She ached to hold him back, pull him into her arms, but that would only make it worse. “You have to let me go, Ralph. I can’t stay here.”
His gaze fell on the leather cord trailing from her closed hand. “It was true, then, what you said? You belong in another age.”
She pressed her quivering lips together and nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
“But the mere brought you here. To me. You belong here now.”
“I…what if something happened to you? I couldn’t bear to lose you.”
Ralph took her hands and knelt down in front of her, heedless of the snow. “And I can’t bear to lose you. I love you, Kat. When you came to me last night, I thought it was because you’d decided to marry me. You made me the happiest man alive. I knew then that my offering to the mere had been rewarded.”
“Your offering?”
Ralph pointed to his right index finger and the band of paler flesh she’d noticed before. “I told you I’d lost my father’s ring. That wasn’t entirely true.”
Light dawned. “You threw it into the mere?”
He nodded. “That’s why I was there the night you appeared. I didn’t realize then that you were my gift from the mere.” He gave the lopsided smile that always set her insides aflutter. “I hadn’t expected my gift to be an outspoken shrew with an interest in drains.”
Heavy desire flooded her body, setting her trembling. “Can you promise you won’t leave me?”
“I won’t leave you for as long as I have breath in my body.”
“But you can’t promise not to…to die.”
Ralph’s eyes softened. “My fate lies in God’s hands, Kat. I can only promise to do all in my power to stay with you.”
She blinked away tears. “It’s not enough.” Her voice cracked, cutting off the words she yearned to say. That she loved him. Would always love him.
“God’s blood, Kat, what more can I offer?”
Moving without any thought on her part, her fingers traced a path from his temple to his jaw, allowing herself to touch him one last time. He leaned into the caress, his short beard scraping the palm of her hand.
“Nothing. There’s nothing you can do. I’m not strong enough to bear the pain should the worst happen.”
“You’re wrong. You’re stronger than you know. When you arrived, you were too terrified to walk down the stairs alone. But when the castle was under threat, you lowered yourself from the donjon.” Ralph turned his lips to her palm, kissing the still-healing rope burn. “When I thought we were in danger, you stayed calm, did exactly the right thing.”
“I wasn’t scared.” She’d felt perfectly safe, trusting Ralph to protect her.
“And when the raiders did come, a weaker person would have urged me to fight, to drive them away. But you persuaded me to consider the root of the problem. You might have been scared, but you had the courage to challenge me. As a result, I’ve turned my enemies into allies.” He kissed her palm again. Waves of heat radiated from the spot. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
A tight knot deep within her chest slowly unfurled. “You’ve done so much for me, too. Before I met you, I knew I had to stop hiding from the world, but I didn’t see that I was shutting out the people who were trying to help, alienating even my friends. But you fought for me. Your friendship…your love…broke through my shields.” Her throat closed, and her next words came out in a whisper. “And I do love you. So very much.”
Hope blazed from his eyes. “You’ll stay?”
She looked away, the knot in her chest still tight enough to constrict her heart. “I…I’m so afraid. Of being alone in a strange place. I can look after myself at home.” Although her old home felt shadowy, somehow. Unreal. Nothing like the vibrancy and color she’d discovered in twelfth-century Whitwell.
He squeezed her hands. “We’re all afraid sometimes, but if you don’t take risks, you’ll never discover the joys of life. I can’t know what fear is like for you, but I can tell you that as a soldier, the fear of anticipation is far worse than the event itself. When you’re in the thick of the fighting, there’s no time to be afraid. You just do what’s necessary. And you’ve proved you’re the same. I don’t want to leave you alone, but if I did, I know you would have the strength to cope. And you’ll never truly be alone. You’d have my knights to protect you, and their wives and families to befriend you.”
As he spoke, the last strands of the knot slid free. Ralph was right. She wasn’t the same woman who’d arrived in the twelfth century. Twenty-first-century Kat would never have been able to climb from the tower. Her love for Ralph had changed her. Or if not changed, then opened her eyes to her strength.
What was better—living out the remainder of her days in comfort in the twenty-first century without Ralph, or accepting the risks and the joy of being with the man she loved? Her heart swelled, and she dropped to her knees, blinking away tears.
Ralph folded her in his arms, pressing his brow to hers. “What do you say, Kat? Will you stay and be my wife?”
The wind ceased to stir the rushes, and a deep silence fell upon the mere. It was as though nature held its breath, waiting for her response.
Tears spilled down her cheeks. “Yes. Oh, yes. I—”
Ralph kissed her, swallowing her words. She wound her arms around his neck, tasting salt, breathing in his familiar scent of leather and spice. To think she’d nearly let him go. A breath of wind brushed her cheek, rattled the bulrushes, as though ringing wedding bells all around the mere.
****
The candles, the wreaths of mistletoe, holly and ivy, the roaring fire in the hearth. All spun in dizzy circles as Kat danced, her palm pressed to Ralph’s, following the steps of a wedding dance. The only still point in the room was Ralph, his eyes locked on hers.
“I love you.”
She could barely hear his voice over the drums, pipes, and fiddles, but she read the words on his lips. She answered by blowing him a kiss.
His eyes darkened. The breath caught in her throat at the promise they communicated. In total disregard to the steps of the dance, Ralph seized her around the waist and pulled her close. Not a sliver of air separated them. The pounding of his heart matched the wild rhythm of her own.
He put his lips to her ear. The caress of his breath sent shivers down her spine. “Tell me, wife, shall we leave the revelers to their feast? I’m in the mood to celebrate Twelfth Night in the privacy of our own chamber.”
Delicious heat pooled in her belly. The temptation was extreme. She snatched a kiss before replying. “Soon. But there’s something I have to do first.”
He raised an eyebrow. In response, she stepped out of his hold and tugged on his hand. “Come with me.”
They left the hall to cheers that made her cheeks burn. Weaving her fingers through his, she led him across the courtyard, the setting sun lighting their way. His thumb circled her palm, sending shivers of delight through her flesh, in promise of further caresses to come in the privacy of their own bed.
Ralph pulled back when she approached the postern gate. “Wait. You can’t mean to go to the mere.”
She nodded. “It’s important. Trust me.” She stood on tiptoe and whispered into his ear, “Afterwards we’ll go to your—our—chamber. I promise.”
Even with a fresh covering of snow, her light leather shoes slid on the path. She clutched Ralph’s arm to stop herself from crashing to the ground.
“Come here. If we must go down, we’ll do it my way.” Before she realized what he intended, he swung her up into his arms and strode down the path, his more sensible boots gripping the snow with ease. Kat snuggled against his chest. How was it possible to feel this happy? She was safe in the arms of her new husband; a rewarding life lay ahead of her, working to make Whitwell a happy and prosperous place. Most important of all, she looked forward to the adventure of spending each new day with the man she loved.
Before she knew it, Ralph set her on her feet on the banks of the mere.
“Now tell me what we’re doing here, when we could be in our bed.”
“I need to do this.” Kat untied the cord around her neck and removed the silver penny. She held it out over a patch of broken ice.
Ralph’s eyes widened. “No!” He flung out an arm to catch it, but he was too late. The coin hit the water with a splash and sank out of sight.
Kat caught his arm, cursing herself for not reassuring him first. “I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Ralph drew a ragged breath. “Then why—?”
“I had to. In eight hundred years, a girl is going to find a silver penny in this very spot. Do you understand? I had to throw it in, so she can find it. So I can find it. And eventually it will lead me here. To you.”
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “If I hadn’t thrown it in, how would I have found you?”
Ralph laughed and hoisted her back into his arms. “You’d have found a way. If you can escape a locked chamber halfway up the donjon, you can do anything.” He strode back up the path. “Since you managed to leave the castle yet again without your cloak, it’s time we retired to our chamber to warm you up.” He kissed her admittedly frozen lips. “And that, my love, will take a great deal of care and time.”
The joyful rattle of the rushes chased them all the way back to the castle.
A word about the author…
Tora lives in Shropshire in the UK. On childhood holidays, her interest in history was fired by exploring castles in Wales and the Welsh borders, and she would make up stories about characters living there. When she started writing, it seemed only natural to turn to the settings that inspired her as a child.
In her free time, when she can drag herself away from reading, she enjoys walking and cycling.
http://www.torawilliams.uk/
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