The Sword and the Sylph (Elemental Series) Read Online Free PDF

did you fare at Banesmoor?” he asked.
    “How did you know where I was?” she said, not even looking at him.
    “Your mother told me,” he answered.
    She stopped in her tracks an d he followed suit.
    “She is not my mother and I would appreciate if you never call her that again.”
    “I am sorry, my lady. But I am new here, and did not know.”
    “Aye,” she said with a nod. “All right then.”
    She started walking toward the castle and he handed the reins to a stable boy and ran after her. “So how is Lady Christabel?” he asked. “Does she fare well these days?”
    She stopped again and folded her arms in front of her , narrowing her eyes as she surveyed him. “Where did you say you were from again?” she asked.
    “I come from lands far on the coast ,” he replied, not really looking at her. “Why do you ask?”
    “You find interest in the daughter of our sworn enemy. I find that a bit suspicious.”
    “I was just making conversation ,” he answered. “I passed through Banesmoor once and just remember the lady’s beauty, that’s all.”
    “You have come from Banesmoor, haven’t you? Just admit it.”
    The tall, fair-haired man looked around the courtyard quickly and then spoke to her in hushed tones. “No, of course not, my lady. Why would you say such a thing?”
    Portia didn’t believe a word the man said. And when t he breeze whispered into her ear that he was lying, it confirmed her suspicions.
    “Lady Christabel fares well,” she said, watching his face light up in a smile. “She is also betrothed to be married soon.” His smile quickly diminished, just as she knew it would.
    “Who is she to marry?” he asked, with urgency in his tone.
    “She is to marry someone who is not suited for her. Someone who holds no lands nor much of a title.”
    “So . . . her father is letting her marry a commoner, then?”
    Portia couldn’t help but hear the hope in his voice.
    “Not a commoner,” she told him. “But someone who plans on not only capturing me, but the castle as well. As a matter of fact,” sh e lifted her chin and looked toward the gate, “he arrives as we speak.”
    Portia watched Sir Braden ri de through the front gates, and noticed the stablemaster’s gaze stayed fixed upon him.
    “That is Lady Ch ristabel’s betrothed?” he asked, no emotion showing on his face at all.
    “Aye,” she sai d with a smile. “His name is Sir Braden. But do not worry, for as soon as I relay my message to the countess, I guarantee he would never leave the walls of Calila again.”
     
    Braden rode in through the gates of the mountain castle. ’Twas all too easy, as no one even stopped him or asked him from where he came. He still wore the crest of the wolf upon his surcoat, having just left Lord Wolfe’s castle recently, so he knew no one would yet suspect he was from their enemy’s lands of Banesmoor.
    He nodded to the guard at the gate and continued inside. There were many people in the courtyard for such a secluded castle. He saw fishermen f rom the coast selling their wares and serfs and villagers whom he suspected were from many neighboring towns as well. The surroundings were much smaller than Lord Solomon’s castle, but it had a mystical atmosphere about it, being so high up in the mountains and surrounded by a low-hanging fog. It was quaint, and in good condition, not a very old castle at all.
    Up in the distance he spied the fae girl talking with the stablemaster, or so he guessed the man to be. The man conversed with her and then looked directly at him, which made Braden realize Portia had not kept his presence a secret after all. Then the man walked back to the stable and Portia made her way toward the keep. Braden knew he had to stop her before she made her way inside to reveal to the countess everything she’d learned on her little spy trip to Banesmoor.
    He dug his heels into his horse’s side s and sped across the courtyard, pulling in the reins and stopping just in front of