The Sword and the Sylph (Elemental Series) (10 page)

He helped her mount her horse, and she sat like a lady on the sidesaddle
with her knee wrapped around the pommel and her long gown trailing down the side of the horse. She was a comely girl, but he felt no attraction to her whatsoever. She couldn’t hold a candle to Portia. The spy who’d revealed his identity - he reminded himself. Also, the girl who played with his emotions and left him hard and bothered and disappeared without a word.

Well, he didn’t like anyone spying on him but if she continued to follow him during his day of courtship then he would just have to give her an eyeful.
Let her see what she’d missed by teasing him and playing with him and then leaving him standing there frustrated and far from sated.

The lady of the castle was a fine rider, and though he was an
excellent horseman himself, he felt as if the animal beneath him was moving slower than it should. Almost as if it was carrying extra weight. And he had no doubt in his mind that he had an invisible passenger riding behind him.

They stopped under a tree, the sun shining down brightly upon them. He reached up to help Christabel dismount, and purposely slid her down his
body, letting his hands linger on her shoulders. She looked up to him, disturbed at first, but then she actually gave him a quick smile.

He smelled lilacs directly behind him, and Christabel seemed to notice it too.

“Do you smell flowers?” she asked.

He didn’t want to alert Portia that he was aware of her presence, so he denied it.

“I smell the sweet essence of roses drifting from your body on the clean, fresh air, my lady, naught else.”

She smiled
slightly, almost seeming pleased, and he hoped Portia saw it as well. Then he spread a blanket on the ground and gallantly held out his arm as he helped her settle upon it.

“You are right,
’tis a beautiful day,” she agreed, showing more emotion in her face now than he’d seen the entire time he was in Banesmoor. “And perhaps this would be more enjoyable then I’d anticipated after all.”

“I assure you, I plan on making it very enjoyable for you. A day you would never forget, my love.” He glanced out of the corner of his eye, wondering just where the fae was hiding. Wherever
she was, he hoped she’d heard him loud and clear.

Portia watched angrily from the horse’s side as Sir Braden sat close to Lady Christabel, feeding her food by his own hand. He sat with one leg stretched out atop the blanket, the other bent lazily, his arm resting atop it. He spoke in low tones to the girl, sometimes even bringing his face close to hers and whispering into her ear. Whatever he was saying, she seemed to like it. A little too much as far as Portia was concerned.

She paced back and forth, still excited by what almost happened with Braden in the stable. She didn’t understand any of this, but all she knew was that she now wanted the
man more than ever. Matter of fact, she’d never felt this way before, not even for the men of her father’s castle that thought to kiss her. Something about Sir Braden brought her fae needs to life as well as her human ones too. And it pained her to sit here and watch him court a lady when all she wanted was to be sitting there next to him on the blanket instead.

She turned to go, bu
t something made her look over her shoulder. And then she saw Sir Braden reach out and caress the girl’s face, his lips coming closer to hers as if he meant to kiss her! How dare he kiss Lady Christabel when just moments ago he’d been kissing her instead.

She couldn’t stand here and watch this, and neither could she let it continue. She swiped her invisible hands through the air, and immediately the sky
clouded over. She saw Braden stop and look up to the sky, surveying the black clouds that now gathered right above him.

With just a nod from her head, the sky heeded her command and
opened to release a downpour of water. The cold rain pelted down upon them, giving her a sense of satisfaction that she’d stopped him from kissing Lady Christabel after all.

Braden quickly jumped to his feet, glancing at the sky
again and shaking his head and mumbling something under his breath. He helped his betrothed mount her horse, and he collected up the meal and blanket and shoved them quickly back into the saddlebag. She watched him mount and when he was almost atop the horse, she flicked her wrist and created a gust of wind that knocked him to the ground.

“Tha
t’ll teach him for trying to kiss her,” she said softly to herself.

“God’s eyes, stop it already, you little witch,” he called out, grabbing a
hold of the pommel and pulling himself atop the horse.

“Sir Braden, I do not appreciate you calling me names,” said the lady of the castle
angrily.

Portia smiled
enjoying the whole thing, and with a snap of her fingers, a snowstorm materialized, out of nowhere, mixed with the cold rain.

“I am not s
peaking to you, Lady Christabel,” shouted Braden, pushing his wet and snowy hair from his eyes angrily.

“Then whom are you speaki
ng to, as I’m the only one here?” She shouted back at him, surprising Portia that being a lady she would raise her voice, and to a knight nonetheless. She tried to shield her face from the snow, but Portia sped it up, turning it into an instant blizzard.

“Never mind,” Braden
growled, looking up and raising a fist to the sky. “Let’s get the hell out of this god forsaken weather,” he told her and took off at full speed with her right behind them as they made their way to the castle.

Portia materialized, now void
of her invisibility and waved her hands through the air to stop the rain as well as the snow. She hated to ruin a perfect sunny day, but she’d had to do it.

“Now he would think twice before trying
to kiss someone behind my back,” she said, heading for her horse that was hidden in the woods.

If she hadn’t been so distracted by the whole situation, she may have noticed someone standing in the shadows watching.

Chapter 10

Portia returned to Castle Calila just as night set in. She felt tired and frustrated and all she wanted to do was get a good’s night sleep. She dismounted, looking around for Vance, wondering why he wasn’t here to take the reins from her. Instead, a stableboy rushed forward to collect her horse.

“Where is Vance?” she asked, once again her curious nature needing to know.

“He is not here, my lady,” said the boy.

“I can see that,” she stated. “Did the countess send him on an errand?”

“Not to my knowledge, Lady Portia. I believe the countess has
been at the side of the earl all day.”

“Has he had a turn for the worse?” she asked, feeling the need to be with her father. The boy just shook his head and she hurried to the solar to see for herself.

“Father!” She burst into the room without bothering to knock. Her father lie on the bed, not moving, his eyes closed. Juturna stood over him, and the countess was at the window conversing softly with a man she’d never seen before. “Juturna, how is he?” She ran over to the bedside to see for herself.

“His state has not changed,” the old woman said sadly with a shake of her head.

“Why hasn’t my kiss healed him by now?” Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed upon her father. Now she felt as if she should have never left his side.

“We would talk of that at a later time,” Juturna said in a low whisper. She nodded with her head to the countess and man by the window.

“Who is he?” she whispered back, scrutinizing the man. He looked to be about three decades in age, his body scarred from battle, his face pocked. His hair was scraggly and dirty, and she could smell the man’s body odor all the way from the window to where she was standing. He also wore the leather of a mercenary and had an ample amount of weapons at his side.

“I don’t know for sure, but I can tell he is trouble,” stated Juturna.

“I don’t like it,” said Portia, taking a step toward them. Juturna stopped her with a hand to her arm.

“I don’t know if it’s in your best interest to approach them just now. Mayhap you should wait and question your stepmother about it in private.”

“I would not wait, nor would I stand here while my stepmother parades strange men through my father’s bedchamber before he is laid in the ground.” She rushed to the window, needing to know just what transpired in her absence.

“Countess Odillia, who is this man and what has happened while I was away?”

The man looked at her and grinned. His teeth were half rotten and she felt the bile rise to her throat.

“This is
Olaf, Daughter,” she answered, making Portia’s stomach clench by her use of the word daughter. “He is second in command of the Klarens.”

“Who are the Klarens?” she asked innocently, never having heard of them. “And what is he doing here? And in my father’s bedchamber?”

“Since the illness of your father, we are no longer strong enough to protect ourselves against attackers,” she said. “He and his men are here to help us.”

“My father
would be well soon, and all would be back to normal.” She looked at the disgusting man, wanting naught more than for him to leave her lands. “I thank you for your offer, but it seems we would not require your services after all.”

“My services?” he asked, and then laughed. “Oh, perhaps not, but I assure you I would require your services –
more than once a night, love.”

“I am not your love, nor do I know of what you speak. Now please leave Calila anon.”

“Well, Countess,” he said looking over to Portia’s stepmother. “Are you going to tell her, or am I?”

“Tell me what?” she asked. “I demand to know what is going on.”

“This man is not leaving,” said Lady Odillia. “As a matter of fact, he is going to be living within our castle’s walls, as well as the rest of the Klarens. You see, in trade for his protection, I have just granted Olaf’s request for your hand in marriage.”

* * *

Braden had not seen Portia nor smelled lilacs at all for two days. He hadn’t cared at first, still being furious at her for what she’d done to sabotage the day he’d spent with his betrothed. But now that two days had passed, his body longed for the sylph and ’twas driving him from his mind not knowing why she hadn’t returned.

He’d been so upset
that he hadn’t even been doing a thing to court the Lady Christabel and this did not please his lord at all.

“Sir Braden, may I speak with you in private?” Lord Solomon moved his large frame over the floor of the great hall, and Braden followed him out into the garden.

“My lord, did I do something to displease you?” he asked, feeling the man’s irritation before they even made it to the center stone bench. The sky was dreary ever since yesterday and it looked like it was going to rain again.

“I am not pleased by the fact that you have been doing naught to court my daughter ever since the day of your outing.”

“I am sorry my lord, but the rain – as well as the snow, ruined everything. I felt as if Lady Christabel would not want to go riding again in that kind of weather.”

“Aye, well
that is true,” he said, cocking his head and looking at the sky. “But tonight after the meal I would like you to dance with her. And possibly take her on a short walk out here in the garden.”

“Of course, my lord. I would be happy to oblige.” Actually he wasn’t happy about it
at all. He hadn’t felt like doing anything with Lady Christabel since all he could think about was Portia-Maer. He wondered why she hadn’t come back and could not shake the feeling in his gut that something was not right.

“Sir Braden, my daughter tells
me that you were acting oddly the other day.”

“Really? How so?” Damn, if she’d told him anything
at all about that whole day he was going to look like a fool in front of his liege lord.

“She said you were . . . how shall
I say . . . finding yourself in the stables.”

“What? Nay, I assure you my lord, I did nothing of the sort.”

“She also said you were talking to yourself and could not seem to keep from falling off your horse. I don’t fancy you being so far in your cups while out with my daughter.”

“I hadn’t had too much to drink at all
that day, I assure you, my lord. And I do not . . . find myself . . . no matter what your daughter thinks.”

“So are you saying that Lady Christabel is lying?”

“Aye – nay, I mean . . . I assure you my lord naught like that would ever happen again.”

“I hope not, Sir Braden. Because I
have put myself at risk by promising you my daughter’s hand in marriage without even knowing anything about you or your family. I must warn you that even though the marriage banns have been posted, I would reconsider in a moment if I thought you were not fit to marry or protect my only child.”

“Of course, my lord, I understand.”