Archangel (10 page)

At his son’s words, Julian simply felt important as his son seemed eager to glean his knowledge.  Now that the boy was getting older and more intelligent, Julian began to think that perhaps he was worthy of his attention.

“I will be gone at least a month, perhaps more,” he told him. “It is a long journey to London.”

“May I see you off, Papa?” Romney asked eagerly.

Julian slapped the boy on the shoulder as he quit the chamber. “Of course.”

“Papa, why are you going to see the Queen?”

Julian winked at him. “Because she is my very special friend, boy. We are linked, body and soul, and if she were to die, I would die as well. I will explain more to you when you grow older.”

Julian went first through the door and Romney followed. The boy shut the door softly, leaving the room oddly still in his wake.  Gart stood against the wall, listening to the fading sounds of Romney and his father descending the stairs before moving away from the wall and silently throwing the bolt to lock it.  He listened until the distant voices fell silent before turning to Emberley.

She was looking at him from the bed, her dark blue eyes wide with apprehension.  When she realized that Julian had come and gone from the room without discovering Gart, it was more than she could bear. She had been living the last few minutes in total terror, especially when Julian dropped his glove. She was sure her life was over at that moment. As Gart watched, her features crumpled and her head fell to the mattress.  Frightened and relieved sobs filled the air.

Gart went over to the bed, his gaze moving over the children who were looking at their mother with confusion and fear.  He put an enormous hand on Emberley’s shoulder.

“Be at ease, kitten,” he murmured. “He is gone, hopefully for a very long time. All is well.”

She began wiping at her cheeks furiously, smearing green slime from the crushed herbs across her face. It took him a moment to realize the sobs had turned to weepy giggles.

“You called me kitten,” she sniffled.  “I have missed it.”

He gave her a half-smile, looking around for the wet linen he had used to clean off her ear and using it to wipe the green smears on her cheek. 

“I shall call you it often if it pleases you,” he replied softly.

Emberley heard something in his tone, something that suggested other than brotherly concern, and it jolted her.   She was wildly resistant and wildly thrilled at the same time.  Muddle, confused, she thought perhaps she was reading too much into it.  The man had literally been her shadow since their reunion yesterday and he had brought her a great deal of comfort, reminding her of times when she didn’t live in daily fear of a brutal husband.   

She didn’t want to become dependent on Gart somehow, clinging to the vaporous memories of a dead brother, one who had always protected her.   But even as she entertained those thoughts, she knew it wasn’t true. Gart was different.  He was a proud and powerful man.  

Sickened by her thoughts, she simply smiled weakly in response to his statement. 

“Would you please do something for me, Gart?” she asked softly.

He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Do not ask me to leave again because I will not.”

Her weak smile turned genuine. “Nay,” she chuckled softly. “I was not going to ask you to leave. I was going to ask you to take the children to Gerta.  I wish to sleep and I cannot do that if they are here.”

Gart looked around. “Is this not their room?” he asked. “Where is your chamber? I will take you there. You will be more comfortable.”

“Perhaps later,” she said softly. “Right now, I do not want to move.”

He understood. There had been times in his life when he had been so badly thrashed that he didn’t want to move, either. Nodding his head, he moved away from the bed and went to the lancet window, peering down at the bailey below.

The fog from the early morning had lifted and the day was dawning sunny. Everything smelled crisp and clean. He could see part of the bailey from where he stood, enough to see a portion of the gatehouse and the fact that Julian’s escort to London was now congregated near the big oak and iron gates.

Men and servants were milling about, mounting horses and securing provisions, and he watched for quite some time until Julian came into view.  He caught a glimpse of the man as he slipped out the front gates on his big white horse, followed by several men at arms bearing the colors of Buckland.  All were well armed and seasons.  Following the horses were two wagons, loaded down with provisions and trunks.

Gart could see a portion of the road outside of the walls and he watched as Baron Buckland’s party faded onto the horizon.   Only then did he feel genuinely relieved that the man had departed, jolted from his position near the window when someone pounded on the chamber door.  He moved to the panel, lifting the iron latch as Romney barged in.  The young lad looked right at Gart.

“He is gone now,” he assured him. “He will not come back for a long time. Mother will be well now.”

Gart looked over at the bed where Emberley had fallen asleep beside her thumb-sucking daughter.  Orin and Brendt were still on the bed, whispering between them, pointing at Emberley’s head.  Every once in a while they would grab at Lacy’s feet and she would kick at them and whine. Now that Julian was gone, their source of terror, the relief was palpable.  The children were acting like children, care-free, and Emberley was fast asleep.  The tension, the terror, was over for now.

“Aye, she will,” he told the boy. “She will be fine.”

He moved over to the bed. Watching Emberley sleep stirred something deep inside him, an indefinable warmth that he tried to chase away but couldn’t.  He realized that whatever he was starting to feel wasn’t healthy or normal, at least not for him, but the feelings were so strong that he couldn’t seem to fight them off.  They were wrong and he knew it, but he didn’t particularly care.

He put his hand on Romney’s shoulder. “Come along,” he said quietly. “I told your mother I would take you and your siblings to Gerta. Where is she?”

Romney shrugged. “In the hall, I think. She was there the last time I saw her.”

“Then let us go so that your mother may sleep uninterrupted.”

He motioned Orin and Brendt off the bed, but Brendt got tangled in the coverlet so he lifted the boy off and unwound his feet.  Lacy, seeing that her brothers were leaving, suddenly stood up on the mattress and whined, lifting her arms to be picked up.  Gart looked at the little girl, sweet like a little cherub, and waited for Romney to take her, but the oldest brother was already over by the door with his two younger brothers.  Gart hesitantly reached out and picked the baby up, whereupon she promptly wrapped her fat little arms around his neck and put a slobbery mouth on his cheek.

Gart didn’t know what else to do but carry her over to the door.  Little Lacy delivered a couple of very wet kisses to his rough cheek before hugging him tightly, her little face against his.  Gart’s momentary surprise, and perhaps disgust at the tongue-to-his-cheek kiss, was abated as Lacy hugged him. There was something inherently sweet and settling about the toddler in his arms, a gentle slice of life he had never before experienced. His intention to put her down once they reached the door changed; he hugged her back, smiling weakly when Romney and the other boys pointed at him and laughed.

“Mother told you not to get too close,” Romney taunted. “She will kiss you until your whole face is wet.”

Gart lifted an eyebrow as Lacy squeezed him enthusiastically. “Does she do this with everyone? Even strangers?”

Romney shrugged as they headed out the door. “Almost everyone,” he said. “But she usually wants to be put down by now. She likes you.”

As if to punctuate the statement, Lacy began to deliver open-mouth kisses against his jaw.  She was babbling baby-talk the entire time, happy and chatty. Gart suffered through the baby’s wet kisses in spite of everything, thinking it was rather sweet.  Mildly repulsive, but sweet.

Romney had been correct; by the time they found Gerta in the great hall, Gart’s entire face was wet with baby kisses.

Chapter Five

It had been two days since Julian’s departure to London. David de Lohr had also departed during that time, heading back to Denstroude Castle to make arrangements for providing manpower to Baron Buckland for the conflict in France.

As soon as both barons departed, things at Dunster seemed to settle down and the entire castle moved back into their routine. Since the baron was gone from the castle more than he was in residence, the castle seemed to function much better without his presence.  When he was away, Dunster was a lovely place of happiness and freedom, but when he was home, it turned into a place of uncertainty and fear.

Gart learned this in the three days he had spent at the castle.  Emberley had slept in Romney’s bed for two straight days, having only awoken twice to eat something and then fall back asleep again.  Gart had spent most of his time sitting next to her, watching her sleep, reliving memories of the lovely young girl who grew up into a strikingly gorgeous woman.

He also relived memories of Erik, wondering what the man would be doing at this time had he lived.  His father was a wealthy baron and Erik would have undoubtedly inherited the barony, but Gart wondered if Erik would have married and had a family.  He wondered what course the man’s life might have taken had it not been so tragically cut short.

On the fourth day of his arrival at Dunster, Gart was up before dawn, having slept in de Lohr’s vacated chamber in the keep. He heard the children rise on the floor above him and their little feet as they scattered across the floor. Rising at the sounds of activity, he went to the basin of cold, stale water from the night before and went through his morning routine of shaving his face and head. 

Although he had a full head of hair when he allowed it to grow, he found it more convenient and cleaner to simply shave himself bald.  With his high cheekbones and intense green eyes, men seemed to be more frightened of him that way. He liked it.

This morning, he wasn’t thinking about frightening men. He was thinking about Emberley and he looked at himself in the polished bronze mirror, trying to figure out exactly what he was feeling towards her.  Whatever it was, he knew it was foolish, but it was growing stronger by the day, both frightening him and thrilling him. If he was a smart man, he would leave Dunster and return home as quickly as possible. But he just couldn’t seem to force himself to do it. 

He could hear the children making noise upstairs as he wiped the remaining water and soap off his face.  Someone opened the chamber door loudly and it banged against the wall, rattling the entire keep.  He set the linen towel down as he heard voices coming down the stairs to his level.  Then there was great banging on the door.

Fighting off a grin, he made his way to the heavy oak panel, held together with pegs and iron.  He was dressed in leather breeches, naked from the waist up, as he opened the door for the gaggle of children clamoring to get in.  Just as he opened the panel, Brendt charged in with a squeal, running the length of the room with Orin and Romney on his heels. The boys chased each other madly around the room while Gart stood at the door, perplexed.

“What goes on?” he demanded.

Only Romney answered. “He has my shoes!”

Gart couldn’t help the grin now, watching Brendt jump on his bed only to be captured by Orin. As Orin held tight, Romney began pulling off the small leather shoes on Brendt’s feet which were, at closer inspection, too large for the boy.  Brendt’s giggles turned to sobs as Romney managed to get both shoes off of him. Brendt sat up on the bed and wept unhappily.