Unarmed (Unarmed Trilogy)

by Nina Monroe

  “We are her foster family, at best. Your mother was always kind to Lucy, but your father was wary. I have been wary since she came to Roth Territory. Tam, you are naïve to be so trusting of her,” Kendall warned but lowered her voice as Will and Garrett came closer. “She is a Johansson, and they are not to be trusted.”

  The conversation ended before Will wrapped an arm around Tamzin’s waist. “Heated conversation, ladies,” Will asked with a laugh as he hoisted Tamzin onto Angus’ back.

  “We were talking about the men in our lives,” Tamzin returned the smile, though Kendall glared at her. “Women are allowed to keep secrets.”

  “Just not too many,” Garrett interrupted as Kendall hopped onto his horse. “Too many secrets make for a weak marriage.” Will shot Garrett a suspicious look before he hoisted himself onto Angus and wrapped an arm around her waist. Tamzin bit her lip and felt the familiar tightness in her stomach from nervousness. She considered Garrett a friend, but Garrett was solely loyal to Will. Garrett was only kind to her because of Will.

  “I didn’t realize you were such a philosopher on marriage. It’s a hard feat, I imagine, with how undedicated you are to one woman,” Will defended before he kicked Angus lightly and the stallion galloped quickly away from the courtyard. Tamzin felt the stress in her husband’s rigid stance and he nearly suffocated her with how tight he kept an arm around her.

  “He didn’t mean anything by it,” Tamzin tried to make light of the situation and relieve her husband’s budding anger. “He worries about you.”

  “And sometimes, people need to learn to keep their opinions to themselves,” Will growled as Angus continued to race towards the lake that she had never seen.

  “Where is your cousin?”

  “No doubt John is already there. Don’t try to deflect this,” Will continued as Angus entered the outskirts of the woods. The woods were vast around the territory and served as the number one protection from the enemies. The heat and the woods kept most invaders out. Tamzin felt mild fear as Will continued to speed up on Angus. She had never ridden horses before coming to Thurston Territory, and she had certainly never ridden a horse at this speed.

  “Can you slow down?” Tamzin yelled as she gripped the reins as tightly as she could. “Will, please,” she cried out before she felt Will pull on the reins as Angus slowed considerably. She had closed her eyes and when she opened them, in front of them was a large lake. The water was so clear and Tamzin could see the algae covered rocks beneath the surface and the multicolored fish beneath the ripples.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear as they stared out at the lake together. The sun was high in the sky and now that the wind wasn’t whipping through her hair, Tamzin felt the familiar heat warm her skin. “I hate that they are so suspicious of you.”

  His comment flared her curiosity as the guilt over not telling Will who exactly Lucy was bit into her viciously. Tamzin looked over her shoulder and watched Will’s face contort into various emotions that ranged from anger to sadness to confusion.

  “Suspicious of me?” Tamzin asked as Angus came to a stop in front of a large oak tree by the lake. Will dismounted from Angus and he watched Tamzin’s face with a sense of interest. “And what do you think?”

  “I hope that you would tell me everything. I hope that you would trust me enough to tell me everything,” Will said as he opened his arms to her. She took his arms as he helped her hoist herself down. Tamzin’s covered feet hit the ground and Will steadied her with his hands on her hips. It was quiet for a few moments before the sound of hooves came closer.

  “You wouldn’t want to know everything,” Tamzin said quietly as the hooves came closer and the sound of laughter filled the air. Tamzin saw, out of the corner of her eye, that John came out of the brush with an arm around a pretty blonde. A pretty blonde named Lucy.

  “Are you serious?” Will asked as he watched his cousin pull Lucy closer and placed a kiss on her lips. “John?” Will barked as he stepped closer towards the couple. John hadn’t noticed them and his green eyes bugged out when he saw his cousin. “We have been here for one day. One single day.”

  “The man knows what he wants,” Lucy raised an eyebrow as she rested her head on John’s tanned shoulders. Will felt his betraying eyes rake over her body in a wet chemise that clung to her body.

  “The boy has never been with a woman and takes the first available whore who consents,” Will yelled as Tamzin noticed Garrett and Kendall had come upon them. “What were you thinking?”

  “Well, I’m not getting married anymore. It’s not a crime to make love to a woman,” John smiled deliriously as he ran a hand through his hair, clearly a family trait. “Lucy is kind and…”

  “You don’t understand the words ‘making love.’ It isn’t some flowery tale and they aren’t some light words. If she gets with child, your child, are you willing to give up your life and your fun? That’s right, you aren’t getting married but girls like Lucy are not the ones you spend your time with,” Will spat viciously as he seethed with anger.

  “What’s supposed to mean?” Lucy bawled at Will as she stood defiantly against him. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

  “I think you’re a social climber who thinks too highly of yourself. I only tolerate you because you were Tamzin’s best friend and now I pay more money for your upkeep than I do my own wife. And you,” Will turned his attention back to John. “You may have earned yourself a Queen after she becomes with child after your afternoon delight.”

  “I would choose your words carefully,” Lucy growled as she gritted her teeth. Tamzin felt the color in her cheeks intense as she watched the confrontation and she turned to look back at Garrett and Kendall. Kendall’s face mirrored Tamzin’s own nervousness as Lucy took a step closer to Will. “You shouldn’t speak so despicably to a noble woman.”

  “Being my wife’s handmaiden hardly makes you a noble woman. Your behavior certainly isn’t becoming of one,” Will returned as he turned to look at his cousin. “Any hope I had of fixing this problem with the Johanssons has been ruined. Tamzin,” Will turned to look at her. “We’re returning home in the morning.”

  It was no use in arguing with him, but Tamzin didn’t move to defend her friend. Lucy, the vindictive and manipulative girl, planned this.

  “You won’t always be so sure of the future,” Lucy whispered angrily as her eyes locked with Tamzin. “Everything you have will be taken from you.”

  “Is that a threat?” Will asked without fear, and that would be his downfall.

  “Of course not, Your Grace,” Lucy said sarcastically as she dipped into a curtsey. “I would never threaten a prince.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  It was easy for Tamzin to forget how her husband had earned his reputation, but as she watched him now, she could see clearly. His stance was rigid and his voice boomed as he told his aunt about what he had caught John doing with Lucy. Tamzin had no idea where Lucy had gone, but she had been forcefully removed from Will’s sight when they had all returned to the castle.

  Tamzin stood behind Will with her hands clasped together, and she nearly jumped every time he began to argue with his aunt. Despite their arguments, Will never raised his voice to Tamzin like he was doing now. Her kind and loving husband had morphed into the man that the people in court whispered about; the hot blooded, angry, and potentially murderous soldier on the battlefield.

  “I cannot force the girl to drink the tea,” Isabelle said as she sat up straight in her throne. “You and I both know that it is her decision.”

  “You would have your son bring a bastard into the world? The Johanssons would never allow a daughter to marry him with a woman swollen with his illegitimate child. You and I both know they are hypocrites,” Will scolded as he looked to John, who cowered behind his mother’s throne. “Do you know what you have done?”

  “If Lucy is with child, I will marry her. It is the honorable thing to do,” John said as he tried to stand up taller. Will’s
shoulders squared out.

  “Life doesn’t play out the way they do in storybooks, little cousin. Being honorable means you don’t lay with women you have no intention of marrying. Being honorable is not bringing a bastard into the world. You’ve sullied your mother’s name if Lucy becomes with child. If you needed to lay with someone so bad, go to a prostitute. That’s why they are there,” Will explained angrily as he turned to look at Tamzin. “She is going back to Roth when we return home.”

  Tamzin nodded and let Will believe she agreed for the same reasons. She highly doubted that Lucy would become with child by John, but she couldn’t say that with true conviction. Will’s sharp gaze softened briefly at her before he returned his stare back to his aunt and cousin, where it hardened once again.

  “If you are able to fix the alliance, I assure you that John will marry the Johansson girl,” Isabelle said with strength, though her voice was a near whisper. It was the sound of shame. Though she was Queen, she understood that stepping against her nephew over something this mild would be detrimental to her family. Her kingdom would be crippled if Gregory withdrew his support from her kingdom. The woods and cold wouldn’t seem as daunting to soldiers who wished to invade without a Thurston army coming.

  “My men have already begun to pack. I thank you for your hospitality, Queen Isabelle, but my party and I will take our leave as soon as possible,” Will retorted harshly. Tamzin watched Isabelle’s face fall from his cool tone. Will began to turn around when Tamzin took a step forward and stopped him.

  “She is your aunt; the only link you have to your mother. This isn’t a political alliance, Will. She’s your family,” Tamzin whispered furiously as she kept her body in place to stop him from moving. “John did not exercise the best judgment, but it is not life and death.”

  “There are many things you do not know, wife,” Will growled as he maneuvered his body around her. “When he decided to lay with Lucy, he put my family in danger. You will return to our chambers and finish packing.”

  “And you will not speak to me in that tone. I am your wife,” Tamzin returned with a tone to match his in intensity and volume. She then turned to face Isabelle. “My husband’s tongue tangles itself when it’s time for him to not be a prince. I apologize, formally, for how things have progressed, Your Grace.” Tamzin curtsied before she sent a deathly glare towards her husband. “You and your family are always welcome in Thurston Territory, as well as my father’s territory.”

  “Those are very kind words, Princess,” Isabelle smiled sadly as Will continued to keep his back towards her. “My nephew certainly has the blend of his parents’ tempers. I know he says things he does not mean, and I do apologize for my son’s indiscretions.”

  “They will be forgotten soon enough, and the next time we visit, it will be much more joyous occasion,” Tamzin smiled before she curtsied again. Her brown eyes locked with ice blue as she strolled out of the throne room, her confidence at a high. She felt Will close behind her before he grabbed her hand and forced her to stop.

  “Nothing makes my point more than my wife contradicting me seconds later. I am not a child,” Will scolded in hushed tones.

  “Then stop acting like one. I would understand your hostility better if your aunt was an enemy, but she is not. Your cousin is seventeen. A girl has probably never paid him attention before. It’s a quality I have never appreciated that you possess: your arrogance is what keeps you from forming true bonds with your men and your family,” Tamzin rebuked as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You act like no one understands you, but the truth is that you can be such an asshole.”

  It was language unbecoming of a princess, but there was no other term that fit Will better. Her anger clouded her judgment and for a moment, the bindings of her love for him had been lifted. His face became crestfallen briefly but Will hid his sadness well. He hid many things well.

  “You Roth girls, so beautiful and manipulative. Can you be loyal to anything?” Will said as he gritted his teeth and kept her eyes locked in a frightful stare.

  “I’m suddenly a Roth girl when I disagree with you? If I am no longer your wife then I am not obligated to listen to you sound like a fool,” Tamzin said before she raised her eyebrows at him and turned on her heel. She would return to their rooms to pack, but only in order to get away from him.

  Will watched his wife walk away, his jaw set like stone. In very many ways, Tamzin’s presence had improved his life tenfold. She was the comfort he never had in his life and only around her did his iron personality melt. Her soft touches, loving kisses, and sweet words unwound him after long days and when the odds seemed stacked so highly against him. Tamzin also had the uncanny ability to cut him down, much like she just had. His young years revealed themselves from time to time and only when he felt like others had disrespected him.

  An ‘ahem’ behind him broke Will from his train of thought as he turned to see Garrett standing a few feet away.

  “Women,” Garrett said as he watched Tamzin’s retreating figure. “We won’t be able to leave until morning.”

  “And why is that?” Will snarled as he diverted all his attention to his friend.

  “A horse has been misplaced,” Garrett said as he swallowed. “Misplaced is a nice way to say stolen, if you ask me.”

  “And, my eyes and ears, do tell me whom you suspect of misplacing a horse belonging to my territory?” Will asked as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes in frustration.

  “A certain blonde may have been misplaced, or disappeared on her own accord,” Garrett continued as he nodded to the royal family leaving the throne room. “Perhaps a final rendezvous?”

  “It’s no concern of mine. We have bigger problems,” Will said as he looked pointedly at Garrett. “My father’s letter should arrive and it will tell me something I already know.”

  “A suspicious amount of traffic towards Johansson Territory? My suspicions were right?” Garrett pressed as he lowered his voice. “This was always a last ditch effort, wasn’t it?”

  “I didn’t know until after my wedding why exactly my father and Turner Roth decided to align. The south has formed one country and Douglas Johansson is their King.”

  “And your uncle?” Garrett pressed on, though a part of him already knew the answer.

  “My Uncle suddenly has a very formidable army. We still have an excellent chance of winning the war, but it’s not as solid as I would like. If I should fall, Tamzin will become Queen in my title but if Turner dies as well, I do not know what will happen,” Will swallowed a thick ball of nerves and he looked down to the ground. “My uncle will marry her and rape her until she is with child. My uncle will become King and I do not want to think of what will happen to the people, what will happen to Tamzin.”

  “And if Turner lives?” Garrett questioned. “His only daughter held captive in a now unfriendly territory? You think he would do nothing?”

  “If my uncle has an ounce of sense, he will warn Turner that if a Roth soldier comes within a mile of our walls, very bad things will happen to his daughter,” Will bit into his lip and clenched his fists. “They’re waiting; I can feel it.”

  “Will,” Garrett began, “why don’t you ever speak of your uncle’s name?”

  “The number one way to break a man is to force him so low to the ground that he is even without a name,” Will breathed. “You want to demean your enemies? Make them so worthless by denying them a name.”

  “Have you ever met him?”

  “No, but I’ll know him when I see him,” Will said confidently before he took a deep breath. His aunt was still watching him, but his cousin has long since disappeared. “We leave by dawn. We leave without a formal announcement and we lower our sigil flags when we travel.”

  “This is a time of war?” Garrett asked.

  “We only need wait for the first side to shoot the first arrow,” Will assured as he placed his hand on Garrett’s shoulder. “When the time comes, you will ride beside me?”

/>   “Is that even a question?” Garrett smiled bitterly as he patted Will’s hand on his shoulder. “Tamzin will kill me if I don’t bring you home in one piece and still breathing.”