Wildly Romantic: A Multi-Genre Collection

by Lana Williams

  She gave the earl a hug goodbye, not at all happy about the fact that Onyx still hadn’t talked to his father.

  “I’m afraid I’ve done a horrible thing and that my own son will never accept me,” the earl told her in a low voice.

  She looked over to Onyx, seeing him helping Charles get atop a horse. The boy had said he wanted to ride with Onyx, and it did her heart good to see the quick relationship that was forming between the two of them. Aidan and Ian mounted their horses as well, still arguing about the fact Aidan had given part of Ian’s food to the squirrel this morning. She chuckled inwardly to think she was once afraid of them.

  “You thought he was dead at the time,” she said. “And I understand how you felt for losing your wife. You have nothing to feel guilty about. Onyx is not one to forgive easily, and he has been through so much lately. Just give him some time and I’m sure eventually you two will be reunited.”

  “I don’t believe that will ever happen,” said the earl. “It pains me so, that I finally get the son I always wanted, but he wants nothing to do with me. Although, I can’t say I blame him.”

  “Mayhap his sisters can talk to him and help to change his mind. I can’t wait for the reunion. Thank you for telling me where to find them all. I enjoyed hearing about each of their lives, and hopefully I can relay all the information to Onyx. We will be sure to send missives to invite them to the wedding once we finalize the details. And I think you should be there too.”

  “Nay,” he said, shaking his head. “Not if Onyx doesn’t want me there.”

  “Well, let’s just see what happens,” she said with a quick squeeze to his hand.

  “Love, we are leavin’ now, get on yer horse,” called out Onyx.

  “Did he even thank you for your hospitality while we were here?” she asked the earl.

  “Nay, and neither do I expect him to,” said the man.

  “Then I thank you for all of us. And I also thank you for fostering my son and also giving me the opportunity to take him with me, too.”

  “Take all the time you need, and when you and Charles are ready, bring him back here and I’ll be happy to continue training him. I rather enjoyed having a young boy here, as it may sound silly, but it filled that void of never having raised my own son.”

  “Well, if I have anything to do with this, you and your son will make amends after all.”

  “I’d like nothing more,” said the earl with a shake of his head. “But I’ve learned long ago the disappointments in life, and to never expect miracles.”

  “Well, I’ve seen a miracle with my son being cured, as well as Onyx actually saying that he loved me. So don’t give up hope yet. He may surprise you. Yes,” she said nodding her head, “I do believe in miracles.”

  * * *

  The trip back to Worcester Castle took several days. Lovelle was so excited to see her mother and to tell her that not only Charles was fine, but that she and Onyx were getting married. But when they entered through the gate and saw an entourage of knights and men that she didn’t recognize, she knew something was not right.

  “Mother?” She called out, seeing her across the courtyard talking to some man who looked to be an elderly lord. She dismounted her horse and joined them. Onyx dismounted, and holding the boy’s hand, they followed.

  “Loveday,” said Lady Erwina, greeting her daughter.

  “Mother, Charles is here and he is fine.”

  “That’s wonderful, Daughter,” she said with a smile, patting the boy on the head. “I am happy that he has survived. Go along now,” she told Charles. “Your mother and I have business to attend to.”

  “I’ll take him inside,” said Onyx, but Lovelle stopped him.

  “Nay. Charles, go with Aidan and Ian for now,” she said, sending the boy away. “Mother, Onyx and I have something to tell you.”

  “And I have something to tell you as well,” she said.

  “You let Scots inside these walls?” asked the man next to her. “You can’t trust them. Especially with demon eyes like that.”

  “I am Onyx MacKeefe o’ thet ilk,” said Onyx, “and ye can trust me and me friends, I assure you. And who may ye be, if I can ask?”

  “Loveday,” interrupted her mother, “this is Lord Richard Vernold, of Wiltshire.” She nodded toward the man. “Lord Richard, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Lady Loveday.”

  The man was a good many years older than Lovelle. He looked weathered and as if he’d seen more than his share of battles in his lifetime. She wondered why he was here at their castle.

  She held out her hand as was proper, and he kissed it. She noticed Onyx’s eyes burning into the man, and by the twitch in his jaw she could tell he didn’t like it at all.

  “Pleased to meet you,” the man said with a slight bow.

  “Why are you here?” asked Lovelle. “Is something wrong?”

  “On the contrary,” said the man. “I was sent here by the king.”

  “By the king?” she asked, feeling a knot in her stomach. This could only mean one thing, and she had almost forgotten about it she’d been so preoccupied lately.

  “That’s right,” said the man with a smile. “King Edward has told me you’ve recently lost your husband. That is why I have just made an agreement with your mother.”

  “Mother?” she asked, feeling a sinking sensation inside her chest. “What kind of agreement did you make?”

  “I did what I had to in order to keep our castle and lands,” her mother told her. “You see, Loveday, it was the only way. You are now to become Lord Richard’s wife.”

  Chapter 25

  “Ye are no’ marryin’ her . . . I am,” said Onyx, not liking the turn of events.

  “What?” asked Lady Erwina. “Loveday, what is this all about?”

  “Mother, that is what I was trying to tell you. Onyx has asked me to marry him.”

  “I am the one marrying her, and there is nothing you can do about it,” Lord Richard said to Onyx. “The betrothal has been made, and the banns will be posted at once. Besides, you are addled if you think an Englishwoman would marry a bloody Scot. Go back to your hills before I have my men take you there at the end of a sword,” he warned him.

  Onyx unsheathed his sword, ready to fight the man, and Lord Richard did the same.

  “I’ll kill ye if I have te, but Lady Lovelle is mine, no’ yours,” Onyx warned him.

  The man’s knights surrounded him instantly with their weapons drawn, and Ian and Aidan rushed to his side with their weapons drawn as well.

  “Stop it!” shouted Lovelle. “No one is going to fight.”

  “That’s right, said Lord Richard, “because you belong to me now.”

  “Nay, she belongs to me,” said Onyx.

  “No!” shouted Lovelle stepping between them.

  “Daughter, step away before you are hurt,” scolded her mother.

  “Mother, I’ve been trying to tell you that Onyx and I are going to be married.”

  “It’s not possible,” said her mother. “In order to secure our lands you need to marry an Englishman. Besides, there is nothing you can do about it, as the betrothal has already been made.”

  “If he and his bloody friends don’t leave right now, I will order my men to kill them,” warned Lord Richard.

  “I’ll fight te the deith if need be,” said Onyx. “But I am no’ leavin’ here without her.”

  Lovelle knew that Onyx would do just that. And she also knew he and his friends were no match against so many trained warriors. They wouldn’t have a chance. They’d be killed for sure, and she couldn’t have that. She also knew she was virtually helpless to change an agreement like this that was already made, and especially since the man had been sent by the king. It was hell all over again, just like the last time she’d been betrothed to an old goat she was forced to marry that she did not love.

  She’d finally found the man she loved, and now she was about to lose him, either by death or by marriage. She couldn’t allow eithe
r. She felt so helpless and so alone. She knew what she had to do in order to save Onyx and his friends. And while she would rather stab a blade through her own heart rather than to do this, she knew if she truly loved him, she would have to let him go.

  “Fine, I’ll marry Lord Richard,” she agreed. “Just let Onyx and his friends go free and promise me you won’t hurt them.”

  “Love, what are ye sayin’?” asked Onyx. She almost cried when she saw the hurt and betrayal in his eyes. “I thought ye said ye loved me.”

  “I do,” she cried. “That’s why I need to let you go. I won’t have you killed over me, Onyx. Now take your friends and go – please.”

  “Is this what ye really want?” he asked, still holding his blade in front of him, but his eyes fastened on her.

  She knew if she said no, then he’d fight to the death to try to be with her. He wouldn’t just give her up if he thought she still wanted him. And his persistence to still want to marry her even though it could never be, would get him and his friends killed in the end.

  “It is what I want,” she told him, not able to look him in the eye when she said it. “I need to marry Lord Richard to secure my family’s holdings and I will not go against a decision of my king.”

  “Ye ken I can tell when ye’re lyin’, lassie, and I see ye dinna really want me te leave.”

  “Go!” she shouted, trying to sound as if she didn’t care. “I want you and your friends out of here, and now. It can never be between us, Onyx, now just accept it. Leave now before someone gets killed. Just get on your horse and go back to the Highlands where you belong, and don’t look back.”

  His eyes bore into hers and she saw the glassiness within them. She felt a pain in her heart for saying this to him, but she needed him to leave in order to have time to talk to her mother or try to come up with a plan to change the king’s decision.

  “I told ye I loved ye, and now ye’re abandonin’ me?” he asked softly.

  “It’s not like that, Onyx.”

  “That’s exactly what it is,” he told her. “Ye are no different than anyone else in me life. Lies, betrayal, abandonment. I dinna need this, and especially no’ from ye. Come on,” he said, looking at his friends. “Let’s get outta this godforsaken land and get home te where we belong.”

  Lovelle watched him and his friends mount their horses and leave quickly, Onyx never even looking back. And with them went a part of her heart and her dreams as well. She would never forgive herself for hurting Onyx.

  “Well then,” said Lord Richard. “Shall we all retire to the great hall to celebrate the betrothal?”

  “I’ll never marry you,” cried Lovelle, rushing off to her chamber to be alone.

  She opened the door to her room to find Charles sitting on her bed petting Tawpie.

  “Charles,” she said, closing the door and wiping her eyes trying not to look like she was crying.

  “Look at the kitten I found in the corridor,” he said.

  “That’s Tawpie. It’s Onyx’s cat.” She settled herself next to her son on the bed. It felt so good to have him back. “You really shouldn’t be playing with it, as it is a wildcat, sweetie.” She reached over to take it, and as if the cat knew what she’d done to Onyx, it reached out and clawed her and hissed. She pulled back her hand quickly, already feeling the sting.

  “I don’t think the cat likes you,” said Charles.

  “Not only the cat,” she said. “I don’t think Onyx likes me anymore either.”

  “Is he going to be my new father?” asked the boy. The hope and liveliness of his eyes made her remember how Onyx had risked his life to save her son.

  “No, honey, he’s not. I have to marry that man out in the courtyard instead.”

  “Can’t you just tell them you don’t want to?”

  “It doesn’t work that way, unfortunately.”

  “Then mayhap you can pray, like I did with Dagger.” He pulled out the chest with the Book of Hours inside and handed it to her. Her heart ached as she ran her hand over the chest that Onyx had been in as a baby. He’d been abandoned then and she was doing the same thing to him now, if she just gave up and married Lord Richard.

  “Here, I’ll read it to you,” he said, taking the book out of the box and opening it up. “Is this God?” He pointed to a page in the book. “Mayhap he can help.”

  Lovelle looked down to the book. “That’s just a bishop,” she said, putting her arm around her son. “I don’t think he’d be able to help me.” Then she remembered Onyx’s father telling her that one of his daughters was once going to be a nun and that he knew the archbishop of Canterbury, and was very good friends with him. She also knew the archbishop was close to the king. Suddenly, she had an idea.

  She ran to the table by the bed and picked up a piece of parchment and a quill.

  “Charles, you may be right about this. I need to move quickly. I am going to send a missive to Earl Blackpool right away. Mayhap a miracle will come of all this after all, thanks to that book.”

  Chapter 26

  It had been a month since Onyx returned home, and last saw Lovelle. And while he’d tried on more than one occasion to go back and get her, his friends as well as the entire MacKeefe clan had talked him out of it. He knew that unless he kidnapped her again, there was no way to actually be with her once the king had decided she’d marry someone else.

  He was torn inside. He couldn’t endanger his clan, nor could he endanger Lovelle and Charles if a war should break out because of him. He’d stayed in the Highlands with his friends, and Aidan and Ian had tried everything in their power to cheer him up, but it hadn’t helped. And he’d left so quickly that he’d forgotten his cat in Worcester, so he didn’t even have Tawpie anymore. He was sure by now, the bloody English had probably killed his pet to try to ward of the plague, as if the poor thing had anything to do with it.

  Onyx and his friends were now visiting at Hermitage Castle on the border, and he’d only agreed to come because the entire clan was congregating here for Valentine’s Day, and he knew this day meant a lot to Clarista. She planned a huge celebration every year, and he didn’t want to disappoint her by not joining in on the festivities, though the last thing he felt like doing right now was celebrating. She was the closest thing he had to a mother now, and he was still feeling the loss of Fenella.

  He moped as he walked behind Aidan and Ian as they made their way to the great hall for the celebration. The plague had not yet left the lands, but it had subsided, and at this time Scotland seemed to be the safest place to be to avoid it. He noticed the extra horses in the stable, and decided that Clarista had invited more people than usual to her annual celebration.

  “Come on, Dagger, cheer up,” said Ian as they headed into the great hall.

  “Aye,” said Aidan, ye might e’en get paired up wit’ a bonnie lassie this year when we choose lots te share the lovers’ trencher.”

  “I dinna want any lassie, e’er again,” Onyx grumbled.

  “Ye dinna mean thet,” said Ian.

  “I do,” he said. “I willna go through the pain again o’ sayin’ I love someone only te have them send me away.”

  “Ye know Lovelle loves you and thet she had no choice in the matter.” Aidan put his arm around his good friend.

  “It disna matter, as I’ve fergotten aboot her already.”

  “Really.” Ian just shook his head and smiled. “And is that why ye’ve refused te bed any lassie since ye’ve returned?”

  “And why ye call out Lady Love in yer sleep?” added Aidan.

  “Haud yer wheesht, and let’s jest get this o’er with.” He stepped into the great hall and stopped to take in the magical sight. Clarista had outdone herself this time. The hall was decorated with candles burning everywhere, casting a romantic glow over the room. They were scented, and as they burned, instead of smelling like rancid tallow they smelled like lavender, rosemary, and sweet things he couldn’t identify.

  The candles were inside of hollowed-out
vegetables made into lanterns, all of them carved with the light shining out and upward. Several of them were even carved with smiles. Smiling was the last thing Onyx felt like doing right now, and he really didn’t want to be here at all.

  Beautiful red, pink, and white ribbons were hung from the front of the trestle tables and there were little heart-shaped tarts in front of every spot. Even the trenchers, the bread used to hold their food, were cut into the shape of hearts as well. It all looked so damned romantic, and he only wished Lovelle was there to share a lovers’ trencher with him. She would enjoy this more than any of the Scots, he was sure. The whole thought of her being married already to that old goat turned his stomach. He couldn’t think of anyone besides himself bedding the woman he loved.

  “I think I’ll wait in the stables fer ye,” said Onyx, turning to leave. But Aidan and Ian grabbed his arms and hauled him inside, not letting him go anywhere.

  “Clarista has a special surprise fer ye,” said Ian with a smile. “She made us promise thet ye’d be here.”

  “I am no’ in the mood fer this,” he said.

  “Then mayhap I can change that mood,” said Clarista, having overheard him, and coming across the room to join them. She looked radiant, dressed in a gown made from the MacKeefe purple and green, with a long-sleeved leine in a rose color, obviously made just for the Valentine’s Day celebration. Over her shoulders she wore a shawl that matched, and her hair was piled atop her head and encircled with a thin, gold circlet that had a crowned letter A on the front – a symbol of love. She also had a colorful heart made of red fabric pinned to her chest.

  “Boys, here are your lovers’ knots,” she said, holding a bowl in her hand filled with items. She handed them each a double circle of twisted twine, knotted together to make a bracelet. Aidan and Ian put theirs on their wrists, but Onyx refused to take one. “Would you rather wear a heart on your chest?” she asked, digging through the bowl.