In Dreams He Came
Page 20
He couldn’t believe his luck. The guard had been lax and not shut his cell completely. He pushed open the wooden door and peered out. It was dark; the barest hint of candlelight flickered below around the curve of the stairs. Gabriel slowly crept out the door, careful not to let it close tightly behind him. The tower was an effective prison because one couldn’t escape from the narrow windows without plummeting to one’s death, and the Beefeaters guarded the grounds from the base. Maybe if Gabriel was fortunate, he could make it partially down and escape over the wall. How he would get beyond the outer ward after that, he had no idea. The stones were cold beneath his stocking-covered feet, but he counted himself fortunate that at least the thin material protected his bare skin from the dank atmosphere inside this hell.
The guards, those bloody gits, were supporters of Queen Mary. However, Gabriel knew that should the Queen marry that damned Spaniard and beget an heir, it would spell disaster for England’s future. He saw flashes of torture chambers reminiscent of the inquisition in Spain rampant up and down the Thames. The only thing that had saved Gabriel from immediate execution was his peerage. Their leader in the rebellion, Sir Thomas Wyatt, was being held in the White Tower. Gabriel didn’t think the tortuous screams that echoed from within the stone walls all came from his imagination.
There was one guard who had not been as fiendish as the others, but Gabriel had not seen him for two nights and a day. He’d made it to the door. Voices echoed up the stone walls, and Gabriel dared not linger. He pushed the portal only far enough for him to squeeze through. Thankfully, it didn’t make a sound. If it had, Gabriel knew the punishment for his escape would be instantaneous death. The first breaths of sweet fresh air hit his face. Gabriel tilted his head up to the stars and savored the seconds of freedom. Gabriel slowly crossed the stone walkway, looking for a spot to climb over. In all likelihood, this little misadventure would end in his death, but at least that meant he would no longer rot inside the tower.
Gabriel froze when he saw movement in the shadows of the next tower. A knight in full field armor stepped out into the moonlight. Frozen in terror, Gabriel stared as death walked toward him.
“I see you discovered my present.”
The deep voice resonated from within the close helmet.
“Come to me, and I’ll guide you to safety.”
Gabriel stared in shock and wonder. The voice belonged to the knight who had protected him when the others were intent on assault and defiling Gabriel’s body. An enemy turned protector? Could he trust the man? Could he afford not to?
The darkness dissolved, and Gabe found himself not fleeing for his life in the cover of darkness, but standing in the afternoon sunlight with the sound of ravens’ craws in the air. Something was wrong, though. Gabe looked back down the stone battlement, but the sight before him didn’t change. Either Gabe had totally lost it, or there really was a knight in full Greenwich armor standing several feet front of him. The knight lifted his visor, and a pair of startling blue eyes met Gabe’s.
“Nick?” he exclaimed. “What are you doing in that suit?” Gabe looked around, but didn’t see anyone wandering the grounds. “You are going to get us thrown out of the country! Oh my God, we are in so much trouble.”
Nick laughed and held up his gauntlet. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You really think I could have gotten myself into this getup alone?”
Gabe realized that Nick was right. There was no way a single person could dress themselves in full body armor without assistance. That meant there was something afoot, something his special knight had obviously put a lot of thought into.
“My sweet prince. I, your loyal servant, come to beseech you for a most fervent boon.”
Gabe closed the distance between him and the knight. “And what is this boon you request?”
“If you shall marry, you give away this hand, and that is mine. You give away heaven's vows, and those are mine. You give away myself, which is known mine. For I by vow am so embodied yours.”
Gabe stared at Nick in shock. The lines from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night rang in his ears. Held up between Nick’s metal fingers was a ring. The braided yellow, white, and rose gold glinted in the sun.
“Oh my God,” he whispered.
Nick slowly sank to one knee, the movement stiff and ungainly but made all the more poignant because of the effort.
“Will my prince consent to become my husband?”
Gabe held out his left hand. Nick slid the ring on his third finger then bowed over Gabe’s hand, placing a kiss upon the ring itself.
“Arise, sir knight. For today we begin our life anew. For I am yours, as you are mine. No man shall tear us asunder.”
About the Author
If you look up the word conundrum in dictionary, there should be a photo of TRINA LANE. Her personality is so variegated that her friends have spent countless hours scratching their heads in wonder. A scientist with a passion for history, music, and photography, she loves to travel and experience new places but is terminally shy around people she doesn’t know.
Trina has been devouring romance novels since her tender teenage years, although she only began writing two and half years ago. When her debut novel was met with resounding success, she said, “Hey, I can do that again.” The rest, as they say, is history. Her choices in reading and writing material are as diverse as her iTunes library, which contains music from Mozart to Metallica. Her one concession is all stories must have a happily ever after ending—did we mention she’s incurably romantic? She lives in Missouri with her loving and indulgent husband and an orange tabby cat affectionately referred to as Houdini for his stealthy escape attempts.
Visit Trina at http://www.trinalane.com and on Facebook at trina.lane.books. You can contact her at trina@trinalane.com.
Also by TRINA LANE
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Romance from DREAMSPINNER PRESS
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Romance from DREAMSPINNER PRESS
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com