Paladin's Prize (Age of Heroes, Book 1) by Gaelen Foley Read Free Book Online Page A

night. Forgive me—”
    “Nonsense! I want to know all about the woman who saved my life. And besides, do you know how rare it is for me that I get to be just a person for once, having a normal, human conversation? I am so glad not to be discussing military strategy or politics… So talk to me!” he ordered in a jovial tone. “Tell me about these brothers and sisters of yours. What are they like?”
    She gazed at him, intrigued. Then she sighed and shook her head. “All I can say about my brothers is that they’re both very silly young men. My sister Juliana, the baby of the family—well, let’s just say, she’s exactly like Mama. Juliana would enjoy straightening a royal lady’s train all day.”
    “What about your father?” he asked, clearly enjoying this.
    His genuine interest drew her out, overcoming her usual shy tendencies. “Ah, he’s a good sort. Blustery, but kind. He’s very busy, but he’ll always drop everything for us when we need him. In fact, I am sure that if word of the Urmugoth incursion has reached Pleiburg, Papa is already in the process of hiring the fiercest mercenaries in the kingdom to come and retrieve me. Whisk me home to safety, while the people I came here to serve were left behind to get slaughtered.” She shuddered. “Thanks to you, our nightmare here is over now.”
    “And thanks to you, I live to brag about it.”
    They smiled at each other from across the water.
    “Come, Sir Thaydor,” she said softly, “everybody knows you don’t brag.”
    In that moment, neither could look away.
    Wrynne did not know what was happening here. Thaydor didn’t seem to know, either.
    He lowered his head with an almost boyish air of innocent wariness, then glanced at her again, his lashes starred with water droplets. But a very adult, male hunger had begun to simmer in his eyes.
    The awareness that charged the air between them almost overwhelmed her. Cheeks flushed, Wrynne looked away, casting about for the lighter mood of a moment ago before she was tempted to do something very foolish.
    Like slip her dress off and join him in the pool.
    She ignored her racing heartbeat and strove for a normal tone. If he wanted to talk, let him talk. “So, what about your family?”
    He looked relieved by the question as he started rinsing the soap off his arms. “My father, the earl. My sister, Lady Ingrid, the pest. She’s seventeen.”
    “Same age as my sister! And what about your mother?”
    He stiffened a bit. “Sadly, she passed away when I was a lad.”
    “Oh…I’m so sorry.”
    There seemed a world of meaning behind his terse nod. “Thanks.”
    She quickly changed the subject with a smile. “And why is your sister a pest?”
    “Oh, so many reasons.” His easy air returned.
    “Such as?”
    “Well, she calls me ‘Clank,’ for starters.”
    “Ah, because of the armor?” Wrynne asked with a chuckle.
    He nodded with a long-suffering smile.
    “And your father? Earl Clarenbeld, is it?”
    “Known as the War Hammer. But the only thing my old man usually hammers these days is tankards of ale,” he said fondly. “I swear, he can drink a Viking warlord under the table. Even then, he still makes more sense than most people I know. We’re quite close. Oh—and I have a grandmother with fifty cats.” He gave her a look that said, Beat that.
    She grinned as he finished rinsing.
    For some reason, she hadn’t expected a head-bashing warrior like him to have a sense of humor, let alone a family that sounded as ordinary yet maddening as her own, given his exalted lineage.
    He might be a hero, but he was still just a person, she mused. One who’d lost his mother at a young age, too. That she hadn’t known. As she got to her feet, she wondered what had happened to the countess, but she didn’t dare pry further. Still, she couldn’t help wondering if perhaps this early loss was part of what drove him to protect everybody.
    “Here you are.” She handed him a towel, then turned away