The Rebel
Heiress and the Knight by Melissa Oliver
She must marry
the knight
By order of the king!
Widow Eleanor of Tallany Castle knows her people are broken by the taxes demanded by King John. So when she’s ordered to marry Hugh de Villiers, a knight loyal to the king, she’s furious—even if he is handsome! As gallant Hugh begins to heal the scars of Eleanor’s abusive first marriage, she’s even more determined to keep her secret: she is the outlaw the king wants to send to the gallows!
By order of the king!
Widow Eleanor of Tallany Castle knows her people are broken by the taxes demanded by King John. So when she’s ordered to marry Hugh de Villiers, a knight loyal to the king, she’s furious—even if he is handsome! As gallant Hugh begins to heal the scars of Eleanor’s abusive first marriage, she’s even more determined to keep her secret: she is the outlaw the king wants to send to the gallows!
The
extract below is from a scene a day before Hugh de Villiers and
Eleanor Tallany’s imposed marriage. Here they’ve gone riding in
the hope of getting to know each other a little better despite their
feelings of frustration.
Bitterness,
anger and fear coursed through her. She resented this. These feelings
that she had thought to have buried long ago. And she resented being
made to marry once again against her wishes, to another handsome,
young knight who thought far too much of himself.
‘Would
you see it beneath yourself to take a challenge, Sir Hugh? This would
be in the hope that you may change your mind regarding the limited
constraints of
being only a woman.’
She held her head high not daring to look at him.
‘You
are not in shackles, Eleanor.’ He flashed his lazy, lopsided smile
that made him more absurdly attractive.
‘Is
that so?’ She inhaled sharply, trying to hang onto her temper.
‘What
is this challenge you wish to propose?’
Eleanor
knew that she shouldn’t allow herself to rise to whatever scheme
this man was devising but it wasn’t easy. She should, instead turn
the conversation back to gaining any useful information Hugh de
Villiers had about her outlaw friends which would serve them better.
Not that that topic of conversation was any safer. Still, she could
steer it in the way she wanted whilst not risking losing her temper.
She
turned her gaze to the gently rolling hills before her. Beautiful,
she thought, wistfully. She had grown up here and knew every blade of
grass and branch of tree. These were her lands, her ancestral lands,
which would soon belong to him. As would she…
‘Well,
my lady?’
‘A
race to the third oak tree, over there, you can see it in the
distance.’
‘I
do see but… a race? On horseback? With you?’ He smiled slowly,
raising a brow. She continued to stare out in the distance with what
she hoped was her steely gaze and did not even bother to look at him.
With the answer given, he made her even angrier, if that was
possible, when he chuckled in response. He was laughing at her again?
‘Perhaps
you are scared to be bettered by someone like me?’
she said. ‘Well?’
‘You’re
not serious, my lady?’
‘Deadly
so.’
‘Hardly
a fair contest, Eleanor? Come, let’s forget all of this.’ He
spoke so gently that it vexed her all the more.
‘Do
you accept or not?’ She scowled, finding it hard to remain
composed.
‘Very
well if you insist but let it be noted that I did warn you. I hope
you will
not
be too disappointed when I win.’
‘We
will see, Sir Hugh, we will see. Quickest to the oak I mentioned, by
any means.’
‘Then
call it, my lady.’ He brought his destrier round beside her
palfrey, towering over it and grinned at Eleanor, taking her hand in
his and pressing it lightly. She snatched it back.
‘Now!’
Eleanor pushed forward, galloping away to get a fast start before
realising
that he had held back, allowing her to get ahead.
His
laughter roared behind her as she sped out in front. Of all the
confounding, patronising and infuriating males!
Growing up in Richmond- Upon-Thames, Melissa Oliver used to walk past
the old Mills and Boon offices as a teen, and wistfully sigh that one
day her dream of writing for them will come true. Amazingly, after
all these years, it finally has...& now she can bring all those
stories out onto the pages of her books. Melissa lives in south-west
London with her gorgeous husband and equally gorgeous daughters, who
share her passion for castles, palaces and all things historical.
Twitter- @melissaoauthor
