Table Of Content
“A lady is not safe out here by herself.”
She stopped again. This time he didn’t stop in
time and fell into her.
Hands at her sides, her chest thrust up next to
his, she gritted the words between her teeth. “A lady
isn’t safe around you, either.”
“Now, Tara.” He tried pleading with her.
“Oh, don’t you even, ‘now, Tara’ me.” She
stepped to the side and started off in a different
direction. Walking in circles.
He let her walk for several minutes before
attempting to talk to her again. “I would be happy to
escort you on a walk, but we need to get you more
properly dressed.” He knew the effect watching her
walk was having on him. He could only imagine
what his men must have thought when she had
stormed the courtyard in her shorts.
“You’re a bastard, you know that,
MacCoinnich?”
He wanted to counter what she said but
cautioned himself against it. “Still, we need you in
more fitting clothes. If someone were to come along,
questions would be raised which would be most
difficult to answer.”
“You should have thought of that before you
brought me here.” She waved a hand in his general
direction. “Right now I don’t give a crap what
questions you might have to answer.”
“I told you how necessary it is for secrecy.” He
turned to the Keep and noticed some of the men
watching to see what would happen. He needed to
put a stop to this and soon.
“Bite me.”
A completely inappropriate image of him doing
exactly that popped in his head. A slow lazy smile
inched over his lips.
Unfortunately for him, Tara read his thoughts.
BINDING
VOWS
by
Catherine Bybee
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any
resemblance to actual persons living or dead,
business establishments, events, or locales, is
entirely coincidental.
Binding Vows
COPYRIGHT © 2009 by Catherine Bybee
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used
or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission of the author or The Wild Rose
Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Cover Art by Rae Monet
The Wild Rose Press
PO Box 708
Adams Basin, NY 14410-0706
Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com
Publishing History
First Faery Rose Edition, 2009
Print ISBN 1-60154-607-6
Published in the United States of America
Dedication
For David, my Knight in Shining Armor.
For Sharon, who read this book first and encouraged
me to pursue my dreams.
For Aithne, whose expert advice and enthusiasm
helped me on the road to publication.
Chapter 1
They weren’t even at the county line, and Tara
McAllister already regretted getting in the car. She
entertained a beautiful, yet brief fantasy of turning
the late model Honda Accord around and heading
back home.
The pounding behind her eyes began about ten
miles ago when Cassy, her best friend, started
reading the information she had downloaded from
the Internet.
Traveling down a dirty highway, in the heat of
summer with a broken air conditioner, Tara
repeated the words Cassy lived and breathed by,
“You’re only young once, ”YOYO, as Cassy would say
anytime Tara started balking, as if the words were
the secret code to life itself. Tara scolded herself for
falling headlong into the world of her oldest and best
friend, a world full of piss-poor planning and lousy
accommodations.
“Remember, this was your idea,” Cassy said,
glancing up from the papers she was reading.
“No. I suggested going to that medieval
restaurant for dinner and a show. You came up with
attending a Renaissance fair. You’d think after last
time, I would have learned,” Tara muttered.
“Who could have known Wyoming would be so
cold in February?”
“It was winter! And cold doesn’t describe what
twenty below zero feels like. I never even got on the
back of a horse. Who goes to a dude ranch in the
winter?”
1
Catherine Bybee
They did, and Tara wouldn’t forget how sick
she’d been. She never left her bed the entire time
they were there.
“This will be better, just wait and see.”
“Right.” Tara couldn’t believe she’d gotten
herself roped into another one of Cassy’s adventures.
This time, she’d agreed to a Renaissance fair and an
extended weekend in some Podunk town with what
she imagined was a compound filled with circus
freaks.
They weren’t even going to have a bed for God’s
sake. They were going to sleep in tents, in the
middle of some grimy field, with strangers and only
thin strips of fabric separating them. Tara imagined
the sounds and smells she’d be forced to endure over
the next few days.
As if the rugged sleeping accommodations
weren’t enough, from the minute they arrived until
they left, dresses were the required attire for all
women. Dresses with entirely too many
undergarments. Aside from the dress code, they
could eat only food available during the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries.
“Ah ha!” Cassy screamed, waving the papers in
front of Tara’s eyes, all but causing her to swerve
into traffic.
“Would you mind? I’m trying to drive here.”
“Listen to this!” Cassy ignored her and read the
pamphlet aloud. “When ye arrive, all ladies are
asked to wear the costume they think is most
befitting their station in life. If ye are a vendor or
entertainer, it is understood your garments and
color choices lean toward the drab, while honored
guests and people of wealth are encouraged to bring
their most colorful fetching gowns. Ladies’ hairstyles
should represent their station in relevance to the
time.”
“Remember, only young unmarried maids are
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