A Knight's Vow Part 14

He only hoped the fridge was the least of the marvels he would be called upon to endure.

Once upon a time there was a knight who made a vow, a solemn vow given with all his heart and soul to protect women of all stations, champion children, defend, and rescue any and all maidens in distress, but preferably one in the greatest of distress.

And when he found such a maiden, he vowed to rescue her from dragons, sweep her up into his arms and carry her off to his castle near the sea where he would wed her and make yet another vow to...

ten.

Julianna tapped her pencil against her chin. "'... make yet another vow to... love, honor and cherish ...'" She scratched that out and scowled. Much too modern. She'd have to pick her husband's brain for what had actually been said during their wedding ceremony. All she could remember of it was having him poke her when it was time for her to agree to be his.

She wondered what William would say when she told him he was going to be starring in the children's book she'd decided to write.

Scotland was, apparently, very conducive to thoughts of creating books.

She looked around her and had to shake her head over her surroundings. Who would have thought that such an innocent wish to come to Scotland would have resulted in this?

She herself was snuggled up in a comfortable chair in what Zachary called Jamie's thinking room with her sketchbook in her lap. Her husband sat next to her in the largest chair in the room, looking incredibly knightlike in borrowed jeans with his sword across his lap. She smiled and contemplated the house rules he'd broken already-and only seventy-two hours into his visit.

His sword had indeed gone down the toilet to test its mettle-the toilet's not his sword's-and many other places it definitely shouldn't have gone. Only Zachary's quickness had saved William from electrocuting himself.

A very angry, sleepy man in Venezuela had been the recipient of William's first random, long distance phone call.

The only up side to the refrigerator doors having been left open was that William had pretty much cleaned out the contents first. Luckily there hadn't been much to throw away.

And now the battle for the remote.

Zachary had, obviously, lost.

Apparently he wasn't up to Artane standards of swordplay.

She looked at Elizabeth's younger brother and wondered at his calm in the face of the storm he'd faced over the past three days. Maybe William wasn't the first to have found refuge in James MacLeod's modern castle. Zachary seemed to find nothing odd about the strangled noises of horror, delight, and amazement that her husband was currently making as he watched TV. When William gurgled out a particularly hair-raising oath at the scantily clad women on an underwear commercial, Zachary only yawned, stretched and got to his feet.

"Anyone want dinner?" he asked.

William perked up immediately. "Dinner?"

Zachary nodded. "We have a deep freeze. Lots of frozen pizzas in there." He patted his stomach affectionately. "Combination. Pepperoni. Sausage. Very tasty."

Julianna suspected Zachary was a from-the-box connoisseur, given what he'd cooked up for them so far. But since she hadn't had to do the cooking herself, she had no complaints.

"I'll help," William said, heaving himself to his feet. He sheathed his sword with a flourish, then looked at Julianna. "You rest and work on your drawings. I'll come fetch you when we've laid the table."

Zachary looked at her beseechingly, but she only smiled. William in the kitchen was a rather frightening prospect. She scanned him for potential life-threatening current conductors, but except for his sword, apparently all metal had been left in their bedroom. He was much more likely to investigate small electrical gadgets with a knife than he was that huge blade, so she supposed he was safe enough. She waved at Zachary as he was summarily dragged from the room.

Julianna leaned back against the chair and sighed deeply. She could hardly believe that it was almost two months ago that she'd been miserable in the city, pounding the pavement for a job and ducking fix-up offers from well-meaning relatives and friends. She would definitely have to thank Elizabeth for taking care of the latter. Not that her employment situation was any better, but at least now she had some use for her language skills.

Zachary had told her to make herself at home, that they could stay as long as they liked. He'd found them clothes and kept them fed. He'd given them the guestroom. He'd also been very matter-of-fact about William taking his time to adjust. She had wondered if this wasn't the first time he'd gone through this.

Of course, that didn't solve their long-term problems of what to do and where to go-and how to get there. Her pa.s.sport was at home and William didn't have one. Zachary had a.s.sured her his brother Alex had dubious connections that would see to all that in time. But even if he could and they could get back into the States, what would they do there? She couldn't imagine William rattling around her four-hundred-square-foot apartment while she worked in the restaurant industry because she couldn't find a job that took advantage of her particular skills.

She looked down at her sketchbook. Her doodles would make a very interesting children's book, but she suspected that wouldn't keep them fed.

William was an exceptional knight, but she suspected that that wouldn't keep them fed either.

She looked thoughtfully at the television and blinked at the commercial for bus tours of strings of castles and notable residences. Maybe they could hire themselves out as tour guides. She wondered if Artane could possibly exist in any kind of form resembling what she'd seen not a week ago, and if the current earl had any need for anyone to explain how things had been in the Middle Ages.

Not that either of them could admit firsthand knowledge of that, of course.

But the idea was somehow very tantalizing. Maybe she and William could start their own reenactment society. They could lure unwary travelers into the wild and convince the hapless souls that they had actually traveled back in time.

What an incredible thought.

She wondered, however, about William's potential opposition to the idea. With the way he seemed to be

taking to Zachary Smith's diet, she might never get him away from boxed food again.

Well, she'd have to approach him later. For the moment, she would take his advice and rest. It would give her ample time to contemplate the wonders of modern food, the miracle of hot running water, and the delight of a luscious down comforter to snuggle under at night.

With a man she had found seven hundred years in the past.

And that thought brought her up out of her chair. She followed her nose down to the kitchen. She leaned against the doorframe and smiled at the sight that greeted her eyes. Zachary was reading the pizza box out loud to her husband, pausing every now and again to explain where the ingredients had come from.

Julianna shook her head in wonder at how quickly her husband was picking up Zachary's words-and his American accent. His gift for language was nothing short of astonis.h.i.+ng.

Something inside her eased, something she hadn't even realized was anxious. If William could adapt this

easily, then they would make it. She hadn't really realized until that moment how desperately she'd

wanted that.

William turned and looked at her and the welcoming smile on his face made her realize that perhaps his wish that she would love him might be coming true much sooner than he'd antic.i.p.ated.

"What have you drawn?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Just doodles."

"Might I see?"

She opened her sketchbook and handed it to him.

"A fine dragon, my lady. And a formidable knight. What are these scribbles here?"

"The story."

He smiled at her. "And how does it end?"

She smiled back. "With a vow."

"A very original idea."

She laughed. "A little too close to reality?"

"That depends on how well your drawings resemble my sweet visage."

"I'll do my best."

"I've no doubt you will. Now, will you have some of these foodstuffs? The combination flavor looks to be

a true marvel of modern pizza creation."

How could she resist the man? She laughed as she turned and wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him tightly, then leaned up and whispered three words in his ear.

"Do you?" he said, pulling back in surprise.

"Aye," she said, finding suddenly that the reality of such a simple expression of affection had brought tears

to her eyes.

"In truth?" he asked quietly.

"I vow it."

He swung her up in his arms before she knew what he intended. She managed to keep her sketchbook

from sliding south.

"No pizza?" Zachary asked.

"My lady just told me she loved me," William said, heading toward the doorway of the kitchen. "Food

can wait."

"Wow," she said with a laugh. "You must like me."

"Love, Julianna," he said, not breaking stride. "I love you."

"Do you?" she asked wistfully.

"I vow it."

And with William of Artane, there was no greater guarantee. To think it had taken traveling through time

to find him.

She wondered if that bench in Gramercy Park could be bronzed without inviting countless questions as to why.

Then she found that her husband required all her attention, so she gave up thinking about things that didn't

matter and concentrated on the one person who did.