Page 25 of To Honor

“Do you plan to discuss the campaign only with this envoy? Or me?”

Typically Evelina disliked annoying her father, which questions always seemed to do. But there was no help for it.

“They are inextricably tied to each other,” he said, his answer not an answer at all.

“Father—”

“Enough,” he said, even more forcefully than before. “There is much to do to prepare.”

Without waiting for her to dismiss herself, Evelina’s father did so himself. As he strode from the chamber where he conducted most of his business, she wondered if he would return if she simply waited there. Evelina had to know if he planned to propose a betrothal. She’d assumed such a thing would be years away, as they were no closer now to restoring Empress Matilda to the throne than they had been when the Guardians of the Sacred Oak was formed.

In the end, she could not wait to ask additional questions. Gareth would be waiting.

She left the chamber and attempted to find her maid, wondering how Gareth would respond. Would he be disappointed? Evelina smiled. If the way he looked at her when they were together, and the fact that he did indeed leave Castle Blackwood each day to meet her, meant anything, then aye, he would indeed.

And she was disappointed as well. Seeing him was the best part of her day, and even though he made no other move to touch her, except to hold her hand, Evelina suspected it wasn’t for lack of wanting to be with her.

Though she’d never experienced desire before him, she could recognize it easily.

“My lady.” Amalia rushed up to her. “Your meeting . . .”

“Shhh.” She pulled her to the side just as a kitchen maid passed them. “We cannot speak freely here.”

The two women made their way to an alcove on the second floor, and though it was less private than her bedchamber, it would serve for now. Evelina relayed the conversation with her father to Amalia, who agreed the news was most distressing.

“Will you go to him?”

Before the words had hardly left her mouth, Amalia was already standing. “I will tell him to come in two days’ time.”

With luck, she would be able to get away then. Nodding, she stood too. Hugging Amalia, she thanked her. “Tell him . . .” She swallowed. What could she say? “Tell him the truth.”

“Aye, my lady.”

At least she would know when next they met if a betrothal were even a possibility. If Evelina were lucky, this envoy would scoff at her father for aiming so high and send him on his way.

But if they did not?

Evelina could not worry about a problem that she could not control. Or one that may not come to pass. If she were lucky, it may never become a problem at all.

13

“We’ve a new recruit to welcome,” Lord Stirling announced. “An archer.”

Gareth exchanged glances with Alden and Roland. After they’d gotten past any thoughts that a one-eyed knight and nobleman may not be the best choice for an archery instructor, each of them had been in awe of Stirling’s aim. He was, without a doubt, the most skilled archer Gareth had ever come across in his lifetime.

For him to call a new recruit “an archer” was unlike hearing those words from any other. Lord Stirling said it as if he himself were impressed with the newcomer who even now strode across the field toward them. His hair, partly brown and partly blond, hung to his shoulders.

“His swagger nearly rivals yours,” Alden said to Roland.

It was true. Yet as he grew closer, Gareth could see differences between the men too. The archer was assured, but not arrogant. He could not say the same for Roland.

“He is more humble,” Gareth said.

“Everyone is more humble than Aegis.”

Gareth chuckled at the nickname. In training the day before, just after he’d received word that for the second day in a row Evie would not be meeting him, a Knight School squire had nearly accidentally speared Alden in the back with his mishandling of the knight’s sword as he stumbled. Roland had been standing close by and prevented a nasty accident by pulling his own weapon and deflecting the squire’s. It was their instructor, Sir Adrian, who had seen the mishap and used the nickname. Apparently, Aegis was a shield in Greek mythology, a powerful and benevolent protector.

As if Roland needed any additional reasons to feel either benevolent or powerful.