Brides of the North

by Le Veque, Kathryn

  As Cortez drew near the trees, he ducked back into the tree line, using it for camouflage. He didn’t want to give Dornauld an open shot at him. Using foliage and tree trunks as shields to hide him as he moved, he made his way very quietly to Dornauld, who had limited vision since his sight had been damaged the night before by one of his own men’s clubs. In fact, most of the top of his head was wrapped up, including his right eye. Since Cortez came up on the man’s right side, Dornauld never stood a chance.

  Using the small, razor-sharp dagger he always carried on his body, Cortez plunged it into Dornauld’s back and yanked the man off his horse in the same smooth motion. As Dornauld screamed, Cortez withdrew the knife and used it to slit the man’s throat. As Dornauld lay there, drowning in his own blood, Cortez stood over him.

  “Let that be a lesson to all who threaten me,” he growled. “I hope you rot in hell, you whoreson.”

  Dornauld’s wide-eyed, terrified expression glazed over and Cortez knew that he was dead. Without another glance to the corpse, he leapt onto the fat, very expensive white courser and spurred the animal out of the trees and into the skirmish beyond.

  “Your leader is dead!” he bellowed as he went. “Drop your weapons and flee, and I may show mercy. Keep fighting and I will kill you all!”

  Dornauld’s men, seeing Cortez astride the sheriff’s horse, quickly realized that what the man said must have been true. Dornauld was fanatical about the horse and would not have willingly relinquished it. Death was the only answer to such a thing. Therefore, they began dropping their clubs and running for the woods where Dornauld’s body lay. Some men ran without dropping their clubs, but Cortez didn’t particularly care. They were running away and that was all that mattered to him. He watched the gang of them disappear into the trees.

  “My lord?”

  Cortez turned to the source of the question, seeing James standing there. The young knight was somewhat winded but unharmed.

  “Was anyone badly hurt?” he asked de Lohr.

  James shook his head. “Nay, my lord,” he replied. “There seem to be a few with puncture wounds from those clubs, but nothing that will not heal.”

  Cortez nodded, satisfied. “Then get the men moving,” he said. “We must catch up to the wagons, which surely could not have gotten far with the condition of this road.”

  James nodded in agreement. “Should I send a few men after that rabble to make sure they do not come after us again?”

  Cortez was forced to agree with that possibility. “Aye,” he said. “I did not think that the sheriff was stupid enough to follow us after last night, but now with the man dead, we must discourage his followers from seeking vengeance. Send ten men to follow with orders to observe the group and then catch up to us in Warminster tonight with a report.”

  James saluted smartly and was gone. Cortez made his way back up to the road, taking a moment to inspect his latest acquisition. The fat courser was a beauty, healthy and strong, and he was quite a specimen. Cortez considered the prize almost to be worth the trouble. Almost… but not quite. He made a mental note to stop in Shaftesbury once they had returned from retrieving Rob Edlington’s body just to make sure Dornauld’s men were behaving themselves. Hatred and evil like that was not easily quelled.

  They caught up to the quartermaster and the wagons less than a half hour later, stuck deep in road rut.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The stop in Warminster had been thankfully uneventful. Since the weather was good, rather than sleep at an inn – and also being rather wary of the town after what happened in Shaftesbury – Cortez set up camp to the north of Warminster to rest for the night. The men had hunted at sundown and brought down two wild boars, which provided them with an abundance of meat for sup.

  Underneath the black night sky with its carpet of diamond-stars, Cortez and his men stuffed themselves on wild boar and told great stories of valor around the fires. It had been a pleasant evening for the most part, with Diamantha and Sophie sleeping in the wagon bed to keep them off the damp ground. Cortez slept on the road next to the wagon, just to be near them. It was his duty as well as his desire.

  The next morning dawned clear and bright again, and the roads were nearly dried up completely of their copious mud. It made travel easier as the party set out from Warminster and headed north once again. Their destination for that night was the ancient city with the great Roman baths, something Diamantha had heard of but had never seen. She was rather like an eager child as the group plodded their way from the relatively flat lands surrounding Warminster and into the softly rolling hills that made up the landscape around Bath. She was excited to reach their destination.

  Once into the hills where the ancient Romans used to mine lead and other metals, the road grew narrower and heavy foliage surrounded it. There were big ruts to one side of the path so the party, and both wagons, stayed over to the left side to keep out of the holes. It was peaceful travel and one that Diamantha, after the hectic nature of the past two days, was enjoying immensely. So was Sophie. The girl was taking a nap in the wagon bed, her arms around the cage with her pets in it, and Diamantha grinned every time she glanced into the wagon to check on her child.

  Diamantha must have been in a smiling mood because she also smiled at Cortez every time the man, at the head of the column, turned around to look at her. He would smile in return, making the morning full of smiles between them, gentle gestures that had been polite at first but were now gaining in warmth. Something had changed between them yesterday, as two people who experienced danger and triumph together. It had somehow brought them closer. At least, that’s what Cortez thought. He’d never seen Diamantha behave so friendly towards him and at first he had been wary of it. He wondered why she kept smiling at him. Then, as the day went on, she continued to smile at him and his doubt turned to hope. Was it possible that things between them were truly improving? He could only hope so.

  What was it he had thought to himself the day before? A woman who is chased will run? As hard as it had been to back off his aggressive pursuit of her, maybe in some small way, it was working. Giving her some time to acclimate and having some patience seemed to have paid off. As the village of Bath became visible in the distance, Cortez had Andres and Drake take point while he reined his charger back into the column to speak with Diamantha.

  She had been looking in the wagon again when he approached and brought his charger alongside her leggy palfrey. When she saw that it was Cortez, she broke into one of those lovely smiles he had been seeing all morning.

  “Look at her,” she said, indicating Sophie. “She has not released that cage all morning. I told her she could not take them out, so she is doing her best to keep them close.”

  Cortez peered over the side of the wagon, seeing the little girl with her arms around the cage. He grinned. “She can take them out tonight,” he told Diamantha. “I plan to sleep in a structure with a solid roof over my head and we shall get Sophie her very own room where she can take the animals out and play with them to her heart’s content.”

  Diamantha wasn’t oblivious to the deeper implications of that statement. We shall get Sophie her own room. In other words, Diamantha and Cortez would also have their own room. Gazing at the man, she realized she wasn’t entirely opposed to that arrangement. She was his wife, after all. At some point, their marriage would have to be consummated. She couldn’t hold the man off forever. Now, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to.

  “I am sure she would like that,” Diamantha said quietly. “Do you have a place already in mind?”

  Cortez looked away from Sophie and to the head of the road where Bath was becoming more visible. “I was here, once, with Helene,” he said. “It was on our wedding trip and we stayed in a hostel called The Crystal Palace. It is near the ancient Roman baths, which I thought you might like to visit.”

  Diamantha was very intrigued. “I would love to see them,” she said. “I have only heard tale of them. My father went there, once. He said
it smelled terrible and the water was very warm.”

  Cortez chuckled. “I remember that it did smell strongly,” he said. “There is something in the water, some kind of growth that turns it green and causes it to smell badly. You do not want to bathe in those ancient waters, I assure you.”

  Diamantha nodded her head, rather horrified by the thought of foul-smelling bath water. “I will admit that I would rather bathe in water without green growth,” she said. “In fact, do you think it would be too much trouble to arrange a bath tonight? I should bathe Sophie and I would also like to bathe. If it is not too much trouble, of course.”

  He looked at her, seeing that she was being exceptionally polite about requesting a bath. He shook his head. “It will not be too much trouble,” he said, glancing over in the wagon that held her meager possessions. “In fact, I thought to arrange a shopping trip if we do not arrive into town too late. Mayhap the merchants will still be open. This is our wedding trip as well and I should like to buy you something.”

  Diamantha shrugged faintly. “That is not necessary,” she told him. “You gave me that lovely necklace that belonged to both Helene and your mother. That is enough.”

  He shook his head, looking away as his gaze moved out over the city looming closer. “That is not enough,” he said firmly, casting her a long glance. “I should like to give you something that no one else has owned before. I should… well, I should like to buy you a wedding ring if you will wear one.”

  There was a rather gentle and appreciative expression on Diamantha’s face. He had expected her to resist outright but she didn’t. In fact, she seemed receptive.

  “If it would please you, I will wear one,” she said softly.

  He turned to look at her simply to see if she was being truthful. He still could hardly believe how much more accepting and pleasant she had become over the past day or two. This woman was nothing like the rebellious one he had first met at Corfe. She was kind and gracious and… beautiful. She was most definitely beautiful. Thrilled that she would agree to wear a wedding ring, he winked at her.

  “It would please me if you would wear my ring,” he said, then leaned into her and lowered his voice. “If only to let anyone who might have a notion to steal you away know that you belong to me. That goes for my foolish brother as well. Has he stopped flirting with you?”

  Diamantha laughed, spying Andres up at the head of the column. “Truthfully, he’s not spoken to me since yesterday,” she said. “I would tell you if he was being bold and terrible, but he is not.”

  “Swear it?”

  “I do.”

  “Even to protect him because he is now your brother as well?”

  She giggled and lifted her hand in a vowing gesture. “I swear to you, my lord, that he has not taken liberties with me,” she said, then lowered her hand and grew serious. “You will know when that happens without me having to tell you.”

  He cocked his head thoughtfully. “How will I know?”

  She gave him a wry expression. “Because he will be sporting a black eye the size of a melon,” she said, watching him grin. “You do not think I would let him get away with it, do you?”

  Cortez shook his head, hard. “I do not,” he replied frankly. “I have said it once before, God help the man who truly tangles with you.”

  Diamantha laughed again, lowering her gaze in a rather coy gesture that Cortez found utterly captivating. He would have liked to have chatted with her, and flirted with her, for the rest of the day had a call from the front of the column not interrupted him. Frustrated at the intrusion, he excused himself and charged back up to the front of the group, just as they were descending a hill that led straight to the south gate of Bath’s city walls.

  There were many people on the road at that point, crowding into the south gates as the Bishop of Bath’s men inspected the flow entering the city. Cortez could see the soldiers in their green tunics, scrutinizing all who passed. He nudged his brother.

  “Ride up and announce us,” he told Andres. “Tell the bishop’s men that we simply wish to stay in town for the night and be on our way in the morning. You make sure to tell him that I am the garrison commander for Simon of Ghent. They cannot refuse us in that case.”

  Andres, like the other knights, wore closed-faced helmets with a hinged visor on it so they could lift the faceplate for better field of vision. At his brother’s instruction, he closed his lifted visor and charged down the road towards the south gate of Bath. It was usually a battle-ready position but in this case, he meant it to be one of command. The bishop’s men would think twice before denying a heavily-armed knight entry to the town. It was meant to intimidate, which was what Cortez required of all of his men. It was important to him, in any case, to have the upper hand.

  As Andres charged towards the gates, Cortez had his knights close their visors and sling shields over their left knee for quick access. It was a battle stance. His foot soldiers, with their “kettle helmets,” packed weapons but kept them sheathed. They weren’t heading for war but they wanted to be prepared entering the rather busy and cultural city of Bath.

  Diamantha, to the rear of the column, watched the preparations around her. They hadn’t prepared this much heading into Shaftesbury, but they had definitely prepared heading into Warminster. It seemed to her that after their experiences in Shaftesbury, Cortez wasn’t going to be caught unprepared again. The man would make his presence known as only de Bretagne could.

  It had evidently worked. Cortez’s party never even had to stop. The soldiers at the south gate of Bath motioned them in and even bowed politely to the lady as she passed by. Once through the big gatehouse, an entirely new world opened up on the other side.

  It was a world of awe.

  Sophie awoke the moment she heard the busy sounds of the town, standing up in the wagon bed to a sight she’d never really seen. An entire world of people spread out before her, merchants and vendors, visitors and beggars, all of them bustling about on the busy street that was literally crowded to the seams.

  The child rubbed her eyes, blinking sleepily as the wagon moved down the main avenue of the town. She looked at the vendors and the people, but there wasn’t much that would interest a three-year-old girl. It was mostly the noise that had awoken her. However, the moment she saw a vendor with trained dogs, performing tricks for the few coins he could collect, she nearly jumped over the side of the wagon.

  “Mama!” she cried, pointing to the man with the four small dogs. “Look! Dogs!”

  Riding just behind the wagon, Diamantha looked to see what had her daughter so excited. Indeed, there was a man with four small dogs and when he saw Sophie, he purposely made the dogs jump around to entice her. Sophie began screaming.

  “Mama!” she yelled. “I want to see the dogs!”

  She was jumping up and down, practically hanging over the side of the wagon, and the closest person to her was Drake de Winter. From the angle of his helm, he was looking down at Sophie as the child nearly came apart with delight. Diamantha was afraid her child was going to launch herself out of the wagon so she called out to Drake.

  “Sir Drake?” she said politely. “Would you please grasp my child before she falls out of the wagon and is run over?”

  Drake immediately reached down and picked the child up, who happily clung to him, thinking he was going to take her to the dogs. Diamantha reined her horse next to his and reached out for her child, taking her onto the saddle in front of her. Sophie was squealing happily as Diamantha reined her horse around.

  “Please tell Cortez that we are visiting the dogs,” she said. “He may want to stop and wait for us.”

  Drake knew that Lady de Bretagne was never to be without a knight for protection, which is why the knights took turns riding in close proximity to her. All except Andres, of course. Cortez kept his brother away from his new wife and they all knew why – the man was fond of women and more than likely not to be trusted. Therefore, Drake quickly told the nearest soldier to carr
y the message to Cortez while he followed Lady de Bretagne to the man with the dogs. It seemed that’s where all of the excitement was happening.

  By the time Diamantha reached the dogs, Sophie was nearly mad with enthusiasm. She held her arms out to the dogs as if to hug them as Diamantha dismounted her palfrey and pulled her daughter off. Setting the little girl to her feet, she admonished the child as she tried to run at the canines.

  “Careful, now,” Diamantha said cautiously. “They do not know you, Sophie. Do not scare them. Let them show you their tricks.”

  Sophie didn’t go any closer but it was very difficult for her. She jumped up and down happily, clapping her hands as the dogs jumped over each other and then onto little wooden blocks the man had for them. They even jumped through a circular piece of wood. All the while, Sophie laughed happily. She was so very thrilled at something so simple and sweet.

  Diamantha stood back, watching her daughter and the dogs, with Drake hovering just behind her. She could feel the man’s big presence. She also noticed that Cortez’s column had come to a halt and she expected Cortez to show himself any minute. He was never far away, no matter where they were, and the thought brought her comfort. Meanwhile, she looked back at her ecstatic daughter.

  “Do you have any children, Sir Drake?” she asked.

  Drake flipped up his visor. “Nay, my lady,” he said. “I am not married.”

  Diamantha turned to look at him, surprised. “Not yet?” she repeated. “Surely you are old enough.”

  He grinned, flashing big white teeth. “I am old enough, my lady,” he said. “But, alas, I have not come across what I would consider worthy prospects. Certainly, my father has tried his best to marry me off. I am the last of my brothers to still be unwed.”