The Lost Son Returns as the Duke novel · Chapter 18 of 24
Chapter 18: The Kennel Cellar
"Someone took him," I said. "On foot, with the whole lane watching the house?"
"The Gaunt hall is the biggest house in the village," Merewyn said, behind me. "It has a cellar."
"The cottage is where he sleeps."
"The cellar is where I'd keep a man I couldn't let anyone hear."
I looked at the captain.
He nodded once.
We left Osgar in the lane under four lances.
We went up the hill at a run, with Hild at my heels and a dozen riders behind.
The Gaunt hall stood at the top of the village, long and low, with the kennels in a yard at the back.
Forty hounds began to bay the moment we came through the gate.
They threw themselves at the rails, and a boy in the yard dropped his bucket and ran.
"Quiet," said a voice I had last heard in the mill yard.
It was the thin man in the good coat, the buyer of the croft.
He stood at the kennel door with his hands up, shaking.
"I only did what he told me," he said. "I never saw a cellar."
"Where?" I said.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Lost Son Returns as the Duke are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 17 · All chapters · Chapter 19 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend