Free The Dark Lady by Dawn Chandler

several children. She had no idea how she was going to take care of her responsibilities and carry out her mother’s dying wish.
    “ I am seventeen,” Amy said quietly.
    Van let her hands drop from her temples and glanced back at her.
    Amy wrapped her arms around herself and looked down. She shrugged slightly and when she began to speak again it was in a small timid voice. “Nay, I do not have any other family. After my mother died, Lady Patricia took care of me. Now I have no one.” Tears slipped from her reddened eyes, cutting a streak down the dust on her trembling face.
    Van’s gaze moved across the room, avoiding her mother’s bed.
    “ Maxwell Enoch said he would marry me.”
    Van’s gaze shot back to Amy, anger clouding her vision momentarily.
    “ Now I will have to accept,” Amy squeaked and the tears came hard then, unbidden, rough sobs that tore from her throat.
    Van’s fingers tightened into fists until her knuckles were white and her weariness forgotten. Maxwell Enoch was a monster of a man. He had gone through three young wives as it was. There was rumor that he had killed them as he had grown tired of them, just to move on to a newer, sometimes younger bride. She was not about to turn over this innocent girl to him.
    Van took a deep breath and tried to ignore the sound of tears beside her so that she could weigh her options. As the Dark Knight she would have made her one of her mistresses, as she had the other girls she had rescued, but things were not that easy now.
    She could still take her as a mistress. There was still money set aside for her women and their young ones, but it would not last long and she had to plan for a time when the gold ran out. She took a deep breath, held it, and closed her eyes. One more mistress would only deplete it that much sooner.
    She released a deep sigh and opened her eyes to the dimly lit room. A room she was surprised to find that she was not going to miss.
    She shook her head slowly. There was a second option available to her now, but it was not without risk.
    She could take Amy with her, but she was reluctant to take this option.
    She was unsure of her ability to protect Amy. There were men, like Eolian and the ones under him, who would give anything to know who she really was. If they found out she was the Dark Knight, then everyone around her, as well as her women and their children, would be in danger.
    A deep breath shuddered through her. There was more than Amy’s safety, there was her own as well. If Amy turned out to be untrustworthy...could she trust her secrets to a girl she just met?
    Amy sniffled loudly and the cracking sobs cut through Van’s head like a sword.
    “ You need to get yourself together,” Van growled in irritation. She had never had tolerance for emotional outbursts. Nevertheless, she reached across and laid a comforting hand the Amy’s trembling thigh. Anything to get her to stop, Van thought impatiently as Amy took her hand in a tight grip.
    Amy’s tears slowly began to ease and then finally stopped. She looked toward the mound on the bed. “I loved her.”
    Van’s gaze turned toward the bed without really seeing it. She took a slow breath and growled softly to herself.
    She would need a maid for two reasons. Her soon-to-be husband would expect one and more importantly she had no idea what to do as a woman. Her experience with women was limited to whores and barmaids, the only women comfortable being around rowdy knights.
    She laughed bitterly. She was sure her betrothed would not appreciate her acting like either.
    She could hire a maid once she was a woman again, but that would not help her become a proper woman. She needed help and unfortunately that meant confiding in someone.
    Van turned her gaze fixedly back to Amy. She stared at her for so long that Amy dropped her head shyly. There were few choices for Van at this time and she decided reluctantly that she would place her trust in Amy and do everything in her power to