PROLOGUE
MY MOON AND STARS
Castle Questing
1255 A.D.
“Does it fit?”
She twirled the ring around her finger, a golden band with an unusual setting. It was set with a moonstone, reputedly from ancient Rome, in a star-shaped mount. Both the moonstone and the star-shaped mount had meaning to them.
“It does. It’s so beautiful, but you know I cannot wear it until you speak with my father.”
The softly voiced statement came from an elegant woman with hair the color of starlight. At least, that’s what her lover had always said – hair that glittered like the brightest star, a brilliant blend of red and gold. That’s why he’d given her the moonstone set in the star mount. You are my moon and stars, he told her. In fact, that’s what he’d had inscribed on the inside of the band – my moon and stars.
It was a ring as magnificent as its owner.
That’s what Scott de Wolfe thought, anyway.
He’d thought that way since the day he realized Athena de Norville was something special.
He wasn’t exactly sure when that was. A couple of years ago, at least. It was true that he was a few years older than she was, but not too many in the grand scheme of things. They were both adults. They knew their mind and their hearts. But now, they were facing a very real adult problem.
Scott pointed to the great hall, across the bailey from the stables they were sitting in.
“My brother just had to marry your sister for the exact same reason,” he hissed. “Your father, my father, Uncle Kieran… they did unspeakable things to him. God only knows what they are going to do to me.”
Athena smiled faintly, looking at her big, strong, handsome lover. He was a de Wolfe, from one of the finest families in the north. More than that, he was his father’s heir, which meant he’d inherit the great de Wolfe empire. She put a hand on her belly. So would the child she carried.
She was positive it was male.
“I do not know how much longer I can hide my condition,” she said, standing up and rubbing her belly. “Helene is smaller than I am, so hers was quickly apparent, but me… I’ve got the legs of a deer and a long body, so I can hide it better, but not for much longer. Sooner or later, my mother is going to know and when she does, she will tell my father.”
Scott grunted, wiping a hand over his face. In the distance, they could hear music and laughter from the wedding feast that was going on this night. A cold, clear night with a million stars in the sky presiding over the very happy union of two great families.
“Come here, Tee,” he said softly.
“Tee” was her nickname, spoken softly and gently. Athena moved in his direction, taking his outstretched hand. He pulled her against him, his face level with her belly. She was wearing a garment that was nipped under the breasts so the fabric draped over her torso. Nothing to bind. He put a hand on her belly, feeling the firm roundness beneath. He wrapped his arms around her, planting his face in her stomach and kissing it sweetly.
“I know I should have told your father sooner,” he whispered. “I should have told him as soon as you told me, but then I was sent off to London and I spent longer than I had anticipated there. I had hoped to tell him before the babe was still visible, but five months in London prevented that.”
Athena ran her hands through his dark blond hair. “Then you must do it now,” she said. “I know we have both been waiting for the right time and that time is now, now while he’s still drunk with happiness over Helene and Troy’s marriage. Mayhap he will not react so poorly. Besides, I want to wear my ring tonight.”
Scott sighed heavily. “We shall see,” he said. “He showed up this morning and wanted to kill Troy, you know.”
“I know.”
“He is going to want to kill me, too.”
Athena was trying not to grin. “You will not know until you tell him,” she said. “Truly, Scott, if you do not, I must. It would be better coming from you.”
He knew that. Wearily, he stood up, towering over a woman who was already quite tall. “Shall we do it together?”
Athena nodded. “I think we’d better,” she said. “At least I can stop him from trying to kill you. He wouldn’t dare do such a thing in my presence.”
Scott cocked a dubious eyebrow at her. “You think so, do you?”
She couldn’t help but smile now and he broke down, snorting, mostly because it was a ridiculous situation they’d gotten themselves into. While their fathers were focused on the other pair – Scott’s twin brother, Troy, and Athena’s older sister, Helene, who found themselves in the exact same situation with an unplanned pregnancy, what they didn’t realize was that Scott and Athena were in that identical situation themselves, only they’d been better at concealing it.
Still, Scott was nervous. He drew in several long breaths – in and out, in and out – before turning towards the stable entry. Beyond was the yard and beyond that, the bailey and the massive keep of Castle Questing. As he gazed out at the activity, he caught sight of his Aunt Jemma heading in his direction.
The little Scotswoman was his mother’s cousin, married to his father’s second in command, Kieran Hage. The woman had a heart of gold but the temper of a banshee, as she was affectionately called. Kieran was an enormous man, the strongest man on the border as William de Wolfe called him, and along with that strength came a calm, calculating personality. Matched with Jemma’s fire, they were quite literally fire and ice.
Seeing Jemma gave Scott an idea.
“Aunt Jemma!” he called to her, waving her over.
Jemma had a bucket in her hand, eyeing Scott with mild surprise as she headed in his direction. “What are ye doing out here?” she asked. “Yer brother’s wedding feast is that way.”
She was pointing to the keep. Scott ignored the question, pointing to the bucket. “What are you doing with that?”
Jemma was distracted as she lifted the bucket. “There’s no milk,” she said. “All of the kitchen servants are busy with the wedding feast, so I’ve come tae collect some milk for the bairns. They want warm milk with cinnamon before they’ll agree tae go tae bed.”
Scott fought off a grin. “Since when do you give in to the demands of children?”
Jemma scowled. “Yer own baby brother, Eddie, is leading the charge,” she said. “Ye know yer da thinks the sun rises and sets on his sons, so the other children are smart now. They let Eddie make the demands and we must all go along or there’ll be hell tae pay with yer da.”
Scott chuckled, thinking of his baby brother, Edward, born a scant year before. But he was smart, verbal, and already walking, and their father put a good deal of stock in bright, loud Edward de Wolfe. But thinking about his littlest brother brought about the very reason why he was in the stable, so he took the bucket from his aunt and took her by the hand, leading her into the stable.
“I must speak with you before you fetch your milk,” he said. “I need your counsel.”
Jemma let the big, blond knight lead her into the confines of the stable. “Me?” she said. “What could I possibly help ye with?”
As they entered the stable, Jemma immediately saw Athena sitting on a stool near a table that held all manner of combs and brushes for the horses.