by Barbara Bard
Glenn said nothing and jutted his chin.
Sir Renly sighed. “So be it…” he raised his sword over his head—and then he struck Glenn in his temple with the handle.
Glenn fell, his head in a daze as Sir Jessup then kicked him in the ribs. He then struck him again with a fist, threw down his sword, and grabbed Glenn by the collar. He hauled him up to his feet and brought him to the edge of the parapet—the courtyard staring at them from around 200 feet below.
“Tell me!” Sir Jessup screamed. “Where are the Bairds?”
Glenn’s mouth opened—but no words came out.
“Let us count to three,” Sir Jessup said. “One.”
Glenn said nothing.
“Two!”
Glenn remained strong.
“Three—”
“I’ll show you!” Glenn said, holding his hands up high above his head.
Sir Jessup held onto him for a moment, waiting as an eerie silence settled over the scene. “Really?”
A nod from Glenn. “I will tell you…Please…Do not kill me.”
Sir Jessup took another moment to deduce if Glenn was telling the truth. Then he pulled him back from the edge of the parapet and hauled him back down to the dungeon.
Lord Torstein, waiting in anticipation with Eirlys, heard the door open and waited as Sir Jessup entered, Sir Renly behind him with a firm grip on Glenn ‘s collar.
“Our friend here,” Sir Jessup said, gesturing to Glenn. “Said that the Bairds are in a village a half-day’s ride from here. He says there is a boulder covered in moss. You ride two hundred yards west of it and their village lays there.” He leaned in. “Is this true…?”
Lord Torstein looked at Glenn, hanging his head with some kind of secret glossiness in his eyes.
“Lord Torstein,” Sir Jessup said. “Answer me truthfully—and all of this pain will end.”
Lord Torstein took a moment. And then he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, that is their location.” He then hung his head, not wanting to look Sir Jessup in the eye anymore.
Sir Jessup waited, stood back, and looked at Sir Renly. “Gather enough men to scout out the location. I want Lord Torstein and his friend to stay in here until this is confirmed.”
Sir Renly nodded. “Will do.”
Sir Jessup looked at Glenn. “If you are lying to me…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the rest.
Glenn was then shackled, his restraints tightened to discourage another escape, and the door was locked with four guards standing outside of it keeping watch.
Glenn and Lord Torstein sat next to each other, neither of them saying a word as Eirlys suspected that not all was as it seemed.
Chapter 15
A group of three knights rode hard through the terrain as their horses cried and bucked. They were close to the supposed encampment of the Highlanders, and the orders were simple—confirm their location, send one knight to return to confirm, and then await the arrival of Sir Jessup and the rest of the men.
The knight in the lead, his eyes squinted and expression pensive as he looked around his surroundings, spotted something a hundred yards in front of him. He pointed—the moss-covered rock that Glenn had signified as the marker awaiting them. “There!” he shouted.
The knights pressed their horses to move faster as they made the turn. “Slow,” another one of the knights said. “And voices quiet. We do not want the Highlanders to know we are here.”
The knights complied and slow their pace, ready to lay eyes on the village and eager to return the results of their findings to Sir Jessup. They rode twenty yards…fifty…the village undoubtedly not far ahead of them. And then they saw it—nothing. Nothing at all.
Each knight exchanged disappointed looks as they turned their steeds and rode back hard and fast to the castle.
Sir Jessup’s feet were resting on top of a table, running his temples as he looked up at the three knights that he had sent on the scouting errand in front of him. “Say that again?” he said.
“There was nothing there, sir,” the knight said. “Nothing at all.”
Sir Jessup squinted and gritted his teeth. “Get out,” he said, waving them away toward the door. “All of you.”
“But sir—”
“Out!”
The three knights left the room, closing the door behind them as Sir Renly stood in front of Sir Jessup.
“Why,” Sir Jessup said, “am I not surprised?”
“We both knew he wouldn’t give up the location of his people,” Sir Renly said.
Sir Jessup tapped a finger on his skull. “So…what ever shall we do now?”
Sir Renly said nothing—he waited for Sir Jessup to make the first move.
“Perhaps my methods need to be more persuasive.”
Sir Renly squinted. “What do you mean?”
Sir Jessup held up a finger. “You have questioned my ability to be ruthless, yes?”
Sir Renly said nothing. He didn’t dare want to confirm such a thing, even if it was true.
“You do not have to acknowledge it,” Sir Jessup said. “I know this to be true.” He stood. Paced near the window. “And perhaps you are correct in the idea that torture is not my, how should I put it, ‘area of expertise.’”
A pause. “Perhaps not,” Sir Renly said.
Sir Jessup turned and faced him. “But I do not think that immediate disqualifies me from being the kind of ruthless individual that the king dispatched to these ghastly lands to do his bidding. He chose me for a reason, did he not?”
“He chose you because you are a fine military leader, not because you are ruthless. His idea was to send someone who was much the opposite of Lord Henry. He sent someone composed, someone—”
“Someone who will do what needs to be done. That is who he sent. And I know what needs to be done.”
Sir Jessup took a moment as Sir Renly held on in eager anticipation.
“The village,” Sir Jessup finally said, “the one where that medicine woman was fetched from.”
“Yes?”
“How many people are there?”
“Quite a few.”
A nod. “Good. Then send two men back for me. I require something else.”
Sir Renly swallowed. “And what is that?”
“A woman and a child. A mother and child, to be more accurate.”
Sir Renly’s stomach turned in a knot as he saw a look in Sir Jessup’s eyes that he never saw before—and it was the exact kind of composure that ruthless men tended to have.
The Bairdsmen rode hard for several hours before the endurance on their horses became tested and they needed to slow their pace.
“Does anyone see anything?” Gavina asked.
All heads in the group turned and began scanning—but no one saw anything.
“It appears we hae lost them,” Lachlan said.
“It appears so,” Gavina said. “Let us ride a little mair. Then we shall settle fer the night.” She looked up at the sky slowly turning from dusk into night. “We will lose the light soon.”
They rode for another hour before the stars began to appear against the black night above. They agreed a fire was not a wise move at that point in time, so they huddled close together and set up their tents as Lachlan took the first watch.
“Ye did well today,” Ava said to Christian.
“Me?” he said, poking his thumb in his chest.
Ava rolled her eys. “Who else am I referring tae.”
“Oh…Well…The same could be said for all of you. We dispatched of those men quickly.”
“It seems,” Tessa added, “that this is not the first time that ye hae put yerself in harm’s way fer us.”
“Oh?”
“Aye. It makes me…curious.”
“In what regard?”
“In general. Ye are a Sassenach knight. Ye took a blade meant for Gavina back at that tavern. Noo, ye are on the mend, yet ye still ride with us, and now fight with us.”
Christian wasn’t sure ho
w to answer. He didn’t know if he was ready to divulge, either to them or even himself, that all of this was due to Gavina.
“I just…” he began, searching for the words. “I just want to end the tyranny my country has over these lands. I just want you to be free as I am free.”
“A noble plight,” Ava said, more appreciative of the man but still somewhat suspicious. She then looked around, covering an incoming yawn with her mouth as she stood up. “I shall rest now,” she said. “We should leave again soon.”
“Aye,” Tessa said as she followed suit and moved toward her tent. “Tell Lachlan tae wake me when it is second watch.”
“Aye,” Gavina said. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Ava and Tess bid back before retreating inside their tents.
Silence held sway for a long moment as Gavina and Christian shared it together. It was the first time they were alone together.
“So,” Christian said, feeling forced to make pleasant conversation to cover for the fact that his heart was beating faster than usual. “Should I take watch?”
Gavina, feeling similar sensations inside of her that Christian was feeling, tried her best to not look at his mouth, though she seemed to be doing it subconsciously.
She shook her head. “Naw. Ye should rest.”
Christian looked around and then said the obvious. “I do not have a tent.”
A pause. “Would ye like tae see mine?”
Another paused filled with a sexual tension that choked up the air.
Christian, a slight tremble in his hands from the nerves, nodded. “Yes…Yes, I would.”
Gavina said nothing in reply and stood. It felt as if her body was carrying her forward on its own, her mind preoccupied with fantasies that had been brewing in her head since the moment she met Christian. She could no longer pretend or disregard what she was feeling at that very moment—sheer and utter lust.
They walked inside of Gavina’s ten, Christian keeping a few paces behind her as he laid eyes on a simple set up meant for two people maximum, a pile of furs on the ground serving as the bedding with rolled up pieces of softer fabric meant for the resting of the head.
“It is nice,” Christian said, unsure of what else to say as his legs began to feel like they were on fire.
Gavina nodded. “Aye,” she said, clearing her throat and trying not to make eye contact with Christian. “It is cozy as need be.”
And then Gavina did it—she looked into Christian’s eyes. The two then began closing the gap between each other, their bodies seemingly possessing a magnetic quality as they brought their lips within an inch of the other’s—and then they stopped.
Their breathing was heavy, each light gust of air they blew on each other was intoxicating them with a pleasant haze that communicated all these words they needed to exchange silently.
Gavina, her lips quivering, bit them as a flurry of ecstasy swirled inside of her chest. “Well…” she said, “what are ye waiting for?”
Christian said nothing in reply—he merely leaned in and pressed his lips to Gavina’s. Tiny eruptions of pleasure began to go off inside of them as their lips danced, Gavina moaning her approval as she slowly hooked her arms around Christian’s waist.
The kiss was slow, the soft and subtle opening and closing soon accompanied by the tips of their tongues. The pleasure they were already feeling increased as their tongues dance, and before they knew it, their slow-tempo kissing turned feverish.
Christian breathed deep as he pulled Gavina in close, the shape of her breasts pressing firmly and warmly against his chest. He locked his hands into her hair at first, needing to bring her as close to him as possible.
He began pulling at the top of Gavina’s garb, ever-so slowly in the hopes that she would approve. Well past a state of approval, Gavina assisted him and nearly tore off the top of her body. She then grabbed Christian’s hands and cupped them around her breasts, encouraging him to feel them as she exposed the arch of her neck for his taking.
Christian, let his mouth fall from hers and began kissing her neck, taking in her rich scent. She smelled of wood and lilies and his senses felt like they were clouding his mind completely. As Christian continued to delicately massage Gavina’s breasts, they became firm under his grip, and she let her hands fall to his waist and began pulling at his belt.
The both of them kept their mouths pressed together as they stripped off each other’s clothes. Standing nude, they embraced, still locked in a passionate kiss as Gavina hooked her bare leg around Christian’s. She purposefully tripped him, let him fall to his back, and then climbed on top of him slowly.
Gavina smiled deviously as she straddled Christian’s side with her thighs. She took her hand and reached down, gripping onto his more sensitive parts and grabbing firm as his manhood became firm in her hand. She then sat up, adjusted her position, and slipped his throbbing length inside of her.
The sensation left them gasping for air. Their eyelids fluttered as a flurry of warm waves penetrated their bodies from top to bottom.
Gavina thrusted forward, grinding slowly on top of Christian as she once more took his hands and placed them on her breasts. She encouraged him to squeeze and pinch with her eyes full of desire. At one point, she delicately lifted up his head and pressed him to do the same things with his tongue.
Time became irrelevant as Gavina continued to thrust on top of him, him running a free hand through her hair and securing the other firmly on her slender waist. Gavina couldn’t stop biting her bottom lip from the enjoyment.
Christian like he was on the cusp of exploding, the heat rising in his loins as his mouth partly opened and his eyes locked in Gavina’s, warning her of what’s about to come.
Gavina smiled, ran a finger over his lips, and increased the intensity of her thrusting. She went faster…and faster…and faster, riding Christian as fast as she could before both of them felt that heat gathering at their core and almost inexplicable feeling of climax that forced them to roll over in each other’s arms and say nothing for the longest of moments. Their eyes rested on each other’s faces until the sound of their heartbeats lulled them into a deep sleep.
Chapter 16
The door to the dungeon opened. Glenn and Lord Torstein looked up. They were in better condition than they were before, but nonetheless tired from being shackled up and imprisoned for the several days they had been held in captivity.
Sir Jessup and Sir Renly entered. Sir Jessup looked at both men with a reserved and composed expression.
“Free them from their shackles,” he told his two nights. “Make sure their wrists are bound and bring them with us.”
He then exited the room, Sir Renly following after him. Moments later, the knights freed Glenn and Lord Torstein from their restraints and brought them through the hallway, up the staircase, down several hallways, and finally out into the courtyard.
Hundreds of knights were gathered in formation in the center of the grounds. Everyone stood tall and patient, awaiting whatever event was about to proceed.
Lord Torstein and Glenn looked around, concern expressions stretched across their faces as they were brought before a stage area with two large wooden posts drenched with dried blood waiting at the ready. Both of them didn’t need any further evidence to suggest to them that something dire was about to play out.
Sir Jessup and Sir Renly marched through the crowd and stood at attention in front of the execution stage. All voices were hushed as Sir Jessup stood at attention and took a look around at all of his men.
“Each of you,” Sir Jessup said, “has fought a long and tiring campaign in these lands. I myself have lost count as to how many days and night have passed since we first occupied these lands.”
No one responded, but the composed looks tainted with strain confirmed all of Sir Jessup’s words.
“How many of our men have died?” Sir Jessup said. “How many of us have not seen our families or our homes because of this war we are fighting?”
“All of us,” Sir Jessup said. “All of us have had to hold our heads high as we go about our king’s bidding. And all of us, each and every one, has awaited the day in which this campaign will end and all of us can be free to go about our lives.”
He pointed to Lord Torstein and Glenn.
“But these men, these traitors have prohibited us from completing our mission because of the misguided loyalties they have placed with our enemies. Look at them. Look upon the faces of the men who have betrayed you and forced you into a life of perpetual and unceasing servitude.”