Thornton Brothers by Cynthia Luhrs

Author:Cynthia Luhrs
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2016-08-26T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Fifty-Eight

The scene unfolding in front of her made Elizabeth feel like she was standing on a movie set or attending one of those medieval dinners. She’d never been to a Renaissance faire, but imagined it must look similar.

As the horses brought the men closer and closer, Robert teetered back and forth in the saddle.

She squinted. “Is he drunk?”

The guard frowned, but it was Rabbie who spoke up. “No more than usual, mistress.”

As if that was supposed to make her feel better. When the frog’s lance struck Robert, she couldn’t help it: Elizabeth screamed. In slow motion, she watched as he leaned far to the right like a metronome but did not fall, instead coming back to center, leaning to the left, and then returning to an upright position in the saddle. The pounding of her heart made it hard to hear what the men below were saying. She clenched the cup so tightly she was surprised it didn’t shatter into a thousand pieces.

They went again, and she swore her nerves couldn’t take it. This time Robert hit Radford, who listed precariously to the side but did not fall. The whole thing was nerve-racking.

Rabbie rubbed his hands together. “’Tis the last time. My lord will take him down now.”

Radford’s lance struck Robert in the chest so hard he went flying backward off the horse, landing in the mud with a splat. The cloak trimmed in white fur and beautiful embroidery was now covered with muck. At least the mail and armor would wash off.

The inventive swearing made her grin. When Elizabeth made it home she’d have to remember some of them. As she watched, Radford dismounted and bobbled over to Robert, leaning over him. The man had his back to her, so she couldn’t see the look on his face or hear what he said. But she knew it had to be bad from the way Robert stiffened.

Then the frog straightened up and, even with his vertically challenged self, managed to look down his nose at everyone. Radford puffed out his chest. “You lose, Thornton. I will have a fine time with my spirited filly. Where is the faerie?”

That horrible little man was talking about her. This was not good. She couldn’t go with him; there was something about him that set off all the warning bells in her head. Elizabeth would have bet her camper and Lulabell that he wasn’t a nice guy at all. Some of the richest men were the worst, thinking the law didn’t apply to them. That they could do whatever they wished, with no thought to the consequences. Every fiber of her being told her Radford was one of the bad guys.

While Robert had acted like a complete jerk since the night she’d woken up in his bed, at least she knew he wouldn’t harm her. Well, other than throwing her in the dungeon, but she guessed it was better than being burnt at the stake for being a witch or a faerie. In this day and age, men thought women of knowledge were evil, so she’d count herself lucky.

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