Page 43 of To Charm a Dark Prince

After the two pies were gone, eagerly gobbled up by the dogs, she even let one of them hop up and lick her face. She did seem to adore them. And Mordred could tell that it was easily and instantly requited. Although, he should not be so surprised. There were precious few creatures of flesh and blood that called his keep their home.

The animals did not take kindly to his armored creations.

“Thank you.” She smiled at him again. “For not keeping me locked up in a cell, or…torturing me, or putting me in the Crystal.”

“Do not thank me. You simply have not yet had reason to suffer the weight of my cruelty.” He kicked himself mentally as he watched her expression fade again to one of nervousness. “For the moment, I have no reason to be unkind to you. I do not believe you have come here to Avalon of your own volition.” He reached out and petted one of his hounds. “I believe you know more than you are telling me, however.”

“I—um—”

“No.” He lifted his clawed hand to silence her. “Do not lie to me. Do not make excuses. You are protecting yourself and your own safety. I cannot fault you for it.”

She smiled at him. It broke something in him he had not known was left to shatter. “You don’t seem like the asshole everybody makes you out to be.”

“Thank you. I suppose.” He studied her for a long moment, the hope that perhaps he could trust someone, finally, after all the centuries, clawing at him again, scratching at the door to his soul like an impatient animal.

He was a fool. A total, utter, complete idiot. With a breath, he shut his eyes and gave up. Opening the gate to the kennel, he let the four dogs free to run about the courtyard. One of them, the bigger male named Eod, was dancing around Gwen. He was smitten with the young woman.

With a slowly building sense of impending dread, Mordred wondered if the dog was alone in that or not.

He needed some time to think. “I must leave you for the afternoon. I have business to attend. Will you join us for dinner?”

“Us?” She looked up at him curiously.

“My knights. Those who remain in the keep at the moment.”

“Oh.” She smiled. “Sure. I can spend an afternoon playing withthis big puppy,huh?” She ruffled Eod’s ears.

“His name is Eod.” Mordred tried not to feel jealous of the dog’s receipt of her attention. Though he did not much wish for her to speak to him like he was an infant. “And he is hardly a puppy.”

“Nope. All dogs are puppies.” She seemed quite sure of herself on that topic, and he did not have the heart to argue with her over it. “Some are just older than others.”

By the Ancients, he needed to put distance between them before he threw her over his shoulder and brought her to his bed.

“Have a good afternoon, Gwen.” Without another word, he walked away from her, desperate to get some air and to clear his head.

“Um—bye,” she called after him.

Cursing himself, he marched to the keep, one question burning in his mind.Damn it all to the pits, what am I to do now?

THIRTEEN

“My lady?”

Someone nudged Gwen in the shoulder. She hummed, lifting her head. She had launched into an epic game of stick with Eod before they had gone inside. After that, she had sat down on a sofa next to a fire, the dog curled up next to her, and that must’ve been enough for her to doze off. It had been an exhausting day so far, to be fair.

The dog in question was upside down, legs stuck up in the air at odd angles, next to her, snoring. She smiled.

A suit of armor was standing in front of her. He bowed his head. “The prince invites you to join him for supper.”

Was it that late already? She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. “Yeah, sure. Sorry.” Standing, she smoothed out her clothes and her cape, and then ruffled the dog’s ears. “Hey, buddy. Dinner time.”

That got the dog awake in an instant. In a tangle of long limbs, he was up and shaking himself off. The armor bowed again, and turned to lead her to the great hall.

When she walked in, the dog let out a loudboofand ran into the room, nails scrabbling on the wood floor. It was only when she saw the direction the dog was going in that she realized there were more people in the room than she expected.Oh, right. The other knights.

Mordred sat at the head of the table, staring sourly at his goblet. There were three other men in the room, one of whom she recognized as Galahad. She had seen one of the others, the man in silver, the night she had been chained to the post in the village. But he had been in full armor and, to be fair, they hadn’t really exactly met. The other was a stranger.

The man in silver had dark brown hair and glistening eyes that looked like the molten metal he represented. He looked young, with a friendly face and a bright smile. The word for him wasdashing, there was no other option. He was the one that Eod had run over to greet, and he was now happily scratching the animal’s head and letting the dog lick his cheek. “Hello, Eod! My lovely gentleman, who let you in, hm? I certainly won’t complain. But you know how Mordred is about you being underfoot.”

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