Chatelaine of Forez

by Vijaya Schartz

  Artaud knew it, too. "I apologize for being so pig-headed."

  "A true apology?" The gray waters of her eyes turned a luminous green. "All great rulers are stubborn when it comes to protecting their people. ‘Tis an admirable quality."

  Artaud felt the pull of old, familiar ties. Through time, from a life he could not remember, Melusine called to him, like a beacon of hope. He lowered his face to hers.

  Her smile dissipated. She swallowed, then rose on tiptoes to meet him halfway.

  As their lips touched, his blood came alive and sang through his veins. He stroked the back of her slender neck, so smooth and cool, yet fire blazed through his entire body. She smelled of sweet musk and tasted like honey. He licked her lower lip. When she answered with a tentative flick of her tongue, he nibbled her but couldn't resist any longer and tasted her entire mouth, drinking from it like from a cool fountain after a long trek through the desert.

  In his embrace, Melusine's body seared him where they touched. She arched against him, as if seeking contact through the layers of coat and mail. Sweet Goddess. He would lose his senses and make a spectacle of them both if anyone entered the library. After a few more mouthfuls of her, he reluctantly loosened his hold.

  She stared at him, disheveled and flushed, panting. Her hooded eyes still held that luminous green hue. "There is much of Sigefroi in you, my lord."

  Sigefroi again? But Artaud didn't care so much anymore. "I'll take that as a compliment."

  "It is."

  Struggling to hide the fire in his hose, he stepped back and immediately missed her contact. How strange that a simple kiss could bring him so much joy, such a sense of accomplishment.

  He lifted an unruly strand of her blond hair and tucked it behind her ear. "If this kiss is any indication of what awaits us in our nuptial bed, my lady, I may not be able to wait until we are properly wed."

  She had a mischievous smile. "Most couples share a bed as soon as they are betrothed, my lord. We all know the wedding proper is but a formality."

  Hot blood flushed his entire body. Had she just agreed to consume their union tonight? He couldn't help but grin like a simpleton. "I can hardly wait, my lady."

  "Now, if you'll forgive me, I need to bathe and change into something more suitable for our betrothal banquet." She gathered up her hair, plopped her helmet back on her head then curtsied. "Until tonight, my lord."

  Artaud's heart drummed in his chest as he watched her walk away in a soft jingle and close the door. Had he more Fae blood in him, he could probably fly like a bird. In that instant, Artaud knew everything would be forever right in Forez, for him, for Melusine, and for his people.

  * * *

  Melusine smoothed her long gown of pale blue silk as she sat down at the high table. Artaud, wearing the red and gold banner of Forez on his white tunic, held the chair for her then sat, watching her with deep brown eyes full of promise.

  The very sight of so much light and decorations in the great hall lifted her spirit even higher. "When did the servants have time to hang garlands on the walls and from the cross beams?"

  Artaud smiled mysteriously. "Like by magic."

  Melusine glanced around, but no one paid attention to their exchange. Ida and Guilli already sat at Artaud's right. They had changed into courtly attire, a rich brown gown that complimented Ida's red hair, and a white tunic matching Artaud's for Guilli. Most of the knights and soldiers still wore their battle gear, just not the heavy mail.

  Loud conversations filled the vaults. The wine flowed freely. The many nobles present toasted both victory and betrothal with equal enthusiasm.

  "Congratulations, my lady." On Melusine's left, Damas of Couzan raised his bejeweled chalice. "Any occasion to drink is a good occasion."

  She simply smiled, wondering how Damas could so easily reconcile this betrothal with his open support of a Christian bride at the last banquet.

  Through the arched entrance and the wide open doors at the end of the hall, Melusine could see the soldiers celebrating in the paved courtyard, under the stars. Outside, benches lined the long trestle tables covered with white linen. Metal braziers at regular intervals, warmed and brightened the cool spring night with their caged fire.

  Artaud laid a light hand on hers. Melusine returned her attention to the high table. Artaud motioned with his chin toward a thin, grizzly man in white robes at her end of the high table.

  Melusine leaned toward Artaud. "Is that Belenos? How did you get the old hermit to come out of his cave?"

  Artaud chuckled. "The messenger I sent to fetch him said that when the old seer heard of our betrothal, he insisted on blessing our union."

  "That's a rare honor from such an exalted one." Ida, on the other side of Artaud, poked her head around him to see Melusine better. "So, I take that as a good omen."

  "Indeed." Such benevolent power flowed around the vast hall, Melusine could almost see it swirl through the air.

  Upon a sign from Belenos, Artaud rose and knocked the side of his silver cup with the blade of his eating dagger. The ringing sound echoed through the vaults. Soon, the loud conversations hushed then ceased. Only the bustle of servants and the tinkle of ewers and cups broke the silence.

  Old Belenos rose with the help of his walking stick. He cut a solemn figure in his white robes, long white beard and staff. As the old hermit walked gingerly to face them across the high table, Artaud took Melusine's hand to help her stand.

  Melusine complied with grace. She rather liked the old hermit.

  Belenos nodded to Melusine then turned his back to face the guests seated on the outer edges of the trestle tables lining the walls. Inside the empty space at the center of the room, servants brought platters of delicious smelling food, and set them on the tables.

  "It is a good day indeed, when the people of Forez defeat their invader!" Belenos paused in the attentive silence. "And the Lord of Forez chooses a bride."

  The guests cheered, raising and clinking their cups.

  Belenos knocked the stone floor twice with his staff and the tumult quieted. "I give them my blessing."

  More cheers erupted.

  One stern look from Belenos, and silence returned. "May they reign upon Forez with kindness, protect their people, and may the powers in heaven look agreeably upon their union."

  A roar and more toasts cheered the new couple.

  Artaud squeezed Melusine's hand, a wide grin on his face. Heat suffused Melusine. Although she hadn't tasted the wine yet, she felt light-headed. Would his touch always affect her so?

  Belenos glanced back at Melusine and winked. She realized he had Fae blood in him. Not surprising. "And may they bear many sons to continue this promising line!"

  "Here, here!" The guests rose and raised their cups.

  With a flair for the dramatic, the old man knocked the floor with his staff then whirled with a flourish and returned to his seat, straight as a young man.

  The cheers reached a deafening level.

  Melusine forced a smile but shuddered at the mention of sons. The ladies of her kind often had difficulties bearing male children. She'd been lucky with Sigefroi, but some dark fear stirred inside her. She pushed away the foreboding to enjoy the moment. If the Great One Herself suggested this union, she would undoubtedly protect it... although that had not turned out true for her Fae mother.

  Musicians dragging stools and carrying instruments walked to the center of the room and sat. Soon, the small harp, the flute, the lute, and the tambourine brought forth joyful harmonies that mixed with the noise of conversations. Servants poured more wine, and the diners happily attacked the steaming platters, spearing roasted meats with their daggers and ladling vegetable stew on their bread trenchers.

  Commander Damas, on Melusine's left, cast her a lascivious glance. "Congratulations, my lady on winning our lord's heart. I've never seen him so smitten."

  Melusine raised a brow. "And congratulations on today's victory."

  Damas nodded. "Superior military s
trategy always wins, my lady."

  "I understand you had some help." Melusine couldn't resist the light sarcasm.

  "The young hot head in golden armor?" Damas chortled. "He looked good, but didn't do much."

  Melusine almost choked on her sip of wine. "Truly?"

  "He was all show and no substance." Damas gestured toward the guests in the hall. "You don't see him here tonight claiming credit for the victory, do you? He's a flake and he knows it."

  Melusine couldn't let Damas sully her work. "From what I saw, he nearly won this battle for you."

  Damas narrowed steely gray eyes. "No, my lady. Posterity will remember that Artaud and I won this battle."

  She forced a half smile and swallowed her pride. She refused to start an ugly argument on such a happy night.

  She focused on her trencher and discovered she was hungry. She had battled all day without eating, and she would need her strength tonight in Artaud's bedchamber. The very thought thrilled her. It had been so long since... Sigefroi. Her guilt had vanished. She would love Artaud like she had once loved Sigefroi.

  "Why did the archbishop invade Forez, anyway?" Guilli asked on a full mouth from Artaud's far side. "What did we do to him?"

  Artaud pinched his lips together, staring at his eating dagger. "He favors the Christian Church and the Holy Roman Emperor."

  "Emperor Conrad of Germany?" Gilli's eyes rounded.

  Ida, close to Artaud, nodded. "He wants us all to be Christian, and he wants to rule, so he can bring Forez back into the fold of the Empire."

  "But Forez is a free country!" The shock in the youngster's voice revealed his innocence.

  "Aye, it is." Melusine raised Artaud's cup and smiled. She liked Guilli.

  Artaud grinned. "And our castles and armies will allow us to remain free for the foreseeable future."

  Damas licked pork fat from his fingers. "But the Emperor and the pope are not the only ones looking to annex Forez."

  "Who else wants to attack us?" Guilli's eyes betrayed his eagerness to learn.

  "The king of France." Artaud speared a slice of venison as if stabbing the said king, then laid the meat on Melusine's trencher.

  "France never renounced Forez since the treaty of Verdun." Melusine remembered the treaty that divided Charlemagne's empire into his three grandchildren. "The treaty gave Forez to the German emperor, but it was too deep in French territory, and impossible to hold. Germany later released it and declared Lyon and Forez independent domains."

  Artaud glanced at Melusine with pride in his eyes. "Then the local barons elected a ruler among themselves."

  "That was my great-grandfather Guillaume!" Guilli interjected with enthusiasm. "My namesake."

  Melusine swallowed the sweet, honeyed venison that melted in her mouth. "But independence always comes at a price, Guilli."

  Guilli nodded fiercely. "Now we have to fight to keep it."

  "Exactly." Artaud smiled at Melusine with kind approval softening his dark gaze.

  "Artaud," Damas called over Melusine's head. "Methinks I should build myself a castle as well. So next time the archbishop comes knocking, we have one more stronghold to protect the land."

  Melusine seethed. Did Damas intend to challenge his overlord by building his own fortress?

  Artaud's gaze narrowed upon the commander. "Building a castle costs a great deal, Damas."

  Melusine took Artaud's meaning. He'd figured out Damas was stealing his gold, and now realized to what purpose.

  She turned to Damas. "Do you have the coin for it?"

  "Aye." Damas remained unruffled. "One more castle built at my expense can only profit everyone."

  Artaud remained silent, obviously weighing the consequences. Despite the logic, the threat remained. A vassal building his own castle could be interpreted as an act of rebellion, even an act of war. Yet, forbidding it might prove just as damaging for Forez.

  Melusine wondered how far Damas had thought this through. "And where would you supposedly build this castle of yours?"

  "There is a perfect mound in my private holdings, at Sails-Sous-Couzan. I think a castle there would look over a large territory and discourage any would be invader."

  Artaud's face tensed. "That is only a few miles away from here!"

  Melusine stilled. She knew that hill... near the swamps where she made her abode. She would reside with Artaud in Montarcher from now on, but on her cursed Wednesdays, she still needed to retreat to the swamps. A castle on that mound would dangerously increase her chances of discovery... but it would also allow her to spy on the treacherous Damas of Couzan.

  Chapter Eight

  Montarcher Castle - March 1029

  Flaming torch in hand, Artaud closed his bedchamber door behind Melusine, shutting out the noise filtering up the stairs from the rambunctious hall. The union they sealed tonight would make them one forever.

  His entire body flushed with heat at the prospect. But he'd better cool his lust, for if he touched her now, he wouldn't be able to stop. He wanted her to come to him.

  Her soft chuckle echoed through the chamber. "I thought we'd never escape the merrymaking."

  "Soldiers will feast and drink as long as they can keep awake. ‘Tis the tradition." He crossed the royal blue expanse of thick rushes to the open window. Acutely aware of her intense gaze upon him, he set the torch in the sconce, then closed the wood shutters against the chill of the night.

  She gazed about the bedchamber, back straight, rubbing the sleeves over her forearms.

  "Are you cold?" Walking to the fireplace, he crouched to poke and stir the embers, then he picked a thick log from the square stack against the wall and set it on the grate, atop incandescent cinders. He pumped the bellow, and sparks flew as new flames surged and hissed. "My men can be a rowdy lot, when they drink... especially after a victorious battle."

  "Battle fever..." She turned to face him. Firelight danced in her liquid eyes, like a sensual invitation.

  "Aye. Victory always warms a warrior's blood." By the horns of Mithras, he would have to rival the Lion of Luxembourg in the bed furs. Fortunately, tonight Artaud felt as virile as a rutting bull, and up to the challenge.

  "I see you finally furnished these cold rooms." She walked around the bedchamber, caressing a burnished bed post suggestively as she held his gaze.

  His leggings tightened as if she'd touched him there. Damn. He'd make a fool of himself if he didn't cool off his desire.

  She patted the soft blue blanket, swept the matching bed curtains that fell from the canopy. Then she stopped in front of the wall tapestry, a life-sized fresco of a falcon hunt. "Is this from Flanders?"

  "Indeed." His gaze intent upon her, Artaud lifted the leather baldric off his shoulder with its dangling sword, and hooked it on a wall peg by the head of the bed.

  Her fingers brushed the intricate stitching of the tapestry and he wished her fingers on his skin. She turned toward him and smiled. "The craftsmanship is exquisite."

  "It just arrived from my late father's estate in Lyon." He struggled to tamp down his eagerness as she returned her attention to the tapestry. Would she notice its significance?

  Melusine seemed to be delaying their coupling? Did she have second thoughts? Drawing his drinking cup out of the fold of his tunic, he filled it from the wine ewer set on the flat top of a coffer.

  She touched a dainty face on the tapestry then whirled to face him. "This is my oldest daughter, who married into the ruling family of Flanders."

  "I know. I had it brought here especially for you." Artaud grinned. "She became a great lady, loved and admired, and now has many royal grandchildren." He raised his cup in a toast and took several gulps of the sweet wine then refilled the cup for her.

  Her face brightened, as if the light in the room had suddenly flared. "How kind of you. You know of my daughter?"

  "Of course." He had studied the old scrolls and familiarized himself with the genealogy of Luxembourg. "You look so very young, ‘tis difficult to imagine
you have such a venerable offspring."

  "She envied my youth, hated me for it... even forbade me to visit her." Melusine sat on the end of the bed, making the mattress ropes sigh. She raised her clear gaze to him. "All this heartache because I never age."

  How Artaud wanted to alleviate her fears. He walked around the bed to comfort her. He touched her small shoulder and offered her the wine cup.

  She took a sip then met his eyes candidly. "Have you thought of the consequences this eternal youth might bring upon our family, upon our people?"

  "Our family will be beautiful and happy." Artaud rejoiced at the notion of family. The fact that she considered the people of Forez her people, made him love her even more. "What man would not rejoice at the prospect of a forever young and beautiful wife?"

  "A staunch Christian, among others." Cup in hand, she shivered. With dread, cold, or remembrance?

  "I shall not turn Christian on you, Melusine, I swear it." Unlike the Lion of Luxembourg, Artaud had grown up outside the Church. "My heart is Pagan."

  "I am glad to hear it." She took another sip of wine then flashed a small smile. "But Sigefroi never betrayed me. I am the one who left... to spare him a horrible death at the stake."

  "That was noble and compassionate of you." Artaud eased himself next to her at the foot of the bed and faced her across the blanket of brushed wool.

  She had a tiny, derisive smirk. "Sacrifice comes naturally when you truly love."

  "True love is rare and precious." He peered into her limpid eyes, seeking an honest answer. "Are you certain you are ready to consume our union?"

  "Ready?" She laid her free hand above the leather of his booted thigh. "I have waited for this moment for three decades."

  Blood rushed to his loins at her heated touch. "By the horns of Mithras!" Artaud lifted her hand in his and kissed the lavender-scented skin. He leaned his head into it, enjoying her tingling contact.

  She caressed his cheek. "How I love a smooth jaw."

  Artaud wanted her love. "Is there any chance you will love me for what I am in this present life, my lady?"

  "But I do." She raised her now luminous green gaze to meet his. "You are the most handsome, intriguing, wise, understanding, and courageous knight I've ever met."