Chapter 2

Niklaus separated himself for his hunting party. He walked quietly through the trees. His feet crunched the twigs on the forest floor. He bend down suddenly and ran his hand along some deep gashes in the truck of a tree. A buck had been by and dug his antlers into the tree trunk. He stood up straight and walked on. In the distance he saw him. A large buck stood looking at him. He moved cautiously and quietly as to not disturb the buck and spook him. The buck turned his head and started to walk off in the distance the he was gone from his sight.

Niklaus stalked along the edge of the woods listening. His heart thundered in his chest and his breath was quick and hard in his lungs. He stopped and listened for his prey. A short distance away a large buck moved into his view again. Niklaus moved quietly reaching back and grabbing an arrow from its quiver and moved to the bow in his left hand. He pulled back the string and held the bow tight. He readied himself to release the arrow. Niklaus steadied his breath and then let go of the bow string. The arrow went whizzing through the air towards the buck. Something in the distance spooked the beast and it went off running. Niklaus had missed his target. He cursed out loud and started to walk towards the area he had shot the arrow. He saw the yellow feather end sticking out of the ground and bent to pick it up. Nearby he heard the rush of the river. Just a few hundred feet he knew of a pond where he had run off to many times when he was younger and even now to sit and relax and think. Away from the others. Away from his parents.

He walked slowly taking in the early morning air. He stretched his neck and let the sun hit his face. The sound of the rushing water got louder and closer. And his mind wandered like it always did. He enjoyed being out in nature on his own. Clearing his mind, getting perspective. But today his mind was not clear. It had not been free of her since he had seen her a few days earlier. Caroline. He thought of Caroline. Her beautiful porcelain skin. Those shockingly beautiful blue eye. The way she smiled and the shape of her lips. He tried to clear his mind of her again but it was no use. She was stuck there. Niklaus walked through the pocket of trees that surrounded the pond and stopped suddenly. Were his eye deceiving him? Up ahead of him she sat on the stone around the water. Her legs were dangling over the edge, her feet submerged in the water. She leaned back on her arms and stretched her neck towards the sun. She had taken her over coat off and sat in her linen shift . Her shoulders were bare and glistening. Her hair was long and loose over her shoulders. Niklaus stood and watched her. The sun shone through her thin linen shift and he saw the outline of her body. He was struck again by who incredibly beautiful she was. He thought about approaching her but he did not want to disturb her. He moved a step closer and stepped on a twig. The sound was deafening in the quiet forest. Caroline sat up quickly and looked directly at Niklaus. There eyes met and held.

"Lord Niklaus." HIs hunting party had found him. "Niklaus." the men yelled again. He turned his head and saw one of his men approaching.

"My Lord. We thought you had been hurt." he said.

Niklaus turned to look back towards Caroline. She was gone. He stepped forward and looked again.

"I ummm… I follow the buck I was after this way. He had gotten spooked and ran off."

He looked once more for Caroline before he turned and joined his men and left the forest.


"So where were you so early this morning?" asked Paulina as she and Caroline walked through town again.

"I went for a walk in the forest." Caroline answered. Then her mind wandered off to Niklaus.

"A walk." she said and pulled a face.

"Yes I found a beautiful pond this morning." she said. Her eyes were far away and dreamy. She was thinking of Niklaus again. Caroline felt herself getting pulled to the side. She snapped back to reality and saw Paulina's face in hers.

"Do I look ok?" she asked. Caroline blinked wildly. She was not sure what was going on.

"Cousin please." Paulina shook her shoulders. "How do I look?"

"You look fine my cousin. Why?" asked Caroline.

"Lord Niklaus." Paulina said and smiled. "He comes this way." Caroline felt butterflies in her stomach at the mention of his name. Paulina leaned back a peeked around the corner.

"I have not seen him in a few days and I want to look good for him." she said adjusting her self and smoothing her dress.

She looked back up at Caroline's face. Paulina reeled back. "What is that face for?" she asked.

"Oh nothing." Caroline said. "I just did not know that you were serious with him."

Paulina looked at Caroline and smirked. "We are as serious as either one of us could be." She giggled and turned. She enjoy making Caroline jealous. Paulina walked back into the crowd and pulled Caroline with her.

"Lord Niklaus and I have an understanding. We fit well together. We both value the same things. Wealth, power, beauty." she said.

"You know cousin there is more to life than wealth and power." Caroline said. She had heard many stories about Lord Niklaus since she has been here but something about him told her there was more to him than that. More than the spoiled playboy she was told he was. He had more to him and she knew it.

"Like what cousin? Without wealth you can't have the beautiful things that you want. And I love beautiful things." She smiled.

Niklaus made his way closer to them but had yet to notice them. Paulina stopped at a group of ladies she knew and talked. Caroline stood back and listened to them gossip. Niklaus noticed Paulina and walked towards her.

"Good afternoon ladies." he said smoothly and made a quick bow to them. Paulina moved her position closer to him.

"My Lord." she said coyly. Niklaus looked at the and smiled then he noticed Caroline standing close by. She nodded at him and turned and walked away. He watched her as she left tuning out the ladies talking to him. He never lost sight of her in the crowd.

Caroline walked and took in more of the square. She knew her cousin would never notice that she was gone and she didn't care. She turned the corner and her eyes fell on Niklaus. He was leaning against a building a few steps ahead. When she came into sight he stood up straight and walked towards her.

"Caroline." he said

"My Lord." she said back and walked past him. Niklaus hurried to keep up with her.

"So did you have a nice morning?" he asked smirking.

"Yes." she said.

"I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me this morning when I saw you at the pond." He reached his hand forward and grabbed her arm. She slowed her pace then stopped walking.

"I was thinking about you and then you were there." Caroline turned and faced him. "I have not been able to get you out of my mind since we met." He said staring into her eyes.

"And I suppose that just now you were thinking about my cousin and she was there." There was a nasty tone in her voice. Niklaus stepped back from her and scrunched his face.

"No not at all." he said.

"So then you can tell me that you do not have a relationship with my cousin My Lord." Niklaus stood motionless. He wasn't even breathing. His reputation had finally caught up with him.

"I did." he said. He sounded ashamed. "But that is over." he added quickly.

"According to whom?" Caroline said. She did not falter. She did not flinch. She never broke their eye contact. The instant she saw him she felt something for him. She could not explain it or understand it. She had never felt like this before.

Niklaus had nothing to say. He was speechless for this first time in his life. He stepped towards her. She held her breath trying to hide her feelings for him. He reached up and smoothed her hair out of her face. He looked in her eyes.

"I assure you Lady Caroline anything that existed between Paulina and myself has ended." He trailed his fingers down her cheek to her collar bone. Caroline felt chills run down her spine then a ripple of heat shook her body. She looked up at Niklaus breathless.

Caroline closed her eyes and swallowed hard. She opened her eyes again and looked at him. His face was close to hers. His eyes took in every detail of her face. He smiled.

"I should go." she said and pulled away from him. Caroline gathered her skirt in her hands and moved away from him. Niklaus watched her as she hurried away from him. Before she turned the corner Caroline looked back to Niklaus. He thought he saw her smile as she walked to meet up with Paulina again.