by A. J. Bell
The people gathered around the dining table were my most precious possessions per say. There was Mother, whose anger dissipated when we left the Royal City, and Father, who didn’t miss a chance to tell me how proud he was of me. There was also Ghad and Meav, who was heavy with child. Within two months, we would have a baby in the castle. Then there were Rosie and Dash, a not-so-trustworthy woman being courted by a man whom I trusted blindly with my life. Then there were Orman and Shewhite, an odd couple for sure, but I owed my life to both of them and had come to love and appreciate them so. As a matter of fact, Shewhite slept in my bed, warming my feet, always watchful. Closing the circle of trust, as I called the dinner table, was me. I was the one who loved these people dearly, and by doing so, had endangered their lives. I could never be grateful enough for the sacrifices these people had to go through trying to keep my secret safe, a secret that could cost all of our lives if Richard or anybody else decided to tell the King about me.
Mother and Rosie had gotten dinner ready. Meav wasn’t feeling that well, so she had stayed in bed most of the day and had just gotten out of bed to share dinner with us.
Ghad had helped Father to forge new swords and also helped to make some arrow steel tips. He had been learning the trade of my father, although his butcher’s ability also came in handy. With the threat of impending war, his strong hands were being used to bend metals, and he was good at it, yet, he had a lot to learn still.
Orman and Dash patrolled the fields together throughout the day. Both of them felt like outcasts while among the soldiers, but loved Andora as their home, so they were determined to protect our city.
Although the food was delicious, I wasn’t that hungry. I kept thinking of what I could do to keep them safe if danger was knocking at our door.
My blood ran cold when I heard an actual knock. My body tensed while the air became thick and hard to breathe. I tried to stay calm when I went to open the door myself. I took a couple of deep breaths before releasing the dead bolts and pushing the door open.
I recognized Zen’s face when I saw him, and he recognized mine also. He was a servant in Arden Manor and a messenger for Richard’s family. He handed me an envelope stamped in red wax with the Arden Emblem on it. “I’ve been instructed not to depart, unless I carry an answer with me,” he said. I nodded and invited him in.
“Have you eaten, Zen?” He seemed startled when I used his name since he had not introduced himself to Elle. “No, My Lady,” he responded.
“Then come and join us; we have plenty to share. You’ll stay here for the night and rest as a guest in our home.” I showed Zen to the dining room where he partook of the food with the rest of us. He was happy to see Mother and Father again, he asked about John but we dismissed his question. At the end of dinner, Mother showed him the room where he would stay.
When everyone had gone to bed, I stayed in the parlor with the envelope in my hands. My heart was troubled. Whatever was in the letter made me feel nervous, and I hadn’t even read it. I sat by the fire contemplating the flames, remembering the moments I spent in Richard’s arms before we parted ways. Was that kiss the last kiss we’ll ever share?
“Are you reading that or do you want me to do it for you?” asked Orman, coming out from the shadows gathered in the corner of the room.
“I was just thinking–”
“You’ve been thinking a lot lately, which we all have noticed. It was about time for somebody to say something, and since nobody seemed to have the courage, I thought that maybe it should be me.”
I chuckled at his comment and then looked back at the letter; the curiosity was burning me like a fire burned wood. I broke the wax seal, still wavering on whether or not I wanted to know what was written, but soon began to read:
My Lady,
I’m writing to appeal to your better nature on behalf of someone whose innocence has been stolen by my own son and now bears the burden of such action in her womb. Lady Grace believed my son’s love promises and gave herself to him. Such actions I didn’t condone, but I believe the way my son is dealing with the consequences of his actions are shameful to those who bear, with honor, the Arden name.
Surely, you see the importance of your role in this issue, since my son mistakenly believes that running away from his responsibilities is a choice you won’t object to. I love my son beyond measure, but I won’t accept his behavior to father a child and then forsake it. I know that we don’t share a history of friendship and that I misjudged you in regards to your feelings for my son, but I ask you to think of Lady Grace. If it were you, the one carrying the child who is being rejected, would you reach out to that person who can change the outcome of things, or would you sit with your arms crossed. Although she hasn’t reached out to you, she has sought my help, and now I’m pleading with you to make the right choice and reject my son’s proposal.
Respectfully, Lord Gilbert.
The inked words I read made my blood boil. I crushed the parchment into a ball and tossed it into the blaze, as if turning it into ashes would free me from the blistering fire that consumed my heart. Without looking at Orman, I retired to my chambers. I couldn’t believe it. He was miles away and was still asking me to stay away from his son. How dare he!
On the other hand, Lady Grace was expecting a child – Richard’s child, and that child would need a father. Would I be rotten enough to take him away?
“So what do you plan to do?” asked Orman, standing by the door which I had failed to slam hard enough to shut it. Orman was holding the half-burned letter in his hands.
“Did the fact of me throwing it into the fire mean nothing to you?” I said, annoyed.
“You mean like – Orman, stay away from this paper.” He paused. “Or better yet – Orman, why don’t you fetch that paper out of the flames, burn your fingers in the process, and then help me to come up with a solution.”
“If I needed your help, I would’ve asked you.”
“Well, I clearly misunderstood your hints and since I’m already here, let’s see what we can come up with together,” he cleverly said.
“I know what I have to do. I just need the courage to do it.”
“So when he comes, are you sending him away?” asked Orman.
“What makes you think he’ll come?”
“Has he proposed?”
“Don’t be a fool. I would have told all of you if that had been the case,” I blurted out.
“The letter said to reject the proposal, and if he hasn’t proposed, how are you supposed to reject him? I’m thinking he’s coming to propose, and that’s why his father sent a messenger ahead of his son.”
“Thanks for the insight. I seemed to have missed that detail. If Zen arrived today, Richard will be here soon too,” I muttered.
“I guess I should leave you to rest, but I only have one more thing to say. You can’t choose for him! He either marries a woman he doesn’t love – losing you in the process – to be close to his child or he gains you in marriage by losing his child. He’s the one that loses in both cases, so from where I stand, I don’t see right answers. Either she ends up unhappy, or you do.” He then walked out of the door.
In one thing he was correct – Richard would suffer either way.
Chapter 33
I definitely didn’t want to get up the next morning because I had burned the candle at both ends during the night trying to find a solution that could bring peace to my soul, but I fell asleep without one. I knew Zen would be waiting for a message to carry to Lord Gilbert.
I sat at my desk and inked the quill, but for the life of me, I couldn’t even start a sentence on the parchment. Finally, after much struggle, I just wrote a few simple words.
We will let fate d ecide.
I didn’t even sign my name. He would know, for sure, who the message was coming from since he was the one who sent Zen to Andora. It wasn’t much, but I was sure that things happened for a reason. I tied a ribbon around the letter to keep it folded, then sealed it wi
th wax, and gave it to Zen to deliver. He had breakfast and got ready to leave, but as soon as he stepped out the door, another surprise was waiting – Richard had arrived in Andora.
His men were establishing camp along our boundaries with Bellaterra, but he had decided to stop by the castle first. His face turned pale when he stared at Zen, whose hands held my response to his father.
“Why have you come?” asked Richard to Zen.
“I… brought… a… message–”
“What did my father want?” Richard asked me, worried.
“I believe you already know, My Lord.”
Richard lowered his gaze.
Zen was confused as to what to do. Was he free to go or did he need to wait to be dismissed by Richard now that he was here. I turned to him. “Zen, carry on with your message, and don’t mention to Lord Gilbert that you encountered Sir Richard.” He nodded and went away.
“Do you care to go for a walk?” I asked Richard. He extended his arm as a courtesy. I took it and walked with him away from everyone’s ears – not speaking, just feeling the cool breeze of the morning on our faces, enjoying the smell of the wild flowers and the smell of Ghost berries as we walked into the woods.
There was a tiny creek that emerged from among a few rocks. The water streamed into a pond big enough to go for a swim. It was surrounded by Ghost berries and wild strawberry bushes. We sat at the edge. I took my boots off and wet my feet in the water. It was incredibly cool, and so clear, I could see right through it. Richard was playing with my hair.
“How is your back?” he asked.
“Have you come to talk about my back?” I asked in reply.
“No,” he said, looking at me intently.
I ignored his eyes; I had a weakness for them and wasn’t going let my guard down. “Then why have you come?” I asked.
“What did my father want?” Richard asked for the second time.
“He asked me to reject your marriage proposal.”
His neck tensed as if what I had told him confirmed his worst fears. “Are you going to accept his counsel?” He stuttered a little as he asked the question.
“Are you going to propose? Am I to answer a question that hasn’t been asked?”
He put his hand in his vest pocket and pulled out a ring. “This belonged to my mother,” he said, showing me the ring. “She made my father the happiest man in the world, and I believe, if you honor me with your hand in marriage and accept this ring as a symbol of the promise of love I make to you, you’ll make me the happiest man alive, just like my father once was. Will you marry me?”
I never felt so horrible in my life; yet, was I wrong to desire to be happy? I could see myself growing old by the side of Richard. Was it wrong to believe that we could be together and he could still be a responsible father to the child Lady Grace was expecting?
“I’ll answer to you the same way that I answered your father, we’ll let fate decide for us. If you are meant to be mine and I would love for that to be the case, then we will wed and I will be forever yours. But I want you, as I said before, to consider your options, and now you have one more reason to take your time – a child.”
He kept his gaze down and stared at the ring in his fingers. “I made a mistake. I know that. I’ve learned my lesson,” he said, reproaching himself. “Saying I’m sorry doesn’t change the past and I understand if you feel like you deserve better than me. I do understand.” He stood up and threw the ring into the pond. I gasped. “If it’s not for you, then it won’t be for anybody.” He stormed out of the woods. I was speechless. He had thrown his mother’s ring into the water. I walked around the pond until I spotted it on top of a rock near the bottom. I got into the water, recovered the ring, and then went back to the castle.
I did not see him for the next couple of days. I mean, Elle didn’t see him. John did – everyday while he and Richard were guarding our boundaries. Richard’s face was unshaved, his hair was uncombed, and he looked as if sleep in the nights had never knocked at his door. I happened to see that his drink of choice wasn’t water. The men were talking about him behind his back – of how, from being the sharpest knight of the realm, he had now become the careless one. I wanted to feel pity for him, but I was disappointed that he had let himself down.
I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he got back to his senses, but I knew that a big part of the problem was me. I hadn’t thought of it before. Richard didn’t know how to deal with losing. He had always been a winner, whether among women or men. The sour taste of defeat was bringing him down to the worst low I had seen him in the eight years I had known him. I didn’t know what to do to help him.
Two weeks after Richard’s arrival, another messenger showed up on my door; only this time, the message was for John and it came from the King. At the same time, other messengers delivered the same message to nine more knights of the Realm, including Richard in the borderlines of Andora and Dorian in the Gardenhills border. It was an invitation from His Majesty the King. The messengers were to read it out loud for everyone present to hear.
Honorable Sir John Giles,
His Majesty, the Great King Tobias, High Ruler of the Everlands, is hereby requesting your participation in the Joust Tournament to take place on the fourteenth day of the fourth month in the Royal City. Only lances and swords will be used during the match.
The winner will be honored by the King himself and receive the Lion’s Heart medal, given only to the bravest and most honorable Lords of the Land.
Long live King Tobias!
“A joust?” I blurted out. We were in the middle of a thunderstorm, and instead of looking for refuge, we were making plans to get out and dance in the rain. “Unbelievable!” The messenger had the invitation extended in front of me. At the bottom of it was a circle of wax and my name written below it. Stamping my ring on it meant not only that the message had been delivered, but that I had also accepted the honor of participating in the joust. I didn’t really have a choice, because part of the many duties of a knight was to fight each other almost to death for the pleasure of spectators, including the King. Many knights took such an opportunity to show how good of a man they were, thus making the women around them fall in love with them.
Resigned, I stamped my ring into the wax, sealing my decision to participate in the tournament as well as sealing my fate through a piece of parchment.
I noticed the man was carrying another roll of parchment with him, but being a messenger, he surely carried more than one message at a time.
“At least, my trip wasn’t in vain.” The man mumbled as he carefully rolled up my agreement to joust.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“Sir Richard has chosen dishonor for him and his household.”
“He didn’t accept the invitation!” I was shocked.
“He didn’t want to even listen to what I had to say,” he said, indignantly.
“May I see that?” I pointed at Richard’s invitation, and he reluctantly handed it over. “Mother, please see that this man finds some rest as well as his travel companions. Ghad, please see to their horses. Orman, Dash, you two will come with me.”
We mounted our horses and rode towards the border.
“What are you going to do?” asked Dash.
“Persuade Richard to sign it,” I said certain of what I’d do.
“He didn’t do it for the messenger, so why would he do it for you?” asked Orman.
“He is probably drunk again and doesn’t know what he’s doing.” I tried to justify Richard. “Why do you allow him to get wasted like this?” added Dash.
“He won’t do it anymore,” I said.
Orman raised an eyebrow.
“Why not?” asked Dash.
“Because she can persuade him,” said Orman.
“Do you two know something I don’t?” Dash asked Orman.
“If he doesn’t get up on his own, I’ll need your strong muscles to get him on his feet,” I s
aid. “I’ll take it from there.”
“If he agrees, there is a chance that both of you will fight each other. Have you thought of that?” asked Dash.
“Then it would be fate,” I said, while considering his words.
When we entered Richard’s tent, he was laying on a cot – shirtless with a sheet half-covering his body and a bottle of wine in his hand. I had never seen him this withered, never seen him defeated before.
“Time to get up,” I said, kicking the bottle out of his hand.
“Leave me alone,” he said. I nodded, indicating to Orman and Dash to go ahead and flip the cot. When they did, Richard hit the ground. He got up to his feet with his sword still sheathed in hand and pointed it straight at my chest. His nostrils were flaring as he looked menacingly at us. “I told you to leave me alone, or else!” he said.
“Or else what? You’ll poke my chest with the round end of the sheath of your sword,” I said mockingly. I pulled out the joust invitation and read it for him.
“I’m not going,” he said coldly. He picked up the almost-empty wine bottle from the floor, but I smashed it with Heaven before it reached his lips. That angered him more, and when he reached for his sword this time, he took the sheath off and tossed it to the side. His blade clashed with mine. “Leave me alone!” he yelled.
“Wait outside!” I commanded my friends. They hesitated, but went out anyway. I waited for them to be gone and then lowered my sword. “You should be ashamed of yourself, acting careless over–”
“I didn’t ask your opinion. Besides, nothing matters to me anymore.”
“Not even Elle?” The look in his eyes changed from anger to pain, so much pain. My emotions took control of me. “I’m here to offer you a wager.” He looked at me confused, but waited for me to talk. “The winner of the joust takes all.” I continued. “The odds indicate that we’ll be battling against each other.” He nodded to indicate that he was following my conversation. “If you lose to me, you’ll marry Lady Grace. If I lose to you, you’ll marry my sister.”
