by Aston, Alexa
Michael Devereux’s arrival had changed that.
Geoffrey watched the men battle one another. Stripped to the waist, the soldiers’ muscles flexed as they waged war. Though both proved swift on their feet, Michael’s movements were a shy more fluid. That gave him the advantage, which he now used to best Hammond. Applause broke out among the soldiers. Many of the pairs had stopped to watch the duel between Kinwick’s best.
“I wish I had a score of men with half their talent,” muttered Gilbert.
Geoffrey smiled at his captain. “You are a master swordsman yourself, Gilbert. You know how I value you and your way of teaching the men.”
Gilbert nodded at the compliment. “Thank you, my lord,” he said gruffly.
“I’ll need ten of the men to accompany me tomorrow for a visit to my sister’s. My niece is to wed in a week’s time, and we’ve been invited to the wedding.”
“Shall I choose which soldiers will make up the escort party?”
“Nay. I will do so myself. Carry on.”
Geoffrey walked toward Michael. Hammond had already gone to the trough and dunked his head in, shaking his hair out.
“Michael? A word?”
The young knight’s laughter stopped as he turned away from his companion’s antics. Seeing his liege lord addressed him, he stood tall. “Aye, my lord?”
“I know we only just arrived from London, but I would like you to lead an escort party to my sister’s home.”
Michael didn’t hide his delight in being asked to be in charge of the guard. He flashed a broad smile. “Of course, Lord Geoffrey. When would you like us to leave? And which knights will go?”
Geoffrey thought a moment. “I have great trust in you, Michael. I will allow you to select the men. Including yourself, I would like a guard of ten to bring myself and my family to Hopeston Castle, which we can reach in two days.”
“When do we leave, my lord?”
“After we break our fast tomorrow.”
Michael grew serious. “Then I will speak to the men at once and make the preparations for our journey.” He paused. “Thank you, my lord, for having faith in my abilities.”
Geoffrey gave the younger knight a fond smile. “You have come a long way since yours days as a page, Michael.”
Michael broke out in a grin. “I have, indeed, my lord. If you’ll excuse me?”
“Of course.”
Geoffrey watched the soldier make his way toward Hammond. After a moment’s conversation, Hammond eagerly nodded in agreement. The two men slapped each other on the back, and Michael went to speak to another knight. Satisfied, Geoffrey turned back toward the keep, ready to spend time in private with his wife.
Chapter Two
Hopeston Castle
“The only explanation I can think of is that you’ve gone mad.” Avelyn fell back onto the bed dramatically, her arms spread wide.
Elysande shook her head at her younger sister’s behavior and sat in a chair next to the bed. She took Avelyn’s hand in hers, knowing their time together drew to a close. She couldn’t imagine a life without her sister in it. They had been as thick as thieves growing up and loved each other as sisters—but more importantly—as friends. Elysande’s head ached thinking she would no longer be able to share everything with Avelyn on a daily basis.
Avelyn sat up. “This is your chance to escape living with the tyrant,” she said, her eyes large. “You cannot stand Lord Holger. You wished Mother had never married him.”
“But she had to,” Elysande pointed out. “King Edward requested the match. No matter how you feel, you don’t say no to the king. Mother had no choice but to marry Lord Holger and bring us south with her.”
“Well, I think you’re lucky. You’ll get away from this dreary place and all of Lord Holger’s bluster. He’s nothing but a fool.” Avelyn sighed. “I wish Papa would have betrothed me to someone as he did you.”
Elysande stroked her sister’s cheek. “He planned to do so. He told me as much. Father worked to have my betrothal contract signed first since I am two years older, and then he wanted to concentrate on finding a husband for you.” She paused. “He didn’t know how sick he would become or how fast death would occur.”
Avelyn sat up and gave her a hug. “I know. I miss him so very much. He was a good father, but he was also a good man.”
Elysande brushed aside a tear before it fell. “He was, indeed.” She stood and restlessly began to pace their bedchamber. “But as much as I wish to escape from Hopeston, I don’t want to leave you behind.”
“Or the horses.”
Elysande nodded. “Or the horses. Morningstar is due to foal soon. How can I miss that? And yet, in her condition, I can’t take her with me.” She continued roaming aimlessly about the room. “Do you think my new husband will even care? Will he allow me to send for Morningstar and her foal? Or will he allow me to dress like this?”
She glanced down at her man’s clothing, which she wore far more than her smock and kirtle. Then she collapsed upon the bed. “I don’t like to do anything that’s ladylike in nature. I’m going to make a terrible wife.”
Avelyn flopped beside Elysande, her hand resting under her head as she lay on her side. “Maybe Hendry will fall so in love with you that he’ll allow you to dress as a boy. Or should I say a man? You are twenty now.”
Elysande rolled over to her side and faced Avelyn. “I wish I could be feminine like you are. You love pretty clothes. You look good in anything you wear. You enjoy sewing tapestries and mending tunics. I’ve never been good at the womanly arts.”
Avelyn sighed. “I’m still jealous of you. Except for the part where you’ll have to move north to live. I much prefer the milder weather in the south. ’Tis the only good thing that has come from Mother’s new marriage. I wonder when Lord Holger will get around to finding me a husband. Not that he even knows my name. He never calls either of us by name, Elysande. That’s wrong. It’s as if he doesn’t acknowledge that we even exist.”
“Lord Holger is an idiot. He probably can’t remember our names. But Mother will see that he does his duty. She will insist that he find a husband for you.”
“Do you suppose Hendry has any brothers?” her sister mused. “If I could marry one of his brothers, we wouldn’t have to be separated.”
Elysande shrugged. “I know so little about him. We only saw each other for a few moments when the betrothal contracts were signed four years ago. He barely said a word and looked so skinny and pale. Hendry mispronounced my name, and I had to tell him twice it was EL-a-sund. Twice!” As she tried to remain calm, she revealed something that had cut her to the quick. “What I remember most was that when he left, he told me that he didn’t enjoy riding!”
Avelyn gave her a sorrowful look. “You never told me that.”
“How could I? Horses are my life. I like them better than I do most people. How can I marry a man who refuses to like riding? What kind of man is that?”
“Elysande! Calm yourself,” her mother ordered as she entered the chamber and closed the door. “You met the boy a long time ago. Surely, he has matured during these past few years. And so what if he doesn’t care for riding? Not everyone is as horse mad as you are.”
Elysande bit back the sharp retort that threatened to escape. No sense in alienating her mother in the short time they had left together. Yet, even that thought brought misery to her. She had put off thinking about her upcoming marriage for years. It seemed to be in the distant future. And now, it was right around the corner. Soon, she would return to the north, the place of her birth, far from her sweet mother and beloved sister. She looked at the pair and shuddered.
“I have some wonderful news to share with you,” her mother said. “I just received word that my brother, Geoffrey, and his wife, Merryn, will attend your wedding. They are bringing their three children with them—your cousins. I haven’t seen Geoffrey since he was a boy of seven. ’Tis more than twenty years that have passed. I can’t wait to see how he turned ou
t and meet his family.”
Elysande rarely saw this kind of glow on her mother’s face. She wondered if her mother would be alive a score from now. Glancing at Avelyn, Elysande tried to picture her sister twenty years in the future. Slightly heavier after birthing babies. Faint lines about her eyes and mouth. Elysande could not imagine going that long without seeing her only sibling. It made her want to burst into tears.
Her mother chattered on about her former life at Kinwick Castle and the trouble she and her sister Eloisa used to get in to. She told a few stories about their baby brother and how good-natured Geoffrey had been. How she loved playing games and telling stories to him.
The more animated she became, the more she seemed like the mother Elysande had grown up with. A nurturing woman who loved her husband and children and would do anything for them.
“Do you miss Father?” she asked.
Her mother startled at the question and then frowned. She looked to Avelyn. “Leave us, child. I wish to speak to your sister alone.”
Elysande saw the protest forming on Avelyn’s lips and shook her head. Avelyn picked up on the cue and left the room without a backward glance.
Once the door closed, her mother warned, “I’ve asked you never to speak of your father, Elysande.”
“Are you afraid of Lord Holger, Mother? Does he beat you? Is he unkind? I can’t leave you in his care if something is wrong between you.” She went and put an arm about her mother, wanting to comfort her.
Mary shrugged. “’Tis the way of the world. Holger leaves me alone for the most part. I run his household in the manner I see fit. Is he a fool? Of course. But for the most part, I have a free hand and don’t have to spend much time in his company.”
“I have no intention of running a household,” Elysande proclaimed. “And I fear Hendry won’t have changed much. He was weak and sick then. He will be the same now.” She began pacing again, the words spilling from her. “I plan to twist this new husband of mine round my little finger. I won’t dance to his tune. He will dance to mine.”
Her mother gave her a stern look. “You would be wise to have a change of heart, my sweet girl. Hendry’s father is a hard man. Lord Ingram’s reputation is chilling. Since he has no wife, you will be mistress of the castle even before Hendry claims his father’s title.” She came and put both hands firmly on Elysande’s shoulders.
“You must do our family name justice. You are a Le Cler. You must behave appropriately. It’s important that you give Hendry many sons to make him—and Lord Ingram—happy. You know the way of things. Our family lost your father’s title to a cousin because I only gave birth to females.” Her mother’s fingers dug into her shoulders to emphasize her point. “Why do you think we wound up here? I don’t want the same to happen to you. I want you settled and secure.”
Mary’s grip loosened. She cupped Elysande’s cheek. “I have so much to get ready for. Your uncle and his family will arrive ahead of the wedding party so that we may visit before the celebration begins. I want everything to be perfect for him.” She kissed her daughter’s cheek and left.
Sobering thoughts flooded Elysande. She hadn’t given much thought to her mother’s remarriage. She didn’t like Lord Holger, so she ignored him for the most part. That wasn’t hard to do since she spent most of her time in the stables or in the pasture with the horses. But what was her mother’s life really like? Elysande could see that her mother wasn’t happy with this new husband. Not as she had been with her first.
And it hadn’t been her decision. With no male children to inherit, they’d been turned from their home and sent south. Her mother had never laid eyes upon Lord Holger, but the king had ordered they marry at once, her father barely in his grave. Elysande couldn’t believe she’d never thought these matters through. She’d ignored everything about marriage, including burying in the back of her mind her own upcoming marriage like some silly fool.
With her wedding merely days away, she would soon leave her loved ones behind. With such a great distance between them, she might never see Avelyn or her mother again. That paralyzed Elysande with fear.
It worried her that her mother had shared that Lord Ingram was a harsh man. Elysande remembered the nobleman from the signing of the contracts. How tall he’d stood. How he dominated a room with his loud voice and harsh laugh. Lord Ingram was the exact opposite of his son in every way. Elysande had been scared of the man. She’d avoided him until he and Hendry had left.
Elysande became anxious thinking about the marriage act. What if Hendry was still sickly and couldn’t perform his husbandly duties? What if no babes came? Would Lord Ingram use her ample dowry to put her away in a nunnery and find his son a new, more fertile wife? Was that how things worked? She had no idea and realized how little she really knew about how the world worked.
And a darker thought flittered in the back of her mind. What if the father stepped in for the son? If he were that controlling a man, would he try to control her? Elysande realized, in that moment, how noblewomen were truly nothing but pawns.
With no say, she had no choice but to go through with her wedding.
Chapter Three
“We’re almost there!” Geoffrey de Montfort called out, his words carrying on the slight summer breeze.
Michael Devereux heard the excitement in his liege lord’s voice and looked ahead to the castle that loomed large before them in the distance. He’d been lost in conversation with Ancel, Geoffrey’s son who fostered with the Earl of Winterbourne, and hadn’t realized how close they’d come to Hopeston Castle.
He looked back at Ancel, the very image of Lord Geoffrey. The boy already stood taller than most his age. His eyes took in everything about him. Michael had put Ancel through his paces in the dueling yard when he arrived home and was impressed with how quickly Ancel moved with a weapon in hand.
So unlike Michael at that same age. He’d been pudgy and short, slow in swinging a sword or running an errand. Laughed at unmercifully by the other boys who fostered with Sir Lovel. Yet his mother had been proven right. As Michael matured, the rolls of baby fat fell away. He shot up in height till he towered well over six feet. It took time to become accustomed to his new body as he grew into it, but once he had?
Everything changed.
He’d spent hours observing soldiers training in the yard and remembered everything he saw. Michael put those lessons to good use. Suddenly, the sword or mace that had seemed so foreign and unfriendly in his boyish hands now became a natural extension of his body. He became the one feared by all in the training yard, known for his fluid moves and quick thinking.
Though Michael could have remained in service to Sir Lovel, he changed his mind when he heard that Geoffrey de Montfort had returned to Kinwick Castle. Rumors abounded for years as to where the dashing knight had gone since he’d disappeared the day after his wedding. Finally, the king decided the nobleman must be dead and had arranged for Geoffrey’s widow to remarry. Yet news traveled faster than lightning when Lord Geoffrey reappeared before the marriage could take place. No one learned where the Earl of Kinwick had been during those missing years, but Michael knew he must hurry south to serve the man he’d idolized as a child.
With reluctance, Sir Lovel had dismissed him from his service, telling Michael if he ever had a change of heart that he could return.
Michael made his way to the de Montfort estate and had spent the last year in happiness. Lord Geoffrey had matured since they’d last seen one another. He was a bit quieter than the gregarious youth Michael remembered, but Geoffrey still proved himself a leader amongst men. Michael knew he could learn much from the earl in the coming years.
Before he assumed his own title of nobility. Once his father lay dead.
Michael enjoyed the people of Kinwick. The estate was a happy place, full of kindness and love. Lord Geoffrey was responsible for some of those high spirits, but Michael placed most of the reason that Kinwick thrived at Lady Merryn’s doorstep. The countess was a famous beauty, bu
t that only told a small part of the story. She was wise beyond her years and had run the entire estate in her husband’s absence. It flourished under her hand. She had a quick wit and a kind heart. Michael believed he and every knight in the de Montfort service were a little bit in love with her.
Surprisingly, the three de Montfort children brought him immense pleasure. Michael had never been around young children, but he found them to be delightful company. He’d only begun to know Lady Alys since her return from the royal court in London but, already, he could see Lady Merryn’s hand in the child. Alys was thoughtful and interesting and full of good cheer. She’d entertained Michael on the entire journey back from London when they went to retrieve her for her summer visit to her home. He looked forward to seeing Alys mature as the years progressed.
Michael saw Ancel on a more regular basis since he fostered with Lord Geoffrey’s neighbor and was a more frequent visitor to Kinwick. He could tell that the little boy would grow to be a skilled knight and an intelligent liege lord to all his people. Michael hoped that someday he could have a son much like Ancel.
Most of all, he adored the babe. Hal now toddled about and got into more mischief than seven children combined, yet the boy’s sunny nature had stolen the hearts of everyone in the keep and beyond. His capacity for language grew by leaps and bounds every day. Michael enjoyed whittling toy soldiers for the boy. They would play with them in the great hall, spreading them out before the fire. Hal moved the soldiers around as Michael told him of battles that Knights of the Round Table had fought. Then Hal would direct Michael on how he wanted the toys placed. The two had spent many enjoyable hours in one another’s company.
Michael wondered if he would ever have children. He supposed he must, in order to pass down the Devereux family’s title and estates.
The thought soured his cheerful mood. He rarely thought about his boyhood home, which he hadn’t seen in ten and five years. Keeping the promise he’d shouted out to the miserable man who had sired him, Michael had never returned. Only when the earl rotted in his grave would Michael come back to Sandbourne, laying claim to his title and tracking down which convent his mother had been banished to. If she still lived, he planned to restore her to the place of honor she richly deserved.