Page 13 of To Desire

Perhaps? What other reason could there be?

“There is another instructor. The swordmaster, Sir Eamon Thorne. He is a favorite among the recruits, a kind and wise leader, as well as a most capable swordsman. Evelina discovered that he was her true father, and the reason Lord Ashcroft had never been kind to her. In exchange for keeping such information secret, he did not challenge the marriage.”

“A scandal, to be sure.”

“And would be more so if others learned of it.”

“Is that not difficult, for Sir Eamon not to claim his daughter as his own?”

“Very much so, I would imagine. But until Matilda’s claim is secure, and while Ashcroft continues to finance the Order . . .”

Though he did not finish, there was no need to do so.

“And then . . .” Darien smiled. “There is the matter of Alden and Lady Elara.”

“The Strategies instructor?”

“Aye.”

“I look forward to meeting such a woman. Risking her life to join a cause, her father still serving the king . . . I could not imagine being in such a position.”

“Could you not?”

She peeked at him, Darien looking every bit the role of a knight despite his lack of armor. There was a regality to him that bespoke of both his upbringing and something more . . .

“This is different.”

“How so? You are risking as much as Lady Elara.”

“Her father could be killed if she were discovered.”

Darien said nothing, but he did not look convinced. Wishing to redirect the discussion away from herself, she returned to one of his earlier comments. “You said ’tis not in your nature to tell me things. Are you aware of your reputation in the village?”

His secret smile told Liana he was very much aware. “Am I aware they call me Shadow Knight?”

So he did know. “Among other monikers. They say you are more elusive than any man alive.”

“What do you think, Liana?”

That the way he looks at me now will see me returned to Ely broken-hearted.

“That the stories are exaggerated. That you trust me because my mother and I have kept her involvement in your father’s decisions throughout the years a secret. And that I planned to do the same with you, someday.”

“That someday is now. A surprise for us both, aye?”

“Indeed. Our paths were always meant to cross, but I thought it would be some years from now.”

A shadow crossed his face as they slowed. The stream ahead was deeper, and stronger, than the last. This one, she did not relish crossing.

Dismounting, Darien gathered his horse’s reins and approached her. “I will guide you both across.” Yet, despite saying as much, he did not move. “May I ask you something?”

“Of course,” she said, grateful for his guidance across the stream. Nothing scared her quite as much as getting a vision wrong, again. But this past day had brought other fears to the surface she did not know existed. Including being swept away by the current.

“Is that something you can see? How many years from now I would consult with your mother, instead of my father? Or how many years until we did so, you and I.”

A chill that had naught to do with the stream’s danger washed over her. Liana had been prepared for this. She knew either the earl, or his son, would someday ask this of her. But she was still an apprentice. And she thought that day would be many years into the future.

Liana echoed her mother’s words, the ones she had prepared her to say. “I can attempt to read anything you ask of me. Some visions will come readily and be easily interpreted. Others not at all. And some, like the one of Matilda, will come slowly and in pieces. And though the runes do not lie, their interpretation relies on my skill, one that is still being developed and tested.” That last bit, she added herself.

“So you can read . . .” It seemed Darien could not say the words.

“I can read your father’s death. And my mother’s too. As well as ours. But that is not the question you should ask. Instead, consider very carefully . . . do you want that reading? If I am able to conjure that vision clearly? Would you truly wish for it?”

He swallowed. Liana could not envision this man, the Shadow Knight, afraid of anything. But the look of doubt that crossed his features . . . she would not call it fear. But he refrained from a reply, and Liana was glad for it.

“Come,” he said. “We will ride hard to reach the Red Fox Inn this eve. I would have you sleep in a bed and not on the ground, if it pleases you.”

It pleased her very much. “We should not be seen traveling together, though. Aye?”

“It is true, but this particular inn caters to traveling nobility seeking discretion. You will pose as my scribe, and none will ask questions.”

With that, they began to cross, Liana’s trepidation about the inn lost to a more pressing one of remaining seated as the water rushed past them, a scribe and her Shadow Knight.