The Bride Tournament Read Online Free Page A

me Woodbury Manor. Without his kindness, I’d have nothing.”
    “How thoughtful of him to give back your own manor,” she said with a sneer. “While he steals your bride. If your friend is so reasonable, he’ll agree our marriage is a mistake. I’ll obtain an annulment, and be free to wed you.”
    “No, Eleanor,” Arthur said. “You have to accept what must be.”
    Eleanor’s jaw dropped. “What? You sound like Richard.” And Edmund.
    “If you don’t commit to him, you’ll fail your father and your king,” Arthur said. “Don’t make yourself miserable by hoping for what can no longer be.”
    She took his hands, but he pulled away. “Don’t you love me anymore?” The pleading tone in her voice appalled her.
    “That matters not,” he said with a sigh. “Yorkists rule where Lancasters once prevailed. The loser must accept his lot.”
    Her heart filled with tenderness. “You’re denying your love for me to spare me more suffering. If you declare yourself, you know I won’t rest until we’re together.” No matter the cost. “Arthur, spare me more lies.”
    “I too am to wed,” he continued as if he hadn’t heard a word she’d said. “Richard has betrothed me to his ward, Margaret.”
    How many more unwelcome surprises must she endure?
    Arthur would be beholden to Richard for hearth, home and wife. Unless she moved faster than a fox fleeing hunters, there’d be two marriages to dissolve.
    “Is that what you truly desire?”
    “Margaret could have looked higher than an attainted former earl. Richard shows the world that in his eyes at least, I’m not a traitor,” Arthur said.
    “Nor in mine.” She and her new husband had one thing in common: their support of Arthur. “Does Richard’s friendship mean more to you than I do?”
    “I do what I must.”
    Duty again. If Arthur wasn’t strong enough to defy Richard, she’d be strong for him.
    “We can find a way to be together,” she insisted.
    She wanted to feel his arms around her, to know that he needed her and their future, no matter how long it took to achieve. But she couldn’t betray the vows she’d spoken. She’d have them annulled first.
    Arthur slid down the bench. He crossed his arms over his dark green tunic. “We grew up close as brother and sister. I thought of you as mine. But everything changed.”
    “My feelings for you haven’t.” How could they, in less than a day? “Have yours?”
    “What we feel is of no import. You are wed. Promise me you won’t dwell on what could have been.” He leaned forward. “Life isn’t like the romances you read, replete with swoons and happy endings.” Arthur lifted her hand to his lips for a formal, chivalrous kiss. “I must go. I hope we can remain friends.”
    “Friends, Arthur? I’d have more of you.”
    Eleanor turned her palm up and clasped his hand. The few, brief kisses they’d stolen over the years had satisfied a young girl’s amorous wishes. But she was a woman now. For what she planned to do, the risks she was about to take, she needed proof that Arthur still wanted her. That their love could triumph over all obstacles.
    “Arthur, tell me true. Tell me you want me.”
    For an endless heartbeat, they stood together, hands clinging.
    “Eleanor, I—”
    “Here you are, my lady wife.” Richard’s deep voice held a hint of mockery. His gray-green eyes were unreadable.
    Arthur backed away as though he’d been burned.
    She didn’t wish to be caught displaying her feelings for another man, nor did she want to insult Richard. He too had been told whom to wed.
    Or had he? She caught her breath. Perhaps he was so powerful he could maneuver people like a chess player. What if he could envision what would happen several moves ahead and had encouraged Parliament to attaint Arthur?
    “Let us return to the feast.” Richard held out his hand, the Glasmere signet ring glinting in the glow of the brazier.
    Eleanor took it. Leaving Arthur was almost as hard as going through