Risking her life
To save a knight!
Disguising herself
as her late twin brother keeps Avva Carpenter, and her family, safe. Until Sir
William Devereux arrives in her town. As the castle’s stable master, Avva can’t
avoid the knight—or the desire he instantly stirs in her. He’s everything she
never knew a nobleman could be: honest, kind, brave. When danger surrounds
them, the only way to help William is to reveal her true identity, but can she
trust him enough?
Purchase Links
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knights-Maiden-Disguise-Mills-Historical-ebook/dp/B09127FJ29
US - https://www.amazon.com/Knights-Maiden-Disguise-Mills-Historical-ebook/dp/B09127FJ29
Excerpt
In the below scene my hero, William, has
become injured during a fight witnessed by my heroine, Avva. Avva is drawn to
William and wants to help him, but it is a serious risk for her. Her life and
the lives of her younger brothers could be over if she is caught looking after
him. To make matters worse, the only place she can put him is right where his
attackers came from.
Back by the cart, she tucked the new
blanket into a corner, careful to avoid touching William. He’d need something
dry to cover him later, so that he didn’t catch a chill. She reached out and
put a hand on his chest. He was still breathing—she just had to hope he carried
on doing that. Life would be a lot harder if she had to get rid of another dead
body.
She set Pebble in motion, her heart
galloping wildly in her chest, now, for the most daring part of her plan.
She let Pebble walk the rest of the way.
Although he was a strong pony, it was too much to ask him to trot uphill with
his heavy cargo. Unfortunately, the slower pace gave her more time to think
about what she was doing.
It was unlikely she would be checked going
back into the castle, but that didn’t stop her imagining what would happen to
her if she was. ‘I’ll just say I found him by the side of the road,’ she
muttered to herself. ‘As far as I’m aware he’s a guest of Thomas and there’s
nothing unusual. I can say I thought he was drunk. That’s not odd behaviour for
one of Thomas’s visitors.’
Despite her plan, her knees shook as she
neared the heavy, iron gates. The noise of the wheels passing over the entrance
seemed far louder than usual and she had to force her breathing to remain even
as the first of the guards came into sight.
But her fears were unfounded. Gawain was
nowhere to be seen and the other guards were as uninterested in her as normal.
She was able to get Pebble and the cart into the stable without any fuss or
abnormal attention.
She got down from the cart and leaned
against Pebble’s sturdy body, relief weakening her knees. She took a few, deep
steadying breaths before moving around to the back of the cart. William was
lying as she had left him, alarmingly resembling a large sack of potatoes.
She reached over and touched his leg.
‘William, are you awake?’
‘Yes.’
‘You’re going to have to help me get you
out of the cart and up the ladder.’
There was a long silence and no movement.
‘William?’
‘You’ve brought me to the stables?’
‘Yes.’
‘In the castle grounds?’
‘Yes,’ she said irritably. ‘It’s not as if
I have various places to hide wounded knights. It’s not something I go around
doing often.’
She heard the faint croak of a laugh. ‘I’m
not going to be able to manage by myself.’
‘I’m not going to be able to get in there
and help you out,’ she countered. ‘You’re huge.’
There was a resounding silence to her
statement. She thought he must have lost consciousness again, but eventually
she heard the slats of the cart creak as William began to move. It seemed to
take half a lifetime, but eventually his legs appeared over the edge of the
back, followed by the rest of his body. He grunted with pain as he pulled
himself upright, but at least he was standing.
‘Here, let me help.’ She slid her arm
underneath his again and helped him across to the bottom of the ladder. ‘You’re
going to have to climb up by yourself. Can you manage?’
Avva looked around the stable to see if
there was anything she could use to help haul him up. There was nothing.
‘I can manage,’ he said.
He grasped hold of the side of the ladder
and put his foot on the bottom rung. He wobbled and Avva went to steady him.
He waved her off. ‘I can do it. It’s only
a short climb.’
Avva didn’t know how he achieved it, but
William began to mount the wooden steps. It took him a while, but eventually
his legs disappeared out of sight as he pulled himself over the top.
She grabbed the dry blanket and climbed up
after him.
The loft above the stables was a small
place. She had space to store her few possessions and room to sleep, but that
was it. With William filling up the space with his broad shoulders and long
legs, the place was miniscule. In the darkness she could just make out the
shape of him as he lay down on his side.
‘You’re going to have to take your wet
clothes off.’
He grunted. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘You won’t, you’ll catch a chill and die
and I’ll be left with your dead body decomposing on my bedroll.’
‘I’m sorry if my dying would cause a great
inconvenience for you.’
‘I’m sure it would be worse for you.’
She heard him grunt again, but this time
she could make out a thread of amusement in the sound.
Author Bio
– Ella Matthews lives and works in beautiful South Wales. When not
thinking about handsome heroes she can be found walking along the coast with
her husband and their two children (probably still thinking about heroes but at
least pretending to be interested in everyone else).
Social
Media Links – https://twitter.com/ellamattauthor
https://www.facebook.com/ella.matthews.524381
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