by Jewel Adams
Groaning, “Nothing, everything, please put me down.”
“You cannot open your eyes, I doubt your ability to walk.”
She couldn’t find the will to argue with his logic. Something was very wrong with her and Amy was out of answers.
Not seeing the cause of the commotion they drew closer to, went beyond her. She told herself not to show him anything that she felt. He didn’t appear concerned over whatever made the uproar.
In guarded caution, she forced her eyes open. It took all her willpower not to scream out in surprise. Hundreds of men were scattered out before them in some kind of encampment. In one area, she saw men paired off wielding broadswords against each other. In another, they were practicing with the crossbow, another group held lances.
“They are a good fighting lot. Perhaps you would like a display.”
She needed to say something. “I would like that.”
“A tourney then, it will be grand sport and my men need a break from their boredom.”
His men? Amy swallowed hard over the meanings settling in on her.
“Laird Randall!”
“Aye, Craig.”
Amy’s hold tightened about his neck as an equally large man advanced.
“Bern, ye are a hard man to find.”
“If ye truly looked, the task was not difficult.”
Amy felt the other man’s eyes fall to her. “Aye.”
“What is it Craig?”
“The men found signs of a boar in the woods to the west.”
“‘Tis a hunt then. At dawn, pass the word to the men.”
“Aye Bern, with pleasure.”
Amy relaxed as the man moved off.
Bern. Such an unusual name, but then it did fit the man.
“Ye do naught mind my men invading your forest?”
Was he serious? Why did she feel as if her answer mattered little to--Laird Randall? “You did say your men were bored, by all means a hunt should help.”
“Ye are very accommodating today, Amelia.”
“Am I? If it troubles you so....”
Bern’s laughter cut through the air. “Nay my Lady, I prefer the changes I am facing.”
Amy kept her face impassive, but inside she was battling an earthquake of emotions. How long would it take before someone discovered she was an imposter? Something, an instinctive warning, kept Amy from exposing herself. She actually felt as if the noose was tightening about her throat.
The sight that greeted her as they came out of the tree line was enough to condemn her to silence.
The castle stood like a majestic giant atop the rise. Amy didn’t breathe over the beauty they neared. Of all the castles in Wales that she studied, Morgan Castle always held a special fascination for her. She wanted to pinch herself to be sure it was real. It can’t be, how? What her hungry gaze devoured was not a relic. These walls were intact, the perimeter whole, it was thriving and every bit as regal and forbidding a fortress as she always imagined it would have been in the 15th century.
“Your captain looks impatient.”
There was no mistaking what Bern implied. The man coming off the drawbridge looked furious. The guards following in his wake said he intended to back up his anger.
“Put me down, Laird Randall.”
“So, ye remember my name, all is not lost. But say, ‘tis too late for either of us to worry about proper behavior.”
The tightening of his hold about her killed the protest on her lips.
“Ah, Captain Lansing.”
“Save your civilities, Randall. I want answers. Where have you been with Lady Amelia since first light?”
As if the captain just noticed her, his great black brows shot up to a solid line across his forehead. “By the faeries, man! Are ye hurt my, Lady?”
“The Lady is fine, Captain.”
“Can she naught speak for herself?”
They both looked at her. Bern’s lips spread wide in a confident smile, making Amy wonder if it were bravado or ingrained arrogance that made him taunt the man. She decided he liked flirting with danger.
Remaining mute was impossible. “I am fine.”
“Then explain yourself.”
Before she could think of a feasible reply, Lord Randall took control.
Walking past the fuming Captain, “We will be glad to favor ye, Captain, but inside--in more private quarters.”
Against all her queasiness she found her own curiosity rising. There was a cunning light in those dark blue eyes of his. She decided he was up to something and she wanted to moan over the awkward position she found herself in. Amy hated the fact she held no defense to stop him. A chill passed through her, knowing that whatever Laird Randall planned would most assuredly affect her. There wasn’t time to dwell on where the fates landed her. When they passed through the massive gates, her entire concentration became captured by the surrounding activities.
An honest to goodness--Keep! Amy wasn’t sure if she should be frightened senseless or astounded by her marvelous fortune. To actually see the very history she studied felt worth the peril. If she was dreaming she honestly didn’t want to wake up--not just yet, there was so much to learn.
“...isn’t that right, my Lady?”
Bringing her attention back to Bern, her confusion must have been obvious by the increasing frown marring his brow.
“I guess so....” It was a lame answer and his half smile said as much. She didn’t have time to think up a way to correct her error as he ducked into a doorway leading inside the castle. Amy scolded herself, she needed to keep her attention where it belonged. But it was so hard not to let her attention wander with so much to see. Reminding herself that she may only be seeing the inside of the dungeon kept her mind alert to the man holding her.
When he set her down in a chair by the roaring hearth, her hand gripped the massive chair arm to compensate for his missing support.
Bern leaned over her, marveling at the control she exerted not to flinch away from his nearness. Though she tried to keep her eyes lowered, his hand forced her chin up to meet his gaze. “Stay put dear Lady or you may find out how far I will take my words concerning our continued company.”
Amy thought she might shatter like a dust ball before his penetrating eyes. The lips that brushed her parted ones held their own silent threat.
Throughout the scene the uptight Captain did not miss one tiny reaction on her part. “What goes on here?”
“Ah, Captain Lansing.” Bern winked at her before pulling back. “In a moment sire, first the Lady needs refreshments as do I.”
Her cautious gaze followed Bern as he strode forward into the great hall and shouted for a meal and wine.
“Captain, you will join us of course.” The older man grumbled something ineligible as he pulled up another seat near the fire.
Amy tried to relax her hold on the chair after following the Captain’s stern gaze to her whitened knuckles. If she portrayed any outward calm, inside she became a mass of stormy emotions. Obviously, everyone believed her to be Lady Amelia. Even the Captain, for all his anger, didn’t question her identity. Amy carefully watched the servant’s reaction to her as they carried in the laden platters. Their shy smiles at her eased the tightness about her chest.
Bern took his seat beside Lady Amelia. He’d been waiting for her to start denying his obvious authority over her home, when no protest came he decided she was still afflicted by whatever came over her in the meadow. The Lady appeared rattled without her defensive barriers. It was an advantage Bern hoped would last a while longer. Maybe what he planned on doing in the next few minutes would go smoother than he first believed.
“Alright Randall, you have stalled long enough.”
“Your Captain is an impatient man, Lady Amelia.”
God, he really was awful aggravating the man like this, it wasn’t helping the Captain’s temper. Amy wished she knew her own status in all this, anything she said would probably be wrong, but she had little choice if she want
ed to prevent these two from going for each other’s throat. “Captain Lansing is just concerned for my welfare.” She hoped she was right.
“As I have every right to be. Haven’t I raised ye since a wee babe? And since that ill fated betrothed up and died, we have been overrun with upstart knights and cocky lairds all thinking they could step in and claim ye! Well I won’t have any no good, garter wearer coming in here and taking over!”
Before Amy recovered from the Captain’s outburst Bern added his own say to the matter.
“First off Captain, I don’t wear garters. Secondly, the Lady seems to have run off her share of the upstarts.”
His knowing gaze swept over her like a north wind. Amy managed to swallow her humor behind her hand and fake a cough. Stars, what a prickly mess she landed in. The Captain huffed a few more times at Randall who sat there scrutinizing them both as if they were the enemy camp.
“She has done no such thing!” The Captain’s gallant protest for her benefit was lost on Randall.
“Let us be serious, Captain. The ruse is up. I do naught know why the Lady chose to act as she has,” Bern took in both their expectant gazes before continuing. “...but, my good Captain, the game is up.”
A kind of numb shock settled over Amy for everything that happened since her awareness of this man came into focus. She tried to rise with the sick panic that took hold of her, but Randall must have sensed her intent. His grip on her arm held her in the chair and actually grew painful.
“No more running and coy escapes, dear Lady.”
Amy shivered under the threat his pronouncement held.
“Make yourself clear, Laird Randall.”
“I intend to, Captain Lansing.”
Amy couldn’t avoid the commanding blue eyes that pinned her in silence. “My intentions are to wed Lady Amelia as soon as the banns are read and not a day later.”
“What!”
Amy felt herself sink back, all the strength she acquired deserted her under his declaration.
“Be silent, Captain! Your protests are useless, the Lady has already agreed.” She again suffered his penetrating gaze. “Besides, even should the Lady have second thoughts, our time together out on the hills, this morn, insures my claim will remain.”
The Laird couldn’t have been more crudely blunt than if he came right out with graphic detail of their coupling. The Captain physically paled as he fell back into his seat in open mouth astonishment. “‘Tis this true, Lady Amelia?”
The condemnation in the old man’s eyes made Amy look to Randall for support, a mistake she couldn’t take back, she played right into his hands.
“As you can well see Captain, it is true.” Bern’s lips kissed the trembling fingers in his hold, a hold she would never again escape? The real Lady Amelia would probably kill Amy for what she just allowed to happen.
“Lass, you had best go to your chambers while the Laird and I discuss the details of your wedding.” Amy’s apologetic eyes fell beneath the old man’s dismissal. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, but knew she couldn’t. She didn’t even know why she should be sorry, unless....
Her tempered gaze jerked accusingly up at Bern. Had Lady Amelia succumb to the man’s charm before Amy arrived on the scene? Her own cheeks fired over the memory of what his kisses did to her. Staring at him, his smile deepened for what she knew he saw in her eyes. Rogue? Ack, he was so much more. And she was the fallen Lady of the castle.
Rising on unsteady legs Amy called on all her remaining composure not to disgrace what pride Lady Amelia still might have left to her name.
Laird Randall and the Captain rose beside her.
“Lady Amelia, I will move my men within the keep walls by nightfall.”
She felt the Captain stiffen over the Laird’s decree. Feeling she owed the old man something, “Is that really necessary?”
“Aye my Lady, I will naught have my future bride stolen away by some prior suitor or any man that feels obliged to try the walls of your castle.”
“I see.” What could she say? She had no idea if his arguments were legitimate.
“Of course, they will be under your Captain’s authority for the time being.”
Amy looked at the Captain for his reaction to what she felt was Randall’s concession. The resigned nod he gave her made her cringe inside. Amy felt she needed to say something. The Captain had obviously been the Lady’s guardian for years and cared for her more than just a servant might.
“Laird Randall, I expect your men to understand their place while within the keep. Should the Captain have any problem with them you are not to interfere in any discipline he feels necessary.” She could tell the Laird didn’t like her interference. “And should they get out of hand, the Captain has my authority to send your men back to the woods.”
The flash of anger in his eyes cooled before he bowed before her. “Of course, Lady Amelia, but should I feel your welfare is in jeopardy, I am sure the Captain will agree to whatever actions I feel are necessary to rid the area of danger.”
His eyes challenged her to refute his authority, Amy knew she couldn’t. “I am sure neither of us would question your command, if the need arises.” Amy looked at the Captain and felt relieved to see his face more relaxed.
“As you say, my Lady, we would not think of questioning the Laird’s authority in such circumstances.” Amy felt she’d not mistaken the man’s sarcasm, deciding it was probably deserved where Laird Randall was concerned.
“My Lady, I will fetch Mistress Tilly to escort you to your chambers.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
She felt Bern come up behind her when the Captain left them. He was so close she could smell the woodsy scent from the glen still clinging to his hair. She tried desperately not to let him see how nervous he made her.
“Your wiles will not work on me, Amelia. I warn you, do not try to foil me, you will be my wife.”
Her pride came forward against the man’s obvious desire to dominate her will. “Do you always threaten your intended bride, Laird Randall?”
Bern leaned down so his lips were but a breath from her ear. “As I have never had one before, I cannot honestly answer. But in your case it is a precaution I dare not proceed without.”
The thick stone walls and straw strewn floors no longer held any interest for Amy, all her attention was captured by the man intent on becoming the husband of a woman she somehow became!
CHAPTER 2
Seeing her distress, Mistress Tilly sent all the ladies away from the chambers, leaving Amy alone with her troubled pacing. Where the solitude should have helped her sort out some of what happened Amy only found herself adrift in a sea of unanswerable questions.
“How did I come to be here?” After falling into an exhausted sleep, yesterday, Amy woke to find she still remained.
Again she turned to walk the cool stone floor of Lady Amelia’s chamber. The tower rooms were awash in the noon sun flooding through the stained glass windows. Each of the circular panes were set strategically in the three outside castle walls to capture the sun’s warmth and light at all angles. The room was large and impressive, with a huge fireplace at its inner wall. The sleeping chamber set back in a raised alcove. A huge bed took up the entire space, great heavy drapes hung from the ceiling to be closed for complete privacy.
Amy’s fingers absently ran over the elaborate stitches grazing the sheets and pillows.
Wrapping her arms about her, her eyes swept over the delicate feminine items about the area. The embroidery stand with its unfinished piece, the gold-inlaid lute leaning up against the wall, to the veiled pearl and velvet head pieces hanging from wall pegs beside the lady’s setting table. “Where did you go, Amelia?”
Amy didn’t want to ponder what might have happened to either of them. What she couldn’t avoid was the present. Nothing and everything said she was really here, in what appeared to be the fifteenth century. The castle was Morgan Castle, of that she was positive. Though she never really sa
w so much of it intact, she couldn’t be wrong. She couldn’t dispute the obvious that everyone believed her to be Lady Amelia Morgan, not Amy Bonner, Professor of Archeology, in Wales on a dig in 2009.
“Peter...” Amy cringed at the unwanted memory and the events she refused to let invade her mind. With them came fears she refused to deal with right now. “The beast--Oh, Amy what has happened to you? I’m not going back, am I?” The lack of answers didn’t change her fate. “What am I going to do? And that, that Randall! What in the world can I do about him?”
“I told you before Amelia--nothing.”
Amy spun about and had to grip the bed drape to keep from falling. “You! How did you get in here? Get out!”
Bern planted his booted foot on the hearth, his body coiled tight, ready to prevent the flight he saw in her eyes. “Who is Peter?”
Her sharp intake of breath vibrated between them. “No one.” She hated the breathless shaking in her voice, knowing he heard it too. How much more did he hear? She tried to remember what she might have said aloud.
Straightening before his piercing gaze, Amy attempted more confidence than she felt. “Leave my chamber, Lord Randall.” His casual stance in her room irked her beyond belief. On top of everything else, dealing with his inflated ego was more than she could tolerate.
“And if I don’t? Will you summon your aging Captain? He is a good man, but you have both taken quite a risk in hoping he could protect you much longer.”
“You really are insufferable! How can you stand living with yourself? I’m surprised your ego hasn’t killed itself off!”
“Such sharp words, but then I guess I do deserve your ire for destroying your self-imposed fortress.
“Why you--you--Get out!” Her temper kept rising, even knowing what it cost her in the past didn’t tame its fire against his arrogant hide. “In fact, get out of my life!”
“Tch, tch, such spirit, I do hope you save some for our wedding night. I so love your passionate side.”
Amy’s cheeks burned under his seductive gaze. Unconsciously, she sought something that she could pick up and throw at him. But remembering what just his touch could do to her she stopped herself from reaching for the metal goblet by the bed.