Eira smiled and ran her hand along the flat edge of her blade. She would find out just what this knight was made of after all.
“Prepare to fight me,” she told him. It was a frigid winter day and the snow swirled around them, but she didn’t care. Eira had never been bothered by the cold. As a matter of fact, she liked it. The wind bit at her flesh and made her feel alive.
“My lady, I will not fight you,” said MacKay. He was dressed only in his lightweight cloak and had no hat or gloves. She could see he was cold, but that wasn’t her concern. He was just a prisoner, and it didn’t matter. His squire sat huddled against the stable wall with his knees knocking together.
“You will fight me because I demand it,” she told him.
“Nay. I do not fight women.”
“Then just think of me as another man.” She didn’t give him time to respond. She thrust forward with her sword, forcing him to defend himself. He instinctively raised his sword and it clanked as it met with her weapon. “Good block,” she said. “Now, let’s see what else you can do.” He fought her in naught but a defensive position. He was holding back, and she didn’t like this. “If you fight well enough, I will make you my champion.”
“I don’t need or want to be anyone’s champion. All I want is to go back to England. I am not here to fight you, hurt you, or claim your throne.”
“It doesn’t look to me like you can do any of those things.” She had to raise the stakes if he were going to give his all. “Guard, bring me the squire,” she called out.
“Ollie will not fight you either,” he told her.
“I don’t want to fight him. I’m going to kill him.”
“What? Nay! You will not touch a hair on my squire’s head.”
“If you don’t want me to do it then you are going to have to try to stop me.”
A man covered from head to foot in a cloak hauled Ollie out to the practice field.
MacKay’s fury rose to the surface. What was this woman’s problem? She had a heart of ice to be acting this way. How could she want to kill his squire just to make him fight her? That was the action of a cruel, hardened warrior.
The wind blew up a fierce storm with snow falling so fast he could barely see. Neither he nor his squire was dressed for the cold. The woman wasn’t appropriately dressed for such weather either, yet she didn’t seem to even notice the weather.
“Don’t touch my squire,” he warned her again. “If it’s a fight you want, Snow Queen, then I will give it to you. No more will I hold back because you are a woman.”
“That’s better,” she said with a huge smile. “Now fight like a man.”
That is precisely what MacKay did – fight like a man. Something snapped inside him, and he went berserk. His sword clashed with hers over and over again. With his anger rising to the surface, he did not hold back. Amazingly enough, she held her own. The force of her blows and her grip on the hilt of her sword was more than impressive. He could see now why she was a ruler of this frozen hell.
MacKay didn’t stop, even when he’d managed to disarm her and she fell to the ground. He raised his sword high in the air, and it took all his restraint not to sink it deep into her heart. But then those translucent blue eyes stared up at him again and about melted his heart. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt her so he slowly lowered his sword to his side.
He reached down to give her a hand, and that was his first mistake. She grabbed his arm and yanked, flipping him over her shoulder. When he sat up, she already had the tip of her sword aimed at his throat.
“Go ahead,” he goaded her. “I’m unarmed, so why don’t you kill me?”
“Why would I do that?” she asked.
“With your heart of ice, why wouldn’t you? After all, you were about to kill my squire for no reason at all.”
“That was only a little motivation to make you fight. I needed to know what you could do.”
“Well, did I pass your test?”
“You fight well,” she admitted. “I would like to talk to you about helping me fight my enemies.” She held out her hand to help him to his feet, but he didn’t take it.
“What’s the matter? Afraid I might flip you again?”
“Nay. I’m afraid I won’t be able to restrain myself from flipping you.” He got to his feet. With his eyes fastened to her all the while, he picked up his sword and brushed off the snow.
“Let’s go indoors where we can talk,” she suggested.
“I’ll not fight for you or with you, so there is nothing to talk about.” MacKay shoved his sword back into the scabbard.
“I think I might have a deal you’ll be interested in taking.”
MacKay looked over to his squire. The cloaked man holding him raised his face. He almost gasped when he saw it was Medea.
“I’ll go inside just to get out of this frigid cold, but I have no interest in making a deal with you, Snow Queen.”
“It’s Queen Eira,” she corrected him, putting her sword back into its scabbard as well. “And I promise you, I have a deal you won’t be able to refuse.”
Chapter 5
Eira watched the knight named MacKay as he and his squire congregated at the fire to warm their hands. Ailbert’s army was sure to attack soon. She needed strong forces to win the battle and keep her reign as Queen of Skol. There was only one thing the man wanted, and she would have to give it to him to get what she wanted. With a warrior as strong as MacKay at her side, she was sure to win the upcoming battle.
“My queen, will you be eating by yourself today?” A dark-haired serving woman with her eyes outlined by face paint slid a tray of food onto the table. Eira had never seen her before.
“Nay, my prisoners will be joining me. Go fetch the two men by the fire and tell them I require them to eat at the dais with me.”
“At the dais?” The woman raised a brow. “Oh, I suppose the one is noble, but the other is naught but a lowly squire.”
“You’re right. Bring me Sir MacKay de Bar only.”
“As you wish.” The girl turned and started to walk away.
“Wait,” she said, stopping her.
“Yes, my queen?” asked the woman looking over her shoulder.
“Who are you? I don’t know you.”
“I am new to your island, my lady. I am from England. My ship went down in a storm, and I swam to shore. My name is Medea.”
“You are from England?” asked Eira. “Do you know Sir MacKay?”
“I can honestly say I don’t really know him. However, I have heard of him before.”
“You will be my lady-in-waiting from now on, Medea.”
“Really? And why is that?”
“You know the man. Mayhap, you can help me convince him to join my forces to fight off an enemy of mine who is sure to attack soon.”
“A war? With fighting?” she asked, and smiled. “Yes, I would love to help you, Queen Eira. I think I can convince Sir MacKay to do anything. Anything at all.”
“I will not join that ice queen’s army, no matter what she has to offer.” MacKay moved closer to the fire, cradling a mug of ale in his hands.
“We need to find a way out of here,” said Ollie, taking a sip of warmed spiced cider. “I nearly froze to death out on the practice field today. Not to mention, the crazy woman wanted to kill me.”
“She’s got a heart of ice. I don’t doubt for a moment that she would have carried out that order if I hadn’t fought her.”
“I’ll sneak down to the docks tonight and see if I can find a boat or someone to take us back to England,” Ollie offered.
“Good idea,” said MacKay, rubbing the scar on his chest. “I can’t wait to get far away from this wretched woman.”
“Sir MacKay,” came a woman’s voice from behind him. He turned in surprise to see Medea.
“Medea,” he grumbled. “What do you want?”
“As Queen Eira’s lady-in-waiting, I was asked to bring you to the dais to eat with her.”
“Wel
l, I’m not going, and you can tell her that.” He buried his face in his tankard, trying to look anywhere but at Medea or Eira.
“I really think you should go.”
“Since when do I take advice from a witch?”
“Shhh, not so loud,” she warned him. “I think if you just give her a chance, you are going to see her quite differently. Perhaps as soon as tomorrow.”
“What does that mean?” He thunked his empty tankard down on the table. “I will never see that cold, cruel woman as anything other than what she really is – horrible.”
“Aye, me, too,” agreed Ollie.
“She’s going to get mad if you don’t join her,” Medea informed him.
“Sir MacKay, perhaps you should go,” said Ollie. “Mayhap if you distract her, I’ll be able to sneak down to the docks without her knowing it.”
“Oh, all right,” he said with a sigh. “But this is the one and only time I will do anything for that woman.”
Medea giggled.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“I am glad I came. I can’t wait to see how this unfolds on the morrow.”
“Giggle all you want, dear sister. I tell you, doing the Snow Queen’s bidding is the last thing you’ll ever see me do.”
MacKay headed up to the dais and was taking a seat at the end of the empty table when Eira called out to him.
“Not there, Sir MacKay. Over here, next to me.”
He grumbled, but when he caught Medea giving him a nod to go, he moved over and sat next to Eira.
“That’s better,” she said with a satisfied sniff. “Now, you’ll be able to hear my offer.”
MacKay helped himself to meat and root vegetables from the platter. “I don’t believe there is anything you could say that I’d want to hear.” He picked up his eating knife and spoon and started to cut the meat.
“Fight for me. Once we’ve conquered Ailbert Halkerston and his army, I will make certain that you and your squire get home quickly and unharmed.”
His knife stilled, and he looked up. “What’s the catch?” he asked.
“There is none. You help me and I’ll help you.”
“More likely, I help you, and then you throw me in the dungeon or kill me,” he complained, shoving food into his mouth.
“Yes, I could very well do that. And if you keep refusing, that is where you will end up.”
“Either way, my answer is still no.”
“Why won’t you help me?” she asked, nodding to Medea who reached out and poured wine into her goblet.
“Why should I?” he asked, keeping his head down and eating his food. He didn’t even want to see her face right now.
“Look at me,” she commanded. He swallowed, let out a sigh and shook his head. “Am I so ugly that you don’t want to look me in the eye?”
He turned his face toward her then. “I have no opinion of how you look.”
“Tell me the truth!” she demanded. “Do you think I’m homely?”
His eyes skimmed her face, and then he looked up to Medea who was standing there grinning from ear to ear.
“I see you looking at my lady-in-waiting, Knight. Tell me, do you think she is pretty?”
“I think your lady-in-waiting looks ridiculous with all that face paint,” he grumbled, almost laughing aloud when he saw the astonished look on Medea’s face.
“So you think she is ugly, then?” asked Eira, waiting for his answer.
His eyes interlocked with Medea’s dark glare. The one thing he didn’t want to do was get Medea angry. There was no telling how much damage could be done with her powers that were getting stronger every day. “I didn’t say that.” He studied his plate, not wanting to look at either of them.
“Tell me the truth, Sir MacKay,” Eira prodded him. “If you don’t, I’ll have you put back in the dungeon tonight.”
“The dungeon?” His head snapped around. He couldn’t let her do that. If so, he and Ollie would never be able to escape. “So, where will I sleep if I tell you the truth?”
“In a solar of your own. Just you and your squire.” She looked out at the crowd, searching for someone. “Where is that squire of yours anyway?”
“I’ll tell you the truth, but you mustn’t get mad.” MacKay had to take her mind off Ollie, or she’d realize he had left the castle.
“Go ahead,” said Eira with a grin, leaning over and resting her chin on her palms with her elbows on the table. He felt a pain shoot through his chest again, and let out a small moan.
“You are . . . plain,” he said, letting out a breath. There, he’d said it. He didn’t call her ugly, but neither did he lie and say she was beautiful either.
“Plain?” she retorted. “Plain? What kind of answer is that?”
“An honest one,” he said, continuing to eat his meal.
“Guards!” she called out, clapping her hands in the air. Angus and two other men came rushing over.
“My queen,” said Angus with a bow of his head. “How can we serve you?”
“Take this man and his squire back to the dungeon and lock them up until I say otherwise.”
MacKay looked up in surprise as the guards stormed up the dais stairs to get him. “You said if I told you the truth I would sleep in the solar tonight.”
“I didn’t like your answer.”
The guards yanked him up to a standing position and started to haul him away.
“You lied!” he shouted, looking back over his shoulder.
“I didn’t lie, I just changed my mind. Put his squire in there with him,” she called out. “Where is he?”
“I saw him headed down to the docks,” said Medea.
MacKay winced when he heard Medea’s words, wanting to kill her right now. Couldn’t he trust anyone?
“Find him and bring him back to the dungeon anon,” called out Eira.
“Yes, my lady,” answered Angus as he hauled MacKay away.
Eira watched with a heavy heart as her guards dragged MacKay away from the table. She hadn’t meant to break her word but, then again, she had never expected his rude remark either. She thought he would have said she was pretty, or at least told her that, even if he didn’t believe it was true. Never had she cared what anyone thought about her before she’d met MacKay. She’d seen the way he looked at her new lady-in-waiting and it made her hate him that he hadn’t looked at her that way.
“My lady, is something the matter?” asked Medea.
Eira turned to study her lady-in-waiting. The girl was at least five years younger than her and also very comely. Why had she allowed a pretty woman to be anywhere near her? Still, she liked the company. Eira toyed with the idea of asking Medea to help her look more attractive, but then she remembered MacKay saying the girl’s face paint made her look ridiculous. He was right. It was too much.
“Why are you staring at me?” asked the girl.
“You need more face paint,” said Eira.
“I do?” Medea touched the side of her face.
“If you ever want to catch the eye of any man, you had better wear at least twice the amount of face paint you have on now.”
She got up and left the dais, hoping the girl would listen to her. Because if MacKay thought Medea looked silly now, he was sure to be repelled by her lady-in-waiting if the girl listened to her suggestion. Eira smiled and headed to her solar for the night. She didn’t want MacKay looking at anyone but her.
Ollie was thrown into the cell, and the door slammed shut behind him. The squire fell to the floor from the guards pushing him so forcefully.
“Don’t try to escape again, or next time Queen Eira will have your head,” warned Angus. The guards left, their voices being drowned out by the shouts of the other prisoners as they banged on the bars.
“Ollie, were you able to find out anything?” asked MacKay, helping his squire to his feet.
“Aye, I was able to secure a small boat. A fisherman will take us home at first light. However, you will have to pay him before h
e goes anywhere.” He brushed off his clothes as he spoke.
“Good,” said MacKay. “Now, the only problem is how we are going to break out of here.”
“Perhaps, Medea will help us,” suggested the boy.
“Not likely,” said MacKay sinking down atop a wooden bench, rubbing his chest. “She was the one to tell Eira where you were.”
“The traitor!” spat Ollie.
“Did you really expect anything else from the daughter of such a black-hearted witch as Hecuba?”
“Speaking of hearts, I noticed you keep rubbing your chest. Does it hurt, my lord?”
MacKay pulled his tunic up and looked at the scar over his heart where the piece of Hecuba’s mirror had been embedded.
“The scar is glowing, my lord,” said Ollie with wide eyes.
“You see it, too?” he asked, thankful to know he hadn’t been hallucinating.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure,” said MacKay. “But it hurts like the devil.”
“It is your curse in action,” said Ollie. “Have you noticed anything different lately?” The boy picked up MacKay’s hand and perused it, then dropped it and walked around him looking at his butt.
“What the hell are you doing?” growled MacKay.
“Looking for signs of the curse,” said Ollie.
“Well, did you find any?” MacKay threw his hands up in the air.
“No green skin or warts,” surveyed Ollie. “And I don’t see any fur or a tail.”
“I’m not going to shapeshift into a frog or a wolf like my brothers,” MacKay told him.
“How can you be sure?” asked Ollie.
“I suppose I can’t be sure, but I don’t think I will. I honestly don’t even think I’m cursed at all.”
“Then why do you keep having pains in your heart?”
“I’m healing,” MacKay told him, laying down on the bench and closing his eyes. “If you had a shard of glass in your chest, you’d know that the pain is just the healing process and nothing more.”
As MacKay drifted off to sleep, he couldn’t stop thinking about the translucent blue eyes of Lady Eira.
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