Page 45 of Veil of Winter

Still smiling, Rodrigo backed away toward his men. Hebowed and remounted his horse. In a moment, he and his men were trotting down the road.

Sir Oswalt walked away from them as soon as Rodrigo backed away, but Elyce quickly leaned her head away from Sir Gerard, very aware that Ysa had undoubtedly seen their kiss. But Sir Gerard still did not release his hold on her.

She gazed up into his blue eyes, her heart fluttering. How handsome he was.

“Forgive me for lying, and I’m so sorry for causing you to have to lie... and for...” She swallowed, the words getting stuck in her throat. “For what I did.”

“You mean kissing me.” He said it in a very quiet voice, too low for Sir Oswalt and Ysa to hear.

“Yes.” She sounded breathless. He’d be thinking she was in love with him, and... she was fairly certain that she was.O God, help me.“I’m sorry. It was very wrong of me to do that.”

“Wrong? Why?” He leaned closer, his body blocking Ysa and Sir Oswalt from being able to see just how close they were.

Her cheeks grew hot, but it was a different heat from when she had lashed out at Rodrigo. Why was he asking her that? What should she say?

“You had to get rid of him somehow.” His gaze was piercing as he looked her in the eye, as if he were trying to read her thoughts. “But I would have protected you from him. You know that, do you not? Sir Oswalt and I would have fought his men if necessary, would have even allowed them to capture us along with you so that we could have helped you escape later.”

“But there were too many men. They would have killed you.”

She leaned away from him, and he suddenly straightened, putting a little more distance between them.

He didn’t answer right away. He stared at the ground, then at the clouds overhead. Finally, he squinted at her. “I would have protected you.”

“You are angry with me for lying and for kissing you.”

“Hardly.” He shook his head, but she could not tell what he was thinking.

She remembered again how his lips felt. He had returned her kiss, almost as if he had expected her to kiss him. But it was all done to fool Rodrigo. Was it not?

She could still feel his warmth and the pressure of his hand on her waist. How easy it was to imagine that her words were true, that she wanted to marry him and stay with him, never again to return to her homeland of Montciel.

“He seemed to believe you.”

“I had to tell him the lie. Rodrigo cannot imagine that I would care that much about my people. He is too selfish to consider looking out for someone else.”

“I wanted to wipe the smirk off his impudent face.”

“His men would have attacked. And they don’t respect the rules of a fair and noble fight.” Nobility and fairness were things Rodrigo could not understand. But then her conscience smote her. She could not point a finger at anyone else when she had just lied so blatantly.

“I am sorry for catching you up in my falsehood. I hope you forgive me for putting you in that position.”

A strange expression flickered over his face, and then helooked away from her. When he spoke, his voice was quieter. “There is nothing to forgive. You were only doing what you felt you had to do.”

“Thank you for helping me... again. It seems you are always coming to my rescue.”

Their eyes locked, and she imagined kissing him again. If Sir Oswalt and Ysa weren’t just behind Sir Gerard...

Would she truly be so reckless and imprudent as to kiss him again, now? No, of course not. She was not so depraved. She was not wholly without self-control or propriety.

She suddenly backed away from him, then started toward Ysa. “We should be on our way. My father may have also sent men to search for us...” She let her voice trail off.

Ysa gave her a look, her eyebrows raised nearly into her hairline.

Elyce rolled her eyes and frowned, since Sir Oswalt was moving toward Sir Gerard, and no one could see her face besides Ysa. But Ysa would surely ask her questions, and probably even scold her, as soon as they were alone.

Thirteen

“Ysa, do you like me?”