Love and Chivalry: Four Medieval Historical Romances by Lindsay Townsend

Author:Lindsay Townsend [Townsend, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: The Author
Published: 2020-02-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 38

The rest of the evening was quiet. Cynwise did not talk much, except to ask for more cheese out of the pannier and to tell Sunniva to make up their beds by the fire-pit. She seemed disappointed that Sunniva was not going to confront her son on the morrow, but brightened when Marc promised to stop by her hut every week, and when he offered to make her a good luck charm out of horse-hair.

"That was a kind thing you did," Sunniva said to him later, when they were in bed and Mistress Cynwise was snoring at the other side of the fire-pit. "The charm, I mean."

"It was little enough. I can show you how to make one, if you wish." Marc hugged her to him. "Lovely," he whispered.

"Did you marry me for my land?"

Sunniva clapped a hand to her mouth the instant she spoke, horrified by her own directness. "I mean —”

"I really should groom you sometime, like a little golden mare," Marc murmured, sweeping a hand over her stomach. "Brush you down and smooth you over, polish your nails and braid your mane."

"Marc!" The candles had been dowsed for the night but even so Sunniva was sure Marc could see her blush; his eyes had a very bright look.

"Did you?" she persisted.

"Marry you for land? Of course! And for love and companionship and pleasure and play-fights and children. And in a day or so my nieces and mother will join us, and we shall be a family at peace, in a land where together we shall build peace. I shall start tomorrow, when I visit the priest, and then we shall both go out, visit all your lands in time."

"Our lands," Sunniva reminded him.

"Yours, for you are ever my lady," Marc responded firmly. He kissed her, then, a lingering, sweet kiss that made her dizzy. "You were once my captive, Sunniva, and now I am wholly yours. Rule me and your lands as you wish, exactly as you wish."

His fingers were ruling her at the moment, making her forget everything. "I love you, Lady Sun-Light," he said. "So very much."

Sunniva trembled at the ardour in his face and voice.

"Let go," Marc whispered in her ear. "Let me love you as you deserve to be loved. Let us make a child together, sweetheart."

He swung her beneath him then, kissing and caressing, enfolding and entering, his lord to her lady, while snow fell softly outside and the world was made new with the new year and new life.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.