“She might not feel that way after being stuck with me for a few decades,” he chuckled. “I am a warrior first and a lover second.”
“A warrior is what is needed first. A warrior is what keeps her safe, protected, and you alive so you can be a lover to her. I say, be the best warrior you can be to ensure you always return to her.” I did not know where these words came from, but they felt right.
I heard some commotion outside of the door, and then my sister’s voice. “Move out of my way, or I will skewer you where you stand.”
That brought a smile to my face.
“We are not the enemy,” Brant said gruffly. “I told you it was Cathal who hurt her.”
“You are her guards, are you not? So why in bloody hell were you not guarding her?”
“Dayna.” Torben’s voice, calm but firm, spoke up. “Cathal had his own men here. We could not have stopped them without resorting to violence. If we had killed his guards, it would have reflected poorly on your father.”
“Well, you could have done something,” she spat.
Deciding she had abused them enough, I stood, wiping the remaining tears from my eyes, and opened the door. The sight before me was quite comical. Dayna had a short sword in each hand. She had backed Brant up against the wall with one of the swords dangerously close to parts I was sure the poor man would not want to lose. My sister always did have a mean streak.
The other sword was held up to fend off Torben, who stood with his hands raised, trying, but failing, to make his bulky frame look nonthreatening. When their heads turned to look at me, Brant made his move. One hand grabbed Dayna’s wrist and relieved her of the sword, while the other wrapped around her waist, turning her until her back was pressed to his chest. At the same time, Torben grabbed the other wrist and took that sword. Their movements were coordinated, as if they knew instinctively what the other one was thinking.
My eyes were wide, and I was sure matched Dayna’s dazed look.
“What just happened?” Dayna said a little breathlessly.
“You made a fatal mistake, little warrior,” Brant said gruffly, though his eyes gleamed with humor.
“You took your eyes off your opponent,” Torben explained. “You allowed yourself to be distracted. It is a deadly error to make, and one you will only make once.”
My lips tilted up slightly as I watched my sister’s face redden as she frowned at Torben’s jest.
“Thank you for the tip,” she bit out and attempted to pull away from Brant’s hold. “Let me go.”
“Nay, I like where you are,” Brant said as he winked at me.
Dayna shot me a look that promised retaliation if I did not interfere. She had come to my defense so I decided not to let her torture continue. “Brant, please release my sister.”
The large man let his hand run across her stomach to her waist where he squeezed her gently before letting her go. Dayna whipped around and glared at him. Brant was not ashamed in the least.
“My sword?” she said, holding out her hand.
“I think I should hold onto it until you learn how to use it safely.”
She was about to say something more, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back until she was standing beside me in the threshold.
“Thank you for fetching my sister,” I told Brant and then looked at Torben. I had felt his eyes on me ever since he had taken my sister’s sword, but I had not been able to look at him. I did not want him to see the longing that I knew would be in my eyes—longing for him and the words he had shared with me. “Thank you for…” I paused, unsure of what to say. Did I say thank you for talking to me through the door and distracting me? That seemed like a little more info than Brant and my sister needed to hear, at least until Dayna nagged the information out of me. “Just… thank you,” I finally breathed out.
I pushed Dayna behind me and walked backward into the room. As I was closing the door, Torben stepped forward, putting his hand out to stop it. “We will be out here all night. Just us. We will not be changing guards this evening.”
“That is not necessary. The other guards have been trained to protect me and have always done a respectable job,” I said, mentally stomping on the butterflies that were currently throwing a ball in my stomach.
“Good is not sufficient,” Torben said. He narrowed his eyes at me, and his lips grew taunt across his handsome face. “After what that bastard—” He paused. “Forgive my crudeness. But after what he did, you need superior guards. Guards willing to die for you. Are any of your guards, with families of their own, really willing to die for you?”
I was taken aback by his blunt question and irritated that he thought himself to be so much better than the men who had guarded me for so long. I did not want to admit that he did have a point. Some of my guards did have families of their own. I would not want them to put their lives before my own when they had people depending on them.
“You only met me a week and a half ago. And now you are saying you are willing to die for me?” I asked as I crossed my arms across my chest and began tapping my foot. My shoulder was throbbing, but I attempted to look fierce and hide the discomfort. Apparently, I was not convincing.
“We do not need to get into this right now, Princess. You are tired and in pain.” He leaned in closer, and his silver eyes seemed to be swirling as the flames of the torches on the wall were reflected in them. “For now, just trust that you will be safest in my care.”
I was done arguing. There would be a time later when I would have my wits about me. Then I would be able to question him further, but not now.
“Fine. Have a good night.”
Torben dropped his hand and stepped back, allowing me to close the door. My eyes held his until the door blocked my sight of him.
“Sit down,” Dayna commanded as she gathered the wash basin and a cloth. She pulled a small vile from her dress pocket and set it on the vanity. “Now, I am going to clean up this bite and you are going to tell me what the bloody hell happened. And then you are going to tell me what is going on between you and Torben.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, feigning puzzlement.
“Oh, come on. There are sparks between you a blind woman could see. No, wait, those aren’t sparks. It is more like a blazing inferno.”
“That is ridiculous,” I scoffed. Inwardly, I was screaming that I needed to be better about hiding my attraction to him. I knew I glanced at him entirely too often. I thought of him way more than a betrothed woman should think about another man.
“I know you,” Dayna said softly as she moved the dress from my shoulder and then let out a string of curses. “That man is mad. There is no way a sane man would do something like this.”
She began cleaning the wound and poured a bit of the liquid from the vial into the puncture marks. It smelled rank and burned like fire. I flinched and gritted my teeth.