Darkest Knight (16 page)

Edward shook his head. “He cared not for his wife. They couldn’t stand each other. But he is a prideful man and seeks to strike back at you.”

His brother was much as John remembered. Full of energy and unable to sit still. When he was thinking, he had to pace. All the Thorntons did.

“What do we do?”

“Denby is on a diplomatic mission. While he is gone, I will seek an audience with the king. Try to reason with him.” Edward scratched at his chin. “And offer him gold.”

Anna had now met all of John’s brothers except Christian. If things could be different…if she didn’t have to get back to her father, she could be happy here. She was surprised at how quickly she’d adapted to living without modern-day conveniences.

While she still thought longingly of hot showers, flipping the switch for power, ice cream, pizza, movies, and modern-day transportation, she had grown used to life here. And really, what was the use of complaining? It wasn’t like she could change anything.

Each one of his brothers was as breathtakingly handsome as the other. And they all were charming and kind. She wondered what Charlotte was doing. It felt good to have made a friend. Not just a friend, a sister. Charlotte assured her Lucy and Melinda were just as delightful. That they would welcome her with open arms. To have three friends would be more than she had in her life in Florida. Working all the time, she said no to most invitations. After a while, people stopped asking. It had taken Anna a long time to notice the invitations stopped. By the time she did, it was too late to do anything about it. Only Hattie remained.
 

She couldn’t even have a pet. Working so much wouldn’t be fair to an animal. When she was little, she had a dog and a cat. It would have been comforting to come home to a furry baby. Sometimes she talked to herself when there was no one else around. At least if she talked to a dog or cat, people wouldn’t think she was crazy.

She snorted.

“Is something amiss, mistress?”

“What?” Anna stretched. “No. I was just thinking.” She looked at the fabric in her hands. Her flower looked more like an abstract squiggle. The young girl teaching her to embroider…hers looked like something in a museum.

The girl frowned. “Mayhap if we try…”

“No. It’s hopeless, but thank you for trying to show me. Run along. I’m going to pull weeds.”

In a perfect world, her dad would be healthy and she would bring him to the past with her. He’d like it here. The fresh air and people. Too bad life rarely worked out the way you thought it should.

Like John. She wanted to believe he found her attractive, like he’d said he did, that he saw her for the person she was inside, but it was hard. She wasn’t being hard on herself; she’d seen how men coming into the diner hit on the other waitresses. No one ever hit on her. And if they did, it seemed like a token gesture. To think someone like him could find someone like her interesting and pretty turned her world upside down. She firmly believed actions spoke louder than words. So she would watch him and decide.

In the morning, Anna woke to the sound of men’s voices. The mason and his men were hard at work. She felt useless. She could sew, but only with a machine. And yesterday she’d found out she was dreadful at hand stitching. Anna didn’t even cook. She ate at the diner on the weekends, and during the week usually grabbed a frozen meal and threw it in the microwave. Pressed for time, she never found the time to cook a meal from scratch.

Everything in her life seemed to move faster and faster, and she always felt like she was falling behind. The couple of times she’d tried to help in the kitchen, she caused more trouble than she’d helped.

There was one thing she was good at—pulling weeds. Once she had someone show her what was a weed and what wasn’t, she passed her time pulling weeds to get the various small gardens ready to be planted. There would be flower gardens, vegetable gardens, herb gardens, and medicinal gardens. There were tons of weeds to pull. Seeing them pile up made her feel a useful member of Blackmoor.

Anna sat back on her heels and looked up at the sun.
 

“I thought I might find you here.” John knelt down and handed her a cup.

“Water for you, wine for me.”

She drank deeply. “You remembered.”

He stretched out on the ground beside her.

“How is your arm?”

She blushed. “You heard what happened in the kitchen.”

He turned his head, but she could see the smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“I think everyone heard.”

“I thought I was dumping the soup into the cauldron. How was I to know the handle would fall off?” She saw his shoulders shaking. “I know you’re trying not to laugh. But go ahead. It is kind of funny.”

He held his side, laughing. “They told me when the soup hit the floor, it covered everyone around you. But not a drop on you. I can see them with chunks of vegetables in their hair, dripping on the floor.” He laughed again, and she laughed with him.

“I think I should stay out of the kitchen. That’s why I’m out here. One of the girls showed me what was a weed and what wasn’t, so I’m pulling weeds.” She gave him a rueful smile. “I figure I can’t do too much harm out here.”

“Did no one teach you how to cook? To run a household?”

Anna shook her head. “No. My parents always struggled to make ends meet. There was never really enough money to go around, but somehow they scrimped and saved enough money for me to go to community college. We ate a lot of easy meals. Things like pasta and casseroles and frozen dinners. I never learned to cook. It’s not something you have to learn. And like I was telling you before, I went to a shop to buy clothing already made, so I never learned to sew.”

She yanked a clump of weeds and added it to the growing pile beside her. “I think I’m rather useless as far as skills go around here.”

“You are a lady. You do not need to know how to sew or to cook. As to managing a household, ’tis a skill that can be learned. Do not ever say you are not useful. I can think of no one else who could have rescued me from the tower. You must stop saying such things about yourself. ’Tis time you accept your own worth.”

“Women in my time are expected to be beautiful with amazing bodies. There’s so much pressure to be and look a certain way.” She touched his hand. “I’m trying to change.”

Anna leaned back and looked at him. “I heard some of the men talking. Are you sure there wasn’t anyone left from your camp in the woods?”

John let out a long sigh and was quiet for so long that Anna felt bad for asking. But she knew how he felt: the weight of responsibility weighing so heavily on your shoulders that sometimes you thought it would crush you to the ground.

“Nay. Rabbie survived. He works in the stables at Highworth. Robert will be good to him. My healer stayed and perished with those who were ill. I have sent many inquiries, but the soldiers did their work well. None survived. If by chance any did survive, they are likely still in hiding and may never find me. At least not until they know if I will live or die.”

She reached up and touched his cheek, feeling the stubble. How many times had someone seen that look on her face? Before she could think better of it, Anna leaned down and lightly brushed her lips over John’s. His lips were firm and he smelled like horses and green things. She leaned back, keeping her eyes closed, afraid she would open them and see a look of disgust on his face.

“Open your eyes, Anna,” John said softly.

She opened one eye and then the other, not daring to say a word.

“I would gladly find myself imprisoned again for one of your kisses, freely given.”

And didn’t that just make her go weak in the knees?

All through supper that night, Anna kept touching her face. She couldn’t believe she’d found the confidence to kiss John. It was the first time in her life she’d ever kissed a man first. And he hadn’t pulled away or had a disgusted look on his face. He said he’d go to prison to kiss her again. Was it possible? Was she really not as unattractive as she thought? Her worldview shifted every so slightly.

She had trouble sleeping. Tossing and turning, thinking about him. The two of them together. What her life might be like if she stayed. In the end, she decided it would be up to the fates to decide. She would try to go back, and if she could she would. She owed it to her dad. But if she couldn’t, then she would know she had done all she could, and she would make her life here with a clear conscience.

After being stuck in the bog, she was hesitant to wear a dress to travel. John argued with her, but after she told him her fears, he gave in. She braided her hair down her back, and wore the tunic and hose she had swiped before. How the women got them clean was magic in her book. John assured her the boy had been given a new set of clothes. And when she fessed up about the gold, he smiled. Said he expected her to do nothing less. How would she purchase food and lodging along the way if she didn’t have money?

Full from breakfast, she waited in the courtyard for John to appear. The horses were ready—she would ride her horse this time. The thought made her a little bit nervous, but she was willing to try. It was time to try new things.

She offered a carrot to Black Horse. “I’m going to trust you know what you’re doing. So you’re in control, but don’t throw me off and we’ll be fine, okay?”

The horse twitched an ear, contentedly munching the carrot.

As John approached, she saw he wore his cloak, which was odd, given how warm it was today.

“I know we’re leaving today…if you come back, he will be waiting for you.”

From under the cloak, he produced a small brown dog. The dog ran around in circles when he set it on the ground. He was adorable with his tail wagging a hundred miles a minute and his floppy tan ears. He licked her hand.

“I’ve never had a dog before. He’s very small. Is he a baby?”

“’Tis not quite a year old. I thought he would be company for you.”

When she stood up, wiping her face where the dog had licked her, she saw him watching her.

He spoke in a low voice so no one else would hear. “I know you want to go home, so I wish it for you too. The man could not afford to feed the dog, so I took him. Trust I will take good care of him when you are gone.”

Anna patted the dog, stroking the soft fur. “You’re a beautiful boy. Be good.” She leaned down, kissing him on the top of his head.
 

“Thank you. It was very kind of you.”