4 Chapter 4

"I must apologize for my daughter. Pray tell me what I can do to correct this grievance?"

"I am going to take your daughter. She will work for me and learn humility."

"Please, I can not leave my father. He is sick!" Rose pleaded.

"Rose! You do not speak unless spoken to. Leave the room. Now!"

Rose looked at her father but he had such a cold look on his face. She left the room and went to the small room that was hers. The house was too small for her not to be able to still hear everything that was being said. What was she going to do? She couldn't leave her father to die. And there was no one else to take care of him.

"Sir Knight, I humbly apologize for my daughter. But I beg of you not to take her. She is the only child I have. I have no other family to help me with the farm. Is there no other way to appease this wrong?"

"No. I will not have her whipped. Seems a pity to mar such beautiful flesh. She will be my personal servant and whatever else I see fit. This is not a request. I shall give you one week to say your goodbyes and to find someone to help you. I shall come back and collect Rose. Know this. If she is not here upon my return, you will be punished."

"I have no one to help and I can not afford to pay for help. I will have her here in one week's time. This farm was to be her dowery. My Rose has never been with a man as she has too sharp a tongue. There is a young man interested but Rose begged me not to marry her off. I love my daughter and have given to much leniency to her since her mother passed. I suppose this is my fault for not showing her the true ways of the world sooner. I do not wish to think of her as a man's concubine. I would rather die and so I shall soon enough. With no one to help the farm will go to shambles. Will you take the farm? My illness will take over soon enough once Rose is gone. I would hate to see it go to waste."

Nathaniel thought about it. Nothing wrong with owning more land. But it sounded as though Rose's father was offering him the dowery for his daughter to be married. Knights married other nobility, not peasants. He had to admit that he wanted to break the girl for his own pleasure but he did not wish to marry her.

"No. I do not want the land, just the girl. I will make you a trade. I will send you a farmhand in her place. Once she has learned her place, I shall bring her back."

"I am afraid I will never see her again. She is very strong-willed, like her mother."

Nathaniel rose and said, "One week from today, I will return."

Her father nodded and looked towards the little hall Rose had gone down. Nathaniel followed his gaze and saw Rose standing there. She looked most unhappy. She looked at him and held her head high. She would not be broken without a fight. Nathaniel grinned. He would break her down eventually but he also did not want to. He wanted to see the fighting spirit as he bedded her. The women he had in his bed would do anything to please him. Most just laid there until he was finished. He had decided. She would be his in every way.

He grinned at her and her face became angry. Rose felt as though she was dying inside but she would not allow herself to cry. She had changed into her riding gear. She always rode whenever any emotion overtook her. She watched as he looked her over and saw her wearing a man's shirt and pants. The look on his face was one of surprise. However, she did not care at this point what he thought of her. Nathaniel left and Rose got ready to go ride.

Rose went out and saddled up her favorite horse, Winter. He was black as night and beautiful. Once he was saddled she got a top of the horse. Thomas, the boy who wanted to marry her, came along. She told him she did not have time for him and left. She did not see the man that was watching her as she rode away. Thomas went inside the house to talk to her father about the events that had gone on. He had heard about the knight bringing Rose into the village on his horse.

Rose ran Winter at a fast pace, trying to rid her mind of the thoughts there. Why did the knight want her? She knew lust when she saw it. What would he do to break her? How much could she fight before he had his way with her? Would he actually bring her back home if she broke? Could she play the part of a broken woman to have him return her? Her thoughts turned traitor as she thought of his body, his beautiful eyes, and his strength. Did she want to fight him? She did not want to be his concubine, but her body betrayed her as it tightened in response to the lust she felt.

Her father had taken her to see Sir Nathaniel be knighted. She knew who he was. His reputation in battle was frightening. His reputation with women was worse. Rose knew why that was so. The man was beautiful and even at 16, he had been. Even her 13-year-old mind comprehended that. She had told her father that day she wanted to marry the knight. He had been gentle but firm that a peasant such as she would never marry nobility. Now, here she was, about to be taken from everything she had ever known by that same knight.

Rose slowed the horse and trotted to the lonely grave on the property. She dismounted as she had before but this time, she heard something in the woods. She looked at the trees but saw nothing. She walked over to the grave and cleared the leaves and weeds. She sat down on the grave and started talking to her mother as she did every so often when she needed an ear to listen.

"Mother, I miss you every day. I know it has been too long since I have been to visit. Your daughter is a fool but you knew that. My words have again brought down trouble on to my head. I am being taken away. Surprisingly, by the knight I talked to you about many moons ago. He is handsome and he knows it. I know his station is greater than mine, but I have never been able to settle into my place here. Am I like you mother? You were always so brash and father loved you for it. You married for love, not station. You ran away from the life you had always known to be with him. Your family were not peasants. I remember the stories, Mother. Am I destined to live a life without love? Am I paying the price for your sins? Has God decided to punish me for you leaving the Duke's side? I am so lost, Mother. What am I to do?"

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Nathaniel hid in the woods. He had tied his horse to a tree and walked the rest of the way to watch the girl. Women did not do the things she did. He had never seen a woman dress as a man to ride a horse. Women always rode side-saddle and none knew how to saddle the horse. She had so much spirit. He watched and she sat on the ground and began to talk aloud. Her mother. The grave belonged to her mother. He had often gone to visit his own mother's grave after she had fallen ill two years ago and passed. He understood the longing for your mother's love and embrace. His father was a harsh man and his mother had always been a gentle woman. Once she had passed, Nathaniel's father had become a drunk. Nathaniel had always thought his father had fallen in love with his mother, even though it was an arranged marriage.

He listened as she talked and what she was saying made no sense. How could her mother leave a Duke's side? She was a peasant and peasants did not marry dukes. Nathaniel was next in line to be a duke. He was also not allowed to marry a peasant. Something about this girl felt different to him. He wanted her as any man would want a beautiful woman but something about her, made him want more from her. Could he really break her? Did he want to? He needed to find out more about her. He watched as she began to cry and laid on her mother's grave. So she was not all spitfire. There were other emotions as well. He wanted to see them all. He would get his chance. He walked back to his horse and mounted. He rode back to the village to make some inquiries.