The archbishop forbade it.
This news was received poorly by Majella, no doubt because she had expected better from her lover. “Wretched bastard!” she hissed through her teeth, straining through another contraction. Her brow was damp, her face flushed despite Monty’s cheerful coaching.
’Twas bad timing to understand precisely how little the man cared for her, Viviane guessed.
“Don’t push yet, babe, you’ll just hurt yourself. Breathe, breathe, breathe.” Monty puffed, Majella glared and echoed his manner, working in an insult for the archbishop when she could.
Viviane gathered the children in the opposite corner and told them tales, hoping to distract them from their mother’s labor. She believed it was the most useful deed she could do, since Monty truly did seem to know what he was doing. Niall paced, his unnatural pallor growing with every passing hour, his limp becoming more and more pronounced as the evening progressed.
Monty was surprisingly calm, murmuring to Majella and even making her laugh at intervals. One at a time, the children fell into restless slumbers and Viviane tucked each in with whatever cloaks she could retrieve.
’Twas late when Matthew’s grip finally loosened on Viviane’s hand and she was nearly out of tales as his eyes closed. She brushed the hair back from his brow and nestled him in beside his brothers. She glanced up in time to find Niall’s considering glance upon her. Viviane murmured his name and got to her feet, but Niall abruptly turned to watch his sister.
The single candle had burned low, almost gutting itself in the residue of wax. There was not much wick left so Viviane knew it was late. She could hear the silence of the night filling the keep, that curious stillness that is broken only by the scampering of mice. The cell echoed with Majella’s strained breathing, Monty’s encouragement was so low as to be incomprehensible.
Niall was watching the candle and as the flame flickered and dipped dangerously low, he dropped to one knee beside his sister.
“’Tis time, Majella,” he urged. “You must bring this child forth with haste.”
“First, you want to stop it,” she huffed, “and now you would rush it forth.” She flicked a glance to Viviane. “Is that not like a man? To want all the world to bend to his desire?”
A contraction seized her and she arched her neck back before Viviane could smile or agree. Majella’s teeth gritted in agony. Niall took her hand, and began to mutter a prayer beneath his breath. Viviane came to his side and joined his entreaties, feeling helpless as she witnessed Majella’s state.
“I see the head!” Monty cried and Majella visibly summoned her resolve. He shook a finger at her. “Give me a minute here.” Viviane did not know what he did but an instant later, he looked up. Majella was watching him avidly, her eyes glittering. “Next time, push! Push as hard as you can!”
Majella had only the time to nod agreement before she cried out again in pain. She gripped Niall’s hand so tightly that Viviane saw her nails cut into his skin. Majella’s toes curled, her back arched and her eyes were squeezed tightly shut.
“Come on, babe, come on!” Monty urged. “You can do it.”
Viviane gasped as the baby’s head appeared between Majella’s thighs. She heard the children stirring behind her but couldn’t look away from this marvel. Monty turned the child with gentle fingers and coaxed it out into the world. Majella screamed fit to bring down the walls, the children awakened and clung to each other.
And the babe suddenly slipped free of its mother. Its expression was anguished, its skin was an angry red, it was the most beautiful thing Viviane had ever seen.
And it was a boy.
Monty cooed to the child, stroking the mucus away from his nose, then cast a grin at Majella as he scooped the baby into his own purple polar fleece. “You were right, Majella babe. It’s a boy and he’s looks just perfect.”
“Oh!” Majella clasped her child gratefully to her breast and fell back against the pallet, tears of relief streaming down her cheeks. “He lives!”
“Hey, I’m not like some amateur, you know.” Monty fastened the teeth of his chemise so it wrapped around the child.
Niall leaned forward and kissed Majella’s brow. “Truly you weep whether the news is good or bad,” he teased, a tear making its way down his own cheek.
Majella opened her eyes and smiled at him, the affection between them unmistakable. “A child does not care where he enters the world, Niall. Indeed, the son of God himself came in far worse circumstance than this. We are warm, we are fed after a fashion, and we are together.” She sighed, the strain leaving her features. “’Tis enough.”
“Aye, Majella,” he whispered. “I was worried more for mother than child.”
And Viviane blinked back her tears.
“You fret overmuch, brother of mine,” Majella teased.
Niall kissed his sister’s knuckles and might have straightened, but she seized his hand.
“His name is Niall,” she insisted quietly, her tears gleaming on her cheeks as she squeezed Niall’s fingers. “In honor of your return to us.”
At that, Niall turned abruptly away. He paced to the door again, hung his head for a moment, then took a deep breath. “’Tis precious little my return has brought this child, Majella.” His voice was soft. “Indeed, you all are compromised by my deeds.”
“Hey, like don’t get all serious in such a happy moment,” Monty insisted. His cocky grin was back in place and he was flushed with his success. “Everything will come out right in the end. Darkest before the dawn and all that.” He grinned at Majella. “Cavalry, right? You’ve got those do-good kind of guys here, don’t you? Robin Hood? The Masked Avenger?”
Majella laughed. “Monty, you speak in the most odd way at times. Indeed, I cannot fathom your meaning.”
“Well, hey, this medieval re-enactment stuff is seriously freaky. I have no idea how it works, but this jazz puts movie theaters to shame. No wonder you guys get so hooked on it.” He looked pertly between Niall and Viviane. “So, like what happens next? Who’s got the script?”
“Monty, this is no jest,” Niall said solemnly. “We are all sentenced to die.”
“Yeah, yeah, but everything’s going to be okay, right?” Monty demanded. He gestured to Niall. “Like you have friends, right? Three Musketeers stuff? All for one and one for all, take that you dastardly villain. This is some kind of game. Advanced 3-D Dungeons and Dragons, right? We’re not all like gonna die, are we?”
Niall studied each of them in turn, his gaze lingering on Viviane. He looked oddly grey, very tired and less than happy.
“Nay,” he said softly. “We are not going to die.”
Viviane heard the conviction in his tone, and knew with sudden clarity that he was prepared to risk his own hide for the sake of theirs. It was so characteristic of the kind of man she knew him to be that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t guessed it sooner. Viviane stepped forward just as Niall bent and snuffed the candle with one smooth move.
The cell was filled with a blackness so complete that Viviane could not even see her hand before her face. She heard Majella gasp but knew she had to reach Niall’s side.
“Guard!” he cried. “We are without a light and a new babe is arrived. For the love of God, grant us a light at least!”
The baby, as though sensing his cue, began to wail.
And then, just as Viviane feared, things happened very fast.
*
Chapter Eighteen
Niall moved quickly to the door despite the darkness, having memorized both the distance and all within his path in the last moment before snuffing the light. He caught his breath at the sound of footsteps, flattened himself against the wall and prepared to strike.
The door flew open, a sentry cursed as a thin ray of light fell into the chamber. Niall ascertained that the man was alone, then locked his fists together and clubbed the guard over the head.
“Niall!” Majella cried, but Niall was not interested in reassuring his sister in this
moment.
The guard fell soundlessly. Niall hauled him out of the way and eased the door shut behind him. He divested the guard of his keys, his boots, his helm and his tabard, donning them all in a hurry. He bound and gagged the guard deftly, using the man’s own hose to render him helpless.
“Matthew?” he muttered.
“Aye?” The boy’s voice wavered in the darkness.
“Hit him again if he so much as stirs. I entrust you with this task.”
“Aye, Uncle,” the boy agreed, his assent launching a tirade of questions from the others.
“But Niall, what are you doing?” Majella cried.
“Where are you like going? What’s happening now?”
“Be silent!” Niall chided, then hauled open the door. He heard a flurry of movement, and someone brushed against him. He assumed ’twas Matthew and hissed a warning to the others. “Stay here and feign sleep. I will not be long.” Niall fitted the key the guard had held into the lock once more, then checked the corridor between himself and the exit.
No one but Odo in his chamber. Perfect.
He would fret about the guards in the keep above once he encountered them.
Niall took a deep breath and stepped out into the corridor, feigning nonchalance as he reached back to pull the door closed behind himself. He paused. In truth, he was peering down the hall, growing accustomed to the way this helm restricted his vision. Reassured, he pulled the door shut with a clang and turned the key.
“And be quiet, you miserable lot!” he roared in the very same moment that he saw that he had been followed.
Too late Niall realized that that soft brush of cloth had not been Matthew.
It had been Viviane.
A remarkably determined Viviane. She stood with her arms folded across her chest, undaunted by the glare Niall fixed upon her. Now that he had slammed the door so decisively, he could hardly open it again without drawing the attention of other guards and prisoners.
“You will not escape talking with me,” she declared in a heated undertone.
Niall cast a desperate glance down the corridor, finding that mercifully they were yet unobserved. “Viviane, this is neither the time nor the place…”
She poked him hard in the chest and her eyes flashed. “Then I will follow you until it is the time and the place, until we have talked about what has happened here and until I know exactly what you’re thinking! Niall of Malloy, if you think for one moment…”
Footsteps sounded in the cross corridor and Niall clapped one hand over Viviane’s mouth. She gasped as he hauled her back into the shadows. He stood facing the corner, Viviane sheltered before him, her pulse fluttering beneath his hand. He glared at her, hoping she could see enough of his eyes to believe the seriousness of their situation.
“Be still!” he muttered, daring no more than that. Niall prayed first that Viviane could not be seen, and second that she did not choose this moment to challenge him.
A guard paced past Odo’s chamber with heavy footsteps and glanced in their direction.
Niall’s heart stopped when that man halted, and he was certain ’twas all gone awry before he had even begun.
“All well, Paul?”
Niall said the first thing that came to mind. “Having a piss in the corner, ’tis all,” he retorted gruffly.
The other guard chuckled. “I leave you in peace, then.” He saluted mockingly. “Enjoy.”
He turned and strode away. Niall did not dare to breathe until his footsteps faded from earshot. And then, he was not inclined to take his hand from Viviane’s mouth.
Not until he had had his say. “You are not coming with me,” he said, his tone low and savage. “’Tis neither your place nor your task.”
Viviane protested beneath the weight of his hand and Niall gave her an impatient shake.
Time was wasting!
“Viviane! ’Tis dangerous! I will not risk your welfare in this!” He dropped his voice to a growl. “The best deed you can do is return to the cell and ensure that all remain calm.”
“Never!” the lady uttered beneath his hand. Before Niall could swear, she squirmed and pulled his hand to her chin. “I’m going with you, to make sure your welfare isn’t risked,” she said with that stubborn tone he had begun to recognize.
“I forbid it!”
“Then I will follow you,” Viviane insisted.
The worst of it was that Niall knew she would do it.
“What manner of woman are you to show such disregard for your own welfare?” he demanded with no small measure of annoyance.
To his astonishment, Viviane smiled. “I’m a writer,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “And you were the one who assured me that I should do my research.”
“What nonsense is this?”
She tapped him in the middle of his chest, that admiration dawning in her eyes yet again and seriously affecting Niall’s determination to leave her behind. “I want to see a hero in action. You’re going to get my moonstone, aren’t you?”
And Niall smiled despite himself. He shook his head but she smiled up at him, so certain of his course that he had to challenge her. “What makes you think as much?”
“It’s the only way out.” Viviane smiled. “We can all wish upon it and be gone. But there’s no way that all of us could retrieve it without being caught. And I know that if anyone can get us out of this, it is you, so you must be planning to fetch the stone and return it here.”
Niall studied her, the light in Viviane’s eyes bolstering his conviction that he truly could repair all that had gone awry. Indeed, ’twas hard to resist the temptation of spending a little longer in Viviane’s company before they were parted for all time.
“You will do as I bid you,” he insisted gruffly, knowing full well that she would not. He gripped her shoulders and stared down into her marvelous eyes even as her smile broadened. Indeed, he suspected that he had not fooled her a whit - she seemed just as persuaded as ever that he was her knight.
And Niall could not honestly say that he was disappointed. Still he had to guard his tongue and not give her a reason to be unhappy once their paths parted as indeed they must.
He did not trouble to correct the false assumptions in her summary of his plan. ’Twas true he meant to retrieve the stone, ’twas true that he intended to bring it back here.
But that was so Viviane and Monty could leave as one. Niall briefly considered the wisdom of fetching Monty now, but discarded it immediately. The man could not keep silent and he was too odd in appearance. He would attract attention, the last thing they needed.
To be sure, so might Viviane, but Niall could not deny himself this last indulgence of her company.
“You will heed me, you will do naught that is reckless. And you will be silent.”
The lady threw her arms around Niall’s neck and kissed the tip of his nose through the front of the helm, nearly bouncing in her anticipation.
“I knew you would let me come,” she declared gleefully. “Just as I know that I’ll get the truth out of you. You must have some feelings for me, regardless of what you say, and I’m not leaving your side until I know the truth of it.”
Niall’s blood froze that she should be able to read his thoughts so readily as that. He glowered at her, to no visible effect.
But Viviane appeared jubilant and Niall knew there was only one matter that made her so happy as this.
Zounds, but she was going to talk of love again!
’Twas only a matter of time. And Niall knew himself well enough to know that he was a poor liar, certainly poor enough that Viviane would not be deceived.
He had no time to waste.
“Where are we going?” the lady demanded. “And what are we going to do? How are we going to save the others? I just knew you would have a plan, because that’s what real heroes do - they have a plan and they take a chance and they put themselves at risk to see the people they care about safe, and you know…”
Niall enforced his dictat
e for silence in the only way that he knew for certain would work. He caught Viviane’s jaw in his hand, bent down and kissed her soundly.
As ’twas likely to be his last taste of the lady, he made it a kiss to remember.
Indeed, when he was done, Viviane clutched his shoulders as though she could not trust her legs to keep her upright. She ran the tip of her tongue across her lips so slowly that he nearly kissed her again. Niall’s heart thundered as Viviane stared up at him with wonder, as though he had hung the stars in the firmament.
That sense of invincibility redoubled in a most intoxicating way. Niall grinned down at Viviane and tapped the tip of her nose with one fingertip. Truly, he could not resist teasing her.
“Finally,” he said, heaving the sigh of a man sorely tested. “Silence!”
And before Viviane could comment or even gasp, Niall pivoted. He seized her hand and led her down the empty hall at a hasty pace. Truly, they had already lingered overlong.
For Niall knew there would be no second chances this night.
*
Viviane realized very quickly that her impulsiveness could cost them both dearly. Niall, after all, looked just like any of the other guards in the keep and could have passed undetected without her presence beside him. But even with Odo’s cloak over her shoulders and the hood over her hair, Viviane was an oddity whose presence prompted questions from all they encountered.
After the second intervention, Niall clearly got tired of making up tales, then having to knock out the questioner anyway. He cut right to the chase - as Monty would have said - and took the third sentry down before that man could even open his mouth. Niall had harvested a sword from the first sentry and a dagger from the second, now entrusted Viviane with the dagger of the third.
“Hide it,” he instructed tersely, gripped her hand and moved on.
The corridors of the keep were filled with shadows, only lit periodically with flickering torches. The keep was silent, that silence only periodically interrupted with the distant sound of footfalls or snores. The corridors twisted and turned, branching over and over again, and Viviane was glad that Niall knew the way.
Time Travel Romances Boxed Set Page 97