Hidden Knights (Knights of the Realm #3) - Jennifer Anne Davis Page 0,34

How could he kill our father? That’s when I remember Hudson wasn’t his father, Henrick was. And that’s how he could have done it.”

Reid wasn’t convinced Eldon had killed Hudson. She suspected her mother had something to do with it. However, that didn’t change anything. Eldon intended to murder the dukes and duchesses in order to have total and complete control of Marsden. He’d also invited a foreign army into the kingdom. And, most importantly, Eldon wasn’t the rightful heir—Henrick was. Of course, Henrick was dead. Sort of. Which made Dexter the rightful heir.

“I intend to leave first thing tomorrow morning with my mother and Idina,” Gordon said. “We’ll be accompanied by half of your father’s men. I hope other counties’ soldiers start arriving at the City of Buckley about the same time as we do.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What else is bothering you?”

“I hope Dana is okay.”

Dana. His pregnant wife. Reid didn’t know what to say because she had no idea what Eldon planned to do with the woman.

“You and Dexter seem to get along.” He picked his quill up.

Reid nodded.

“Are you certain you want to marry him? You don’t have to. You can still offer Ellington’s support without legally binding yourself to the man.”

“I know.” Which was why Dexter had asked her to marry him now. It would show they were choosing this instead of being forced into it. “I want to marry him. He treats me as an equal.” And he was passionate about his people. He embodied everything she found important.

“I need to get back to work,” Gordon said. “I’ll see you later today.”

She exited the tent, making her way over to the sparring area. When she reached it, Dexter and Ackley weren’t sparring as Gordon had suspected. Instead, Ackley was working with Idina on some basic self-defense moves. A few soldiers watched, encouraging her. Reid hadn’t been sure how Ellington men would feel about women being in the army. Maybe, just maybe, they saw the value of women knowing how to fight.

Standing next to Dexter, she watched Idina throw a punch. “Does she know it would be easier in pants?”

“I told her that,” he responded. “She said she intends to wear dresses, so she needs to know how to move and fight in one.” He shrugged.

“We’re getting married.” Hopefully, nothing would interrupt the ceremony this time.

“We are.”

“There’s still so much I don’t know about you.”

“What would you like to know?” he asked.

“Well, for starters, I want to know what it’s like to spar with you.”

“You would?” He chuckled, the sound deep and throaty. “Let’s rectify that right now. Come on.”

“I don’t have my swords.” She’d left them inside her bedchamber.

“If you’re disarmed, you need to be able to defend yourself.”

“True.”

“I’ve been training for years. I think it’s safe to say I could easily overpower you.”

Where was he going with this?

“I’d like to work with you.”

“Okay.”

They stood opposite one another. “I’m concerned about someone sneaking up on you,” he said. “If someone comes up behind you, what do you do?”

Easy. “Flip them over my shoulder.”

“What if you don’t know they intend to harm you?”

Whenever she’d fought, it had always been with the assumption the person meant her harm. “I’m not sure.”

Placing his large hands on her shoulders, he turned her until she faced away from him. “Let’s say I come up behind you. I hit your head, knocking you to the ground. What do you do?”

She’d never practiced a situation like this one before. “I’d roll over to face my attacker.”

“Then he knows you’re still conscious.”

“So I should pretend I’m knocked out?”

“Yes. And hope he moves on.” He instructed her to stretch out on the ground as if she’d just been hit. “Your attacker will probably kneel to check to see if you’re conscious.” He knelt next to her, feeling her neck. “When he does this, you make your move.”

She twisted, grabbed his wrist, and pulled, applying pressure as if attempting to break his arm.

“Excellent.” He helped her to her feet. “Another concern is someone snatching you to use against me or someone else who cares for you.” He turned her so her back was to his front, then he wrapped his arm around her body, pinning her arms down. “Pretend I have a knife pointed at your throat. What do you do?”

A good question. It was hard to think logically so close to Dexter. With his arm around her body, her back pressed against him, all she could see and smell was