“Good eve to you, my lord,” Penelope said politely as she led Tacey from the hall.
Bhrodi’s eyes were riveted to her, thinking of finding her in his bed when he retired later on. “Good eve, my lady,” he replied, his tone bordering on seductive. “I will join you later.”
Penelope merely nodded, lowering her head so he wouldn’t catch the blush in her cheeks. She had heard his tone and it sent shivers coursing through her body. After their voyage of discovery last night, she was embarrassed that she was anticipating what might come tonight. The red hue to her cheeks gave her thoughts away.
Bhrodi watched the pair leave, hearing their footfalls fade as they mounted the stairs for the upper floor. As Bhrodi admired his wife as the woman left the room, Bron had tucked into the bread on the table, ravenous after his stay in the buttery with no food or water. He had a full mouth when Bhrodi returned his attention to him.
“Now,” he said, his voice low as he motioned Ianto and the others closer. “You will start from the beginning of your meeting with Tudur and Lon, and tell me exactly what was said. I would know what manner of rebellion I am dealing with so I can better deal with the remaining chieftains.”
Bron swallowed the bite in his mouth, eyeing Ianto and Ivor as the men sat on either side of Bhrodi. “Did you really feed them to the beast?” he asked quietly.
Bhrodi didn’t acknowledge the question, which was an answer in and of itself. When he prompted Bron to tell him of the meeting that led to the wedding feast assault, Bron told him everything he could because perhaps deep down, he was fearful he might end up in the belly of the beast as well. Bhrodi could be unpredictable that way.
When the discussion was finally over and Bron headed home to see his wife and sons, he couldn’t help but wonder what the coming days would bring. Bhrodi had made it clear that treachery from his vassals would not go unpunished. He wondered if more chieftains would meet their fate at the fangs of the serpent.
*
Kevin wasn’t quite sure how long he’d been awake. All he knew was that somewhere over the past few minutes, he realized that he was staring at a ceiling. There was a fire in the room because he could see it dancing off the walls, flickers of orange and yellow against the stone.
It was an odd sensation, really. He had no idea where he was nor could he remember how he got here. The last memory he had was of watching Penelope as she married that arrogant Welshman and then there was something about drinking too much wine. He could hear his mother begging him not to drink anymore. He thought very hard on what he was doing at the time of all the drinking and seemed to recall a wedding feast. Aye, that’s what it was – a wedding feast. He had been drinking too much, feeling very bad over Penelope’s marriage, and then chaos ensued.
Crashing tables and men with short-blade swords. Welshmen who wanted to kill him. Aye, he remembered that clearly. As he stared at the ceiling and tried to recall how he ended up on his back, he heard the door to the chamber open and soft voices enter. Turning his head slightly, he could see Penelope approaching.
“Kevin,” Penelope gasped as she quickly moved to him. “You are awake. How do you feel?”
Kevin gazed up into her lovely face, feeling a good deal of angst but he hid it well. He shifted slightly, trying to get a feel for his level of discomfort.
“Wounded,” he grunted as pain shot up his torso, into his chest and down his left arm. “What happened?”
Penelope reached out and grasped his hand. “You do not remember anything?”
Kevin tried to take a deep breath but he ended up hurting himself again. “I… I am not sure,” he said, trying to sort through the cobwebs in his brain. “There was a fight at your wedding feast.”
Penelope nodded. “Indeed there was,” she said. “Local chieftains who did not agree with Bhrodi’s decision to take an English bride.”
Kevin remembered that much. “My parents? They are well?”
Penelope squeezed his hand. “They are very well,” she said. “Only you and Thomas were injured. You must remain here at Rhydilian until you heal.”
“Did everyone else leave?”
“This morning. Your mother was very distraught about it but my father thought it best to return to England as soon as possible.”
Kevin grunted. “A wise decision,” he agreed. Then, he tried to move his stiff neck around as if looking for something. “Where is Thomas?”
“Here,” came the muffled reply from the corner. “You snore like an old bull, Hage. I thought you were going to bring the walls down around us.”
Penelope grinned and let go of Kevin’s hand, moving to where her brother was just rolling over onto his back. His hazel eyes gazed up at his little sister.
“What has happened since I’ve been trapped in this room with the great rumbling beast?” he asked. “What day is it?”
Penelope giggled as she grasped her brother’s hand. “It is the day after my wedding,” she replied. “You have been asleep since last night when you were injured. Bhrodi’s surgeon gave you both a potion to make you sleep.”
Thomas sighed heavily, putting a hand to his head. “No wonder I feel as if I’ve been hit in the skull with a hammer,” he said, looking over at Kevin. “Do you feel that way, too?”
Kevin nodded faintly. “My head feels as if it weighs as much as my horse,” he said. “But I will admit that I am thirsty. And hungry.”
A roll suddenly appeared in his face. Startled, Kevin pulled back a little to see a very young woman standing next to his bed. She was tiny, dark haired, and very pregnant. He blinked at her, somewhat surprised to see her there.
“Greetings,” he said.
Faced with a stranger, Tacey reverted to her stammering shyness. “You… you can have my bread,” she said. “You said you were hungry.”
Penelope let go of Thomas’ hand and came over to Tacey as the young woman stood over Kevin’s bed.
“I will go to the kitchens and get him something to eat,” she said, taking the girl by the shoulders and turning her for the door. “You go up to your chamber now and prepare for sleep.”
Tacey was all but pushed to the door. “Will you come and see me before I go to sleep?”
Penelope nodded. “Aye,” she replied. “Go, now. I will see you in a few moments.”
Taking a bite of her roll, the one she offered to Kevin, Tacey quit the chamber and headed up to her bower. When she was gone, Penelope turned back to Kevin and Thomas.
“I shall send the surgeon to you both,” she said. “I am sure he will want to know that you are awake.”
As Kevin nodded weakly, Thomas climbed out of bed with great effort. “I have had to piss badly for the past several hours,” he said, grunting with exertion. “I was having dreams of pissing great yellow rivers. It is time I find a garderobe before I burst.”
Penelope giggled at her crude brother. “There is one downstairs in the feasting hall.”
Thomas staggered past her, holding his tightly wrapped arm and shoulder. “I shall find it.”
“Do you need my help walking?”
“Nay.”
Penelope followed him to the door anyway, making sure he made it down the stairs without falling. Once she was sure he had made it down unharmed, she returned her attention to Kevin.
“I will send for food for you,” she said quietly. “I am sure you will not be able to eat anything substantial for a while, so it may only be broth and gruel. Not very filling.”
Kevin’s right arm moved to the heavy bandages across his torso. “A chest wound?”
Penelope went back over to his bed, looming over him. “Abdomen,” she said. “Right in the middle of your body.”
He fingered the bandages, pondering her reply. But as he did so, his thoughts inevitably moved to the feast and the wedding itself. He struggled to shake off the extreme sadness the event provoked but he couldn’t help himself from speaking on it.
“You are married now,” he said softly.
Pen
elope nodded, wondering where the conversation was going to lead. She didn’t want him upsetting himself over things he could not change.
“Aye,” she responded quietly.
“Your husband,” he continued, “has he been good to you so far?”
Penelope nodded again. “He has been kind and generous,” she said, hoping it would ease Kevin’s mind. “I fear he wants me to be a true lady, however. He does not seem to approve of me wearing armor and carrying a broadsword.”
She was smiling as she said it, hoping he would see the humor in it, but Kevin’s expression remained neutral. “I would have permitted it,” he whispered. “I would have let you be what you wanted to be.”
Penelope’s smile faded. “You know me too well,” she said, hoping to avoid the emotion of his statement. “Besides, I can best you in a fight. You would not have had a choice in letting me do what I wanted to do.”
He reached out and grasped her hand, unwilling to give in to any humor at the moment. He wanted to be serious and she was jesting.
“I want you to listen to me and listen well,” he muttered. “This wound may kill me yet and I want to say all I must say to you in case I die. Will you hear me?”
Penelope’s humor vanished and she tried to pull away from him. “Nay,” she said. “There is no reason for you to tell me anything, Kevin. What is done, is done. I am a married woman now and nothing you can say will change that.”
He wouldn’t let her go, showing surprising strength for a man who was gravely injured. “I realize that,” he said. “But there is so much I have wanted to say to you for so long but I never did. I want you to know how much I love you, Penny. I will always love you. If anything happens to de Shera, know… know that I will be waiting for you.”
There was pain in her expression as she gazed at him. “I do not want you to wait for me,” she said softly. “I want you to find a wonderful woman to marry, one who will worship you as you deserve to be worshipped. For you to remain unmarried and without sons to carry on your name is such a tragedy, Kevin. Do not make me the reason for this tragedy.”
He sighed faintly. “If my sons cannot have you as their mother, then I see no point,” he murmured. “You were always my destiny, Pen. I am sorry I was not yours.”
Penelope was having trouble looking him in the eye. “You give me such guilt, Kevin. I wish you would not say such things.”
“I do not mean to give you guilt,” he said. “This is my burden to bear. But… but if your marriage to de Shera had never happened, would… would you have accepted me as a suitor?”
She looked at him then, a reproachful sort of expression. “I have been of marriageable age for four years,” she said. “You had four years to declare your intentions and you never did.”
“Because I knew you would have rejected me,” he said frankly. “Your mindset was not one of marriage or children and I knew that. I was waiting until you grew up a little but, unfortunately, your father had other plans.”
Penelope wasn’t sure what to say to that. Kevin was still holding her hand, refusing to let it go, so she squeezed his fingers. “Bhrodi is a good man,” she whispered confidently. “He will take great care of me. You do not have to worry.”
Kevin didn’t say anything to that. Part of him didn’t want to hear that de Shera was a good man; he didn’t like Penelope speaking fondly of another man. However, his mind was eased to know she was in good hands. It was a strange paradox.
“Please tell me just this once and I shall never ask again,” he whispered. “Could you… would you have accepted my suit?”
Penelope looked down at the man she had always been very fond of. She’d known for years he had been in love with her but he had been correct when he said her mindset hadn’t been one of marriage and children. She had always taken it for granted that Kevin would always love her and when, or if, she ever decided to marry, he would have been the one. It had been terrible of her to put the man through such grief. After a moment, she nodded.
“Aye,” she murmured.
“Could you have loved me?”
She wasn’t even sure how to answer that. She wanted to ease him, feeling terribly sorry for him. “Aye,” she whispered, barely audible. “I am sure I could have.”
Kevin’s expression changed at that moment; he grasped her so tightly that he was hurting her hand.
“Then come away with me,” he begged softly. “Let us leave Wales and go somewhere together. France, mayhap. They are always looking for skilled knights to fight their wars. We could live as man and wife, and I would love you and only you until the end of my days. Please, Penny; go with me.”
Shocked at his suggestion, Penelope tried to be tactful in her reply. “I cannot and you know it,” she said. “I am married to Bhrodi, a wedding arranged by my father. How would it reflect on my father if I were to run away with you? Would you bring such shame down upon our families?”
Kevin stared at her as her words sank in. It was the rejection he always knew she would give him and he felt ashamed. He wasn’t a weak man by nature but she made him feel weak; so very weak. He was also ill and feeling desperate, a bad combination when it came to his self-control. Closing his eyes against her disapproving face, he looked away.
“Forgive me,” he muttered. “I should not have… please forgive me. It will not happen again.”
Penelope felt so very sorry for him. She squeezed his hand. “I am sorry, Kevin,” she whispered, “so truly sorry. I wish things could have been different for your sake, but my future is already set and I must face it. I pray you find peace in yours.”
Leaning over him, she kissed him on the forehead and he reached up his good hand, touching her face in a manner he’d always wanted to touch her. But he just as quickly pulled away and his hand fell to his side. His eyes remained closed and Penelope’s gaze lingered on him sadly. Turning for the door, she came to an immediately halt by the sight in the doorway.
Bhrodi was standing there and, from the expression on his face, she was certain he had heard every word between her and Kevin.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The messengers had gone out to all of the chieftains under Bhrodi’s command and the conference to discuss his marriage was set for morning of the next day. Five days after her marriage to the great Welsh warlord and hereditary King of Anglesey, Penelope’s life at Rhydilian was starting to setting down and settle in, including the anticipation of facing those who were opposed to the marriage.
Even with the opposition, however, a balance was forming between her and her husband, and it was clear that a strong bond was beginning to be established. It was something that seemed to be forming fairly quickly, as it was coming naturally. There was a pull there, an attraction, that could not be denied, and it was gaining in intensity by the hour. Once Penelope began to warm to him again after the attack on her family, everything became easier.
The night of Kevin’s confession, Bhrodi hadn’t said a word about it. He’d merely escorted Penelope to their chamber, speaking on his meeting with Bron but little else. Penelope thought perhaps to bring up the subject and discuss it, not to hide it from him, but he glanced over it when she tried to bring it up. After two tries, she gave up. Evidently, he didn’t want to discuss it so she let the subject go. They had much more serious things to worry about other than a wounded knight who was in love with Penelope. It had been clear that she hadn’t returned that love.
The night before the big conference, Bhrodi seemed to be in a particularly good mood. The serving women, the ones who had disturbed him so at the onset, had indeed proved to be an asset at Rhydilian and the place seemed to be running better than it ever had. The floors were swept, Tacey was tended, fires were kept burning and the kitchens were in order, so much so that Penelope didn’t have to do much of anything. It was evident that her mother had conferred with the serving women and told them that her daughter wasn’t much of a chatelaine, which didn’t bother Penelope because it was the truth. The women were a smal
l army of attendants and Penelope hadn’t even learned their names yet.
But it was something she intended to remedy. She was coming to be the least bit bored since she didn’t have anything else to occupy her time, so she thought that perhaps she should learn something of running a household. Therefore, on the evening before the great meeting of the chieftains, she wandered down into the kitchens where three of the women were cooking. Bread was in the oven, pots were boiling over the fire, and in the middle of the giant butcher’s table in the kitchen was a fully roasted pig. The animal had cooked in the yard all afternoon and had just been brought inside to dismember. It smelled delicious.
Penelope was mostly observing. The three women in the kitchens were all widowed, with children long grown, and were cousins. They had a good camaraderie going and Penelope liked that. It reminded her of her own family and her myriad of female cousins. Dilys, Awen, and Braithe were very friendly and answered all of Penelope’s questions, even about the simplest of things. They showed her the ovens, told her what was cooking in the pots, and even showed her how to butcher the cooked pig. Penelope rather liked the look of the big butcher’s axe and asked if she could give it a try. They handed it over to her and, with much glee, she ended up hacking apart the entire pig. It was the first time she had held a blade in her hand in almost a week so the thrill of it was almost too much to bear. The roast pig didn’t stand a chance.
When the supper hour rolled around, Bhrodi began looking for his wife because she was nowhere to be found. She wasn’t in their chamber, or in the stables, or even with the recovering English knights. Bhrodi had politely invited them to sup with him in the great hall if they were able to move, but had left before either one of them could give an answer because he was more concerned with finding Penelope. He eventually did, in the kitchens in the lower level of Rhydilian, and was just in time to see his wife hack the head from the roasted pig in one clean stroke. As a knight, Bhrodi recognized a kill stroke when he saw it, and Penelope had delivered it with a good deal of skill.
The Original de Wolfe Pack Complete Set: Including Sons of de Wolfe Page 299