She had not thought much about what Lady Anne had told her of her parent’s meeting. Brought up as she was in the twenty-first century, most people married for love. It hadn’t occurred to her how odd the practice would be in the sixteenth century.
“And now he knows I did,” she finally said.
“You did not marry me for love, Alexia. You were forced into it by my father. Yet your father was able to determine, rather wisely I might add, that our alignment is now based on something more.”
It had been a brilliant move on her father’s part, speaking out against Lukas to see how she’d react. She couldn’t find it in her heart to be angry with him though. Not after she realized what he’d been doing.
She closed her eyes and focused her attention on the hand at her back. She’d forgotten just how big Lukas was. How he could cradle her just so in his hands, as if she had been made especially for him.
Or him for her.
“I have yet to tell you everything that transpired,” he said abruptly.
“Hm?” It was too hard to concentrate on what he was saying with his fingers moving the way they were.
“With Severon, I meant. He has made me his heir.”
“What?” She sat up.
His eyes were no longer dancing, his smile gone. “He has no sons.”
“Well, now, that’s convenient.”
“Not particularly. Men in Severon’s position typically find it best to have sons to inherit.”
“I didn’t mean for him. I meant for you.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you implying something with that remark?”
No, she didn’t think she was. The shock of his statement, the matter-of-fact way he brought it up, had surprised her. “Of course not. Do you think I’d be here like this if I thought you could do that? I just meant…if things go…badly…“
In a second, he was on his knees before her. “Alexia, if things go badly, my life will be forfeit.”
“But you could pretend that you meant all this to happen. That we were a lie.” She stumbled over the words, making it up as she spoke. “In the end, you’d still be ruler of Dresdonia. It wouldn’t be all bad.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“You should at least think about it.”
“No,” he said with more force. “I will not pretend that we are a lie.”
She meant to argue. Once spoken, the idea made sense. If she could talk to him a bit longer, she felt certain he’d see her side. But he moved closer and kissed her, his lips firm and insistent. All coherent thought left.
“It would be blasphemous,” he whispered. Her resolve melted as he guided her back down onto the bed. “Mayhap I can best prove my point without words.”
****
Lexy awoke in the dark, annoyed. She could not have been asleep for more than an hour and it was impossible to determine what disturbed her sleep.
Ping.
That was it. It sounded as if someone had thrown a small rock up at their window.
Could Severon be outside? She held her breath for a minute before realizing that if Severon appeared at Hullington, he would more than likely break the front door down instead of lounging outside the window flinging pebbles.
Ping.
Bothersome person! Who stands outside in the middle of the night throwing rocks? It sounded like something she’d have done to Cara when they were ten.
Ping.
She rolled to her side. Lukas slept soundly, arms spread wide. Severon would have to break the front door down, storm the stairs, and burn the room around them before he’d be roused.
“Lukas.” She shook him. “Wake up.”
He didn’t move. She shook him harder. “Lukas!”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Have mercy, woman. I need to sleep.”
She punched him. “Get over yourself and wake up. There’s someone outside.”
He rolled away from her. “That would be why we have servants. One of them can get the door.”
Ping.
“Ah,” he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
“Who would be tossing rocks outside our window in the middle of the night?”
He moaned and stood to slip on his pants. “Probably Abiel. I did not expect him until tomorrow night, but he has always been the punctual sort.”
“Abiel?” She scurried out of bed and grabbed her wrapper. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
Finally, she would meet Lukas’s childhood friend. After hearing so much about him, she was interested to see if reality would match her thoughts.
“You will wait a bit longer.” Lukas shrugged a shirt on.
“Why?”
He walked to the window and gave a wave.
“You will not be greeting anyone in your nightclothes.” He faced her and she recognized the determination in his gaze.
“Of course not, I’ll wear my wrapper. That’s what it’s for.”
“No. It is for wearing in the sitting room as you wait for someone to fetch your clothes or to serve you pastries. It is not for greeting guests in the middle of the night.”
He stood with arms crossed. Was it a battle she felt like fighting? No. It wasn’t.
She slid the wrapper off and climbed back in bed. “Fine. Just be quiet when you get back. I’m going to sleep.”
****
Margaret held out one of her new dresses the next morning. The light blue material had been purchased in London, and the high collar allowed her to fit in better with those sporting the current fashion trend.
Lukas gave an approving nod as she was helped into it. She wrinkled her nose at him. She’d had an outfit made for him out of the same fabric, but he wore a darker hue today. It made his eyes look strikingly blue.
“What’s the proper way for me to address Abiel? Lord Hastings?” She’d tried to learn the correct forms of address and felt certain she’d gotten this one right.
“He was Lord Hastings before he became the Earl of Estwitch. He is now Lord Estwitch.” He tilted his head to one side as Margaret finished doing up her stays.
Lexy sat in the chair while her hair was worked on. “His father has passed then?”
Lukas crossed his arms. “Yes, two years ago.”
“What a pain to have your name changed like that. It must be confusing to be Lord Hastings one day and then have to answer to Lord Estwitch the next.” Of course, she thought, it would not be unlike a woman changing her name after getting married. Wasn’t she Alexia Reynard now?
“I am quite certain he was able to handle the transition without impediment.”
Properly outfitted, Lexy made her way down the stairs with Lukas. Abiel had not yet appeared in the drawing room and, she noticed as she took a seat, her parents weren’t anywhere nearby.
She was trying to remember if Lady Rosemund was to visit her today when Abiel entered the room.
“Lukas!” he called, his voice a joyous sound. “I trust you were able to recapture some sleep after I so rudely dragged you from your slumber. You always were a bear when you lost sleep.”
She stood to face the pleasant-sounding man. There was no way he could have ridden all night and still be so happy.
“Lord Estwitch,” she said. “How delightful to meet you.”
“Princess Lexy,” he bowed, took her hand and kissed it. “The pleasure is entirely mine.”
When he straightened, Lexy had her first good look at him. He was not as tall as Lukas, but still struck an imposing figure. His short brown hair had a slight wave to it, and a well-trimmed beard covered his chin. He was good looking, but not in Lukas’s shockingly handsome way.
As she watched him address her husband, she knew what it was. His eyes. They were brown, but sparkled with a light and amusement that animated his entire face. More of an opposite to the old, stoic Lukas she could not imagine. How was it a young Lukas and Abiel were ever friends? Surely Lukas’s chilling demeanor would have sapped all the light from Abiel. But as she watched the two old friends
laugh together, she thought maybe she was wrong. Perhaps it was Abiel’s light that made the first cracks in Lukas’s considerable defenses.
She walked to Lukas’s side and slipped her hand through his arm. Abiel turned his dynamic eyes to her.
“Princess Lexy,” he said. “Lukas spoke of you with such esteem, I feared you were naught but a figment of his imagination. I see now, of course, he in no way overspoke.”
She blushed. “Thank you so much for helping my parents escape.”
Abiel waved an arm. “It was the least I could do for an old friend. Besides, it is high time something is done about Severon. I have been praying for this opportunity for years.” He looked sideways to Lukas. “Among other things.”
“Shall we break our fast?” Lukas asked, sounding slightly embarrassed.
****
The door to her old bedroom stood half-open. Lexy hesitated a moment before pushing her way inside. Lukas, Abiel, and Torsten had spent most of the day outside. Elisabet had yet to leave her room.
The candle on the bedside table gave enough light to show her mother sitting in bed. Waiting. Lexy closed the door behind her.
“I thought you would come tonight,” Elisabet said. Her biological mother was thin and weak, but her back was ramrod straight. “Come and sit down. I know you have questions.”
Lexy glanced around the room, looking for a place to sit. Elisabet scooted over and patted the bed.
There was only one question Lexy wanted answered. “Why?” she asked, sitting down beside Elisabet.
Her mother sighed although it must have been the question she expected. “What other option did we have? Keep you with us? Severon would have slaughtered us all. At least you were safe.”
Lexy blinked. “You’re upset that I’m back?”
Silence followed as her mother pursed her lips. “No. I should be, perhaps, but I am not. Torsten always thought it best you stay away, but I have held on to the hope that I would one day see you again. It has been my most fervent prayer.”
Lexy looked up from the floor. “Your prayer? You’re a believer?”
“We could not have made it through what we have without the Lord’s presence.”
“I always wondered. How did you come to…send me?”
“There was an old wise man, Harold. He heard of our dilemma and approached us. He knew how to get you to the future, and he knew of a couple that wanted a child.”
“And you didn’t think he was one of Severon’s spies?” Certainly her parents had known there were spies in their confidence.
Elisabet reached for a wooden box on the bedside table. She ran her fingers over the top of the box and gazed out the window. “We prayed about it. Harold was well known. We trusted him.”
Lexy watched tears gather in Elisabet’s eyes. How many others had her parents trusted? How many of those had betrayed them?
Elisabet opened the box with a sigh. “We trusted him. More so because he gave us this.”
From the box she took out a picture Lexy recognized at once. It was the same picture on her mantle in Texas. It was her parent’s wedding picture. Her mom and dad had been so young. They’d had a good life. They’d given her a good life. And they’d died much too soon.
“You loved them,” Elisabet stated.
“Yes,” Lexy whispered.
Her mother nodded. “It is what we wanted.” She handed Lexy the picture. “You should keep this. I kept it by my side all this time in an effort to feel close to you and now, mayhap, it can bring you comfort.” A smile covered her face. “Besides, I have you now.”
Lexy took the picture and returned the smile. “Thank you.”
She was about to talk about Lady Anne when the door opened and her father walked through. He stopped when he saw her.
“My apologies,” he said before turning and leaving.
Her mother called after him and then turned to Lexy. “We have lived as peasants for the last five and twenty years. You will excuse us if we are a little strange in our ways.”
After promising her mother that they would talk the next day, Lexy left, passing her father as he made his way back into the room. She didn’t know for sure, but she suspected Torsten would never sleep in Lukas’s old room. Peasant couples, after all, didn’t have separate bedrooms.
Chapter Twenty-three
“No.”
Lexy narrowed her eyes at her husband. They were in their sitting room, one week after Abiel’s arrival, possibly about to have their first fight since Lukas’s return.
“But—” she started.
“No. No. No.” He crossed his arms. “A thousand no’s. No.”
Lexy had always considered herself an immensely sensible person. But as she thought on it further, she realized she was living in a time over four hundred years earlier than when she had been living three months ago. She had agreed to spearhead an attempt to overthrow the ruler of a land she’d not even heard of until recently. And she had married a man she’d only known for two weeks.
Perhaps, she decided, she was not as sensible as she’d always thought.
“Lukas—”
“Alexia,” he interrupted. “You are not going with us to Dresdonia. It is what Severon wants. It is what he will expect and it will not be what happens.”
“Just listen to me,” she begged.
“I listened to you when you asked to fence, and I almost ran you through. I listened to you when you suggested we walk the docks of London and we met Byron Davis. Then at the Duke of Oldenburg’s—”
She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t see how you can reasonably blame me for what happened at the Duke of Oldenburg’s. No one told me not to go outside.”
“The point being,” he spoke through clenched teeth, “that if I had told you not to go outside, you would not have listened.”
They glared at each other for several seconds.
“You’re just saying ‘no’ because I’m a woman.”
“Yes, among other things.”
She threw her hands in the air. “See? I knew that was it. You still haven’t grasped the fact that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“Perfectly capable? Had you not been wearing the cook’s leather apron when we fenced, would you not now be dead by my hand? Were you handling yourself adequately with Davis? Because from where I stood, it appeared as though you were in need of assistance.” He placed his hand over his heart. “My humble apologizes if you were, in fact, about to flip the ingrate over your shoulder and pound him into the ground yourself.”
She couldn’t argue with that now, could she?
“Heaven help us all if you ever do decide you need help from a man. You would be in trouble if that happened, would you not?”
The conversation was not going well at all. In fact, she thought, it was hard to imagine it going much worse.
“Alexia.” He sighed. “I am not refusing you because I am ill-mannered or cruel. I am refusing you in order to keep you safe. Surely you can understand.”
“No, I don’t understand. What I hear is that you want me to remain in your father’s house while you go off to fight for my homeland.”
“Your homeland? The one you have spent two days in for the last five and twenty years?”
“Yes. That very one!”
“The one you told me before you had no intention of remaining in?”
How dare he throw that back at her! “That was before, and you know it.”
“Do I?” His glare chilled her.
“Yes! Once I understood God wanted me to stay, I never looked back. Once I fell in love with you, it wasn’t even an option.”
That, she was pleased to see, had taken some of the wind out of his rather inflated sails.
“Alexia.” His voice had softened.
She moved to the chair across from him and sat down.
“I didn’t want to argue with you,” she said. “I didn’t mean for this discussion to go like it has.”
She focus
ed on her hands in her lap, not certain she could put into words what she felt. “You have no idea how it was the last time. At least then I had no reason to think you wouldn’t be coming back. Not at first anyway.”
She blinked back the tears gathering in her eyes. “This time it would be a hundred times worse. I’d sit here day after day not knowing what was happening, not knowing if I should expect you or…someone else. How can you ask me to stay here and not be with you? How can you expect me to sit here and have my hope drain away and my heart die, day by day, hour by hour, piece by excruciating piece, until all that’s left of me is some empty shell?”
His arms were crossed, but his eyes had warmed a bit. He moved to stand before her. “Alexia,” he whispered. He dropped to his knee and took her hands, enfolding them with his. “You know, there is nothing I would deny you.”
“Don’t deny me this.”
He brought her hands to his lips, kissed them, and sighed. “You will go then. I am a fool and will certainly regret it, but you may come if you feel so strongly.”
They walked down the stairs to meet Abiel and her parents for dinner.
“Alexia will be joining us in Dresdonia,” Lukas told them as they entered the dining room. He spoke with the same tone he’d taken with her earlier.
Her mother dropped her jaw open. Abiel looked at Lukas with an unreadable expression.
Her father was the only one who spoke. “Are you quite sure?” he asked Lukas.
Lukas shrugged. “She plucks chickens.”
“She plucks chickens?” Abiel asked.
Lukas and her father just laughed.
****
Lexy went riding with Lukas and Abiel the next day. Riding would never be her favorite pastime, but her ability had improved over the last few months and she no longer felt uneasy in a sidesaddle. She was, she realized, getting used to the sixteenth century.
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