Gawain Unbound (Unbound 2)

Gawain Unbound (Unbound 2)
Rebecca York
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Copyright ©2022 Rebecca York

Prince Gawain had not expected to encounter magic in the royal forest.

He had seen no suitable game and had turned toward home when the sound of a voice singing in a clear, true soprano drifted toward him. A woman out here on royal lands? Curious, he dismounted, left his horse to graze on a patch of grass, and walked quietly toward the sound. It summoned him as though she were calling his name, the song intended for him alone.

As Gawain drew closer and glimpsed the singer through the trees, his heart gave an unaccustomed thump. Quietly, he slipped closer for a better view. She was sitting on a stump in a little glen, strumming a lute with graceful fingers. Her dark hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and she looked down so that her long, dark lashes hid her eyes. Her appealing lips moved as she sang, and the low-cut, forest-green gown she wore set off the creamy skin at the tops of her breasts.

Her voice had drawn him here, but he didn’t step into the clearing. The song held him fast. She kept singing -- an old love ballad he had heard many times. Today her voice gave it a magical quality that set off a tingle along his nerve endings.

That heart my heart hath in such grace

That of two hearts one heart make we;

That heart hath brought my heart in case

To love that heart that loveth me.

When she finished the verse, he moved closer, and as he entered the glade, he felt as though he were stepping into a dream. Sensing the intrusion, she looked up, her azure eyes finding him at once. “Ah, you came to me,” she said, a note of satisfaction in her voice.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“I am Catrin, and I have been waiting for you.”

“For what reason?”

“I was hoping you would join me in the song.” When she began the verse again, he did her bidding, and he found that his strong tenor blended perfectly with her soprano.

They finished the stanza and began another, until the whole love story had unfolded. In the sudden silence, she looked up at him. “You have an excellent voice. You have passed your audition.”

“For what?”

“To bring purpose to your life.”

He tipped his head to the side. “What do you know of my life?”

“Everyone in Kingston knows about your brother’s return from enchanted captivity, his marriage to Sabina, and your current wastrel ways.”

A jolt of anger leaped inside him. “You claim to know my soul?”

“No. But I can say that the two of us share a common purpose.”

“And what is that?”

“We both want revenge against the magician, Madrin.”

In all the world he would not have imagined that answer. “I have reason for the anger I harbor against that maggot. He was the one who enchanted my brother. How did you run afoul of him?”

“He killed my father.” She let that sink in for a moment before adding, “I want to give him what he deserves, but I can hardly travel to his fiefdom on my own. I must have a protector at my side, and you are the perfect choice.”

Gawain’s heartbeat quickened. She did truly share his hatred of the man, but hatred was not a plan. “What would be our excuse for making that journey together?” he demanded. “People would notice a man and woman on the roads together.”

“We would be traveling entertainers, making our living by performing at taverns across Longmead -- until we reached his fiefdom.”

He made a scoffing sound. “And you think a prince of Abercarn would perform in taverns?”

“What better disguise could you devise?”

Without answering, Gawain shot her another question. “You know where his fiefdom is?”

“I have collected as much information as I can. When we get closer, we will pinpoint the location.”

“I am a trained fighter and an excellent marksman. With the crossbow I brought to the forest, I can take down a wild boar at fifty paces. What would you contribute to this enterprise?”

“More than you know.”