How to Train Your Knight: A Medieval Romance Novel (12 page)

Chapter 9

Ann was just leaving the stables with Thomas and Jacob when the familiar clip-clop of Marcus’ steed stilled the hooting owl. The silver moon shown just enough light to create a black ghostly image upon a black horse. She shivered and wrapped the saddle blanket closer. It did nothing to dispel the chill.

Thomas and Jacob walked back into the stables and she easily faded into the shadows. The one weak tallow lamp barely lit their way.

Marcus dismounted, gave his horse to the sleepy Charles, and slapped Jacob on the back. “Again, I’m in your debt. Seems you can steal just about anything.”

The dark Arabian boy grinned, and his white teeth shined in the darkness. “She was no problem, oh noble one.”

“Your reward will be in your next pay. Go get some sleep. Thomas, go gather the men and meet in the hall.”

He hadn’t even asked about her and Ann was surprised how that pained her heart. After all, she’d risked everything to try to find him and apologize. She stepped forward and curtsied deeply. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

“I’ve no tolerance for you at the moment. Leave me.” He pushed Ann aside, handed Charles the reins of his horse, and said, “Dry her off good, walk her, and feed her. She’s had a rough night.” He patted the black beauty fondly. “Good girl.”

The horse gets more sympathy than me?
“M’Lord? I—”

“If you’ve any will to survive this night, keep that mouth of yours shut. By God, I’ve survived the hordes of Jerusalem, but you shall be my death. I should’ve listened to my common sense and had you hanged instead of marrying you.”

His words stung like arrows into her heart, but she wouldn’t allow The Beast of a man to see her cry.
Hang her?
Surely they were beyond that. “What’ve I done?”

“You dare ask? Thou art my wife. My wife, Ann. I expect you to behave as such. What were you doing flaunting yourself in front of Abernathy? Did you tell him how I beat you? Was that it?” The horses in the stable stomped and whinnied at his shouting.

Ann stomped her foot like one of the chargers. “Oh, you’re insufferable.”
I’m such a dolt.
What were all those sweet words he’d whispered when he’d taken her maidenhood? He’d merely spoken so sweetly such that the bedding would go smoothly.
Damn all men to hell.
She’d actually come to care for him.

Familiar stairs passed under her feet, the bolt slid across her bedroom door, and she knelt down beside her pallet. Was it just last evening, he’d held her gently as his rod breached her maidenhood? Now he’d hang her? She dared pray for a stay of execution. But just in case she gave another,
Please, God, forgive my endless list of sins and lead The Beast to well guide my people.
When a ray of light hit the back wall, she rose from her painful knees and cleaned her face with the leftover basin water.

After donning her favorite green tunic, she braided her hair. Best to be well-dressed as her people watched her swinging in the air, hanging by the neck. Would she soil herself? It would matter not at that point, but she’d die better, knowing that last embarrassment would not be hers.

The ever-present Bart nodded as she exited her room and slipped slowly down the stairs. The Beast was standing at the hearth in deep discussion with his men when she stopped halfway. “I’m ready.”

He had the audacity to act as if she wasn’t even there. Clearing her throat, she said a little louder, “I’m ready, m’lord.”

“What in God’s name are you ready for?” He rasped his hand across his new beard. Dark circles lined his red eyes. She noticed for the first time that all his men were fully armed and mailed. Mayhap this was all a walking dream? She pinched her arm to be sure.
No such luck.

Thomas turned to the fireplace and appeared to be choking with laughter. Marcus put his elbow to him and frowned up at her. “Aye, that’s right, I forgot. It’s time to hang you.”

Her lower lip quivered and she bit it. Men had no hearts. “Is this some big jest?” Her voice cracked. “Would you at least let Brother James hear my last confession?”

“Aye, certainly,” Marcus replied. “But I’ve not had time to put up the gallows. I find myself rather busy trying to fortify our estate.”

Thomas snickered. This time, Marcus put a heel to his knee.

“How could you forget such a thing as that? Is my death so meaningless?” Both men were almost in stitches as she was about to die?

“Planning a small war takes time. I got busy.” He turned his back to her.

“Sir?”

He banged his fist on the mantel and the rarest of glass vases toppled. Thomas caught it before it hit the floor. “By God, enough of this charade. You know full well I’m not going to hang you, but you’ve single-handedly put our lands in peril and sent me to war.”

She stomped down enough stairs to meet him eye to eye. “I? I did that? By God, I did not. I’ve kept peace in our lands since my father left a miserable dung heap to me at age thirteen.”

With an index finger pointed into his face, she shouted, “I’ve not created this,
my Lord
, you have. I let Lord Abernathy think he was stealing from me. I paid monies so he would not invade my lands. But in less than a week, you’ve undone everything I’ve so carefully crafted over the course of ten years.”

“And I suppose you thought by running into the arms of your lover, you would be saved?”

“My lover? Were you hit on the head? Are you deranged? Arrrrgh!” Her palms pinched where her nails dug into the flesh.

He lowered his voice and shut his eyes as if in pain. His breath smelled of tea and his body uniquely him. “He said you stopped at his estate. That you begged for him to take you.”

“Yea, verily. I stopped on
our
land as he
forcibly
escorted me to
his
.” She quieted, crossed her arms over her breasts, and met his gaze. Damn the man and damn herself, too, for caring what he thought of her.

“He took you by force?” His furrowed brows loosened and his eyes widened.

She huffed through her nose. “Rather more like he offered me hospitality, without choice.”

“Did you really want to leave me?” He reached to her, uncrossed her arms, and held both her hands. For a moment, he looked like a small boy, instead of The Beast of Thornhill.

Her heart melted fully and she smoothed the wrinkles from his brows. “I wasn’t leaving you, most intelligent Lord and mighty protector.”

Stepping down two stairs, she stood at a good height to hug him. “I was coming to find you. I was trying to clear up the confusion. My confusion.”

If she were to hang, she’d at least die without him thinking her unfaithful. “I felt guilty that I made our people think ill of you. You’ve been most kind to me and I . . . I care for you.”

He took a finger to the tear dripping down her face, shook his head slowly from side to side, and waved off his soldiers. “Leave us for a moment. Find some food. I’ll join you later.”

“What am I to do with you?” His arms surrounded her and lifted her off her feet. She dug her face into the crook of his neck. “I know one thing. I’m not going to beat you and I’m not going to hang you.”

“You won’t?” Her heart began to beat steadily for the first time since yesterday morn.

“Of course not. Don’t be foolish. But I am going to keep you safe and I’m not going to pay a king’s ransom to keep another man away from my lands and my wife.”

“It wasn’t exactly a king’s ransom.” She inhaled his scent deeply. His mail felt sharp against her whole body, but she didn’t move away. It was good to be in his arms and his good graces.

“Well, how much was it?”

“I can show you in my ledgers if you’d like.” Renewed vigor coursed through her at the thought of explaining her profits.

“Yes, I’d like to see your ledgers, but be patient with me. I’ve been up all night rescuing sheep and ladies in distress and my accounting skills may be somewhat impaired.”

“Never mind, I can explain everything. You’ll see. ‘Tis simple.” She skipped toward the small well-lit room where she did her accounting. “Can we provide for breaking-of-the-fast, first?”

Chapter 10

“How do you keep track of all this?” Marcus turned over another page of delicate parchment. A gray day shined in through a remarkable circular piece of clear glass, providing them ample light. Because of that, she said this tiny room was her favorite place for counting. The walls contained many pigeon holes, filled with rolled up parchments.

Today, Stephen had brought in a chair big enough for Marcus, but then hers wouldn’t fit, so she sat on his lap, bent over the table.

“Well, I’ve this book and I keep all of the debts in one pile and the taxes I owe in . . .”

He shut his eyes and he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“That wasn’t a question that you expected me to answer, right?”

“Not exactly. We haven’t slept. Come and join me in our chambers. More accounting will have to wait until tomorrow.” He rolled up her ledgers, took her hand, and led her into the hall. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“But did you not notice how well we will do once we have the new dye vat running?” Hopping at an almost run, she kept up with his brisk pace.

“Yes.” He took her hand more firmly and walked a bit faster.

“And also, the new apprentice to the glass blower. Soon we won’t only have one, but two men who can make glass. Do you know how rare that is? What price we can fetch at fair?”

“Yes.”

She was out of breath when they reached the carved door. “And there is the new bakery. I put it next to the miller, so much more efficient. And the spinners. We have two new spinsters this year. They are truly remarkable. It takes so many of them, just to make enough spun yarn for one cloak.”

He sighed, entered her chambers, and sat down on the pallet. “Enough. I’m tired and you make my own head spin.”

“Do you want me to remove my—”

“I want to rest. My shoulder is still healing. I’ve over exerted myself and not slept. Would you just peacefully come and share my room? I want you near me.”

“Just near you?” She sat down next to him and her spirits sank.

“Aye, I find your presence near me pleasing. I sleep more peacefully.”

“But no making heirs?”

“Shh. Not now.” Her still-mailed husband lay down and curled around her, instantly asleep.

In the warmth of his arms and within the sound of his heartbeat, she was confused. How could he want her near and not need anything from her? It was an entirely new experience. For the first time in her life, she was eagerly awaiting a man’s touch. Maybe he was just napping and would need her in a few moments. Despite all her efforts, she found herself drifting away.

She was begging and running. “Don’t leave us.” The fully armored man ignored her soulful pleas. His huge horse clopped out of the courtyard, past the well and the bathhouse, onto the main road. He never looked back.

“Papa, please don’t go,” she cried, even after he was long gone. Heart racing, she ran to find her mother, who was still in her chambers.

“Mama. Oh, Mama, he left us.” She shook her gently.

“Mama?” She lay flat on her back, stared wide-eyed at the thatched roof, and moved not.

Ann woke sobbing into a hard chest. Large heavy arms wrapped closely around her and pulled her close. Mail poked at her from all sides. “Shush. It was, but a dream.”

Wiping her wet face with her sleeve, she said, “Not a dream, rather a ghost from my past sent to haunt me.”

Staring, he rolled over onto his unwounded side, pulled off her gold netting, and twirled it around a finger.

She sat up and tried to peer at the sky through the slit in the outermost wall. “I apologize to have woken you. How far from dawn is it?”

“It’s not night yet, but we’ve slept through the afternoon. Dinner will be served soon. Tell me about your dream. I’d know more about you.”

“Why raise up more old ghosts?” Her head fell back down upon his good shoulder as she stared at the beams crisscrossing the ceiling.

“Mayhap we should begin to exorcise those that haunt you.” He crooked an arm and she was back close to his body, except for the damn mail.

Her thoughts spun around in her mind’s eye. Finally, she grabbed at a thread and started. “My father left for the holy wars when I was, but three and ten. My mother, when she learned of it, would do naught, but stare at the wall. It was like her soul had left with him.”

His concerned look comforted and she smiled sadly. “Oh, he knew what he was doing. You see, I’ve no brothers. He sold everything and left us to starve. He was going to meet his maker. His intent was to meet us there and soon.”

Marcus raised himself up on one elbow and kissed away a tear which had lingered on her cheek. “I’ve heard men speak of such things but never understood it.”

“Mayhap that is enough ghosts for now? I see no good coming from—”

She tried to get up, but he held her back with an encouraging smile. “No. Go on.”

“Very well. I was the only one left to take charge of the estates. I dared not tell anyone of my mother’s condition. We could lose everything. I tried to find relatives willing to help. Instead, I found vultures. Believe me when I say, there wasn’t much left to take.”

“Sons of bastards.”

“Aye. Luckily, my father was overly indulgent with me throughout my young life. I’d followed him all his days, much like a puppy.” She grinned. “No doubt my mother should have kept better watch of me, but she was most oft alone in her chambers. I think secretly my father was proud of how bright I was, despite being a girl. Mayhap he was training me back then. I’ve no way of knowing. I should’ve been born a son.”

“Nay. What he did was very, very, wrong. When God gives a man a wife and a family, they become as his own body. A man should never do such despicable acts.”

She sighed and wiped another tear away that had snuck into a corner of her eye. “He sold everything. Silver, jewels, and furniture. He needed to buy armor. You understand?” she whispered.

“Aye, war is an expensive undertaking.” He closed his eyes as if sharing her pain.

Not knowing quite how to respond, she placed her hand upon his rough cheek. “It was a long, long time ago. Fret not for me.”

“I grieve for the wee ghosty-girl within you. She haunts us both with her sadness.”

His body was warm when he hugged her, but the rings of his armor poked into her breasts. He was an amazing, caring man, her beast. She moved away from the metal rings and walked over to the hole that faced the town.

“He left mother and me with only the manor, the sheep, and several serfs who would starve without my care.”

The shadow of the manor cast across the green all the way to the breakfast tables and disappeared. Gray clouds loomed in the offing. “The day grows long.”

He stood, stretched, and came up behind her. His chest warmed her back and his arms surrounded her. “Who is your nearest male relative?”

“My Grandsire’s son’s son, George Abernathy. He’s my cousin.”

“Damnation. No wonder you didn’t want him to know your mother was ill.”

“Aye. I was old enough to be taken by him. I’d have become his ward.” The true meaning of that word caused her body to shudder.

He rubbed the chicken bumps off her arms. “None of that, now. I told you. I keep what is mine safe. You’ve nothing to worry about.”

“But the hanging?”

With a deep sigh, he said, “To be my wife, you shall have to endure my temper. When I’m angry, I say things I don’t mean.” He kissed her ear. “So how in God’s name did you build the little dynasty across that green?”

“There were mothers with babes in their arms, knocking on my door, begging for food, yet there was barely enough for my mother and I. They begged for us to kill a lamb, so that we wouldn’t starve, but if I started killing the flock, we’d have no wool to sell.

“What did you do?”

“I did kill off some sheep, we asked for charity from Brother James, and I went into the bathhouse and prayed.”

He chuckled and it irritated her slightly. This was no joking matter. She turned and cupped his face in her hands. “God heard, Marcus, He did. While I was on my hands and knees in the old bathhouse, there was a loose rock in the wall. Behind it, I found a few Roman coins. It was enough until we sheared again and brought the wool to fair.”

His eyes widened. “So it truly
was
a miracle you survived. And your mother?”

“She died shortly thereafter without ever regaining her soul. I swear my father stole that from me, too.”

Silence fell upon them until he cleared his throat “Just how much coin was there?”

She smiled slyly. “Just enough.”

“Very well. Keep your secret between you and your merciful God. You earned it. We need to wash and dress. We should dine and meet with our people.”