Black Moon Draw(65)

He laughed, suddenly aware of where she was coming from. He had meant the idea of selling her as a jest, one she clearly did not understand.

His battle-witch looked at him in clear disapproval.

“Nay, Naia. I do not intend to sell you,” he said, shaking his head. “Although I may make you my queen.”

“Your what?” She stopped walking, staring at him.

The Shadow Knight turned to face her. “The warrior-queen of Black Moon Draw.”

“Are you proposing?”

“Proposing?” he echoed with disdain. “I propose naught. If I choose to take you as my queen, then I shall, and you will obey the command.”

Her face was red again. There was anger in her gaze, along with a different kind of fire. “You can’t just ditch the woman you’re betrothed to or force me to marry you.”

Aye, there is that. But his betrothed would not be his betrothed when the war was over. His oath of secrecy prevented him from revealing the truth. “Very well. You will become my mistress,” he reasoned.

“Absolutely not! I’m not some back up! Is this because I know your name?”

“Nay. ‘Tis because you belong here, or you wouldn’t have been sent to me.”

“You can’t do that to your princess. I won’t let you hurt her like that by breaking it off with her or hiding away some woman on the side! What happened in the tower was a mistake, one that can’t happen again.”

He snatched her arm and pulled her to face him. “I do not make mistakes, Naia. Should I choose to claim you as my queen or mistress, I will do so.”

Her mouth opened and then closed. Wordlessly, she yanked free and climbed the rocks blocking their path from the top of the cliff and stopped.

“My god,” she breathed.

He hurried to join her and scoured the familiar territory that was his. “What is it?” he asked, seeking out some enemy or other cause for her alarm.

“This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. Like a cross between Scotland and New Zealand. Ruled by an absolute *.”

He chose to ignore her slight, angry with her the way she was with him. Assuming the names he had never heard of were from her world, he relaxed, gaze sweeping across the landscape he had known since he was a child. Rolling hills coated by emerald grass that clung to them like moss filled the peninsula, leading up to jagged purple-blue mountains in the near distance. The scent of his home always made something melt inside him, the sweet clover grass welcoming him home from battle.

After years of never thinking about what happened after the war, he found himself yet again dwelling on what life was going to be like when battle was over, when he could ride the familiar hills and mountains, breathe in the sweet grass, and listen to the ocean’s tides near his home every day, make love to a woman who stirred his body and heart several times a day, if he pleased.

And the sky . . . He had only heard of it being blue and always imagined what it was like beyond the fog.

It would be a surprisingly pleasant life.

“This is all yours?” she asked, her hushed reverence for Black Moon Draw making him swell with pride.

“Aye. ‘Tis.”

“Have you ever thought about putting a cottage right there?” She pointed to the edge of the peninsula.

“Cottage?” he echoed. “My hold is there. ‘Tis but half a day’s ride.” He indicated the place where the mountains, sea and hills met.

“That works I guess.” There was a small smile on her face, one he wasn’t certain how to interpret. “I can’t believe this is your home.”

“’Tis yours as well. Whether as my queen or my mistress.”

“Don’t start that shit again.” She averted her gaze, but not before he saw the hurt in her eyes. Uncertain what caused it, he trailed as she began walking quickly, headed towards the dirt road winding among the low hills bordering the ocean.

He sensed a thaw without truly understanding her resistance to the idea of living there. The way her face lit up, she meant what she said about it being the most beautiful place she had ever seen. Why then, if sent here from another world, did she not welcome his offer?

The Shadow Knight began walking. It was not in his nature to dissect the mind of a woman, especially when he had offered the queen-ship to her without first breaking off his alliance with the Red Knight’s sister.

If he did it before the end of the era, he risked alienating a kingdom he did not have time to combat, which meant he lost and his world was gone.

It was good she refused it. For now. That would change once the curse was broken. Of that, he had no doubt. He had lied about knowing a way to send her home to win her cooperation. Once he was in a position to offer her the position of becoming his queen, unencumbered by war or his betrothed, he was not going to take no for an answer.





Chapter Sixteen





Home. The moment I set foot on the hill overlooking the beach, the sensation of being where I belong hit me so hard, I almost fell over.

I can’t explain it, except I’ve never seen anywhere this amazing in real life. I’m sure it exists, but people living paycheck to paycheck don’t go to random parts of the world to discover what’s there.

The hills ahead of me are so green they almost glow, and the smell . . . I had no idea places have scents. It’s honeyed, happy, welcoming, peaceful – the opposite of the brooding Shadow Knight beside me. That this world produced him baffles me. The sky stretches forever overhead, the heat of the brilliant sun tempered by a layer of gray fog and a cool ocean breeze.