristan and Nan dismounted, he said to her, “Your first two shots amazed me, my lady. To ride as you did and shoot so precisely takes great skill. I’m almost disappointed that you didn’t kill all three.”

  “I wasn’t trying to kill him, my lord,” Nan said in exasperation. “We need to question him and find out why he killed Toby and Stephen. Why he and the others wished to steal your horses.” She gave him a hard look. “Dead men cannot give the answers we seek.”

  His awe grew. Tristan realized her arrows had gone exactly where she directed them, while a cool head prevailed, knowing it was important to keep at least one of the thieves alive to interrogate him.

  The man had crumpled to the ground. Drew latched on to his tunic and jerked the robber to his feet. Blood gushed from his mangled nose.

  “Look at me,” Nan commanded, her voice strong and firm.

  Slowly, the man’s head rose. He gave her a withering look as he glanced at the bow in her hand.

  “You’re the one firing the arrows at me? God’s Bones! Brought down by a woman.” He spat on the ground in disgust.

  “Aye. I killed your friends. Just as you killed two valiant knights.”

  The man shrugged, causing him to wince in pain. “What of it?”

  “Answer my questions and I may allow you to live.”

  He smirked at her.

  Nan kicked him in the balls.

  The man howled and fell to the ground. She stepped toward him and placed her boot atop one of the arrows still protruding from him.

  “Were you and your men trying to steal our horses?”

  He glared at her. Nan stomped on the arrow, driving it deeper into him until it almost disappeared.

  “Aye!” he roared.

  “Did you take them for yourself or did someone else instruct you to steal them?”

  The thief took a moment and then said, “We was going to sell them. Me and the others sell what we can get our hands on but sometimes we know places to go. Where we sold to before.”

  “Name who you would have taken them to first,” she demanded.

  When he didn’t answer immediately, Nan wrapped her hands around the arrow jutting from his left shoulder.

  Seeing that she would rip it from him, the man cried out, “The baron! He’ll always buy good horseflesh, especially at a bargain price.”

  “What baron?” Tristan asked, a chill invading his soul.

  “Wycliffe,” the thief said, breathing hard. “The Baron . . . of Wycliffe.”

  Petyr Medford, Baron of Wycliffe, was the widower two estates from Leventhorpe that he had considered as a husband for Gillian. The nobleman wielded a strong influence in Essex, which is why Tristan thought it might be a suitable match, despite the disparity in their ages. Disappointment filled him, knowing the nobleman showed one face to the world and was a much different man than the one he portrayed. It only reinforced to Tristan how no one could be trusted. Thank the Living Christ he had not betrothed Gillian to the baron.

  Nan turned to him. “Do you know this man, Tristan?”

  He nodded. “He is an acquaintance of mine.” Looking back at the robber, he asked, “How many times have you sold stolen goods to Wycliffe?”

  “What’s it to you?” the highwayman snarled. “You still have all of your horses. We didn’t get a single one. And neither will the baron.”

  Something in Tristan snapped. Moving swiftly, he unsheathed his sword and ran it through the man, pinning him to the ground. Blood bubbled
up from his mouth, spilling down his chest. He trembled violently then stilled. Tristan jerked the sword from him.

  “That’s for Toby. For Stephen. My friends.”

  Tristan wiped his sword clean and returned it to his side. Wordlessly, he walked away and mounted Skybourne. He returned to their camp, while Nan and Drew gathered the three highwaymen’s horses.

  David and Gillian met him. Tristan saw the anguish in her face and knew she had seen the bodies of the two dead knights, men she had known since she was a child.

  “I am sorry, Tristan,” Gillian said quietly.

  He nodded in acknowledgement. Though he wanted to take his sister in his arms and comfort her, she turned away. It was David Devereux who followed her and put an arm about her as she sobbed.

  Tristan waited until Nan and Drew returned and told them, “We can reach Thorpe Castle by the end of the day. I cannot bury them here. I must take them home.” He swore to himself that he would visit their graves every day and never forget the friendship these two men had offered him and the loyalty they had given him.

  “I’ll stay with Gillian,” Nan said, looking to Drew. “Help Lord Tristan prepare the bodies for travel.”

  She went to his grieving sister and sent David Devereux over. The three men secured the bodies to their horses. Drew draped a blanket over each man.

  They started out for Leventhorpe immediately afterward. No one mentioned eating. Tristan doubted he could have swallowed a single breadcrumb. The group rode in silence the entire day until they arrived at Thorpe Castle.

  It was the second darkest day of Tristan’s life.

  Chapter 12

  Nan brought Nightfoot to a halt as their group approached the stables. Though not nearly as large as that at Sandbourne, the structure appeared to be fairly new. Everyone dismounted and while Gillian stayed back, the rest of them brought all of the horses into the building, from their own to the ones which had belonged to the dead highwaymen, as well as the group Tristan had purchased from Sandbourne. It surprised her how many open stalls stood available and she wondered if a bulk of the Leventhorpe horses were held in a pasture nearby during good weather.