Free Tender is the Knight by Kathryn Le Veque Page A

thereby extracting a measure of vengeance against Launceston for my father’s death.” He looked at her, still standing against the wall. “You, my lady, were supposed to embody all that we hated. You were supposed to be our devil.”
    Ryan was so horrified that she was hardly breathing. “There… there is no peace treaty?”
    Dennis nodded. “Aye, there is. But by the laws of God and country, once you are my wife, I can do anything I please. You were to be our whipping post, to focus our warring aggressions on in our time of peace. If we cannot battle Launceston directly, we can most certainly battle you. And we can win with no deaths, no injuries, and no cost. It was the perfect plan, truly.”
    It was also overwhelming. Ryan leaned back against the cold wall, sliding down the length of it until she was resting on her buttocks. There were tears in her eyes, but she struggled with all her might to hold them back.
    “Is that why you married me so quickly?” she asked, her voice hoarse. “Is that why you did not… consummate our marriage last night? So you could have the privilege of doing it here, for all to see?”
    He nodded, to everything. Ryan hung her head and he knew she was crying. His heart, even with all of his years of warring, was still a delicate, soft thing and he could feel his soul reaching out to this woman. He stood up from the bed, moving swiftly, and crouching on the floor in front of her. Ryan let out a yelp of surprise and fear, but Dennis’ warm, gentle hands stopped her from running.
    “But I must confess something, something I cannot let any of the others know,” he said quietly, urgently, but Ryan was still trying to pull away from him. “You need not fear me, Lady Ryan, I swear it. I would sooner kill myself than harm you. Do you understand me?”
    There was something in his tone that brought belief. She stopped trying to move away from him, though she was still rightfully frightened. Dennis gazed into her beautiful, terrified eyes.
    “I confess that I am not like my father,” he whispered. “Charlotte and my father were of the same character, while I took after my mother. She was intelligent and compassionate, and it was my father’s regret that I followed in her wake. He forever lamented how God blessed me with such size and strength only for me to waste it with a gentle nature. It was not a pleasant way to grow up, knowing my father was ashamed of me.”
    He shifted to sit on his buttocks just as she was. But his hands were still on her, warm and comforting, and there was pain in his gray eyes as he spoke.
    “I have confessed that I wanted peace,” his voice was hoarse. “The promises I made to my men were to appease them like simple children. I took this opportunity to create a peace that I had never known, that generations of d’ Vants had never known. I saw it as an opportunity for my family to evolve. Truthfully, I never expected that my wife would be anything other than a belligerent wench and I was actually hoping she would give me a reason to hate her. But then I met you.”
    Ryan wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. “And?” she managed to whisper.
    A smile spread across his lips. “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect someone like you.”
    She still wasn’t sure what to think. The sound of the party downstairs was beginning to filter in through the closed door, growing louder by the moment. Ryan leapt when someone pounded on the door and a chorus of voices began demanding blood. She paled.
    “ What are you going to do?” she asked, almost too frightened to inquire but knowing she needed to just the same.
    He knew how terrified he was. “Can you keep a secret?”
    She nodded unsteadily. Dennis took her hand and brought it to his lips, a gentler kiss she had never known. It sent bolts of excitement coursing through her body and it was almost enough to ease her fear. She remained on the floor while