Dragonblade Trilogy - 01 - Dragonblade (23 page)

“Would you allow me to
accompany you?”

A twinge of disquiet
ran through Toby as she gazed up into his brilliant blue eyes.  She was coming
to sense that the man was interested in her on more than a mere acquaintance
level; that was obvious when Tate and Stephen ran into each other in her
chamber last night. She did not want to be cruel to the man but she did not
want to encourage him, either.

“I am sure you have
more important things to attend to,” she insisted. “You do not need to worry
about me. I can fend for myself.”

“You are the last
person I would worry over,” he replied. “And I offer to escort you for purely
selfish reasons.”

“What might those be?”
“Because I want to.”

A warning bell went
off in Toby’s head. The smiled faded from her lips as she gazed up at him, not
at all wanting to hurt the man’s feelings for he had been inordinately kind to
her.  But it was not fair to not tell him the truth of the matter; she wasn’t
interested in him and never would be so long as Tate was in her life. She
cocked her head thoughtfully, trying to think of the correct way to phrase what
she must say.

“Sir Stephen,” she
started off hesitantly. “May I… speak with you?”

His expression warmed.
“Of course. What do you wish to speak of?”

The cat meowed again
and she looked at the animal, rubbing its ears as she thought of way not to
upset the big knight.

“You have been
extremely kind to my sister and me,” she began. “I want you to know how
grateful I am. You have been compassionate and attentive and I will never
forget your kindness.”

“It has been my
pleasure,” he said before she could finish her train of thought. Then he
wriggled his eyebrows. “Although when we were first introduced, I must admit I
was not so sure our association would be pleasant.”

Toby was caught
off-guard by the statement. “What do you mean?”

Stephen laughed
softly. “You were, shall we say, rather outspoken.”

She lifted an eyebrow.
“I see,” she sighed with exasperation. “Did all of you think I was an appalling
lout, then?”

He laughed again. “You
were not a conventional lady, to be sure. I think we were caught off guard more
than anything.  It was apparent having only known you for a few minutes that
you were the one who ran the town, not your father. We could see who truly held
the power.”

“And?”

“And a strong woman is
a rare thing though, in this case, not entirely unpleasant.”

She frowned in a way
that made him laugh yet again. “I am so pleased to see that I have somehow
redeemed myself.” 

“You have,” his
laughter faded as the cornflower eyes grew intense once more. “In fact, I would
say that you are one of the more appealing ladies I have met. Very appealing,
in fact.”

They were back to his
obvious interest and Toby swallowed hard at the look in his eye. She hugged the
kitten closer as if the little animal would somehow protect her from him.

“Sir Stephen,” she
struggled her way through the sentence. “I cannot… that is to say, we cannot…
if you are thinking of something more than friendship between you and I then I
must very humbly decline.  As flattered as I am, such a thing is not possible.”

His eyebrows lifted
but the amiability was still in his expression. “Is that so? Why not?”

“Because I am
betrothed.”

She watched the warmth
go out of his face like water dousing a flame. The cornflower blue eyes turned
hard and there was a very long pause before he replied.

“I see,” there was no
warmth in his tone, either. “I was not aware when we were introduced that you
were already spoken for.”

She shook her head. “I
was not at the time,” she said quietly. “But that situation has changed.”

Stephen’s eyes glittered
at her, inspecting her, as if trying to ascertain what, exactly, she wasn’t
telling him. But he was not stupid; he could already guess. He’d been expecting
it at some point. But Stephen believed he still had some time; Tate was not one
to show unrestrained interest in a woman or act rashly. Neither was Stephen;
yet, apparently, his sense of caution had worked against him. He’d waited too
long.   “Then allow me to say that Sir Tate is a fortunate man,” he said in a
low voice. “I suppose it is my fault for not declaring my intentions quickly
enough.”

He turned to leave but
she impulsively put her hand on his arm. “I am sorry,” she said earnestly. “And
I am deeply flattered.”

He gazed at her
steadily, perhaps pondering things that were best left unsaid.   But he
couldn’t help himself from speaking. “It is I who am sorry, mistress. More than
you know.”

Toby lowered her gaze,
unsure what more she could say that would ease his disappointment. Anything
more might sound trite or worse; she might sound as if she was mocking him. As
he turned to quit the room, she stopped him.

“Do you want the cat back?” she offered timidly.
“I would understand.”
He shook his head, the cornflower blue eyes without the intensity they had once
held. “Nay,” he said quietly. “He is a gift.”

“I am not sure if it
is proper for me to keep him.”

“It is just a cat,” he
lifted his big shoulders, moving through the door. “’Tis not as if I gifted you
with rubies.”

Toby watched him
disappear down the stair well. She felt sorry for the man; rejection was never
an easy thing. Truth was, she was indeed very flattered. She had never really
had a suitor and suddenly she had two of them, both very handsome and powerful
men. But the reality was that she had eyes only for Tate. Stephen was a kind
man, but there was no affection for him. His glances did not cause her to swoon
nor did she think of him constantly. That privilege was reserved for de Lara.

***

It was very late. Toby
had not seen Tate all day and now, at this late hour, she lay in bed by the
light of the fire, petting her new kitten and waiting for sleep to claim her.
The bailey was busy with the sounds of men working even at this late hour. It
was a distraction because Toby knew that Tate was in the middle of it. She
wanted to stand at the window and watch him all night but she knew he would
probably become cross with her. So she took her new furry friend, George, to
bed and the cat lay quite contentedly next to her.  In fact, she didn’t hear a
sound out of the cat until suddenly, it let out a strangled cry.

Along with the meow
came a hissed curse. Startled, Toby realized that she must have fallen asleep
as her eyes focused on Tate’s massive form in the darkness. She had never heard
him enter. Instead of looking at her, however, he was peering at the cat.

“Where in the hell did
that come from?” he demanded in a harsh whisper. “I nearly sat on the beast.”

Toby struggled to sit
up. “That is George,” she told him. “He was a gift.”

“A gift? From whom?”

“Sir Stephen,” she
cuddled the cat, soothing it. “He gave him to me.”

Tate’s expression
cooled; Toby could see that even in the darkness. “And you accepted?”

She could hear the
hazard in his tone and all of her sleepiness fled. “You need not worry,” she
said quietly. “He is under no false pretenses that my accepting the cat is in
any way a prelude to courtship.”

“What do you mean?”
She sighed with exasperation. “I told him that I was betrothed. I had to, Tate.
He wanted to court me.”

The storm cloud eyes
flashed. “Did he tell you that?”

Toby could see where
the conversation was leading. Tate was growing angry and she did not want a
blood bath on her hands.  Moving the kitten aside, she patted the bed next to
her.

“Sit down,” she
commanded softly. “Please.”

He paused a moment
before acquiescing to her wishes. He sat very close to her as she lay propped
up on an elbow, his storm cloud eyes reflecting the soft firelight.  Toby
smiled up at him, putting her hand on his thigh.

“You need not worry
about Stephen,” she said quietly. “He knows that you and I are betrothed. He
understands that there is no chance for him. I asked him if he wanted the cat
returned, but he said that it was a gift. There is no harm in keeping a kitten
given to me by a man you have clearly triumphed over. ‘Twould be right for you
to be a gracious winner and allow me to keep it.”

He just stared at her.
Then, he gave her a lopsided smile and picked up the hand on his thigh, kissing
it. “Well put,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “I knew that Stephen would
assert himself sooner or later. I suppose it is best if the rejection comes
from you and not me.”

She regarded him
closely, seeing something of disquiet on his brow. “You are concerned for him,”
she ventured.

He shrugged, lowering
his gaze. “I have known Stephen for many years and consider him a friend,” he
toyed with her hand. “I realize that I was somewhat cold to him the other day
when I found him up here with you, but I wanted him to understand that you are
off limits.”

“Perhaps you should
have simply told him.”

He nodded reluctantly.
“Perhaps,” he said softly. “I was hoping he would understand without a word
spoken. Perhaps I just did not want to verbalize it. A woman has never come
between us before.”

“One still hasn’t.”

He cast her a sidelong
glance, his grin broadening.  “I hope not. I should regret it.”

“Then perhaps you
should speak to him as a friend and not a rival. A few words might ease
whatever disappointment or animosity he is feeling.”

He nodded slowly.
“Wise words. I suppose I should have handled this situation differently from
the beginning but it is something I have never experienced before.”

She smiled at him. “I
am glad.”

“For what?”

“That you have never
experienced a situation like this before.”

He laughed softly,
kissing her fingers. They fell silent a moment and he began toying with her
digits, inspecting her lovely hand. She had the prettiest hands. Toby watched
him as he rubbed the soft skin of her palm, a pensive expression on his face. 
She knew he was still thinking about Stephen and she, too, hoped no permanent
damage would result from them both wanting to court the same woman.

“He says that you are
a fortunate man, you know,” she said softly.

“Who?”

“Stephen.”

He kissed her hand
again. “I agree completely.” He wanted to shift the subject off of Stephen. “I
regret not having seen you most of the day. I missed you a great deal.”

She felt warmed,
giddy, by his declaration. “You did? I missed you also.  But I kept busy.”

“Is that so?” he
shifted so that his arms were braced on either side of her slender body.  “What
did you do all day?”

“Went through the
trunks you brought from Forestburn.”

“And?”
“And I am missing most of my winter clothing. No cloaks or warm things. With
this weather, I am afraid that I shall freeze.”

He nodded in
understanding. “I apologize. I grabbed what I could find.”

She reached up and
touched his cheek. “I know that,” she said. “I did not mean to criticize.  It
simply means that I must obtain some winter fabric very soon.”

“Of course,” he
nodded. “We can go tomorrow.”

“Go where?”

“Into the village.
There are a few merchants there, or at least there were.  Hopefully they did
not run off when Mortimer’s army invaded.”

Toby nodded, not at
all pressed to admit she was looking forward to a shopping trip with Tate. She
watched him as he played with her fingers, inspecting the skin and acquainting
himself with the texture. He seemed preoccupied and weary. Finally, she gaze a
squeeze.

“Are you going to tell
me why you came to see me?” her eyes were twinkling when he looked at her. “It
was not simply to sit on my kitten, was it?”

He relaxed into an
easy grin. “Nay,” he said, seeming to hunt for the correct words. Finally he
shrugged. “I suppose I simply wanted to see you.  I cannot explain it, but you
have been on my mind all day and I could think of nothing else but to see you.”

She flushed sweetly.
“I am honored,” she said. “And, I will admit, surprised.”

He put her hand
against his lips as he spoke. “Why?”

She was having a
difficult time concentrating on her train of thought as his lips gently nibbled
her flesh. “Because it was only a few days ago that we were at Forestburn and
things between us were quite different. A world of difference, in fact; I am
still coming to grips with the fact that we are betrothed. And the offer came
from a man who openly insulted me when we first met.”

His mouth was still
against her hand. “I did no such thing.”

She nodded
emphatically. “Aye, you did. You told me that beauty and bad manners were a
family trait and that, unfortunately, one trait negates the other.”