"How can you ride around like this?" I grumble at the Shadow Knight.
Ignoring me, he reaches over one of my shoulders to grip the pommel of the saddle and nudges me aside to reach the saddlebags. Trapped between his thick arms with his wide chest close enough to touch if I'm not perfectly still, I can't tell if I'm going to stop breathing or hyperventilate. His scent and warmth affect me too quickly, and I work hard to suppress the fire in my system.
I don't dare look at him when he's this close and wait silently for him to finish. He's not remotely aware of what's going through my mind or the tremor of anticipation heating my blood.
He stops moving. When he doesn't start immediately, I look up to see he's gazing down at me.
Or . . . Maybe he's very aware of his effect on women.
As if hearing the thought, amusement warms his eyes briefly. "Come, witch." Slinging a satchel over his head, he stalks away.
I release the breath I've been holding, pull the messenger bird off the horse's mane and follow.
The sun is going down. It's suddenly darker. Looking up at the dusky sky in annoyance, I make a mental note to send LF an email when I get home and tell her to get a grip on her concept of time.
We walk into the hold, and my attention is instantly arrested by the incredible scene before me. It's almost like going back in time: servants in white scurry around in a foyer with a ceiling thirty feet high. The wooden beams supporting the stone structure are visible and a wrought-iron chandelier holding blazing torches hangs from one of them. There are torches ensconced on the walls as well and one of the three doors of the foyer is open to reveal a great hall with some combination of herbs lining the floor. A monstrous table stretches the length of the banquet hall. Burning hearths punctuate the wall every fifteen feet or so.
I smell mint and . . . basil. Comforting, refreshing scents that make my stomach growl more loudly.
Where the fourth wall would be is a hallway four people wide and twenty feet tall that leads into the interior of the fortress.
Breathing deeply, I turn around completely to take in the scene, loving this place. I mean, who doesn't want a castle? I knew the Red Knight had something good going for him.
Except for keeping a poor kid prisoner and accepting bribes from the Shadow Knight's enemy. Then again, who am I to take sides?
"The Shadow Knight will not be pleased that you do not follow him."