The Lord's Right Read Online Free Page B

he was her own. She never
dreamed she’d have a chance to ride him, but soon found herself
atop the thing, if at a terribly awkward angle. He’d lifted her so
that she wasn’t astride or even side saddle in front of him or
behind. She was lying horizontal over the horse like he was going
to wallop her as they rode, with her bottom facing south and her
head facing north across the saddle!
    Luckily, he kept his mount at a slow
pace, or she would have lost what little contents she’d had of her
evening meal, but that wasn’t the worst of it by far, because she
was naturally presenting him with a perfect target, which he was
not wont to resist in any way. So as the horse picked his way
delicately through the English countryside, she could hear the
echoes of her own punishment, for what she wasn’t quite sure,
ringing loud and true back to her own ears.
    She only kicked her legs once. Piers
stopped the horse and took the very ends of the reins, hauled her
tunic up and flailed her bottom mercilessly with them. “Do not kick
this horse, Amber. The next time you do it, I’ll let my soldiers
each have a turn at spanking you themselves.”
    Amber was stunned into instant
obedience at that threat.
    She recognized the direction they were
going, but kept hoping they weren’t going to end up where she
thought they were going to. When he finally pulled the horse up
short, and a stable boy came out to cool him off and put him away,
they were where she’d feared: Fordwick Castle.
    It wasn’t much of a castle any more,
which was why there was a new one being built, but this was the
closest thing they had, so they were making do with it for now. His
men would be joining him by the morning, and they would be at least
a thousand strong to protect this area for King William.
    He helped her down from his big
charger and she looked around hesitantly. It was the first time
she’d been out of her little village, and it made her feel much
smaller than she liked. Even though it was the middle of the night,
the place bustled with activity.
    “ I want you to work in the
gardens here, Amber. We have need of a woman who is good with
medicines to see to the needs of the soldiers and others who work
here. You shall have a room in the castle, and in the new castle
when it’s built. You’ll be working for Mrs. Tulane, who will show
you around in the morning.” He had an idea that giving her
something productive to do might keep her from stealing wineskins
and slashing stirrups, too, as well as wandering the forest against
her father’s wishes. That poor man must’ve had his hands full with
her. He’d seen two other girls at their table. All Piers could wish
for him was that his other two daughters were more docile than his
first.
    Amber didn’t know what to say, and
then she imagined she didn’t have much choice about what to say.
She was here, and he was her lord. He wasn’t going to just let her
say no and go home.
    He took her to the kitchen and
introduced her to Mrs. Tulane, who seemed a nice woman, and then he
disappeared. Amber wondered if she’d ever see him again, to say
nothing of her father and her family.
    It was a strange thing to have been
plucked from one’s home and transported far away, but her love of
plants was strong enough that she settled in all right to her new
surroundings, although life here was certainly different from what
living with her family had been. She and Mrs. Tulane got along all
right, although the woman could be a bit bossy, and she was already
getting to be well known as the person to come to with wounds and
medical problems. Piers’ men had arrived, and Fitzwilliam had come
to thank her for treating him, which she felt very awkward about,
since she’d been the cause of his misery in the first
place.
    Troy had taken to tagging along with
Fitz when he came to see her. Amber did not like Troy at all, but
Troy made it very clear that he was quite interested in her. She
was doing her best to fend him