Fragments of Grace (Prequel to the Dragonblade Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF Page A

appreciate your gallantry, you do
not need to do that,” she told him. “My father has his own men to protect me.”
    He cocked an eyebrow, his smile
fading. “A lot of good they did,” he jabbed a finger at the broken bailey. “If Ingilby
is truly intent to abduct you, we have seen what the man is capable of. He does
not fear your father or those who would provide you with protection.”
    Chloë looked around the yard,
seeing her father’s soldiers mingled among the dead.  She lowered her gaze,
shutting her eyes against the ghastly sight.
    “So much waste,” she muttered
with guilt, letting go of his hand. “Ingilby is bold and arrogant but I did not
believe him capable of this. He waited until my father left Exelby with a
contingent of men before moving to attack. He waited until we were weak.”
    Keir didn’t say anymore, fearful
that he might sound too interested in assuming the lady’s protection. He’d
already said far too much already. Part of him was the gallant man who would
protect the weaker sex, but part of him wanted to return to Pendragon Castle
and away from this beautiful woman who seemed so capable of effortlessly
captivating him.
     In silence, he continued down
the stairs, his arm held out in Chloë’s direction as she followed so she could
grab hold of something should she slip.  The old wooden stairs were soaked with
rain, slippery and unsteady.
    Keir reached the bottom of the
steps and plunged into several inches of deep, dark mud. In his heavy boots, he
was well protected, but Chloë stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking at
all of the mud with some chagrin.  Keir started to walk away, thinking she
would follow, but quickly realizing she had not.  He retraced his few steps
back to her.
    “Is something wrong, my lady?” he
asked politely.
    Chloë didn’t want to be a bother
but she also wasn’t equipped to walk through the heavy mud.  With great
reluctance, she lifted up her cloak and stuck out a dainty foot.
    “I only have my slippers on,” she
told him, showing him a small leather shoe. “If you will permit me, I will
return to my chamber in the keep to see if my boots are still there. I will….”
    He was already moving towards
her, bending down to scoop her up into his arms. “The keep is cleaned out of
most things,” he told her, lifting her slight weight into his powerful arms.
“We saw the looting when we fought our way in. I doubt your boots, or any of
your other possessions, remain untouched.”
    Swept into his enormous grasp,
Chloë wrapped her arms around his neck for support, gazing into his
square-jawed, handsome face.  Her heart sank at his words.
    “Looting?” she repeated,
disheartened. “But everything we own is in the keep – my clothes, my sister’s
clothes, our plate, our….”
    “No longer,” he interrupted her
quietly. “I suspect Ingilby will take it in punishment for not having obtained
a betrothal. He will consider it compensation.”
    “But I was never, at any time,
pledged to the man. Why would he steal from us?”
    “This I would not know. But he
has.”
    With nothing more to say to that,
Chloë remained silent as Keir carried her off across the great muddy bailey,
past the mounds of dead men and the scores of wounded lined up against the wall
to provide some protection against the rain.
    Keir was passing through the
gatehouse, crowded with wounded, when he realized that Chloë had buried her
face in the crook of his neck, blocking her sight of the devastation a rejected
suitor had caused.  He could feel her hot breath against his jaw, her warmth
against his chest.  It had been years since he’d felt such a thing and he was
repulsed and thrilled all at once. The last woman he had held like this had
been brutally murdered. Keir still hadn’t recovered from it. But Lady Chloë was
awakening dormant emotions and it scared him to death.
    Against his better judgment, he
pulled her tighter.
     
    ***
     
    He had a squarest jaw she