Page 38 of The Champion

Kit looked as worried as Rowena felt. He excused himself and left her alone with Stryder, a man she should hate. And yet, it had been him she had run to when she felt threatened. How very odd.

“Tis an evil thing that was done here,” Rowena said quietly. “I hope we find this killer.”

“Trust me, my lady, we will.”

Stryder offered her his arm. “I’ll take you back to the castle. You should make certain that you stay with other people at all times.”

“So, you won’t be guarding me?”

“Aye, I shall. But something tells me you might take it upon yourself to escape my watchful eye.”

“And something tells me that would prove a most difficult task.”

He smiled respectfully at that. Glory, but the man was most handsome when his stern features softened.

Rowena felt suddenly feminine around him in a way she’d never felt before.

But the most disturbing thing of all, was how much she wanted to know what a kiss from Stryder would feel like. What he would taste like.

Rowena!

She was shocked by that. And terrified. She wasn’t like her friends, forever turned by a pretty face, and yet, as they walked along in silence, she found herself strangely curious about him.

“They say you have no wish for children,” she found herself saying. “Is that true?”

He nodded.

“Why? I should think a man in your position would be concerned about his lands and legacy.”

“There are things in this life more important than legacy and lands.”

She agreed, but she wondered what he treasured more. “Such as?”

“Brotherhood. Vows. My lands are only important to me because they allow me to put my money to good use. When I am dead, I am dead. The last thing I wish is to leave behind anyone to mourn my passing. I want no child of mine to weep over my grave.”

She stopped as he spoke those soft words. But it wasn’t the words she reacted to. It was the sound of his voice. The betrayed grief. “Not all children are left behind, my lord. Some are fortunate enough to have their parents for a long while.”

His eyes were so haunted that it made her chest ache for him. “But all too many are. And then they are slaves to that land that was their father’s. Pawns to be used and for what? Even you are nothing more than an object in the eyes of Henry and your uncle. Would you want your daughter to be in your place?”

In that moment, she felt kinship to this stranger.

He understood her.

And that amazed her most of all. “Is that why you agreed to sing for me?”

He nodded. “I take my vows seriously, Rowena. And one of them was that I would do anything in my power to free those who are caught in situations that are harmful to them.”

She would never have thought a mere knight capable of such compassion and introspection. “You’re a man of surprising depth, Lord Stryder of Blackmoor.”

“For a senseless knight, you mean?”

She felt her face flush. “Your squire told you of that, too?”

“I believe his exact question was if all men had to abandon their senses to become soldiers.”

She cringed at that. “I didn’t mean you.”

“Nay?”