Knight's End (The Knight Trilogy) (20 page)

“You like my book?” she asked.

He shrugged. She didn’t need to know how much he enjoyed it.

“I thought I could make dinner tonight,” she said, changing the subject and standing. Aston watched her as she walked to the kitchen before going back to the book.

Half an hour later, the cabin smelled like roasted pheasant and potatoes. Curious, Aston set the book aside and went to the kitchen to investigate. Sure
enough, Jade was pulling a medium sized
bird from the brick oven, the bird circled with potatoes in the pan. He wandered over and reached for a piece, but Jade smacked his hand away.

“Where’d you get the bird?” Aston asked, shaking his hand to get rid of the momentary pain.

“Did you know there’s a smokehouse behind the stables?” she asked. Aston laughed. He had forgotten about that. He and Delgrab had hung so many squirrels and rabbits in that smokehouse as kids that they’d been banned from it by Delgrab’s father. He hadn’t been behind the stables since.

“How did you manage to find the smokehouse when you haven’t left that room in two weeks?” he asked Jade.

“You do sleep you know,” she answered. Aston shrugged and left the room, hoping Jade wouldn’t take too long finishing dinner. It smelled amazing and he
was starved. He smiled when his princess
came into the living area, carrying the pan with two cloths, and set the bird on the table. He joined her, cutting into the juicy meat and setting some out on the two plates already at the table.

It was love at first bite. “This is amazing, Jade! Where did a princess learn to cook so well?” he asked her.

Jade shrugged. “
Matilda taught me more than sewing.
She doesn’t like to feel helpless, and she didn’t want me to be just another pretty trophy on a man’s arm. A woman is made to keep a house, not to look pretty,” she answered.

Aston nodded and went back to eating, not wanting his food to get cold. There was a lot he still needed to learn about Jade du Halen.

**

That night after dinner, Jade joined Aston on the couch. He’d put the book away, hoping she would sit and talk with him for a while before going back to her room.

“Are you almost done with our costumes?” he asked her.

Jade nodded.
“I have to put the finishing touches on yours and then I’m done. It’s a fortnight until the ball, right?” she asked.

“
Yes.
We should leave in about a week, before the snow gets too deep for travel. We can stay at Knight’s Inn until the ball.”

“Okay. So…” Jade looked around herself, suddenly feeling awkward. Night had fallen, the moon hidden behind thick, dark clouds. The only light in the room came from the fire
crackling in the hearth
, and she found herself wishing it were brighter. She could barely see Aston’s face, though he sat right across from her
on the couch,
his body turned toward
hers. As the thought entered her mind, he leaned forward, carefully setting his lips against hers.

How long had it been since they’d kissed? A week?
A month? However long it was, it was
too
long. This kiss was desperate, longing. It was a meeting of two sets of lips that had been aching for each other and were finally given what they wanted.

Jade leaned forward, pressing her lips more firmly against Aston’s. He set his hands on her waist, pushing her back against the couch and settling himself on top of her. Remembering his shoulder wound, Jade put her hands on his chest and pushed back, breaking their kiss.

“Your shoulder,” she whispered, fearing her voice wouldn’t work.

“It’s fine,” Aston replied. He bent down and connected their mouths again, not letting her argue further. He needed to kiss her like a fire needed to breathe. He’d had so little time with her and he’d planned on seeing her every day of the winter. This was the
end of their time together. Once spring arrived, he would go after the Rogue alone and send her home to be married.

Aston growled low in his throat at the thought of another man kissing her, touching her. He leaned back and looked down at the woman beneath him. Her eyes were as hungry as his, her lips pink and swollen from his kisses.
His
eyes asked her a question; her nod answered.

In one movement, Aston had Jade in his arms and was heading towards his room, never breaking their kiss. Once there, he set her on his bed and settled himself on top of her again, his arms wandering over her heated body. His hands found themselves tangled in auburn hair, sliding down slender arms and across a frantic heartbeat. He pulled her dress down to expose her collar bone, placing light kisses there as he pulled more.

Jade’s mind was moving faster than her heart. She wanted to be with Aston, but she was terrified. She’d never been with a man before and Matilda had always told her that a woman’s first time was painful. She was scared of the pain, but not of the man on top of her. His lips set her body on fire, his touch igniting something inside of her that she’d never felt before. As scared as she was, she knew that this was right.

So
she quit thinking and gave herself over to the passion.

*
*

Jade lay content in Aston’s arms. He’d fallen asleep moments before and now she lay listening to his smooth breathing. His breath tickled her ear, but she didn’t move; she didn’t want to wake him. Instead, she traced circles on his arm, her head resting in the crook of his elbow. Every inch of his front was pressed to her back and she suddenly felt whole.

She was in love with the knight. She was sure of that much.
However,
Aston’s feelings for
her were cloudy
. Men would take any woman to their bed, and while she thought Aston might be different, she didn’t know him that well. She could only hope, for now, that he felt the same way.

There was also the matter of Jacob to attend to. She wanted to go home someday
,
and she knew her father would be waiting there, Jacob’s marriage proposal at his side. He would never understand her wanting to spend her life with a knight. Especially when her entire reasoning behind not marrying Jacob was so that she could rule one day. With Aston, there was no chance of that. Unless Aston wanted to be king…

No, Ernst would take over before a knight would ever be allowed to rule Adion.

Sighing, Jade tugged the blankets tighter around her,
cuddling closer to
Aston. The room was chilled, winter breathing in through the small cracks between logs on the cabin’s sides. She should have been warm, beneath the covers and flush against Aston, but her thoughts made her cold.

Jade closed her eyes, hoping sleep would bring dreams and the morning would bring a solution.

“Action and reaction, ebb and flow,
trial and error – this is the rhythm of living.
Out of over confidence, fear;
out of our fea
r, clearer vision, fresh hope.
And out of hope, progress.”
- Bruce Barton -
 

The next week passed quickly, comfortably. After their first night toget
her, Jade became more
relaxed around Aston. A little over a month with the man and already he was closer to her than her own brother, though the relationship was completely different. She was learning more about her knight as time passed, and she was beginning to think she would turn in her own brother just to see Aston walk free again.

The night before they left for
Northsbury
, Jade packed their costumes into her satchel, marveling at their beauty. She would have to thank
Matilda
for teaching her to sew. Without the skill, she knew Aston would never have gone to the winter ball with her.

As it was, Aston was still nervous. Every time she mentioned the ball, his shoulders would tense and
his expression would turn harsh
. Jade knew he was scared someone would recognize him, but their costumes were perfect. She was confident no one would know either of them.

Her satchel packed, Jade left her room and went t
o Aston’s. Ever since the
night
when
she’d given herself to him completely
she’d been sharing his bed. Her knight was already there, nestled under the covers. His even breathing told her he was asleep, and she carefully slid into bed beside him, hoping not to wake him.

A week from tonight, we will be at the winter ball, dancing together for the first time!
Jade thought, smiling in anticipation. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, dreading the coming ride but excited about what would come after.

*
*

Aston awoke early the next morning, sliding out of bed before Jade had woken. He
made his way to the kitchen
, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and running a hand through his disheveled hair. He rummaged through the cupboard, trying to find something
to make breakfast
. They would need their strength for the ride, not to mention a full belly was often warmer than an empty one.

After a quick trip to the smoke
house, Aston had bacon sizzling
on top of a fire and was in the midst of mixing
ingredients
into batter when Jade walked in the room. She sat heavily at the table, resting her head on her folded arms.

“Still tired?” he asked her, chuckling under his breath.

Jade didn’t answer. Instead, s
he lifted her head from her arm
s, stared him down, and then went right back to resting on the table. Aston laughed aloud before taking the bacon from the metal skillet and replacing it with a little bit of the batter he’d created.

The princess lifted her head again as breakfast smells assaulted her senses.
“Are you making hotcakes
?” she asked, standing and moving to look over Aston’s shoulder.

He nodded and turned, shocked by how close she was. If he leaned forward just a little, he could kiss her. With a mental shrug,
he did just that, pressing his lips to
hers
before pulling away and
returning
to his cooking.

As soon as the small, round, sweet-battered
disks
were done, Aston filled two plates
and carried them to the table. He set one in front of Jade and kept the other for himself. He handed her a jar of homemade honey that he’d found in the cupboard and watched as her eyes
brightened.

“Honey? I haven’t had honey in years. Father never buys it anymore. He says no one in Adion can make it right,” she said, pouring a generous
amount onto her hotcakes
and taking a huge bite. Her eyes closed in ecstasy. “He should hire Alys,” she commented before stuffing another large bite into her mouth.

Aston laughed, covering his own plate in the sticky, sweet gel.

When breakfast was over, he grabbed
their satchels
and went outside. He crunched through the snow to the stables, shaking stray flakes from his hair. Sterling and Edward looked at him warily; he understood. If he was a horse, he wouldn’t want to walk around in the snow either, especially not for two days.

As he sa
ddled his horse, Jade walked in and
went to Edward
. H
e could hear her whispering to the horse as she got him ready to go. The knight smiled and shook his head.

It didn’t take long for them to
reach the road
to Northsbury
. The snow on the dirt path wasn’t too deep. Deep ruts cut through the snow, left behind by royal chariots. This was the most common road to
their destination
and other monarchs had undoubtedly already made the long trek, relaxing in the palace before the big night. It was through these ruts that they rode.

Jade had Aston’s
cloak
wrapped around her again, her hands buried deep inside it. She didn’t know how he made it through the winter, how he went along as if the cold didn’t affect him. Now, trekking through the snow, all he had on was a long sleeved white tunic, brown pants, and brown boots. Jade was bundled up in her pants and blouse and her black riding boots, as well as the
cloak
, and she was
still
cold.

Jade shivered, looking at Aston, wishing she were as warm as he seemed to be.

It was going to be a
long
two days.

*
*

Talbot paced the room, his soft boots padding gently against the elegant rug. The carriage he’d shared with his mother and father had arrived at
Northsbury
early that morning, and now all he had to do was wait.

His father had barely spoken to him since King
Roland
had been killed. He was still upset with Talbot, still saying the prince should have done something other than wait in the bushes. When had he become little more than another soldier to his father? When had his life become le
ss important? Talbot stopped
pacing; he knew the answer to that question.