Unarmed (Unarmed Trilogy)

by Nina Monroe

  He stared at Tamzin as she regained control of her breathing and the feeling he had was too crushing not to say; it hit him like the waves of an ocean he had never seen. Will leaned in and kissed her softly.

  With a broken kiss and a hand on her face, Will whispered, “I love you.”

  Tamzin looked at him with a shocked expression. He had murmured the sentiment again into her hair after their kiss and her heart swelled. Tamzin rolled to her side and wrapped her arm around his waist. They faced each other and she felt Will run his hand up and down her back. She stared at him before she smiled and kissed his bottom lip.

  “I love you, too,” she returned the response genuinely and Will smiled. He sat up and reached for the furs pooled at their feet and Will tucked them into the furs. His eyes felt heavy from the early morning and the stress of having her outside. He regretted how he spoke to her outside and swore he would make it up to her. It was her warm breath in his ear that lulled Will to sleep.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Exhausted from the morning, Tamzin slept through the afternoon and Will watched her pensively. Will had only slept until early afternoon, after which he crawled out of bed and redressed. Carefully, he lifted Tamzin’s sleeping body and pulled the stained sheet from beneath her.

  “What are you doing?” Tamzin asked as she opened her eyes slowly; the sunlight blinded her for a moment as she sat up with the furs pressed to her chest.

  “The sheet that was beneath you, it has blood on it to prove that we have consummated our marriage,” Will muttered awkwardly as he fisted the sheet in his hands.

  “You look more embarrassed than I am. At least my father will know I’ve been a good girl all these years,” Tamzin replied with a quick roll of her eyes as she laid back down on the bed. “Every single bit of my sheets are inspected every morning to make sure I can give you a healthy son. According to our advisers, all of the world’s problems can be solved from what grows in my womb,” she said sarcastically as she touched some of her curls. “You don’t love me, not yet.”

  “And how do you know what I feel? You said it back!” Will answered angrily, though it only hid his shock. “I’m not stupid. I know what love is.”

  “I didn’t call you stupid, and I don’t think you are,” Tamzin smiled as she rolled onto her stomach and stared at him. “Your mother is dead and your father seems to think love is useless, so he rarely shows it to you. You like me, you care for me, and you most definitely want to continued to lie with me,” Tamzin laughed. “But you don’t know what love is truly, at least not yet.”

  “You don’t love me then?” Will asked solemnly as he swallowed back the thickness in his throat. He knew, certainly, that this was pain. His worst fears were coming true; Tamzin didn’t love him; she loved another; she loved Garrett; she loved anyone but him. He was too difficult on her, too prickly, and sullen. No one could love him. His own father couldn’t, so why would this beautiful girl?

  “If I didn’t say it back, you would think I didn’t have any feelings at all,” Tamzin frowned as she reached out her hand to him. “I’ve only known you for a month, but I wouldn’t have laid with you if I didn’t feel something.”

  “I don’t care what you say. I know what love feels like,” Will exasperated like a child, but he couldn’t stop himself from pressing a kiss to her hand. “Sleep a bit longer.”

  “Like I needed your permission,” Tamzin teased as she laid her head back down on the pillow.

  He left her on the bed, still covered in furs and shut the curtains around her. As much as he would love to wake her for another coupling, Will knew he had to show his father the sheets. With their marriage consummated, the agreement between Roth and Thurston Territories would be solidified.

  Quietly, Will walked down the stairs and through the hidden door. He jumbled the large sheet in his hands and made sure to hide the stain from anyone that may encounter him as he walked by. It was a delicate time for Tamzin and Will felt disgusted at having to present this to his father as proof. As it was early afternoon, the Court was crowded as Will walked through. The nobles didn’t pay him much attention, but he could hear some of the older women chastise Tamzin for not being present. Apparently she owed them respect. Will scoffed at the idea.

  His father was in the War Room, no doubt still deliberating what should be done about the Johanssons. Now that his marriage had been consummated and his seed may have taken root, Will was severely uninterested in battle. A marriage agreement would need to be made.

  Will didn’t bother to knock before he opened the oak door. He thought he may need to rethink his plan when Will saw that all of his kinsman and other advisors, along with Rainer, were present with his father.

  “About time you showed up,” Gregory stated as he poured over a map. “What is that?” Gregory asked in reference to the sheet in Will’s hand. His eyes lit up when he made the realization, and Will swore he saw the weight of a thousand pounds lift off his father. “You’ve consummated the marriage?” King Gregory asked as Rainer smiled creepily.

  “It happened this morning,” Will said as he walked towards his father to hand him the sheet. “I had hoped you would be alone,” Will continued as he grimaced when his father tossed the sheet over the table. The men jeered when they saw the dried blood stain and Will set his jaw. Gregory only let the sheet be out until he saw the stain and he rolled it back up.

  “Was it honorable? I know you were difficult on her during your training session this morning,” Gregory questioned as he placed his hands on the table. “I won’t have you talk to that girl like that again,” he warned. “Men, leave us. I need to have a discussion with my son,” Gregory ordered and watched as the men stood from their seats and quickly left the room. Rainer took his time; perhaps he hoped that Gregory would start his discussion and he would be able to hear some of it. Gregory glared at Rainer until the plump man rushed out the door. “Sit,” Gregory said to Will as he pointed to the empty seat next to him. “You didn’t answer my question; was it honorable?”

  “I love her,” Will admitted as he wrapped the sheet tighter and threw it on the floor. “I didn’t appreciate having to take this down here. I know it’s tradition, but I wished I didn’t have to show all of them.”

  “It’s something royal women have endured long before I was born and my father was born. It would do you well to have her with child as soon as possible,” Gregory said seriously as he flipped a figurine on the table. “I’ve received word that your Uncle may be raising an army.”

  “Uncle?” Will asked. “I thought he was dead?” Will continued as he looked at the large map. “Who would help him?”

  “I suspect the Johanssons, which is why I am trying to avoid a war. As you can tell, destroying someone in a war doesn’t mean they won’t come back,” Gregory explained as he stared at the crumpled sheet on the ground. “Turner Roth will fight for me if I call for him, and vice versa, but when Tamzin delivers your first son, our family will be untouchable. If both you and I were to die in battle, if she has your child, Turner will not allow anything to harm them.”

  Will didn’t like to think about things like that, even before Tamzin. The thought of leaving her alone with child or with a newborn made his throat close up, especially with the threat of his Uncle invading.

  “Tamzin thinks we should deal with the Johanssons through a marriage arrangement. Aunt Isabelle has a son around the age of the oldest Johansson girl. Perhaps she will be interested in the alignment?” Will suggested as he stared at his aunt’s territory. She was his mother’s sister and since his mother’s death, or his whole life, Will had never seen Isabelle and Gregory in the same room. Until he was fifteen, Will spent a few weeks when the summer returned with Queen Isabelle and her children. Will loved his aunt and his cousins, but he had become more interested in running his country than frolicking in the fields. Though he hadn’t seen his Aunt in three years, they exchanged letters regularly. He hadn’t told her that he was now married and to a Roth g
irl.

  “It would be a deal that you and Tamzin would need to broker,” Gregory said as he grabbed the goblet that rested on the map. “Isabelle isn’t my biggest fan.”

  “We will travel to her territory and if the deal goes well, we will then travel to Johansson. If a Johansson girl marries a cousin of Thurston, Douglas Johansson may be less likely to give men to Uncle.”

  “It’s better than massacring children and poorly armed men,” Gregory said as he thumbed the jewels on his goblet. “Write a letter to your Aunt and make sure she is on board. If she is, you and Tamzin will leave as soon as possible. I will send a letter to Johansson,” Gregory said as he looked at his son. “Jacque has taught Tamzin’s ladies how to make a birth control and something to encourage fertility. Explain to Tamzin that she must conceive a healthy son as soon as possible.”

  “Where is Jacque?” Will asked when his name was brought up. “I haven’t seen him or Rupes in awhile.”

  “Jacque works daily in the village at my request. Rupes spends his time in the kitchens. He loves the chef, the plump little bastard,” Gregory laughed joyfully. “I didn’t want to put this pressure on you. You’ve finally bonded with your wife and now I’m demanding a child.”

  “Tamzin won’t refuse and we would have children eventually. Maybe we will be able to solve the problem before she is with child,” Will hoped but his father didn’t say anymore. “What will happen if she does not have a child?”

  “If we die in battle and she is not with child, the happiest outcome she could hope for, if her father does not reach her in time, is death. She will be forced into a marriage with my brother, and Turner will not be able to move against him. That or Tamzin will have to marry a Johansson boy and we know how they are with women. Her entire role will be to bear children, as many as possible, no matter how much it could harm her, and there is no guarantee that her female children will survive,” Gregory explained solemnly as he took another long sip of his wine. “The northern territories understand that women are just as important as men and with the exception of Roth Territory, the entire southern hemisphere would rather keep women in a type of slavery.”

  “That won’t happen to Tamzin,” Will stated strongly as he furrowed his brow. “No man will treat her like that, not even in my death,” Will continued as he raked his fingers down the map of the world. “Do you think it will come to war?”

  “I think it’s smarter not to keep it as a strong contender. Johansson may surprise us and agree to the marriage agreement and my brother may lose his troops before he actually receives them. It’s not a smart idea to move against all the northern territories and the Roth Territory down south, but Douglas Johansson thinks he is much smarter than the rest of us,” Gregory explained as he put a hand on his forehead. “I have a headache. It will take weeks before you will even meet with your aunt, so don’t let this hang over you. Go enjoy your wife, train your soldiers. Life is much more enjoyable now that the marriage is consummated.”

  “She thinks I don’t know what love is,” Will said as he scratched his beard. He watched his father, out of the corner of his eye, shift uncomfortably in his chair.

  “Princesses like Tamzin make men like you weak in the knees. She is smart and charismatic, and she is beautiful. But above all, I think she is a truly good person. She has her faults, absolutely. She is naïve and a bit soft-hearted, along with her attitude in Court. Did you need to leave her alone with Henry Covington of all people?” Gregory raised an eyebrow.

  “You like Henry Covington,” Will said questioningly as he looked up from the table.

  “He’s entertaining at a party, and he’s the second richest man in this territory, but he’s a scoundrel otherwise. I know Tamzin is loyal, but she is flirtatious. People will talk…”

  “Don’t say that about her,” Will said with a glare. “She’s kind…”

  “She is, and she’s flirtatious. It’s not the worst trait, but it opens up for gossip. But, my point is that it’s easy for you to fall in love with her. You have an idealist view of love, but these things resolve themselves. Love grows when you face hardships together. Not to mention when you’re allowed to express emotions through physical actions,” Gregory said with a flushed face. “You think you love her now, but you will have a moment when you know. Don’t worry, because it will happen.”

  Will smiled at his father’s words before he shook his hand. Even though his father implored him not to worry, it was impossible not to. Will’s thoughts were jumbled as he walked slowly back to his bedroom. He left the sullied sheet in his father’s care; Will knew he would burn it in the fire. He had proven to his father and his advisors that he had bedded Tamzin and now Turner would indeed provide troops at Gregory’s call.

  The stairwell was cool, but it warmed considerably the closer he approached his chambers. The curtains were open and Tamzin had just finished dressing herself in a simple blue dress. It was the type of dress that she would wear around the castle with long sleeves and a simple bodice; it wasn’t intricate or made of beautiful fabric to be worn in front of the nobles. He thought she looked beautiful.

  “I had hoped you would still be naked,” Will smiled at her in the mirror. Tamzin smiled as she turned around. She didn’t wear a corset and her lovely feminine figure was displayed nicely in the dress.

  “Did it really take an hour to explain how our sheets were bloodied?” Tamzin asked as she adjusted her bodice.

  “No,” Will began as he sat across from her in the other chair. The fire heated his skin and he rubbed his cool hands together in front of the flames. “We need to talk.”

  Her face fell instantly when he uttered those words. Nothing good ever came after ‘we need to talk,’ and Tamzin expected the worst. Was he not happy with their union? Had he changed his mind after her bedding that she wouldn’t be a good wife?

  “Did my previous comments offend you, Your Grace?” Tamzin resorted back to proper terms as she wondered if Will would return to his past state of not loving her.

  “Your Grace?” Will laughed. “Are you nervous about something, love?” Will asked as he took her hand in his. The nickname slid so smoothly off his tongue like it was the most natural word to him in the world.

  “You’re going to end our marriage, aren’t you?” Tamzin asked nervously as she pulled her hand away. “Why else would you have such a long conversation with your father and his advisors? You hate the majority of them.”

  “That is true, but I’m afraid you’re stuck with me,” Will smiled as he leaned back in his chair. “I told you hours ago that I love you and I mean it, despite what you think. You are my one and true wife. As for the discussion with my father and his advisors, we have received bad news,” Will continued as Tamzin’s shoulders relaxed but her eyes remained uncertain. “Did your father ever tell you about how my father became King?”

  “Your grandfather was King and he died, and your father was his only child. Not much of a story,” Tamzin answered uncertainly as she pushed her curls behind her ear. “I had heard whispers of more, but my Father always said that Gregory was to be respected and no one gossips around a real King.”

  “My Father was Grandfather’s only legitimate child, but not his only child. My Grandfather had a girl on the side before he married my Grandmother. Before he officially married my Grandmother, he had one final tryst with this woman and it resulted in a child. Coincidently, my Grandmother became with child on their first bedding. My Father has a brother, my Uncle, who is only a few weeks older. My Father was born legitimate, but that didn’t stop my Uncle from attempting to take the throne. My Father married my Mother in return for troops and support, while the majority of the North joined my Father. Your father sent supplies to my Father, while the Johanssons and the rest of the South stayed out of the entire ordeal,” Will took a deep breath as he looked to the fire to quell his concentration. “My Father crushed my Uncle’s forces, but let him live in exile. Every few years, we hear that he is raising an army but not
hing comes of it. This time, my Father thinks something is different.”

  “You think the Johanssons have officially joined him?” Tamzin asked nervously. “That’s why you need the marriage arrangement to work out.”