The Knight and the Dove (4 page)

“Oh, Father God,” Megan prayed. “Help me to trust You and accept this reason Father has sent for me. I am troubled. Please help me to trust.”

Megan’s mind went to her last nights at the abbey. She had walked in her sleep each night, something she hadn’t done for years. Typically Megan walked in her sleep only when some event of the day upset her.

The first night she had woken alone, shivering in the chapel with no idea how she’d come to be there. The other nights Sister Agatha had found her in the hallway and reported to her in the morning that she’d been on the move.

Megan never did anything dangerous or outrageous when she walked in her sleep, but there was always a very real fear that she would hurt herself. On one occasion she had fallen headfirst down a full length of stone steps. Another time she had wandered outside the abbey and slipped down an embankment into a deep ditch filled with water. Had the water been just inches deeper, Megan might have drowned.

After the first night, Megan had prayed for calm as sleep crowded in, but she had been up anyway. She also knew that she was prone to talk in her sleep if someone spoke. Megan had forgotten to ask Sister Agatha if she’d said anything profound or heinous; she knew she was capable of both.

Vincent paced the confines of his room for more than an hour before Megan arrived. His entire frame shook with emotion when he thought of his youngest daughter marrying against her will, but he saw no other way around the king’s edict.

Vincent knew Bracken to be a fine warrior, a man of honor as well as might, and since Marigold would never agree to this match, he only hoped this trial period at Hawkings Crest would help Megan to find
herself in a marriage that she at least found tolerable. Vincent had no illusions concerning love, but Megan was tenacious to a fault. Her father believed she would make the best of the situation. She always did.

“My lord?” one of Vincent’s vassals said from just inside the door.

“Yes, Giles?”

“Lady Megan has arrived, sir. She awaits you in the great hall.”

“Thank you, Giles,” Vincent said, but did not move to the door. Once again he visualized himself telling Megan of Henry’s letter, and remembered his wife’s cruel pleasure in the whole event. Well, at least Annora was away for the day. Still, Vincent couldn’t stop the shudder that ran over his frame as he at last moved toward the door.

Megan’s eyes ran lovingly over the long tables and benches, the clean rushes on the floor, and the huge stone fireplace that graced the north wall. Megan thought about the rocky relationship she’d always shared with her mother, but she could never fault Annora Stone’s ability to run her father’s castle.

“Megan.”

The young woman turned at the sound of her father’s voice and nearly ran into his arms. It had been only weeks, but Megan was always so pleased to see him and now let herself be hugged like a child.

“How was your journey?”

“A bit long. I’d have done better on my own.” Megan smiled teasingly at her father, causing him to chuckle, but then her eyes grew serious as did his.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yes, but I have serious news. You are to marry.”

Glad that he had told her outright, Megan took a deep breath and followed Vincent as he led the way to the fireplace. The great hall was strangely empty and both were glad for the privacy.

“Can you tell me all?” Megan asked as soon as they were seated.

“Yes. Henry wants a union between Stone Lake and Hawkings Crest. I told Marigold that she was to marry, but you can well imagine how she responded to the idea of marrying an earl. She left just an hour after I told her, and I haven’t seen her since.”

“So the duty falls to me?”

Vincent nodded with regret. “Bracken has been the lord at Hawkings Crest for five years now, maybe six, and I know him to be a man of honor. He is young, but I believe he will make you a fine husband.”

“So I am to marry soon.”

“No. You’ll be going to live at Hawkings Crest for a time—a trial period of sorts. It won’t stop the marriage, but at least Bracken will not be a stranger to you on your wedding day.”

Megan’s eyes shifted to the fireplace. When she spoke again her voice was soft, her eyes still studying the cold hearth.

“I have never met Bracken of Hawkings Crest. I am surprised he chose me.”

“Henry gave me leave to decide,” Vincent admitted, not seeing a need to remind Megan that her sister would have nothing to do with the arrangement.

“And what will Bracken say when he learns he is to have me and not Marigold?” Megan asked, believing that all of England knew of Marigold’s beauty.

Vincent caught his daughter’s jaw and gently turned her face to him. “So many years away from your mother and yet you still believe her lies. Your beauty is deep within you, Meg, as well as on the surface. Bracken might find Marigold a beauty but only until she showed her true self.

“Bracken may well be as dubious of the marriage as you are, but when he gets to know you he will thank me for the wife I have sent.”

Megan smiled gently at her father. She loved her father and knowing that he regretted this for her somehow made the act easier. Megan believed that men spent the whole of their lives facing tasks they didn’t care for; her father had done so without complaint. Megan told herself she would do no less.

“How long before I go?”

Vincent smiled in the face of her acceptance. “Two weeks. I know things might be a bit strained for you when your mother returns, but I want some time with you. I’ll see you to Hawkings Crest myself.”

“I assume Bracken’s mother lives within the castle walls.”

Vincent shook his head. “His aunt. I have not met her, but I trust the two of you will fare well.”

Megan nodded, but neither one had much more to say. They went for a ride a few hours later but did not discuss the trip or wedding.

The day turned out to be so full that Megan took herself off to bed at an early hour, still not having seen her mother.

Having talked with her father and gained awareness of the situation, she slept deeply that night. She would not have slept so soundly had she known he was to be called away early the next morning.

Three

“I
HAVE SERVANTS FOR THAT,
M
EGAN
.” Annora’s voice was cold, but Megan stood her ground. They were in the kitchen, and Vincent had been gone all of three days. To Megan it felt like a lifetime.

“Be that as it may, Mother, not one of them knew of this poultice for tooth pain.” Megan’s voice was respectful but unyielding.

“The servants take care of themselves. Do not disgrace your father’s name by acting as a commoner.”

Megan’s eyes narrowed in anger. “The disgrace is on you, Mother, that you would allow one of your servants to writhe in agony with a sore tooth. Where is your compassion?”

“You will not speak to me in such away!” Lady Stone nearly spat. “Your return has disrupted my entire life.” Annora stopped to let this barb sink in but saw that Megan’s face was calm. The older woman was so furious that for a moment she couldn’t speak. When she did, it was with the full intention of wounding her daughter the only way she knew how.

“I have decided that you will leave for Hawkings Crest this day.”

Megan’s eyes widened, giving her mother great pleasure.

“But Father isn’t here. He was to take me.”

Annora’s laugh was heartless. “Your father is more than capable of mounting a horse if he wishes to see you.”

“But my clothing, Mother—” Megan tried to reason with her, seeing that she’d pushed too far. “My wardrobe is not complete.”

Annora’s lip curled with cruel enjoyment. “You seem to be more at home dressed in homespun cloth—look at you! Besides, you have one
dress that will suffice, and you won’t want to travel in that anyway. I’ll send your clothing when it’s ready.”

Megan stood in mute horror, her whole body trembling with fear over the way she was being sent away. Her heart cried out to God to send her father home early, but it was not to be.

“Now ready yourself,” her mother drove home her final thrust. “I will order a guard to escort you. You leave within the hour.”

Annora swept away then, but it took a moment for Megan to realize the occupants of the entire room were watching her. Not one of the servants at Stone Lake loved their mistress, so Megan was met with genuine stares of compassion. The young servant girl whose tooth Megan had treated had tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, my lady.”

Megan gently touched the dark hair on her head. “Don’t fret, Merry, all will be well. You take care of that tooth, and I’ll see you when I come again.”

Megan left with all the dignity she could muster, hoping that no one could see how her legs trembled in shock and terror.