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“Yes, Ben,” his mother replied. “A very good man.”

Chapter seventeen

“Who is this Midnight Shadow?” Terran demanded, slamming his fists on the wooden table, making the wood reverberate beneath his fury. He stood, rising to his full height to tower over Kenric. The two tax collectors standing behind Kenric shrank back. “How dare he steal my coin?”

Terran’s voice echoed through the Great Hall, spearing from one side of the room to the other. A servant cleaning the wooden table paused to look up at him, but quickly bowed her head and continued her work.

Kenric had arrived at Castle Delaney late in the day with word of Knowles’ new enemy. The Midnight Shadow had struck again in the night, robbing two tax collectors as they returned to Castle Knowles.

“No man will steal from me,” Terran fumed. “This I vow. I will have this Midnight Shadow.”

Kenric dismissed the two tax collectors with a wave of his hand. The two men practically raced for the double doors at the back of the room. “My lord,” Kenric whispered, leaning in to do so, “this cannot continue. We need to pay the men to defend Castle Knowles, and need I remind you we have only two months before we must pay the king?”

“It will not continue,” Terran vowed. “I want him taken.”

Kenric nodded, bowing. “As you wish.” As Terran sank back into his seat, Kenric joined him at the table, sitting opposite him. He was silent for a moment before asking, “How are things going with the marriage plans?”

Terran’s eyes narrowed. “It would have been settled if you’d done what you promised. You said everything would be taken care of. Nothing was.”

“It got you here,” Kenric muttered.

“I would destroy any other man who lied to me so,” Terran growled.

Kenric chuckled. “Then it’s lucky we’re family.”

Terran glared at his cousin, then allowed himself a slight smile. Family, his mind repeated. And friend. Randolph had served him loyally for years. He would trust his cousin with his very life.

Terran sat back in the chair, rubbing his hands over his face. How had everything gotten so out of control? Was it already a month since he’d been overjoyed at the prospect of marrying Odella? Her dowry would have saved his lands and castle. But now... he shook his head, staring at the rushes on the floor. Must his entire life be a battle?

“I couldn’t let you pass up the opportunity to save your castle and lands,” Kenric said. “It was my duty to convince you to claim what is yours, by any means necessary.”

“I don’t want a wife,” Terran said.

“Don’t think of her as a wife, or even as a woman. Think of her as a key, a key to riches,” Kenric coaxed. “She won’t change your life. You can still have other women. You can still do as you please. You’d be marrying her for her lands and her dowry. She’d be your wife in name only.”

Terran assented with a nod, even though he was lying now to himself. He could do nothing but think of Bria as a woman. He would make her his wife in all ways, and he knew it. Just the thought of kissing her sent desire searing through his veins.

But she was the key, as Kenric said. She would save his lands, his castle, and maybe even himself. He sighed. “I suppose you’re right,” he agreed. He lifted his head to look at Kenric, only to see Bria standing slightly behind his friend. The sight of her clenched fists, her squared shoulders, her taut jaw, was enough to send any man running for cover. But what brought him to his feet was the sight of the glistening tears lining her large eyes.

Kenric turned.

Bria’s shining blue eyes never left Terran. “Don’t worry about my getting in the way of your other women. You can rest assured I wouldn’t marry you if there was a sword to my throat.” With that, she whirled and half stormed, half ran toward the double doors at the back of the room.

“You certainly have a way with women,” Kenric mused.

Terran sighed heavily. “I’m afraid Lady Bria will never marry me willingly.”

Kenric’s black eyes glinted and a slow, sly smile spread over his lips. “Perhaps there is another way.”

Bria sat on the hilltop, watching the knights practice their skills in the tilting field below. What difference should it matter how Terran treated her? He was the enemy, and he would never, ever be her husband. Then why had she felt so hurt and disappointed when she heard Terran and Kenric talking? Because they were speaking of her as if she were a possession.

She reached down to pluck a stalk of grass. Knowles was having a very strange effect on her. Ever since his kiss, she’d wanted to feel his touch again. She found herself dwelling on the way he made her feel for hours at a time. How could a man who had such a knee-shaking effect on her be so evil? How could a man who’d been so kind to a boy be so cruel?

A pair of boots came into her vision and she followed them up to see Kenric standing above her. Fear ignited inside her as quickly as dried rushes burst into flames at the touch of a lit torch. Bria pulled back slightly as Kenric loomed over her.

“It’s good to see you again, Lady Bria.” His smile only added to her terror. She remembered too vividly how he’d coldly struck down the herbalist. And Mary...

“What do you want?” she demanded with as much courage as she could muster.