by Sherry Ewing
He listened, momentarily, to the inner yearnings of his heart that he thought he had buried for all time. He swore his imagination was running away with him, since he could almost hear his own laughter as a young man whilst he rode with his brother and sire. Did his ears deceive him, or could he actually hear his father’s voice, telling him again of his prospects whilst he looked upon his protégée with pride shining in his eyes. They had ridden their land often whilst his sire boasted regularly of how one day ’twould all belong to him, as his heir and the future Earl of Warkworth. He could almost see his younger self and father, standing in this exact place, as his father’s arm swept the terrain afore them.
’Twas a long time ago. Had it truly been ten long years since he stood in the shadow of his birthright? Harsh memories of the last time he had seen his father suddenly invaded the more pleasant ones of his youth. Their last meeting had severed any ties between father and son, and all because of a woman filled with greed and ambition.
Most would not blame him, or so he had told himself over and over again throughout the years. If he thought on it long and hard enough, he could close his eyes and envision himself and Marguerite as they rode through the gatehouse and into the inner courtyard that warm summer day. Her sweet, tinkling laughter had rung in the air and had been so pleasing to his ears. He remembered the joy he had felt, knowing he loved her.
How could he have known that her feelings for him would be so shallow and would so quickly change? She would take but one glimpse of the vigorous and muscular appearance of his father and realize she did not wish to wait as long as ’twould take for the title to pass from sire to son. Obtaining the title of Countess had become her obsession, and Riorden soon knew that his love for her meant nothing in comparison.
The past and the present blurred angrily afore his eyes ’til he felt his wife’s reassuring hand, coming to rest gently on his arm. Her head was slanted upwards as if she was studying him. And he wondered how long she had been staring into his face that surely held his mixed feelings of returning to Warkworth. Her own expression was full of concern, and he watched as she attempted a small smile on his behalf. He had the feeling she knew exactly what demons possessed his mind at this moment as he attempted to come to terms with what he would now be facing, a home without his father’s presence yet with his unwelcome widow, who would surely make life a living hell. ’Twas not something he looked forward to.
He pointed out to Katherine the castle settled on the hill, almost as if she could not see for herself the place she would now call her own home.
“Let’s hurry, Riorden,” she exclaimed in excitement. “It seems as though I’ve waited a lifetime to see Warkworth up close and in all its glory.”
He gazed down into her radiant face and chuckled. “You would think I am giving you a present to open. Do you always get this high-spirited to view a pile of stones?”
“A pile of stones?” she repeated with a horrified expression. He watched in amusement as she crinkled up her nose at him, as if put out that he insulted their home. “Riorden, I’m going to be living in a castle...your castle. It’s not just a bunch of rocks to me.”
His melancholy mood left him of a sudden, and he tried to envision the castle as if seeing it for the first time through her eyes. He leaned down and placed a kiss upon her forehead. “Very well, ma cherie,” he whispered affectionately and watched her smile brighten. “Let us away with all haste so you may see Warkworth for all ’tis worth.”
Riorden made a motion of his hand, and their party moved forward. They quickly shortened the distance to the castle. The thundering hooves of their horses whilst they galloped by in a blur alerted the serfs working in the fields of their arrival. Katherine’s laughter rang out, and, for the first time, it appeared she was actually enjoying the exhilarating ride as Beast lengthened his stride, as if to appease his mistress and her desire to be home.
They had almost made it to a narrow bridge, separating the countryside and the village, when Riorden slowed his mount after coming upon a small, familiar wagon. A young boy and girl were jumping up and down in excitement and pointing in their direction. Katherine began to wave to the children, calling out their names.
He brought Beast to a halt and jumped down from the saddle. Lifting up his arms, he helped his wife down, and she all but ran to the children as if they were long lost family. Riorden came at a slower pace and watched the father take his cap from his head, holding it as if he was ready to be thrown into the gallows.
“I’s just knew he would find ye, milady,” Mary exclaimed with all the enthusiasm of a ten year old child.
“I’s did too,” her brother Peter shouted. He puffed his chest out, as if to prove he was just as smart at only six summers.
The mother tried to corral her children into some semblance of order. “Now children, do not be pestering ’er ladyship. Me apologies, milord,” Mabel muttered, bobbing her head up and down. She quickly brought a wooden chair for Katherine to sit down on.
Katherine laughed, breaking the tension filling the air. “You have nothing to worry about Mabel. Isn’t that right, Riorden?”
Riorden nodded his head and turned his attention to the nervous man afore him. “I had thought you to be living within the safety of the castle walls afore now, John. Did you not give my missive to the steward?” Riorden inquired, and wondered if he had erred, offering this stranger work at the Warkworth.
John began shuffling his feet. “Beggin’ yer pardon milord, but that was just it. The steward done run off, and the Countess would not e’en let us past the front portal.”
Riorden shook his head. Not even inside his own gates, and already she was vexing him. “I see,” he murmured calmly, although that was far from how he was truly feeling. “Well, I am here now. Follow us when you are ready. I shall see that you are set up with lodging for you and your family. A mason needs to be close to his work now, does he not?”
After helping Katherine to rise, Riorden walked with her back to Beast, and, this time, his wife gave the animal an affectionate pat on his neck. Once in the saddle, they again began to make their way across the wooden bridge. ’Twas not long afore they called out to the guard and waited as the drawbridge was lowered so they could cross the moat.
“Can you believe it, Brianna,” Katherine quietly whispered. “Just look at it! It’s so spectacular; I’m almost at a loss for words.”
Riorden waited as Brianna came abreast of them and handed her friend an apple. “Your mother would be shocked you can’t find your tongue, but you had better eat something, Katie. I can almost hear her now, telling you to take care of yourself and the baby.”
He urged his horse forwards and had barely made the outer baily afore Katherine asked him to stop where they were. Riorden watched her expression and was not sure if she was happy or about to shed a river of tears. He had only seen such a look once afore on her face, and ’twas when they had only been shadows to one another.
“Katherine?”
She squeezed his hand yet did not even bother to take her gaze from the view afore her. “I’m all right.”
Afore he knew what she had planned, she swung her leg over the saddle and slid gracefully to the ground. Her hand rested on Beast’s neck, as if she never had an aversion to his earlier demeanor towards her. She patted his neck, never taking her eyes off the surroundings in front of her, and held out the apple. His horse gave her a momentary look of doubt that did not even register on his wife’s face. As if he deemed such an offering safe, Beast gently took the apple from her palm and began munching on the unexpected, but welcome, treat.
The courtyard became instantly silent as all eyes turned to Riorden and his traveling companions. He could only imagine the thoughts running through everyone’s head at the sight of the prodigal son, who had finally returned. But that was of no concern to him at the moment. He was more interested in Katherine’s reaction to what she saw as she carefully made her way towards the Lion Tower whilst her friend j
oined her. They clasped hands, staring up at the stone structure, oblivious to the now silent courtyard as everyone halted their duties.
’Twas not ’til Katherine fell to the ground and began weeping as if in complete misery that conversations quickly resumed at a ferocious pitch whilst everyone began to have speech at once. Riorden rushed to her side, wondering in fear if her reaction was because she thought she had made a horrendous mistake by staying with him in the past.
Chapter 7
Katherine’s hands were shaking while she covered her tear soaked face. She was so overcome with a jumbled mess of emotions that she barely heard Riorden calling out her name. That his voice was getting closer by the second still meant nothing to her, at least for the moment. All she could comprehend in her poor, feebleminded head was that the castle was whole. Warkworth Castle, a medieval wonder as far as she was concerned, was completely intact and whole.
She felt, more than saw through her blurry vision, Riorden help her rise off the hard ground where her knees had buckled beneath her. Taking the sleeve of her tunic, she ran it lightly across her eyes as she continued to adjust to the wondrous sight in front of her. The keep stood there, almost begging her to hurry and come within its welcoming walls. She could already envision her reaction once she stepped inside the entryway. This would be a place she would call her home and raise her family until the end of her days. She gave a merry laugh in her excitement to begin her new life here with Riorden at her side.
“Katherine...what is amiss? Is it the babe?” Riorden questioned, full of worry since he obviously mistook her tears for ones of sadness.
“The baby’s fine, Riorden. Just give me a few minutes to myself, would you please?” she asked, turning her gaze on her husband and Brianna, who shared a similar look of astonishment on her face. She watched them both nod their consent then she turned back to take in the splendor of Warkworth.
To say that it was breathtaking would have been to do it an injustice, and yet it was magnificent in its simplicity just the same. True, it was nowhere near the size of Bamburgh, but Katherine was thankful for that. She couldn’t imagine attempting to control something of that magnitude. She had had a hard enough time keeping her tiny apartment in the future clean as it was.
She closed her eyes and listened contently to the everyday sounds of a working castle slowly coming back to life after the obvious initial shock its inhabitants had just experienced with Riorden’s return. Ever so slowly, she again took in the view. And, for the briefest moment in time, everything froze in place as the present and the future intermingled with each other. For a split second, the ruins of Warkworth as she had last seen them, centuries in the future, were before her, and yet, with a quick blink, they just as rapidly disappeared, replaced by this magnificent, twelfth century spectacle.
As she looked around, she noticed the people, who hastily turned back toward their duties that were briefly left unattended when they realized the lord of the manor had finally come to claim his birthright. Knights stood proudly at their posts on the various towers, ensuring all intrusions to the fortress would be recognized before they even came close to its walls. Horses nickered in the distance as young lads came to take their mounts to the nearby stables. Even the slam of hammering steel in the blacksmith building was a welcoming sound to her ears.
She took a deep breath, and the air, as it left her lips, did so shakily. Entirely overwhelmed by her emotions, she stood in the sunshine, watching the black lion standard of Warkworth flap in the afternoon breeze high above on the tallest tower of the keep. She let her hand come to rest on the Lion Tower wall. For an instant, she again watched in bewilderment when she could see its future, crumbling form. She had not expected to actually be able to feel the soft green moss, growing between the cracks of the stones that time had not been kind to. It was with a great sense of relief that she could look upward and see the perfectly shaped stone carving of the lion instead of only its glaring head...basically, the only thing that had survived the aftermath of age come the twenty-first century.
Katherine shook her head to clear her vision and gazed in amazement as the moss beneath her fingertips disappeared from view. She caressed the rough edges of stone to ensure they were really within her reach then sighed in relief and turned back to Riorden with a welcoming smile.
His brow rose in an unspoken question that she should declare her feelings to him and she went to him, linking her arm through his. “I don’t know how to explain it to you, Riorden, except to tell you, there is so much joy in my heart to see Warkworth standing.”
She watched as he looked on her and then raised his own eyes to the castle and grounds before him. “’Tis been standing for many years, Kat. It looks the same as it always has with one exception,” he replied and turned to his brother. “What was father building err his demise that stands between the courtyards?”
Gavin came and took Brianna’s hand, bringing her to his side. “I heard tell, he was building a church. Remember, I too, have not been home for many months, Riorden.”
“What was wrong with the chapel? ’Tis of adequate size and always served our needs.”
Gavin only shrugged. “In all honestly, I cannot tell you what I do not know, brother.”
Brianna gave a little, lighthearted laugh. “Well I, for one, am pleased to see the castle grounds in their original form.”
“It’s a miracle, to be sure,” Katherine whispered.
Riorden only grumbled underneath his breath. “I am afraid, I do not understand what you women are talking about.”
Katherine squeezed his arm. “Sorry...I should explain.”
Her husband gave her a look that told her to hurry up and speak her mind. Even Gavin had an impatient look for her to begin its telling. Brianna only gazed on her with sparkling eyes.
“The last time Brie and I saw this place, it was a crumbling pile of ruins. The keep was still there, but mostly a lot of the building was just opened up to view the sky. Even this Lion Tower holding your crest was a decaying mess.” Katherine sighed in pleasure while she once again reached out her fingertips to caress the rough stones. “I would have never dreamed to see it like this, but then again, who would have thought time travel was possible.”
“We literally had to pick Katie up off the ground,” Brianna chimed in, “much like you did just a few minutes ago, Riorden. For the life of us, we couldn’t figure out what she was so upset about.”
Katherine took Riordan’s arm while she stared up into his handsome face. “It’s like I told you at Berwyck,” she began. “In the deepest recesses of my mind, I was remembering what this place had actually meant to me. What it meant to us. This is the place where we built and lived our lives together, my love.”
Riorden remained silent and began to lead their group through the small tunnel separating the inner and out baileys or courtyards, depending on how you perceived things. The closer they got to the keep, the more excited Katherine became to see the inside of her new home.
“You are pleased, then?” Riorden leaned down to whisper tenderly in her ear.
She shivered as she always did whenever she heard the deep baritone of his voice; its seductive tone seemingly reached into her very soul. They had climbed the wooden steps leading to the keep’s door, and she held her breath in anticipation of the main wooden portal opening.
“It’s beautiful, Riorden,” Katherine exclaimed, urging him to let her at last see inside the keep. She was so excited, she was practically jumping up and down.
He gave a chuckle while observing her enthusiasm. At last he opened the oaken door, and, as it swung open, a foul stench reached their noses, wiping any other thoughts from their minds. Katherine practically gagged at the smell while they walked through the vestibule and into the Great Hall.
“Bloody Hell!” Riorden roared. “’Tis a cesspit!”
Katherine turned and buried her nose in her husband’s chest. Unfortunately for her delicate senses, she couldn’t agree more.
/> * * *
Riorden felt Katherine trembling in his arms and was at a loss for what to say. His fury was barely controlled as his eyes swept the interior of his hall, and his temper almost shattered in a thousand directions. He had not felt such raw, unrestrained anger since the last time he stood almost in this exact same place. Was this Karma coming to get him that Katherine had been telling him about?
’Twas a tragedy to witness the condition of his home, and even more so that he subjected his new wife and her friend to the dwelling. The rushes were a slimy mess beneath his boots, and he was almost afraid at what he might encounter were he to pass across the floor. Platters of rotting food had been left on several of the tables. He did not wish to speculate on how long it had remained thusly.
Cobwebs hung from the dusty tapestries and unused candlesticks, as if the spiders had enjoyed weaving their silvery death traps to their hearts’ content, since no one had disturbed their busy work. The torches hanging in the wall sconces were unlit and only small shafts of light shone down from the few upper windows, giving what light there was to the chamber. It lent a gloomy quality to the room that even he did not wish to linger in. Taking in the conditions around him, he would have thought the place had not been cleaned since his father’s passing. Surely, this could not be true.
A sudden high pitched shriek rent the air and vibrated off the keep wall with an eerie echo. ’Twas then he heard his name being called. Once...twice...thrice. Riorden tried to steady the uneven beat of his heart, knowing just who was calling his name. For an instant, he failed, as he remembered what this woman had once meant to him.
Her feet virtually flew down the stone steps at the far end of the hall. She was a vision of loveliness with her long black hair flowing behind her in a cascade of long loose curls. She took one look at him when she reached the last stair and gave a happy cry of relief. Her pale blue dress all but floated behind her as she ran to him with tears streaming down her face.