The Knights of Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B

stew.”
    â€œI’m not hungry.” His belly growled in disagreement.
    Kara bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling. “Well, I am. I’ll eat while you talk.”
    His scowl grew. “I don’t want you standing about my bed.”
    Now was not the time to point out it was her bed. He’d probably leap up—wrapped in a blanket—and refuse the rest he so badly needed. “I thought you wanted to talk about these bits of red glass.”
    â€œRubies.”
    â€œWhatever. Why are they so important to you?”
    Â 
    â€œThey are worth several times their weight in gold. You do know what gold is?”
    â€œAye, and silver, too. We may be a bit isolated, but we’re not completely ignorant of what goes on in the outlands.” His skeptical look sharpened her tongue. “If you’re a wealthy man, why do you not have a dozen men in your tail?”
    â€œI’m not rich by birth. I, er, acquired the rubies in the Holy Land.”
    â€œWhile you were saving it for God?”
    â€œMmm.” He frowned again. “You needn’t make it sound as though I’m some loathsome mercenary.”
    That word she knew. “There’s nothing wrong with selling your sword to earn your way.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œBut if these bits, er, rubies, were so valuable, why did you not hire men to help protect them?”
    â€œI did not want to waste a sous on something I could do myself. Of course—” his eyes narrowed “—I did not realize I’d be set upon by a whole clan.”
    Kara snorted. “I should have left you for the MacGorys.”
    â€œThe men dressed like wolves?”
    â€œThey’re a bad bunch, meaner and craftier than a pack of wolves. ’Tis said they delight in torturing a man till he begs for death.” Her fists clenched at her sides. “They are responsible for Fergie’s scars. He’s the last of my line. I lost my parents when I was eleven, and he had the raising of me.”
    The stark mask dropped away, leaving his face soft and oddly compassionate. “I’m sorry. My father rode off to war when I was eight and never came back.”
    â€œAnd your mother?”
    He stiffened. “Died a less noble death two years later.”
    â€œOh.” Kara wanted to know why he was so bitter, but his shuttered expression said the topic was closed.
    â€œYou’re the logical one to have taken them.”
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    â€œThem?” Kara blinked. “Oh, the rubies.”
    â€œWho undressed me?”
    â€œBlack Rolly did, but I was here the whole time,” she quickly added. “He laid your things in the corner, there, and they’ve remained so ever since.”
    â€œYou were with me the whole time?”
    She nodded, momentarily baffled by his darkening expression. Then it hit her. “It does make a body feel twitchy knowing someone watched them while they slept. If it’s any consolation, I spent most of the time helping you fight the fever.”
    The lines in his face smoothed. “I must seem ungrateful.”
    â€œA bit.” She smiled faintly. “But I’ve never yet known a man who enjoyed being laid low.”
    A tap at the door heralded the arrival of a kitchen maid with a hot bowl of stew. Kara went to take it from her, mind awhirl with ways to maneuver Duncan into eating. When she turned toward the bed, he smiled ruefully.
    â€œI’d be a fool to starve myself.”
    â€œAnd we agree you’re no fool.” Kara fairly danced to the bed, placing the tray on his lap with a flourish. “Do you mind if I stay to keep you company?”
    â€œNay, so long as I’m allowed to feed myself.”
    Kara plunked down on the stool and tried not to watch as he devoured the stew and bread. ’Twas obvious he was starving, yet he didn’t stuff his mouth too full, or chew with it open. Finer manners than some of her clansmen