For an instant everything stilled. All four of them were able to hear the solid thunk as the arrow found its impossible target.
“Nay, Lark—do not bother to chase it.” Falcon seized her arm when she would have dashed off. “You need not look. There is no doubt.”
Uncertainty now filled Lark’s eyes. She peered at Gareth and her face twisted in wonder. “But why? Why would Sherwood take his part?”
“Because.” Linnet stepped to Gareth’s side even as that other spirit lifted gently from him and arose like breath to disperse among the trees. “If ever we are to achieve our dream, all must be one—Saxon and Celt and Norman alike. One England, one people. Sister, if it cannot happen in Sherwood, it cannot happen at all.”
****
“Please kiss me.” A smile colored Linnet’s voice as she turned and lifted her face to Gareth’s, safe within the circle of his arms. He smiled in response. The night just past should have wearied him. He had lost count of the number of times they had coupled. But he lived on the remnants of magic and the fullness of his need for this woman, and felt as if he held eternity between his hands.
“No need to ask.” He bent his head and brushed his lips across hers, a whisper of devotion. “Tell me you love me,” he bade in return.
“Let me show you, instead.” She pressed her body against his and delight curled through him, slow and languorous. Already drunk on the taste of her, he took her lips once more and drank deep.
They stood together in the dawn forest, alone but very much not alone. Following the contest last night, Falcon had clasped Gareth’s arm like a brother before leading Lark off to Gareth knew not where. It had not mattered then and it barely mattered now.
He slid his hands over Linnet’s slender back and drew her still nearer. She left off kissing him long enough to gaze into his eyes, her expression both wise and mysterious. He pressed possessive palms to her buttocks and parted them slightly so she fitted him better. “Show me, then.”
“Wicked lad!” She bit his lip temptingly. Her luscious, soft mouth had been all over him this night. Just thinking on it had him up and ready for her again.
He tangled his fingers in her hair and a shower of magic erupted, glittering mellow gold. “’Twill take me some time to get used to that,” he said ruefully.
“Not too long, I trust. For Sherwood wants you here, as do I.” She punctuated the sentiment with another kiss. “My champion.”
“Just try and chase me away. I only hope I can prove worthy of the place your grandfather chose for me.” A bridge, Robin had called him, a branch—a Norman champion taken to Sherwood’s service. “I hope I can make a difference and strive for a united England.”
“So do I.” The wisdom in her eyes deepened. “The welfare of our child relies upon it.”
He drew a breath and urged,. “Tell me once more; I cannot hear it often enough.” Wonderingly, he ran his hands over her again. “You carry our child, my child? You are certain?”
Her face lit with joy, making her even more beautiful. She nodded. “It will be a son. Strong and true of heart, like his father.”
“Ah.” His joy caught from hers and gladness filled him. A reason to live, this, as if he needed any beyond the woman in his arms. A reason to fight, and a continuation of the precious magic that had saved, uplifted, and brought him home.
“Now,” he said in rampant delight, “there is a gift come straight from Sherwood’s heart. There,” he added more gravely, “is a piece of the future.”
“And, I do not doubt, the founding of the next triad. If I do not miss my guess,” she cast him another look, this one tangled with mischief, “Lark and Falcon are off somewhere even now seeing to the founding of the second part of it. From whence, I wonder, will come the third?”
“Only kiss me again,” Gareth said joyfully, “and we will leave the future in Sherwood’s keeping.”
A word about the author...
Born and raised in western New York, Laura Strickland has pursued lifelong interests in lore, legend, magic and music, all reflected in her writing. Though her imagination frequently takes her to far-off places, she is usually happiest at home not far from Lake Ontario with her husband and her “fur” child, a rescue dog. Currently she is at work on the third book of the Guardians of Sherwood series.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Champion of Sherwood
Copyright
Dedication
Praise for DAUGHTER OF SHERWOOD
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
A word about the author...
Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Also available from The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Laura Strickland - The Guardians of Sherwood Trilogy Page 23