A Pirate's Bounty by Eliza Knight

She’d thought she’d prepared herself for his belief in her betrayal, even though it was furthest from the truth, but even that had not truly prepared her for how it felt to see the anger in his eyes.
    Where once affection, desire and respect had filled his gaze, now it was replaced with something more sinister, a feeling she’d hoped to never experience but in the end had some inkling was coming. It felt as though he’d taken one of his blades and thrust it through her heart.
    She ran blindly as tears filled her eyes and managed with awkward shaking hands to lift her skirts enough so that she didn’t trip on their length.
    “Oof!” With a thud, her flight halted against a body and strong arms held her from falling onto the ground.
    Through hazy eyes she made out a figure—an all too familiar figure.
    “Daughter!” Her father’s growl cut through the racing thoughts in her mind.
    She opened her mouth but no sound came out. She didn’t know whether to scream or act as though she knew nothing, and her head swam and threatened to make her faint dead away.
    “What are you doing in Carcassonne? Where have you been? We have been looking for you! Lord Menteur has taken to the sea fearing you were stolen by pirates.”
    He shook her like a rag doll, her head flopping back and forth, her teeth clicking together, when she did not speak to answer him.
    “Do you defy me? Have you run away from your duty?” Spittle flew onto her face as he bellowed at her.
    A crowd gathered around them, none too discreetly.
    “How could you?” The words slipped from her mouth before she could rein them in.
    He narrowed his eyes at her, his grip on her arms tightening.
    “You defy me and then dare to question me?”
    She shook her head and bit her lip hard to keep from saying anything else.
    “Answer me!” he bellowed again.
    “No,” she whispered. She tried not to look around as she sensed more people coming to watch their spectacle. Good God, she prayed Wraith did not see this!
    * * * * *
     
    Shouting from whence Lady Faryn had fled drew Wraith’s and King Louis’ attention.
    “What is this?” the king asked, irritation marring his features.
    Wraith didn’t wait to find out. For as much as he believed Faryn had betrayed him, he couldn’t see her come to harm—at least by anyone other than himself.
    He led the way from the king’s presence chamber through a series of doors until they came to a large crowd. In the center a man held a woman by her arms as he bellowed in her face.
    “Answer me!”
    “Father, you are a murderer! How could you be so cruel, so evil!”
    The vicomte’s face blanched white, and even from this distance Wraith watched Faryn’s shoulders shake on her lithe frame.
    Her father growled something under his breath and then yanked her with him, clearly intending to leave the area.
    “Halt!” shouted the king.
    The vicomte continued to try to drag his daughter away but several of the nosy courtiers blocked his escape.
    “The king has ordered you to stay where you are,” Wraith said, his voice deadly calm.
    Slowly the Vicomte de Bèziers turned, recognition plain in his eyes as he viewed Wraith.
    “No,” he whispered, shaking his head as if he’d seen a ghost.
    “Let the lady go,” Wraith demanded. He avoided Faryn’s gaze even though he could feel her eyes penetrating his soul.
    “She is not just a lady but my daughter. She ran away from home and her marriage, and I must see that she is guarded. This is no concern of yours.” De Bèziers’ meager attempt at playing nonchalant was not lost on Wraith.
    “But it is my concern. She did not run but was taken. By me. She is mine.”
    If possible, de Bèziers’ face paled even further.
    “By you? How?”
    “Let her go. You and I have business of our own to attend to.”
    “No!” de Bèziers shouted. “You’re dead! Your whole family is dead! I saw to it myself!”
    “I assure you, I am here in the flesh.”
    With de Bèziers’ last