Read Online The Apprehension: Unexpected Circumstances Book 6 by Shay Savage - Free Book Online

take on all of Hadebrand’s army myself if they stood between Alexandra and me.”
    “I would do the same for Suzette,” Rylan replied.
    “And I for Ida.”
    All three of them chuckled again, and I decided to make my wakefulness known.  Branford ushered the men out of the morning room so he could help me dress.
    “You could have gone to the great hall to meet,” I said as Branford tied the last of my laces.
    “I did not want to wake you.”
    “I could have stayed here.
    “Not alone.”  I could feel him shake his head behind me.  “Not without me at your side.”
    His lips pressed against the side of my neck.
    “There are all these preparations we must make for the child,” he said, reminding me.  He gestured to the area not far from our bed where we had planned to make room for the baby.  “I would not leave you to do those alone.”
    “Samantha and Sunniva are both planning to come here to assist,” I said.
    “Nevertheless”—he breathed into my ear—“I will not leave your presence.  Before we begin such things, do you…do you wish to go to the castle wall?”
    His hesitancy clued me in to the meaning of his words.  The castle wall was, without a doubt, where the head of Lady Kimberly was now on display, and he wished to go validate the deed had been done.  Not that he would question that his orders had been carried out, but he would still wish to see the outcome for himself.
    “You do not have to look,” Branford said quietly as he turned me around to face him.  “Just keep your eyes to the ground.”
    “I wish to see her,” I replied.
    Branford inhaled deeply before exhaling in a huff through his nose.
    “As you wish,” he said.
    Branford led me slowly into the courtyard of the castle and past the nearly empty marketplace.  As we left through the gates, I could see why the shops were so empty, for everyone seemed to be in the field just outside the castle walls.
    All eyes peered upwards.
    Jutting out from the castle wall, stuck onto the end of a long pike, was the head of Lady Kimberly of Sterling, her long, golden-blonde hair cascading out and around her ashen cheeks.
    I felt myself stumble slightly, and Branford’s arms pulled me up against his chest.  I pushed his hands from me and stared up into her lifeless eyes.
    “Good,” I heard myself say.  “I hate her.  How could she do that to—”
    Branford pulled me back against his body and gently silenced me.
    “She cannot hurt you again,” he whispered into my ear.  “Never, ever again, my wife.”
    *****
    As Branford’s child grew in my womb, he kept his promise.
    He was never far enough away to not have me within his sight and was usually within just a few feet of me.  He still trained his men in the field and had Michael and the other pages build a small structure next to the stables where I could sit within his view but without a draft.  There was even a place where a fire could be kept banked.  I was never turned away from meetings with the court, and even when Branford spoke with Father Tucker, he bade me stay inside the chapel where he could still see me while he and the Father spoke quietly near the altar.
    It should have driven me insane to be so close to Branford at all times, but it did not.
    This surprised me.
    Sunniva chastised him for hovering around me constantly, and though Branford still respected his adoptive mother, he took his role as king quite seriously and eventually told her not to mention it again, for he was not going to change his position.  Later, when Branford was speaking to Parnell and Ida, I whispered into Sunniva’s ear that she did not have to worry, for I did not mind Branford’s closeness.
    He was close to me in the nights as well.
    This also surprised me.
    I would have thought his desire for my body would have decreased since he had already started a child inside me.  At the very least, as my body changed, I would have expected him not to find me as pleasing to look upon, but he