The Mercenary's Claim Read online

  “True enough. Hugo presented his evidence. He showed the letter he received, signed by the king, telling him to take his forces and patrol the northern border. The king denied ever having seen it before.”

  “So that’s why, during the siege, my uncle never came to help.”

  “Just so. The king thought Hugo was coming to Reichhold. Hugo thought the king would intervene somehow, thus Gregor had a free field.”

  “And was it ever made clear what Gregor wanted?”

  “Only everything,” Gustav declared in disgust. “Your father’s lands, titles, everything.”

  “And the king would have stood idly by?” Kirsten sounded incredulous.

  “Gregor seems to have some sort of hold over His Majesty. Or perhaps they had a secret agreement that Gregor could take what he could grab on the sly with no official interference. Once your father was dead, with no direct heir, the other nobles wouldn’t object to Gregor taking over.”

  Kirsten nodded, finally understanding. “But once the other nobles realized what was happening, the king had to make a pretense of opposing him. He couldn’t risk all the wealthy and influential men in the land suddenly afraid of a ruler who would betray a loyal vassal so.”

  “Thus was the plot against us conceived. Gregor, thwarted in the siege, needed to discredit your father. Not easy to do, as Ludolf has always been the king’s man through and through.”

  “I wonder if he still will be after this?” Kirsten commented.

  “He will certainly keep his eyes more open, I’ll warrant,” Gustav returned.

  “You disproved the charges, did you not? Nothing more to fear from that quarter?”

  “No, indeed. At the proper time, Varin produced the vintner. He had been cooling his heels at Schoenfeld, under heavy guard. The poor man seemed to be under the delusion that he had been kidnapped and held for ransom. Took some convincing on my part, I can tell you, to make him see his hosts in a more congenial light. Once he saw everyone at court in their finery, he was duly impressed. I made sure he was allowed to meet with the royal wine steward and vintners. That pleased him no end. He cannot wait to begin at Schoenfeld.”

  “What says my uncle to the prospect of more wine being grown in the area?”

  “Perhaps he wasn’t best pleased, but he’d rather not have his brother-in-law knocking on his door, asking for alms, so Hugo held his peace. Your father’s lands will need time to recover from the constant warfare.”

  “But that will be over now, will it not? Gregor will trouble us no more.”

  “You have the right of it, though I do wish he’d gotten more of what he deserved.” Gustav scowled restively. “A broken nose and dislocated shoulder are not near punishment enough.”

  “What? Broken nose?”

  “And dislocated shoulder. Did I forget the last little incident?”

  Kirsten batted him on the shoulder in mock punishment. “Tell me!”

  “After my release, the king apparently desired to ensure we would not let this develop into some sort of blood feud. He ordered Gregor, Hugo, Varin and my humble self to bring in all our forces for joint training sessions. After three days of trying to outdo each other in every measure, a mock battle was planned.”

  “Oh, my!” Kirsten could only imagine the mayhem this would have occasioned.

  “Well said. I’ve seen real battles less furiously fought, but in the end, I cornered Gregor on the field and had at him, bare fisted. It was glorious!”

  Kirsten gave him a curious look. “I see no scars on you. Strange that not one of his blows found their mark.”

  “That was three weeks ago. I’ve healed. I had a few bruises. And I’ve still some tender places.” Gustav rose and took the goblet out of Kirsten’s hand. “Come, let me show them to you.”

  “I’d really rather not see,” Kirsten protested.

  Gustav, paying her no mind, stripped off his shirt. Placing her hands on his chest, he pulled her close to him.

  “I see no bruises,” Kirsten teased.

  “You’ll have to feel for them,” Gustav informed her.

  “I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

  Gustav nuzzled her neck invitingly. “What hurts me is not having felt your touch for what feels like a year.”

  “You missed my touch, did you? Then you should not have stayed gone so long in the south.” She stroked his chest, reveling in the power she felt as he growled his desire for her.

  “It won’t happen again, my lady. Of that, I assure you. Too prone to fall into mischief when we’re apart, that’s what you are.”

  “Mischief? You call being ambushed, taken prisoner, and chased across the countryside ‘mischief’?”

  “It certainly isn’t proper behavior for a lady.”

  “Neither is what I am doing now. Would you have me stop?”

  “Not on my life or sacred honor.”

  “Here is a change. You lecturing me on sacred honor and proper behavior for a lady. Will wonders never cease?”

  “I hope they will not. Especially not the wonder of your touch, the glory of your kiss.” Gustav kissed her then, pouring into the embrace all the passion and desire she had been missing since he left on his journey. Then his jovial grin took its normal place on his face. “But I am injured. I need to lie down.” After peeling off the rest of his clothing, he reclined on the bed.

  Kirsten looked at him and giggled. “You are finished? Just so?”

  “I, yes. You, no. You have your work cut out for you, as they say, My Lady. I hope it will not be too taxing a task.”

  “By the looks of you,” she said, eyeing him meaningfully, “my job’s half done.”

  He gave a bark of laughter, and then crooked his finger at her. “Do you recall our first time together? Had you told me that night that you would turn out to be the pleasure and joy that you are, I would have thought you moonstruck.”

  “I must be moonstruck to behave so shamelessly,” she replied, as she disrobed. “Perhaps you are moonstruck as well. That could be the source of your never-ending supply of grins.”

  He sucked in air when she stood there before him in all her glory, nothing hidden from his hungry eyes. Finally, he was able to gasp out, “Moonstruck indeed! I am seeing double! And may I never recover!”

  Laughing, Kirsten eased herself into a position that pleased them both immensely.

  * * *

  Three months later, the frost lay thick on the ground at Schoenfeld. A chill wind blew its portent of approaching winter, but Kirsten knew the afternoon might still be pleasant enough for her to ride without her heavy cloak. She turned to Frena and said as much.

  “I doubt that would be a good idea,” Frena replied. “Did Gustav not instruct you to dress warmly?”

  “You sound like Neslin, with her constant mothering. And why should Gustav care? He gives me strange looks and urges me to drink milk and rest all the time. Tiresome, I tell you! It will be fine today for the hunt. I mean to try out my new goshawk. I think she’s ready.”

  “It’s time to try her, certainly,” Frena assented, but Kirsten noticed a strange tone in her cousin’s voice.

  “You wonder how I come to have such a bird. You are, perhaps, amazed that I, who have gone hawking with the Lord Falconer of the realm and have trained merlins to my hand am to be content with a goshawk like any commoner.” She gave a merry laugh. “I suppose it is strange, but believe me, cousin, it is true. I have found in these last few months that there is much to be valued in every sort of creature, whether man, beast, or bird. I daresay I might prefer a goshawk even if the law allowed the wife of a mere knight to have any bird she chose.”

  “Quite the philosopher you have become,” Frena noted. “I suppose that comes with the experiences you have endured. Were they very terrible? You don’t speak much of them.”

  “It gives me no joy to remember how I was before, proud and uncaring, wrapped up in my own pursuits with no sense of purpose. Now, I am striving towards something, at the side of a
man who can strike an enemy down in one minute and the next rescue an innocent child.” Kirsten struck a dramatic pose for a moment before relaxing into laughter.

  “I recall no innocent children in your tale.” Frena was giggling as well.

  “That was just a manner of speaking,” Kirsten agreed. “He may have saved a child or two along the way, but mostly, he just keeps asking if I am with child. We had our first argument about that very subject, you know. He thought I was contriving to avoid having his babe.”

  Frena looked shocked. “You never did!”

  “Of course not! I want his child more than anything. And if you can keep a secret, I’ll tell you: I think it may have happened.”

  “You are carrying his child?”

  “It seems so.”

  “But he knows nothing?”

  “Not yet. I want to be sure before I tell him.”

  “Oh, surely he suspects.”

  “I doubt that. He has always promised me that when I am with child, he will treat me like a queen. Last night, he treated me the way no one dares treat a queen.” Kirsten shook her head ruefully.

  “You did provoke him, you know. If I had known you invited me here without his permission, I never would have come. I was rather surprised he didn’t send me straight home.”

  “That was his first thought. He said that he understood I needed a friend right now, but that was no reason to go behind his back. I don’t know what he meant by that, come to think of it. Strange thing for him to say. Still, it was with difficulty I convinced him not to punish you just because I had done wrong.”

  “I take it he did punish you?”

  Kirsten blushed with embarrassment at the memory. “And instructed me to tell you all about it. He’s going to ask you, so I have to give you the whole story, or he says he will repeat the process again tonight.”

  “Oh, my!”

  “So, tell you I will, no matter how difficult it may be to do so. He was, as you can imagine, very angry when he found that I had invited you without his permission. He pointed out that the king will be taking his pilgrimage to the abbey soon and that there are many more guards and other less savory sorts on the roads in consequence. I suppose it was wrong of me to ask you to come.”

  “I accepted your invitation knowing full well what I was doing. We were both taking chances.”

  “Well, he let me know in no uncertain terms that I am never to do such a thing again. He blistered my bare backside until I was kicking and screeching at him to stop. I tried to get away from him, too. Of course, it availed nothing at all. He went right on. When he finally let me up, he even made me stand at the mantel. He only does that when he really wants me to remember the lesson.”

  “Will you remember?”

  “Yes, indeed. Next time you come here, it will be with his full knowledge and consent.”

  “He’ll give it when you ask, you know. He’s completely smitten with you.”

  “Is he? I suppose so.”

  “As you are with him.”

  Kirsten nodded, but before she could answer a grinning Gustav came into the sitting room followed by an old woman in a plain white cap. “Kirsten, meet my newest acquisition. This is Griselda. Griselda, meet my lady wife, Kirsten and her cousin, Frena, here on a visit.”

  “Most pleased to meet you, I’m sure,” said the little woman, bobbing up and down trying to courtesy.

  “Pleased to meet you,” the other ladies chorused.

  “This is the case I told you about, Griselda.”

  “She don’t look silly to me, my lord,” replied the older Griselda. “Maybe she has her reasons.”

  “Reasons for what?” Kirsten asked.

  Gustav flashed them his jovial grin. “For trying, unsuccessfully, I might add, to keep your husband in the dark about your condition.”

  Kirsten gasped. “What condition? What do you mean, Gustav?”

  “Still trying to play coy? Come now, Kirsten, give over.” Gustav took her hand and kissed it sweetly.

  Frena laughed. “He knows.”

  “He can’t!” Kirsten replied. “Speak plainly, my lord! What are you talking about?”

  “Tell them, my dear Griselda. Tell them the occupation of my latest acquisition for our village.”

  “Me, my lord? Why I’m a mid-wife, I am.”

  “Yes, indeed, a mid-wife. We’ll be needing her soon, won’t we?” Gustav leaned over and gave his wife a hearty kiss on the lips to still her exasperated fussing.

  The End

  Stormy Night Publications would like to thank you for your interest in our books.

  If you liked this book (or even if you didn't), we would really appreciate you leaving a review on the site where you purchased it. Reviews provide useful feedback for us and our authors, and this feedback (both positive comments and constructive criticism) allows us to work even harder to make sure we provide the content our customers want to read. Reviewing stories you enjoyed also helps them sell better, which in turn leads to more high-quality work from your favorite authors in the future.

  Adding keywords and tags (on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.) really helps as well!

  If you would like to check out more books from Stormy Night Publications, if you want to learn more about our company, or if you would like to join our mailing list, please visit our website at:

  http://www.stormynightpublications.com

  More Books by Chula Stone

  A Bride for Ben

  The last thing Ben Tate was expecting to find deep in the Tennessee woods in the middle of winter was a beautiful young woman trying to plant seeds in the frozen ground. When he discovers that she is feverish and delusional, Ben takes her to the home he shares with the rest of the Tate family.

  After her fever breaks, Maggie awakens in a strange house in a strange bed. She finds that she is under the care of a firm-handed man who has no intention of letting her run off before she has fully recovered, even if that means a good hard spanking will be required to get the message across.

  As winter melts into spring and she is nursed back to health, Maggie grows fond of her strict but kind-hearted protector. Although he is hesitant to admit it, he seems to have taken quite an interest in her as well. Furthermore, she learns that her goal of stopping her uncle Milton from stealing her younger brother’s land is entwined with Ben’s quest to find the man who saved him from a prison camp during the Civil War. Will they find happiness together, or will their own stubbornness and Milton’s scheming tear them apart?

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  More Books by Chula Stone