The loud rumble of thunder brought Bianca’s head up as she scanned the sky in consternation. In her present mood, the promise of a good rain shower could not have come at a better time. But even as she searched the afternoon sky for storm clouds, the ground beneath her feet trembled and rolled in an alarming manner. She whirled around and found a large black charger bearing down on her at a horrifying pace. She had only a quick glimpse of the giant man in a flowing black cloak atop the beast before she found the world tilting alarmingly as she was grasped about the waist by a large, muscular arm. Bianca found herself deposited on Draco’s lap, the impact leaving her breathless as his black-as-sin stallion, Inferno, thundered across the inner bailey at full gallop carrying them with ease. It was not until they had left the bailey behind and crossed the drawbridge that she found the breath to protest.
“What do you think you are doing?” She squirmed about in his iron grasp so she sat face to chest with Draco. She had to tip her head back to look him in the face.
“I am giving you your heart’s desire, my lady. You wanted to go riding. Therefore, I am here to accommodate your wishes.”
“Are you mad? What will people say about this bold display? We cannot just ride away from the castle without an escort. It is not done.”
“Let them think what they will. You are in my protection for the day. Trust me.” He smiled when she glared at him, not amused that he had used her favored phrase.
“Hold on.” The words were barely out of his mouth when he urged Inferno to a faster pace. Bianca clutched his arm and held tight as they raced down the road away from the castle, her long hair streaming out around them, blending with his dark cloak like a banner.
With her soft buttocks resting on his hard thighs, her silky hair caressing his face, Draco was reminded of the night before when he had shared her bed. The motion of the galloping horse moved her round bottom against his groin in a familiar rhythm and he had to grit his teeth and shift slightly in his saddle to accommodate his rising desire. The pleasure-pain of it was exquisite.
“Where are you taking me?” Bianca asked as she squirmed in his lap. A groan nearly escaped his lips as the friction between their bodies only added to his already rising ardor. He clamped his arm tighter around her to prevent her from moving about so dangerously.
“Did you hear me, Draco? Where are we going?”
“To the Rom encampment.”
At his announcement, Bianca went very still in his arms. If he had expected to impress her by giving her this adventure, he had failed miserably. He glanced down to find her face ashen, her lips tight with displeasure as she silently stared ahead of them. Had he made a mistake in bringing her along?
“You do not care for the Rom?”
“I like them well enough.”
“Ha, your lack of enthusiasm tells a truer tale than you would admit. It is plain that you have no like for gypsies. Why does your father allow them to camp on his land if they are not welcomed here?”
“I have no grievance against the Rom as a whole. It is just that…I am apprehensive of being around them. As for why my father puts up with them, that is his affair.” She was not going to give him a satisfactory answer.
“Why are you apprehensive of the Rom, Bianca?”
She did not answer right away and Draco wondered if she would just ignore his question, hoping that he would talk of other things. But he was not about to ignore this apprehension of hers. She needed to talk to someone about her fears. He’d learned long ago that fear is best dealt with straight on instead of waiting for it to bring you low.
Draco tightened his hold, dropping his head protectively. “Tell me,” he whispered into her ear. The gentle entreaty in his voice was backed by a velvet-covered iron will. She could tell that he would not let the matter drop until she gave him a plausible explanation.
“When I was a young child the gypsies stole me away from my home.”
Of all the responses Draco had expected to hear, that Bianca had been abducted by the traveling Rom had never entered his mind.
He slowed Inferno to a sedate walk so he could devote more attention to her distressing words. They left the road and meandered through the thick green foliage of the woods just north of Castle Neige. The gypsy encampment lay an hour’s ride from the castle itself, giving the camp privacy.
“Why did they take you? Were you ransomed?” Draco found it hard to believe that the Rom would do such a thing. Many benevolent nobles allowed roaming gypsy bands to set up camp indefinitely on their land. While there, they sold their potions and spells to anyone in the community who visited their camp and who could afford the price. They were always careful to stay on good terms with their temporary landlord so that they would be invited to return every year or so.
“I can understand your dislike for the gypsies after your experiences. But why would a poor band of gypsies take a noble’s child? Did they demand ransom for your father?”
“No. They did not want any ransom. They took me because of my mother. The Rom arrived shortly after she died in childbirth and they blamed my father for her death.” She watched his face, wanting to see his expression when she made her final admission. At his look of puzzlement, she hesitated, afraid that what she was about to tell him would disgust him and he would turn his back on her.
“Bianca?”
“Because my mother was Rom.” She spoke defiantly, waiting to see if the revelation repulsed him. When he raised not a brow in surprise, she went on, “When she died, my grandfather, who was the leader of the band, blamed my father and demanded that I be given to the Rom to be raised. My father refused of course and demanded that they leave his land. It was then that my grandfather abducted me.”
Bianca shuddered at the memory of being dragged from her bed in the middle of the night by strangers, to be kept locked in the back of a wagon for days.
Draco drew her trembling body tight against his powerful chest and placed a light kiss on her hair. Whatever had happened to that small child was forever imprinted in her mind and would probably remain there for the rest of her days.
“Your grandfather must have finally seen reason. You are here now, living with your father and stepmother. It is apparent that the Rom did not keep you.”
“Oh, he fully intended to, but with some help from others in his band who did not agree with what he had done, I was smuggled back to my father.”
“And that is why you mistrust gypsies so?”
“Yes, I lived in dread for years that he would return and attempt to carry me off again. It was only after I heard that he had died that I could finally sleep through a whole night without having my maid sleeping on a pallet next to my bed.” Unwanted tears glistened in her eyes and she turned her head to hide them. “Even though I am half Rom myself and I know some of them very well and realize they are not all like my grandfather, I find I am still uncomfortable in their company. Occasionally one of the dark dreams I have had since I was a small child takes me unaware. I awake at night shaking in fright hoping that my screams have not woken my maid who now sleeps in the next room.”
Draco moved his hand to her chin and tilted her head so that he had better access to her sweet mouth. Even as he lowered his mouth to cover hers, he whispered a promise, “Forget the past, sweet Bianca. You are forever safe with me.” His lips moved over hers in tender exploration, testing, tasting, tempting. “Let me be your white knight, the hero of your daydreams.” At his fervent request, his mouth fastened over her parted lips and with a low groan of pleasure, he thrust his tongue into her hot, sweet mouth and proceeded to lose himself in the passion of the melding of their lips.
As the kiss ended, Bianca’s eyelids fluttered open and she stared in wonder into the dark, warm eyes of this large warrior whose reputation as the Great Black Dragon left many a man shaking in his shoes. No matter that he was reputed to be the most fierce warrior in the kingdom, he held her with great care and his kisses showed her that he had a tender and loving side to him that he showed to no one else. At that realization, her heart swelled with love and Bianca silently vowed that no matter how long it took or how difficult it proved to be, she would make this man understand that her love for him was never-ending and steadfast.
Bianca reached up to caress the side of his face with her fingertips as she looked deeply into his dark, burning eyes. “I have no doubt I would always be safe in your arms, my lord Draco.” A mischievous gleam suddenly lit her eyes as she added, “But who will safeguard me from you?”
Waggling his sinister eyebrows roguishly, Draco grinned down at her. “Now that, milady, is an entirely different matter.” He bent his head and nuzzled her neck in the sensitive spot just below her ear.
The temptation was too great to resist. Draco opened his mouth and laved the soft skin of her neck even as his hand came to rest intimately at her waist where his fingers caressed the underside of her breasts. His hot, moist mouth moved slowly down the side of her slender neck to the curvature of her shoulder sending delicious chills skittering over her skin and bringing a sigh to her lush, full lips. Encouraged by the soft sound, he became a little more daring. Dropping his head lower, his teeth grazed over her satiny skin where her breast swelled just above the edge of her bodice. A gasp escaped her lips at his boldness, but it was quickly followed by a moan of pleasure as her head dropped back to give him better access.
It was the childish giggles emanating from the underbrush that brought them back to earth with an emotional thud. They turned to look in the direction from which the sounds emanated but caught only a glimpse of bright clothing disappearing into the thick woods.
It was at that point that Draco realized just how distracted he had become and cursed himself for his weakness and for putting Bianca in danger because he could not control his lust. He let his desire for the fair maiden cloud his mind when he should have been on guard, especially out of the safety of the castle walls. They were very close to the gypsy encampment. Though they could not see who hid beneath the shrubbery, the receding sound of running feet gave them a clue that it was a couple of young rascals who had been spying on them.
“It seems that our presence here will shortly be known to everyone in the camp.” He glanced down and thought a look of disappointment flickered in her eyes before she straightened around in his arms. She rearranged her clothing before they left the privacy of the shaded woods and rode into the sunny, open glade where the band of Rom had made their temporary home.
The flurry of activity that ensued just before they made their appearance ceased as everyone turned to watch their approach. As they made their way through the camp, a crowd of children and curious adults followed them. Several called out a greeting and waved but along with the ones who were openly friendly there were those who held back, afraid of strangers, remembering the persecution that had at one time followed the nomadic gypsies. It was not until they came to a stop in the middle of the camp that the crowd parted leaving only an old woman facing them.
“I knew you would come.” Veryalda cackled, a smile splitting her wrinkled face as she beamed up at the couple mounted on the great black warhorse. She made the announcement, giving the impression that they were there only by her divine intervention.
“Of course you did, and you can read my mind also,” Draco replied drolly as he moved to dismount and then turned to help Bianca to the ground. When he tried to step away to give her room to adjust her gown, she captured his hand and clung to it even as she held her head high and pretended to be unaffected by her surroundings. He knew she was trying to be brave, but he detected the slight tremble in her body as she attempted to control the deeply imbedded fear she had lived with since she was a small child.
Draco draped a protective arm around her slender shoulders and hauled her up tight against his side to let her know that she was secure in his powerful embrace. She raised violet eyes to his black ones and gave him a small nod to let him know that she was grateful for his support.
“Do not mock me, boy. I have expected your return because I know what happened yesterday. I knew you would not leave any rock unturned in your quest to find out the truth of the matter. You want to know if we have seen or heard anything that might help.”
“All right, Veryalda, I will give you that.”
“And you, young lady? I am amazed, and at the same time pleased, to see you here. I know how you feel about the Rom. I would have thought your man would come alone.”
Bianca blushed hotly at the insinuation her grandmother made. Hot words of denial rose to her lips, but when she noticed Draco watching her with those dark, mysterious eyes, she lost her train of thought for a moment. Someone snickered in the crowd and her face flamed red as she answered her grandmother.
“Lord Draco is a good friend of mine, nothing more.” His sharp intake of breath was not lost on her but she refused to discuss their relationship at this time and especially not in the middle of the Rom camp. “I am looking for another friend of mine.”
Veryalda stared at her, a piercing look that spoke more than mere words could communicate. She was not fooled by Bianca’s attempt to turn the direction of conversation away from her. The old gypsy merely shrugged her shoulders and smiled a secret little smile before turning her attention to Draco.
“We know nothing about the incident other that what we have heard. It is apparent that whoever arranged this attack planned it well and only waited for the opportunity to carry it out.”
“I disagree. If the attack had been well planned, then neither Bianca nor I would be here today.”
His statement did not set well with Veryalda. The old woman suddenly looked very ill and she hunched into herself as if she had sustained a physical blow. It seemed that the prospect of their deaths upset her greatly. If possible, she suddenly looked older and her clear bluish-violet eyes darkened to an almost purple hue.
“I have read the cards and there is peril in your future, young warrior, for you and your woman.” Her prophecy of danger to Draco brought Bianca out of her temporary stupor. She did not know whether to believe the old gypsy or not. But she was not about to stand there and let her grandmother scare her with her foretelling.
“Have you heard anything of Jabulani?” Bianca interrupted.
“We heard that he turned up missing yesterday.” She glanced at a couple of men standing near them and they nodded in agreement with her statement. “I understand that he was attacked by highwaymen in the forest between Castle Neige and the southern borders.”
“Yes. I have men even now looking for him,” Draco supplied as Veryalda motioned for them to follow her. She led them to her vardos where she invited them to sit beside her small campfire and take liquid refreshment.
They sipped the strong brew as Veryalda continued their conversation. “I hear many surprisingly confidential things in my trade, as do the rest of my family.” She shrugged her shoulders at Draco’s dubious look. “It is true. Outsiders tend to talk around us gypsies as if we have no ears to hear and no mind to understand their meaning. And worse, they think we have no morals to be offended by their devious schemes and acts of evil.”
“So you do not know who the villains are?”
“No, unfortunately. If I did, I would be the first to put a dirk into the bastard’s liver before he realized what had happened.”
The cold, vengeful words from her grandmother shocked Bianca. But the vengeance that burned in Veryalda’s bluish-violet eyes disturbed her more. It was evident that this was where Bianca got her spirit and fire.
Her gypsy blood.
The thought made her shudder. She reached over and covered her grandmother’s hand with hers. “You must not risk yourself for me. There are trained knights and soldiers who can handle such things.”
“I know, dear child, but it makes my blood boil to think that someone is trying to hurt you. I made you a promise, years ago and I am not about to break it now. I will do all within my power to protect you.”
“So it was you who aided Bianca when she was abducted as a child? That is how you know her?”
“Yea, yea. I was around at the time of her abduction, my boy.” She glanced at Bianca with a puzzled look on her face and she hesitated, but at Bianca’s slight nod she continued. “It seems that my granddaughter has forgotten to mention our relationship. Bianca’s mother was my only daughter, Marilis.” She smiled at the surprised look on Lord Draco’s face and then she chuckled when he swung his accusing gaze to Bianca.
“Yea, I aided my granddaughter’s escape. What kind of grandmother would I be if I sat back and watched my flesh and blood suffer needlessly because of an old man’s desire for vengeance? My husband, Ama, was crazed with grief over our daughter’s death. He was not thinking straight when he took Bianca from her father. But he would not listen to reason.”
“So you defied your husband to take Bianca back to her father.” Things were beginning to make sense to Draco, now. He glanced back and forth between the two women. He saw it then. The eyes were exotically slanted, violet in color. Though Veryalda was an old woman now, it was evident that at one time she had been a very comely woman. “And your father knows who Veryalda is?”
“Of course, he does. That is why my grandmother comes here and she and her band are welcome to stay as long as they wish. My father does not blame Veryalda for what my grandfather did all those years ago. It is I who never got over the experience. It is a nightmare that haunts me even now.” She glanced at her grandmother when she heard a low sob coming from her. “I do not hate the Rom, grandmother. I just cannot forget what happened.”
Draco decided that he needed to hear the whole tale of Bianca’s abduction, so he requested that Veryalda relate it in detail.
“My husband was a very suspicious man and he kept a close watch on Bianca and any who came near her. He expected the duke to send soldiers to find us and take her so we moved constantly, hiding during the day and traveling at night. But after so many nights of crying herself to sleep and days of refusing to eat, Bianca became little more than a small ghost of her former self. I was so worried about her that I brought it to Ama’s attention but he refused to see it. It was then that I asked my brother, Henri, for help. Together we came up with a plan. He was to secrete her back to Castle Neige after I managed to get her away from the camp. Looking back now, I would not hesitate doing what I did again. Even if I was disloyal to my husband and his convictions, I could not let my granddaughter suffer such fright and homesickness because he wanted revenge for Marilis’ death.
“Ama had never approved of the marriage, you see. In his twisted, grieving mind he saw no wrong in what he did.” Tears leaked from the wrinkled corners of Veryalda’s eyes. “But I saw the pain and destruction that his vengeance caused. I went against my vows to honor and obey, and I sent my granddaughter home.” Sadness filled the old gypsy’s voice as she poked at the fire with a long, twisted staff.
Veryalda, now an old woman, would never reveal to her granddaughter how she had suffered at her husband’s hands when he found out what she had done. It had taken months for her cuts and bruises to heal and Ama had never slept in her wagon again. A small sigh escaped her lips as she recalled the shame she faced when he had flaunted his lovers before her.
“The grief of losing my poor Marilis was nearly too much for Ama. He hated everything to do with the blue bloods and to have his daughter defy him and marry one and then die trying to give the nobleman the heir he demanded of her nearly broke Ama. He acted in what he considered to be the only way to save Bianca from a similar fate. I admit that in the beginning he had convinced me of the rightness of his scheme. But after watching how heartsick Bianca became as the days passed, I realized how wrong we were. A child should not have to lose both her mother and her father in such a short period of time; it was too much.”
“That is an old tale, Grandmother, best left in the past,” Bianca said. “We need to concentrate on the here and now. We need to find Jabulani and then determine who has contrived this offense. Whoever is behind this is responsible for nearly taking Draco’s life yesterday.”
“It is but a scratch and nothing more.” Even as he denied the seriousness of his wounds, he was feeling pleasure at her words of concern. Then a mischievous twinkle lit his eyes. “Speaking of injuries, perhaps you should have the one you acquired last night attended to. Your grandmother might have some remedy to ease the pain.”
“You were injured, mi amour?” For her advanced years, Veryalda was up and across the space between them in less time than it took Bianca to form a reply. “Why was I not told of this immediately?”
“I thought that you knew everything that happens in Castle Neige?” Draco made the comment at the same time Bianca exclaimed in a mortified tone, “I am fine, Grandmother. I happened to get a splinter that is all.”
Without missing a beat, Veryalda answered them both, “I know just about everything that happens at Castle Neige, yea, and splinters can fester and cause illness and fever. You will come with me now, Bianca, so I can take a look at your injury.”
There was no dissuading the old woman when she was set on a mission. And so a mutinous Bianca threw a grinning Draco a frowning “this-is-all-your-fault” look as she reluctantly followed her grandmother up the steps and into her wagon.
As Draco sat beside the campfire waiting for Bianca to emerge from the wagon, he became aware that he was no longer alone. Even before the silent shadow approached from behind, he had eased his dagger halfway from its sheath, careful not to draw attention to his actions. But at the floral scent that assailed his nose he relaxed.
“It is a shame we were not able to keep our rendezvous the other evening, my Lord Dragon,” the seductive voice murmured in his ear as small, enticing hands caressed the wide expanse of his broad shoulders. Draco knew who stood at his back without looking. It was the gypsy wench, Carmen, and she brazenly showed him just how much she wanted him. She was attempting to seduce him right outside the wagon where she knew Bianca was.
“I was not interested then,” he replied moving away from her touch. “And I am still not interested, woman. Take your wares elsewhere.”
“She has nothing that I could not give you in greater quality,” she snarled.
Draco turned and faced a furious gypsy woman, giving her a blank face even as she ranted on.
“Her innocence attracts you like a love potion, but it will last only a short while and then your desire will wane and you will wish you had chosen an experienced woman who could tend to all of your desires.”
With every word she uttered, Draco’s blood grew colder and colder. This woman was the complete opposite of his beautiful, gentle-minded Bianca. Carmen was cold, calculating and mean-hearted. She would stop at nothing to get what she wanted, not caring who got hurt. She was exactly the type of woman that Draco had sought out over his fighting years to slake his lust, with full, voluptuous breasts and wide hips. He’d always liked that in a woman. He’d kept his desires well sated and under control so he was never tempted by offers of bedmates from the noble class. It was safer to use widows or whores for sex, safer for his heart and safer for his soul. He was secure from such complications as falling in love. It had only been since he had met Bianca that he recognized exactly how empty his life was and would continue to be if he had to live without her in it.
Carmen seemed not to notice, or perhaps she just did not want to admit that he rejected her sultry advances instead of encouraging them. She moved her curvaceous form closer until her hands rested on his wide, muscular chest as she looked up at him through her eyelashes as the tip of her tongue sensuously laved her full bottom lip, openly inviting his kiss.
“Perhaps we could rendezvous tonight,” she spoke her sultry invitation as her hands moved up his chest. “We have been invited to entertain at the castle tonight. After I perform, we could meet somewhere. I will make you forget that little innocent.” She tried to wrap her arms about his neck as she pressed her ample breasts against his chest, giving him a sample of what he could look forward to later. Draco’s rejection was clear when he gripped her wrists and pulled her arms down as he stepped back, making sure that he was completely out of her reach. He went so far as to move to the opposite side of the fire.
“I am flattered, Carmen, but I will be otherwise occupied tonight.”
“Then I will come to you tomorrow night,” she pressed. Before he could make up another excuse, she blew him a kiss and danced away.
Draco shook his head in disbelief. The woman was as tenuous as those sappy suitors who arrive at the gates of Castle Neige daily. It was clear he would have to put an end to this one-sided affair, soon, before anybody got hurt. He feared that being caught between two such strong women, it would be him.
“I will come to see you tomorrow and inspect the wound once again. For now it looks to be well on its way to mending.”
Bianca descended from the wagon first and then turned to help Veryalda down as the old woman continued to give her more advice, opinions, and dictates.
“Do not let her ride too long, my boy. She is still mending and I do not want the wound to fester.”
“Do not worry, Veryalda. We return to Castle Neige when we leave here. Then I swear I will send her right to bed for the rest of the night.” He gave Bianca a push in the direction of his mount, which one of the men had brought forth.
As Bianca walked out of earshot, Veryalda whispered, “Stay close to her, my lord. Evil still lurks just out of reach, waiting for an easy victim.”
“I know, Grandmother, I know. I will do everything within my power to protect her.” He hesitated before continuing, “She means the world to me and I have no intention of letting anyone take her from me now.” With that parting pledge, Draco turned and followed Bianca. He helped her up onto Inferno and then mounted behind her. She waved goodbye as he nodded his head and they quickly cantered across the glade and into the forest. For several moments, they rode in quiet companionship. Draco glanced down at her to find a slight smile on her lips.
“My lord,” she turned and looked at him, “I ask a boon.” Draco’s heart skipped a beat and he feared that she might have overheard Carmen trying to seduce him back at the camp. That was why her next words took him completely by surprise. “Before we go home I wish to stop in the apple orchard and pick some fresh apples for my father. He has not been feeling very well of late and I thought that a few fresh apples would cheer him. They are his favorite fruit.”
“You think that apples will make him feel better?”
“Oh, yes. He eats them whenever he gets a chance, morning, noon and evening before bed. He cannot seem to get enough of them. If anything will make him feel better, it would be fresh apples.”
“Then by all means, we must certainly take him some apples.”
* * * * *
Through long days, and even longer nights,
So close they became that they could no longer fight
The attraction that grew between them.
As the two lovers came together in blissful heaven,
There were secrets that had to be told.
But the answer he sought was destined
To keep them together as their future did unfold.
The Maid would keep the Knight and he would take her.