Border Lord's Bride by Gerri Russell Read Free Book Online

not only Christmastide, but a wedding celebration."
    Lily dropped her snowball and her small hand reached up to touch Elizabeth's sleeve. "You'll stay with us forever, right?"
    Elizabeth smiled and covered the gloved fingers with her own. "You all are everything I've ever dreamed of in this life. My home is Midwick Manor for as long as your brother will have me."
    "We want you to stay forever," Lily said wistfully.
    "Only your brother can determine that."
    Heather leaped from one edge of the ridge to the other. "Then let's decorate the house and make things so beautiful, he can't help but want you to stay."
    If only it were that simple. "We'd better get busy then." Elizabeth forced excitement into her voice as she headed for the holly bush off to her left.
    The girls raced ahead of her along the edge of the ridge and busied themselves collecting greens and pinecones and pulling mistletoe down from where it had climbed up into the branches of the trees, until the basket was filled to overflowing. Only then did they scour the area in search of the perfect tree with which to make their Yule log. The girls raced along the long, flat ridge, heading farther south until they came to a stop in front of a tall tree that grew just off the side of the flattened area.
    "This is it!" Iris exclaimed.
    "It's perfect," the other girls echoed.
    "It will definitely keep burning for the twelve days of Christmastide," Camellia said with awe in her voice.
    Elizabeth carried the ax with her to the tree. She stopped before the girls' selection and braced herself on the incline. The tree was big, and would no doubt be heavy once she chopped it down. If she could chop it down, she amended, eyeing the thick trunk. "Perhaps we should wait for your brother to help with the tree."
    "At your service, my lady," came a voice from behind her.
    "Lucius!" Lily cried, and threw herself into his arms.
    Elizabeth startled. They'd been so absorbed in their gathering and tree hunting that they hadn't seen his approach. And he'd come from the direction of her father's house. Why?
    She took a step toward him, but the uneven ground knocked her off balance. She dropped the ax as she tried to regain her footing. Instead, she slipped, fell, then tumbled down the ridge. Trees dashed in and out of her vision. A woodsy smell invaded her senses. Pain erupted against her temple. The edges of her vision turned black and everything started to spin.
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
    "Elizabeth!"
    Lucius reached out to grab her, but he was too late. She tumbled down the eastern side of the ridge on the Huntingdon Hall side.
    "Don't you girls move. Do you hear me?" Without waiting for a reply he scrambled after her, falling a few times, dodging trees and fighting the suffocating snow.
    Oh, God, not Elizabeth! What have I done?
    Lucius tried to hurry, to keep his eyes on her slim form below. His heart pounded in his chest. She lay facedown. Her tawny hair fanned out around her.
    "Elizabeth." She was less than ten feet away from him. She moved her arm away from her head.
    She is alive.
    Then he saw the bloodred snow.
    "Lucius," she whispered.
    He sank to his knees beside her. "Don't move," he panted, unable to catch his breath. "Lie still. I need to check your wounds." He turned her head slightly. "There's a small gash at your temple. Does your head pain you?"
    "I'm dizzy and I feel foolish, but other than that I'm well."
    "Let me make certain." He felt over her arms and legs as he had to his brother Templars who'd fallen in battle.
    She shifted to her side and reached out to gently grip his hand. She squeezed once before she released him. "Truly, it is just my head."
    "Then let's get you back to the manor." At the sound of her weak voice, emotion tightened his chest. She would be all right. She had to be.
    He placed his hand at the back of her neck. "I'm going to roll you over. Let me do the work," he urged as he eased her out of the snow to face him. "You're going to be fine."