Ice Maiden (3 page)

“First off Captain, I don’t wear garters.
Secondly, the Lady seems to have run off her share of the
upstarts.”

His knowing gaze swept over her like a north
wind. Amy managed to swallow her humor behind her hand and fake a
cough. Stars, what a prickly mess she landed in. The Captain huffed
a few more times at Randall who sat there scrutinizing them both as
if they were the enemy camp.

“She has done no such thing!” The Captain’s
gallant protest for her benefit was lost on Randall.

“Let us be serious, Captain. The ruse is up.
I do naught know why the Lady chose to act as she has,” Bern took
in both their expectant gazes before continuing. “...but, my good
Captain, the game is up.”

A kind of numb shock settled over Amy for
everything that happened since her awareness of this man came into
focus. She tried to rise with the sick panic that took hold of her,
but Randall must have sensed her intent. His grip on her arm held
her in the chair and actually grew painful.

“No more running and coy escapes, dear
Lady.”

Amy shivered under the threat his
pronouncement held.

“Make yourself clear, Laird Randall.”

“I intend to, Captain Lansing.”

Amy couldn’t avoid the commanding blue eyes
that pinned her in silence. “My intentions are to wed Lady Amelia
as soon as the banns are read and not a day later.”

“What!”

Amy felt herself sink back, all the strength
she acquired deserted her under his declaration.

“Be silent, Captain! Your protests are
useless, the Lady has already agreed.” She again suffered his
penetrating gaze. “Besides, even should the Lady have second
thoughts, our time together out on the hills, this morn, insures my
claim will remain.”

The Laird couldn’t have been more crudely
blunt than if he came right out with graphic detail of their
coupling. The Captain physically paled as he fell back into his
seat in open mouth astonishment. “‘Tis this true, Lady Amelia?”

The condemnation in the old man’s eyes made
Amy look to Randall for support, a mistake she couldn’t take back,
she played right into his hands.

“As you can well see Captain, it is true.”
Bern’s lips kissed the trembling fingers in his hold, a hold she
would never again escape? The real Lady Amelia would probably kill
Amy for what she just allowed to happen.

“Lass, you had best go to your chambers while
the Laird and I discuss the details of your wedding.” Amy’s
apologetic eyes fell beneath the old man’s dismissal. She wanted to
tell him how sorry she was, but knew she couldn’t. She didn’t even
know why she should be sorry, unless....

Her tempered gaze jerked accusingly up at
Bern. Had Lady Amelia succumb to the man’s charm before Amy arrived
on the scene? Her own cheeks fired over the memory of what his
kisses did to her. Staring at him, his smile deepened for what she
knew he saw in her eyes. Rogue? Ack, he was so much more. And she
was the fallen Lady of the castle.

Rising on unsteady legs Amy called on all her
remaining composure not to disgrace what pride Lady Amelia still
might have left to her name.

Laird Randall and the Captain rose beside
her.

“Lady Amelia, I will move my men within the
keep walls by nightfall.”

She felt the Captain stiffen over the Laird’s
decree. Feeling she owed the old man something, “Is that really
necessary?”

“Aye my Lady, I will naught have my future
bride stolen away by some prior suitor or any man that feels
obliged to try the walls of your castle.”

“I see.” What could she say? She had no idea
if his arguments were legitimate.

“Of course, they will be under your Captain’s
authority for the time being.”

Amy looked at the Captain for his reaction to
what she felt was Randall’s concession. The resigned nod he gave
her made her cringe inside. Amy felt she needed to say something.
The Captain had obviously been the Lady’s guardian for years and
cared for her more than just a servant might.

“Laird Randall, I expect your men to
understand their place while within the keep. Should the Captain
have any problem with them you are not to interfere in any
discipline he feels necessary.” She could tell the Laird didn’t
like her interference. “And should they get out of hand, the
Captain has my authority to send your men back to the woods.”

The flash of anger in his eyes cooled before
he bowed before her. “Of course, Lady Amelia, but should I feel
your welfare is in jeopardy, I am sure the Captain will agree to
whatever actions I feel are necessary to rid the area of
danger.”

His eyes challenged her to refute his
authority, Amy knew she couldn’t. “I am sure neither of us would
question your command, if the need arises.” Amy looked at the
Captain and felt relieved to see his face more relaxed.

“As you say, my Lady, we would not think of
questioning the Laird’s authority in such circumstances.” Amy felt
she’d not mistaken the man’s sarcasm, deciding it was probably
deserved where Laird Randall was concerned.

“My Lady, I will fetch Mistress Tilly to
escort you to your chambers.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

She felt Bern come up behind her when the
Captain left them. He was so close she could smell the woodsy scent
from the glen still clinging to his hair. She tried desperately not
to let him see how nervous he made her.

“Your wiles will not work on me, Amelia. I
warn you, do not try to foil me, you will be my wife.”

Her pride came forward against the man’s
obvious desire to dominate her will. “Do you always threaten your
intended bride, Laird Randall?”

Bern leaned down so his lips were but a
breath from her ear. “As I have never had one before, I cannot
honestly answer. But in your case it is a precaution I dare not
proceed without.”

The thick stone walls and straw strewn floors
no longer held any interest for Amy, all her attention was captured
by the man intent on becoming the husband of a woman she somehow
became!

Seeing her distress, Mistress Tilly sent all
the ladies away from the chambers, leaving Amy alone with her
troubled pacing. Where the solitude should have helped her sort out
some of what happened Amy only found herself adrift in a sea of
unanswerable questions.

“How did I come to be here?” After falling
into an exhausted sleep, yesterday, Amy woke to find she still
remained.

Again she turned to walk the cool stone floor
of Lady Amelia’s chamber. The tower rooms were awash in the noon
sun flooding through the stained glass windows. Each of the
circular panes were set strategically in the three outside castle
walls to capture the sun’s warmth and light at all angles. The room
was large and impressive, with a huge fireplace at its inner wall.
The sleeping chamber set back in a raised alcove. A huge bed took
up the entire space, great heavy drapes hung from the ceiling to be
closed for complete privacy.

Amy’s fingers absently ran over the elaborate
stitches grazing the sheets and pillows.

Wrapping her arms about her, her eyes swept
over the delicate feminine items about the area. The embroidery
stand with its unfinished piece, the gold-inlaid lute leaning up
against the wall, to the veiled pearl and velvet head pieces
hanging from wall pegs beside the lady’s setting table. “Where did
you go, Amelia?”

Amy didn’t want to ponder what might have
happened to either of them. What she couldn’t avoid was the
present. Nothing and everything said she was really here, in what
appeared to be the fifteenth century. The castle was Morgan Castle,
of that she was positive. Though she never really saw so much of it
intact, she couldn’t be wrong. She couldn’t dispute the obvious
that everyone believed her to be Lady Amelia Morgan, not Amy
Bonner, Professor of Archeology, in Wales on a dig in 2009.

“Peter...” Amy cringed at the unwanted memory
and the events she refused to let invade her mind. With them came
fears she refused to deal with right now. “The beast--Oh, Amy what
has happened to you? I’m not going back, am I?” The lack of answers
didn’t change her fate. “What am I going to do? And that, that
Randall! What in the world can I do about him?”

“I told you before Amelia--nothing.”

Amy spun about and had to grip the bed drape
to keep from falling. “You! How did you get in here? Get out!”

Bern planted his booted foot on the hearth,
his body coiled tight, ready to prevent the flight he saw in her
eyes. “Who is Peter?”

Her sharp intake of breath vibrated between
them. “No one.” She hated the breathless shaking in her voice,
knowing he heard it too. How much more did he hear? She tried to
remember what she might have said aloud.

Straightening before his piercing gaze, Amy
attempted more confidence than she felt. “Leave my chamber, Lord
Randall.” His casual stance in her room irked her beyond belief. On
top of everything else, dealing with his inflated ego was more than
she could tolerate.

“And if I don’t? Will you summon your aging
Captain? He is a good man, but you have both taken quite a risk in
hoping he could protect you much longer.”

“You really are insufferable! How can you
stand living with yourself? I’m surprised your ego hasn’t killed
itself off!”

“Such sharp words, but then I guess I do
deserve your ire for destroying your self-imposed fortress.

“Why you--you--Get out!” Her temper kept
rising, even knowing what it cost her in the past didn’t tame its
fire against his arrogant hide. “In fact, get out of my life!”

“Tch, tch, such spirit, I do hope you save
some for our wedding night. I so love your passionate side.”

Amy’s cheeks burned under his seductive gaze.
Unconsciously, she sought something that she could pick up and
throw at him. But remembering what just his touch could do to her
she stopped herself from reaching for the metal goblet by the
bed.

“You know, Amelia, or should I call you Amy,
it does fit you better, yes Amy, I like the sound of it.”

So he heard. Her arms wrapped around her
waist to keep herself from swaying.

“As I was saying--Amy. I am beginning to
doubt the claim of a distant betrothed in your life. In fact, I
think he was a figment of you and your Captain’s vivid imagination
to keep all curious suitors away.”

“That’s absurd.”
Wasn’t it?
Amy prayed
he didn’t see the question in her own mind. Heavens it could very
well be as he said and he knew more than she did of Lady
Amelia.

“Nay Amy, in all honesty it really was quite
brilliant. An aging Captain of the guards, with hardly an army to
back him, left to defend a maid’s honor, what better lie to help
keep her safe. Tell me, what ruined your ploy?”

Amy couldn’t stop from moving away from his
unrelenting gaze. “I don’t know what you are talking about, you
heard the Captain, he died.”

“If he were a real man, to do such an
unforgivable thing, how long ago did he meet his demise?”

Trapped! Nothing she gave as an answer would
do. “It hardly matters now.”

To her relief, “You are right of course, it
doesn’t have any bearing on the present. But this Peter might, or
should I call him, The Beast?”

The only credit Amy could give herself was
that she didn’t faint before his probe. She made herself meet his
hard gaze to stay him from advancing on her.

“Is it silence then, Amy? To let me draw my
own conclusions might be worse than the truth?”

He waited for her answer, but Amy pressed her
lips tighter, she had no way to appease his curiosity.

“You must enjoy testing my patience--you see
Amy, you are leaving me no choice but to kill the man, should he
appear.”

The protector and slayer of her beast
?
Feelings were becoming reality. Amy wondered what he would do, if
she gave him her approval to do just that should Peter arrive.

It took all of Bern’s control not to go to
her and shake the truth from her succulent body. What he really
wanted to know was if the hatred he saw sparking those bejeweled
orbs shined for him or for the man she spoke of with so much
emotion. If her ruse to fend off all suitors had been because of a
lover she pined for, Bern knew, he could very well slay the man on
sight.

Whatever he meant to her, the Lady wasn’t
going to be bullied into telling him. Bern smiled, there are many
ways to learn what I want--Amy!

The shaking inside her was winning and Amy
felt at a loss as to how to get rid of him. “Is there anything
else, Lord Randall?”

She could chill a man to his bones when she
took a mind to. “Just that I will fetch you for the feast tonight.
Captain Lansing thought it would be prudent to announce our
engagement immediately.”

Her brow arched in speculation over the
Captain’s part in the evening plans. “Then I suggest you leave, so
I can get ready.”

When he pushed off the hearth she forced
herself not to back away.

“There are still many hours before the
feast.”

He kept walking towards her, “I--it takes me
a very long time to dress.”

“Really? Ah, but then this is your engagement
feast, you will want to look extra beautiful tonight.”

Amy felt her knees wobbling as he stopped in
front of her. The back of his hand brushed her cheek. “But I cannot
imagine you being any lovelier except to lay naked in my arms.”

Oh stars, his lips were burning her
brow--temple, “Please...stop.”

“I do naught think I ever want to stop where
you are concerned.”

Closing her eyes she tried so hard not to
give in the shattering sensations he created inside her, but his
lips were playing havoc with her sensitive eye lids.

“Like satin Amy, all softness and
warmth...”

“Ah, here ye be Lady, I have summoned your
bath up, and Lord Randall, how fortunate I have found ye, Captain
Lansing is in the yard bellowing like a wounded stag about your
men, ready to send them right back to the forest he is.”