Page 37 of Midnight Shadow

Terran didn’t mind that there was no chair at the head table for him. The Delaneys had chosen to ignore the betrothal, to ignore him, by denying him a place at their table. Their action intrigued him. It showed their anger and their hostility toward him, yet Delaney had not challenged him outright, nor even banished him from Castle Delaney. As if this slight will make me leave, Terran mused.

He wasn’t leaving until he got what he came for, a wife and a dowry. Still, it had made him furious to see his betrothed sobbing at her lover’s side, the way she clung to him, held onto his arm, touched his shoulder. He shook his head. At least he knew she loved another man. Yet she had responded to his kiss, had actually kissed him in return. Could he be wrong about her relationship with Dysen? Or did Dysen simply not satisfy her?

Terran threw back a drink of his ale. When he set it down again, his gaze came to rest on Bria. She can’t be trusted, he told himself for the hundredth time. She thinks the worst of me. She‘ll betray me at the first opportunity that arises.

His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the little nymph at the head table delicately bite a piece of bread. I will enjoy changing her mind about me, he thought, night after night.

“He’s watching you again.”

Bria already knew it. She could feel his dark gaze upon her, and her body responded instantly, a delightful shiver coursing through her. He’d been following and watching her since the afternoon meal.

She glanced back over her chair to see Terran Knowles standing at the opposite wall, his arms crossed over his massive chest, his feet planted firmly shoulder width apart. He just stared at her, making no pretense that he wasn’t watching her.

A tingle raced up her spine at being the object of his intense stare. Bria turned back to the fire, her anger at her immediate response to him mounting. He was, after all, her enemy. He wouldn’t listen to her about Mary or Kenric, and yet he affected her in an instantaneous way. It was frustrating and confusing. “I don’t understand why Father won’t throw him out of Castle Delaney.”

“He doesn’t want to start a fight,” Harry answered.

Bria shook her head. “Ever since he came back from the war, he wants nothing to do with battle. He’s already angry over the joust that took Garret’s life.” Bria shifted in her seat.

Harry laid a hand on her shoulder. “It was an accident, Bria,” Harry explained patiently. “It could have happened to anyone. Garret fell from his horse and twisted his neck.”

“I know,” Bria whispered. She knew the words Terran had spoken were the truth. He hadn’t meant to kill Garret. “But that doesn’t make it any easier.”

“He’ll become tired of the pursuit and return to his lands,” Harry whispered.

Bria turned to cast a glance at Terran over her shoulder. He was still leaning against the wall, watching her with an unwavering gaze. Again her insides turned to liquid. She felt everything in her melt beneath his stare. She just hoped she could keep her distance from him until he left.

“You must be careful meeting me at the clearing. Don’t let him see you.”

“I won’t let him see me. But you’ll have to bring my sword.”

Harry nodded and Bria rose from her chair. She bent over to kiss his cheek and felt the tension in his corded muscles as she rested her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “It will all turn out fine.”

“Bria, don’t underestimate him,” Harry warned. “He’s no fool.”

Bria smiled warmly at her grandfather and headed toward her room.

“Lady Bria,” someone whispered as she neared the kitchens.

Bria looked up to see Deb, her personal servant, motioning for her to come closer. Deb’s gaze darted left, then right, scanning the surroundings of the dark hallway. Bria moved to her and Deb quickly ushered her into the kitchen.

“What is it, Deb?” Bria asked. “What’s wrong?”

Deb grabbed her hand, leading her past a young boy fanning the cauldron flames with a bellows. They moved deeper into the kitchen until they were alone near the stacks of bagged vegetables piled shoulder high. Deb turned to Bria, her eyes filled with concern. “Is it true, m’lady?”

“Is what true?”

“Are you really going to marry Lord Knowles?”

For a moment, Bria wondered how Deb could have known, but then quickly remembered she’d scolded Deb countless times for spreading gossip through the castle. “No, it’s not true. I will not marry him,” she told Deb.

Deb breathed a sigh of relief. “The Lord be praised. You will be saved.”

“Saved? From what?”

Deb glanced around the kitchen, making certain no one else was within earshot. She turned back to Bria. “They say he killed his betrothed.”

“What?” Bria gasped. Now it was her turn to glance around the kitchen. Knowles had been watching her all day, but it seemed for the moment she’d eluded him.