Free The Dark One: Dark Knight by Kathryn Le Veque Page A

a
moment to realize that Taran was walking behind her. Not him, his master and
keeper, but her.  A stranger.
         He mounted Taran at the bottom of the hill
and cuffed the horse when he struggled against him.  Remington continued to
walk and he reined his dancing horse slightly behind her, following her up the
hill.  Irritated with his horse’s behavior, he did not even see Remington enter
the castle as he halted his snorting beast to an unsteady halt.
         There were several men there to greet him,
his squire rushing to take hold of the animal and almost getting his hand
nipped off in the process.  Gaston dismounted and snapped harshly at the horse
as Patrick and Nicolas strode up. 
         “Well?” he demanded of his cousins. “Give
me a report.”
         “All is well, my lord,” Patrick replied. 
“Nothing unusual to report.”
         Gaston removed his mail gloves, letting his
gaze rove the walls of the inner bailey.  “The men looked well-positioned and
the keep appears in order.”
         “We have been working since you left,”
Nicolas said.
         Gaston nodded.  “Very well, then.  As for
the moment, I intend to take a bath and a hot meal and I shall send for you
when I am finished.  There is much to discuss.”
         A woman with bright red hair suddenly
emerged into the bailey and began to march purposely across the compound, away
from Gaston and his men.
         “Hey!  You there!” Nicolas shouted at her. 
“I told you to stay to the castle!”
         Rory continued to walk away from him,
intent on going to the stables. She had a leggy gelding she was fond of riding
and planned for a long ride this day.  She heard the knight yelling at her, but
she ignored him soundly.
         Nicolas ran after her.  Patrick and Gaston
watched him jog across the courtyard.
         “How have the women behaved in my absence?”
Gaston asked, a twinkle in his eye.
         “Well, for the most part,” Patrick
replied.  “But that red-head is a banshee.  Nicolas thought there was a truce
between them after he spanked her our first night and was pleased when she
graciously drew him a bath last eve.  Fact was, she put some kind of coloring
into the water and he did not realize it until he got out of the tub and was
dyed a lovely shade of yellow. She is supposed to stay to her room, but
obviously, she is not.”
         Gaston took a slow, deep breath as he
watched his youngest cousin grab Rory by the arms and begin his verbal assault.
         “Unremarkable.  I would have expected no
less from a witless young girl,” he removed his helm.  “Confine her to the
vault until I decide what to do with her.  I shall not have her disrupting my
knights, and especially Nicolas.  He is too hot-tempered to deal with her and I
am afraid he might hurt her.”
         Patrick nodded, leaving Gaston to go to his
brother and the redhead.  Gaston did not give them a second glance, even as he
entered the castle and heard the young girl cursing a blue streak as the
knights physically carried her to the vault.
         He took a flight of smaller stairs to the
second floor, looking forward to soaking in hot water.  Yet he paused here and
there, glancing in rooms and checking alcoves.  He had only taken a brief tour
of the castle and set about reacquainting himself as he made his way to his
room.
         The keep of Mt. Holyoak reminded him of the
White Tower, a massive place with a myriad of rooms and passages. As he rounded
the second floor landing, he suddenly plowed head-on into a small, female body
and sent her crashing to the floor.
         Jasmine looked up at Gaston with shock and terror,
sitting quite squarely on her behind.
         “My apologies,” he said, reaching down and
pulling her to her feet, studying her curiously.  She was a delicate, lovely
girl with blue eyes and straight blond hair, but not nearly as beautiful as her
eldest sister.