Page 10 of Midnight Shadow

Harry smiled and nodded. “It’s my pleasure.” She was his joy, his treasure. She was the only spark in his otherwise tedious life at the castle. He would grant her the moon, but teaching her to sword fight was a hell of a lot easier.

One of these times, he knew he’d have to stop her from riding out to her secret meetings with her friend Mary. The world was becoming much too dangerous a place for her to be out late at night on her own.

Chapter four

Bria rode through the night, knowing the way to the pond in the east woods by heart. She knew where the land dipped, where it rose, where she had to duck to avoid the stinging slap of tree branches. So did her horse. They’d ridden this route together since she was ten, since her grandfather had begun teaching her to use a sword.

She tried not to let her frustration consume her thoughts. She should have had him! She thought she did have him! Only one wrong move. Damn. That’s all it would take in a real battle to cost her life, all it would take for someone to kill her. One mistake.

Bria spurred the horse faster. The animal raced on, the night speeding by. The huge rock at the edge of the Hagen farm marked the spot where she crossed over into Knowles’ lands, but she didn’t slow her pace. She turned right as she passed the massive stone, heading toward the pond where Mary would be waiting.

As she topped a slight rise, the pond appeared, glistening in the moonlight. Bria slowed her horse and steered the animal toward the forked tree, actually two trees twined about each other so tightly as to become one.

Bria dismounted, throwing the reins around a tree branch. She walked through the waist-high grass, staring at the dark pond. Long ago, soon after her grandfather had started teaching her swordplay, she and Mary had begun meeting at the pond. It was their secret place, a sanctuary where they could hide and tell each other their deepest desires. On some warm summer nights, when the moon was high and bright, Bria and Mary had gone swimming in those waters. She felt safe and comfortable here. They both did.

At the crunch of grass, Bria looked to her right. Mary bounded toward her, her dark hair alive with the moonlight’s sheen.

As Mary drew closer, her eyes scanned Bria’s disgruntled face for a long moment. “I’m sorry, Bria,” Mary whispered. “You’ll beat your grandfather yet.”

“I know. It’s just so unfair,” Bria murmured. It was uncanny how sometimes each knew what the other was thinking or feeling.

“Unfair, is it? Your grandfather is so much older than you! It should take you years to surpass his expertise, if ever.”

“Thanks a lot!”

Mary shrugged her shoulders. “You know what I mean. How would he feel if you beat him the first time you crossed swords?”

“But it’s been hundreds of times!” Bria said with exasperation. “Hundreds of times, and I have yet to best him once!” Bria kicked at a fallen branch.

“It’ll take time, but I know you can beat him,” Mary assured her friend.

“Garret said he has a move guaranteed to disarm him,” Bria said quietly.

“Really?”

Bria nodded her head. “He’s going to show it to me.”

“Isn’t that cheating?”

Bria quirked an eyebrow. “Not if I win.”

Mary’s brown eyes widened in disbelief. Then she smiled and draped an arm across her friend’s shoulders. Together they walked slowly through the grass. “Do you think your future husband will let you sword fight?”

Bria grunted. “Not likely,” she murmured.

“What if it’s Garret?”

“Mary!”

“You’re so lucky!” Mary’s enthusiasm bubbled over. “He’s handsome and kind –”

“Mary, I can’t marry Garret. It would be like marrying my brother!”

“But he’d let you sword fight.”

“And we’d have to move very far from you.”

Mary sighed, her excitement leaving her in a huff of exasperation. “No matter who you marry, you’ll move away.”