The Lord's Right Read Online Free Page A

apron strings to come to court when he was six.
    They were off, and she was alone with
him. Again.
    “ It’s a good thing you’re
a good tracker and you’ve an excellent hand with potions, Amber. It
wouldn’t have gone well if we hadn’t been able to find Mr.
Fitzwilliam.”
    Amber shrugged. It was of little
consequence to her whether or not a Norman soldier was lost, and
she told him as much.
    The look on his face, as well as his
tone, was sobering to the bone. “I realize that fact, my dear. But
what you don’t realize is who that man’s father is. Think of it
now, you’re obviously a smart wench. Fitzwilliam. Fitz. Son of.
William. He’s the king’s by-blow. You just found King William’s
bastard son.”
    Amber sat down, right where she was,
not caring that her best tunic was getting filthy. She had
deliberately gotten the king’s son hopelessly lost in the
forest.
    “ Tell me something,
Mademoiselle Cooper. What would you have done this afternoon, if I
had allowed you to reach your little knife this afternoon, while I
was spanking you?”
    She tried not to let the surprise show
on her face, but knew she had lost that battle. “I would have done
something that I would have hoped would have stopped you from
beating me further.” She didn’t always do the right thing, but she
tried to tell the truth, as best she could.
    Piers was impressed. If he had been in
her place, he would probably have made exactly the same move, not
that that was to be encouraged in a female. She certainly was an
unusual one. “My men told me that someone had raided their camp
last night and caused some general mischief, nothing too serious.
Stole some wine and let loose the horses, things like that.” As he
spoke, he wandered around her, like he was inspecting a slave at
the market. “Might you know anything about such things, Miss Amber
Cooper?”
    “ Why ever might you think
something like that of me?” she asked, proud of the fact that her
nervousness wasn’t betrayed in her voice.
    “ Because some of the
stirrups were cut with what was a small, short blade,” he answered,
easily wresting hers from where he remembered she kept it tucked in
her belt. “One just such as this.”
    “ There are thousands like
this all over the British Isles, Sir. If you fancy mine, however,
you may keep it with my compliments.” She curtsied low to him,
again.
    When she rose, he was smiling down at
her, in a way that set her teeth on edge, like a wolf, who had
spotted a particularly tasty dinner.
    “ I like you, Amber. You’ve
a good head on your shoulders, for a woman, and an English one at
that.”
    “ I like you, too, Sir,”
she answered, “for a man and a Norman.” Amber figured her words
were pretty much sealing her fate, as she said the word Norman in a
way that there was no doubt that she still considered him to be her
enemy, regardless of the outcome of the war, but that was all
right. She wasn’t at all sure she wanted to live in a world full of
Normans, anyway.
    To her surprise, he merely threw back
that big, lion’s head of his and roared with laughter, then his
hand shot out and he grabbed her by her upper arm. “You’re coming
with me.”
    They tramped through the woods for a
long time, much longer than she knew—although she could never admit
that she knew—it would take them to get to the place where his
soldiers had made camp.
    “ Where are we
going?”
    Piers didn’t deign to answer her, but
continued to walk. He was so much taller than she was, that one of
his strides equaled nearly three of hers. Amber was in superb
shape, but he was tiring her out without even trying. Eventually,
though, he saw how knackered she was becoming and relented, placing
two fingers to his lips and emitting an ear piercing whistle that
had his huge stallion racing to him through the trees.
    Amber hadn’t had a chance to admire
the beast before, but she was thoroughly entranced now. He was a
fine piece of horseflesh, and she wished