Choose the Sky: A Medieval Romance (Swordcross Knights Book 2) by Elizabeth Cole Page A

“Truly?”
    “I got the impression that it was not always so.”
    “Indeed it was not!”
    “It also seems like something your father would have noticed,” Luc added.
    She closed her eyes, trying to think her way through all these inconvenient observations. “He’s been…distracted…of late.”
    “By what?”
    Mina bit her lip. “I can’t say.”
    “Because you don’t know, or you won’t tell?” he pressed.
    “Will you interrogate me now?” she snapped. “I am not on trial!”
    “Who said anything about a trial?” he asked, one eyebrow rising.
    “I’ll send him on his way,” she muttered. But even as she said it, Mina knew sacking Haldan would not be easily accomplished. He’d have to be bought off, at a price Mina couldn’t afford. Or else he would loosen his tongue about Godfrey’s true condition, and Mina would be in a worse position than before. “God help me,” she muttered.
    “What is the matter?” Luc asked, his voice conciliatory now. “Domina?”
    “Never mind,” she said. “It doesn’t concern you.”
    She announced it was high time to return her bird to the mews. Luc rode beside her, without speaking, perhaps in an effort to assuage her anger.
    In the courtyard, he leapt down and helped her dismount without a word. The bird ascended in a short flight, but since she was leashed, Mina easily recalled her. “Back to your home, my lady,” she told the bird.
    Luc trailed her to the mews, where the few hawks roosted, watched over by a young groom.
    She allowed the hawk to settle on her arm for a moment, then slipped the hood over the bird’s head. “Very well done today, my beauty,” she murmured. “You make me proud.”
    She guided the bird to its perch and shut the door. The bird squawked very quietly, in acknowledgment that its job was done. Domina watched to see that the bird was calm, then turned away, intending to take the basket of kills to the kitchen.
    Luc already had the large basket in his grip. “Show me the way,” he said.
    “It should not fall to a guest to carry the meat to the kitchens.”
    “The weight is too much for you on your own,” he retorted.
    She walked him across the courtyard, carefully avoiding looking at the building where her father resided.
    “Supper will be a rich one,” Luc commented cheerfully.
    “If you like duckling.”
    “Or partridge,” he added.
    “If you prefer venison, my lord, you can hunt in the forest yourself. The deer have been plentiful in recent years.”
    Luc offered her a smile. “A generous suggestion, my lady. As your guest, I ought to fill the larders you have been feeding me from.”
    “A gift of venison would be much appreciated,” she said, her eyes downcast. Secretly, she was elated. If she could be sure of Luc’s absence, she could spend some time with her father. The constant attendance of her so-called “guest” was making it nearly impossible for her to see him at all.
    “What a humble lady, to ask only venison as a gift.”
    “I have all else I need.”
    “Except your father by your side,” he needled her.
    She looked up, alarmed, before she smoothed out her features. “I would be much happier then.”
    “You would smile more,” he guessed. “And laugh more.”
    “Unquestionably.”
    “Then I hope he returns quickly. In case everyone else has neglected to tell you, your laugh is enchanting.”
    Despite her every intention to be unmoved by Luc and his courtly manners, his compliment warmed her from the inside out.

Chapter 8

    As he promised, Luc took steps to arrange for a hunt, though he did so for reasons of his own. Lord Bertram of Acton, a known ally of the king, lived nearby, and Drugo had given Luc the name as a man he could trust.
    While Luc attended Domina, Octavian used the time to call on the local lord, using his own missive from the king to gain entrance. His appearance, that of a foreign and rather splendid knight bearing the king’s seal on a letter, was impressive enough that