The Troubadour's Romance Read Free Page B

unless you would consider my father ’ s close guard a prison, for he would smite a fair space between your ears should you help me from this perch. ”
    “ Ah, but does no one threaten you? I would take him to task, kill him, and lay him at your feet, and your father would gift me with your hand. ”
    She laughed again, giving her head a toss that sent ripples through her hair and lit her turquoise eyes with a wicked light. She knew these games well and played them easily. To her credit, she was bright and full of wit, finding good sport in every circumstance. She feigned thoughtfulness. “ Three older brothers oft plague me. They are knights of Henry and, far too strong for me to best. Would you hold them at a distance, kind sir, that I might flee with you? ”
    The young man, pretty of looks and large of build in his own right, gulped hard as laughter rose among his fellows. “ What cruel jibes you hurl, madam, to taunt me with a father and three brothers that would keep me from you. ” He turned toward his group. “ Who has a gift I might give the lady to show my earnest? ”
    Fe lise clapped her hands together in delight . One of the knights helping the merchant tossed a glazed loaf to a horsed knight who tossed it to her suitor. He looked up at her, smiling, pressed his lips fondly to the bread, then tossed it to her. She caught it easily and some of the men cheered.
    “ What, sir knight? Am I to treasure this meager loaf as your honest proposal? Would you have me hold it close to my bosom and cherish it, or am I to devour it quickly? I am accustomed to richer gifts. ”
    “ But I am a poor knight, ” he ar gued. “ Richer for having looked on your beauty. ”
    “ Bed the wench another time, ” a voice cracked above the chatter. “ The day is late and we are without means to find a meal and rest until this man ’ s loss is satisfied. ”
    Fel ise ’ s countenance jerked from the playful young knight to the leader of their troop. He sat taller in his saddle than the others and there was a stern set to his mouth. He seemed more impatient by this trifling than angry, but it was clear he was done with foolery and ready to move past the insulted merchant.
    “ Sir Royce, ” the young knight beseeched, “ I can neither move my mount toward the trouble to give assist, nor get us to yon inn with haste. In this brief time I am blinded by beauty and cannot move. ”
    There were chuckles again from the group as Sir Royce lifted his eyes to look at Felise . She could see they were a deep and hardened brown even from her distance. His brown brows were bushy and thick and drawn together as he studied her at his leisure. Her playfulness seemed to wane as she stared at him. His shoulders were broad, his face was square, and the hands that held the reins were large and tan. Thick brown hair fell over his brow. Slowly he formed a smile that seemed almost sarcastic, and Felise pulled ever so slightly back into her room.
    “ Maiden, will you come without and cure this man ’ s blindness with your kiss, or shall we heft him through your window? ”
    F elise felt now the object of rather than a participant in the joviality. A blush began to creep onto her cheeks. There was something vaguely different about this man ’ s teasing. Unlike his companion, he was a man fully grown and knowledgeable of women. There seemed at least a grain of seriousness in his voice, and her stomach jumped.
    “ Mayhap you have need of a more determined lover, ” Sir Royce shouted. “ This lad is pretty, but he knows little of women ’ s pleasures. I would not be the rogue to deny you assist. ”
    There was the sound of one low whistle at his blatant proposition. Fel ise looked to her young suitor to see his reaction to the insult. She found that his eyes were not angry but indeed full of mirth. But the game had lost its flavor for her. She felt slightly vulnerable for the first time, yet all that Sir Royce could touch her with were his