Page 42 of Veil of Winter

“It is not silly if you are sad.” He suddenly wanted so much to take her in his arms and hold her. The urge was so strong, he took another step toward her. But she was a princess and he was just a foreign knight. She would not welcome his embrace.

She turned away from him, her head down, as she wiped her tears with her hands.

A pain stabbed his heart. She didn’t want to be comforted byhim. He remembered how she’d reacted to waking up with him hovering over her, his lips touching hers. She’d been horrified.

That was different. That time he’d startled her. She’d never seen him before and did not know what he was trying to do. And yet he had no wish to elicit that reaction again by trying to comfort her. She was a princess, after all.

But she had not pushed him away when he saved her from the icy water. She’d clung to him, laid her head against his chest. It had felt good knowing he had saved her life, as she would have drowned if he had not been there to rescue her.

She had not seemed to mind sleeping beside him either. Perhaps that was only because those were life-endangering situations.

Gerard lay down and closed his eyes. But even in his exhaustion, he didn’t fall asleep right away. He kept seeing the princess’s beautiful face in his mind’s eye. There were moments when she said something that showed her courage, or when she smiled at him a certain way, that his heart would actually stop, her beauty snatching his breath away.

If she were not a princess, he would talk to her every chance he got, ask her opinions on important topics, in order to ascertain if she would make a good wife.

But she was a foreign princess, and therefore, when this quest was done, he would return to England and try to forget about her, even though he thought of her as the fairest maiden in all the world. And he would always have the pleasure of knowing that he had saved her life.

Twelve

Elyce yawned, causing Ysa to yawn. They had slept until midday and eaten, and now they were back on the road to Prague. However, it did not seem like she had slept much at all. She shouldn’t complain, though she was constantly thinking how much her body hurt from being too long in the saddle and how tired she was. Nevertheless, she was glad to be on her way again. The sooner they reached Prague, the sooner she would know if the king intended to help her. And if he didn’t, then she would need to make a new plan, seek out help from the archbishop or one of the dukes in the region.

By early evening, Elyce’s yawning had ceased. She was so tired, apparently her body didn’t want to waste the energy on yawning.

“Someone’s coming.” Sir Gerard looked at Sir Oswalt.

“Get off the road.” Sir Oswalt’s voice was urgent.

They all scrambled to urge their horses off the road, but it was too late. Riders were upon them, a dozen men at least.

Elyce guided her horse toward a meadow.O God, let it not be King Claude’s men.

Sir Gerard lagged behind and positioned himself at the back of their group.

“Stop or we’ll shoot!”

Elyce looked over her shoulder. Two men were lifting crossbows.

Rodrigo shouted, “If you stop, we won’t hurt you!”

The crossbow archers were aiming at Sir Gerard.

She suddenly couldn’t breathe. “Don’t shoot!” she said, turning her horse around. “I surrender. Just let them go.”

“No.” Sir Gerard’s gaze was hard as he looked her in the eye. “Don’t do this,” he said softly.

“I can’t let them kill you.” A lump came into her throat, choking off her voice.

“I need to speak with Princess Elyce,” Rodrigo said as he dismounted his horse. “Privately.”

“I will come with you,” Sir Gerard said.

Elyce dismounted her horse, and Sir Gerard did the same.

His eyes were so blue, so earnest and concerned. A fist tightened around her heart, squeezing and making her chest ache. She couldn’t bear for something to happen to him.

“Stay here,” she told him.

“He doesn’t have the right to threaten you.” Sir Gerard was scowling, his gaze moving from Elyce to Rodrigo, who was standing several feet away from his men.