out on her.
Yet, a small, tiny part of his mind warned that he did not know this woman and had no idea how much of her father’s evilness had been passed to her. While it could be none, it could also be a great deal. There hadn’t been enough time for him to decide.
Now, if his mind could just convince the rest of him that she was not to be trusted. It had been years since any woman had had this type of effect on him and he wasn’t sure why. However, as confused as he was by his own reaction, hers left him just as surprised.
Instead of quietly accepting his change in mood, like most people did, she’d raised her eyebrows as if judging him, only to find him lacking and had then given him a taste of her own temper.
Complaining would only make him appear foolish since he did deserve it.
He found her reaction to his change of mood...interesting. Had he snarled at one of his men, in the same manner, they would have said nothing before giving him a wide berth.
Yet here this little bit of a woman who barely reached his shoulders glared at him and intentionally taunted him in a manner that made him wonder how many times she’d poked a stick at a beehive in her past.
Elrik felt his lips twitch and knew that without clenching his jaw he would soon find himself grinning like a fool. Unable to summon the will to stop himself, he laughed in surrender as he took a seat next to her on the log. ‘Since I would rather kill Bolk than look at him, I do not think we would be a good match.’
Avelyn reached down to pick up a twig. While flicking off the bark with her fingernail, she asked, ‘How do you think I feel?’
‘I fully understand your position, but what can I do about it?’
‘You know King David.’ She poked his arm with the twig. The tiny stick slipped easily between the links of his chainmail. ‘You could help me devise a plan he might find acceptable.’
‘I hate to lower your overblown opinion of my relationship with the King, but I do not know him well enough to know what he would or wouldn’t find acceptable.’
She shrugged. ‘Maybe not, but you’ve been to his court and are surely more familiar with the things he values than I.’ Once again, she poked him before adding, ‘Besides, you are a man, so you could tell me what things might be of more value to another male.’
‘You noticed that, did you?’ He snatched the twig out of her hand and tossed it away. ‘First off, poking a man is not the way into his heart.’
‘Who said I was looking for a way into anyone’s heart? I’ve seen the pain caused by love and wish nothing to do with it or any other tender emotion.’
Elrik frowned at her admission. ‘I thought that’s what all girls dreamed of finding one day—a husband who would shower them with love and kisses.’
‘I would think it obvious that I am no longer a girl. I’d much rather have a husband willing to be my friend and consider me worth treating fairly than one who would shower me with pretty words and sweet kisses one moment only to forget my existence the next.’
From the determined tone of her voice, he could only assume she spoke her true feelings on the matter. Since he had pulled her naked from a bed, of course, he was well aware she was no longer a girl and, while her wishes seemed reasonable to him, they would never find fruition—not for a king’s great-granddaughter, not even a bastard one. ‘Do you realise how impossible that will be for you?’
‘Why?’ She looked up at him. ‘Why will it be so impossible for me?’
‘Lady Avelyn, surely you must know your value. You can’t have been so protected, so kept in the dark, that you know nothing about how much you can bring to your family’s coffers.’
Her focus turned to the ground at her feet. ‘I am nothing but a servant’s shamefully begotten spawn.’
Something in the sadness of her voice and the slight, barely perceptible tremor of her chin touched him deeply, making him feel guilty for something not his doing and filling him with a need to convince her of her value. While the unfamiliar emotions pricking inside his chest deserved some thought, the young woman sitting beside him needed his attention more.
‘Lady Avelyn...’ Elrik reached out and lifted her chin with the tips of his fingers, coaxing her to look at him. ‘Avelyn, you are not to blame for what your mother and Brandr did. She might have only been a servant in his keep, but no matter the circumstances of your birth, you are a lord’s daughter and a king’s great-granddaughter, nothing can change that.’
When she tried to turn her head away, he slid his palm to her cheek to keep her focus on him. ‘I know not who made you feel this shame, or lack of worth, but they were wrong to do so.’
She rose, bringing an abrupt halt to this conversation. ‘I am famished.’
As much as he wanted to, Elrik wasn’t going to push the issue—it was none of his concern.
He stood up, saying, ‘Then we should get you something to eat.’
They joined Fulke and Samuel who had unpacked a meagre fare atop a boulder. Samuel waved a hand towards the food. ‘It is nothing grand, but there’s plenty for all of us.’
Avelyn picked up a wrinkled apple and took a bite. After swallowing it, she said, ‘The food here suits me far better than anything you might consider grand.’
Fulke tore off a piece of bread from the dark round loaf and handed it to her. ‘I doubt you would find any of this at your father’s table.’
Samuel inspected the small wheel of cheese before slicing off a few slivers, which he also gave to her. ‘Surely Lord Brandr’s table provides better food than what we can offer.’
Avelyn took the cheese while shaking her head. ‘Since I always made certain to eat with the cook and helpers in the kitchen, I am afraid I wouldn’t know what was served in the hall.’
Fulke offered her a good-sized portion of smoked fish, nearly bumping into Samuel in his haste.
Elrik watched his two men vie for the opportunity to wait on her. Their actions were so out of character that he nearly choked on the piece of bread he was eating.
If he had to guess at their reason for such gallantry, he’d say they had overheard the conversation he’d been trying to have with Avelyn and were going out of their way to be more than kind to a woman who’d apparently experienced little kindness in her short life.
Since he found nothing amiss with their actions, he saw no reason to stop them and slowly backed away from the boulder to watch from a distance.
Avelyn’s soft laugh at something Samuel said made him smile. He was grateful his men were showing her such attention instead of ignoring her as they normally would. From what he’d seen and heard, the lady deserved a few light-hearted moments before she would once again be back in the cold embrace of her family.
From King David’s description, Elrik had believed Avelyn to be lovely yet headstrong. She was indeed quite lovely, but he’d yet to witness much that could be considered overly headstrong. Oh, yes, she’d been defiant when he’d discovered her at the inn, but that had been expected since he was unknown to her. She would have been foolish
