Choose the Sky: A Medieval Romance (Swordcross Knights Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and the alliances I wish to reinforce.”
    Domina curtsied again, saying, “I do believe I can tender such aid then, your grace. My father trusts me with much of the business of his estate. There is rarely a document to pass his desk that I do not read. Many of the day to day tasks are left to me. Please ask me what you wish to know.”
    “He trusts you so far?” Stephen inquired, a new light in his eyes.
    “He does,” Domina said, raising her chin. “Nor have I given him any reason to doubt that trust.” She meant every word. Their lands would be in complete disarray if not for Domina’s careful management.
    “Do you know anything of the castle’s defenses? The strength of the garrison?”
    “Your grace, as you doubtless know, my father has much experience of war. He took care to reinforce the castle’s defenses and he developed a training schedule specifically for this garrison. I can give precise numbers of men, horses, weapons, and siege supplies to a clerk, if you like.”
    He nodded slowly, as if provisionally satisfied with her answers. Domina took a careful breath. This would end well enough. All he wanted was reassurance of the castle’s strengths. But why? Did he think an attack was imminent?
    “If you please, your grace…” Domina broke off, realizing that the king had not given her leave to speak.
    But he waved a hand, inviting her to finish.
    “Your grace,” she continued. “Has there been any word to cause concern? I—we—have not had any reports of an army moving. If the empress…”
    “Her army remains where it was last month,” he said shortly.
    Domina gave a sigh of relief. She was certain Trumwell Castle could withstand a siege, but she never wanted to put her faith to the test.
    King Stephen was still looking at her, his expression speculative. “Tell me, Lady Domina. You must be over twenty, and yet you are not married?”
    “I am two and twenty, your Grace. And you are quite correct, I am not yet married. I was betrothed twice, but both times, other events intervened so no marriage occurred.” The first time, the neighbor she’d been betrothed to had died of a fever years before the marriage was expected to take place. Domina only met him a few times. The second contract had been declared void when the suitor ran off with the wife of his own liege—Domina counted herself lucky to have been spared.
    She added hastily, “I am quite content to wait, your Grace. When my father is well again, he can attend to the matter.”
    “He need not be concerned,” the king said.
    Mina nodded, first thinking that the king was merely offering a pretty phrase to the effect that she would not have difficulty finding a suitor, even at her age. But when he gestured to someone among the courtiers, she felt a nervous flutter in her belly. It was the same arrogant knight she had met outside the market yesterday!
    “This is Sir Luc, son of Lord Laurence of Braecon, Lady Domina. I think you should know who he is.”
    “Why is that, your grace?”
    The king smiled. “Because if your father sends such a fair lady to court all on her own, he must want her to be well matched.”
    Domina stood in shock. A marriage contract was precisely what she had hoped to avoid! But she could not oppose the king himself...
    Unable to look at the king, she instead cast her gaze on the man he proposed to be her husband. He was handsome enough, she admitted grudgingly. Certainly nothing like the brutish knight she’d always pictured in her nightmares. His whole expression was alert, lively.
    In return, he was looking her over carefully—just as he had the last evening—but he didn’t smile this time. Perhaps he was less impressed with her by the bright light of day. Domina was perversely annoyed by the idea.
    “Lady Domina, you have nothing to say?” Was the king amused by her reaction? Well, why not?
    She cast her eyes downward once more, not trusting herself to look at the king and have him see her true