Loyal Heart (The Von Wolfenberg Dynasty #1) by Anna Markland Read Free Book Online

thought to broach the subject with Kristina, visions of Brandt Rödermark danced in her head. Discussion of private male and female parts seemed innocent and natural with her mother. Put a handsome man in the picture and Sophia suddenly understood what desire was as it spiralled its way into those intimate places.
    Once the servant stopped fiddling with Kristina’s hair, they would make their way to the main hall for the Maiden’s Banquet. It was now or never. She took the comb from the maidservant’s hand. “I’ll finish. You can go.”
    Kristina eyed her curiously. Chewing on her bottom lip, Sophia waited until the girl had left, then said, “I promised to talk to you about…you know…husband and wife matters.”
    Kristina rose from the padded bench, smoothing out the silk skirts of her pink gown. “Don’t worry,” she replied, her face reddening. “I had a long talk with your mother.”
    Relief flooded Sophia. “I might have known she would take you under her wing.”
    “Well, my parents spend most of their time arguing with each other and barely acknowledge my existence. They talk of nothing else other than the fact I’m marrying a count’s eldest son. I cannot imagine having the conversation with my mother that I had with yours.”
    Sophia hugged her friend, tamping down an unreasonable twinge of jealousy. “We can thank my grandmother. Agneta FitzRam believed her daughter should be prepared for the delights of the marriage bed.”
    Kristina laughed. “According to my mother’s brief advice there is no delight, only pain and forbearance.”
    Sophia pondered the notion. “I suppose it depends on a woman’s experience. My grandmother must have enjoyed sexual congress with my grandfather, otherwise why would she…?” She stopped, noticing the blush creeping over Kristina’s face. She too was feeling overheated. “I’m sorry. Here I am talking like a married woman, when in reality I know nothing.”
    Kristina shook her head. “No, I think you are right. Your parents are obviously still in love. I often wonder if mine ever cared for each other.”
    “That’s the reason they have allowed me to choose my own suitor,” Sophia said softly. “You know about my father’s dreadful experience with his first wife, Johann’s mother. He wants me to marry for love.” She squeezed her friend’s hand. “He’s always wanted the same for Johann, and here you are, not just a loving wife for my brother, but a sister for me.”
    Tears welled in Kristina’s eyes.  
    “Goodness,” Sophia exclaimed, “we mustn’t appear at your banquet looking like we’ve been weeping.”
    They laughed, but stopped abruptly, startled by a tapping at the door. “ Komm ,” Sophia said.
    Johann and Lute entered together, both smiling.
    “I have come to escort my bride,” Johann crowed, puffing out his chest.
    “And I’m stuck with my sister,” Lute added with a mock pout.
    Kristina accepted her groom’s arm.
    Sophia stuck out her tongue at her brother and linked her arm in his, stifling the urge to retort that though he was handsome, he wasn’t her preferred escort either.
    A certain Franken was.
    ~~~
    Vidar patted the mustard poultice fastened around the palfrey’s leg. “That should hold, my lord,” he declared.
    Brandt’s adjutant was probably the only person who knew more about horses than he did. A compulsion to touch the stricken leg nearly overtook him, but he didn’t want the man to think he didn’t trust his judgement. “Good work,” he said, stroking Mut’s nose. “He’ll be as good as new.”
    “The compresses have already done wonders,” Vidar conceded. “He’s a fine beast. Well loved.”
    As his second-in-command strode off towards the meal tent, it occurred to Brandt that Vidar rarely spoke more than a word or two at a time, and certainly never shared opinions.  
    He glanced over to the manor house in the distance. The summer sun wouldn’t go down for another hour or so, but they’d