Read The Sheik and the Slave Online
Authors: Nicola Italia
The Sheik and the Slave
The Sheik and
the Slave
By Nicola Italia
Copyright @ 2014 by Nicola Italia
Dedicated to my fans.
Thank you for
your support and taking this journey with me.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Katharine loved the hills and valleys of her home. Her
family had been given the land after loyal service to William the Conqueror and
each generation had made it grander and more lavish until her father invested
money into the stables and other necessary finishing touches. He declared the
forty-room mansion could be expanded no more and his desire was to leave behind
a well-oiled and well-run estate and house. Willow Manor was the luscious
estate
’
s name.
Katharine sighed as she walked through the vast gardens and
into the flat green and into the small forest that lay at the edge of the
estate. She felt at home surrounded by the pear trees, lavender, and roses. As
she made her way into the small little woodland forest, she felt free and at
ease.
Katharine was gifted with beauty beyond compare and was said
to resemble the long ago ancestor, Rosamunde, who first lived on the land. She
was a slim blonde with dazzling blue eyes like a clear blue sky and a
delicately shaped face.
Rosamunde had been the youngest daughter of the first Lord
Geoffrey, who had been gifted his land for supporting William the Conqueror.
Geoffrey had been a fair lord and master and had adored his daughter. Renown
for her beauty, Rosamunde was also educated, as Geoffrey denied her nothing.
She was taught to read in English and Latin and was skilled in mathematics and
well-versed in music and literature. She also enjoyed riding and hawking. When
it came time to marry, Rosamunde could refuse her suitors and did. Eventually,
a handsome ambitious knight approached her father and she agreed to the
marriage.
The knight was possessive of the young Rosamunde and their
match was passionate, resulting in seven children.
As gentry, Katharine
’
s
mother and father had educated all four of their children. Katharine had one
older brother, Charles, the heir to the family fortune, and two elder sisters,
Mary and Eleanor. Her siblings had all married and started families of their
own, but at 17 years old, Katharine, the baby of the family, was still in
residence at Willow Manor.
She had been born in the wrong time and in the wrong place;
that she was sure of. Born into a time where women were viewed only as their
importance of their birthing capabilities, Katharine was a rarity. Her
“
curse
”
was her intelligence.
Her father, Lord Edward Fairfax, had always been charmed by the blue-eyed
beauty, even when she was a baby, and had indulged her every whim. Her
education had rivaled that of her brother, and she excelled at most subjects.
So while her brother struggled at Eton, Katharine studied French at the age of
eight and excelled at it. She moved on to learn Italian, German and Latin. She
studied Mathematics, Geography, and Sciences; her brother
’
s tutor, old Mr.
Schlagel, pronounced her abilities as
“
outstanding.
”
Her mother, Lady Anne, had been shocked at her husband
’
s indulgence of their
youngest daughter. Though Edward remained insistent on Katharine
’
s education, Anne was
just as severe in what she deemed a woman
’
s
true education. She insisted on dance classes, etiquette classes, art and
drawing classes, and embroidery lessons to make certain that when the time came
for Katharine to marry, she would be a proper English wife.
Katharine walked deeper into the little forest with those
horrible words still ringing in her ears. Why was her mother so insistent that
she be an insipid little creature with nothing on her mind but gowns,
embroidery, and husbands?
“
My
dear girl,
”
her
mother had begun, wringing her hands as she looked at her youngest daughter.
“
You must find a husband
soon and I dare say, a husband will care more about what goes on in the lower
part of your body than whatever may be going on in that head of yours.
”
Katharine had blushed red at her mother
’
s coarse words and run
from the room. Though she was better educated than most men in the House of
Commons, she was still an innocent virgin who had never spent time around men,
save her father, brother, and the male servants.
Anne watched Katharine run out onto the green and beyond and
groaned. The child had been a thorn in her side since the day she was born.
Later births tended to be easier and quicker, but not in Katharine
’
s case. The labor had
been intense, extremely painful, and had lasted well beyond 14 hours. Katharine
had been an unhappy baby and only ever stopped crying when Edward held her.
Perhaps Anne was jealous. The time, love, and attention
Edward lavished upon Katharine was unnatural and downright irritating. Edward
loved all of his children, but had never been close to any of them
–
not even his heir,
Charles.
Charles had always been a slow child. He had never been
interested in his studies and always needed tutors and more tutors to pass
simple courses that Katharine could have excelled at in her sleep.
Edward was extremely proud of his
“
Kat,
”
as he called her. She was a beautiful young woman blessed with a slim figure,
long golden-blonde hair, and blue eyes that dazzled with knowledge and youth.
She had inherited them from a past ancestor said to be the mysterious Rosamunde
herself.
***
Aileen hustled downstairs into the servant
’
s dining room for the
midday meal. She passed two parlor maids chattering about and brushed right
past them.
“
What
seems to be the problem, Aileen?
”
Ms. Baxter, the cook, asked the young maid.
“
Aye,
‘
tis nothing. Just
another spat
‘
tween
Lady Kat and her mother,
”
Aileen told the sweet old cook as she took her seat at the table.
Ms. Baxter nodded in understanding and seated herself at the
head of the table.
***
Long ago, Edward had begun calling Katharine
“
Kat
”
and so in time the
servants began calling her
“
Lady
Kat,
”
befitting her
station. Lord Edward never reprimanded anyone for calling her by the nickname
and secretly enjoyed it. Since then, everyone called her Lady Kat except for
Anne. She loathed the nickname and called her daughter Lady Katharine, except
for the occasions when her temper was raised and her voice would dip low and
she would ask to speak with her daughter.
When she was angered, Anne would ask for Katharine in a low
tone that would give an outsider chills. She would ask the closest servant to,
“
bring Katharine Elizabeth
Rosamunde Fairfax to me immediately,
”
and poor Lady Kat would be brought before her mother to endure whatever
punishment was in store.
Lady Kat rarely deserved the harsh punishment meted out by
her mother. Oftentimes, Lord Edward was away and Lady Anne was irritated with
being left alone with no one for company except the headstrong Katharine.
Charles had always been her favorite and she had doted upon him from birth. But
while Charles was away at Eton, Anne became irritated when her husband was gone
for long periods of time. After her two eldest daughters married, she was often
left completely alone, save Katharine.
***
Kat was a sweet young girl. She enjoyed going below stairs
to trade gossip with Ms. Baxter and talk nonsense with the maids. They enjoyed
her company and she was kind to those who surrounded her. Kat was a smart girl
even in her primary years, but as she grew older, she also had a steel will
that would never be forced or broken, especially by her mother.
As Kat aged into her young teenage years, Lord Edward, who
was 15 years older than his wife Anne, became more aged. He was nearing his
late sixties and while Charles managed the monetary side of the estate, Anne
was left running the day-to-day business of the estate, which included
overseeing their tenants, hosting dinner parties and keeping up appearances for
their neighbors and London relatives. Lord Edward spent more and more time in
London, occasionally returning to Willow Manor for brief periods of time.
Though Kat was unaware, her mother began seeing a young man
in a nearby village. He was a young country squire only a few years older than
Katharine. Anne and her lover met at various places and made every effort to
keep their relationship secret.
***
Katharine knew it wasn
’
t
right to quarrel with her mother, but it seemed that the older her father got,
the more domineering and demanding her mother became. Lady Anne was insistent
upon Katharine marrying within the next year. She had placed several gentlemen
before Kat, all of whom were abysmal. The latest had been the Earl of Benton.
At 57 years old, the Earl was not much younger than Lord Edward. The Earl had
children who were all older than Kat. He stood 5 feet 2 inches tall, with a
large belly and yellow teeth due to his addiction to tobacco. Lady Anne was
pleased with the offer because it would send Katharine to the other end of
England while Anne would be able to run Willow Manor without interference.
***
Kat settled into the moss at the edge of her favorite oak
tree. Though the forest was small and sparse, not covering more than a few
acres, Katharine loved it. She had often come here as a child, sometimes accompanied
by her father. She had been raised essentially as an only child, as her brother
and sisters had been married and gone by the time she was a young girl. After
Eton, her brother came to the manor every so often, but his bride of two years
preferred the town of London.
She claimed the maids and cook as her many friends and their
closest neighbors, the Maxwell
’
s,
had a daughter that was Katharine
’
s
age. Though the Maxwell
’
s
were not wealthy, nor did they hold titles, they were a good, decent family and
Edward approved of them. They were a merchant family; the Maxwell
’
s traded in wool and
cotton.
Frances Anne Maxwell was a sweet, loving girl. Devoted to
her pious mother and three younger brothers, she was a good companion for
Katharine. She was
“
Francie
”
to all her friends. She
had a good heart and an open ear, and was loyal and trustworthy. Francie had
been a true friend for many years and always tried to be kind, as she knew
Katharine
’
s life was
sometimes difficult with her cold and uncaring mother.
Kat had just settled under the great oak tree when she saw a
figure approaching. Her mother would never have ventured out onto the grounds
when a servant would do. But the figure was dressed in a yellow silk dress that
a servant could never afford. Kat smiled.
“
Hello,
my friend,
”
Kat
cried out from her seated position.
Francie spotted her friend and waved.
“
Hello. I called upon you
at the house but they said you had gone walking.
”
“
Yes,
I had to take some air.
”
Kat elegantly arose from her seated position, brushing at her rose-colored
skirts.
Francie fell in stride beside her and asked,
“
Have you quarreled with
your mother again?
”
Kat nodded.
“
Yes.
I dare say I can do no right in her eyes.
”
Francie was a pretty girl with soft chestnut brown hair and
brown eyes. She lacked Kat
’
s
vivacity and beauty, though she made up for it with her kind heart.
“
You
should try, dearest Kat. To be apart from one
’
s
own mother is terrible.
”
Kat made an unladylike snort and said,
“
Yes, perhaps it would be
a terrible thing if one had sweet Agnes Maxwell for a mother. But when one is
left with Anne Fairfax it
’
s
not so terrible.
”
She made her remark with a harsh tone that Francie knew too well. There were
times when Kat was pushed too far and when happened, it was best to stand back
and let the storm blow over.