A Dishonorable Knight by Michelle Morrison Read Free Book Online Page B

to be back with King
Richard's party than enjoy the scenery. Why can we not travel the road?"
    The three men exchanged glances.
Finally, Bryant spoke up. "My lady, we fear for your safety. The villains
who attacked us yesterday may still be around. We would not jeopardize your
safety."
    Elena opened her mouth to tell them
that the Woodvilles were by now long gone. She snapped it shut again when she
realized she would be revealing more than she had claimed to know. As they
rode, she tried to decide what, exactly, she would tell the king. If she told
him of Elizabeth’s escape, he may thank her for the information. If he realized
that Elena was aware of why the
princess escaped, he may very well want to silence Elena, for were he to marry
his niece, the public outcry would be immense. She could offer her silence in
return for the groom of her choice. Elena smiled at the thought and did not
notice the tree branch just ahead.
    “Ooof!” she said as the hanging
leaves whacked her in the face. She sputtered angrily and glared over her
shoulder at the offending tree. A sudden thought replaced her annoyance with
fear.
    King Richard was not a man to endure
her threat with good grace. Oh yes, he would silence her, but not by paying her
price. Though she knew the king favored her, she also knew that the position of
lady-in-waiting carried no weight in matters of state. It was entirely possible
that the king would use other, more permanent means to silence her. The image
of Richard’s two young nephews—long since silenced--floated before her
eyes, causing her to smack into yet another branch.
    “God’s nightgown!” she cursed.
    “Need you help, my lady?” the shy
man—Bryant, she thought—asked.
    “No!” Elena said sharply and then
more calmly, “No…thank you.”
    Though the day was warm, Elena felt a
sudden chill run down her spine. Trying to think of anything else, she turned
her attention to what she would tell Margaret and Catherine.
    “I am cursed!” she muttered as she
realized that spending even one night away from the other women, in the company
of three men, no less, would destroy her already fragile reputation. Frustrated
that she had no answer to either of her plaguing questions, Elena distracted
herself with complaining about the journey, delighting when the horrid man
glared his displeasure at her.
    Several hours later, Elena was too
tired to complain anymore. She wearily dismounted with Bryant's help and made
her way into the nearby bushes. When she returned minutes later, she found the
men already mounted again and waiting to leave.
    "You can not mean that is all
the rest we get!"
    "We have much distance to cover
before nightfall. We can ill afford to waste the daylight while you idle the
time away," said Gareth.
    Elena glared at the man who had not
said one polite word to her since she'd laid eyes on him. When they met up with
Richard again...
    "Perhaps we could at least let
her stretch her legs, Gareth," Bryant ventured.
    Gareth, Elena thought. She would remember
that name to tell Richard.
    "No. She's holding us up as it
is. We continue until dusk."
    Bryant looked at Elena apologetically
as he helped her back on her horse, but Elena was too furious to notice. She
clenched her teeth so hard her jaws began to hurt and she slapped the reins on
her delicate palfrey.
    ***
    "What be the reason the normally
chivalrous Sir Gareth is treating the Lady Elena so?" Cynan asked Gareth
as they made their way through the forest. “Is she not the one whose looks you
were so taken with the other night in the great hall?"
    "That was until she opened her
mouth. That woman makes an adder seem a pleasant conversationalist."
    "I don't know. She seems merely
high spirited to me."
    Gareth laughed harshly. Cynan studied
the back of his friend's head while a thought began to take shape in his head.
    "She'd make a winsome wife. But not for a blundering Englishman. She needs a Welshman to
appreciate her spirit."
    Gareth looked