The Silken Cord by Leigh Bale Read Free Book Online Page A

limbs.
Wulfgar might guess who her father was if she told him who her
people were.
    The sounds of wind and sea beat all around.
The warmth of the sun glimmered on the sandy beach, the brightness
intense enough to make her blink.
    Returning to the hut, the tantalizing aroma
of cooking fish filled the air. Callum crouched before a large rock
where he sliced long filets for Gara to skewer with sticks and
place before a fire they’d built outside. To distract herself,
Ariana tried to comb her tangled hair with her fingers. The sun
rose higher and covered the island. Indeed, it was a pleasant day
and Ariana almost forgot she was stranded with a man who was her
enemy.
    She watched as Wulfgar stepped into the sea
and washed his face and other injuries. Perhaps she should offer to
tend his wounds, but she had no bandages or ointments to use and
didn’t think Gara’s meager possessions consisted of such luxuries.
No doubt the salt water would help heal his injuries.
    “Your man watches over you well,” Gara
said.
    Ariana jerked, surprised to find Gara
standing close by holding a bronze plate of cooked fish. Indeed,
between scanning the sea for their two ships and washing, Wulfgar
rarely took his gaze off her.
    “He’s not my man. He’s my slave,” she spoke
rather harshly.
    Gara glanced at Wulfgar and smiled. “Perhaps
he doesn’t know that.”
    Gara handed the plate to Ariana, then moved
away to serve Callum. Ariana fumed silently. No, Wulfgar would
never be anyone’s slave. They could chain him, starve and even beat
him, but his spirit belonged to himself.
    When he returned, water dripped from his
bearded face. Ariana’s cloak lay nearby on a rock and she inclined
her chin toward it. “Use it to dry off.”
    He smiled his thanks before wiping his face
and arms. She couldn’t help laughing at the sight of this large man
all but wearing her woman’s cloak.
    He chuckled and waggled his eyebrows at her.
“What? You don’t think me stylish in this pretty piece of
clothing?”
    Shaking her long hair back from her
shoulders, she wrinkled her nose. “I think you look like a court
jester.”
    He narrowed his eyes in a shaming frown and
drew one hand dramatically to his chest. “I am injured, demoiselle . I sought only to please you and here you make
fun at my expense.”
    Ariana smiled as she slid a large piece of
fish onto a bronze plate and handed it to him.
    “Be quiet and eat,” she admonished in a
lighthearted voice. “The fish is delicious. I’m so famished, I
would eat a leather shoe.”
    She didn’t want to jest with this man. If he
hadn’t been convicted of treason, Dafydd might not be in the hands
of Edwin of Carlinham and her father would still be alive. The
thought was sobering. Wulfgar had no idea his own treachery had
played such a dramatic role in Ariana’s life and she mustn’t forget
what he was capable of.
    Although Wulfgar didn’t recognize her, she
had met him as a child. Before his conviction, he had been Earl of
Glyndwr, a Norman stronghold at Castle Cynan. A truce had been
called and he had met with her father on several occasions, to talk
of peace along the border. They had reached an agreement, but
Wulfgar was convicted of treason and Edwin of Carlinham had taken
his place at Castle Cynan.
    With Edwin as their leader, the Normans
began brutal raids on the Welsh. Edwin’s men harried Ariana’s
people night and day, murdering, kidnapping their women, burning
their fields and homes, slaughtering livestock to eliminate their
food supply.
    The ploy had worked. During the harsh
winter, Ariana’s people had starved. Then, while she had been away
seeking help elsewhere, Edwin’s men had raided her father’s camp.
During the fight, Ariana’s father had been mortally wounded and
Dafydd, a seven-year old boy and the last remaining heir to her
father’s throne, had been captured.
    Edwin’s ransom demand was too high. Lands
and wealth her poor people could not pay. So, Edwin had tried