Mr. Always & Forever

by Ashlee Price

  “Well that doesn’t sound too bad.”

  “No it doesn’t. You will learn. I don’t want to give you too much to worry about. She is just someone you have to meet to understand. Just be wary of her moods. They change quickly and you don’t want to be on the receiving end of a bad one.”

  Sarah nodded, her dark brown eyes widened a little, but she assured herself that it would be no worse than having to deal with her father’s bad temper. If she could learn from them, then she knew that it wouldn’t be that hard to stay out of one woman’s way.

  “And what of the Lord?”

  Darlee paused, not really sure what to say about him. “Well he is not here a lot and when he is, he is usually in a dark mood. The two have problems, so they fight a lot. I think that is part of the reason he isn’t here that much.”

  Sarah just shook her head. It all sounded so sad and lonely. Maybe there were kids, something to brighten up such a dreary existence.

  “So are there any children here?”

  Darlee had a frown on her face. “No, that is what they argue about the most. My lord thinks that she is making it so she can’t have any. He just wants an heir and after many years together, the chances are low that they will have one together.”

  “That sounds so sad.”

  The older woman couldn’t have agreed more. She had always had more sorrow for the man though. He was the one that she would catch out at night, staring up at the moon as if it would have the answer he seemed so desperate to seek. His wife on the other hand, Darlee had caught her doing her own things to make herself feel better. The fact that she had a lover the whole time she had been married to Lars was common knowledge among the staff. It wasn’t the red-haired woman that she pitied, but the dark-eyed man that had never said so much as a cross word to any of the servants. The same could not be said for Mila.

  “It will be fine, Sarah. Just make sure that you stay out of her way when she is angry.”

  “How will I know when she is mad?”

  Darlee just smiled and shook her head. “Oh honey, you will know.

  Chapter 2

  Sarah was just settled in and was ready for her first day of her new life. She had her final meal with many of the other servants in the kitchen and she was starting to feel more at home by the minute. It was a strange new place, with strange new people, but everyone was so nice. For a minute or two, she forgot that she had been sent there to work and forget about the man that had almost ruined everything for her.

  She had never seen it that way, but it didn’t matter now. Sarah was sure that she would never see the man that had made her come alive before, again. It kept her up that night, the thoughts of his lips on hers and in a way she wished that she had given him what he had wanted. What he had asked for so badly, but she knew that it wasn’t going to be an option again. She was left with only the thoughts and the feel of need that it left in her body.

  As she got up the next day before dawn, she made her way to the kitchen to get Mila’s breakfast. It was supposed to be served to her as the sun was coming up, so that she could eat it as the sun was rising. She would then go back to sleep for several hours, only to need help again to get dressed. It sounded like such a strange schedule, but Sarah knew that she had much to learn about people like the ones that lived in the castle. It was all so eye opening, but she first had to meet her new lady.

  Sarah tried not to seem too nervous. She was worried about what Darlee had said about Mila’s moods and she didn’t want to get caught up in one of her bad ones. Instead, she smiled brightly as she set the tray of food down on the small table where she had been instructed Mila liked it to be. She was not only supposed to make sure she had breakfast, but she was actually supposed to wake her up.

  She looked over at the rumpled covers and wondered where her husband was. Sarah knew that if she ever got married, there was no way that she wouldn’t want to sleep with him. It seemed strange that she would rather have her own room.

  Sarah couldn’t see much of the woman as she mused about her. She could see a few light colored limbs, her legs covered in freckles and a wisp or two of her red curls were popping out of the bed covers. It was nothing to go off of. All she had was Darlee’s comments and the warning to be careful around her. She didn’t seem so bad, she thought to herself. She was rather tiny in a way, her arms and the leg poking out quite slender.

  “My lady?”

  The woman didn’t so much as move, making Sarah move a little closer and then repeat herself a little louder. “My lady. It is time for your breakfast.”

  Mila poked her head out from under the covers and looked at the dark-skinned woman in front of her. “Who are you?”

  “I am Sarah, my lady.”

  “Yes, of course. I think I remember something about that. Well, I am up. Is the food where it should be?”

  “Yes, my lady.”

  “Then you can leave now.”

  Sarah nodded, but then heard a noise coming from the darkened part of an adjoining room. Sarah looked at the area where she heard the noise, her eyes moving to Mila’s, but her green eyes just sent her away silently. Sarah knew that she had been dismissed and she left like the woman wanted her to, but there was something in the way that Mila had looked that made Sarah wonder who it was that was making the noise in her bed chambers. Was it the Lord of the house?

  Her curiosity made her stall down the hallway a bit. She couldn’t be seen, but she was able to wait and see who came out of the woman’s bedroom a little while later. It was a man in his thirties with dirty blonde hair and a ruggedly handsome face. Sarah smiled to herself and figured that she had finally seen the Lord of the castle. He was quite a sight and she knew that being around him would make her lose her train of thought. Sarah was starting to wonder why Darlee had made it seem like they were not good together. They seemed very happy and the man had a relaxed look on his face as he was leaving.

  She went back down to the kitchen to help out down there and wait for Mila to want her again in a few hours. Darlee was already working on the evening meal, stirring a big pot of some sort of stew.

  “So how was it?”

  Sarah shrugged. “She didn’t seem too bad. I saw the lord leaving a bit later and I have to say, he was not what I expected. He seemed like a man that was in a very good mood.”

  Darlee looked at her a little strange and then her moment of understanding was upon her. “I would keep that bit about him to yourself if I were you Sarah. He left late last night and shouldn’t be back for a few days.”

  She wasn’t sure what the old woman was talking about and she stood there for a few minutes. “Well then who was it that I saw?”

  “That is what we don’t talk about. He is the one I had told you about. Just make sure you never say anything in front of the lady. She will not take kindly to it and one of her moods is inevitable.”

  Sarah agreed that she would keep her mouth shut. It was strange to have been so privy to the information. It was wrong of her to think about it, but she could see why she had strayed. The man had been very good looking and he had seemed rather pleasant. Sarah wasn’t sure if she was just missing the past, but she was thinking about her own brush with romance and how badly it had ended. Instead of sneaking around in beds, Sarah was shipped away, never to know what it was really like to be touched in such a way.

  “Don’t get too comfortable down here, Sarah. You have to be back upstairs in a little while and my lady does not like to be kept waiting.”

  Sarah nodded. She had gotten that from the few minutes that she had been around her before. The place was starting to feel a little stranger as she learned more. Nothing was as it seemed, but Darlee was right, her ladyship was very temperamental and she seemed to keep finding new ways to make her upset the longer she was there. After the first week, Sarah was starting to wonder if she would be sent away. Sarah wasn’t sure if that would be a bad thing or not.

  Chapter 3

  “Lars, I want another one. That
servant is not what I am looking for. She is mouthy and I can’t take it anymore.”

  Lars smiled back at his wife and for some reason it was finally a real one. The idea that a young girl servant was upsetting her was enough to put him in a good mood. She was always so vile to everyone that no one said a word to her. It was about time that someone stood up to the venomous woman that he was attached to.

  “I do not see why you are getting so worked up. It is just a servant. I will find something else for her to do if you like.”

  Mila brightened. “Yes please. Find something to do with her. Maybe she would be good for the kitchen, strong back and all.”

  Lars wasn’t sure what the comment meant, but he was more than happy to meet the one that could bend her out of shape so well, if for no other reason than to thank her. Lars didn’t know what he would do with her or where she could go, but the kitchens always needed more people.

  “I will make sure to take care of that before I leave.”

  “You are leaving again, so soon?”

  He nodded and then took a drink from the cup in front of him.

  “For how long?”

  “Why does it matter? I know that you have someone here to keep your bed warm at night.”

  She had the decency to get a little pink cheeked when he said it. Though she had never tried too hard to hide her contempt for him or her lover, it was something else to hear him finally say it out loud. There was no sense in trying to reason with him. There was no reasoning with Lars and she just shrugged. “I just wanted to know. You of course don’t have to tell me.”

  He didn’t seem to be too bothered by her lover. He never had been. There had been a time that she had wished he would stop it, proclaim his love for her and promise to never let her go again. But it had never happened. Mila knew that Lars had never loved her.

  “I will be back in a fortnight. The clans are grouping up and it is going to be another battle soon enough. I need to be there.”

  “Can’t you send someone else? Why does it always have to be you?”

  Lars got up and walked towards his own bed chambers. Every conversation was about what he should or shouldn’t be doing and bringing up her lover had put him in an ill mood. He shouldn’t have said anything to her about it and it had made him wish he hadn’t said a word.

  Instead of going to his bed and worrying about what the next clan battles were going to be. He didn’t want to go, but in the same way, he didn’t want to stay, so instead he was always first to volunteer. That part was right, but it had come like second nature as he tried to spend as much time as he could away from his wife. It was becoming time for her to go to the countryside and give him some space. Lars didn’t care if she took her lover with her, as long as she was gone when he got back. He decided that he was going to make sure that she left soon.

  Strolling outside of the castle, just outside of the outer walls, he took his time and tried to think of anything else. His eyes took in the moon that seemed to be just out of reach over the cliffs to the east. There was never time to enjoy the views anymore. He stopped there and leaned against the stone wall, closing his eyes for a moment.

  He only opened them when he heard a noise coming from behind him. He jerked up and opened his eyes. It was then that he saw the dark woman that his wife hated so much. It was the first time that he had seen her and she was not at all what she had expected. He had been expecting a waif-thin girl, but the servant named Sarah was all woman. She had curves in all of the right places, and even though it was dark, the moonlight made the white in her dress shine brighter and gave him the view that he needed.

  “What are you doing out so late?”

  Sarah jumped when she heard the voice, not really seeing where it was coming from. When she finally saw who it was, Lars coming out of the shadows, she bowed immediately. “I am sorry, my lord. I didn’t see you there.”

  Lars urged her face upwards with his fingers on her chin. “So you are the one that drives my wife so crazy?”

  She nodded. “I do not mean to, my lord, but I seem to upset her at every turn. My apologies.”

  It didn’t feel sincere and he chuckled a little. “She wants you away from her.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  Sarah figured that she would have to leave, a proposition that she was not looking forward to. Sarah found that in a strange way, she actually liked to be there. When he stopped her with a hand on her arm, she looked back at him confused.

  “My lord?”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I am going to leave, my lord.”

  “I did not mean that you would leave, Sarah. I meant that you would have to be given something else to do.”

  Sarah was more stunned that he knew her name than anything else. Why did it mean so much to her that she hadn’t been invisible to him the whole time? She had passed him in the hallways, never meeting his dark gaze, but there was something about the man that had caught and held her attention. It was just surprising to know that she had maybe caught his attention as well.

  She tried to make it seem as if she was not happy to get another assignment, anything really had to be better than waking up his wife and waiting on her all of the time. “Yes, my lord.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  Sarah met his eyes finally and she could see the glint in them as he looked at her. “I don’t understand, my lord.”

  His hand came out and his fingers were pushing the hair out of his face. How did she not understand? “It is a simple question. What would you like to do?”

  Lars knew what he would have liked her to do, the attraction to the dark woman swift and surprising. He wasn’t usually attracted to the girls in the castle, but it was harder to deny the one with those almond-shaped eyes looking up at him.

  She still hadn’t answered him, not sure what he was talking about, but there was no way that she could think with his hands on her.

  “Whatever you want me to do, my lord.”

  A fire leapt in his eyes that made her gasp. He moved closer to her and for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her, but instead pulled away and looked down. “I will put you in the kitchens. Darlee will make sure that you know what your duties are.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  He started to walk away, but he then turned around. “Be careful out here, Sarah. A girl like you could bring the devil out of any man.”

  She watched him walk away and his words made her shiver inside. She finally took a deep breath when she felt like she could. Why did she feel so out of sorts around him and what did he mean? Sarah wasn’t sure, but she was sure of the fact that she was better off in the kitchens. Ever since she had been sent there and had had to wait on Mila hand and foot, she was done being the woman’s servant. She was rude and too temperamental for Sarah. The idea of getting away from her made her smile, yet it was her body remembering the touch from Lord Lars that made her tremble slightly on the inside.

  Chapter 4

  “You are going to be late, Sarah. You know how she is.”

  Sarah just smiled and asked Darlee what it was that she needed done.

  “Are you asking for trouble? I know you like to get a rise out of her, but she is not someone that you want to cross.”

  “I have been pulled off of her duties and sent to the kitchens. So I am here to do whatever you need done.”

  “What do you mean? Who did this?”

  “My lord told me just last night. It seems that his wife is not very happy with the way I am doing things, so now I am here with you.”

  Darlee just shook her head. “I would not want to be down here if I could go up there and sit all day.”

  “It is not as nice as it sounds. It is boring and you have to listen to her complain all day. I can see why my lord is always gone. I would want to be as far away from her as possible.”

  “Watch your tongue child. You just make sure that they don’t hear you saying that sort of thing about them. I know that sh
e can be hard to deal with, but believe me when I tell you that I have worked under far worse. My lord isn’t so bad, but his wife is a bit harder to deal with. Just remember that you are home now. I don’t want you to be sent away.”

  “I am not trying to go anywhere. It is better here than it ever was at home. Besides, I thought you would be happy that I was down here with you.”

  Darlee softened. “I am. Now get to work or I will send you to the stables next.”

  That made Sarah scurry off to start the many loaves of bread. There was supposed to be a sort of celebration before the Lord of the house left for another fight in the upper clans. There was to be a lot of people there that night and it was up to the kitchen to make sure that everything went well. Sarah was running around most of the day and even though she was exhausted by the time the meal was finally served, there was nowhere else she would have rather been. Even though the work was harder, the rooms were hotter, it was still better than having to serve Mila. The woman had a bad temper and she was much happier working with the more level headed cook.

  ***

  The celebration was not for the servants, but it gave them all some time once it started. Sarah found herself drinking a little and laughing with several of the other women that worked in the kitchens. She was sent to find another bottle in the cellar down two flights of stairs, but there were so many to choose from. Sarah didn’t know much about the drink, but she knew that she liked the way it made her feel. It was no wonder that everyone was always so happy when they were drinking, she thought to herself. If she would have known it was so good, she would have tried it a long time ago. Sarah had had a drink with Finn a few times, but never that much. She felt giddy and even though the walls were closing in on her and the coolness of the cellar did nothing for the burning throughout her body.

  When she finally got down there, Sarah didn’t know which one to pick and she was finding her vision blurred and everything a bit hard to see. When she heard his voice again behind her, she startled and then turned around to answer his question.