The Knight Before Christmas: A Knight’s Tale Book 4

by Darcy, Diane

  She grinned at the enjoyment he was getting out of the game, and moved her own queen into position. “Check.”

  He moved his king, “This is the tallest player on the board. You must protect the king.”

  They played for another ten minutes, until a move from her became check.

  He made a play and she studied him, his eyes sparkling with intelligence and humor, as he waited to see what she would do.

  She moved her bishop across the board and said, “Checkmate.” She gave him a challenging stare. “You didn’t think I was going to throw the game, did you?”

  He laughed, hit his hand on the table, and some of the pieces bounced, as his laugh turned into a cough.

  She smiled back at him.

  “My lady, you are the jammiest bits of jam,” he said, and continued to laugh.

  She was going to assume that was a compliment, and gave him a smile and a nod. “Thank you, kind sir. I’m sure my winning was simply an accident, but you are too kind.”

  Actually, she was pretty sure that it was an accident, and had no doubt the man would be demanding a rematch.

  Before he could, Thomas was standing beside the table.

  She glanced up, surprised, as she hadn’t seen him come in. “Good morning.”

  “Good morrow,” he said, looking between her and the chess set with interest, his size and height offset by the military way he held his hands behind his back. His dark gaze flickered over her.

  “Would you like to play?” she asked.

  “My lord,” Andrew was quick to say. “You will want to watch yourself with this one.” He laughed again as he slowly moved to the edge, and then stood from the bench. “’Tis time to break my fast.”

  Andrew turned, and gave one last grin to Madison, and then patted Thomas on the back. “Don’t forget, the queen is the most powerful piece on the board.”

  Thomas took a seat, and started to set the pieces to rights.

  Again, Madison went first, and played her usual, off the top of her head, game.

  Thomas took his time.

  “Who taught you to play chess?” he asked.

  “My father believed the game would improve my mind.” She smiled. “Actually, I think he just wanted someone to play with. What was your father like?”

  “My father was a womanizer and a drunk,” he said, and then pressed his lips together as if he hadn’t intended to say it.

  She looked down at the board, and sympathy welled within her.

  What a thing to have to say about your own father.

  She wasn’t supposed to get caught up in her feelings for him, and so, rather than pursue the subject, she lightened it. “It seems like it’s pretty cold today.” She moved her rook.

  He looked down at the board, and then up at her, his gaze sharp. “Do you have a strategy?”

  She shrugged, “I just sort of go with it. It’s a girl thing.”

  “A girl thing,” he repeated, as if captured by the thought.

  She did give him a run for his money, and even though he won, he seemed impressed.

  She leaned forward, put both elbows on the table, and cupped her chin. “Now, what you’re really going to be asking yourself later is, did she let me win?”

  He gave her a startled look, and she laughed.

  He smiled, and again, it seemed almost despite himself.

  The ladies came in as a group, saw her, and Lady Vera gave a little wave. “Lady Madison, we’ve been looking for you. We’re thinking to decorate again, but we’re not sure what to do. We are hoping for advice.”

  “Great!” she called back. “I’ve been dying to decorate that huge front door. I think it’ll look great when we’re done.”

  Thomas left when the ladies came over to discuss the door, and she noticed that he grabbed something to eat on his way out.

  She definitely felt something for the man. Which was worrisome, considering her situation.

  But really, how much damage could be done with only ten days and counting?

  * * *

  Thomas spent most of the morning outside, and after the midday meal, people were coming and going, and it was decided that a group of them would go slide upon the frozen pond.

  He decided to set up a target for archery nearby, for the amusement of all, and as he took his turn at practicing, he kept a close eye on the ladies.

  Laughing, Madison and Juliana slid on the icy surface, holding each other up, while the other ladies bundled in and sat on the nearby benches.

  As he watched, one of the boys from the village accidentally bumped Madison, and she flew backward, falling on her side.

  Thomas surged forward. “What are you doing?!” He yelled at the boy, who had also fallen on the ice. “There are ladies about! You cannot act the rowdy, and endanger others!”

  Juliana helped Madison to her feet, and the two of them almost went down again, but managed to stay upright.

  Madison laughed, brushed herself off, and then looked over at Thomas. “Don’t worry about it!” she chided. “It was my own fault. I’m just not used to these shoes.”

  Thomas stood to the side, and watched the boy scramble away with three others.

  His mother, a young, sturdy-looking woman with light brown hair slid forward. “Are ye all right?”

  Madison smiled. “I’m fine, thank you.” She laughed, and skidded off across the ice once more.

  “Thank ye, my lady,” the young mother called out, her gratitude evident.

  Thomas watched Madison go. She was right to reprove him. There was no harm done, and in defending the woman’s son, Madison had obviously earned her undying loyalty.

  He went back to where the men were practicing archery. They were surrounded by a group of servants, villagers, squires, watching, laughing, everyone having a good time.

  When it was Thomas’s turn, Juliana and Madison made their way over to join the crowd.

  Thomas’s hand tightened on the bow in a convulsive grip, once, twice, before he took careful aim, and released the arrow.

  Almost a perfect shot.

  He gritted his teeth, but kept his face composed as Sir Hugh stepped up next.

  When Sir Hugh, one of his best archers, missed the center by a few inches, he felt a little better.

  The other man dropped back as the two of them took turns, both of them getting a couple of perfect shots, and some to the right or the left.

  Thomas finally had a direct hit.

  And then, Sir Hugh did as well.

  “Ooh, nice.” Madison said in a voice loud enough to be overheard. “Such men.”

  There were a few chuckles, and Juliana shushed her, but apparently, Madison would not be scolded.

  “I can’t help it, they’re showing off, and they’re so good at it, that I can hardly look away.”

  Juliana turned and walked away, and Madison, laughing, chased after her.

  Thomas looked on in amusement.

  “I don’t know if it is the cold, or the ladies, but we are both off today, wouldn’t you say?”

  “’Tis the ladies,” Thomas said in an undertone, even as he basked in the compliment she’d sent his way. Well, their way. He supposed Sir Hugh had been included.

  Madison dragged Juliana back, and this time they came closer. “I’ve never shot an arrow in my life,” she said. “Do you think I could have a turn?”

  His brows rose. He’d known her such a short time, but it seemed exactly the sort of task she might be proficient at. Perhaps she’d not been allowed.

  “I can show you,” Thomas said, his voice deepening.

  “Could you? That would be wonderful.” She glanced at her friend. “Do you want to try?”

  Juliana backed away, shaking her head.

  Sir Hugh went to chat with her, leaving him the field, and he handed Madison the extra bow, then slid an arrow out of the quiver lying on the ground.

  He demonstrated. “You see the space?” He held up the arrow and demonstrated with his fingers the area he m
eant.

  She nodded, and held her arrow in the same manner.

  “Set that end on the bow string.” He showed her what he meant, and then waited for her to do the same.

  She positioned the arrow on the string.

  “Now, lay it across the bow, and trap it against the stave with your thumb, like so.”

  He waited while she copied him, noting the soft color infusing her cheek, the way her dark braid lay over one shoulder, the way her gaze flitted to him for approval.

  Teaching had never been such a distraction.

  “One finger above your arrow, two below. Bring your arms up together. Put your elbow straight back, and let fly.”

  He released his arrow, and hit the center of the target.

  He lowered his bow, and warmed at her look of approval.

  “Now you.”

  She gave it a try and it fell to the ground, and she gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Whoops. That wasn’t as impressive as I’d hoped. Let me try again.”

  He set his bow down, and picked up her arrow. This time, he moved her fingers where they needed to be, lifted her arm and showed her how to stand, and stood on her other side as she pulled back on the string.

  At the fierce look of concentration on her face, his lips curved into a real smile, even as a ripple of awareness shivered through him. He tried to convince himself it was the cold, even as he looked at her narrowed eyes, the thick length of her lashes, and at the way her lips pressed tight in concentration.

  She let the arrow fly, and it hit the target on the far right, the shaft swaying back and forth as cheers rose around her.

  She released that feminine screech he was starting to like so much. “Again!”

  He gave her another arrow, and once again lifted her elbow, pressed lightly on her shoulder, and told her where to place her feet.

  Once more, he watched her concentrate. She didn’t act feminine, or silly as he’d seen other ladies do. There was a seriousness about her that he found incredibly attractive.

  She shot, missed the target completely, and hit the trunk of a nearby tree.

  She turned to him, her expression still serious, and said, “I meant to do that.”

  He laughed out loud, throwing his head back.

  They practiced a short while longer, and she did hit the target a few more times. Soon everyone started to head back inside, hungry and cold, and ready for the midday meal.

  She went ahead, and when he arrived, and saw the doorway once more, his heart seemed to soften at the look of it.

  A wreath hung from the door, a circle of ivy wrapped around the horns of a deer, dried apple slices dangling from ribbons, and twisting back and forth.

  Two more wreaths hung from two pieces of wood, leaning on either side of the door, the pretty red ribbons lifting lightly in the breeze.

  He would never have thought to see such a thing, but it did look festive and inviting.

  Quite stunning, actually.

  Madison brought beauty to his home, and he suddenly hoped that she never left.

  He took his place at the table just in time to have someone suggest they play The King Who Does Not Lie.

  Madison, sitting next to Juliana, glanced up from her meal. “I’ve never heard of that game.”

  “Never heard of it!” Lady Philippa looked surprised. “You must have been very sheltered, indeed!”

  Thomas was surprised as well. Everywhere he’d ever been, everyone played the game.

  “What do you do?”

  Lady Vera was quick to smile. “You ask a question, of anyone you choose, and if they answer you true, they ask the next.”

  “So, basically, truth or dare. Okay, I’ve played this game.”

  “I’ve never heard it called such a thing,” Lady Felicia said.

  Madison grinned. “All right, ask your questions. We’ll see just how honest everyone is willing to be.”

  As everyone laughed, Lady Ormonde asked, “Lady Madison, what is the greatest secret you have kept from your parents.”

  Thomas found himself smiling, awaiting her response.

  “Hmm,” she tapped her fingers against her lips for a long moment, making everyone laugh again. “All right, we’ll see if you think I’m telling the truth with this.”

  Everyone laughed again, and Thomas found himself just as eager to hear what she would say.

  “Okay, when I was a kid, Mom and Dad would not let me have a dog. Someone at school was asking around if anybody wanted an awesome dog, because they were moving, she couldn’t take it with them.”

  She glanced around the room, “I suppose you can see where this is going?”

  She was good at this, making them wait and drawing out the moment. There was more smiling and laughter, as everyone waited to hear what she would say.

  “So, I got the dog, and his name was Jack, if anyone wants to know. Anyway, I covered him in dirt, and brought him home. I told Mom and Dad that I’d found some boys throwing rocks at him and that I’d flown to his rescue, a true fight of good versus evil!”

  She glanced around. “You might not believe this, but I was a very dramatic teenager.”

  Thomas smiled as his grandmother shouted out, “And they let you keep the dog!”

  There was more laughter, all around the room as the tale was repeated at the other tables.

  “Well,” she looked at her audience coyly. “They did say I had to look for the owners, but I never looked very hard!” She laughed out loud, and everyone joined in.

  When everyone quieted down, she said, “Jack was a wonderful dog. I had a conversation with my mother, not too long before she died, and we were reminiscing about him. I told her the truth, and she laughed, and said she’d always suspected.”

  Her voice tightened and he could see tears form in her eyes at the memory, and then she laughed and wiped them away. “My goodness, that brought back some good memories.” She glanced around, “So, now it’s my turn?”

  As everyone at their table watched, she asked one of the guards, “When was the last time you cried?”

  As usual, it soon turned into a competition to see who could ask the most ridiculous question, but Thomas was still stuck on Madison’s response.

  Something inside her, definitely touched something within him.

  She was vivacious, fun, and so real.

  He looked down the table at Juliana, and saw days filled with duty.

  But also, children. A child might be a death sentence for Madison, with her slender hips, and the thought of all that vivacity snuffed out, made his heart clench.

  He was in a dour mood, when he went to the chapel to hear about St. John the apostle.

  This time he made sure he stood beside Juliana, and yet, still, he was aware of Madison on her other side.

  He barely heard a word Father Benedict said, and when the priest had finished, and everyone started to shuffle out, Thomas turned and followed the crowd.

  He knew he could not have feelings for Madison, honorable ones, anyway, as everyone knew he was going to ask Juliana for her hand in marriage.

  With a sigh, he headed out to get some work done.

  He needed to stop torturing himself.

  * * *

  Later that night, Madison was in bed with Juliana.

  Neither one of them was asleep yet.

  She could hear the people on the floor around them, tossing, turning, and someone in the corner was snoring.

  The fire was low in the fireplace, burning embers, and casting just enough light to see Juliana beside her.

  In some ways, Juliana reminded her of her younger self. Shy, and letting others tell her how to think and feel.

  Madison’s ex-boyfriend, Dean, had really done a number on her. Apparently, she’d been content to let him until she’d grown a backbone.

  “How long have you lived here?” Madison whispered.

  “Five years.”

  “How old are you?”

  “One and twenty,” Juliana whispered back.
<
br />   “Really?” That made sense, as she felt like a younger sibling. “I’m twenty-seven.”

  “Truly?” Juliana sounded surprised.

  Madison smiled in the darkness. “Yes, truly.”

  After a moment Juliana asked, “Why have you not married?”

  She thought about explaining Dean, but the time she’d wasted on him was an embarrassment, and maybe that was a conversation for another day. She sighed. “I don’t know, it just never happened.”

  Juliana reached out and touched her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right. Being single gave me the chance to figure out what I wanted for myself.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I like to decorate, and I would like to start a business where people pay me to decorate their homes or businesses. I want to have the freedom to decide things for myself, to have choices.”

  After a moment, Juliana asked, “Do you think ladies can live such a life?”

  “Of course, I do.”

  Madison yawned, and started to drift in and out. She found herself thinking about Thomas again. She’d had fun shooting arrows with him.

  She knew she needed to stay away. She didn’t want to get hurt, and she didn’t want to hurt him, either.

  Still, she was only going to be there for just over a week at this point.

  Would it really hurt to enjoy a mild flirtation?

  Couldn’t it be a no harm, no foul situation?

  She’d friend zoned him, so would it really hurt to be on friendly terms?

  Maybe she’d come away with some good memories, was the last thought she had before drifting off to sleep.

  Chapter 15

  THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

  Thomas stayed away for most of the day.

  He always had plenty to do, and so he just disappeared, and caught up on some work.

  Of course, he attended Vespers, but he stood on the opposite side of the aisle in the back, among some of his guards.