by Mlyn Hurn
Avalon nodded, held back her smile and slipped her hands into her pockets. “I was hoping I wouldn’t disturb you.”
“Are you here to steal a goat?”
Avalon laughed and shook her head. “No, but I’m sure you’ll think I’ve quite lost my mind when I tell you what I’m doing.”
The old herder looked her over slowly. Avalon was sure he doubted her sanity, and once she told him what she needed, he’d be sure of it. She watched as he shook his head negatively, but his eyes wandered over her, from head to toe. The herder startled as he spoke. “Who are you, woman? Your clothes say you must be a peasant, but from the look of your face, and the soft skin on your hands, I doubt that you’ve ever done a decent day’s work!”
“I am looking for some goat dung.” Avalon grinned. “But not just any goat’s dung. It must be from a male goat, and one who is…” She paused, blushing. “I need it from a goat that is well-hung, and it must be fresh.”
The herder stared at her in disbelief. She could see his conclusion in his eyes: she really was daft. His next words surprised her. “If you’ve come to kill me and steal my goats, be fair-warned, missy! I am much stronger than I look!”
Avalon laughed as she saw the look he gave her. “I’m not crazy, sir. I just need this for a potion I’m making. It’s a secret, but it is for my husband.”
The herder chuckled. “Maybe the quality folk have changed since his younger days, but I don’t think your husband is going to truly appreciate this potion when he receives it.” He shrugged nonetheless.
“Might I inquire as to whom you are wedded?” His face revealed that perhaps he should consider defending his liege lord’s holdings a might more aggressively.
Avalon nodded, still looking at the ground and watching where she was stepping. “My husband is Lord Brandeis. I thought this land was part of his father’s holdings.”
The herder straightened a bit. “I heard the randy young lord had gotten himself a wife finally. And it looks to me as if he has a spitfire on his hands.” He couldn’t help but chuckle as he imagined the proud man’s reaction to this “present” he would be receiving soon.
“Yes, this is indeed in the liege lord’s holding, ma’am. I would be honored to help you search for what you need.”
Avalon smiled. “Why, thank you, sir. I am a bit tired. Perhaps we could stop for a bit, and I will share my luncheon with you. And then we could start afresh after a short nap.”
The herder nodded and pointed to the place he had been sitting. He paused and introduced himself as Thomas, removing his old hat and bowing his head. Soon he and Avalon were enjoying wine, cheese, fresh bread and an apple she had tucked in at the last minute.
Avalon watched Thomas as he eagerly dug into the food. She told him after a few bites that she wasn’t all that hungry after all, and insisted he take the entire apple, and to please keep the rest of the food for later. She listened while he talked in between bites, and told her of how things had been when he was a young boy. He had served Brand’s father all of his life, and now he mostly just tended the goats for his son, who farmed this area for Lord Carlton.
After finishing half the bread, cheese and the entire apple, Thomas finally got around to telling her which goat she would need to locate, and how she might discover what she needed. Avalon left the old man drifting to sleep, and returned to her quest. It took over an hour, but she finally got lucky. She picked up her specimen, and put it into the wrappings she had brought. The sun was beginning to set as she left the field for the castle, feeling quite pleased with the way her day had gone after all.
Chapter 13
Brand and Gandalf returned to the castle three days later. Brand had wanted to stay away longer and think about the way his life was going, but Gandalf had finally told him he was leaving. Gandalf had muttered he was sick and tired of listening to his cousin’s moaning and groaning about missing his wife, but still not heading back to the castle.
This morning, in a disgusted tone of voice, Gandalf had announced that he had reached the end of his patience, and he was going home where he had a soft bed and a lovely wife waiting for him. He added that Brand could make his own mind up what he was going to do. Gandalf had slung his belongings together without further ado, but added that if Brand didn’t think his wife was missing him, he could stay out here alone! It was a surly group that returned to the castle, because Brand and Gandalf had not been speaking since they had started for home that morning.
The first thing they noticed was that the courtyard seemed to be exceptionally full of people. There were many more people than what was normal. Brand didn’t think they had come out to greet the returning hunters, although he did spot Althea quickly enough, but no sign of Avalon. He didn’t like the feelings he experienced either as he realized that he was hoping Avalon would be waiting for him eagerly. He glanced at Gandalf, getting ready to point out his waiting spouse, when something else assailed him.
“What the hell is that?” he asked Gandalf, as he smelt the most god-awful odor he’d ever encountered. Gandalf’s eyes were watering and he was already placing his hand over his nose and mouth. Gandalf shrugged and shook his head, not willing to lower his hand to speak.
“Brand!”
Brand turned and saw his father standing off to the side, waving toward him. He saw Elizabeth was at his side, but still no sign of Avalon. He dismounted quickly, and strode over to his father. As he reached him, Althea came running up as well. Brand noticed that both his father and stepmother had handkerchiefs covering their lower faces. He turned as Althea came to his side, and noticed she had one as well.
“What’s happened? Why is everyone outside? And where the devil is Avalon?” he shouted in exacerbation. He was surprised when his father gestured towards Althea to speak.
But before Althea could open her mouth, Gandalf reached her side. He hugged his wife close, and basically repeated Brand’s first two questions. As far as the third, he spoke what he was thinking out loud. “I’m beginning to wish we had never gone to get Brand a wife.”
Silence followed his hastily spoken words. Before he could apologize, his wife spoke softly, tears in her eyes. “Then we never would have met.”
Gandalf hugged Althea tightly. “I’m sorry, my love. I spoke out of frustration. Meeting you…” his voice broke.
Althea nodded quickly. “I understand, darling. Avalon can be a little frustrating at times.”
“She’s nothing compared to the pain Brand has been since we left here.” Gandalf stopped as he heard Brand’s father chuckling. Looking at Lord Carlton he explained. “All he has done since we left here is talk about his wife, sir. I couldn’t stand another moment this morning, and told him I was going back home to my wife!”
Althea hugged her husband back and then turned to Brand. “Avalon is still inside. She is cleaning up.”
Brand frowned, wondering what his wife was doing cleaning up anything. Before he could speak, though, there was a loud bang from within the castle, and then some funny colored smoke came out of the window, where Avalon’s workroom was. He cursed and strode toward the castle. Obviously, he was going to have to get to the bottom of this on his own. Part way up the stairs, though, he was forced to pause and take his shirt off, and rip it to form a small piece of cloth, which he could tie over his mouth and nose. He reached the workroom and didn’t pause before flinging the door open.
* * * * *
Avalon looked up from her worktable. She had doused the fires, but had discovered that pouring the mixes into one pot for disposal was not a good idea. She was now covered in a fine mist of pinkish droplets that had formed when she had tossed the one foul smelling concoction into the large, cold, black iron pot Althea had brought up for her to start dumping things into.
But it was now apparent that placing the very hot liquid into a cold iron pot was not a good idea after all. She had just begun to think that the little old lady had not given her a book on making scents and love potions after all, w
hen the door bounded open. Seeing her husband, his face half-covered, did not help her mood. There would be no keeping him from finding out now!
Avalon decided to brazen her way out of this fiasco. She smiled brightly at Brand. “Why, this is a pleasant surprise, sir! I didn’t realize you would be coming home today.”
Brand took another step into the room. He paused a foot from the table, glaring at her across the short distance. He ripped the cloth from his face. “Why? Had you planned on having the castle blown to bits before I got back?”
Avalon’s smile faded, and she couldn’t keep the tears from her eyes. She rubbed at her eyes quickly, unaware that she was only smearing the color. She sniffed. “No, sir. I was attempting to make you something special, a special scent to wear, when things got out of hand.” She decided not to tell Brand about the other concoction she had been working on.
“Hellfire, woman! You expected me to put this hellacious smelling swill on my body?”
Avalon jerked back. She knew it didn’t smell as she had hoped, but she also hadn’t expected such a virulent attack either. “It didn’t turn out like I wanted, so
no, this is not what I was going to give you. Now, if you would be so kind as to pick up that pot for me, I’ll show you where we can dispose of it.”
* * * * *
Brand looked around the workroom. He doubted that was the only thing making this smell. He surprised Avalon by shaking his head. Instead, he rounded the table, coming straight towards her. He didn’t say a word, but he bent as he neared her, and her stomach connected with his shoulder, effectively tossing her over it. Without pause or any more words, he strode out of the room, through the castle and outside.
Outside the castle, he shouted to his father’s housekeeper to fetch the pot and all the materials from the workroom. He quickly ordered several of his men to dig a hole out beyond the castle gates and bury the whole mess. He didn’t stop, but kept on walking. When he came to his horse, he seated Avalon and climbed immediately behind her, trapping her. He ignored the worried looks on Althea’s and Elizabeth’s faces, and rode out of the castle courtyard.
He rode until they came to the stream about half a mile from the castle. The stream widened here, but made a nice place for bathing. He didn’t pause in dismounting, and lifted Avalon down. He tied his horse to the tree, and picked Avalon up again. Carrying her to the stream, he walked with her into the water.
Avalon started kicking and screaming when she saw what he was doing. She was small, but she was feisty. As Brand reached waist-high water, she was able to push free of his hold. She fell into the water, and came up a moment later, soaking wet and angry. She was still fearful, but anger was foremost as she shoved her wet hair back off her face.
“You have no right to drown me, husband, no matter how vexed you may be! My father will kill you and your whole damned family, once he finds out what evils you’ve done to me!” She tossed her head defiantly.
Avalon paused, realizing that when her father did find out, she would most likely be dead, unless she did something in a hurry. She bent to grab the knife from her boot, but it wasn’t there. She had gotten so lax lately that she had stopped putting it on in the mornings.
Brand glared at Avalon, her clothes soaked, as well as her hair. He was soaking wet now, as well. “I’m not drowning you, damn it! We both stink to high heaven. We will be lucky if we aren’t stoned when we return if my stepmother can’t get rid of that odor.”
He started to strip his clothes off, throwing them back onto the riverbank. He almost lost his balance as he pulled his boots off and he wished he had stopped to take them off before entering the water. Finally, naked, he turned to look at Avalon, who was still glaring at him. “Hurry up, Avalon, and strip. This water will begin to feel cold soon. Hand me your clothes and I’ll throw them to the far side of the bank.”
Avalon evidently saw the logic of his words. She slipped her own boots off first, regret in her eyes as Brand threw them away. Next she removed her overdress, the shift and finally her undergarments. And then, she was as naked as he, facing him with her arms crossed in front of her.
Brand turned back after hurling the last of her clothes to the far side. He shook his head at her reluctantly, amazed at his own patience with the woman. He should have been strangling her. And he doubted anyone would have been surprised if he had drowned her.
“My dear wife, I’m sure you are unaware of this, but you have a pink face and pink hair. I think you should try and scrub some of that off.”
Avalon gasped and lifted one hand to rub at her face. She then looked at the pink fingers in horror. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and saw that it was pink-stained as well. She ducked under the water, scrubbing furiously at her face. When she came back up, her face was back to normal. Brand came closer and offered to help her with her hair.
Avalon turned her back and let her husband begin washing her hair with just water and rubbing. Finally, he pronounced her clean. He leaned forward and sniffed and then told her she was smell-free as well. He started back toward the edge of the stream and walked out. He went over to his horse, and reached into one of the pouches at the back of the horse’s saddle.
As Avalon stepped onto the grassy bank, she saw Brand pulling on extra clothes from the pouch he had. He had pulled on pants, and then turned and tossed her the shirt to slip on over her head. It came down to just a few inches above her knees. She then found a sunny spot of grass and sat down, acting as if she wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to what Brand was doing. After a few minutes, though, he came over and stretched out beside her on the warm grass.
“Thank you for the shirt. It is the only one you have?” she asked him softly. “Thank you for not making me ride back home naked.”
Brand had just propped his head on his interlaced fingers. The warm sun felt good on his naked chest. His eyes wandered over Avalon’s naked legs stretched out in front of her.
“What were you trying to do, Avalon?” Brand asked her softly.
Avalon looked down into Brand’s eyes. “I was trying to make you a scent. I had that book of herbs, and it has recipes in it.”
“That is not what I mean, Avalon. Why did you even start on this venture? You know nothing about herbs, and the mixing of such things. You have seen what can happen.”
Avalon fidgeted with the long wet strands of her hair. She moved her legs restlessly, before she finally answered. “I was bored! There is nothing for me to do. I’m no good at household things. And besides, with Elizabeth and all the other women, there is nothing left for me to do. I’m not good at needlework. At home, I always had lots of things to do, and I was never bored there.”
Brand sat up slowly. “This is your home now, though.”
Avalon nodded. “I know, but you aren’t happy with me as a wife, Brand. I don’t think my father would mind if you sent me back.”
Brand frowned as he looked into Avalon’s eyes. Her words cut him to the bone, realizing she was that unhappy here. He didn’t want to acknowledge the hope as he rode into the castle keep today that Avalon would be smiling, and waving happily to greet him and welcome him home.
He’d been a fool to think that he could keep his relationship with his wife on a level where emotions would not become entangled. He didn’t want to admit that he was coming to care for her. He had not even wanted to accept that he was feeling a need to be with her that had much more to it than just a need for sexual satiation. Brand enjoyed being with her. Talking with her, hearing her laugh, seeing her smile—all these things had become much too important to him since they had returned home. “So you hate being here that much.”
* * * * *
Avalon saw the hurt in his face as he spoke. She had thought she was “just a wife” to him, and nothing more. “I don’t hate it, Brand. But I know that I am not what you want in a wife. I’m not that much of a woman, either, I guess. I’m not a good housekeeper, and I could never manage the servants for my father. I never had
to do that stuff at home. Althea gladly took up those jobs. The Good Lord knows I can’t sew or embroider. I was free to do my own things, follow my own wishes.”
She paused, shifting nervously on the grass. “I guess I’m pretty spoiled,” she admitted to him quietly. “I spent most of my time riding, hunting and visiting my father’s farms. He always said I was good with people.” Her voice cracked and she had to swallow several times before she could go. Surreptitiously she lifted one hand to brush away her tears. “You could send me back, I guess, and I’ll tell my father that it is like fishing. You got one that was too small and not mature enough, so you are throwing it back after all.”
Avalon’s voice broke at the end. She was startled at how much speaking the words out loud hurt. She had it all reasoned out in her head. But saying it out loud was different. Brand may not have been satisfied with her as a wife, but she had begun to like being with him. She certainly liked being his wife in bed. There was no denying that! She felt her cheeks flame as a blush crept up her face. Yes indeed, she did enjoy the delicious feelings she had when he touched and kissed her. And when he was inside her body, she was no longer just herself, but felt joined with him beyond just the physical.
She acknowledged silently that she had been foolish to think he might have started to feel the same about her. She was no good as a wife, not like Lady Elizabeth or Althea, anyway.
Avalon didn’t realize she had spoken the last sentence out loud until Brand spoke, reaching his hand out to lightly caress the side of her face. “You aren’t too small in some places, wife. And as far as maturity, that comes with age and experience. I feel that I must ask if you are unhappy with me as a husband. Have I not performed well?”
Avalon flushed even brighter. “No, sir. I have no complaints. If anything, I would praise…” Avalon stopped abruptly, realizing what she had said. Brand grinned back at her.
“So it is safe to say that neither of us is displeased by the other.” He paused, waiting for Avalon to say something, but she remained silent. “I have no desire to return you to your father.”