virginity.
Gifting… given… gone. Truly, she was a fool, for only now did she realize what she might well have thought of sooner but had not—her value had just become as nonexistent as her maidenhead. She was—glory of glories—a fallen woman. And as such, she just might be disowned by the enraged family no longer able to barter her for kingly favor. She would no longer exist to them and she might—just might—be able simply to disappear. It was a slim hope but more than she had felt earlier in the night and it spurred her to action.
She had involved the man far too much already, taking advantage of his willingness to help her. However high he stood with his lord, and she did not doubt it was high indeed, he might be blamed if his part in what had happened between them became known. Honor demanded that she put him at no greater risk. Yet it was still a struggle to force herself from him. Slowly, reluctantly, she drew away from him and rose to her feet. With a last, lingering glance, Rycca squared her shoulders and hurried into the lodge.
Moments later, dressed once again in her boy's garb, she slipped out into the darkness. She did not allow herself to look back at him for she knew that to do so would be to shatter her brittle resolve.
DRAGON WOKE TO THE SQUABBLING OF SQUIRRELS. Wincing in the bright sun, he threw a hand over his eyes. He was halfway to his feet when memory flooded back. Thought, motion, purpose, everything stopped as he stood riveted, stunned by recollection. The girl…
He shook his head, struggling to clear it. Surely he must have imagined her coming to him, incandescent with passion, exquisitely responsive, defeating his noblest intent. A dream, no more— No dream, for just then, glancing down at himself, he saw the evidence of her vanished virginity. A low, virulent curse broke from him.
His life had just become vastly more complicated. So be it. She was Saxon and of a noble house. That would have to suffice. Hawk, Alfred, even brother Wolf would simply have to accept it.
A faint smile eased the grim set of his features. All in all, this might work out for the best. The more he thought of it, the more it seemed so. Had there been any wine left in the jug, he would have poured a libation in Frigg's honor, for he suspected the goddess had played her part.
That would have to wait, for first he had to find the girl. Let the minx try to withhold her identity from him now. He grinned, thinking he would inform her that she could tell him or wait and tell the priest, it mattered not. He could just imagine her reaction to that.
But imagine was all he could do, for not quite half an hour later he accepted that she was not in the lodge or the immediate area. Romulus and Remus were in their stalls, happy to see him as always. He paused just long enough to give them fresh water and grain before continuing his search.
She was not in the sauna or at the riverbank though he could track her as far as the water's edge. There her trail vanished.
Dragon stood for a little time, staring down at the slowly moving water, before he turned abruptly and rammed his fist into the nearest tree trunk. The pain of the blow would have felled a lesser man. He did not even notice it. Damn her! Twice and thrice damn her! She had lain with him, gifted him with her virginity, given him every reason to believe she was, at the very least, in lust with him, only to vanish into thin air without so much as a fare-thee-well.
He had been duped by a scheming, treacherous, cold-hearted maiden who had played him well and truly for a fool. And he'd thought getting kicked in the balls was bad.
This was vastly worse, a wound to the heart he could not admit even to himself. Only anger was allowed and he gave full vent to it.
She would pay and pay dearly for breaking her promises to him, both explicitly to remain the few days for which he had bargained and implicitly in the gifting of her body. He would find her, wring the truth
Gifting… given… gone. Truly, she was a fool, for only now did she realize what she might well have thought of sooner but had not—her value had just become as nonexistent as her maidenhead. She was—glory of glories—a fallen woman. And as such, she just might be disowned by the enraged family no longer able to barter her for kingly favor. She would no longer exist to them and she might—just might—be able simply to disappear. It was a slim hope but more than she had felt earlier in the night and it spurred her to action.
She had involved the man far too much already, taking advantage of his willingness to help her. However high he stood with his lord, and she did not doubt it was high indeed, he might be blamed if his part in what had happened between them became known. Honor demanded that she put him at no greater risk. Yet it was still a struggle to force herself from him. Slowly, reluctantly, she drew away from him and rose to her feet. With a last, lingering glance, Rycca squared her shoulders and hurried into the lodge.
Moments later, dressed once again in her boy's garb, she slipped out into the darkness. She did not allow herself to look back at him for she knew that to do so would be to shatter her brittle resolve.
DRAGON WOKE TO THE SQUABBLING OF SQUIRRELS. Wincing in the bright sun, he threw a hand over his eyes. He was halfway to his feet when memory flooded back. Thought, motion, purpose, everything stopped as he stood riveted, stunned by recollection. The girl…
He shook his head, struggling to clear it. Surely he must have imagined her coming to him, incandescent with passion, exquisitely responsive, defeating his noblest intent. A dream, no more— No dream, for just then, glancing down at himself, he saw the evidence of her vanished virginity. A low, virulent curse broke from him.
His life had just become vastly more complicated. So be it. She was Saxon and of a noble house. That would have to suffice. Hawk, Alfred, even brother Wolf would simply have to accept it.
A faint smile eased the grim set of his features. All in all, this might work out for the best. The more he thought of it, the more it seemed so. Had there been any wine left in the jug, he would have poured a libation in Frigg's honor, for he suspected the goddess had played her part.
That would have to wait, for first he had to find the girl. Let the minx try to withhold her identity from him now. He grinned, thinking he would inform her that she could tell him or wait and tell the priest, it mattered not. He could just imagine her reaction to that.
But imagine was all he could do, for not quite half an hour later he accepted that she was not in the lodge or the immediate area. Romulus and Remus were in their stalls, happy to see him as always. He paused just long enough to give them fresh water and grain before continuing his search.
She was not in the sauna or at the riverbank though he could track her as far as the water's edge. There her trail vanished.
Dragon stood for a little time, staring down at the slowly moving water, before he turned abruptly and rammed his fist into the nearest tree trunk. The pain of the blow would have felled a lesser man. He did not even notice it. Damn her! Twice and thrice damn her! She had lain with him, gifted him with her virginity, given him every reason to believe she was, at the very least, in lust with him, only to vanish into thin air without so much as a fare-thee-well.
He had been duped by a scheming, treacherous, cold-hearted maiden who had played him well and truly for a fool. And he'd thought getting kicked in the balls was bad.
This was vastly worse, a wound to the heart he could not admit even to himself. Only anger was allowed and he gave full vent to it.
She would pay and pay dearly for breaking her promises to him, both explicitly to remain the few days for which he had bargained and implicitly in the gifting of her body. He would find her, wring the truth
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