Brides of the North

by Le Veque, Kathryn

  George wasn’t in full agreement but he didn’t argue. He simply sat there like a man who had just had all of the life sucked out of him.

  “Are you sure of this?” he begged softly.

  “I am.”

  There was nothing more to say. George fought back the tears. “Very well,” he finally muttered. “May I at least bid Sophie farewell?”

  Diamantha nodded. “Of course you can,” she said, turning towards the archway that led into the keep entry and calling out. “Annie? Will you please bring Sophie to me?”

  There was some hissing and Diamantha swore she heard a screech. Annie suddenly appeared in the doorway, wringing her hands nervously as she always did. The woman had wrung her hands into blisters at times.

  “I turned my back for a moment, my lady,” she wept. “She was there one moment and gone the next!”

  Diamantha stared at the woman a moment before bolting past her. “She has gone to see General,” she hissed. “God’s Blood, she has escaped us again!”

  Diamantha fled the keep with her women. In the mists of the early morning, they knew exactly where one little girl would be.

  George, however, remained behind. He found that he couldn’t muster the strength to follow; everything that was dear to him was either dead or departing. It was a difficult thing to reconcile. All he could think of was that he was now alone, so very alone. He had nothing left to live for except the hope that his son would indeed be returned to him for a proper burial. He would live for that day but when that day had come and gone, he wasn’t sure he wanted to remain in the land of the living after that.

  He seriously wondered if he could go on with nothing left to him but memories.

  Cortez wasn’t sure he was seeing correctly.

  In the white mists that were lingering so close to the ground, he swore he saw a ghost near the massive wall of the inner bailey. It was a tiny white wisp, moving through the fog, and he focused on it, trying to make it out. He could see legs and little feet. When a patch of fog lifted slightly, he could see that it was Lady Sophie heading straight for the stables and she was quite alone. Another escape, he thought. Swiftly, he went in pursuit.

  Cortez caught up to the child just as she reached the stable yard, enclosed with its big oak fence and smatterings of dried grass strewn about. The smell of animals was heavy in the dense fog. He reached out to gently grasp her, stopping her momentum.

  “Good morn to you, little one,” he said. “Where do you go in such a hurry?”

  Sophie turned to look at him, her sweet little face framed by the woolen cap. “To see General,” she told him what he already knew. “He is waiting for me.”

  Cortez held out his hand to her, which she immediately snatched. “Where is your mother?”

  Sophie shrugged and yanked on his hand, pulling him with her as she made her way towards the stables. Cortez, however, slowed his pace and gently but firmly pulled her to a stop.

  “Sophie,” he said, more plainly. “Where is your mother?”

  Sophie looked up at him. “Inside,” she told him. “She is speaking with Grandfather.”

  Cortez wasn’t particularly concerned about a conversation between Diamantha and George, but he was unwilling to delay too much longer before departing. Already, the day was here and time was passing quickly. He tugged on the little girl’s hand.

  “Let us go inside and get your mother,” he said. “I am sure she would like to see General, too.”

  Sophie’s brow furrowed as she looked between Cortez and the stalls several feet away. She was far too close to General to be willingly taken away from him. After a moment, she shook her head.

  “I want to see General now,” she told him.

  Cortez could see a battle with a three-year-old coming on and, to be frank, nothing could intimidate him more. He didn’t want to be on the child’s bad side now when he was just coming to know her, and perhaps love her just a little. He didn’t want her to view him as anything other than a kind man who took interest in her pony. It was selfish, he knew, but let the mother be the one she viewed as the disciplinarian. He didn’t want any part of that role in her eyes.

  “If I take you to see General first will you then go with me to retrieve your mother?” he bargained.

  Sophie’s features brightened. “Aye.”

  Resigned to the will of a toddler, and the fact that he was a coward, Cortez allowed her to lead him into the stable where the horses were being fed their morning meal by the stable servants. The air smelled of dust and grass, and Sophie let go of Cortez’s hand as she scurried over to the stall where General was munching his grain. She slipped right into the stall and began petting the pony as it ate.

  Cortez leaned against the stall door, a faint smile on his lips as he watched the child hug and pet the pony, who was more interested in his food. His thoughts turned from those of his cowardice to those of warmth and contentment. This child belongs to me now, he thought as he watched her giggle. It was an odd but wonderful sensation and one that made him feel whole in a manner he couldn’t begin to describe. For the past three years he had been so alone, and now he had a wife and a child. He was a knight, and an excellent one, and the true mark of a male by any standard. But now… now, he felt like a man. He had dependents. He had a family. He had what he had lost three years ago, something he had always wanted. He couldn’t describe it any better than that.

  As he stood there and pondered the course that his future had taken, he heard a soft voice come up beside him.

  “So she dragged you in here, did she? I thought as much.”

  Cortez turned to see Diamantha standing next to him, her gaze on her child as the girl fussed over her pony. “Indeed she did,” he replied. “Truth be told, I found her as she was running to the stables. Can I surmise that she escaped you again?”

  Diamantha’s attention was still on her daughter. “You can,” she said. “She has always been that way, as soon as she learned to walk. If you turn your back on her, she will disappear before you know it.”

  Cortez grinned. “Mayhap you should tie a bell around her neck so you will always be able to find her.”

  Diamantha couldn’t help but smile. “I can just see her running around with a big bell around her neck, dragging her down. I do not think she would be a very happy child.”

  Cortez laughed softly, watching Diamantha as she, in turn, watched her daughter. She was such an exquisite creature and the infatuation he had felt for her since nearly the moment he first saw her in George’s solar seemed to be growing by the second. It made his heart skip a beat, the queasy, giddy feeling he was coming to associate with her.

  Diamantha could feel Cortez’s eyes on her. The liquid heat was palpable, reaching out to caress her with invisible fingers. It made her uncomfortable and interested at the same time, this magnetism that she seemed to be unable to resist. After a moment, she turned to look at him, feeling a jolt when their eyes met.

  “Actually, I am glad she found you,” she said quietly. “We must have the pony saddled for her.”

  Cortez lifted a curious eyebrow. “Why?”

  Diamantha made sure to look him in the eye when she spoke. “Because he is going with us,” she said. “So is Sophie.”

  The warmth in Cortez’s eyes vanished. “What do you mean?”

  Diamantha didn’t back down; truthfully, this was the best possible atmosphere in which to tell him something he would undoubtedly not want to hear. She suspected he wouldn’t raise his voice or become too angry with Sophie just a few feet away. It was all very calculated on her part. She saw the opportunity and she took it.

  “I mean exactly what I just said,” she explained, her voice soft. “Sophie is coming with us on our quest north and since I know she will not leave General behind, he is coming with us, too.”

  Cortez’s jaw flexed dangerously and the onyx eyes flashed. “Are you mad?” he hissed. “I am not taking a child over hundreds of miles of road, through situations that could possibl
y be dangerous or even deadly. I cannot believe I am hearing this from you, her own mother!”

  He was doing a good job at keeping his voice down but Diamantha could see that he was positively furious and it was a struggle not to become intimidated by it. She looked back over at her daughter.

  “Let me state this to you quite plainly,” she said evenly. “As I am going with you to retrieve Robert’s body, I do not plan to be separated from my daughter for an unknown length of time. It could be weeks or even months before I see her again, and I will not be kept from her for that long. Therefore, it is the logical solution that she goes with us. You will be able to protect both of us quite ably. I have faith in you. Besides, Robert is her father – this is as much her questing as it is yours or mine. In time, she will appreciate that we allowed her to go. It is her right.”

  His cheeks were starting to turn red. “This is utter and complete lunacy,” he growled. “I forbid it.”

  “You cannot. It is my decision, as she is my daughter.”

  Cortez just looked at her. His eyes seemed to widen and his mouth worked as if he wanted to say something. In truth, there was a good deal he wanted to say. But instead, he abruptly turned and walked out of the stable. Diamantha stood there a moment, wondering if she should follow, when she suddenly heard a loud and angry yell. It reverberated off the stone walls and caused the animals to start, including General. Even Diamantha jumped when she heard it, for it was most angry and primal. But as soon as it ended, Cortez was back in the stable, taking a deep breath and looking a little more in control of himself. He resumed his place against the stall door as he faced Diamantha. It took her a moment to realize that he had been the one to release the furious roar.

  “That,” he said quietly, “is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life. Are you that careless of a mother that you would actually expose your child to such danger?”

  Diamantha could have become incensed over what was a slanderous comment against her abilities as a parent but she did not. She remained calm.

  “I am not careless at all,” she said. “I am thinking only of her. She was very close to her father and I feel strongly that she must go.”

  “Your daughter is not going with us.”

  Diamantha could have done one of two things at that point; she could have gone head to head with him, or she could try to soften him with a little honey. She thought to attempt the latter just to see how well it would work. It was manipulative, she knew, but she wasn’t beyond being a little manipulative to gain her wants. Besides, she had married the man. It was time to find out just how far she could push him because, so far, his bark seemed to be worse than his bite. Well, except for that primal roar, which had been quite frightening. But it was time to find out if the man was all bark and no bite at all. Reaching out, she put a soft hand on his arm.

  “Please,” she begged softly. “It means so much to me. I could not be away from her for so long. And I feel as if this is her calling, too. Robert was her father, after all. Please let her go with us. I promise she will not be any trouble.”

  She even threw a little sniffle in, as if she was verging on tears. Cortez, however, was focused entirely on her warm hand against his flesh. It was by far the most marvelous sensation he had ever experienced in his life. He could feel himself folding like an idiot, without a fight, and he struggled not to.

  “You do not understand,” he said, his tone considerably more gentle than it had been moments before. “It is not that I do not wish to take her. She is a sweet and beautiful girl, and I would like nothing better. But if something happened to her on our journey, I would never forgive myself. I have already lost one daughter. I could not bear to lose another.”

  He was beating Diamantha at her own manipulative game. The last several words were like a dagger to her heart and suddenly, she was the one in danger of folding. She could see the pain in his eyes as he spoke and it touched her. But she held her ground.

  “You would not lose her,” she whispered. “But I cannot be without her. She must come with me or I cannot go.”

  “Good,” he said with great relief. “Remain here and I will return as soon as I can. That is the way I prefer it.”

  Diamantha could see that he had called her bluff, turning her own scheme of manipulation around on her until he was now the one verging on his wants. She removed her hand from his arm.

  “Nay,” she said, now sounding hard where only moments before she had been soft. “If you do not allow us both to go, I will commit both myself and my daughter to a convent and you will never see us again. If we cannot go together, then I will not wait for you to return. You will lose us.”

  The game of gentle persuasion had suddenly turned cold and serious. Fact was, Cortez believed her; she was a determined and head-strong woman, and he believed her implicitly. Uncertain, he knew he couldn’t leave with that threat hanging over his head. He couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t return to find both his wife and daughter barricaded in a cloister. Nay, he couldn’t stomach that at all. Now he was backed into a corner and he couldn’t see any way out. He had no choice.

  She had him.

  “Very well,” he muttered, sighing with great regret. “If that is the way you feel, then Sophie may come. But know I will be against it every step of the way. If you wanted to start this marriage off with resentment and bitterness, then you are well on your way, lady.”

  Diamantha’s brief flash of victory was quickly doused. She could see he was genuinely resentful. “That is not my intention,” she said. “But I cannot leave my daughter behind and I must go on this quest with you. Therefore, she must go with me. If you had a child of your own, you would understand.”

  He took it as a low blow. With a lingering gaze on the woman, he moved away from her and headed out of the stable. She could hear him giving orders to the grooms to have the pony saddled as he went. There was hazard and discouragement in his tone.

  Diamantha didn’t follow him. She had won the battle and that was all she cared about at the moment. So what if the man was bitter and resentful? She hadn’t wanted to marry him, anyway. What did she care what he thought? If he wanted her, then he was going to have to take everything about her – the good and the bad. The man deserved everything coming to him for being so unfeeling and forcing her into a marriage she did not want.

  Without another thought to de Bretagne, Diamantha remained with her daughter in the stable, waiting as the grooms prepared the pony before lifting her daughter onto the animal’s back. The tiny saddle had a strap that went around Sophie’s waist to keep her from falling out, and she secured the little strap and led the pony from the stable.

  Outside, the fog had lifted and patches of blue sky could be seen overhead. Cortez had his army gathered down by the main gatehouse, waiting for her, and as her own palfrey was brought around, Merlin broke off from the army and made his way towards her. She glanced up at the red-haired sergeant as he came alongside, reaching down to take the pony’s reins.

  “My lady,” he greeted. “Sir Cortez has asked me to ride with you from Corfe Castle. I am to be your shadow, my lady, and your daughter’s. I hope this is acceptable.”

  Diamantha’s stance against Cortez began to waver. So he was to assign a soldier to escort her, was he? It was indicative of his anger, and perhaps even his regret that he had married her in the first place. Cortez was furious with her and, if she was honest with herself, perhaps it was rightfully so. She was willing to admit that she had been aggressive and cruel. She was also willing to admit that she had been punishing him for forcing her into the marriage, but the fact remained that she had what she wanted out of the situation. In fact, she had everything she wanted and Cortez, other than marrying her, had virtually nothing. He had made all of the concessions and she had done nothing but bully the man.

  With a sigh, coming to think that she had behaved badly, she gathered her reins and nodded at Merlin.

  “It is acceptable,” she said. “Have my sat
chels been secured somewhere?”

  Merlin nodded. “Your maids brought them down to the provisions wagon.”

  “Good,” Diamantha said. “In that case, we are ready to depart.”

  Merlin simply nodded as he spurred his horse back towards the cluster of troops, pulling Sophie and General along with him. Diamantha followed, her gaze moving over Corfe for the last time. Her beloved Corfe. There was a lump in her throat at the thought of leaving, but she comforted herself with the fact that she was heading out on a mission of great importance. It was utterly vital to locate Robert’s body and bring the man home. It was all she was concerned with. Now, the great questing had begun.

  Her life was about to change forever.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Sherborne Castle

  Dorset

  Diamantha’s first glimpse of Sherborne Castle was through sheets of driving rain. Coming over the hill on the road leading in from the south, she could see the mighty castle of the Bishop of Salisbury in the distance like a great gray sentinel planted in the middle of the green Dorset countryside. It was shaped rather like a crown, she thought, with soaring walls and towers, and an enormous gatehouse at the front. But the rain pounded and the thunder rolled, distracting her from the impressive sight as she was eager to be under a dry roof.

  Everyone else in the party was eager, too. After leaving Corfe Castle, which was only a day’s ride under good circumstances, Sophie grew weary of riding General about an hour into the journey and Merlin had brought her to her mother. Snuggled under her mother’s warm cloak, Sophie had slept most of the trip away and when she did awaken, it was to pop her head out from underneath the cloak and point at the scenery.

  The little girl saw rabbits and deer, and it thrilled her tremendously. She even tried to talk Merlin into going off and catching a baby bunny, but Merlin was very regretful that he could not break rank to do so. Sophie wasn’t entirely disappointed and found other things to corner her interest. Mostly, she found Merlin to corner her interest and it was a running conversation between a very talkative little girl and a rather quiet sergeant. It had been rather sweet to watch, leaving smiles on the faces of those within earshot.