Once Upon a Romance 03 - With True Love's Kiss Read Free Page A

I wish to speak with Nieve alone. And then,” he said, oozing foul
innuendo, “she will be utterly at your disposal, Marquise, for whatever small
service you may require.” His downward flick of the eyes left no doubt as to
what he was implying.
    Barclay
turned red at the king’s insinuation. With his back ramrod straight he made a
short, choppy bow, and then turned to leave with the rest of the nobles. The
only softening in his mein came when he looked at Bianca. Regret and pity
flashed briefly across his face, and then he was gone, along with everyone
else.
    The door
thudded shut behind the last pair of prying eyes, and Brannon was released from
his only constraint. His hand flew through the air, smashing into Bianca’s
face. Her blood pounded in her ears and her cheek throbbed, but there was no
time to react to the pain. Her father’s hands closed with bruising force around
her upper arms, and yanked her forward so that he could snarl in her face.
    “How dare
you?” His voice was harsh, and his eyes wide and wild. “Do you think I don’t
see what you’re doing?”
    “I… I’m
sorry, father… I won’t ever use that name again.” Bianca stammered, trying to
placate him. He had never reacted so violently about her name before.
    “Do you
think I care about your foolish little rebellion concerning your name?!” He
thundered at her, then sneered in disdain. “Rest assured, all you do when you
insist on that base, common name is remind everyone of your heritage. Of that
slut who carried you in her belly.” He yanked her around and held her chin so
that she was forced to look up at the dais. His fingers bit cruelly into her
jaw, while his voice hissed in her ear. “I sit on that throne, certainly, but
no one forgets where the rest of your blood came from. You will never sit
there. Never.” He jerked her back around to face him. “No matter how many
courtiers you cozen.”
    He threw her
violently aside, and she collapsed against the marble floor. Then the king
strode away, his boot heels clicking on the shining black surface, without ever
looking back to see where his daughter fell.

Chapter 3
    Robin
watched through half-lowered lids as Marquise Barclay helped Bianca stumble
down the hall, back to her quarters. He could see that the girl hadn’t been
badly hurt; she seemed more stunned and upset than anything. Thank the moon and
stars. If Bianca had been seriously injured during her private audience with
the king, he’d have gotten an earful from the Dame.
    That thought
made him grit his teeth. His position here was pointless. He let his feet carry
him towards the mews as his mind worried at the issue. A huntsman was
excellently placed to help Bianca outside of the castle, but the greatest
danger to her was from the man who sat on the throne. In his current guise,
Robin could almost never be there when Bianca was in the king’s presence. The
best he could do was lurk outside the throne room and hope to be able to
intervene if Brannon lost control completely.
    Worse yet,
he still had no idea why the girl was so important. The Dame had told him to
come, and so he came. She told him to protect Bianca, and so he did, to the
best of his abilities. But she wouldn’t tell him why, and Robin was growing
frustrated. He had been trained to guide monarchs, manipulate events, and set
the course of history, not to babysit some meek mouse of a girl. His skills
could be put to use in so many places; why was he lurking in palace halls and
arranging hawking expeditions?
    The mews
were boisterous at feeding time, and the noise of the hungry falcons was
raucous. Robin nodded a brief greeting to the boys tossing meat scraps and
climbed the stairs to the upper levels, where the messenger birds were kept
along with any injured hunting birds. He threw seed to the pigeons, and then
took up a heavy leather glove and allowed Soar to hop over to his fist.
    Soar was a
beautiful peregrine falcon. She had been injured on the last