Page 99 of The Knight’s Reward

Neill could not believe their luck, but he did as his king bid him and took the missive from its position at the center of the table.

“That will be all.”

The king had dismissed them.

“Fare thee well, my lady,” the queen said to Kathryn. “I am sorry about your father.”

“Many thanks,” Kathryn said, curtsying. Neill bowed as well, and then they both turned to leave together. Just before they reached the door, the king spoke one last time.

“Discuss,” he boomed. “You said, ‘I have come to discuss your reward.’”

Neill turned.

“When I see you next in my hall, I would ask you consider a swift agreement in lieu of a discussion.”

Edward knew Neill had planned to refuse him once again. And was ordering him to repledge his allegiance as a subject of the king. And to understand his position.

“With pleasure, Your Grace.”

With a final bow, he joined Kathryn in the corridor, glad to have given such a pledge. Now that he’d been given leave to be with the royal messenger’s daughter, no other request mattered.

* * *

They hadn’t made it far from the throne room when Neill grabbed Kathryn’s hand, pulling her into a corridor.

He said nothing but pulled her into his arms, kissing her as if they might not be caught at any moment. Having thought she might never feel his lips on hers again, Kathryn kissed him back with all of the longing and anxiety she’d felt these past days. Grabbing the cloth of his tunic under her hands, she held on as if she might not let go.

But the not-so-distant sounds of footfalls and voices finally penetrated, and so she pulled away.

“It would not do to be caught like this.” Kathryn searched his clear blue eyes for an agreement, but found none. He leaned down, his breath smelling of the mint he chewed each morning, and bypassed her mouth, nuzzling her neck instead.

“’Twas reckless, coming here,” he murmured.

“Aye,” Kathryn agreed. “It was.”

“You could have been—”

“Turned away. Aye. And you, married. Instead, I will marry you.”

He’d not asked her yet, of course. But since nothing about their courtship had been conventional, she saw no reason to start now.

“Aye, my lady. You will.”

His slow, seductive smile reminded Kathryn of the first time he’d taken her hand, when he’d questioned her beside the inn.

“Tell me, what precisely did you say to the queen?”

“I told her naught but the truth. All know of Eleanor’s great love for her husband. I thought perhaps if I appealed to her, as a woman . . .” She shrugged. “I decided it was a risk worth taking.”

“And one I’m glad you took, though you were right to keep it from me. I’d never have agreed to such a thing.”

“Agreed?”

He didn’t appear to understand her meaning, but she quickly educated him.

“If you think me some simpering maid who will bow and curtsy at your command, I fear you do not know me well at all.”

Again, that smile. Joy flooded her at the thought that she would be able to see his smile every day, for the rest of her life.