A Defiant Maiden’s Knight by Melissa Oliver
Joan
Lovent may be losing her sight but she refuses to lose her
independence too. So when Sir Warin de Talmont tells her it’s too
perilous to be out alone in the city, she doesn’t pay him any heed.
But with threats surrounding them, she begins to value his protection
and helps with his dangerous work in return. If only the powerful
connection between them wasn’t so impossible to ignore!
Joan could see from the man’s bemused expression that he did not quite comprehend her. ‘Horses…I have always adored horses. From the first time that I was put on the back of the animal as a child, I have revelled in every aspect of horseback riding—a pursuit that used to afford me a huge amount of pleasure.’
Warin frowned. ‘It used to?’
She nodded. ‘Yes. I have often been told that I learnt to ride before I could even walk. And in time my enjoyment was derived from the dizzying speed that I would put my horse through.’ She smiled at that long-ago memory. ‘The faster I rode the more thrilling and unfettered the feeling was. Yet…yet it was more than just the riding that enchanted me—I loved everything about those big, majestic creatures.’ She inhaled before continuing. Not that this part of her story was easy to revisit. ‘Then one day, when I was eleven years or so, my horse jumped clear of a bushel that hid an uneven ditch behind it. I took a bad tumble, which may or may not have attributed to my poor eyesight, as I was bedridden for more than a sennight, slipping in and out of cognizance.’
‘God’s breath, Joan, that’s dreadful.’
‘Indeed.’ Along with everything else that she had faced.
‘And yet you rode on horseback when I escorted you two years ago?’
She took a sip of ale and nodded. ‘I did, but that was the beginning of the end unfortunately.’
Even to her own ears she sounded a little unmoved by these circumstances, when the reality had been quite different—the very opposite had been true. It had devastated Joan when she had been resigned to forsake the one thing that had given her so much pleasure. And it was the first of many, with many more changes that she would eventually be forced to accept as her condition would worsen.
‘I am sorry, Joan,’ he murmured, shaking his head. ‘That could not have been easy to accept.’
‘No,’ she muttered, unable to say more. Her life had not been easy and she had sacrificed many things. She exhaled and even managed a smile as she lifted her head. ‘But this is welcome, so I thank you.’
‘No need to thank me.’
‘Of course I do! I practically forced my company on you.’ She chuckled. In all honesty, her behaviour had been quite unbecoming even if the sentiment behind it was a good one.
‘Never mind that.’ He took her empty mug from her, setting it back down on the cart, and held out his hand. ‘I have an idea. Something that I hope might also be equally welcome. Come.’
Joan took his offered hand as it closed around hers, strong, warm and strangely intimate. Warin led Joan along the path that wound through the area where horses were being traded.
‘Where are you taking me?’
‘You shall find out soon enough.’ He continued leading her away from the main area of the market until he stopped in front of the last horse trader and possibly the most inconspicuous, tucked away as he was at the periphery.
‘If it ain’t Sir Warin of Talmont, as I live and breathe. I ’aven’t laid eyes on yer since Lent, my good man. What brings you ’ere?’
‘Same as always, Asa of Bath. Same as always.’
‘If that be the case, then I might or might not have information that you might be searchin’ fer.’
‘Good to know, Asa, we shall discuss that later. I come bent on a very different matter altogether.
The other man nodded, clearly understanding Warin. ‘’Appy to oblige. What can I do fer yer?’
‘Well, I was wondering whether you might just happen to have a young, docile palfrey suitable for a lady.’
The trader grinned a toothless smile and made a single nod. ‘I might have just the thing, as it ’appens.’
In no time at all, Joan was amazed to find herself atop the very young, docile palfrey Warin had requested, while he led the young horse at the rein as they gently ambled away from the crowd. In truth, it felt wonderful to be on horseback again—something Joan had never believed she would ever experience. again. And she had Warin de Talmont to thank for that.
‘I hope you realise how much this means to me.’ She beamed down at him as he led the horse at a slightly quicker pace.
‘And I hope you realise that I do it, with pleasure.’
She held on with one hand on the pommel of the saddle and the other holding the reins. It felt just as it had ever done, simply stupendous. Something as ordinary as riding. ‘Well, it is certainly a day that I will never forget.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ He slowed the animal to an eventual stop. ‘Shall we make it all the more memorable?’
‘What do you propose?’
What Warin de Talmont suggested was made evident in the following moment when the man managed to mount the horse, swinging his leg, so that he was now sat behind her.
‘Are you ready to go a little faster?’ The warmth of his breath from behind brushed against her skin.
She felt a little hot. A little breathless being this close to him.
‘It is your choice, Joan, but know that I have you. I will never let you fall.’ Warin’s hand came round her waist, anchoring her to him. ‘So, the question is whether you would like to ride like the wind again?’
UK Harper Collins- https://bit.ly/3isA6ng
Harlequin US https://bit.ly/3Jwt397
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09N1RD4D2/
Amazon US https://amzn.to/3udgZmC
Melissa is the WINNER of The Romantic Novelist Association’s Joan Hessayon Award for new writers 2020 for her debut, The Rebel Heiress and the Knight.
When she's not writing she loves to travel for inspiration, paint, and visit museums & art galleries.
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