Behind the Chain Mail (A Look Behind the Series): Legendary Bastards of the Crown

by Rose, Elizabeth

  “Aye,” agreed Reed, feeling the woman’s words adding weight to his already heavy heart.

  “Mayhap not, but she was right,” said Rowen softly. “We can’t argue with that. I think we’d better stay here a little longer.”

  “Me, too,” said Reed, looking at Rook next.

  Rook let out a sigh. “Well, if you two are staying then I guess I’d better stay as well.”

  Chapter 2

  The Gift

  “What do we do now?” asked Reed after the brothers had stood there in silence for a minute, none of them daring to move a muscle.

  “We . . . pray,” said Rowen. “And talk to Mother.”

  “This is silly,” spat Rook, being ruthless as was his nature. He stomped over to the hearth and picked up the iron poker and stabbed at the burning logs. “No one expects us to talk to a deceased person. It isn’t possible. I should know since I lived in the catacombs with the dead for ten years and never heard a peep from a one of them.”

  “I agree,” said Rowen. “Let’s stay in here for another few minutes and then leave. Mayhap, Imanie and Annalyse will be happy with that.”

  “Nay, wait,” said Reed, heading over to the bed. “I think I’d like to talk . . . to Mathair.”

  “Reed, stop it,” said Rook, banging down the iron poker into the holder. “No one is going to know what we did in here, so you don’t need to torture us about this.”

  “I agree,” said Rowen.

  “Nay. I think Imanie is right.” Reed sat down on the bed. “We owe it to both Gabrielle and Queen Philippa to at least say a few words and pay our last respects since we never have after all these years.”

  “We didn’t know our mother,” said Rook. “Annalyse is our mother now. I think we should go comfort her instead.”

  “If that’s how ye feel, then go. But I am goin’ to stay here.” Reed leaned back on the pillows and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “After all, if ye two are afraid of possibly seein’ the ghost of our mathair, mayhap ye should go back to drinkin’ ale by the fire instead.”

  Rowen shook his head. “Nay. I’ll stay as well.” He pulled up a chair and sat down.

  “Rowen? Really?” asked Rook, starting for the door. “Well, I’m leaving. Enough of this nonsense.”

  “Ye’re scared,” said Reed, purposely taunting his brother. Rook could never walk away from a fight. “Ye think ye’re goin’ to see Mathair’s ghost and that is why ye are runnin’ away like a frightened wench.”

  “Call me scared again and you’ll find yourself flat on your arse, Brother.” Rook warned Reed.

  “Have a seat, Rook, and let’s get this started, shall we?” Rowen nodded toward the bed.

  “Fine,” spat Rook. “But don’t think I’ll sit on the bed with him!” Rook glared at Reed. Then he pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards at the opposite side of the bed from Rowen.

  After a moment of silence, Rowen spoke up. “Who wants to go first?”

  No answer.

  “Fine, I’ll do it,” said Rowen. “Mother, I’d like to thank you for giving us life. Even if my brothers are not as grateful as me. Amen.”

  “That’s it?” asked Rook with a chuckle.

  Reed laughed as well, putting his arms behind his head to make himself more comfortable.

  “Have you two got something better?” asked Rowen. “Because if so, I’d love to hear it.”

  “Of course, I can do better than that.” Rook cleared his throat and folded his arms over his chest. “This is our birthday, and I’d like to pay my respects to our late mother, no matter where she may be. She gave us life, and I regret never having known her. The end.”

  “The end?” Reed sat up on the bed, squinting his eyes and shaking his head. “Ye sound like ye’re a scribe writin’ a story. Talk to Mathair directly.”

  “Mayhap you should do it, if my way isn’t to your liking,” complained Rook.

  “All right. I will.” Reed stared up at the ceiling, putting his hand to his mouth thinking for a moment before he spoke. “Sittin’ here, I almost feel a sense of comfort, like Mathair’s arms are wrapped around me,” said Reed.

  “That’s probably Rowen, wanting to kiss you again,” said Rook letting out a low guffaw.

  “Stop it, Rook,” warned Rowen, scowling at his brother. “Go ahead, Reed.”

  “Mathair,” said Reed, swallowing hard and wetting his lips with his tongue. “I ken ye hear us. Rowen and Rook dinna believe I saw yer ghost . . . I mean, yer spirit. But mayhap, ye can show yerself to them as well and then they’ll believe, too.”

  There was a soft thud in the room that sounded like the closing of a door.

  “Did you hear that?” whispered Rook.

  “It sounded like the door,” Rowen whispered back.

  “Perhaps it’s Mathair,” Reed said anxiously.

  “Right,” mumbled Rook. “And next we’re all going to see Mother standing at the foot of the bed.”

  “Not standing. Floating,” said Rowen. “After all, our talented brother is good at summoning the dead.”

  Rowen and Rook broke out in laughter.

  “Excuse me, I didn’t know you were still in here,” said Imanie, approaching the bed as she entered the light.

  “We’re done!” Rook shot off the chair and hurried past Imanie, heading out the door with Rowen right behind him. Reed was about to leave when the woman stopped him.

  “You have a special gift,” said Imanie.

  “Gift?” Reed raised a brow, scooching to the end of the bed. “No one has given me a gift for Christmas or my birthday. I dinna ken what ye mean.”

  “Not that kind of gift.” Imanie reached back and lowered herself atop Rowen’s vacated chair. “I am talking about your ability to see those who have left this world.”

  “Ye’re makin’ a jest out of this like my brathairs.” Reed shot off the bed and headed for the door, but the woman stopped him once again.

  “Don’t let anyone tell you what to believe.”

  Reed stopped in his tracks and spoke to Imanie over his shoulder. “My mathair came to me to guide me when I needed her the most,” he said softly. “Do ye believe that I saw her?” He slowly turned around, waiting for her answer.

  Imanie smiled slightly and nodded, getting to her feet. “I do, Reed. And I have a feeling you won’t be the last in your family to have this special gift.”

  “I dinna think of it as a gift since it has only caused me trouble thus far. And my brathairs havena seen her, if that’s what ye mean.”

  “I wasn’t speaking of them.”

  “Then who did ye mean will have this so-called gift as well?”

  “I have a feeling that, someday, one of your daughters will follow in your footsteps.”

  “Well, I only have one daughter so far, and I pray she will never have to go through what I did. Because no one but me would ever believe her.”

  Chapter 3

  The Gift

  “Do ye think she’s a witch?” Reed peered over his tankard of Mountain Magic, watching the woman named Imanie as she hurried to and fro helping Annalyse and also tending to the needs of the somber Lord Ramsay.

  “God’s eyes, what are you brooding about now, Reed?” Rook grabbed a chicken drumstick off the tray of a passing server and took a bite.

  “Let’s go sit at the dais for the meal or Annalyse will think we’re being disrespectful again,” said Rowen, leading the way. Rook hurried after him, but Reed stayed by the fire, staring across the room at the woman named Imanie.

  As if she knew he watched her, she looked up at him and smiled.

  “Reed?” Winter walked up with Autumn. “Everyone is waiting for you to be seated at the dais so we can start the meal.”

  “Aye,” agreed Autumn. “Is something bothering you, Brother? You seem upset.”

  “I’m no’ hungry,” said Reed, feeling angry with his brothers for not believing that he’d seen their mother’s ghost. He also felt suspicious of the girl servant
named Imanie. Why would she believe him when no one else did? And what did she mean when she said he had a gift and that one of his daughters might have the same gift someday? None of this made any sense. All it did was confuse him and make him feel like he wanted to run.

  Needing a breath of fresh air, Reed plunked his empty tankard down on the table and hurriedly left the great hall, heading out to the courtyard. Once outside, he stopped and breathed heavily, trying to clear his head. A thin layer of snow covered the ground and he could see his breath in the frosty air. The courtyard looked festive for the season, decorated with tall arches covered with winter greenery and holly with bright red berries. Torchlight filled the area, illuminating the big, flat snowflakes that fell from the sky. One landed on his arm. He looked down to see the intricate design, wondering how something so magical could form up in the sky.

  That got him wondering if their mother would have liked the Christmas season if she had survived. Would she have welcomed it with open arms and proudly displayed her bastard triplets? Or would she have been superstitious like the king? Would King Edward have still ordered their deaths if their mother had lived, or would Gabrielle have convinced the king that killing babies, especially his own, was a bad thing, even if they were triplets?

  His gaze roamed over to the tall walls of Hetherpool Castle where the black banners of mourning hung from the battlements, announcing the death of their grandmother, the lady of the castle. Reed now regretted not having taken the time to get to know his grandparents better. If Imanie were right, would he be able to talk to more than just the ghost of his mother in time? And would one of his daughters be able to do the same as well? He wasn’t sure he liked the idea. Nay, he decided. He didn’t want that to ever happen. Nothing good could come from it. Perhaps, he didn’t have this gift Imanie spoke of. Mayhap, he’d only imagined seeing the spirit of his mother because he had longed so much to know her. Aye, he decided. He had imagined the entire thing. The thought made him feel relieved.

  “Reed?”

  He turned to see Annalyse looking for him. She ran out into the cold and snow and didn’t even wear a cloak. “Reed, what are you doing out here all alone? You should be with the rest of the family. Now please, come back inside and have something to eat.”

  “I’m just . . . thinkin’,” he said, noticing how she wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm. He felt love for the woman who raised him, even if he was still feeling bitter that she had kept the identity of their true parents from them for so many years. Perhaps, as she said, it was only to protect them. If so, he should be thanking her instead of chastising her in his mind.

  “Are you perhaps thinking about Gabrielle? I know you feel responsible for her death since your birth had complications.”

  “She – her spirit told me I am no’ to blame for that.” He had been feeling extremely guilty, thinking that it was he who had been the cause of his mother’s demise. But then he saw her spirit and Gabrielle assured him it wasn’t so. He was no longer sure what to think or how to feel.

  “You’re n-not to blame,” said Annalyse. “No one is.” Her teeth chattered when she spoke. “You n-need to f-forgive yourself because it was n-naught but an act of fate that took your mother’s life. It was her time to go and there was no one who caused it to happen.”

  “Thank ye,” said Reed, wrapping his arm around Annalyse’s shoulders, pulling her up against his plaid to keep her warm. “That means a lot to me to hear ye say that. I admit, I was feelin’ verra guilty.”

  “I believe you, Reed. I believe that Gabrielle came to you, because I’ve seen her often in my dreams as well.”

  “Dreams,” he repeated, suddenly wondering if his encounter with his late mother was only in a dream. That would make so much more sense and keep him from believing that, mayhap, he was addled. “Let’s get ye inside before ye freeze,” said Reed, escorting his adoptive mother back to the keep.

  “Reed,” said Annalyse, looking up into his eyes as soon as they got in out of the cold. “I was there when it happened. My sister bravely held you and your brothers in her arms, smiling through her pain because she was so happy to be a mother. She had the chance to hold you three before she passed. She even named all of you boys and kissed you all before she left this world forever.” Tears formed in Annalyse’s eyes.

  “Dinna speak of it,” he told her. “There is too much sadness this Christmastide already with yer mathair passin’ on. We dinna need to hear anythin’ more that makes us sad.”

  “I am sad as well as happy,” said Annalyse. “Because something good came from something that ended badly.”

  “We have ye and Ross to thank,” said Reed, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

  “I want you to know that I loved your mother, Reed.”

  “Why are ye tellin’ me this?” he asked, not understanding what she was trying to say.

  “I suppose I wanted to tell you this because I felt guilty when she died. Growing up, I hated her for having everything I always wanted. But now, I see that I was wrong. Sometimes, things are not how they appear to be. So don’t feel responsible for her death, ever. Release those feelings, because your mother wouldn’t want you to hold any guilt for what happened.”

  “I wish I could have kent her,” Reed said, feeling his heart soften.

  “I wish you could have known her, too.” Annalyse reached up and kissed him on the cheek, running her hand along the side of his face. “I am proud to have been your mother in Gabrielle’s place and I will always consider you and your brothers as the sons I never had.”

  “Thank ye . . . Mathair,” said Reed, purposely calling her that since she was truly the only mother he’d ever known.

  “Come eat with us,” said Annalyse. “I want all my boys at the table since today is also the celebration of your birthdays.”

  “It doesna seem like a time for celebratin’,” said Reed.

  “I know,” she said with sadness in her eyes. “But being with family makes everything better, especially during the holidays.”

  “Go on. I’ll be there in a minute,” he said, kissing Annalyse on the head and sending her back to the dais.

  Reed knew where he had to go. He hurried over to the chamber where he and his brothers were born and where his mother had died. Opening the door, he stopped in the threshold, staring at the bed where life and death had intermingled as one when one life ended and three others began.

  “Thank ye, Mathair,” he whispered, feeling a knot form in his throat. “I willna blame myself for yer death anymore, because Annalyse said ye wouldna have wanted me to feel that way. I miss ye and wish ye were here.”

  He was about to leave the chamber when he saw something shimmering atop the bed. He looked hard, thinking he was imagining it. Blinking twice, he took in the sight of his beautiful mother dressed in a pure white gown, smiling at him from the bed. In her hands she cradled three small babies; one with blond hair, one with black, and the other with downy locks of fiery red. She hugged them to her chest, looking happy and proud. Then she kissed each one of them on their heads. When she kissed the baby with the red hair, Reed felt a slight shiver run up his spine. But this time, it wasn’t a shiver of fear of the unknown. This time, it was a feeling of warmth and love that filled his body as well as his heart.

  “Reed, what are you doing?” asked Rowen, walking up with Rook. They both held tankards of ale in their hands.

  “Annalyse is making us wait for you before we start eating, and I am starved,” complained Rook.

  Reed purposely held the door wide open, just to find out if his brothers could see the image of their mother with them as babies on her lap. He needed to know if it was really a gift that he had to be able to see these visions.

  “You aren’t still staring at that bed, are you?” asked Rowen, looking right at the bed but not reacting at all to the vision.

  “I thought we were done paying our regards,” grumbled Rook, looking at the bed as well but having no reaction either.

>   Reed checked again, and the vision of his mother was still there. She looked so happy and content as she cuddled the babies to her chest. Then she glanced up at him and smiled. He wasn’t sure if he actually heard it or imagined it in his mind, but his mother told all three of them happy birthday and that she loved them. He felt tears forming in his eyes and closed his lids, trying to blink the tears away before his brothers saw them.

  Reed glanced back at the bed, one last time, but the vision was gone. He smiled, feeling a warmth that comforted him and made him feel happy inside. Perhaps, Imanie was right in saying he had a gift after all. Being able to see his mother was something that Rook and Reed might never be able to do. He smiled at the thought, feeling special.

  “Why are you grinning like that?” asked Rowen.

  “What did you do?” Rook peered at him suspiciously.

  “I am smilin’ because I am happy,” said Reed. “It is our birthday and I have received the best gift ever. I will cherish it always in my heart.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about and neither do I care,” said Rook. “All I care about is getting some food in me. Now, come to the dais on your own or Rowen and I will drag you there ourselves.”

  “That’s right,” agreed Rowen. “And don’t think we won’t do it.”

  “No need for that, I’m comin’.” Reed closed the door to the chamber that once felt like a place of doom. But now, it felt like a special place that he would welcome visiting in the future. He put one arm around both of his brothers’ shoulders and headed into the great hall, stopping momentarily as they passed under a kissing bough. “Everyone kens I’m the one who likes to eat, so let’s get ourselves a feast to celebrate our birthday. Let’s also get full tankards of that glorious Mountain Magic.” He looked up at the kissing bough and then over to his brothers, smiling.

  “Nay, you don’t.” Rook pushed out of his hold and Rowen did the same.