Medieval 02 - Forbidden

ever allow any man to touch her, save one.”
    “Duncan,” Erik said.
    “Aye. Duncan.”
    “That is to be expected between a man and his betrothed,” Erik said matter-of-factly.
    As one, Duncan and Amber spun and stared at Erik.
    “My betrothed?” Duncan asked carefully.
    “Of course,” Erik said. “We will announce it tomorrow. Or did you expect to seduce Amber with no thought to her honor—and mine?”
    “I have told you,” Duncan said. “Until my memory returns, I can’t ask for Amber’s hand.”
    “But you can take the rest of her, is that it?”
    Duncan’s face darkened.
    “The people of the keep are whispering,” Erik said. “Soon they will be talking openly about a foolish maid who lies with a man who has no intention of—”
    “She has not—” Duncan began.
    “Leave off,” Erik snarled. “It will come as surely as sparks fly upward! The passion between the two of you is strong enough to taste. I’ve seen nothing like it in my life.”
    Silence was Duncan’s only response.
    “Do you deny this?” Erik challenged.
    Duncan closed his eyes. “No.”
    Erik looked at Amber. “I needn’t ask you about your feelings. You look like a gem lit from within You burn.”
    “Is that such a terrible thing?” she asked painfully. “Should I be ashamed that I have finally found what every other woman takes for granted?”
    “Lust,” Erik said bluntly.
    “Nay! The profound pleasure of touching someone and not feeling pain.”
    Shocked, Duncan looked at Amber. He started to ask what she meant, but she was talking again, her words urgent, driven by the tension that vibrated through her.
    “Passion is part of it,” Amber said. “But only part. There is peace as well. There is laughter. There is…joy.”
    “There is also prophecy,” Erik shot back. “Do you remember it?”
    “Better than you. I remember that prophecy said he might claim rather than he will .”
    “What are you talking about?” Duncan demanded.
    “A woman’s heart and body and soul,” Erik said. “And the catastrophe that will—”
    “ Might ,” amber interrupted fiercely.
    “—come if she is foolish enough to give all three to a man with no name,” Erik finished coldly.
    “You make no sense,” Duncan said.
    Erik’s smile was as savage as the yellow of his eyes.
    “Have you remembered anything more of your past?” he asked Duncan bluntly.
    “Nothing useful.”
    “Are you the best judge of that? You who have neither memory nor name?”
    Duncan’s mouth thinned and he said nothing at all.
    “God’s teeth,” Erik hissed.
    For a time there was a taut silence.
    “What have you remembered, useful or not?” Erik asked Duncan.
    “You heard before I fought Simon.”
    “Tell me again.”
    “Green eyes,” Duncan said curtly. “A smile. The scent of spices and herbs. Hair the red of flames. A kiss and a wish for God to be with me.”
    Erik glanced quickly at Amber, who was still standing close to Duncan.
    Touching him.
    “Ah, yes,” Erik said. “The Glendruid witch who cursed you.”
    “Nay,” Duncan said instantly. “She didn’t curse me.”
    “You sound very certain.”
    “I am.”
    “Amber?” Erik asked softly.
    “He is telling you the truth.”
    Duncan smiled slightly as he smoothed a wisp of Amber’s golden hair back from her face.
    “’Tis sweet to be championed by you,” Duncan said, smiling down at Amber. “Your faith in my honesty is humbling.”
    “What she has is more certain than faith,” Erik said flatly. “Scrying truth by touch is Amber’s gift.”
    “And curse,” she whispered.
    “What do you mean?” Duncan asked.
    “Just what I said,” Erik retorted. “If I question a man while Amber touches him, the truth is clear to her no matter what lies he may speak aloud.”
    Duncan’s eyes widened, then narrowed thoughtfully. “A useful gift.”
    “It is a sword with two edges,” Amber said. “Touching people is…uncomfortable.”
    “Why?”
    “Why does the moon shine less brightly than the sun?” she asked bitterly. “Why is the oak mightier than the birch? Why do geese cry out the coming of winter?”
    “Why are you distressed?” Duncan countered, his voice gentle.
    Amber looked away from him to the hounds gathered with eyes of fire around Erik’s feet.
    “Amber?” Duncan asked softly.
    “I—I’m afraid you will be put off by my—by what I am.”
    He caressed Amber’s cheek with the backs of his fingers, turning her face toward him again.
    “I