“Everything will turn out for the best, Beauty. Wait and see.” Then he grinned widely. “If you wish it, I will go down and greet the young gentlemen personally. I am sure that I can think of a trick or two that might weed out the most faint-hearted.”
“No, no, it would be best if I made an appearance myself. If only to demonstrate to my stepmother and everyone else that I know where my duty lies. I can be polite when it is called for.” She frowned at the deep chuckle that rumbled up from Jabulani’s thick chest. “Well, I can. But first, I must find Lord Draco. He shall accompany me.”
“Now why would you need him?” A skeptical look clouded Jabulani’s dark eyes.
“He agreed to help me find a suitable husband.”
It took the large man but half a heartbeat to react to her words. And then he threw back his head, roaring with laughter. He guffawed so loudly that Bianca worried that the very walls would tumble down around them and she covered her ears until he ceased his clamor. She came close to stamping her feet, but she settled with glaring at him, her eyes smoldering with her rising temper.
“Now that you have had your laugh at my expense, will you be so kind as to tell me where Draco is?”
“Draco is it? Not Lord Draco, or Sir Dragon but simply Draco. My, my, this affair is much more serious than I first considered it to be.” He rolled his eyes as he teased her. “As a matter of fact, I do know where the great Black Dragon is. He waits below in the hall with your other suitors. He seems to be taking this chore of marrying you off to some other man quite seriously. Perhaps the sooner he sees the task accomplished, the sooner he can depart.” Jabulani ribbed her lightly but there was a note of warning in his voice and a hint of compassion in his eyes.
“You worry too much, Jabulani. I know what I am doing. It may take a little time, but eventually Lord Draco will realize he wants me for his wife. How could it be otherwise? Destiny has seen fit to send him to me and I will do everything in my power to hold on to him. We were meant for each other. Trust me.”
“I truly hope that it is so, Beauty. I truly do.”
Pausing outside the Great Hall, Bianca took a deep, fortifying breath. It would take all her determination and courage to make the great Black Dragon understand just how much he needed her. But more than that, he would have to offer for her. She was determined to see that this love story had a happy ending.
Bianca squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, pasted a bright smile on her lips and, with a dramatic flourish of her lovely gown, made a grand entrance into the Great Hall. But all her preparation, all her worry was for naught. Imagine making a grand entrance at a great ball and finding that you are the only one who bothered to show up. It was anti-climactic to say the least. Bianca’s confidence that she could impress Lord Draco with her beauty and grace flew out the window to be quickly replaced by exasperation.
He was her Prince Charming, so why was he not here charming her?
Bianca glanced about the hall and found only one other person being served.
“Sir Gregory?” she asked, noticing the knight slumped on a bench near the hearth sipping ale. At the sound of her voice, he jumped to his feet, nearly spilling the entire contents of his cup down the front of his tunic. He fumbled to wipe the ale from his clothing as he watched her approach. When she stopped before him, he bowed low.
“My lady, how may I be of assistance?”
“Where have Lord Draco and the other young noblemen who arrived earlier gone?”
“Hunting, my lady,” he muttered a bit sullenly.
Hunting? Bianca frowned slightly. Why had no one informed her of the day’s activities? She would have liked to ride out with them. It had been a few days since she had enjoyed a good gallop through the countryside.
“Why are you not out hunting with the others? Were you not invited?”
“No, my lady. I had the misfortune of drawing the short straw. I have the duty of guarding the Duchess Heloise for the day.”
She could see him cringe inwardly at the thought of having to stand bodyguard for her stepmother. It was a duty none of the knights cared for, but they generally kept their feelings on the matter between them.
“I am truly sorry, Sir Gregory. I wish you the best for the day. Perhaps my stepmother will be in a pleasant mood today.”
No sooner had she spoken than she heard the high-pitched whine of the lady in question echoing from the upstairs corridor. But it was her father’s loud voice that caught her attention. He descended the stairs as he called back to his wife. A moment later, he entered the hall and made his way directly toward her.
“Daughter, I would speak with you. I have an important matter to discuss, in private.” He gave Sir Gregory a pointed look and the knight bowed low and left the hall. He made it no farther than the door when the duchess appeared and demanded that he accompany her to the village. It was the day of the week that she usually visited the sick and the poor and Sir Gregory would have the pleasure of accompanying her.
“Bianca, daughter, come and sit with me while I quench my thirst with some ale,” her father said. He ordered a servant to bring him a cup and then settled in a chair before the hearth, indicating that she should take the chair opposite him.
“I realize that we have spent little time together these past few months, and I regret that more than I can say. But now I am here to say that I am very concerned about your future, Bianca. Your stepmother has kindly taken your welfare in her capable hands and arranged for various suitors to come here so that you may choose a husband. Only this morning she informed me that you have made your decision.” He paused as he looked long and hard at her.
“I know that originally I left the choice of husband entirely up to you, daughter, but of all the men to pick, you chose the Spaniard? I have to say that I am somewhat disappointed.” His worried expression made Bianca believe for a moment that her father still cared for her welfare.
“I know what my stepmother must have told you, Father. But she is completely mistaken in her presumption that I would choose such a man as my husband. He is a rake, and a knave of the worst kind. He is so full of his own self-importance that he refuses to believe that I will not have him. If he is still in residence, it is not my doing. Only this morning I asked him to leave.”
“Ah! A little stubborn, is he?”
“He is pigheaded and insufferable. You need not worry that I would have him as a husband, Father.”
“I am glad that you have some sense, Bianca. But there is one other matter that we need to discuss.” He leaned forward in his chair to get a good view of her face. “I have noticed that another man holds your attention.”
At first, Bianca just stared back at him waiting for him to continue and then understanding hit her. Apparently she had not been as discreet as she thought. Somehow her father had guessed her intentions toward the Lord Draco. She could not stop the rosy blush that colored her cheeks. She was relieved that he did not know how she had assisted with the Draco’s bath. That was one event that she would rather her father not find out about.
“Please, do not think to talk me out of my decision, Father. I have made my choice. I want no other man for my husband.” Bianca thrust out her chin stubbornly, waiting for her father to make his first attempt to talk her out her scheme. But he said nothing. He sat looking at her for a long moment.
“I have no desire to change your mind, Bianca. In fact, I am pleased with your choice. I had originally thought that it would be Lord Charles who would catch your eye, but if not him, then the Black Dragon will do just as well. He has not the pedigree that your stepmother would have wanted, but I will deal with her objections.” Taking one last swallow of his drink, the Duke de Neige rose to his feet and took his daughter’s hand, helping her to her feet.
“I want only your happiness, my dear child. But take heed of what I say. If Lord Draco does not come to heel and offer for you by the end of the week, you must choose a husband from the remaining suitors in residence.” He raised
his hand and touched her mouth with his fingertips, covering the protest that threatened to escape her lovely, soft lips. “I want you married and soon, my dear. My health is not all it could be of late. I want to see you settled before my time draws to an end.” He caught her small frame as she threw herself into his arms with a small cry of protest. She hadn’t seen him much lately and so had not noticed his failing health.
“No, Father, do not talk like that. You will live a long, long life. I expect you to play with your grandchildren in the years to come. Do not speak of dying. I forbid it.” Bianca held her father close in her embrace and did not let go until he patted her shoulder and set her from him. He stood and stared down at his beautiful daughter before turning her around and pushing her toward the door.
“Go find your beau, my beautiful child. You need work fast and furious to get Lord Draco to come to heel. He has a reputation for being hardhearted and stubbornly set in his ways. Go now and tame the mighty dragon.”
Hurrying to see if she might catch up with the hunters, Bianca arrived at the stable to find out that she was too late.
“He has gone, my lady.”
“Gone?”
“Yea, Lord Draco rode out in the company of several other young noblemen. They left about an hour or so ago.”
“Oh dear!” She stood wringing her hands as she looked toward the postern gate. After a moment of indecision, she strode through the stable door and down the aisle to stop before her palfrey’s stall, the stable lad following in her footsteps. “I will ride out after them,” she murmured to herself. “Please, saddle up Glace for me. And I will need an escort.” At her command, the lad moved with haste to do as she requested.
As she stepped up on the mounting block, one of the older stable lads appeared astride a small dun and stopped beside her.
“My lady!” Bianca turned her head to find Sir Dominic running across the courtyard toward her waving his arms frantically. “Wait, my lady. Perhaps you would like this good knight to be your escort for the day.” He was so obvious in his pleading for any task other than the one he had acquired for the day that Bianca had to hide her smile.
“I am sorry, Sir Dominic, but I need no other guard than Nate to see me to my destination. I really must hurry to catch up to Lord Draco before the day wanes further.”
“Why would you be wanting to find the Black Dragon, my lady?” His interest piqued, Bianca could not be so unkind as to leave and not answer his question that had at least given his day of doldrums a little cheerfulness.
“Lord Draco has promised to help me select a candidate from my prospective suitors. He will examine the lot and send the bad seeds packing.”
“But isn’t that what he does?”
“What do you mean, Sir Dominic?”
“From what I understand, he has taken your newly arrived suitors hunting. What better way is there for a man to get to know another than to hunt with him? The character of a poor-spirited man will come to light in a good hunt.”
Nodding her thanks to the knight, he turned and walked back toward the keep. She had never thought about the character of men and Sir Dominic’s explanation gave her food for thought. But she still didn’t want Draco to go on a hunt without her.
Determined, Bianca urged her mount away from the stables, formulating a plan of seduction. She had no doubt that she would get what she wanted but even so, her lusty thoughts brought a brilliant blush to her creamy cheeks. Her mind filled with various scenarios of seducing a man she rode out the postern gate with her escort.
Lady Bianca de Neige was about to debauch her future husband and there was nothing he could say or do to dissuade her. Her only misgiving was that she had not the faintest idea how to go about such an endeavor.
* * * * *
The hunt had turned out to be a disaster. Draco finally could take no more of the inept weaklings who made up the hunting party. In all his years as a knight and a soldier, he had never heard so much simpering. One complaint after another spewed from the mouths of the young swains. If it were not one thing, it was another.
“The air is too thick.”
“It is too cold.”
“My bow needs re-strung.”
The laments went on and on until Draco wanted to lose the lot of bumble-heads in the thick woods and return to Castle Neige for a cup of the excellent ale they served.
With all the loud bickering and heated arguments that erupted among the juvenile, young nobles who had been sent to Castle Neige by their families in the hopes of acquiring a rich heiress, it was no wonder the game proved scarce. When they did happen upon a small herd of doe, several turned up their noses at the idea of such small game. They refused to accept anything less than a six-point roebuck as good sport.
It was apparent that none of them had ever felt the pains of a stomach too long empty that many a seasoned warrior lived with daily while on campaign. “They have no knowledge of what it is like to be really hungry. On a hunt whatever meat brought down would be most welcome in the castle kitchens,” Draco muttered under his breath.
“Yea, I have had my fill of these young gallants as well. I say we lose them in the woods to find their way back to the castle on their own.” Charles reined in his mount beside Draco who watched yet another argument break out between two of the young men. It was a tempting thought, but he would have to face an outraged Bianca if he left her beaux lost in the forest overnight.
“If I remember correctly, the gypsy camp is just over the next rise. Perhaps we should stop for some refreshment. What say you?”
“An excellent suggestion. There will surely be a lusty wench or two to accommodate these young rogues. A little time between the soft thighs of a hot gypsy wench might relieve some of their anxiety and redirect their hot blood to another part of their body.” Charles grinned at his cousin’s snort of derision. It was obvious that he wanted to rid himself of the pests and have some well-deserved silence. It would be worth stopping for an hour or so.
“A caravan of gypsies is camped in the meadow ahead. We will rest the horses there,” he bellowed over his shoulder at his lagging troop. “They are well known for their hospitality.”
With the prospect of a little bed sport looming up ahead, Draco and Charles watched in amusement as the trio of young noblemen spurred their mounts, whooping loudly as they raced to see who could get to the caravan first.
“Loyalty does not seem to be a priority here. You would think that at least one of the young pups would show a little discretion and perhaps a smidgen of fidelity to the thought of his future bride.” Disgust fairly dripped from Draco’s mouth. He had never been so ashamed of his gender.
“They are young. Their actions can be excused if you think about the pressure their families have put on them to bring home a rich heiress for a bride. You are not so naïve in your old age to think they would pass up the opportunity for a good lay. Think about it, cousin. Those young studs are thinking with what hangs between their legs not what lies between their ears. They have but to see a skirt swishing before them and they will follow wherever it leads them. Ah, to be so young, so naïve.”
“What makes you think an older man is any different? My father was a married man and still he found it convenient to bed my mother, and beget a child upon her, not once but twice. The same blood runs in my veins. Perhaps I have the same weakness.”
“No, Draco. You may have your father’s blood in you, but I think your mother’s blood runs deeper. It was from her that you inherited all your courage and loyalty. She was loyal to a fault, believing to the end that your father would wed her and legitimize her children. Her love never wavered, even with the shame of being an unwed mother. She held herself above the insults and slander. Your mother made her own way in this world and nothing deterred her from her decision to have and keep you and then your brother. She loved unwisely, but she loved unconditionally, especially her children.
“Loyalty is a strong virtue in our family. My father has been deeply loyal
to my mother in all the years they have been married. I believe you and I carry the same trait. We have both had the opportunity of having my father as our mentor all our lives and a better example of manhood there could never be.” Charles spoke not with a son’s overblown boasting of his father, but with an honest sincerity and sadness. Draco could do no more than nod in agreement.
“I hope you are right, Charles. Lord Vincien was indeed a great man. And I would shame myself and my name if I did not live up to the high expectations that he instilled in me.”
“Come then. Let us partake of a little food and drink while our companions partake of a more carnal pleasure.”
The hunters were given an enthusiastic greeting as they rode boldly into the Rom encampment. The wealthy cut of their clothing and the rich accouterments of their mounts had every female in the camp coming forth to ply her lure in an attempt to line her pocket with as much as she could wheedle out of their guests. The festive air of the camp and the colorful seductive costumes of the women, who reached up and boldly touched their thighs as they rode into the center of the camp, went straight to the young gallants’ heads. It did not take long to find willing partners, who secreted them off to more private surroundings, whether it was in a tent or a gaily painted vardos.
When Charles and Draco let it be known that they would accept the food and drink that was offered but nothing more, a murmur of disappointment swept through the crowd that surrounded them. Several disappointed women lingered within easy call but they soon wandered off when they became convinced that the two barons were not interested in anything else, a wistful look of regret on their faces.
“Is that man coming out of that caravan not that great hulking bodyguard that follows Duchess Bianca about like a shadow?”
Turning to look in the direction that Charles indicated Draco watched as the giant man conversed with an old gypsy woman. “Perhaps he is here to buy himself a bit of fun like any other healthy man.”
Kiss of the Dragon Page 12