by Marie Hall
Margarette's laughter didn't quite drown out Xavier's cry for God to have mercy on him, nor his grunt when his uncle's hand again landed on the back of his head.
"Have you not heard?" Io shook her head no. "I had to use every one of them in order to raise…" she pointed at the three young men now huddling a bit closer together. "The three of them. That I have any hair on my skull, more that I am not well and dead, as many frights as they gave me."
"We… I was not that awful," Xavier said, and when Io looked, he again winked at her.
"He was not at all," Margarette said in Io's ear before kissing her temple. "You were a rotter. And I will tell her all about it," she told Xavier.
"I am sure you will have time to bear tales, Mag," Searle said, holding his hand out to his wife. Io was rather surprised to see her dismiss the gesture in favor of putting a second arm around Io's shoulders and pulling her even closer.
"Perhaps, much later, Mother," Rem said, stepping up with Owl who was again fussing and crying and pulling at his ear.
"Oh mercy," Margarette said, taking the baby from her son, her hand sweeping over the little boy's head and face, seeking signs of fever. "Grizel?" she called, and from nowhere, an old woman appeared.
"He has been unhappy long, lady?" Grizel asked as she, too, ran her hands over the puffy little face.
"Weeks now," Xavier said, stepping up to set his hands on Io's shoulders in a comforting gesture.
"Do not bite me, you little bug," Grizel said with much kindness.
Io watched, ready to intervene should either woman do anything untoward, but all that happened was a soft inspection of the boy's mouth and gums. "I think it not his teeth."
"The way he pulls at his ear?" Margarette was saying, even as the old crone felt the side of Owl's face and neck.
"He sucks his fingers?" Grizel asked, looking at Io now.
"Yes, his thumb mostly."
"And he quiets then?"
"Some."
"And when he sleeps, is he better on his side?" The old woman was waving up two other maids. "Go fetch the oil from Nouel's shop, see it is the well strained one and see it heated a bit." The instructions clearly meant for the maids left Io, who was still nodding in response to the last question asked, simply standing there as the women rushed off. "Poor little bug, we will have that all soothed in a breath."
"Grizel," Xavier called then stepped up and gave the woman a loose hug. "You are a blessing."
"And you need a good bit of wolf's ban and onion." She pointed back at Io. "She do that to you?"
"No," Xavier actually sounded as if he pouted. "She did this, though," he said, touching his lip.
"You probably deserved it," Margarette was quick to defend, even as the old woman examined the cut and shook her head.
"He did," Roth confirmed and didn't even try to look contrite when Xavier glared at him.
"We should maybe move this from the street," Searle said, and when Frog stepped over and held up his arms, he lifted the boy without hesitation.
"All these children, Cousin?" Rem was saying as they moved back toward camp.
"Io cannot help herself; she collects them like other women collect flowers."
"Flowers do not last as long, and as long as they do not have thorns," Margarette said, poking Xavier in the back. "They are far more fun."
Io could only smile. She'd only ever witnessed such joyful family bonds a few times in all the years she'd moved from house to house. It wasn't something she'd have thought to connect with Xavier, though she didn't know why. He hadn't shown her any tendencies against family. He only stood firm in his belief family was what you choose to create, with people you choose to be with. Xavier plainly selected these people, and as the day progressed, Io could see why. She'd have chosen them, too, had she been given the opportunity.
Chapter 10
"What will you do with the boys?" Searle asked, and Xavier shook his head. He'd spent most of the day telling his uncle and cousins everything about Io, including her birthright. He knew if anything ever happened to him, his uncle would help insure Io was not left abandoned and vulnerable. Truth, he should have reached out to these people as soon as Io was set in his care. If for no other reason than Margarette would've supported her instantly.
"I do not know," Xavier said, looking down and toeing at a rock. From the corner of his eye, he watched Io and his aunt continue to speak. Grizel's oily tonic was giving the baby much needed relief and everyone else a chance to find some peace. "I have thought to send them back to Bainsport, but that would mean taking at least five men from the ranks. Io may not even let them go with so few," Xavier said, looking up at some happy squeals and deep laughter. Fox was having some good sport with Tay. A quick glance back at Io, and he saw her watching, a smile on her face.
"You might leave them with us."
Xavier jerked around to look at his uncle." I cannot ask such an imposition, Uncle."
"You did not ask; I offered. You have some plans for at least the oldest. A squire to you perhaps, before you move him toward a knighthood?"
Xavier nodded. Fox made sure the new arrivals knew that he was capable of defending his lady and would. Xavier explained the boy's nature and watched Fox beam as Xavier confirmed him as a hero to these new people.
"Leave them with us. They will be safe enough, and I can begin their education."
"I have not yet supplied them with anything. I thought at court—"
"Did not plan to cross paths?" Searle said with a chuckle.
"I told him," Jon tattled and put an arm around the old man.
"Of course, you did," Searle said, patting Jon's hand. They'd both trained under Deuxmount, became friends in his house. But Jon's closeness had deepened even past Xavier's when the man helped Jon through the loss of the woman he thought to wed. That girl's death almost took Jon from this world, and Xavier hadn't ever understood how a woman could have such power over a man. At least not until he'd been handed Io. He understood perfectly now.
"The other two are too young to start training," Xavier noted, knowing it was not common practice to send any child into another house before they would be useful.
"Bah," Searle scoffed. "They will do well pleasing your aunt with all their mischief. Until that one," he pointed at Rem, "gives her a grandchild, she will find much pleasure in their being about."
It was a thought. Xavier wouldn't trust anyone else with the boys. But the idea of leaving them, knowing how being left affected Io so deeply, he wasn't as sure as he might be if such a suggestion was made to him before her. And how to convince Io it was a good idea, that it'd be in the children's best interest.
"It would be better than trying to have them at court. Lady Io will not be distracted nor will she resent being unable to give them her full attention, as she will not be able to," Liam said, adding his opinion to the discussion.
"I do not know," Xavier hedged.
"It would not be an easy thing to convince Io of," Jon remarked.
"I hope you speak to the difficulty of convincing her to stay with you rather than run off with me," Rem said as he entered the group, a panting, dirty, smiling Fox beside him.
"My lady would not run away with you," the boy said and shoved at Rem, who playfully fell to the ground.
"She would not?" Rem laughed and pulled the youth down before tickling him breathless.
"No," Fox gasped out and squirmed away.
Maybe it'd be better to see what the boy in question thought of the idea before he broached it with Io. Though it wasn't at all common to bother with what a child might want.
"Fox," Xavier called, and the boy was quick to come stand before him. The beaming smile and shining eyes only made Xavier doubt more the idea. He didn't want the boy, a hero to him, to hate him now, to think as Io did that he was being abandoned. Kneeling down, he took hold of the thin shoulders. Instantly, the smile faded and Xavier's gut twisted. "Tell me what you might think of…" he didn't even know how to ask. It wasn't
something children had an opinion on.
"How might you feel about coming with me to start your training?" his uncle said, saving Xavier the pain of it. "You can train with me rather than waste all that time at court."
Fox's head was turning back and forth between his uncle and himself, and Xavier waited for the betrayal to rise in the boy's eyes. "You trained my lord?" Fox asked.
"I did," Searle confirmed.
"You would train me the same, then?"
"He would only start your training, son," Xavier explained. "You will not stay with him long enough to complete it. I will fetch you back with us when we start for home."
"But I would be trained the same as you?" Fox asked.
"You would," Searle told him, catching Xavier's eyes and smiling. The boy was no fool.
Fox rubbed at his chin, and Xavier almost laughed at the rather grown act. "I should like to be like Lord Xavier. I should like to be exactly like him."
"God help us," Rem muttered, causing a few chuckles.
"Do you think you might want to stay with Lord Duexmount a while, while I am at court?" Xavier asked. He wouldn't force the boy.
"What about my brothers?"
"They will come, too," Rem stated, knowing without needing consult, it was truth. "They need to come, or else Mother will smother you and you will never get to train."
"Truth," Xavier, Jon, and Searle all said at once, causing a good deal of laughter.
"And I will train like you?" Fox again questioned.
"You will, though you might know, it is not all exciting," Xavier warned.
"We will do our best to avoid the boring things," Rem said, patting Fox on the back before ducking to avoid the slap to the back of his head.
"I think I should like to train then," Fox said, turning to face Searle. "If you might have me… us, sir. I should like to train to be like my lord."
"It would be a great pleasure to train you to be like Xavier," Searle said and grabbed the boy's shirtfront to pull him close. "Indeed, it will be an honor."
"Then thank you. I will do my best," Fox said with a firm nod of his head.
"Your men have already influenced him well," Rem said, coming to stand beside Xavier.
"They have, and you will now need to make sure nothing happens to him, because I cannot tell you the murder Io will do if he comes to harm."
"And how exactly are you going to tell her?" Jon asked.
"Probably wearing full armor," Xavier quipped, again causing laughter.
Io sniffed and turned to look back down the road again. It still felt so wrong to leave the children behind. How she'd let herself be talked into it she didn't know. All she could guess was the way Fox pleaded with her to give him the chance to be the same kind of man her husband was. He'd been so earnest in the case he made.
And while it mattered less to her, Xavier's reassurances they'd indeed collect the children back up on the return trip, Io couldn't deny Lady Margarette's argument court was no place for children. Io didn't think a place even for her. So she'd left them. Abandoning them the same way she'd been abandoned so many times before.
"We will go back for them." Io turned to find Jon beside her. "No matter what Io they will not be abandoned." He reached over and squeezed her hand. "Though, if I had to be abandoned someplace I would choose Duexmount's house."
She sniffed again and nodded, trying her best to smile at him. It'd be awhile longer though before she found much reason to smile.
"Brice."
Io looked to see who was calling. It was nearly sunset; Xavier would stop to make camp soon.
"Brice."
The voice was familiar, but the shadows kept the man's face obscured.
"Howard?" Xavier called back, and Io saw the man raise his arm before starting toward them.
"Brice," the man said with some laughter as he drew up and clasped arms with Xavier. "You are slow in your old age. We expected you a few days ago."
Io watched as Xavier set a second hand on Sir Richard Howard's arm before sitting back and lifting a finger to rub at the eye, still black but far less swollen, thanks to Grizel's skilled care. "We were met with a few delays," Xavier said.
"So I see. I hope you tell me that was the last blow made by whoever the dog was."
"Oh, it was. It was the last for a number of them," Xavier said as he made room for the man to ride beside him.
"Good to hear. Come; we've made camp already," said the man, whom Io recognized as one of the six who'd come to deliver the king's rejection of her request for an annulment. At the time, she'd been anything but happy with the king's decision. She was glad for it now, though.
"You said you have expected us?" Xavier said as he rode more ahead. "Was there a purpose?"
Io didn't hear the answer as they were too far ahead, and it was sometime late in the night before Xavier joined her in bed. It took the full length of the second day before Io heard they'd been sent an escort, because a house was turned over for them and they'd no need to either seek several places to lodge or to stay in tents. Good things both, as Xavier was loathed to divide the men and they didn't bring enough tents in the attempt to travel fast and light. But as the party was turned off in the correct direction, a foreboding built up in Io. Every step closer chilled her more.
"My lady?"
Io looked up from the collection of rocks and twigs she'd laid out in the dirt to represent the different types of soldiers. The lessons were good, interesting, and Gerald, Jon, and Mark were excellent at explaining what she needed to know about warfare, but it wasn't enough to stay distracted from the prickling skin along her arms or the hairs standing up on the back of her neck. "Sir Howard."
"May I?" he asked, indicating the spot on the ground next to her.
"If I say no?" she said but gestured he should sit.
He did and laughed a bit. "You are still prickly, I see, my lady."
"Did you hope otherwise?"
"No, in fact, I can say it pleases me greatly Xavier has yet to break you," he said, reaching out to right one of the twigs. "I am most fond of him, and I did not think there would be any woman… bold enough to hold his interest."
"Are you sure bold is the word you wish to use?" she asked and took several of the stones from her formation. "Lord Brice insists I am vulgar, unseemly, and brash."
The man tossed his head back and laughed. "I suppose he would know best," he said, chuckling. "And I suppose we all should have guessed that was the kind of woman he needed to keep him chained down."
"I am not at all sure I keep him chained down, as you say. He well enough does as he pleases."
"Then let me be completely unseemly, myself, and say it must please him greatly to do you,"
Io couldn't help it; she did laugh. "I do my best, sir, to make him happy."
"Yes, I remember happiness was the goal for both of you. And yet I have not yet had the good fortune to actually see you happy. Not when I was at Bainsport and not now, here. Tell me what troubles you so?"
Xavier had asked her a few times already. She'd not had an answer and he'd not pushed for one, this time. "I do not know," she said, fiddling with the twigs. "I… it feels… I cannot go to court," she blurted out.
"Court?" Howard asked, pointing to the ground and then shifting to look around. His hand on his sword hilt said he was looking for danger.
"I want to go back to Bainsport. I do not want to be here, to go to court."
"Lady Io—"
"Io, just Io. I do not care for titles. I do not want to have to carry one,"
"Io," he amended, "you will be fine. Court is not the scary place you must imagine it to be. Truly, it is no better or worse than a normal house at perhaps holiday when everyone and their kin are gathered and pushing to get to food and drink and yelling about how much better their opinions are than another's." He worked to catch her eye. "And you already have both a good numbers of supporters and many more who are in awe of you."
"I do not understand."
&nb
sp; "Io, you are the woman who has chained Xavier Brice down. Everyone thought the man would wed, place his wife in his house, and come straight back to court to find a new fight." He shifted his posture, became more relaxed. "You are seen as a very powerful woman. Everyone thought only the will of God would ever keep the man from battle."
"I have not heard that battles were ongoing," Io told him, knowing it was less she chained Xavier down and more he'd nowhere to be.
"Io, your husband is always satisfied to cause one when boredom strikes. He need not even have a great reason. An unkind word against his king is enough if Xavier is in the mood."
Io smiled. Xavier's reputation was much better known to her now. Those who'd spent years fighting beside him often reminisced over past glories, though few seemed to wish to trade what they had now for more bloodshed. Xavier mostly went to court to see the king, who'd order him to battle. It was less social and more practical every time before. Perhaps the formality was more on Xavier's part than on His Majesty's.
Still, that wasn't this. What might be found at court wasn't the cause of this deathly cold she felt wrapped around her. The silence stretched between them for a while longer until he shifted and began rearranging some of the stones and twigs.
"And seeing one of the very best military minds is teaching you battlefield strategies," he said while moving the rocks she thought of as archers around in the dirt into a second formation. "I think if anyone should give you troubles…" He indicated the new way the 'soldiers' were assembled. "You will call up your army and set them down where they belong."
"My army is rather small," Io said and tried to determine how the new placement made the formation more effective. "Why should having archers here better serve?" she asked as she moved a few other things to give support to the weaker side.
"Well, let me show you," Howard said and proceeded to spend the next two hours helping her place pieces to best depict a successful offense or defense. Several others joined in, and for a while, Io focused on something other than her dread.
