The Duke and the Dryad (Elemental Series) (9 page)

“I have no desire for a
lady, a garden, nor beautiful grounds. I have my practice yard, that’s all I need. And as you’ve already seen, I have my crops in the fields, so by right, I do have a garden.”

“Not that kind of garden, but rathe
r one for roses and wildflowers. I can plant herbs that you can eat or use for healing.”

“
Fine,” he agreed, sounding as if he only did it to shut her up. “You may spend two hours in the morning to attend to your so-called beauty, and two hours in the evening as well. But the rest of the time, I expect you to accompany me everywhere I go. Now finish up here and meet me at once in the practice field, for that is where I am now headed.”

“Practice field?” she asked. “And what is it I would be practicing there, my lord?”

“Nothing,” he said, heading for the door. “When you are with me, I want you doing nothing at all. Just sit there and watch me use my weapons, and try to stay out of trouble.”

“Stay out of trouble?” she asked to herself as he left her in the barn and headed to his horse. “Nay, my warrior lord,
” she whispered when he was out of earshot. “I think not. But mayhap you should be the one to worry about staying out of trouble.”

* * *

Wolfe was in the middle of a heated sword practice with Sir Braden when he noticed Rae and the old healer, Juturna take a seat in the lists to watch them. The fae girl wasn’t hard to miss with that flaming pink hair and painted face. He was starting to wonder if the hair color was permanent just as she’d told him about the painting on her skin. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to either, though something about it oddly excited him because of the fact that it was so different.

Well, good, he thought, pleased that she’d followed his orders and come to watch him practice.
Now he would show her just who he was and what he did, demonstrating his skills that made him
Duke the Destroyer
.

“Is that a
ll you’ve got today, Sir Braden?” he remarked, swords scraping together as they met in clashing blows. He noticed Rae watching him and picked up the pace, striking harder than he really should while in a practice session.

“Egads, Lord Wolf
e, you are attacking as if I’m the enemy. What has gotten into you today?”

“If you are to be my captain of the guard, you need to be able to match any blow.
Now stop being so distracted and pay attention. Your life could depend on it some day.”

Sir Braden met his blows with renewed vigor, but still Wolf
e was besting him. He dared to glance once more in Rae’s direction, hoping he’d impressed her, but instead of looking at him, she was petting one of the stray hounds. Next thing he knew, the mutt was headed straight for him. It snapped at his heels, barking, distracting him from his concentrated practice.

“Get away from me, you dirty
mutt.” He kicked backward with his foot, but the dog grabbed his boot in its mouth and wouldn’t let it go. One glance over his shoulder to the dog and his concentration was broken. Sir Braden easily unarmed him. His sword went flying through the air and landed on the dusty field not far from his feet.

“And how was that, my lord?” asked Sir Braden with a smile. “Good enough for your captain of the guard? After all, I unarmed you
, and had you been my enemy your head would be severed and laying at my feet right now.”

“’Twas not fair. I was distracted by the hound.”

“I see.” Sir Braden retrieved Wolfe’s sword and handed it to him hilt first. “What was it you told me about not being distracted? That my life could depend on it someday?”

Wolf
e angrily grabbed his proffered weapon and looked around for the dog. He really wanted to stab his sword right through it about now. Instead of the hound at his heels, it was back by Rae again. She petted it on the head and it took off toward the courtyard.

“
She
had something to do with this, I am sure.”

“She?” Sir Braden followed his gaze, and realized he was looking at Rae. “Do you mean the elfin girl?”

“God’s eyes, she is not an elf! How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Oh, that’s right. The sprite – the elemental, was it?”

“Something like that.” He sheathed his sword and headed toward the tiltyard. Mayhap he could impress her with his jousting, as he was undefeated in this event. Sir Braden followed right behind.

“If I may speak freely, my lord?”

“Nay,” he snapped, but the man continued to talk anyway.

“It seems to me you are smitten with the girl and mayhap – trying to impress her?”

“Nonsense. I don’t need to impress anyone. My title of duke and also my reputation of being
Duke the Destroyer
speaks for itself.”

His squire ran up to meet him
, bringing him his jousting armor which would give him protection against the lance.

“Nay,” he said, waving it away. “I don’t have time for that nor do I feel like baking in the hot sun. Just give me a padded hauberk and chain mail to cover it.”

He knew this was dangerous, not wearing the proper protection, even while in practice, but he didn’t care for it. He sometimes even refused to wear it into battle.

“Would you be requiring your helm today, my lord?”

“Aye.” Wolfe grabbed the helm from the squire and quickly lifted himself into the saddle.

“So
, I suppose the sprite is enamored by a man of war and destruction?” asked Sir Braden. “After all, isn’t that what nature elementals are intrigued by?”

“Sir Braden, enough! I don’t need
you telling me what does or doesn’t impress a woman.”

“
Ah. So you
are
trying to impress her?”

Wolf
e looked at the man, realizing he was right. Still, he had naught else to offer, and women always seemed to flock to the hardened, skilled warriors. ’Twas all he knew. He was sure he’d see respect and admiration in her eyes once he won the joust. Then she’d be just as smitten with him as he was with her.

“Lord Wolfe, you
r shield,” said his squire.

He quickly donned the helm, and reached down to collect his
wooden shield trimmed with metal. Here was painted his family crest. His charge was a passant white wolf, armed with teeth of gold. It was displayed proudly upon a field of blood red. An arched half-wreath of laurel canopied over the wolf’s head holding his family motto of
conquer and destroy.

“Sir Theodore, I hope you are ready to be knocked on your ass,” he called
out across the tiltyard, eyeing his worthy opponent. He glanced over to the viewing stands just past the lists, to see that both Rae and Juturna had followed him and were settling themselves on the wooden benches. Rae smiled and raised her hand and waved slightly. He smiled back and raised his hand to return the wave. But when Sir Braden cleared his throat, he stopped abruptly and instead slapped down the metal visor of his helm that protected his eyes.

“Hand me my lance, squire,” he called, eyeing Sir Theodore across the
field waiting at the wooden divider rail, or tilt, to start the joust. The squire sounded the horn to signal the start, and Wolfe dug his heels into his horse, charging forward, determined to unseat Sir Theodore in the first round.

Rae held out her arm and called a hawk to her with her mind. She laughed inwardly knowing ’twas by her doing that the mighty Lord Wolfe had lost the sword challenge and was now about to lose the joust as well. A hawk appeared from the sky and settled atop her outstretched arm. She told the bird with her mind to fly in circles over Wolfe’s head, already chuckling at her playful trick. She couldn’t help it, she was fae. And the fae were known for mischief, as ’twas in her blood. The bird took off in flight and did as instructed.

She laughed aloud as the bird distracted Wolf
e, enabling his opponent to easily unseat him in the first pass. He angrily got to his feet, picking up the broken lance and hurling it into the air. She told the hawk to leave before it was hurt, and the bird took off across the sky.

“Don’t think he doesn’t know what you are doing to him,” Juturna told her.
“And your mischief may seem harmless to you, but he could have been hurt severely, did you ever think of that?”

She noticed him glaring at her and then stomp
ing off the field, throwing his helm into the arms of his waiting squire.

“
He doesn’t seem hurt to me. Besides, I don’t care if he knows. He spoke to me in a very derogatory manner earlier, and I think he needs to learn his place.”

“His place is as
the Duke and ruler of Manterra. Mayhap you are the one out of place, Rae-Nyst.”

She
suddenly felt as if perhaps she had used her powers in the wrong way. “I only wanted to teach him a lesson,” she said.

“Are you sure about that?” asked the old woman. “Because it seems to me you were trying to impress him with your talents as much as he was trying to impress you with his own.”

“Nay, that’s not true.” She looked down to her hands, not able to look at the old seer who knew her better than anyone.

“I didn’t need my gazing crystal to see that, and I am sure Lord Wolf
e will be able to see right through your little charades as well.”

“He is not aware of anything,” she answered. “He is so out of
touch with nature and the vibrations of life all around him, that he can’t see past his own insecurities.”

“Well, mayhap you can help him instead of humiliating him in front of his men. After all,
he is a hardened warrior. He is more aware of death than life. And I see something in him that longs to shed his beliefs and change from the man he now is, so mayhap you should give him a chance. Get to know him before you judge him so harshly.”

“Aye,” she said with a slight nod of her head. “Mayhap you are right.”

Chapter 6

Since Rae was not allowed to leave the castle, except at night, she’d sent Juturna out to the forest with
several willing serfs to dig up herbs and wildflowers for the garden she intended to make.

She was allowed two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening to beautify the grim grounds. Since she’d spent her morning in the village, and most the rest of the day watching Wolfe make a fool of
himself while trying to impress her, she only had two hours left before she’d leave the grounds for the night.

“I believe we’ve collected all you’ve asked for,” said Juturna, instructing the serfs where to put the last of the woodland plants. She thanked them and they nodded and ran off without a word. “That was nice of them to help you. They said they enjoyed having you here because they had more time to spend with their families since you’d seen to many of their chores.”

“That’s nice,” said Rae, not even listening. Instead she was surveying the small plot of land next to the orchards that looked as if at one time it had actually been someone’s garden. Now, it was void of life. There were no wildflowers, or even what was known to humans as common weeds, covering the earth. Just dusty, hard soil. She’d almost forgotten Juturna was even standing there, as she was busy planning in her mind where to put each of the plants.

“You’re not going to use your powers to plant this garden, are you?” asked Juturna.

“Of course, why not?”

“Because from what you’ve told me, Lord Wolfe is frustrated with you. Mayhap ’twould be more beneficial to both of you if you just did it the way humans do.”

“And how would that be?” she asked.

“You use the shovel to dig and turn over the dirt, and place each plant and seed into the ground by
the sweat of your brow and by your own hands.”

“
Faes don’t sweat,” she told her. “And I can’t do that, because it’ll take forever.”

“That’s how the humans do it,” she reminded her. “And I do believe you are half human, so mayhap ’tis time you start to get in touch with that part of yourself. If you did, you may have a little more understanding toward Lord Wolfe.”

“Fine,” she said, letting out a sigh. These human traditions were getting to be exasperating, just thinking about them. She really didn’t want to do it this way, but since Juturna had been the one to save her life, she felt she owed it to the woman.

She knew she could have this
whole garden not only planted but blooming by the time she left here today if only she used her powers and tuned in to the earth. Instead, Juturna was asking her to ignore that, and focus on doing things the way Lord Wolfe expected them to be completed.

“Well, I’ll never be able to dig up the soi
l and plant the seeds and flowers before I leave to go back to the forest.” She raised her hands above her head. “Mayhap if I just . . .”

“Rae?” Juturn
a looked at her with disappointment and shook her head. “Don’t do it.”

“B
ut I really don’t know how to act like a human,” she complained.