The Ranger Read online

  It might not have been so bad, if the poor little thing didn’t get so excited that whenever he saw the knight he peed. The last time, he’d nearly done so on Sir Arthur’s foot.

  To say that the puppy was an annoyance to the knight was an understatement. Sir Arthur ignored him, shooed him away, and snapped at him, but no matter how hard he pushed him away, the puppy couldn’t get enough.

  Squire was a glutton for punishment.

  Anna knew the feeling. It seemed she and the pup both had a weakness for ruggedly handsome knights with wavy dark-brown hair, gold-flecked brown eyes, and dents in their chin.

  She was drawn to him. Perhaps like the puppy, she sensed that Sir Arthur needed someone. His distance she saw as loneliness, his remoteness as a shield that she was determined to pierce.

  Though exactly what she hoped to find, she didn’t know. And as the days passed with no cause for suspicion, her excuse for watching him began to wear thin. But if she wasn’t watching him for her father, for whom was she?

  It was a question that she asked herself as she made her way to the Great Hall for the evening meal. Her father would be expecting a report soon, and she would have to give it to him. She’d found nothing. The knight’s greatest offense was a propensity to keep to himself and a keen ability to ignore her.

  She knew it was time to put an end to her spying. But why was she so reluctant to let him go?

  Sir Arthur was nothing like the men who normally attracted her. But she could not deny she was attracted to him—deeply attracted. More than she’d ever been attracted to a man in her life. Almost enough to make her forget how wrong he was for her.

  Aye, it was time to put an end to this.

  She was about to exit the spiral stairwell of the donjon into the passageway that led to the Great Hall when a yapping ball of gray-and-black fur went speeding past her feet. Nearly tripping, she muttered an unladylike curse, realizing she must not have securely latched the door to the chamber she shared with her sisters and Squire had managed to escape again.

  But thankfully the closed door at the bottom of the stairwell had trapped him. When she caught up with the naughty little thing he was standing at the door, barking and wagging his tail excitedly.

  She picked him up and he licked her face. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked. “Let me guess, Sir Arthur?” He barked, seemingly in the affirmative, and she laughed. “You are a fool, little one. When are you going to accept that he doesn’t want you around?”

  The puppy whinged and cocked his head as if he hadn’t heard her right.

  She sighed and shook her head. Perhaps she should listen to her own advice. “All right, all right, I’m sorry.” She put him down and opened the door. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  She expected the puppy to head for the Great Hall, but he made for the stairs that led to the courtyard instead.

  With a sigh, she followed him outside. The cool sea breeze and descending mist cut right through her thin wool summer gown, making her wish she’d brought a plaid—although she hadn’t anticipated an evening promenade when she’d gone down to eat. It was dark, and except for the guards along the walls, the barmkin was deserted. Everyone would be inside eating.

  So why wasn’t Sir Arthur?

  Squire ran past the well in the center of the courtyard, past the kitchens to the northwest range. Apparently, the knight was in the barracks. The puppy stood by the door waiting for her.

  It was quiet out there. Eerily so. And dark in that corner of the courtyard. The men had yet to light the torches near the entry.

  She felt a prickle of apprehension as she approached, suddenly wondering if this was a good idea. Tracking him down to the barracks in the middle of the day was one thing, alone at night was another. The puppy seemed to be having second thoughts himself, because he’d stopped barking and was looking at her uncertainly.

  “You got us into this,” she mumbled. “Too late to turn coward now.” Whether she was talking to the dog or herself she didn’t know.

  She cracked open the door and peeked inside. Her eyes scanned the darkened room, lit only by the simmering embers of the peat fire on the opposite wall.

  Squire, apparently having found his courage, darted past her feet into the empty room. She muttered another choice oath, tempted to leave him there, but instead followed him inside.

  The door closed behind her with a slam that made her jump.

  She forced her pulse to calm, not knowing why she was so jittery. “Squire,” she called in a hushed voice, though why she was whispering she didn’t know. No one was there.

  The puppy ignored her and tore down to the far end of the long, narrow wooden building, jumping on the pallet that she knew must belong to Sir Arthur.

  Her pulse spiked again as she drew near, seeing the pile of belongings strewn across the pallet. Wherever he’d gone, it wouldn’t be for long.

  She bit her lip, debating. If she’d ever wanted a chance to learn about Sir Arthur Campbell, this was it. Pushing aside the prickle of guilt, she started to go through his things carefully, not knowing exactly what she was looking for. Aside from his mail, gamboissed chausses, a few extra sets of clothing, an extra plaid, and a silver brooch that she’d never seen before, there was little else—certainly nothing personal in nature. Knights traveled light; she didn’t know what she’d hoped to find. Something that might help unlock the mystery, perhaps.

  Squire was digging at his mail shirt, trying to get to something underneath the pallet. She didn’t have time to investigate, however, because at that moment she heard a sound that stopped her blood cold.

  The door opened and closed.

  Footsteps. The glimmer of a candle.

  Nails to the cross, he was back!

  Guilt made her panic. Rather than stand there and think of a plausible explanation for being in the barracks, she snatched the puppy off the pallet and looked around for a place to hide. Seeing a large wooden post in the far corner, she ducked behind it just as the circle of light edged into view.

  She seemed to have stopped breathing. Too late, she realized the foolishness of hiding. The dog could betray them at any time. But Squire seemed strangely attuned to her nervousness and had buried his head into the crook of her arm.

  Sir Arthur set down the candle beside his pallet, giving her a clear view of what he was doing.

  Her eyes widened when he tossed a drying cloth he had looped around his neck down on the bed. His hair and shirt were wet. Too late, she realized what he must have been doing and why his mail and belongings were strewn across his bed. He’d been bathing.

  She smothered a startled gasp when he grabbed the edges of his wet shirt and yanked it over his head, tossing it down beside the drying cloth.

  Her mouth went dry, taking in the rippling mass of muscles that covered him from waist to shoulders.

  My God, he was incredible! Broad shoulders, lean waist, thickly built arms, and layer upon layer of muscle that stretched across his stomach. She’d never seen anyone so impossibly … cut. He might have been chiseled from stone, his body as perfectly sculpted as a statue. Except that he was flesh and blood—warm flesh and blood.

  She’d been right to suspect that he would bear the marks of his profession. Scars were liberally strewn across his belly and arms. A large gash across his side and an ugly-looking star-shaped one on his shoulder seemed to be the worst.

  She frowned. Below the scar on his upper arm was a strange black mark. She peered in the darkness, unable to make out the design of what appeared to be a tattoo. Although she knew the marks weren’t unusual among warriors, she’d never seen one up close and was curious.

  A little too curious. She leaned forward, and Squire seemed to take that as an invitation. He jumped out of her lap and raced for the half-naked knight.

  When Arthur realized that he wasn’t alone, he was furious. When he realized who was there, and that she’d managed to sneak past his defenses, he was livid. No one had surprised him