The Knights Dawning (The Crusades Series)

by James Batchelor

  John looked at her in surprise. He again glanced at Henry for some indication of her seemingly incongruous actions, and again Henry was looking elsewhere as if he was not aware of anything unusual in her behavior.

  “I understand that the selective breeding of the animals makes them quite rare, even in their own country,” Mary offered, “whereas in England we sell anything that looks the part. It can have brittle hip joints, soft hooves, and be dumb as a post from years of inbreeding; but if it looks big and strong, we don't care.”

  John again glanced at Henry, but this time he was rewarded with an explanation. “Mary is very interested in animal husbandry,” he explained.

  “I love animals,” she added. “And that one you are riding is a beautiful specimen indeed. Tell me, where did you acquire such a rare find?”

  John patted the animal’s neck appreciatively. “This was a gift from a friend,” he again dismissed the question. “And you are correct. It seems a shame to put a saddle on an animal this fine, but I tell you, I have never ridden a horse that seems so at home with a saddle. This animal seems to know what I am thinking before I do.”

  “Is it fast?” Mary asked, unable to keep her keen interest in the animal from showing.

  “Oh, milady, it is like riding the wind,” he assured her. “You positively must ride her as soon as it can be arranged.”

  “Oh no, I couldn't,” Mary said, suddenly embarrassed.

  “I insist. It is an experience you will not soon forget. The next time you visit Dawning Square, have your saddle brought. We will saddle her for you, and you can see what all the fuss is really about.”

  “Well that's very kind of you, John. I should like that very much.” She smiled to herself.

  The rest of the afternoon passed in easy frivolity. John was every bit the gentleman, and Mary laughed at every jest and gesture. John took his leave in the early evening.

  “John, you really must come and see us again soon,” Mary said to him as he prepared to depart. “I do not remember when I have enjoyed myself quite so much.”

  John bowed from the saddle and promised he would do his best. With a florid touch, his horse reared and darted away. Henry and Mary stood side by side and watched him depart.

  “What a despicable person,” Mary started the moment he was out of earshot. “Can you believe the way he was so brazen, as if I was some floozy that was going to be taken in by that?”

  “I don’t know, you seemed to be enjoying yourself,” Henry said as he started packing up.

  “Why, because I was polite? It was exactly as you said. He was desperately attempting to prove he was a nobleman.”

  “He is a nobleman.”

  “That is what made it all the more pathetic.”

  “He does need desperately to prove himself. That is why he was so weak. He wants me to be impressed with him and you to like him.

  Mary breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, I am just glad that is over. What an ordeal. Each new family member I meet is more trying than the last,” Mary said, settling back on the carriage as Henry put the last few things from the picnic in it.

  “You think that was rough? I was raised with them.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

  “You can't leave!” Leah was standing in the middle of the road in the moonlight, just outside of Dawning Castle. Her cloak was blowing about in the wind, revealing the hem of her nightgown below.

  “Where did you ever get such a preposterous ide—” William started to deny the accusation but was interrupted.

  “Don't bother trying to deny it. I know. Edith told me.”

  “Edith? How did sh—”

  “Haven't you learned that running away fixes nothing?”

  William reluctantly climbed out of his saddle. He approached her with a forced grin. “You know, this is the first time in my life I have ever seen you not perfectly made up.”

  “You left for four years before, and what is resolved because of it?”

  “You’re still lovely.”

  She punched him hard in the chest. “Leaving now will not fix anything.”

  William stumbled back slightly, more in shock than pain. “On the contrary, my leaving took care of all these problems; it was my returning that has stirred them all up again.”

  “You are needed here! This experience should have taught you that if nothing else. The family is rudderless.”

  “My family does alright.”

  “It is not just about them! Everyone suffers when the Dawnings suffer. Without solid leadership, rival barons are emboldened, uprisings increase, and lives are destroyed.”

  “Leah!” William interjected firmly. “Don't you see? All those things are happening since my return. I have returned Richard. If he survives, he will make a strong enough leader to make the barons think twice before attacking Dawning Court. And my leaving is the best guarantee that we will not soon face an attack of the barons. If I stay, I am guaranteeing a confrontation with Baron Braddock.”

  “Then fix it! Answer his challenge!”

  “Answer his challenge?”

  “Yes! You are not a scared, untried youth anymore. I know what you are. That foolish old baron challenged William Dawning the boy. He does not stand a chance against William Dawning the man!” She took a step toward him. “Answer his challenge, and put this foolishness behind you forever. Build a life here where you are needed more than you can ever know.”

  “What has aroused such passion in you?” William half laughed. “I have made it clear from the moment I set foot in Dawning Castle that this was how it must be.”

  “Are you so stupid you cannot see what lies before you?” Leah choked on the emotion in her voice. William opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. He had never seen Leah in such a state, and he certainly could not remember her ever speaking to him like this.

  William shook his head. “You don't understand,” he mumbled.

  “I what?” Leah said sharply.

  “You don't understand,” William said louder.

  “What don't I understand?” she demanded. William did not respond. “That you are afraid?” she said. “I know you are afraid. You were only a boy when Barron Braddock challenged you. Of course you retain the memory of the fear you must have felt when that seasoned, powerful warrior was shouting for your blood. But while the hand of time has weakened him, God has raised you up. I do not normally advocate such violence, you know that, but there is so much more at stake here than the pride of a foolish old man.”

  “No, it is not that,” William protested weakly. He was disturbed by how her words reverberated in him.

  “Then what, William?” Leah stepped up to him and tried to get him to meet her gaze, but he would not. “What is it, William? Is it David? Is it Salena?"

  “Leah—” he started in a plaintive voice but stopped.

  “What is it?” she called over the wind, forcing his face back to hers.

  “I killed David!” William said much louder than he had intended. Leah was stunned into silence. “I did not crush his chest, but his blood is on my hands just as surely as if I did! I reassigned him to the place that took his life, and…” He stopped, unsure if he could tell her what no one yet knew. “Even then he might have lived but for my mistake. He died saving my life. He answered my petty vindictiveness with selfless sacrifice.” Tears were flowing now. “Then I repaid him by abandoning his body to be trampled into the earth and become carrion for vermin, while I fled to save my own neck... Salena was right. He is a hundred times the man I am, and he has traded his life for mine.” William turned away and walked back to his horse, but his strength failed him and he slumped against the horse’s flank. “I told you this would happen. There is a curse upon me, Leah. Anyone I am close to will die. My curse is to always live. I will have to watch everyone I love be taken from me, and there is nothing I can do to prevent it… I should be dead so many times I cannot count them all, but here I stand, not even a scratch upon me, and my oldest friend is de
ad because I returned.”

  Leah slowly approached William. “David knew what he was fighting for. He knew the risks. And how would a knight rather go than on the field of battle in noble service to his closest friend? There is no other way he would have wanted to go.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  “It is the code knights live by, is it not?”

  William snorted. “The code? I was with David at the end. I looked into his eyes as he lay dying in that field so far from everything he loved. He knew the end was near, and I tell you there was terror in his eyes. There was no comfort from facing a ‘glorious end in noble service’. There was only fear. So much fear. David was not comforted to settle into the rest of a noble warrior. He was maintaining his death grip on life. He did not want to die.”

  “Who is next if I remain? My family? You?” William demanded. “Of all blood, I cannot bear to have yours on my hands.”

  She grabbed William’s shoulders and shook him. “Enough of that! David saved you because he saw in you something greater than himself. He saw in you what I see.” Tears were still streaming from William’s eyes, which renewed her own. She pulled him to her and held him tightly as they wept together, a reenactment of a night so many years ago—a lifetime ago.

  It was some time before William came to himself. He stepped back from her. “It is too dangerous,” he said, wiping his face with his palm. “I will not jeopardize the safety of those I love to gratify my own desires.” He climbed back in the saddle without looking at her.

  “William, what has all this done to your impressionable mind? You are drawing correlations between events where none exist. Your returning here did not cause David's death.”

  “You really are too good for this world,” he smiled sadly at her. “Everything else good in my life I have corrupted or destroyed. But you have always remained supremely good.”

  “William, please,” she pleaded softly.

  “William... this was your—my last chance.” Leah was visibly deflated as he shook the reins and started his horse into a trot. Then remembering something, she called after him. “Henry's wedding. You need to be here for Henry's wedding.” William rode quietly into the darkness.

  CHAPTER NINETY

  “Break!” The trainer called. “That's enough for today,” he said to Richard and his sparring partner.

  Richard shook his head. “Not yet,” he said while gasping for breath. “I want to keep going.”

  Martin seemed instantly piqued. “I said we are finished for the day! I only agreed to train you on condition that you would follow my rules,” the trainer said crossly. “If you are pushed too hard in the beginning, you will ultimately slow down your recovery.” Henry, who had just entered the training yard, braced himself for a row. His brother was a strong man and a skilled warrior, but above all he was proud. He did not work well with domineering trainers. But to William's surprise, Richard merely held up one hand in surrender, the other braced on his knee as he struggled for breath. “I acquiesce,” he gasped. “It will be as you say.”

  “Come to mock the once great warrior?” Richard said lightly as he stood erect with some difficulty in order to greet Henry. He tore off his protective mask. Sweat was pouring down his face.

  “Not at all,” Henry assured him. “Considering a few weeks ago I was listening intently for your death rattle, I am amazed to see you in the training yard already.”

  Richard collapsed on a nearby bench, reaching for the water that had been set out. “I cannot believe how much I have lost,” he said, wiping his mouth after a long drink.

  “You have lost some bulk, but that's to be expected,” Henry observed, sitting on the bench next to him.

  “No, I can tell my strength is gone,” he said, looking disgustedly at the fencing foil in his hand. “Even this thing feels heavy.” He threw the weapon aside. “But mostly I feel it in my stamina. I am instantly winded.”

  “Well, you know what they say, it’s easier to stay conditioned than to find it again once lost,” Henry uttered sagely.

  “Wonderful, thank you,” Richard rejoined sarcastically as he took another long drink between breaths.

  Henry felt slightly guilty for making light of his brother’s difficult situation. This was surely devastating for him to be reduced to this state. For the first time in his life, he had been in need of rescuing, and now he was struggling to regain the strength that had always come naturally to him. Henry sought to reassure him. “Take heart, brother. The quality that most set you apart from your peers and, unfortunately, most of your siblings, is discipline. You achieved remarkable things once because of it, and you will again.”

  Richard was staring at the floor as Henry spoke. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

  “You know, if this trainer is not agreeing with you, I could make other arrangements for you,” Henry offered.

  “No, I will stick with this. Thank you, though. Martin is tough, and that's what I need right now.”

  A door on the opposite side of the yard opened, emitting a very striking blond woman that started toward them. Her face tapered down from high, regal cheekbones, to a finely pointed chin. She was dressed simply enough in a grey dress with a heavy cloak to guard against the chill of the late winter air. Richard and Henry both stood as she approached, and Richard's face broke out in a broad smile.

  “Grace, I hope this day finds you well?” Richard said pleasantly, his exhaustion seeming to vanish.

  “It does, Sir Knight. And how are you bearing up?” she said, taking his hand and moving close to him. “Training went well, I presume?”

  “I am coming along, a bit slower than I had hoped, but I am getting there.”

  “Well, if it was anyone else, he would not even be out of bed yet. Your progress astounds me.” She leaned in close, and Henry became extremely uncomfortable and began looking for an inconspicuous mode of exit.

  Richard suddenly remembered himself and turned to Henry, slightly embarrassed. “Grace, I need to introduce my brother, Henry.” Grace stared at him blankly for a moment, and then her eyes brightened. Without warning she stepped over to Henry, put her hands on his shoulders, pulled him close, and kissed his cheek. “My heartfelt gratitude to you,” she said sincerely.

  “Gratitude?” Henry said bemused, one hand going unconsciously to his cheek.

  “For saving Richard. For bringing him back to me,” Grace elaborated with misty eyes.

  Henry was even more awkward. “Well, I had help. At least I seem to remember some other people along.”

  “Grace was my nurse upon our return,” Richard explained. “Actually, you have met her before.”

  “I'm sorry, I'm sure I would have remembered,” Henry shook his head.

  “Well, I was a lot younger,” Grace elaborated. “My father is Randall Tell. Anthony is my brother,” she said excitedly. Henry searched his memory to find the cute blond girl from his youth. He could recall only limited interaction with her as a child, as she was several years younger than he was.

  “Is that so? Well, it is a pleasure to re-make your acquaintance.”

  “Our family was visiting while my father tried to arrange a favorable match for Anthony.” Her speech became very rapid as she spoke. “The ennui was driving me to distraction when I heard that Richard was in need. Well, what could a lady do other than offer her assistance? I was surprised, after all the stories I have heard, to discover this fierce warrior was really just a gentle giant.”

  “Yes, well, trying times will change a man, won't they?” Henry said, watching Richard for his reaction to Grace’s comments. Richard did not seem at all embarrassed by her words. He merely smiled at her as she spoke.

  “And with so much in common,” Grace continued, as if Henry had not spoken, “we had an instant rapport.”

  “I can see that. How wonderful,” Henry said politely, mildly amused by Grace’s overly forward nature.

  “You know,” Richard interrupted, “I never thanked you properly fo
r what you did. I did not deserve rescuing, but you and William…” He stepped over, put his hands on Henry’s shoulders, and looked him directly in the eye. “Thank you for my life.”

  Henry was again uncomfortable by being put suddenly on the spot. “Do not give it a thought. You are our brother. What else could we do?”

  “Well, I think you had better take it easy for the rest of the day.” Grace said, taking his arm and pulling him toward the door.

  Richard looked over his shoulder at Henry. “She mothers me unbearably, but she's beautiful, so what can I do?” He laughed as he let himself be led toward the door.

  Henry sat down again on the bench in the training yard. This was a different side to Richard he was seeing, a kinder, gentler side. And Richard was making more of an effort at it than ever before. He wondered how deep this gentler side actually ran in him. Was it a permanent change or would he, like most people, slip back into his old character as he moved further and further away from his humbling experiences? Time alone would tell.

  CHAPTER NINETY-ONE

  “Lord Mayfield, it has been a long time,” Martha Dawning said to Mary’s father without much warmth.

  “Lady Dawning, how did we ever let it get to be so long?” the large, bearded man said affectionately.

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” Martha Dawning said perfunctorily. In point of fact, she remembered perfectly well why they had not seen each other since before Braden died, and she was positive that George Mayfield remembered as well. But there was little point in rehashing it now.

  “I hope you know how deeply sorry we were to hear of Baron Dawning’s passing.” Sympathy was dripping from his voice. Mayfield’s slip of a wife nodded her greeting to Martha but said nothing.

  “Lady Mayfield, it is good to see you after all these years.” Lady Mayfield was a tall, thin woman with a serious face. Lines of severity now marked what was once a very comely countenance.