Leaves, grass, and pine needles quietly crunched underfoot as the duo walked silently through the towering trees. Quinn scowled as he followed Lila’s sullen lead. A painful throb shot through his head as the sun broke the canopy and pierced his blue eyes. He squinted and grunted. “Did you have too much to drink last night?” Lila asked, her voice a whisper in the wilderness.
He chuckled, rubbing his hand over his unshaven face. “These local breweries can make some strong stuff,” he answered. He regarded Lila from the corner of his eye as they walked. He knew something was troubling the woman he thought of as his sister. Her family had practically adopted him when he was just a little boy, and everyone assumed Quinn and Lila would one day be husband and wife.
She had barely said anything since she had returned from her ride yesterday. She had brushed her horse in quick motions, keeping her back to the other members of their small band of travelers. She had disappeared into her tent soon afterward and not even emerged to eat some of the succulent roast pig that Lord Ravendorf had sent them as a gift for their excellent performance. He had invited her to go with the boys to the local tavern. Lila’s voice and lithe dancing body never failed to earn them some free drinks and the attention of the local ladies.
Instead, he’d had to buy all his drinks and had gone home without easing the ache in his lower extremities. “You should have gone with us last night,” he mused. “There were several beautiful ladies at the tavern.”
“I spend so much time rejecting the local married men with their roots hanging out that it’s a waste of my time to travel with you and the boys.” She picked up a rock as she walked, studying the smooth contours of the pebble. “It’s really too bad that I’m not interested. I could make enough money in one night that we could stay in one place all year long.” She tossed the rock into the woods and exhaled slowly.
“Except your father would have your hide and mine, too, if that happened.” He tried to laugh, but the action made his head hurt more, so he returned to his squinted scowl. “I like when you travel with us. It’s easier to take home ladies when you get them all worked up, then only choose one.”
A wind whipped around the trunks of the trees. Lila’s dark, heavy hair flew around her face and she tried to force it to stay in place. She wore a purple blouse today that folded across her bosom. Her breasts swayed freely as she walked. The wind pushed her skirt against her strong legs. Quinn loved Lila’s body. He fantasized about how it would feel trembling against his own powerful muscles. He had tried once to make Lila share his fantasy, but she had promptly silenced him.
Ravendorf Manor loomed against the bright sky as they cleared the forest. Lila’s step faltered slightly and Quinn reached out to steady his friend. His rough fingers curled around her elbow. She resisted the urge to lean into him. Quinn had always been her safety net. Any time the wrong man had attempted to approach her in any of the local taverns, Quinn had been her protector. He’d taken the heat from jealous husbands and angry fathers for her. He’d suffered a broken nose and countless black eyes for her.
Lila led him to the rose garden gate without hesitation. He didn’t question her intimate knowledge of the Ravendorf grounds. Wherever they went, Lila often explored the area around their camp. They stepped through the gate and trod along the path surrounded by the climbing rose bushes. They fell into silence again as the path wound toward the courtyard. A movement to the left caught their attention and Lila’s stumbled again. She stopped. Quinn also halted, following Lila’s eyes to gaze through the greenery. A young woman knelt near one of the bushes, her hands pulling weeds and kneading the dirt around the base of the plant. Lila took a step toward the thick vegetation, pausing at the edge of the path. She leaned forward, watching the girl’s body move.
Quinn glanced from Lila to the young girl, then back to his friend. Even though the girl was dressed in little more than rags and had her blonde hair tied beneath a kerchief, Quinn recognized the young Mistress of Ravendorf and von Goring’s intended. He also recognized the look in Lila’s dark eyes. He gripped her elbow again, pulling her away from the vision on the ground. “I seem to recall a warning that involvement with that girl would end with a long sword,” he hissed.
Lila shrugged out of his grasp. “Go on to the garden, Quinn,” she ordered.
His frown deepened and he opened his mouth to continue his warning. “She’s engaged, Lila,” he growled through clenched teeth.
“I’ll end it,” she promised, handing him the basket she had carried from the camp.
He hesitated but knew that Lila had made her decision. “Be quick about it,” he snapped, taking the basket and storming away from the rose garden.
Lila took a deep breath and moved to the edge of the path again, peering at Margaret as she worked unassumingly with the rose bushes. She wore a plain yellow dress with a simple apron. Lila admired the curve of the noblewoman’s back and her round, slightly upturned bottom.
She hadn’t lied to Quinn. She intended to make sure things were over with Margaret. She didn’t want the young girl to have any misconceptions. She admired the small body, remembering the timid but curious way that Margaret had responded in the glade yesterday. Lila hadn’t responded to another person the way that she reacted to Margaret in a very long time. She had lovers. They didn’t camp many places where Lila didn’t join the boys in bedding a local peasant’s daughter. She’d had better luck than Quinn with the ladies. She could even list a queen as one of her conquests. Only one other woman had pushed her to distraction the way that Margaret did.
She glanced over her shoulder, knowing it would be best to join Quinn and never step foot on Ravendorf Manor’s grounds again. Instead, she tilted her shoulder and broke through the bushes. “This is not a job for the lady of the manor to be doing the week of her wedding.”
“You keep reminding me it is the week of my wedding,” Margaret responded without looking at Lila. Lila flinched a little at the lack of tenderness in the girl’s voice. Margaret sat up, wiping her hands on her apron. “This was my mother’s special place,” she continued, plucking at dead buds and leaves. “I feel close to her whenever I am here. The bushes were mother’s other children.”
“What happened to your mother?” Lila questioned, folding her arms around her middle. This awkwardness was a new feeling to the gypsy. She had always been in total control of her relationships. With Margaret, she could not keep her senses from somersaulting.
“She died in childbirth along with my brother,” Margaret answered.
“Your father visited the camp this morning. He invited us to come get vegetables from the manor while we are here.” Lila hated trying to fill the silence. She enjoyed the comfortable quiet that had accompanied them home from the lake two nights ago. Now, the silence felt oppressive.
“I know,” Margaret said, still not turning to look at the gypsy. She shifted her attention to another plant. “Did I do something wrong yesterday?”
