Knight's End (The Knight Trilogy) by Jami Montgomery Page B

and she felt her heart flutter in her chest. It was only when he said her name questioningly that she realized he had been talking to her.
    “I’m sorry…what?” she asked, feeling ignorant.
    “I said, Alys is going to take some measurements from you so she can make you a dress. Is that alright?” Aston asked again.
    Jade shook her head. “No more dresses.” At Aston’s puzzled glance, she elaborated. “They get in the way in the woods. If I’m right, I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time riding . Breeches and a tunic would be nice, though,” she finished. Alys grunted but agreed, grabbing Jade by the arm and dragging her into a back room for privacy.
    **
    Shortly a fter the door closed behind Alys and Jade , Delgrab came inside. He sat at the table across from Aston, folding his arms on the tabletop.
    “Who is she?” he asked again.
    Aston shook his head. “I honestly have no idea, Delgrab. I went back to Fridel to talk to Richie and she just appeared in the middle of the forest, in the middle of the night, no less. She plopped herself down beside me and went to sleep. She hasn’t left me alone since.”
    Delgrab laughed and shook his head. “She sounds like a handful. What are you going to do with her?”
    The knight shrugged, looking back at the room where the two women had disappeared. “I don’t know, Delgrab. I can’t just abandon her. She’d never make it on her own. Plus, s he knows too much about me and now she knows this place. If she turns on me and leaves, you and I will both be in trouble.”
    Delgrab nodded in agreement. Alys and Jade took that moment to reenter. Aston turned to look at Jade and found himself staring.
    He’d never seen a woman in men’s clothing before; seeing Jade, he wondered why more women didn’t wear them. She was slim in the waist and curvy everywhere else; the pants and blouse showed off her slim figured more than any dress ever could. The white shirt was tucked into the pants, tightening the top over her ch est and stomach. Her brown breeches fit snug on her hips and flowed loosely around her legs before tightening right above her ankles, showing off the black riding boots she’d been wearing under her dress.
    “Will this work okay?” Jade asked. Unable to speak, Aston nodded.
    “Are those mine?” Delgrab grumbled . Alys and Jade glanced at each other before laughing. Aston joined in; Delgrab was the only one who found nothing funny about a woman wearing his clothes.
    “Oh, sweetheart, you’re just mad because she looks better in them than you do,” Al ys teased , patting her husband on the cheek before heading into the kitchen. Jade followed, unsure of what else to do.
    “Alys?” she asked once the two women were alone. Alys looked up at her, her approval for Jade to continue. “Has Aston always been so….serious?”
    Alys looked somber for a moment before going back to her cooking, answering without looking at Jade. “He used to be more fun, more free. King Donn has made him live a rough life , and that no good son of his hasn’t helped either.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “ Some of the women in town used to talk, dear, passing around information they’d heard from their husbands. They’d say King Donn sent Aston on missions hoping he would fail. Talbot never liked A ston, so Donn always hoped he would mess up and condemn himself. This last offense was just what he’d been waiting for. I don’t understand politics, dear. Aston is the most kind and helpful person I know, aside from my Del. I don’t know why anyone would ever want to hurt him.”
    “I know what you mean,” Jade said, her mind somewhere else. She wondered if her father knew about King Donn’s methods. Why make a man a knight, only to want him to fail?
    “Speaking of hurting him, I won’t allow it,” Alys said. Jade looked up at the woman, stunned. “I love that man as much as I love Delgrab, and I won’t stand to see anyone hurting him. I let King Donn do it