Hearts Across Time (The Knights of Berwyck: A Quest Through Time Novel ~ Books 1 & 2) Read Free

to feel its warmth.
    “Then a car horn sounded out on the street and brought me back to my senses. I know this may seem odd, but I never felt at such a loss as when I found myself sitting back at my desk,” Katherine said with a trace of sadness to her voice. She finished in a hushed whisper. “I still can almost feel the heat of his touch.”
    Brianna and Emily could only stare at her, their mouths open yet silent. Juliana gave a small smile and drank her coffee, having already heard the story more than once.
    Before anyone could speak, Katherine continued. “I suppose it explains much of why I can’t fall in love with a modern man, when none of them can even begin to measure up to what I experienced then, if only for an instant.”
    “It’s almost too much to believe,” Emily said, the first to recover from Katherine’s story. “I know you would never lie to us. I just wish something like that would happen to me.”
    “No wonder you’re always saying you were born in the wrong century, Katie, if you have these kinds of visions,” sighed Brianna. “I mean, you should have seen your face while you were talking about him. It completely transformed to show so much longing while your words poured out from your heart. If only time travel were possible. You could go back and find him.”
    “Wouldn’t that be somewhat messing with the whole fabric-of-time issue?” Emily replied sarcastically.
    “Not if she was really meant to go back, it wouldn’t!” Brianna retaliated.
    “Ladies, let’s get a grip on the conversation shall we? Since we can’t obviously go back in time, and our knights have all turned a little rusty, I say there is only one conclusion for our vacation together,” Juliana said, as if the decision, in all their minds, had already been made.
    “Bamburgh!” The four women replied in unison and raised their cups in a unified salute of agreement.
    Katherine looked at her best friends with hopeful eyes. To Bamburgh they would go, and at long last, she would have a stamp in her otherwise empty passport. She could at the very least then say she had been somewhere in her life where medieval English history had once been made. It was more than she could ever hope for, and a slow smile lit Katherine’s face. For what her friends didn’t know, since she had kept the secret to herself, was that the handsome knight she had envisioned at Bamburgh…well…he was the very same knight from her dreams.

Chapter 2
    The Year of Our Lord’s Grace 1179
    Berwyck Castle
    R iorden de Deveraux strode sure-footed in his steps along the narrow parapet walkway. He nodded to the guards he passed, who stood at their posts as lookout for any who approached the castle grounds. Yet, no enemy came near, and none had for several years. Berwyck’s people had known only peace and prosperity while under the careful watch of the first Earl of Berwyck. One with any sense would think twice afore attempting to take any lands claimed by the Devil’s Dragon.
    Riorden chuckled at the thought of his lifelong friend. At the prime of his career as champion for King Henry II, he had been called the Devil’s Dragon of Blackmore and had quite the reputation of instilling fear into those around him. Dristan still held such a reputation in some of those same circles, but if the truth were to be told, his lord had become a bit domesticated of late. Such is the fate of a married man , Riorden supposed. Yes, the cause could almost certainly be laid at the feet of Dristan’s beautiful wife, Amiria, or mayhap, even fatherhood. Still, Riorden would never underestimate Dristan in the lists, for that is when one ended up on one’s backside in the dirt. Dristan radiated sheer power and a fierceness with which few could contend. ’Twas considered a privilege to train with the man, and more so to call him a friend, although not many could claim such a kinship.
    With a shake of his head, he turned his gaze south and watched as the ocean waves