Page 38 of The Herald's Heart
The following afternoon, with the sun casting shadows in the bailey, Larkin waited for her escort to bring her a horse. She was on her way to gather burn blooms and, in the interest of peace, accepted the company of the young knight Cleve assigned to guard her. She paced the courtyard in front of the main keep. Had Talon believed all she’d told him? She wanted to be known as Lady Larkin Rosham and longed to be regarded as an honest, trustworthy person. Yet he was the only person who regarded her as such. She was uncertain his regard alone was enough.
She continued pacing an ever-lengthening path until she reached the far edge of the practice field.
Talon, shirtless save for a leather jerkin, spoke with a young lad, no more than a stripling, showing him a halberd. The weapon was nearly twice as long as the boy was tall. Nonetheless, Talon had the youth grasp the thick pole beneath one arm and support it with the other. Then the knight took the weapon and wrapped the sharp blade at the end with wool batting and cloth.
He gave the blunted pole arm back to the boy. Talon took up a similarly blunted halberd and walked to the opposite side of the practice field. He set his own weapon in the fashion that he’d shown the lad and motioned for the youth to charge. As soon as the stripling gained momentum, Talon, too, charged.
The poles clashed. A flurry ensued as man and boy continued to rush at each other. Then the boy was flat on his back with Talon’s blunted halberd point pressed to his neck. The youth’s own halberd lay tossed a man’s length from him.
Larkin had seen men practice with weapons before, but to pit a battle-hardened warrior against a youth seemed grossly unfair to her, even if the weapons were blunted. So she would tell him as soon as she returned.
Talon lifted his weapon and gave the boy a hand to his feet. They resumed their places and charged once more.
This time, the boy ceased his charge halfway then set his weapon on the ground, bracing it between his legs. He guided the distant end of the halberd with his hands, and Talon, who continued charging, could do naught to avoid running on the blunted tip. The impact unbalanced him and forced him to drop his weapon. The boy was up in an instant, his halberd held to Talon’s chest.
She’d been wrong. Talon was teaching in the most effective way possible, by example and experience. Something twinged in her heart, something like regret and admiration combined. But she had no regrets where Sir Talon Quereste was concerned, had she?
The knight laughed, and the lad shouted his glee at having mastered the technique. Others who’d been watching slapped the boy on the back and cast good-natured jokes at Talon.
Her escort finally arrived with her horse, but Larkin continued to watch her knight.
Talon stripped off his jerkin, grabbed a bucket of water from the cistern, and dumped it over his sweaty form. Water droplets dallied like ladies’ fingers on the smooth skin and rippled muscles of his chest and arms. He shook the water from his hair, casting a diamond-bright spray that caused a brief rainbow to shimmer about his body. The water soaked his chausses, and they clung to his thighs like an impassioned woman. Larkin had a brief vision of Talon naked in the arms of some courtly lady.
Her heart clutched, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, the vision was gone. Talon stared at her, his glance sharp with hunger. His nostrils flared, as if scenting prey. He stepped toward her.
She turned to her escort. “I beg pardon for keeping you waiting. Let us leave now.” She was in the saddle, guiding her mount toward the great gate before Talon had taken three steps. She hurried ahead, not wanting her young guard to notice how breathless she was. Where was her courage? She’d nothing to fear, but she’d not been able to face Talon. His tenderness last night had made talking about those horrible days easier, but he’d also left her vulnerable. His trust created an even greater danger. Nothing, save the truth of her marriage to his father remained between them to defend her from his easy charm. She’d spent a restless night wishing for his company and his touch. She could not, must not want that. She was his stepmother. They could share nothing but friendship. Even were she able to have her marriage annulled, more than friendship would be unwise.
He was a king’s herald, and when his work was done, he would leave Hawksedge Keep for another task. She would remain, hopefully vindicated with her marriage annulled, and, if justice prevailed, in possession of her childhood home. ’Twas a good thing she would spend time alone in the wood. Mayhap she would spend the night at the abbey in contemplation of her future. A future that would not include Talon.
• • •
He let her go. He might want her in his bed, but he’d not allow desire to overcome duty or ambition. If he were lucky enough to hold Hawksedge one day, whether from his father or the king, Talon wanted the guard well trained. Before the incident with Aedwin, he’d had every intention of resuming his seduction of Larkin. Now he was less certain. He believed her claim to be Lady Rosham, but that meant he must deny his lust. Could he be satisfied with friendship, or less?
To avoid her now was wise. With every kiss, their physical yearnings grew. Laying with Larkin was no longer a matter of simple lust. Slaking that lust would complicate everything and endanger more than the fragile trust they shared.
The same was true of her search for that marriage box. His hope of gaining his home would burn to ash if she succeeded in finding it. So why let her search? Why put my dreams at risk for a woman?
Because Larkin wasn’t just any woman. She was extraordinary; just think what she’d suffered and survived. If she earned the victory she sought, he wanted to share in it. However, his own plans would either prevent her success or end in his own sorrow, destroying any chance of sharing her joys. They would end as enemies. All the more reason to keep his distance despite his body’s urgings.
Cleve approached with a cloth and a clean jerkin, and they shared a laugh over one of Cleve’s crude jokes while Talon rubbed his hair dry.
“Tell me,” Talon asked as he donned the jerkin, “why did you assign that young man as Lady Larkin’s escort? He’s the greenest of all the Hawksedge guards.”
“Albert begged it of me. He said he wanted to prove his worth to you. Since the lady goes no farther than the pool in the wood to gather flowers for the abbey, I figured they’d be safe enough.”
Talon studied the senior guard through narrowed eyes. “You are aware that she was attacked in the wood?”
“Aye, sir, that I am. But that attack came at dusk. Lady Larkin and Albert should return well before then, even with a stop at the abbey.”
Talon gave a single nod. “We’ll see. I would like to inspect the work of the keep and the town.”
Cleve blinked. “Ye want to inspect the work of the earl’s servants?”
“That is what I said. How soon can you be ready to accompany me?”
“Ye want me to go with ye?”
“Is something wrong with your hearing, Cleve?”
