The Subtle Beauty - Ann Hunter (book recommendations txt) 📗

Rhun cruised into the sunlight with Xander astride. Idegwaed, nestled in a red stag hide scabbard, swung gently at their sides. Rhun snorted and dropped his head as they crossed the River Trefnwy. Xander loosened the reins and let his feet hang free of the stirrups. The midday sun felt wondrous after so many dark hours in that dreary, cold swamp.

Xander felt that all would be right in the world now. Archduges, Iarlls, and Tywysogion would swear fealty to him in exchange for his protection. They would gift castles and fiefdoms to his son. Life would be perfect for the first time in Xander’s family.

They rode all day until Rhun stopped at the edge of midnight and gazed at Blackthorn. He whickered softly and pawed the earth. Xander shifted in his saddle. “What is it, lad?”

Then he saw it, or rather didn’t. The kettledrums normally lit at night by the gate had been quelled. Blackthorn was suspiciously quiet, until Xander heard a scream.

Aowyn!

Xander dug his heels into Rhun’s side and rocketed toward the gates. Rhun couldn’t move fast enough. Xander drove hard against the stallion’s neck, booting him over and over. Rhun’s breaths came frantically. The tall grasses brushed by in a blur of moonlit gold.

Once in the bailey, Xander swung from Rhun’s back before the stallion had come to a halt. Before he could draw Idegwaed from her scabbard, two men clad in chainmail and boiled leather barreled into him. Xander’s hands were bound behind his back as a fist slammed into his jaw. He arched his back to try and kick out, but failed. With a grunt, he hammered his heel into his captor’s foot then pummeled his elbow into the man’s ribs, breaking free. He raced to Rhun’s side and drew Idegwaed. In one fell swoop, he spun and hacked into one of the men’s pauldrons. The man staggered backward, gripping his shoulder. The other raced toward Xander, swinging a claymore. Xander grit his teeth and pitched a blow into the on comer’s side. A voice from the curtain wall above cackled with glee. “Keep him busy, boys!”

Xander rolled away from the blow of a mace and saw a hulking man clutching Aowyn. Aowyn struggled against him, her voice muffled by the man’s hand over her mouth.

“Wyn!” Xander yelled.

Aowyn tried to cry out as the large man laughed again. “I have a date with a princess.”

Xander bellowed and affronted the one with the claymore. Steel screeched against obsidian. Xander rammed his shoulder into the man’s chest, then pivoted and slashed into the place between the other’s neck and shoulder. A spray of blood spattered against Xander’s chest. He raised Idegwaed and swung again. She chewed through chain and bit deep into flesh. The man dropped to his knees, his open-mouthed face blankly turning skyward. Xander roared again and spiraled toward the one with the claymore, shoving Idegwaed into his belly. Xander’s heart pounded as the man looked at him with the same wide-eyed expression as his comrade had. Xander grabbed the man’s head and pulled him close, pushing Idegwaed deeper through the man’s gut with a primal yell. As the man choked, the sneer on Xander’s face turned to a dark smile.

He pulled Idegwaed out and watched with an unnatural pleasure as the man fell to the ground. Xander placed the toe of his boot against the man’s face, and turned it away from him. The rapid breath in his lungs burned. The blood on Idegwaed rained like tears down her guard as Xander ran toward the nearest door.

The door had been battered open and hung in broken pieces. Xander leapt over the rubble, squinting in the darkness. Bodies lay on the floor. He stooped by one and recognized his captain of the guard. A glance over his shoulder revealed three of his other best men. Xander swore under his breath and stole up the staircase. He found Maeb gagged, bound, and unconscious in a darkened corner. He checked her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief. Alive. He whispered an apology and left her as he found her. He didn’t want her causing a commotion and running off to find Aowyn only to get herself in to more danger.

He tightened his grip around Idegwaed and crouched, prowling down the hall. He heard Aowyn’s scream. He was getting close. The sound of pottery smashing and bodies clunking against furniture was just around the bend. When he reached the door, he kicked it open.

“Unhand my wife.”

The burly man captured Aowyn by the wrist and pulled her close to him. He chuckled. “My men and I were beginning to wonder if you were coming back.” He regarded Aowyn momentarily and laughed again. “Who do I kid? A pretty girl like this. Of course you would come back.” His lips curled as he pressed his nose to Aowyn’s jawbone, breathing deeply.

Aowyn stared at Xander in terror, uttering his name. The man covered her mouth and pressed a dagger to her throat.

Xander growled. He tightened his hold on Idegwaed and took a step in their direction. “Let her go.”

The man looked at him from the corners of his eyes with a baleful grin. “Uh, uh, uh, Barwn Blackthorn. Play nice now.”

Xander began to circle them. Who was this man? Why had he come? By the looks of his furs, his cape, and the rings on his beefy knuckles, he was a man of importance. Xander continued to pace around them, frustrated that Aowyn was being kept between them like a shield.

“Tell me where you are from,” Xander snarled, “so that I may send your head there when I cut it off.”

The man sniggered. “Such a shame they want her dead. She’s so very beautiful.”

Xander’s anger raged as the man pressed his tongue against Aowyn’s cheek and slowly slithered it up to her temple. Aowyn’s breath coursed and her eyes flashed. She bit hard into the man’s finger until a line of blood trickled to the floor. The man sounded like thunder, “You venomous she-devil!”

He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, bolting for the door. Xander had not been mindful and left it unguarded. He charged after them. The man was lumbering down the hall. Xander could hear Maeb clucking beneath her gag, then squawking and making a ruckus as the man drew near. With a bellow and a mighty heave, Xander hurled Idegwaed after him. The falchion sang through the air and buried herself deep between the man’s shoulder blades. The man sucked in a sudden breath and paused mid-stride. He staggered toward Xander, his eyes open capaciously. Xander bolted to grab Aowyn and push the man forward. With a deafening thud, the man fell. Xander held Aowyn close. She trembled in his arms. Xander took her face with both hands and looked her in the eyes. He didn’t need to speak the words he was thinking, wondering if she was alright. She simply nodded and hugged him hard. He scooped her up, cradling her, and leaned his forehead against hers. He walked down the hall slowly, never wanting to take his eyes from Aowyn again. The world seemed to disappear. He made way to their bedroom and gently laid his wife on the bed, pressing his mouth to hers softly. He made her comfortable and dropped to one knee, weaving his fingers with hers. “Tell me what happened.”

Aowyn winced. “It happened so fast. One moment we were enjoying dinner, the next the castle went dark. Our men started fighting. Maeb and I tried to escape, and then that man…” she shuddered, then cried, “Oh, Xander, where were you?”

Xander kissed Aowyn’s knuckles. This was his fault. If he had been here to protect his keep, this might not have happened. “This will never happen again. I swear it.”

“How can you promise that with assurance?”

Xander looked at her earnestly. “Everything will be different from now on.” He leaned over the bed, placing a hand on his wife’s belly. He kissed the widest part of it and spoke quietly. “You will never have to fight for our land so long as I live.”

His fingers tightened around Aowyn’s nightgown as the baby kicked beneath his hand. He kissed Aowyn long and deeply, then rose.

Aowyn stirred uncomfortably. “That sword you had… I’ve never seen it before. Where did you get it?”

Xander tensed and said nothing.

Aowyn tried to turn his head to look at her. “I have only seen one other like it, forged by a creature from our lands. Tell me where you got that sword.”

Xander clenched his fists.

Aowyn choked. “Sylas Mortas. You’ve been to him, haven’t you?”

Xander turned his back.

“You don’t understand what you’re dealing with, Xan. I know him. He will only make things worse for us. Even the

Publication Date: 11-17-2014

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