Chapter 1 #3
“Ooomph!” That stopped his laughing at least. Rook reached out, grabbing her around her waist to keep her from running.
Raven moved her foot backward, trying once more to sweep his feet out from under him but Rook didn’t let it happen.
He quickly released her and moved away. Instead of hitting his leg, she kicked at air, which caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground for the second time that morning.
“What’s going on here?” came a deep voice from behind her.
Raven’s head snapped around to see her father, Lord Corbett Blake, riding toward them.
Devon, Raven’s mother, was on her own horse right behind him.
“Raven, get off the bloody ground before someone sees you,” growled her father.
He stopped his horse and dismounted and then proceeded to help his wife.
It was just like her father to worry more about what others would think, not even asking if she was hurt first.
“Raven, are you injured? What happened?” Devon rushed over to Raven, putting her arm around her as Raven got to her feet.
“Nay, Mother, I am fine. And thank you for asking.” She glanced over at Rook and her father who were standing there, looking at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“When your handmaid said you weren’t in your bed this morning when she arrived at your room, I was afraid you’d been abducted,” said her mother. “What are you doing out here in the woods? Especially at this time of day?”
“Mother, you know I don’t like having a handmaid. I wish you’d tell Emma she’s not needed.”
“Answer your mother’s question,” commanded her father, using the tone he used when reprimanding his soldiers.
“I’ll answer it for her,” offered Rook. “Raven had the hare-brained idea that she was going to joust. I knew she was sneaking away before sunup to the woods to practice. That’s why I told my squire to offer to help her.”
“You did what?” gasped their mother. “Rook, why didn’t you try to stop her instead? She could have been hurt. What is the matter with you?”
“Me?” Rook’s hand slapped against his chest and confusion clouded his face. “I was only trying to teach her a lesson so she’d stop this silly nonsense.”
“Rook, you should be protecting your sister, not sending your squire into the woods with her so she can do something that might have caused her to get hurt.” Corbett echoed his wife’s concern.
“I was only trying to discourage her from wanting to act like a man,” protested Rook.
“You don’t need to worry about that anymore,” Corbett told him. “Did you tell your sister what I’ve decided?”
“Nay, he didn’t tell me anything,” Raven interrupted. “Father, what is going on?”
“Tell her, Corbett,” said Devon softly. “She has a right to know.”
“Raven, I’m doing this for your own good, even though I know you’re not going to like it,” said Corbett.
“What won’t I like?” asked Raven.
“I’ve been more than patient with you over the years, but I can no longer condone your obnoxious behavior,” continued Corbett. “It’s gotten way out of hand.”
“Obnoxious?” Raven had never heard her father talk this way to her before. “What does this all mean? I am not a child anymore, so please stop being so secretive.”
“Nay, you’re not a child. I agree,” mumbled Corbett, with a slow shake of his head. “You are a woman now, Raven, as well as a titled lady. Not to mention, my only daughter.”
“Tell her,” whispered Devon, growing impatient with him.
“Raven, I’ve decided it is time for you to marry,” announced Corbett, standing up straighter and lifting his chin, almost as if he were throwing down the gauntlet and not expecting her to pick it up in challenge.
“M-married?” That shocked her so much that she found herself tongue-tied.
Raven thought he would possibly take away her weapons for a week, or mayhap confine her to the ladies’ solar for a spell, if he even reprimanded her at all.
But this was something she never expected.
It had to be the worse punishment of all.
Raven never thought her father would betroth her without talking to her about it first. In hindsight, she should have known it was coming.
Raven was well past marrying age. In reality, she should have been betrothed during childhood and birthing babies by the age of sixteen at the latest, but it hadn’t happened.
She had told her father on more than one occasion that she never wanted to marry.
Somehow, she thought he understood, but apparently not.
She didn’t like this in the least. The last thing Raven wanted was to be married to a man who was sure to make her put down her weapons and instead wear frilly dresses and sew or weave all day long, barely stepping foot outside in the sun.
This isn’t at all what she wanted to hear.
“Now, Raven, you know I’ve always respected your wishes, but this time, I have to agree with your father,” said her mother, shocking her even more since she hoped at least her mother would be on her side.
“It will be for the best, dear.” Devon put her hand on Raven’s back, rubbing her fingers in small circles, trying to comfort her the way she did when Raven was a child and having a bad dream.
Actually, this was a bad dream. All Raven wanted to do was to wake up and discover that none of it was even real.
“Who?” she pushed the word from her mouth, still finding it hard to speak. “Whom am I to marry?” was all she managed to say. It felt hard to breathe again. This time it had nothing to do with falling from a horse or wearing a heavy helm.
“I can’t say,” answered Corbett, running his hand over his horse’s head. Raven could tell this decision upset him as well as it did her, since he couldn’t seem to look at her when he spoke.
“I have a right to know,” she retorted.
“He’s not keeping it from you,” interrupted her mother. “Your father just doesn’t know yet whom you’ll be marrying.” She tried to explain, but still, Raven didn’t understand.
“So, I’m not betrothed yet?”
“Nay, not yet,” said Corbett. “But soon.”
This should probably have made her feel more at ease, but it only prolonged the agony.
“I’ve decided there will be a tournament at the castle in three weeks’ time,” her father told her.
“A tournament?” That took Raven’s interest. She loved tournaments.
Secretly, she always wanted to compete in one.
“Tell me more. What is the occasion? This doesn’t have something to do with my betrothal, does it?
” Part of her felt excited about the tournament, but she was also afraid this might have something to do with her upcoming marriage since her father changed the subject so quickly. That only made her stomach queasy.
“Oh, do let me tell her,” said Rook, eagerly wanting to give her bad news even though she couldn’t drag information from him a few minutes ago.
“Go ahead.” Corbett held out his arm.
“Father is holding a tournament, and the winner gets the prize,” said Rook.
“The p-prize? What prize?” Raven asked, but was afraid she already knew the answer.
Rook opened his mouth to tell her, but Corbett stopped him this time.
“Nay. I’ll tell her,” said Corbett, still petting the horse.
“It’s my responsibility. I should have taken measures long before now.
Raven. Daughter,” he said, leaving the horse and coming and gently placing his hand on her shoulder.
“It is time you marry a nobleman. I don’t want you to fight me on this anymore. ”
“God’s eyes, nay!” She backed away from him, holding her arms around her. “Please don’t tell me I’m the prize for the winner of the tournament.”
“You are,” said Rook, flippantly. “Although, I can’t say the winner will consider you a better prize than a gold cup.”
“Rook, stop it,” scolded their mother.
“How can you do this to me?” she asked her parents, feeling her body shaking with anger. “At least let me have a say about whom I wed.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Sister,” said Rook.
“Well it should,” she ground out. “If men get to choose their brides, why can’t a woman choose her own husband?”
“Because, knowing you, you’d probably choose someone that Father doesn’t approve of,” Rook blurted out. Raven could see in her father’s eyes that this was exactly how he felt.
“Tell me. What do you know about the men who will compete?” she asked. “Mayhap you won’t approve of them either,” Raven pointed out, fighting for her life now.
“Your father has already sent out the missives to all the eligible bachelors this side of the Scottish border, as well as an invite to our connections in France,” explained her mother.
“You mean to all the eligible nobles, don’t you?”
“It’s important that all my children, nephews, and nieces marry nobles,” explained Corbett.
“I tried for years to bring back honor to the family name that was sullied by my father, who married the illegitimate daughter of the vicar. You know that. I am finally accepted again by the King and nobles, and I will not risk losing respect once more.”
“So then,” said Raven, her lip quivering as she raised her chin in challenge. “Whoever wins the tournament will win my hand in marriage, no matter who that competitor might be?”
“That’s right,” said Corbett with a nod. “I’m sorry, but this is the way it’s going to be.”
“Then so be it,” said Raven, turning on her heel, already devising a plan in her mind to get around her father’s stupid decision.