The Fallen One (36 page)

“The Scots came,” she told him.
 
“My father said the vault would be the safest
place for us so he locked us in and gave me the key. How did I get out here?”

“I brought you out,” he murmured, kissing
her smoke-smelling hair with the greatest satisfaction. “How do you feel?”

Cathlina coughed, her head on his shoulder
because she was truly too weak to do much more than simply lean on him.
 
His warmth and strength against her felt
wonderful.

“Not very well,” she admitted. “It is hard
to breathe. What happened?”

Mathias was calming now that she was in his
arms and, seemingly, not seriously injured.
 
It was all he could do not to weep with gratitude. In fact, given the
state of the hall and the situation in general, he could hardly believe it.

 
“The
Scots burned the great hall,” he told her. “The smoke traveled to the vault. I
think you must have breathed in a fair amount before we were able to get to
you.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. “How
did you know to come?” she asked, incredulous. “How did you know I was in
danger?”

Mathias gazed into her beautiful face,
thinking a lot of different things at that moment. But he was mostly thinking
that his wife was safe, and in his arms, and that was the only thing that
mattered to him.
 
She
was the only thing that mattered to him.

“I will always be there to keep you from
danger,” he said softly, stroking a pale cheek. “The first time I met you, I
saved you from danger. I will always be there, Cathlina, no matter where you
are. Look over your shoulder and I shall be there; look into the sky and I will
be gazing down upon you. Do you understand that you drew me out of despair and
gave me a reason to live again? You redeemed me, my sweet Cathlina, and I will
always be there for you, in this life or any other, to keep you safe and love
you until the end of time. That is my destiny in life; you have given that to
me, and I am grateful.”

Cathlina smiled at him, touching his
stubbled face, watching as he tenderly kissed her fingers.
 
“All I did was love you,” she whispered. “As a
smithy or as a knight, all I did was love you.
 
As for your destiny, I am glad we will live it
together.”

Mathias kissed her, tenderly, sampling
every taste and texture she had to offer. It was overwhelmingly intoxicating,
and his joy and relief knew no bounds.
 
She was safe and she was whole, and they had a future to attend to.
 
His life, his future, was far richer because
of her.

From the scandal of Roger Mortimer to the
victory on the fields of Dupplin Moor, Mathias had found himself once
again.
 
He was no longer the Fallen One
but the Redeemed One because no matter what, the confidence and strength that
Cathlina gave to him could never be taken away, not by kings or princes or
entire armies.
 
What she gave to him
couldn’t be erased. It was buried deep in the heart of a knight, never to be
tarnished again.

Scooping his wife into his enormous arms,
he carried her off into the setting sun.

EPILOGUE

May
1333

Carlisle
Castle

    
Thankfully, he was
sleeping.

    
He slept a good deal
of the time but in moments when he was awake, little Magnus de Reyne had lungs
like a trumpet, louder than any baby Mathias had ever heard.
 
He hadn’t been around a lot of babies, in
fact, but he was convinced his six week old son had a louder voice than any
child alive and he was very thankful that the child was currently sleeping
peacefully in his mother’s arms.
 
A
crying baby made the new father nervous.

    
They were all crowded
into Carlisle’s chapel for Magnus’ baptism on this sunny day in May; Tate, Toby,
Kenneth, Stephen, Roxane, Rosalund, Saer, Cathlina and Mathias.
 
The only people missing were Sebastian
because he had been sent on an errand, and Abechail because she had passed away
the previous winter.

    
It had been a rather
difficult few months since the youngest de Lara daughter’s passing with the grief
of a young life cut short, but Cathlina’s pregnancy and the subsequent healthy
birth of a rather large boy seemed to ease the ache of Abechail’s loss.
 
Even Rosalund, who was still mentally unbalanced
since the attack on Kirklinton and the loss of her youngest child, had helped
deliver Magnus and took great pride in her grandson.
 
It had been a good distraction for her.
 

Even now, Rosalund hovered over Cathlina
and the baby as if fearful they were going to disappear.
 
Roxane simply rolled her eyes at all of the
fuss and wondered aloud when Sebastian was going to return.
 
The two of them had struck up a courtship of
sorts, strange as it was.
 
They were both
fickle, selfish people, so it made the relationship tricky at times. Aye,
things were returning to normal.

    
Tate, Kenneth, Stephen
and Mathias were all dressed in their finest armor as the priest recited the
blessing in Latin and performed the baptism with blessed oil.
 
Magnus had three Godfathers – Tate, Kenneth,
and Stephen- and one Godmother, Toby, who was expecting her sixth child and
lovely with the rosy glow of pregnancy.
 
She stood next to Cathlina as the priest prayed, wiping the oil off of
little Magnus’ skin when it dripped off his forehead.
 

    
Mathias also stood
next to his wife, never more proud of anything in his life. He had a beautiful
wife, and a healthy son, and he wanted for nothing.
 
Life was good.
 
He had spent the past year at Carlisle Castle
serving Tate with the king’s permission.
 
Although he had
 
none of his
titles restored, he understood the process and why he had been stationed with
Tate even after his exemplary performance at Dupplin Moor; essentially the king
wanted to keep an eye on him and not heap too much upon him, too quickly.
 
He was, after all, once the fallen.
 
But he didn’t really mind; he was very happy
to serve with Tate in a military capacity.

    
He lost himself in
thought as the priest finished with the prayers and asked everyone to kneel
while he gave the blessing.
 
He helped
Cathlina to her knees as Tate went to help his pregnant wife and they all bowed
their heads as the benediction was given and the priest flicked more holy water
on them.
 
Some of it hit Magnus and
Mathias cringed, waiting for the baby to let loose with his awesome wail, but
the baby remained peacefully sleeping.
 
Mathias breathed a sigh of relief.

    
When the service was
over, they group moved from the chapel to the great hall where Toby had
arranged for a lovely feast.
 
The hall
was warm and fragrant as the servants began to bring forth bowls of mashed
fruit, or boiled carrots with dill, and big platters of freshly baked
bread.
  
Cathlina cradled little Magnus
against her as she carefully sat and allowed her husband to serve her.
 
When an enormous platter with a suckling pig
was produced, everyone sat down and helped themselves.

    
All except Tate; he
had disappeared once they left the chapel and even now was absent as everyone
enjoyed the food. Toby had the nurse bring her children down from their rooms
and soon the hall was filled with the voices of children.
 
When the younger ones began to scream because
Stephen was teasing them, Mathias watched Magnus to see if the baby would
awaken, but alas, he remained quiet an asleep.
 
Satisfied, Mathias dug into his food.

    
As they were eating
and talking, speaking on things both humorous and trivial, Tate entered the
hall.
 
Mathias glanced up from his pork,
noticing that the man had a vellum in his hand. When Tate drew close, he
motioned at the scroll in his grip.

    
“What do you have?” he
asked.

    
Tate eyed him. “I have
an announcement to make,” he said. Then, he lifted his voice. “I have something
very important to speak of.
 
Stephen,
stop tormenting my sons and listen to what I must tell you.
 
You will want to hear this.”

    
Everyone quieted and
Stephen stopped harassing the de Lara twins.
 
He shushed them and made them sit on the bench beside him.
 
When everyone was settled, Tate lifted the
vellum in his hand.

    
“Good lords and
ladies, I have received a missive from the king,” he said, scanning the writing
on the vellum. “For exemplary service and brilliant conduct at the Battle of
Dupplin Moor which resulted in a great victory, and for a long and
distinguished military history, Edward has fully restored Mathias’ status as a
knight of the realm.
 
Furthermore, he has
bequeathed upon him the following titles: Earl of Bristol, Baron Westbury, and High
Warden of the West.
 
Along with these
titles comes more lands and property than I have the time to list, but it is
all here on this missive.
 
Congratulations,
Mat. You are once again among the ranks of the nobles in good standing.”

    
Cheers went up all
around as Mathias sat there, looking rather shocked by the whole thing.
 
It wasn’t until he looked at Cathlina,
beaming at him, that he began to process what Tate had said.
 
He stood up rather uncertainly and took the
missive that Tate was extending at him.
 

    
“Earl?” he repeated.

    
“Of Bristol,” Tate
said with a grin. “Good God, man, you nearly have as many titles as I have. How
does it feel?”

    
Mathias had to shake
himself.
 
“I am not entirely sure,” he
said. “I do not know what to say except… thank you. I am sure you had a hand in
all of this.”

    
Tate grinned and
slapped him on the shoulder.
 
“I simply
told Edward the truth,” he said. “That you are the kind of knight all men
aspire to be but seldom are.
 
Everything
you have been granted is well deserved.”

    
As the news began to
sink deeper, Mathias loosened up. He smiled at Tate. “I can hardly believe it,”
he said. “Is there anything in the missive about Sebastian? Is he restored as
well?”

    
Tate nodded. “Baron
Beckington,” he said. “His lands border yours.”

    
Mathias’ eyebrows
lifted in surprise. “A baron?” he repeated. “God’s Bones, I will never hear the
end of how great he thinks he is.
 
I
sincerely wish my father was alive to see his sons restored to a greater glory.”

    
Tate’s humor faded
somewhat and he again slapped him on the shoulder. “He knows,” he said quietly.
“Wherever Justus is, he surely knows.”

    
“I hope so.”

    
Mathias sat back down
next to Cathlina and laid the missive out on the table, reading over the
details.
 
Kenneth and Stephen joined him,
both of them very happy for their friend.
 
They spoke of their past, their present, and
their plans for the future; it seemed that Kenneth was headed for the Welsh
Marches and Stephen was headed back to Berwick to battle the Scots.
 
Mathias knew that wherever they all went, or
how long they were separated, it would never dampen or weaken the bonds of
their friendship.
 
Men who had stood
behind him through his darkest hour and who were as close to him as brothers.

    
The group remained in
the hall well into the evening hours, enjoying de Lara’s fine wine and speaking
of things both important and trivial. Eventually, Saer took Rosalund to bed,
for she needed a great deal of rest these days, and Cathlina sat in a chair
near the hearth and gently rocked her son, who had slept most of the afternoon
away.
 
Roxane sat with her.
 
Toby took her brood up to bed and they could
hear the twins screaming two floors above them.
  

As Mathias, Kenneth and Stephen sat around
the end of the feasting table and relived old times, the entry door to the keep
swung open.
 
Cathlina had her back turned
to the door and couldn’t see who it was, but she didn’t have to; Mathias let
loose with one word.

“Sebastian!”

Sebastian the Red looked weary and dirty as
he walked into the hall bearing an enormous box.
 
He eyed his brother as he approached the
feasting table and set the box upon it. Mathias looked at the box with great
anticipation.

“Did you get it?” he demanded.

Sebastian was tired and irritated.
 
“I did.”

“Are you sure?”

“See for yourself,” he said. “You know how
much I hated that beast. He came right up to me and kissed me, so I knew it was
him.”

Mathias grinned as he collected the box and
went over to his wife.
 
Carefully, he set
the box down at her feet. She looked at him curiously.

“What do you have?” she asked, glancing
over her shoulder at Sebastian. “What did you bring,
 
Sebastian?”

Mathias’ smile broadened. “I made you a
promise last year that I was unable to keep until now,” he said. “With the
battles, the rebuild of Kirklinton, and Magnus’ birth, it completely slipped my
mind.
 
Therefore, in honor of Magnus’
baptism, as my gift to you, I sent Sebastian back to Scotland to fulfill my
promise.”

Cathlina genuinely had no idea what he was
talking about. “What is it?”

Mathias pulled off the top of the wooden
box and immediately, a dark furry head popped up.
 
Beady brown eyes looked at Cathlina and, for
a moment, she was speechless. But in the next instance, she was gasping with
delight.

Midgy the otter gazed at his former
mistress with as much happiness as an otter could muster.
 
When Midgy slithered out of the box, he
wasn’t alone; three little baby Midgys slithered out after him.
 
It would seem that Midgy had returned home to
breed and now, in late spring, had three little ones in tow. Midgy, as it
turned out, was a girl.

“Midgy!” Cathlina squealed.

Magnus awoke to his mother’s happy voice,
raising the roof of Carlisle’s keep with his lusty and loud cry, and Mathias
couldn’t have been more thrilled… with all of it.

The Fallen One had had been reborn, richer
than before.