Hearts Across Time (The Knights of Berwyck: A Quest Through Time Novel ~ Books 1 & 2) (49 page)

K
atherine felt
the
warmth of the sun as it kissed her skin in a golden glow while she reclined in comfort on a blanket. Leaning on one elbow, her hand supported her head, while the other was busy twirling a blade of grass between her delicate fingers as she pondered life’s mysteries. She sighed in pleasure at the view before her eyes, one she was very pleased to be witnessing.

It wasn’t hard for her heart to beat madly in her chest, nor for it to feel as if it was flipping end over end in excitement. She was actually having a difficult time, trying to find her breath, and all because of what her eyes lovingly beheld. Her gaze swept the man before her as she all but stripped him of his clothing until their eyes locked knowingly. That same unexplainable feeling they had shared from the very beginning quickly passed between them, electrifying the very space separating them. She gulped in the air that finally managed to find its way into her lungs as a sudden rush of heated desire swept over her.

She gave him a seductive smile. His response was a slow, ever so slight, lazy grin. His intense expression spoke silently to her, as if he were reading her very thoughts. In that one instant, he gave her the resolution her heart had sought since she first looked upon his portrait in the future, the answer to what had haunted her at that time. How many times had she asked herself the same unnerving question and was unable to find any form of a solution that seemed logical? What had he been staring at? What had captured his attention so, causing his brilliant blue eyes to smolder across time as if he were beckoning for her to come join him? Until this very moment, she had been unsure of the response, but, now, she knew the undeniable truth. He had been looking...at her.

“There,
Monsieur
!” She exclaimed in delight, sitting straight upright and pointing to her husband. “Can you capture his expression just now?”

“
Mais bien sur que oui, Madame
,” the painter replied as his brush quickly flowed across the canvas to obey her request.

With a small glance at the portrait and knowing the artist’s answer,
but of course, yes
...would satisfy her, she settled back down to continue to peruse the view at her leisure.

Once again, the future and the present fused. In the blink of an eye, a gilded frame surrounded Riorden’s body until, magically, she found herself back in the future. She shouldn’t have been surprised she found herself back in the room at Bamburgh where she had first learned Riorden’s name. She saw herself reaching out to the exact same portrait of the very man who now stood impatiently before her. She could actually feel the cold stones beneath her as she had knelt on the castle’s floor when her knees buckled by what was before her very eyes.

She could only marvel at what she saw. Here was the man who had filled her dreams her entire life, standing with Warkworth castle in the backdrop. Tears ran unhindered down her cheeks in remembrance of how the artist had captured him to perfection, especially the magnificence of his eyes. He was dressed as he had always been in her dreams with the lion head of his crest embroidered on his tabard. A dark blue cape enhanced his shoulders and fell to the earth beneath his feet. He held a sword in front of him, its tip gracing the earth. His hands rested one on top of the other on the golden hilt, adorned with a large sapphire blue stone of some worth. His hair blew gently in the breeze, and one could just tell by looking at the man that he had been none too pleased to have had to stand still for its painting.

“Katherine?”

Her eyes blinked yet again, and she watched in fascination when the walls of the castle disappeared from her vision to be replaced with the bluest of skies with white fluffy clouds above her head. Her mind registered Riorden had been saying her name, trying to gain her attention. He gave a flick of his wrist, dismissing the painter who quickly gathered his things and left. It broke the spell surrounding him as the portrait that was for one second before her vanished completely to be replaced with the living specimen of all knightly virtues she could ever wish to call her own.

He came to her with a slow and steady gait, portraying enough pure, raw energy to knock her off her feet, as he always seemed to do. At least she didn’t have to worry about falling down, since she was already reclining as if she had been waiting for him.
Perhaps that was just it
, she mused. In some strange unclear way, Riorden had always been a part of her. Whether it was the past, present, or future, maybe everything was just somehow connected in the greater scheme of things, and how Time itself is perceived. She only knew for certain that she had been waiting for Riorden all of her life, and at last he was hers, and hers alone.

“Kat?” he said, gaining her full attention as he whipped off his cape, unbelted his sword, allowing it to fall to the ground, and settled down next to her.

“Hi,” she whispered, reaching out to cup his face and marveling that he was in truth real.

“Hello,” he murmured in a husky whisper. He reached out and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. She shivered in anticipation from his touch. “You were very far away, my love.”

“Yes, I was just remembering the past and thinking how lucky I am to have you in my life.”

“The past?” he asked with a raised brow.

Katherine gave a merry laugh. “Or maybe it was really the future. It’s hard to tell sometimes, considering what we have between us.”

“I pray they were good memories, then.”

She gazed up lovingly into his eyes and was lost yet again. “Only the best,” she replied, ever so softly.

Riorden leaned down and pressed his lips against her own in a sensual kiss meant to spark and ignite the fire within them. It worked, for Katherine felt as if there was a raging blaze ready to be released if he but gave the smallest crook of his finger. She sat up, and with a happy, cheerful laugh, began running through the field, thinking he shouldn’t be so confident that she could be so easy to entice.

“Catch me if you can, Riorden!” She called out but shrieked playfully when he quickly made up the distance between them and caught her about the waist. He held her high above his shoulders and twirled her around and around.

“You are such a saucy little minx,” he said, letting her slide slowly down the length of his body. It had the desired effect, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Yes, but you love me,” she said, skimming her hands up and down his chest.

“Aye, Kat. I do love you,” he replied, staring into her eyes, “especially when you hear my heart sing.”

She couldn’t resist the smile that crossed her features at his words. “And can I listen to its song for all of ever, my dearest husband?”

The look he gave her spoke a thousand words. “Aye, my beautiful Katherine, for all of ever will my heart sing only for you.”

Katherine gave a blissful sigh as they lowered themselves down onto the ground. She had found her chivalrous knight, and they had a lifetime of happiness to look forward to. Only God above knew for sure what He had in store for them in this strange and wonderful future of theirs. Yet Katherine understood the one most important fact where Riorden and their love was concerned. She knew without any doubt, if they had to search all of eternity, their souls would never rest until they found one another again, and, perhaps
that
was the best memory to look forward to of them all...

I
f this is
your first time reading the combined novels,
For All of Ever
and
Only for You
, I’d like to clarify, as I did in my previous Author Notes, the historical accuracy of this novel. First and foremost,
Hearts Across Time
is a work of fiction.

Bamburgh Castle does date back to 547 A.D. when its history was first recorded. It’s been called the home to the Kings of Northumbria. The keep is the oldest surviving part of the castle and its construction began in 1164. Any references to the armory, tunnels, and a room of artifacts or collections in the castle’s lower levels are entirely from my imagination. For purposes of my story, King Henry II arrives at Bamburgh to reside.

Lord William George Armstrong bought Bamburgh from his distant relative in 1894 in the hope of restoring the buildings and grounds so the place would be made available for retired gentlemen. He died before he could see the project completed. Since he had no children, his nephew and only heir, William Watson Armstrong, completed his great Uncle’s dream in 1903 by making Bamburgh a private home for retirees. The Armstrong’s continue to own Bamburgh castle today. However, Simon Armstrong and Tiernan Cavanaugh are both fictional characters.

The ghost story of a knight haunting Bamburgh is also a work of fiction although the storyline is similar to the castle’s most famous ghost,
The Pink Lady
. You can find more information on several ghost sightings, Bamburgh’s history, and visiting the castle on Bamburgh’s official webpage. If you have a love of castles, you will enjoy perusing this extensive and informative site.

Berwyck Castle is an imaginary castle although, as I mentioned in the author notes in
If My Heart Could See You
, there was a castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed at one time. The majority of its stones have been reused for other foundations nearby.

Warkworth Castle is still standing as it has over the centuries and was passed back and forth by the Percy family and the Royal family since 1332 when Edward III granted Warkworth and its castle to Henry de Percy II. Enormously expensive to maintain, the Duke of Northumberland passed Warkworth Castle to the nation in 1922. Having both Berwyck and Warkworth in pristine condition at the end of
For All of Ever
is fictional on my part, as the author of this story

I found this interesting information regarding the origins of Warkworth castle at
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
which states: “Henry, son of David I, King of Scotland, has conventionally been credited with raising the motte and bailey (an artificial mound surrounded by a fortified enclosure) and the first stone buildings at Warkworth, after he became Earl of Northumberland in 1139. The first written record of Warkworth Castle, however, occurs in a charter of between 1157 and 1164, in which Henry II granted the castle and manor of Warkworth to Roger fitz Eustace.”

D
ear Reader
:

I
would like
to express my gratitude to you for purchasing a copy of this special edition of Katherine and Riorden’s journey with Time. Of all the characters I’ve created, these two are my favorite. This, of course, would explain why originally they had two books. I hope you enjoyed having their story in one edition.

Along with my acknowledgments at the beginning of this book, I need to express my thanks to my family and close friends who continue to put up with me while I hide away in my writing cave. Sparkling conversation may one day happen again...I promise.

I would also like to give a warm thank you to my marvelous editor, Barbara Millman Cole, for all her work on making the original books truly shine. Also, thank you to the San Francisco Area Chapter of Romance Writers of America. I continue to be humbly grateful to have such a wonderful and supportive group of writers at my side. The wealth of information you continue to share is indeed appreciated.

Hopefully you follow me on social media or through my website or newsletter. If you do, I’m sure you’ve seen that I have a lot going on with my own work, along with my participation as one of the Bluestocking Belles. Our first box set,
Mistletoe, Marriage, & Mayhem
, raised over $5,000 before it was removed from online retailers. I will now publish
Under the Mistletoe
as a single novella as of May 8, 2016.

You may be asking what is next for my knights of Berwyck. My next release,
To Follow My Heart
will continue the story of Fletcher Monroe, captain of the guard at Berwyck and Jenna Sinclair, a very modern day woman from San Francisco. It only seemed right that I give Fletcher his happily ever after, especially since he was pining away for his best friend’s wife in the story you just read.

I will also be working on a holiday novella for the Belles’ next box set, along with finishing
Nothing But Time
, a short Regency story and part of a new series: The Worthington’s. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I will release this last story of Gwendolyn Worthington in the fall of 2016.

In the meantime and until we meet again between the pages of my books, I would like to again thank you for taking a chance on my writing. If you enjoyed this novel, I would sincerely appreciate an honest review with the retailer from whom you purchased it. Reviews, no matter how short or lengthy, are so very important to an Indie author like myself. They help other readers find my books, along with helping my author rankings. I also read each and every one and appreciate you even more for taking the time out of your busy schedule to write them!

W
ith warm regards
,