Written in the Stars by Patricia Rosemoor, Sherrill Bodine

knowledge that she would find the way and that Will would return to her,
     she strengthened her resolve to bide her time until all could be as she desired.
    “They are safely away?” she asked as Alice entered the room.
    “Aye.” Her usual smile wavered and then was gone. “Sorry to see Tom go. Thinking I
     might stay for a bit after your wedding to see him return.”
    Icy shivers consumed Elizabeth anew as she thought of her upcoming wedding and what
     she must do to prevent it. She rose, hurrying to the hot, scented water Alice had
     brought. “You know you may stay as long as you wish.”
    “Aye, I know. Miss my bossy sister Jane and Granny Cybil. I’ll be full of tales to
     tell about this fine court and your grand wedding.” Laying out Elizabeth’s clothes
     for riding with Carlyle, Alice slid her a worried look. “Speaking of your groom, you
     don’t seem that excited about becoming his countess.”
    Swirling to face her, Elizabeth forced a smile. “And you say you don’t have the eye
     like your Granny Cybil. No, I do not know Carlyle, nor am I sure I shall like to be
     his bride, but I shall try to appear more pleasant to not hurt his feelings.”
    Sensible Alice straightened and stared at her in disbelief. “Elizabeth, what can be
     done but to do what your father wishes?”
    Her heart felt as if it would burst through her bones and skin. She held Alice’s hands
     and squeezed. “I do not yet know. Perhaps a ride in the crisp, fresh air will help
     clear my head and show me the way.”
    Hours later, her words to Alice haunted Elizabeth as Carlyle kissed her wrist before
     helping her mount her horse. As always, his touch sent shivers of fear along her skin
     and into her heart.
    It is not his doing that my heart belongs to another and his touch repulses me. I
     must be kind. I do not wish to hurt him.
    He led her in a new direction, foreign to her. As they rode, she saw no small, neat
     farms, or hailed any of the scouts who guarded the duke’s lands. Where Carlyle led
     there was only forest and a strange stillness.
    Smiling, she pretended to be interested in his talk of hawking and hunting. His pleasant
     companionship, the air cool and fresh on her face, her love of riding, could not quench
     her strange unease. She had the oddest feeling that she was being led somewhere she
     would not like to reach.
    She kept glancing behind her, hoping to see a familiar rider, a beloved face. Someone
     who would stay by her side, to make her feel safe on this strange ride into a part
     of the forest she had not visited.
    Will! Will, if only you were by my side.
    Her heart sent the plea while her mind tried to stop wishing for it to be true.
    I must make my desire to have Will always by my side come to pass. I must refuse to
     marry Carlyle, a man who I do not love, and in truth, fear.
    The knowledge of what she must do echoed again and again in her head as she rode beside
     him, deeper into thicker brush and tall trees which blocked the sun.
    “I want to take you to my special place, Elizabeth.”
    Instinct made her hesitate. Duty and a certain guilt at what she planned demanded
     she nod in agreement.
    …
    As they rode into the sun, his men and the supply horses laden with food, casks of
     beer, helmets, steel plates, spearheads, and swords at his back, Will laid out to
     his lieutenant all his plans to fortify the duke’s border with Scotland and to secure
     the newly acquired lands to the east.
    The lands Elizabeth will bring to her marriage to Carlyle.
    In the cold hours before dawn, Will had paced the courtyard, hoping and dreading she
     might appear to bid him farewell. Leaning heavily upon the duke’s strong arm and Will’s
     grandfather while holding Stephen, Laurel had sent him off with tears, embraces, and
     prayers for a safe and swift return.
    His gut clenched again, remembering Alice running into the torch-lit courtyard, believing
     for one glorious moment that Elizabeth had followed and he