Hidden Knights

by Jennifer Anne Davis

  Gytha released the red-faced sentry.

  “Is Dana with you?” Gordon asked, his voice tight.

  “No, she’s not with us. I’m sorry,” Nara answered. “Princess Dana is still at the palace with the king.”

  “Is she okay?” Gordon ran his hands through his hair.

  “She’s fine,” she assured him.

  Gytha pointed at the sentry. “Someone, tell him to go.”

  Gordon ordered the sentry back to his post.

  “I’m glad the both of you are here,” Dexter said. “Any word on Colbert?”

  “No,” Nara said. “But we have much to tell you.”

  “How did you two get here?” Reid asked.

  “We rode horses until we reached the mountain pass,” Gytha answered. “Then we walked the rest of the way.”

  “No one else is with you?” Ackley asked.

  Gytha shook her head.

  “Nara?” Leigh said, her eyes wide as she and Idina reached the front door.

  “It has been a long time,” Nara replied.

  Reid wondered if the two women had seen one another since Leigh ordered Nara to hide Henrick—the man they both loved.

  “I’m sorry to hear about Henrick passing,” Leigh said, her voice soft.

  Nara pursed her lips, but nodded. “Captain Gytha and I have been traveling for days. We need to freshen up.”

  “I’ll show you to the guest wing,” Reid offered. “Then we can all speak over supper.” She hooked her arm with Nara’s, leading the woman up the stairs, Gytha following.

  “No one knows?” Nara whispered.

  “No. That’s the only way for it to work, right?” If people found out Henrick was alive, then he would have to be the king. Honestly, Reid would prefer it if that were the case. Then she would be a princess instead of the queen. However, Henrick didn’t want the responsibility and would do whatever he could to avoid it—even going so far as to fake his own death.

  Reid opened a door. “You can stay in here.”

  Nara smiled before going inside.

  “Gytha, you can stay next door.” Reid opened that door.

  “I am glad you are still alive,” Gytha said. “I didn’t know if you would make it.”

  “Likewise. I was afraid you’d be stuck in the passageways with no way out.”

  “It took some time, but I was able to make my way back into the palace. That’s when I found Nara. We waited a couple of days before leaving.” Gytha went into the bedchamber, examining the room. “Shouldn’t I stay in the barracks with the army?”

  “We need you here.” Reid leaned against the doorframe, relief filling her. Her friend was just as she remembered.

  “Ackley looks like he lost some weight.”

  Reid hadn’t noticed.

  “Is he okay?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “No reason.” The warrior woman went over to the window, peering outside. “This does not seem like a prosperous city.”

  “It’s vastly different from the City of Radella.”

  “Do you think Ackley can give me a tour? I’ve never been out of Axian before.”

  Reid chuckled. “I’m sure that can be arranged.” She closed the door, leaving Gytha alone to bathe before supper.

  Heading down the hallway, she was just about to pass Nara’s room when a bang resounded from inside it. Pausing, she listened, hearing mumbling coming from the other side. She knocked, wanting to make sure everything was okay.

  Nara didn’t answer. Reid hesitated before pushing the door open. “Nara?” The princess was sitting on the floor, her back resting against the foot of the bed. “Is everything all right?” Reid sat next to her.

  Nara wiped the tears from her eyes. “This is the first time I’ve been alone in weeks. And seeing Leigh is a lot to take in right now.”

  Reid wrapped her arm around the woman. “I’m sorry.” The words didn’t seem adequate, but she didn’t know what else to say.

  “I thought I was strong enough to do this,” Nara whispered. “But now, I’m not so sure.”

  “To do what?”

  “Live without him. Not that he gave me a choice.”

  She was talking about Henrick then. “What does he plan to do?” Where would he go? Where would he live? How could he just abandon his family like that?

  “I have no idea. Seeing Leigh brought up all sorts of feelings I’m not prepared to deal with right now. I mean, he always loved her. Probably more than me.”

  “But he loved you, too.” Reid was certain of it. Nara had given him two children. Had stood by his side through all those years.

  She wiped her eyes again. “He always respected me. We were dear friends. But he never genuinely loved me like he did her.”

  Reid’s heart broke for Nara. “That’s his loss.” Nara was a wonderful woman who deserved so much more.

  “I have to put on a brave face for my children. For my county. I just didn’t think it would be this hard.”

  Reid realized it was like Henrick had truly died for Nara. She didn’t have the heart to tell the woman they’d seen Henrick at Reid’s grandparents’ manor. If Dexter wanted to reveal that information to his mother, he could. It wasn’t Reid’s place to do so.

  “Enough about me,” Nara said, patting Reid’s hand. “How are you doing?” Surprise coloring her features, she blinked and lifted Reid’s hand, examining the wedding ring.

  “Dexter and I got married.”

  Nara grinned. “I’m glad.”

  “We still plan to have another wedding—an elaborate one—in Axian.” She didn’t want Nara to feel like they’d gone behind her back.

  “I think that’s wise.”

  “We had a small ceremony at my home.” Reid’s voice broke on the word home. Not wanting to go into details, she left it at that.

  “I hope you and Dexter have a long and happy marriage. Welcome to the family, Reid.”

  Over supper, Gytha explained the king was livid when he discovered the city was void of people. He flew into a fit of rage, screaming at the remaining people in the palace. Furious, he moved as much of the Melenia army as possible to the palace lawn, forcing them to camp alongside the Marsden soldiers who’d accompanied Gordon to the palace. When he questioned the palace servants—undercover Axian soldiers—where the Axian army was, they said it was small, unorganized, and spread throughout the county.

  “Do you know if they’ve rendezvoused at Camp Lival?” Dexter asked.

  “No,” Gytha replied. “I didn’t receive word from Colbert.”

  “What about the dukes?”

  “They are being held in the dungeon.”

  “The palace has a dungeon?” Reid asked. She hadn’t seen it while there.

  “Yes,” Nara replied. “It’s quite small and rarely used. There is a bigger one at the barracks.”

  “Thank you for the report,” Dexter said. “When you’re done eating, please let Duchesses Cartr, Alder, and Bridger know the state of their husbands.”

  “I’ll show you where they’re staying,” Ackley said.

  “Then I need to spar,” Gytha replied. “Ackley, you will be my sparring partner. You look like you need to liven up a bit.” She shoved a spoonful of mashed potatoes in her mouth.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Ackley took a sip of his wine, eyeing Gytha.

  “I think you know.” She resumed eating, not bothering to explain any further.

  A soldier entered, carrying a piece of paper. “A message for the commander.”

  Both Dexter and Gordon held out a hand. The soldier hesitated.

  “Sorry,” Dexter mumbled. “Habit. Prince Gordon is the commander.”

  Reid knew it was hard for Dexter to relinquish control of the army. However, with him declaring his right to be king, someone else had to be in charge of the soldiers. Since Gordon was the commander for the Marsden army, it only made sense for him to continue in that position.

  Gordon reached for the paper, quickly readin
g it. “Duchesses Ryder and Lyndr will arrive tomorrow.” He rubbed his forehead. “They will require some coaxing to get them to join us.”

  “When will the duchesses from the north be here?” Dexter asked.

  “Our reports indicate they’ll arrive by the end of the week.”

  “Then let next week be the agreed-upon time. We will take our kingdom back and dethrone the king.”

  That night, lying in bed alongside Dexter, Reid was restless. She rolled over, fluffing her pillow. Again.

  “What’s wrong?” he mumbled.

  “I can’t sleep.”

  “Obviously.”

  Sighing, she rolled onto her back. “Something about Leigh is bothering me.” She couldn’t work through it in her mind, so she didn’t know how to explain it.

  “She’s a fairly reserved person,” Dexter admitted. “It’s hard to figure her out.”

  “I know she loves her children.” Reid was about to say what mother wouldn’t until she remembered her own mother.

  “She also doesn’t talk much,” he said. “She rarely gives her opinion.”

  “That’s a Marsden thing.” Most women didn’t give their opinion.

  “Then how do you explain Idina? She learned to be strong from someone.”

  “True.” But that wasn’t what was bothering Reid. “How can Leigh not protest our plan to kill Eldon?” Even knowing her son was evil, how could she stand by while those around her plotted his demise? “And Eldon is your half-brother.”

  “Are you advocating we not assassinate him?”

  “No. But…Leigh only had one child with the man she loved. And that’s Eldon.”

  “Huh. I never thought about it that way before. Are you afraid she’ll try to stop us?”

  “She hasn’t protested. Not once. She hasn’t even asked if we can put him in the dungeon instead. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

  “It’s not odd if she’s planning something.”

  And that was what Reid was afraid of. Only, she had no idea what Leigh could be planning. In order to figure it out, she had to discover Leigh’s end goal. What did Leigh want to accomplish?

  “And now that my father’s dead, it makes me wonder.”

  “You think he might seek Leigh out?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been so focused on organizing soldiers and preparing for an invasion with minimal loss of life and property, that my father and Leigh haven’t been on my mind.”

  Reid slid her arm around Dexter’s torso. “Maybe I’m overthinking it.” But seeing Nara crying on the floor had stirred something inside of Reid.

  “I don’t think we should ever doubt or question our intuition.” He ran his hand through her hair. “For example, my intuition is telling me I should kiss you right now.”

  “Then I suggest you take your own advice.”

  “Gladly.” His lips devoured hers.

  Sleep was a long time coming that night.

  Chapter Fourteen

  From where she stood on the roof of the castle’s northeast tower, Reid couldn’t believe how many soldiers camped outside the city wall. If they joined forces to march under Marsden’s banner, they would defeat Eldon. She was sure of it.

  “What are you doing up here?” Nara asked as she joined Reid.

  “Just looking.”

  “Dexter wants to see you. I offered to find you. He’s at the barracks.”

  “I’ll head over there.” She pushed off the low wall.

  “Before you go,” Nara said, “I’d like to apologize for my behavior the other day. I didn’t mean to cry like that. It had been a long journey, a trying day, and I was hungry.”

  “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

  “I know, but I’d like to. I want you to understand that even the strongest have times of weakness. These moments don’t make us less. We can become more when we acknowledge all parts within us.” She wrapped her arm around Reid’s shoulders, hugging her.

  Now it was Reid’s turn to tear up.

  “What’s the matter?” Nara asked.

  This woman—this warrior princess—was more of a mother to Reid than her own mother had ever been. Reid shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.

  Nara rubbed Reid’s back. “Let’s discuss something else then.”

  Reid didn’t have anything to say.

  “I don’t want to sound too presumptuous,” Nara said, “but I’m guessing with your upbringing, you don’t have a lot of experience with men.”

  Oh, good gracious, was this woman turning the conversation to a more intimate topic?

  “Now that you and Dexter are married, do you have any questions about anything that occurs in the bedroom?”

  Reid covered her face with her hands. They were not going to talk about this.

  “I know you don’t have a mother to ask any questions you may have.” She wrung her hands together. “If you’d like, I can fill that role. Remember, I don’t have a daughter of my own.”

  Reid sucked in a large breath of air, a funny little cry-snort escaping. Had no one told Nara that Reid’s mother was alive? “Brianna now goes by the name Anna. And she is running the Knights of the Realm.”

  “Come again?” Nara blinked.

  “My mother is alive.”

  “Oh.”

  Reid had forgotten to fill Nara and Gytha in on that vital detail.

  Nara opened her mouth several times to speak, but nothing came out. Finally, she rubbed her forehead. “I have no idea what to say to that.”

  “Which is fine because I don’t want to talk about her right now. I’m not ready.”

  Nara nodded. “Back to what I was trying to say then. Since you grew up without a mother and were raised as a man, do you want to discuss bedroom matters?” Her voice lacked emotion. It sounded very matter of fact. Almost as if she were just as uncomfortable as Reid.

  “No, I do not.”

  Leaning on the low wall, Nara gazed out at the city and soldiers beyond it. “During my first month of marriage, I remember not having anyone to discuss such things with. I had questions…”

  “Dexter and I haven’t done that yet.”

  “Haven’t done what?” Nara asked, tilting her head toward Reid.

  Was Nara going to make Reid say it? “Dexter and I haven’t been intimate.”

  “Why not? You’re married. You should enjoy one another.”

  Reid wanted to crawl into a hole.

  “What are you afraid of?”

  “I’m not afraid.” She just wasn’t sure what to do.

  Nara took Reid’s hand. “One thing I can assure you of is when you love someone, it comes naturally. You don’t have to think about what to do.”

  “Did you love Henrick?”

  “Very much so.” She squeezed Reid’s hand, then released it. “I didn’t plan on marrying or even loving him. But when he came to my estate to hide from his brother, we became fast friends. I found his intelligence appealing. He wasn’t interested in me that way—he only had eyes for Leigh. However, when Leigh married Hudson, he was devastated. When he learned she was with child, and the child was born six months after the wedding, he knew it was his and it nearly killed him. I was there for him through it all.” Nara pulled her single braid over her shoulder, running her hands along it. “He had to take control of Axian, but he was still dealing with the death of his father and his brother’s betrayal. He needed a partner, so he asked me to marry him out of necessity, not want. I agreed, even knowing how he felt. I thought, with time, he’d learn to love me. And he did. It was different from how he loved Leigh. I gave myself to him in hopes of expressing that love.”

  “You two seemed to have a good marriage.” From what Reid saw, they respected one another, had raised two wonderful boys, and appeared to genuinely enjoy each other’s company.

  “We did. Children helped form our family. Henrick was an excellent father. We were happy. And like I said, he did love me. We had many good years together.”

 
; “Dexter and I have so much going on that I’m in no way ready for children.” Which was one of the reasons she didn’t want to be intimate with him.

  “I understand. Have you spoken to your friend Harlan?”

  Why would Reid discuss something so personal with one of her friends?

  Nara chuckled. “Oh, Reid, with four sisters, I thought one would have told you there are herbs you can take to prevent a pregnancy.”

  “No, I did not know that.” After all, her father had raised the four girls—not their mother. She doubted he would have spoken about such matters.

  “Ask Harlan. He’ll supply you with what you need.”

  While Reid knew she should request the herbs—and doing so from Harlan would be the easiest way—she still wasn’t sure. Once she had them in her possession, there would be nothing stopping her from being intimate with her husband.

  “What is it?” Nara asked.

  “I’ve just never been good getting close to other people. Especially physically.”

  “I can understand why. But don’t you think it’s time to change that?”

  “Possibly.” And if being with Dexter were anything like kissing him, Reid was sure she’d enjoy it.

  Reid arrived at the training yard in the barracks. In one corner, Gordon was busy teaching Idina more self-defense moves. Despite the dress she wore, her movements were fluid, her strikes fierce.

  In another corner, several soldiers ringed the perimeter, watching Ackley spar with Gytha. Reid had always thought Ackley cat-like when he fought, and now was no exception. He moved so fast Gytha barely had time to block his strikes. She always managed to counter with one of her own, but he’d dart away before she’d get a hit in.

  “I wish I could say I taught Gytha everything she knows,” Dexter said wryly from behind Reid. “But she knew how to fight long before I met her.”

  Reid twisted to him, scanning his leather vest and pants, his well-defined shoulders and muscled arms nicely on display. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to meet his eyes. “Who taught her to fight?”

  “Her two older brothers.” He nodded at one of the corners. “Want to go a round with me?”

  Reid was about to tell him that she needed to prepare for their meeting with the duchesses when he grabbed her around the waist, effortlessly tossing her over his shoulder. She was too shocked to protest.