Candace C. Bowen - A Knight Series 01 Read Online Free PDF

beautiful
woman he had ever seen.
    “You said she lost her voice as a babe.   What happened to her?”
    Finished with Reina’s hands, Hylda began to unbraid her wet hair.   “I fear it is not a happy tale, your
lordship.   However, if you wish to hear
it, I feel it owed to you after your assist this night.”
    “Go on,” Fulke dipped his head.
    “Sir Everard and Lady Malina doted on her,” she began softly.   “A more contented family, none could
name.   She was such a small lass,” she
smiled at the recollection, “more bright eyes, than bodily form.   The day of the tragedy, Reina had taken her
first steps.   I had never before seen
them so happy.”   She smoothed a wayward
curl from Reina’s brow lost in thought.   “That eve found Reina gravely ill with a fever.   When it spiked, we brought her to the stream
in an attempt to cool her heated skin.   It was late spring and not nearly as cold as it is now. The sickness
passed through the village, striking down my Lady Malina as well. Still, she
tended Reina for two straight days without rest.   On the third day, Reina’s fever broke.   By that time, my lady had become too weak to
fight off the illness.”   Tears fell
freely from Hylda’s eyes.   “Sir Everard
sent for the priest to shrive her, yet my lady had passed before he arrived.”
    “And then what happened?”   Fulke
pressed.
    Hylda glanced over at Warin as he stacked wood beside the hearth. He
gave her a sorrowful nod as she continued. “After it became known the illness
had taken Mistress Reina’s hearing, Sir Everard all but shunned her.”   Hylda broke down sobbing.
    She did not have to finish the story.   Fulke spent most of his life dealing with men like Sir Everard.   The nobility did not accept the weak or
infirm.
    He caught his breath at the sensations that rippled through him as he
lightly caressed the side of Reina’s face with his fingertips.   He was not the only one to have suffered
immense loss. In a matter of days, Reina had lost her mother, her father’s
acceptance and her hearing.   Thrown into
a world of silence, she rose above adversity to become the determined woman
before him.
    He reached over to clasp Hylda’s shoulder. “Your mistress is fortunate
to have you.”

 
    * * * *

 
    Reina opened her eyes, disoriented and aching all over.   Taking in her surroundings, she found Hylda
sobbing beside her. Struggling to rise, she drew in a breath as a large, warm
hand came to rest on her bare shoulder, gently restraining her.   A shiver that had nothing to do with the cold
ran through her as she quickly realized she was bare beneath the thin woolen
blanket.   Sinking back down, she followed
the hand up the muscular arm to its owner. Her eyes widened as she met Baron
Erlegh’s concerned gaze.  
    Stunned by his presence, she focused on the words flowing from his
chiseled lips. “Are you faring better, Mistress Reina?”
    Slowly nodding, she found herself unable to look away from him. Warin
broke into her reverie by squeezing her hand.   “You are far too reckless, Reina,” he chided.
    “Please tell me Rolfe’s fever has broken.”  
      “Be at ease, his skin is cool to
the touch.”   Shaking his head, he
grinned. “In this instance, I cannot very well take you to task for your
stubbornness.”
    “I told you it would work,” she
replied smugly. Feeling the heat of Fulke’s intense gaze, she asked, “Why did you bring his lordship, Warin? Father is sure to be displeased
with you.”
    Warin deflated at the mention of their father. “I had no choice.   Besides, father is displeased with everything
I do.”
    “Perhaps his lordship will not speak of it,” she ventured.
    Warin briefly glanced to where Fulke sat in amazed silence, watching
them.   “I believe that to be so.   He is the finest man I have ever met.”
    She squeezed his hand.   “It pleases me that you think so highly of him.   Still, I will not have you blamed