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Wed to a Wicked Warrior
Huling Na-update : 2022-09-30
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Synopsis
Fann is a mighty Highland warrior on a mission. As a reward for decades of successful battles, the king has granted Fann land, title, and a beautiful young wife! But to claim them he must first rescue his bide from unknown abductors and return her to her home. Their home. And she doesn't know that they have been wed! The king had taken control of Lord MacDonald's clan, his lands, and wed both of the man's daughters by proxy in order to cover a significant tax debt. Fann hopes to find her, rescue her, and for her to willingly marry him before she finds out the truth. That he is called the wicked warrior not because of his fierce fighting, but for the type of sexual acts that bring him the most pleasure. For surely, a lass raised in an abbey will not do the things he wishes to do with her if she knows they are wicked. Or will she...
view moreKabanata 1
Chapter 1
“Where is my bride!” Fann's demand was so loud it drowned out the music and stopped the giggling chatter of the courtesans. Every person in the room turned to stare at him as the entire throne room fell silent. His dark eyes scanned the massive space from the grand hall on his right, over the groups of people milling around dressed in overly cumbersome clothing, past the empty throne, and all the way around to the hallway off to his left. “The chit was to be here, ready for me to wed upon my return but there is no one in the chamber adjoining mine. Where is she!” His voice echoed like thunder in the silence.He stood tall, sword at his side while he surveyed all in the room, knowing that even in the king’s absence, someone here had the answers he sought. Most in the room would not meet his eye. He scoffed inwardly. Cowards of wealthy nobles the lot of them. One girl peered out at him with a coy smile, glancing down at her ample bosom and then back up at him. He turned away from her, uninterested in yet another woman who tossed her body at any man. He was ready for a wife.He’d been expecting to wed this day. He had been looking forward to it more than he cared to admit, and he was beyond annoyed that there was yet another delay. The king had been dangling this prize in front of him for far too long.Movement in the corridor behind the throne caught his attention. A chubby man in deep blue robes scurried around the throne and rushed towards him, his eyes darting around the room as he went, bouncing randomly and focusing on nothing. People slipped themselves swiftly out of his way as though the unimpressive-looking man deserved the same respect as the king himself. He stopped in front of Fann and looked straight at his chest, talking to it as though it had a face of its own.“Fann, welcome back. The king has one more task for you,”Fann scowled down at the man’s balding head.“I’m glad to see you are well, Harold. Why is your cousin not here to tell me this himself.”Harold lifted his chin to better face the man he was talking to. “You remember me! Good. The king regrets his absence, but he was called away on other, more pressing affairs. The reward he had arranged for your service has been amended slightly, through no fault of his majesty’s. There is an additional problem you must take care of before going to claim your lands.”“Explain.”"First, your bride." The man held out a small portrait in a gilded frame. Fann took it into his large hand and looked at it for a moment. The face was not quite the one he’d expected to see. The colouring was different, the hair tamer and lighter. The other had been bonny, but this woman was far more beautiful in Fann’s eyes. He raised an eyebrow. Had the king remembered he preferred blonds? The other had been shown a full body image of a very curvy, finely wrought woman. This one only showed a face.“The king regrets his deception, but it was necessary for the safety of your bride,” Harold began to explain, “the girl in this portrait, Elenore Ann Catharine MacDonald, is heir to the MacDonald clan, a vast land with plenty of rich soil and game in the forest. Just as he promised. The King thought you would find the woman to your liking, even though she will soon have twenty summers.”“The land sounds to be what I was expecting, and a bonny wife is a bonny wife. She is still young enough to have many bairns. I object only that the chit is not here as I was promised.”“Her parents had her sequestered in an abbey on a small island when she had two and ten summers. It was necessary for her safety as men were plotting for her hand and threats of abduction had been made.”“Is the additional task that I must now collect my bride from the abbey?”“Not quite.” Harold shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “When the king’s men arrived at the abbey to bring Elanore to court they were informed that she had been abducted that very morning, just before they arrived. That was two days ago.” Fann narrowed his eyes at Harold, knowing full well the man couldn’t see him well enough to recognize the anger in his eyes but would hear it in his voice.“My intended has been missing for two days and I’m only hearing of it now?”Harold shifted again and cleared his throat uncomfortably.“Well, actually, well yes, but...er...”“But?” Harold jumped and cleared his throat again.“Lord Kilkern. She is not your intended. Elenore is already your wife. The king wed the two of you by proxy two years ago, when you first struck the bargain with him, which means it is your wife who has been abducted.""I have been wed for two years?""Yes. You see, the king wanted this woman kept safe and a married woman can not be married off by her family or stolen as a bride by anyone else. If you object, the king could annul the marriage, remove the current titles and find you a new prize, but he hoped this would suit you. He did not say why, but her safety is very important to his majesty. You were his first choice of husband for her. There were even guards at the door to the abbey and a woman the king trusted inside to keep a close eye. We don’t know how they managed it. Now that you know who she is and have seen her likeness, if you agree to it and leave here, then it's final. She is your wife and the intended lands and titles remain yours. The king felt that would give you the option of backing out if the girl didn't suit.”“The deal was for a title, a prosperous clan, and a bonny wife, so all still appears satisfactory. But what if my wife has been killed by her abductors or is never found?”“The king has already titled you Earl of Kilkern and in wedding you to Elenore by proxy he ensured you are the Laird MacDonald and land is yours, no matter what happens to the lass. Unless she dies at your hand, then he will see you drawn and quartered. I believe I already mentioned her safety is important to him.”“The old Laird MacDonald does not object to the marriage of his daughter and loss of his lands?”“The king took everything the man owned and found husbands for both his daughters as payment for a debt. The choice was that or his immediate execution, so he did not object.”“No. I suppose he wouldn’t.”“Donald MacDonald forfeited everything to save his life. The king left him to run the keep until you return and said he would be provided for by the clan until his death. But he said to tell you that if the old laird and his wife make things difficult for you, you are free to deal with them as you see fit.”“I’m not sure my wife will accept my method of discipline when it comes to her parents.”“That is not her place.” Fann nodded but knew full well that most men made do with far less obedience from their wives than was publicly admitted. A happy home required peace, which usually required dealing with the whims of one's wife in a more gentle manner than was acceptable with warriors on the battlefield. “I believe, however," Harold continued, "that the king meant you were free to move them to a croft if having them in the keep bothered you. Or you could send them elsewhere so long as food and shelter were available. Their care was given to you as a responsibility with the laird-ship, but how you provide that or how much you must provide is not in the agreement. Enough to live, that is all that’s required. Comfort was not promised, so even a cave would work.""I see." The throne room had remained silent all this time. Fann looked around, watching the eyes flit away from him as he turned. Apparently, his marriage was today's entertainment for the courtiers."Your wife is in need of rescue, Fann!” Harold exclaimed with a wide smile that lead Fann to believe the king's blind cousin felt Fann would find this wonderful news and a grand adventure. Perhaps the entire thing had been staged. The king was always one to create intrigue where none was found. Fann knew the king well enough to hear the sound of it in his voice. Harold however, was not as easy to read, which could be why he was the one delivering the news. Mayhap the king was watching from his secret passage. “To complicate your task," Harold continued, "we know not where she is, nor who has abducted her, nor why, and she knows not that you are her husband! She should go easily with you if you say, ‘your mother bid me fetch you home,’ exactly like that.”“Why?”“Some sort of code I believe, a way for her to know who was safe to leave with if her parents were not the ones to collect her on their own.”“Did the nuns know nothing of where I should begin my search?”“No. Only that the men who took her appeared to be barbarian Northmen. Their skin was tattooed and their clothing was made from animal skins. It seems as though they knew who they were there for and where to find her. They took her swiftly from the gardens at dawn and touched nothing else in the abbey. Everyone was in the chapel except Eleanor. Two nuns went to see why she was late for prayers saw her being hauled over the wall. That is all we know.”
Pinakabagong kabanata
Wed to a Wicked Warrior Epilogue
“You were going to be gone without saying goodbye.” Fann froze, dropping his head. “I thought it would be easier.”“You thought wrong. Anything can happen, husband. Anytime. Especially given what you are going to do.”“I’m sure it is not as grave as that.”“Never leave me without letting me tell you one last time how much I love you.” Guilt prickled at him. He knew how much she wished she had been given a chance to say goodbye to her mother and sister when she went to the abbey. And to some of the nuns when she’d left there. He should not have considered leaving her this way.“I’m sorry. Clearly, I wasn’t thinking.”“Since I am a good, kind wife, and I love you, I will forgive you. I think you’re going to want to punish me though.” Fann wrinkled his brow. What on earth was she talking about?“Punish you?”“Well, it isn’t very safe for me to go riding at night. Alone. On Storm. Is it?” His head snapped up to look at her for the first time. She was standing by the gate of an empty stall
Huling Na-update : 2022-09-30Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 86
The doors to the great hall closed with a loud bang and Eleanor spun around to see an older woman in an elegant gown standing in the doorway, surrounded by guards dressed in the same uniform that the King’s men wore. “Those are complicated questions to answer young one,” the woman said, “but also very simple if you know the story of how you came to be.”“Sister Grace!”Oblivious to the gasps of the others in the room, Eleanor ran and launched herself into the open arms of the woman. It was only when she let go that she noticed everyone else was silent and bowing low. Stepping out of the woman’s arms she looked around nervously, then back at the woman who had cared for her for the past eight years. “Sister Grace? Why are you dressed like that?”“This is who I am.”“Who?”“The name you know me by was a fabrication. The word sister was used to make me seem more like a nun, and Grace was from the title ‘your grace’ as a noble would sometimes be addressed in an abbey. This is why you know
Huling Na-update : 2022-09-30Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 85
The cold, dreary weather had put an unfortunate damper on the mood in the Great Hall. Fann had brought Eleanor down for dinner, hoping the company of some of the children and women folk would cheer her, but nobody was in a very cheery mood. Even little Siofra couldn’t seem to come up with a happy ending to any of her fairy tales. The dinner had been good and the company was welcome, but all were quieter than normal and seemed to just be waiting for Eleanor to retire so they could go home to bed.Eleanor swirled the steaming tankard under her nose, then put it on the table and pushed it away. It didn’t smell bad, it just didn’t smell quite right. She waved her hand over it and the serving boy jumped up to grab it. She’d have to go back to brewing the tea herself. Yarrow flowers seemed to be particularly difficult for the kitchen staff.“You are still an overly picky my wee little harlot. Drink your brew, daughter, and quit giving my staff extra work.” Fann leaped to his feet and knock
Huling Na-update : 2022-09-30Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 84
As the days passed Fann grew tired of sitting in the library watching his wife. Sometimes, with Uilleam at the door, he would leave her in the room by herself, but she got lonely that way. He didn’t want her to grow sad again, so much of the day he was the one locked in her library with her. He hoped the murder of crows would arrive soon for there was nothing in this room full of books and gadgets that held his attention for any length of time. The first few days they had spent arranging the room. A little bit of time every day was spent helping him improve his reading, but mostly he just watched her work and listened to her talk about it. He had considered asking her to do her work naked so at least he’d have something he enjoyed looking at, but if she did that he probably wouldn’t be able to let her get much work done. He interrupted her for his pleasure often enough as it was. They had just enjoyed a bit of coupling and he had fallen asleep. He thought she had too, but when he op
Huling Na-update : 2022-09-30Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 83
The bells rang out from the top of the keep, pulling Eleanor from her slumber. She reached over to find Fann gone, his side of the bed already cold. She sat up scowling. The fur over the window kept out the chill autumn air, but also the daylight. Had she overslept? It was so easy to do when the room stayed dark. Fann, on the other hand, always seemed to wake and have nearly a day’s full of work done before she could break her fast. She padded over to the window and pulled back the fur so she could see up the hill. The rider certainly wasn’t in any hurry, and being alone it was likely he was a threat. There were a few satchels on his horse, perhaps he was looking for a home. Movement at the stables caught her eye and she saw Fann and Uilleam looking up the hill. No doubt discussing if they let the man come or head out to meet him. When no horses were called for Eleanor turned back into the room. If she dressed quickly, she could make it outside to see who it was.Fann stood in front o
Huling Na-update : 2022-09-29Wed to a Wicked Warrior Chapter 82
With fur wrapped around her, Eleanor sat near the fire brushing her hair dry. She had eaten, bathed, and the tub had been emptied but still, Fann had not joined her. He had said that he wouldn’t be long, but it must have been at least an hour since he’d left her.The clan had been busy in the past fortnight. The new furniture Fann had commissioned was already in their rooms. A new bed with a pair of chests at the foot of it, and the woodwork matched that of the new settee, chairs, and table. There was a small bookshelf beside the fire, empty still, but she could unpack some books in the morning. Another chair with very odd legs that would rock when you sat in it was only a short distance from the fire. The washstand was new too, detailed with both wood and iron to match a rather odd table. Those two pieces they had picked up on MacInnis lands just that morning. Leaving her brush on the mantle Eleanor walked over to take a better look at the table. It was very sturdy! A combination of
Huling Na-update : 2022-09-29
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