Read Online Scarlet Moon (Once Upon a Time) by Debbie Viguié - Free Book Online

She began to shake.
    “Tell me of this young nobleman you’re interested in,” Giselle asked suddenly.
    “How did you know?” Ruth asked with a laugh.
    Giselle just smiled enigmatically. “I have my ways.”
    Ruth shook her head. “And I shall never cease to be amazed by them. His name is William, and he is—”
    “The earl?” Giselle asked, eyes widening.
    Ruth nodded.
    “Well, that is impressive. Is he handsome?”
    Ruth felt herself blushing. “I believe so. He’s tall with brown hair and green eyes. He has wide shoulders, but he carries himself with a grace I’ve never seen in a man”
    Giselle cocked her head. “I believe I have seen such a man in these woods before.” She shook her head. “But I cannot be certain of it.” There was a moment of silence, and then Giselle asked, “Where did you meet?”
    “At the shop. His horse had thrown a shoe just down the street.”
    Giselle’s face took on a look of horror. “At the shop! Well, at least he’s seen you at work and there shall be no surprises there.”
    “Grandmother,” Ruth admonished. “I would not have a man who could not at least understand me.”
    “And it looks like you might finally have found one, heaven be praised.”
    Ruth began to grow irritated. “Grandmother, I wish you would have more faith in me.”
    “I do, dear; its the men I worry about.”
    Ruth shook her head. “Besides, we barely know each other, and we come from very different backgrounds”
    “It wouldn’t be the first time a noble married a commoner, if that is what you are worried about”
    “Its not just that,” Ruth said, shifting in her chair. “It’s a great many things. Perhaps if we get to knoweach other better I will have the leisure to speculate on such improbabilities.”
    Giselle leaned forward and touched the cross necklace around Ruth’s neck. “It looks like it’s not a matter of
if
, but rather
when
you get to know each other better.” She smiled fondly at Ruth, “You asked me how I knew you had met a nobleman. Only a nobleman could afford to give you such a trinket, and only one with a great interest in you would care to.”
    Ruth dropped her eyes to the necklace. “You are right,” she whispered, admitting it as much to herself as to her grandmother. “I guess I’m just frightened”
    “Of what, dear?”
    “Losing myself. When I look into his eyes I feel as though I am drowning, and I become terrified. What if he does have feelings for me? What if he even wants to marry me? All I’ve ever known is fire and steel, and I don’t know how I’d give that up. I don’t know who I’d be without them,”
    Giselle clasped her tightly about the neck. “Darling child, what you do does not dictate who you are. Clothed in furs and jewels you would be the same person as you are when covered with ash and soot.”
    “Do you really think that’s true?”
    “I know it is. I loved your grandfather, and we were very different people. In loving him, though, and marrying him, I didn’t lose myself. Rather, I gained something I had long been in want of. Love makes you more than what you are, not less. Besides, ifyou’re worried that you’ll miss ‘fire and steel,’ you needn’t. The fire and steel are in you—they always have been. You need look no further than right here,” she said, tapping Ruth’s chest.
    Giselle stood suddenly, and Ruth thought she caught the glisten of tears in her eyes. “Now let’s check those wounds.”
    Ruth winced as Giselle gripped her ankle, but she had to admit that the pain was less than before, and she could move it freely. “You’re a miracle worker, Grandmother.”
    Giselle smiled. “I like to think so.”
    Next she checked Ruth’s arm. “Bleeding’s stopped,” she commented. “A couple of days and you won’t even see the scratch.”
    “The same can’t be said of Simon,” Ruth noted grimly.
    A shadow passed over Giselle’s face. “No, though I can’t say there are many who will miss