Redemption, M J Marlow [best way to read ebooks TXT] 📗

is the only peace I know these days.” She blushed and he kissed her palm, enjoying the way she responded to him. “You keep me dangling, my lady. I would set a date.”
“I know you are impatient, my lord,” Marit told him, feigning softness when she wanted to harm him. “Please give me just a little more time to know my own heart.” She laid her hand on his arm and looked up at him imploringly. “I shall have an answer for you soon, my lord.”
“Make it very soon, my lady,” Alexander told her firmly, trying to remain gentle with her, “or I shall not be able to prevent myself from carrying you off.” He saw the pain in her eyes and knew he’d pushed a bit too far. He raised her hand to his cheek and held it here. “Forgive me, Princess. I did not mean to push.”
“I know, my lord,” Marit replied. “I am being selfish by making you wait for an answer. Please be patient,” she smiled up at him warmly. “It will not be much longer.” She looked past him, frowning. “Susa?”
“Forgive me for interrupting you, my lady,” Susa said as she saw who Marit was with, “but I need to speak with you, urgently.”
“Of course, Susa,” Marit nodded. She rose to her feet and frowned as Alexander did not let go. “Please let me go, my lord. I will only be a few moments.” She followed Susa to her chambers and closed the door. “What’s wrong, Susa?”
“What you are doing to the Emperor Alexander,” her friend replied, “that is what’s wrong, Marit.” She saw Marit’s astonishment. “He had proven himself to you over and over again. Why do you keep him waiting?” She sank down on a chair. “Rafel says your marriage to him could keep the Emperor out of the borderlands for good.”
“Rafel has been talking to Alexander about this?”
“Please forgive him, Marit,” Susa cried as she heard Marit’s anger. “Rafel is very concerned about you, but he is more concerned about the borderlands. This waiting is only making the situation more tenuous.”
“And if I marry him,” Marit sighed as she sank down onto a lounge, “only to find out that he was planning this so he could take over for his uncle? It can not be undone, Susa. A marriage is not to be gone into lightly.”
“The Emperor Alexander would never betray us,” Susa shook her head. “He is the borderlands staunchest supporter. I have heard him, Marit,” she continued, her babbling betraying all, “when he has come here for meals. Oh!” she clamped her hand over her mouth, and looked alarmed. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”
“He’s been soliciting Rafel’s assistance in his suit,” Marit guessed and saw Susa’s nod of confirmation. “And gained a supporter in you as well?”
“How can you continue to refuse him, Marit?” Susa asked her bluntly. “He has never proven himself false to you. It’s obvious he adores you. And yet, you continue to leave him hanging. It’s not right.”
“No,” Marit agreed, “it isn’t.” She turned away a moment and did not see the powder Susa slipped into her goblet. “Thank you, Susa,” she smiled as her friend gave her the goblet with the drugged wine in it. She caught the strange scent and set the goblet down. “No,” she shook her head, “it’s time I spoke to my father about this.”
“He is with Rafel and Tavin now, Marit,” Susa said as she picked the goblet up and held it out again. “Please join me in some conversation,” she continued, smiling. “It’s been so long since you and I had time alone.”
Marit smiled and took the goblet from Susa. She knew it was drugged, she had recognized the scent from earlier encounters with being drugged. She settled back and listened to Susa chatter on about Alexander and Rafel, nodding every once in a while. Marit took a fake sip of the wine and set it down so that it fell to the ground. Susa’s look was the last confirmation she needed; her friend had been trying to drug her.
“They’re ready for you, Marit,” Susa said as she went to the balcony and waved to someone. She came back inside followed by three men. “Are you certain that this is the right course of action?”
“We have to force his hand, Susa,” Marit replied as the men grabbed her and bound her wrists behind her back. “Are you certain you want to be a part of this?”
“How could I not?” Susa asked bluntly. “You are my friend, my sister. I would go through the fires of hell to keep you safe from lecherous and manipulative men.”
Susa left the chamber and locked the door behind herself. She nodded to the guards and told them that the princess was asleep and did not wish to be disturbed until morning, by anyone. They nodded and let her go. Inside Marit’s chambers, she was carried out along the parapets and down through a tower to the stables. Marit struggled as they tried to force her into a waiting cart. She managed to get loose and they had to strike her as she ran. She did not wake again until they were nearly to Stormkeep. And then it was to the sounds of fighting. Marit sat up and watched as her ‘kidnappers’ struggled to defend her from the men who had attacked their camp. She pulled off the gag and struggled to free herself from the bonds. Giving it up, she struggled to her feet and climbed out of the cart to run, only to find herself being grabbed around the waist.
“Running away so soon, Princess?” a tall, golden-haired man with dancing blue eyes laughed as he looked down into her stunned expression. “When my men and I are working so hard to free you?”
“Don’t lie to the lady, Raven,” another of his band laughed from where he was binding the men who had abducted her. “It’s not kind.”
“You’re the men raiding the borderlands!” Marit guessed. “Why?”
“Why not?” the one called Raven asked her. “A man needs to eat. With you as our hostage, we’re certain to get quite enough ransom to feed our people for quite some time.”
“Just let me go,” Marit cried and tried to pull free of his hold. “My father will listen to whatever you ask. You don’t need to abduct me…”
“You’d turn us into supplicants?” Raven laughed. “You are a naïve child, Princess. Men of the Northlands do not beg,” he continued coldly; “they take.” He dragged her over to his horse and forced her into the saddle. She kicked him in the face and took off, only to fall as his whistle brought the animal to a stand-still. “So,” he laughed as he yanked her to her feet, “the little princess is not as helpless as her looks would lead one to believe.”
“Take your hands off me!” Marit hissed as she struck out at him. The force of her blow rocked him back on his feet and he let her go, stunned. “I am not going to let yet another man force his will on me!” She freed her wrists and threw the ropes on the ground. “If you want to be big, bad border raiders, then do so,” she snapped, her eyes sparkling with anger, “but leave me out of it!”
“What a woman!” Raven marveled as he caught Marit around the waist again and held her struggling body to his chest. He finally kissed her and she stiffened in shock. When he looked down at her, her eyes were blazing with fire. “I want you, Princess.”
“I don’t want you!” Marit snapped and slapped him across the face. “Put me down.”
“No,” Raven said simply. He took her back to his horse and hefted her over the saddle. Then he mounted and held her down. “I want you, Princess,” he repeated his earlier statement, “so I am taking you.” She cursed at him and he laughed in delight. “I am never going to be bored with you in my bed.”
“You are not going to live if you try to bed me,” Marit snapped back at him. She twisted her body and slid from the saddle. Then she ran, giving herself full rein. She could hear the horses gaining on her, but she did not stop. And then the wolves moved in. She nodded as a night black one surged past her and attacked her captor’s horse. “No,” she cried as she heard it scream in pain. “Bring them to the Keep.”
She was in the Great Hall seated beside Tavin on the dais when Raven and his men were led in. Raven looked from her to Tavin and frowned. Were they mates? He had been led to believe that the princess Marit was virgin and unwed. This would change all their plans. Tavin got up and bowed to his cousin as his superior and Raven knew the truth. She was not his mate; she was his liege’s child. Relief flooded through him. He would have hated to go through Stormkeep to get to her.
“I have just informed my cousin,” Marit said to him coldly, “that you are behind the raids on his lands. I could leave you to his justice, Northlander,” she continued, her eyes watching the arrogant man, “but I do not believe you would care for it.” She accepted a cup of wine from one of her other cousins with a nod of thanks and took a sip. “You will tell us why you are raiding the borderlands.”
“And why should I tell a mere child,” Raven returned, annoyed by her arrogance, “why we do anything?”
“Because dog,” Tavin snarled as he struck the man down on his knees, “the princess Marit is no mere child.” He waited until the other men were down. “You look upon the child of Marius, king of the borderlands. He has named her his voice among the border clans, his justice. She stands in his stead among us and is treated as he would be.”
“But she is…”
“Female? Child?” Marit broke in, coldly. “Go ahead, Northlander; say what you will. I have heard it all these past months since my father made his choice. It changes nothing.” She cocked her head, as if she was listening to something only she could hear and then turned a deadly smile on him. “Your men are growing impatient, Northlander. They have disobeyed your order to remain in hiding, and have moved into Stormkeep’s lands. Tavin…”
“We move on your word, cousin,” Tavin bowed his head and picked out several of the house. “How many?”
“Twenty five,” Marit told him, her eyes remaining on Raven, who was growing increasingly astounded. “They are just south of the falls. Take them alive, if you can.” Tavin bowed and led the group of men and women out personally. Marit looked at Raven. “Twenty five, my lord? You are working at someone else’s order. You are no more than a band of mercenaries.”
“And you are a Goddess!” Raven cried and bowed his head in shock.
“Hardly,” Marit laughed shortly. “There are always at least twenty of our house on watch. They simply alerted me.” She saw the disbelief in his eyes, in the eyes of his men. “Whoever sent you against Stormkeep failed to tell you how it is with those of our bloodline, Northlander. And that tells me,” she continued, “as it should have told you, that they were not in the least bothered at the thought of you falling to us.” She rested her hands on the arms of the throne and looked at him coldly. For the first time since he had laid eyes on this beauty, he saw the danger in her. “Tell me Raven,” Marit