Free Magic in His Kiss by Shari Anton

fear that the harp would be taken from him again, Nicole once more hugged the harp to her bosom, wishing she could as easily remove Rhodri from this wretched place as she could the harp. Words of apology didn’t seem adequate to compensate for being the cause of his imprisonment. Sweet mercy, if she hadn’t asked him to play for Mother Abbess, he’d be on his way home to Glenvair instead of trapped in this wretched cell.
    Then Rhodri turned his head to again look past her at the guard and captain. Being closer to him now, she saw the ugly bruise on his jaw that hadn’t been there yesterday.
    Her heart fell at the evidence of his mistreatment. She placed gentle fingertips on the physical indignity he shouldn’t have suffered.
    “Oh, Rhodri,” she whispered.
    He grasped her shoulders, giving them a squeeze as if in reassurance. “’Tis nothing, Nicole. I have suffered worse. Make no more of it.”
    The last was an order he expected her to obey. Damn it, did he truly expect her to keep silent over the violence done to him for no good reason?
    The urge to reach into her boot and give him the dagger, if naught but for his own protection, nearly overcame her good sense. Too many eyes watched. She’d never get the dagger out of her boot secretly, and she might then, too, be imprisoned, if in more comfortable quarters.
    To gain Rhodri’s freedom she needed to maintain her own, be free to roam the castle grounds to find the least observable way out and devise a plan to liberate Rhodri.
    Hoping he could sense her determination, she whispered, “With Archangel Michael as my witness, I will secure your release.”
    His mouth quirked with humor at her reference to the angel Mother Abbess had mistaken him for. All well and good, except she also sensed Rhodri didn’t believe her. Well, let him doubt. She’d prove him wrong! She’d convince the earl to give Rhodri his freedom. She would!
    Nicole squared her shoulders, but not sharply enough to displace his hands.
    “Are you receiving the food sent to you?”
    His attention again fixed on the guard and captain, he said absently, “Enough of it.”
    “Time to leave, my lady,” Walter ordered, his voice gruffer than what she thought it needed to be.
    She loathed leaving Rhodri, but heaven help her, she didn’t want to linger in the cell any longer than she must, either.
    Nicole turned to leave. Rhodri grabbed hold of her around the waist and pulled her hard against him. His other hand clenched her throat, tilting up her chin, almost choking off her breath. Her panic absolute, she wouldn’t have moved if she could.
    “One cry from either of you,” Rhodri told the men in a low, menacing voice, “and I shall break the lady’s lovely neck.”
    Heart pounding, Nicole didn’t doubt that with the merest twist of his wrist she’d be dead.
    Damn him! She’d been distressed over his welfare, nearly wept over his mistreatment, completely forgetting he was not only a bard but a warrior, as well. A Welsh warrior so intent on escaping a Norman earl that he’d do whatever he must to save his ungrateful hide!
    “Release the lady, Welshman!” Walter ordered. “You have no hope of gaining your freedom if she is harmed.”
    “Whether she is harmed or nay is now your decision. The lady shall serve as both my shield and my writ of safe conduct out of the castle. Step aside, Captain.”
    Walter huffed and, much to Nicole’s dismay, drew his sword.
    Her back pressed tightly against Rhodri’s unyielding length, she could feel him chuckle, an evil sound.
    “Your weapon does you no good, sir, unless you intend to run the lady through, too. Might be rather difficult to explain to the earl why her blood stains your sword.”
    The captain spat on the floor. “I had heard you Welsh are a barbaric lot! To hide behind a woman is dishonorable.”
    Walter waved the sword. Rhodri tilted her chin higher, and her high-pitched, pleading gasp for mercy reverberated through the chamber.
    “Good