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

lit candles and the place glowed like a welcoming beacon in the evening light.  
    He leaned his forehead against Mut’s. “You’re lucky,” he whispered to the horse. “Someone loves you.”
    On the breeze came the sounds of music—a shawm, and a lute mayhap. The festivities were underway.
    His thoughts went again to the time he’d spent with Sophia von Wolfenberg. She was everything a man could want in a wife; beautiful, intelligent, educated. She’d stirred his body and his soul.
    She was in that house, laughing, mayhap dancing, enjoying the feasting. He should put in an appearance for the sake of protocol, but it was more than probable he’d be shunned again as an ally of the Staufens. A shiver crept up his spine at the prospect of Sophia treating him as a enemy. He craved the warm smile that had melted his frozen heart at the waterfall.
    The arrival of his squire jolted him out of his reverie. What was he thinking? He was to marry Dorothea, though they’d yet to sign a formal agreement, possible now she was about to come of age. It was an understanding between their parents, agreed upon when he was five and she a newborn. Yet here he stood, holding on to a sick horse, hoping to feel even a trace of the attention Sophia lavished on the beast.
    Drogo cleared his throat. “Don’t you want the food now, sir?”
    He looked down at the trencher of victuals the lad held out to him, then let go of the horse and accepted the food. “Of course,” he replied, resolved to stop acting like a lovesick fool. A good night’s rest was what he needed. Tomorrow he would attend the wedding ceremony and feast, as was expected, then be on his way home to Rödermark and Dorothea.

RESTLESS

    Sophia’s parents were providing the calibre of hospitality they were famous for. The food at the Maiden’s Banquet surpassed everyone’s expectations, thanks to her mother’s close supervision of the extra cooks taken on for the wedding.  
    She sat amid a throng of people celebrating boisterously and was genuinely happy for her half-brother and his bride-to-be.  
    Yet a feeling nagged that something was missing.
    Perhaps it was simply the prospect of losing the closeness she and Kristina shared. Mayhap laughing at her brothers’ antics had worn her out. Lute seemed determined to be the life of the party, and Kon tagged along as usual. Johann was taking the ribbing well and Kristina’s rosy cheeks glowed with happiness.
    Sophia had taken part in a few of the reigen , holding hands with others in the circle and chanting the refrain along with everyone else.  
    She swallowed a yawn, uncertain as to the reason for her fatigue. Perhaps too much sunshine and worry over Mut had drained her spirits. She’d looked forward to this Maiden’s Banquet for weeks, now she was…
    Bored .
    The admission was unsettling. She didn’t notice her father approaching and was startled when he sat down beside her. “ Liebling , why are you sitting here alone?”
    She shrugged, wishing she knew the answer.
    He put an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry. You’ll find the right partner,” he whispered.
    She leaned into him, thankful for a father who instinctively understood her disquiet.
    “Johann mentioned you had a long conversation at the waterfall with Duke Conrad’s envoy,” he said after a brief silence. “What’s your impression of him?”
    She didn’t blame Johann. Indeed his actions demonstrated his concern for her, and there was no censure in her father’s voice. She risked a glance at his face, but he continued to watch the revellers. Perhaps he saw more than she imagined, more than she was willing to admit.  
    What to say? His beauty took my breath away? I can’t stop thinking about him? His voice enthrals me? I think we are soul mates. He makes me warm in places…
    “He is…handsome,” she stammered lamely.
    Her father chuckled. “He is that. And a man who knows horses.”
    He’d thrown her a lifeline. “ Ja . He is