The Beast of Renald (The Northern Knights) by Amber Dane Read Free Book Online

the dark looks the maids sent her had her think otherwise. Their snobbish attitude caused anger to rise in her.
    She straightened her back and ordered them to leave her things alone. Their eyes widened and they shared a shocked look before mumbling something about order and getting her ready. The priest had arrived and they would take the boy with them so she could dress. That set Kelbie to wailing. 
    Once Caroline got him to calm, she kicked the two maids out.
    Another buxom maid replaced them and she was even meaner and tried to browbeat her into letting them take Kelbie out of the room. Caroline could not believe the boldness of his servants. Soon, this one too followed the same route as the prior two. 
    By then, she was good and well heated. The next knock nearly shook the wooden door from its hinges and she jerked it open ready to give a good go, but she froze. 
    Darc stood there himself, a dark scowl of irritation upon his face and towering over her.
    ‘Must you begin this day already with trouble? We are to wed in the next half hour officially as ordered by our King.  There will be no more delays. I have other important matters to attend. Give me the boy.’
    The coldness of his order only incensed her further. His blue eyes in the bright light that filled the room looked to be flecked with green specks, tore into her. One of his large hands outstretched and the scar on the side of his face pink and the skin taut with his lips thinned in anger. 
    ‘Nay. He stays with me. I shall be ready in time.’ Caroline angrily shot back at him. 
    He made a sound with his tongue and stalked past her. Kelbie screamed at the top of his lungs when he saw the large man coming for him. 
    Darc stopped dead in his tracks. Kelbie’s little legs brought him to her skirts and he tried to hide in them, his tiny voice shaking as he cried. ‘Don’t let the monster take me, Mama. Don’t let the monster take me!’ 
    Caroline flushed with embarrassment despite her anger as her eyes shot to the dark lord. She thought she glimpsed pain in his blue depths, but she must have been mistaken for nothing but hatred and disgust burned her skin now.  
    ‘My lord, he didn’t mean-‘
    His arm slicing through the air between them cut her off and caused her to cower and hunch herself over her son in a protective manner for the expectant blow.
    Her frightened gasp ripped a hole in Darc's gut. She thought he moved to strike her?  He lowered his hand back to his side with a sharp jerk, stunned.  He’d only been about to reach for the boy. He stepped a safe distance away and met her wary gaze.
    His tone came out angry and harsh. ‘He is too young to be crying at your skirts. He will grow up to be weak.’ 
    ‘He is just a boy! He does not know any better. He’s only five.’
    Her angry sob filled outburst only sickened him more. ‘Fine. Keep him with you. But I warn you, be ready in the half hour or we will take vows in this room.’ 
    Darc did not wait for a response. He needed to get away from them. From her.  Away from the hot fragile look in those honey-colored eyes that did something to him he did not want to look at further.
    She had believed him capable of striking her! The very notion made him ill. Never had he laid a hand on a woman. Not even when a lesser man would have done so with his first wife, Adelay. The darkness of his past stirred at the edges of his mind and he pushed it back down. Something in him tightened and he stalked down the hall.   
     
    Caroline was ready in the half hour and carried Kelbie down the stone steps when the maids came for her. Her steps felt leaden from the weight of what was to come.
    Lord Halvard and their wedding night had been horrific, an unforgettable nightmare. What would it be like with this man? She tried to will herself numb with each step she took to those gallows as she was led to the small chapel neatly built on the far side of the castle. 
    Her fear and weariness before