Page 263 of Historical Hotties
“You have five brothers?” Caledonia asked.
“Six,” Nicola said. “Keats is the youngest brother and is a trainer at Kenilworth Castle. He is Blackchurch trained, like Thor and Taite, and commands a high price as a trainer. Papa is very proud of him.”
Caledonia looked at her curiously. “Blackchurch?” she repeated. “I do not know what that is.”
“A training guild for elite knights,” Thor said. “They only train the best of the best. I was trained there along with Taiteand Keats, but John and Hart did not make it. Brian’s injury prevented him from the intense training of Blackchurch.”
“What do you mean, John and Hart did not make it?”
“They failed. If you fail at Blackchurch, they banish you.”
“Is it terribly difficult?”
Thor nodded. “Blackchurch knights command a very high price because they have been so intensely trained,” he said. “We can withstand anything. We know everything. We can accomplish anything. Why do you think I was so successful as a mercenary?”
On the road ahead, someone was shouting that that took Thor’s attention. Caledonia watched him charge up to the front of the escort, unable to take her eyes off him. She had no idea that, beside her, Nicola was watching her. When she felt Thor’s sister grasp her hand, the spell was broken and she looked at Nicola only to see that the woman was grinning at her.
“I think you are starting to look at my brother the way I look at Darius,” Nicola said.
Caledonia cocked her head. “How is that?”
“You look at him as if you adore him.”
Caledonia’s cheeks flamed in an instant and she lowered her gaze, away from Nicola’s probing eyes. “He… he is one of the only people in my life who has ever been truly kind to me,” she said. “Sometimes I still cannot believe he is real.”
“Heisreal.”
“And you are not just saying that because he is your brother?”
Nicola giggled. “What would you have me say?” she said. “Do you want to know the truth? I was born when Thor was twenty years of age. I was a very late baby for my parents and my mother told me that I was attached to Thor, even as an infant. Of course, he was training and doing things that knights do, so he was not home a good deal of the time, but when he was, he and I were inseparable. I love all of my brothers, but Thor has alwaysbeen my favorite. You ask if he is real… He is very real. And very kind. But I will warn you—it takes a good deal to anger him, but when his temper is unleashed, you do not want to be anywhere near him. He is positively terrifying.”
Caledonia tried to catch another glimpse of him. “He has had ample opportunity to become enraged at me, but he has not,” she said. “The man has the patience of a saint.”
“He does,” Nicola agreed. “But he does not for people who cross him. Or his enemies. I have heard my father tell tales ofEl Martillo.”
“He told me about his life as a mercenary.”
Nicola didn’t reply. She fell silent as Caledonia continued to peer from the window, catching sight of Thor up near the front of the escort in conversation with another knight. But the few moments of silence were broken by Nicola’s soft voice.
“Callie,” she said quietly, “we have spent a week together and I like you a great deal. But the truth is that I do not know you well. I have never seen my brother so happy, so I will say this to you—thank you for making him so. Thank you for bringing joy into his life because he deserves it. I pray that the two of you always know this happiness. But I swear, by all that his holy, if you betray him or hurt him in any way, I will kill you myself.”
Caledonia looked at her, sharply, only to see that she was completely serious. It was a hard expression, something Caledonia had never seen on Nicola’s face before. Rather than become offended by her statement, however, she was touched by it. She knew it was from the heart, from a sister who loved her brother, so she took it very seriously.
“I have made mistakes in my life,” she said softly. “I have not been as kind as I could have been, or attentive, or even thoughtful. You know that my life has been… difficult, and I will not explain things to you again, but suffice it to say that I would not knowingly hurt Thor. Not when he has shown me a side tolife that I did not know to exist. I will always try to make him happy, I promise. I hope you believe me, because it is true.”
Nicola smiled weakly. “I believe you,” she said. “But I had to say it. My brother means a good deal to me.”
“And to me.”
“I can tell.”
Caledonia smiled bashfully. “Mayhap you can, but can he?”
Nicola laughed. “Have you not seen the way he looks at you?” she said. “Callie, he is positively smitten. He is probably already in love with you.”
Those words hit Caledonia hard.He is probably already in love with you. No one had ever been in love with her before. To her knowledge, no one had ever loved her before except for Constantine. And maybe her mother.
But no one else.
