Pillaging Elinor's Castle [Elinor's Stronghold 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Berengaria Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

went hunting, returning with a boar, but also with news of a sow and piglets. The following day, they killed not just the sow, but also a second boar and captured five piglets.
    Elinor was very excited as she moved the animals into a pen that’d been hastily constructed for them next to the fishpond. “There’ll be plenty of natural food for them here,” said the guard who was hammering the last support into the fence.
    “Oh yes, thank you,” she said, smiling up at him. “I’m not sure if they’ll survive, but there’s only one way to find out!”
    Meanwhile, Wade was training older children how to tell if enemies were approaching. He held competitions between them as to who could see sunlight glinting off metal first or discern when things were out of place in the forest. “They’re very good, my lady. They understand what it means if the forest noises stop and there is silence, and they know to look for trails of smoke and other signs,” he reported to her.
    Rhys and Hammond began planning to hunt a small herd of deer, but Elinor’s thoughts had turned to what would happen if her people were attacked in their small hamlets. If they ran to the forest, the soldiers would easily track them down and pick them off one at a time. Yet there was no guarantee the people would have time to escape to the safety of the castle.
    Where else—how else—could they be safe?
     
    * * * *
     
    Elinor was leaning over the fire, stirring a huge pot of berries, boiling them down to be preserved in meats and puddings, when a child skidded into the kitchen calling loudly, “Lady Elinor! Lady Elinor! A lady on a horse with two guards!”
    Elinor straightened her back and smiled at the child. He had given her his message perfectly. His manners might not be acceptable at Court, but he’d told her exactly what she needed to know, in very few words and without wasting time.
    She scooped a tiny serving of berries onto a piece of hard bread and handed it to him. “Well done, child. You delivered the message just right. Does Wade have any more information to tell me about the lady and her guards?”
    “John will come to tell you when someone identifies their banner. It’s red and gold, but Wade said half the kingdom has red and gold on their banners.” The child spoke with his mouth half full of bread and berries.
    She nodded, and he ran off. Aunt Heloise had evidently heard him call, as she arrived then. “I’ll watch the pot for you. You’d best change your gown and re-braid your hair before they arrive,” she said practically.
    “Thank you, aunt.” Elinor hurried up to her solar, changing into her tidy blue gown and brushing her hair before tying a pretty blue ribbon to the end of her braid. Guests were frequent, but it was almost always men to speak with Lord Rhys. A lady was something special indeed. She looked forward to having a long talk with her, while the lady’s husband or father spoke with her lord.
    No messenger delivered further information about the coming guest, but noises in the courtyard told her they’d arrived. Byram had sent messengers to fetch Hammond and Lord Rhys, and the servants had hurriedly prepared food and drink for the guests.
    Rhys and Hammond entered, both of them flicking water off their heads and hands, from the back of the house, at the same time as Wade and half a dozen children escorted the lady and her guards in the front door from the courtyard.
    “Rhyannon!” exclaimed Rhys.
    Elinor knew that name. But in what context?
    The large man standing close beside Rhyannon bowed. “Lord Rhys, it is my sad duty to inform you your Uncle Bennet has died.”
    “And you are?”
    “My apologies, my lord. I am Alistair, son of Lord Alistair of the Green Mountain, and protector of the Lady Rhyannon.”
    “Alistair and Ebert chose to escort me here, rather than serve my cousin. Rhys, he said I either had to marry him or leave. So I left.”
    “The church does allow cousins to marry,” said