England,
1290
Lord
Alex Stelton can't resist a challenge, especially one with a prize like this:
protect a castle on the Scottish border for a year, and it's his. Desperate for
land of his own, he'll do anything to win the estate—even enter a proxy
marriage to Lady Lisbeth Reynolds, the rumored witch who lives there.
Feared
and scorned for her second sight, Lisbeth swore she'd never marry, but she is
drawn to the handsome, confident Alex. She sees great love with him but fears
what he would think of her gift and her visions of a traitor in their midst.
Despite
his own vow never to fall in love, Alex can't get the alluring Lisbeth out of
his mind and is driven to protect her when attacks begin on the border. But as
her visions of danger intensify, Lisbeth knows it is she who must protect him.
Realizing they'll secure their future only by facing the threat together, she
must choose between keeping her magic a secret and losing the man she loves.
The Guardian's Witch - Excerpt
Chapter One
A disturbing thought
persisted. He’d been like this for two days. She pushed the thought aside and
bent to saving him—if she wasn’t already too late. The edges of the wound
screamed an angry red. The infection was well past the edges of the lesion. The
swollen area was crusted in some areas and drained ugly yellow pus in others.
“The wound must be
cleaned.” She said this more to herself to confirm her decision. She glanced
around and took stock of what was at hand. “Ann, some linen strips please, lots
of them and three large men.” She looked at Alex’s powerful body. “No, four men
please.” Lisbeth continued her preparations. Ann scurried out of the room.
“Ann,” she called after the woman. “Hot water. Lots of hot water. I’ll need
more than the hearth kettle can hold.”
She looked at the man
who became more awake and alert by the minute. Usually a good sign, but now
she’d rather he was neither. She’d brought many a warrior to his knees saving
their lives. He would be no exception.
He raised his head and
looked at her squarely. “What do you plan to do?” His voice was ragged and
tired.
She hid her concern
around her matter-of-fact tone. “The wound’s infected and must be cleaned.”
“How? You think to hold
me down?” The hard lines on his face held no expression. He became more awake
every minute.
“Yes, staying still may
be difficult.” She noticed his hand begin to shake—a result of the poison. She
must act quickly. What was taking Ann so long? She took a deep breath and
remained calm on the outside. She rummaged through her kit and found what she
needed, then busily prepared a tincture.
“You’ll not need to hold
me down. I’ll not struggle.” His head fell back on the pillow.
She looked at him and
noticed the shadow of a grimace pass over his face. “I don’t think you’ll be
able…”
“I’ll make you a wager.
If I lay still and leave you to your ministration, you will let me kiss you.”
The teasing brought color to his gray cheeks.
Too surprised by his
proposal to do more than stare at him, flashes of her vision raced through her
mind.
“Do we have a wager?”
“And if you don’t stay
still?” She bent back to preparing the tincture.
The amused gleam left
his eyes. “Then you can call my men to hold me. But I will not die fighting my
own men.” His teasing returned. “The thought of your kiss will keep me still.
Do you agree to the wager?”
She brewed some dark tea
with the water from the kettle and added the tincture. “I’m usually paid with
chickens and vegetables. I’ve never been paid with a kiss.” No one could remain
still. Not even him. She turned and faced him with the cup in her hand. She
hesitated and reached in her kit and drew out an engraved stone. She put the
cup aside and took the thin purple leather strip from her hair and threaded it
through the amulet.
“If you wear this I will
agree to your wager.”
He took a quick breath
as a flash of pain caught him. He looked at the trinket then back to her. He
nodded and let her put the amulet around his neck.
She knew he humored her
but she didn’t care as long as he wore it. She retrieved the cup.
“And what’s this
concoction you give me?” He sniffed at the cup.
“It’s to activate the
spell in the amulet.”
His eyebrows flew up in
surprise.
She let loose a
mischievous laugh. “No, it’s only to take the edge off the pain.”
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