Forbidden: Claude (Second in Command #2)(20)

“Yes, my lady,” said Claude, scooping her up into his arms. He let out an involuntary groan, and that made them both laugh.

“Claude de Bar Montague, if I hear you groan again I am going to think you are telling me I’ve grown fat.”

“Never, my lady,” said Claude, carrying her down to the water.



“Where are they going?” Felix asked Evelina, causing her to look across the grass only to see Rose in Claude’s arms. They were laughing as he carried her to the shore. Evelina had been having a pleasant conversation with Felix and enjoying herself. But now, all she wanted to do was go back to the castle.

“It looks like they are going to walk along the shore,” she answered.

“That looks like fun. Let’s go join them.” Felix jumped off the wagon.

“Nay,” she said, feeling her stomach form into a knot. “I’ll stay here. I don’t think I am up for a stroll along the beach.”

Now, she realized she must have imagined that Claude was interested in her. He still loved Rose, and it was obvious. Never would she be fooled by him again.





Chapter 7





Claude tossed and turned all night long not able to sleep because of all the turmoil in his brain. First, he dreamed of Rose. He was her husband, and she birthed a baby boy that looked just like him. But in the dream, everyone kept thinking the boy was a girl.

After that, he dreamed that Evelina was in his bed and they were making love. Just as he reached his climax, her eyes lit up with fire and she slapped him hard, telling him he was naught but the court fool.

Finally, he had a dream about his grandfather. Claude was in the tower of Castle Hastings in the midst of a storm. His grandfather was there, telling him that he had to choose. He held up Rose by the hair in one hand and Evelina by the hair in his other hand. They dangled like limp rag dolls, and both of them looked blue in the face as if they were being hung by a noose. Claude stood frozen, not knowing what to do. Then the floor of the tower gave way under him, and he fell into a dark, long tunnel. He screamed out. But before he hit the bottom, someone’s shout woke him from his sleep.

“My lord, wake up!” came his squire’s voice. “You were crying out in your sleep.”

Claude’s eyes sprang open. He shot up to a sitting position in bed, gasping for air. Standing at the side of the bed were his squire and his mother.

“Claude, mon fils. Qu’est-ce qu’il y a?” His mother asked him what was the matter. She sat on the edge of the bed and put her hand on Claude’s.

“Ma mère, j’ai eu un rêve horrible.” He told her that he’d had a bad dream.

“I had a vision that you were in trouble, that is why I came to your room,” said Celestine. “I didn’t expect to hear you crying out in your sleep the way your father used to do with his nightmare.” His mother often had visions and was very seldom wrong. She used her Tarot cards to tell the future but, to Claude, that was being a witch, and he wanted nothing to do with it anymore.

“It was just a dream,” he said, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and rubbing his hands over his face.

“Felix, will you leave the room so I can talk to my son in private?” asked Celestine.

“Aye, my lady.” Felix left the room and closed the door.

“Mother, if this is about my dream, you don’t need to talk to me. I will be fine.”

“Don’t forget the dream your father kept having for years and what happened to him.”

“I am not my father.” He got out of bed and pulled a tunic over his head.

“Let me read the cards for you, Claude.”

“Nay! I don’t want anything to do with that type of witchery. Mother, it has only brought strife and turmoil into our lives.”

“I suppose you are right.” Sadness swept over Celestine’s face. There was no doubt she was thinking about her parents and the horrible memories of her past. “You are acting strangely. Is something the matter? Does this have anything to do with your feelings for Rose?”

“Why does everyone keep saying that to me?” He continued to dress as he talked.

“Who else said it?”

“That nursemaid.”

“Evelina? She knows you still have feelings for Rose as well?”

“I don’t have feelings for Rose,” he ground out, picking up his weapon belt and fastening it around his waist.

“Are you sure? Because you know she is in love with Toft, not you.”

“Why does everyone have to keep reminding me?” He yanked his boots on and then headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I am going to take Lady Rose to chapel for the morning mass and then to the great hall for a meal. And after that, I will rub her feet or brush her hair or do anything else she wants me to do, and no one is going to tell me otherwise.”

“Why are you doing all this, Claude?”

“I am taking care of her until Toft returns, just as I promised.”

“Are you sure that is the only reason?”

He stopped in his tracks and spoke without turning around. “I owe it to her, Mother. She brought me out of a dark place I was in many years ago. I owe everything to her. If she hadn’t been there for me, I might be dead right now.”