Free To Capture Her Heart by Ginny Hartman

belly. “Mother?”
    Millicent once more looked up from the book that she had resumed reading. “Yes, dear?”
    “Have you spoken with Terric to arrange my entrance?”
    Millicent's eyes sparkled with mirth. “Why the sudden interest in your entrance? I thought you were in no hurry for it to take place. Could it be you have taken an interest in a young lad?”
    “Nay, 'tis not that at all,” Gwendolyn argued. “'Tis just that I find that I am missing Rosalind dreadfully and am eager to travel back to Hefordshire Castle to see her.” At least that part was true. She would feel bad lying to her mother outright.
    “I will write to Terric and set a date.”
    “I will take it to the village posthaste and find somebody to deliver it.”
    Her mother laughed at her fervor. “Are you sure you haven't taken a sudden interest in some lad? I've never seen you so eager to speak of your entrance before.”
    “Positive,” she said, but the broad smile that she couldn't manage to hide behind her mug of tea did little to convince her mother otherwise.

Chapter 10
    Gwendolyn's Grand Plan
     
    Gwendolyn snatched the parchment from her mother's hand, anxious to be on her way.
    “Careful child,” Millicent scolded gently. “The ink hasn't yet dried. You will smear it if you are not careful.”
    Gwendolyn waived the sheet of parchment impatiently in front of her as she waited for the ink to dry just enough so she could fold the missive into thirds and tuck it safely into her satchel next to the note she had written Terric herself. In it she had pleaded with him to schedule her entrance for three weeks’ time. That would give her just enough time to travel deep into the forest to attend the festival. She was not going to miss it. She refused to think of what she would do if he refused to schedule her entrance so soon.
    Kissing her mother quickly on her cheek, she turned and jogged from the castle. Her mood was light as she traveled. She went over the note she had penned to Terric a million times in her head, hoping she had worded it just right and had not sounded overly eager. Her brother would grow even more suspicious than her mother if she wasn't careful.
    Before she knew it, Gwendolyn had reached the village. She wasted no time posting the notes she carried, desperately hoping she would hear back from Terric in a timely manner. Her stomach began to rumble, reminding her that in her haste she had not yet broken her fast. She wandered happily over to the baker's cart and purchased a sweet roll, hungrily devouring it in record time. Next, she grabbed a juicy looking apple from a vendor's cart then dug in her bag for a coin.
    Walking leisurely through the village, she took her time looking through the goods and wares on display in the shops as she finished eating her apple all the way down to the core before discarding it. Licking the last remnants of juice from her fingers, she decided to pay Jarin a visit.
    Approaching the Blacksmith shop, Jarin was nowhere to be seen. Impulsively, Gwendolyn marched right up to the entrance and pushed her way in. She was immediately assaulted by the suffocating heat coming from the furnace. Jarin was furiously pumping the bellows up and down while a large man, presumably his father, stood at the forge, a rod of iron stuck deep in the flames.
    Both men turned and looked at her, but it was the father that shouted, “Get out of here, lass.”
    Gwendolyn froze, her eyes darting to Jarin. “Gwendolyn, 'tis no place for a lady to be. Go outside and I will come speak with you in a moment.”
    “You will keep working, boy.” His father grumbled angrily. “You can see your lass later.”
    Gwendolyn didn't like the way he called her Jarin's lass. She took a step closer to the forge and meant to tell him exactly that, but Jarin pleaded with her, “Please, just go.”
    Not wanting to upset either of the men, she turned and did as she was told.  The cool outside air was refreshing after being in the