Love's Magic by Traci E. Hall Page A

agreed that we will have to fake our joining tonight, are we not? I know that there should be,” he stammered, which only made him more endearing to her, “blood. I will cut my thumb, so that you won’t be shamed.”
    Not sure what to say to that, she pulled away before she grabbed his hand and begged him to reconsider their future together. He was honorable, kind, handsome and wounded. If only his pain wasn’t somehow magnified, if only she didn’t care. But the chinks in his noble armor were killing her.

    Nicholas felt as if he’d been running forever. His chest was tight, his body tense and his muscles sore. He’d been married for half a day, and he was beat.
    When would she realize that he was a fraud? When would she look at him like the bastard he’d always thought he was? But she gazed at him with those angel-witch eyes like he was a damn hero instead of a murdering, gutless sod. Celestia had more courage in her petite frame than he would ever know.
    She was warm, and God’s bones, he was so tired of being cold. She was light and he was filled with darkness. He could not touch her, for fear of dousing her goodness. He had never been around a family like the Montehues. Close-knit, they argued as loud as they yelled their adoration for one another.
    He’d been threatened by each of them, from Lord Robert down to ten-year-old Ela. Even a waddling peasant woman gave him the evil eye, warning him to treat their lady right. What would it be like to be, no—he shied away from finishing that thought. Love was not for the likes of him.
    “There you two are!” Petyr said loudly, clapping a heavy hand on Nicholas’s shoulder. “It is time for the toast, before I get tossed into the fire.”
    Nicholas would have liked to offer comfort to Celestia, but did not dare. He had let her get too close already, which was dangerous.
    Lord Robert bellowed, “Get on with it, eh? What gift was so grand that you had to wait until everyone was drunk?” He laughed loudly, as did everybody else, even Celestia.
    “He has a good point,” she whispered up at him with a wink.
    Nicholas saw her heart-shaped face in shadow, and the refracted brightness of her eyes. He had to stop being such an infant. He grunted for an answer, as if that would put up a barrier between them. At least, once he had exacted his revenge from his “father,” Celestia would be left with property. The thought eased his guilt over knowing he would leave her—by death, or pilgrimage, either way.
    “Here, here,” Sir Petyr shouted, getting everybody’s attention. “I have a gift for Sir Nicholas and the Lady Celestia, from the baron himself. For years I have been the baron’s man, but starting tonight, I am, along with the five men with me, swearing my loyalty to Lord Nicholas of Falcon Keep!”
    The crowd cheered, and Nicholas realized that his value had just risen. He had a beautiful wife, a keep with land, and now he had his own men.
    For a fellow who only wanted revenge and the honor of dying with his soul intact, he was doomed.
    “We leave at first light,” Sir Petyr said, grinning proudly. “Your new home awaits ye.”
    “Aye, dawn it shall be,” Nicholas agreed. Maybe sometime during the four-day journey he could get Petyr drunk and finally get some answers.
    Celestia was the only one not cheering. Their eyes met, and it seemed as if she completely understood what he was feeling. They were being drawn tighter into a web they hadn’t spun, so strong that they couldn’t break free.
    Forrester, Bertram, Willy, Stephan, and Henry all gathered round. “Hip hip, hooray! Three cheers for our new lord!”
    Nicholas smiled, as he was expected to do. Sweet Jesu, he even gave a speech as gallant as any he’d ever heard before. And while he thought to argue with Petyr’s announcement, he realized that it mattered not. The sooner they left, the sooner he could force Baron Peregrine to atone for all he’d done.
    He placed another brick of blame at his