To Love in Peace: 10th Anniversary Edition

by Kathleen Bird

  “Yes,” she replied. “What is your name?”

  “Lilly.”

  “That’s a beautiful name, Lilly.”

  “It’s my mommy’s name.”

  Katherine’s smile widened. “Is there something you wanted to ask me?”

  Lilly nodded.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Now that you’re a queen, Miss Katherine…” she bowed her head shyly.

  “Go ahead, Lilly. Don’t be afraid.”

  “Are you and King Michael going to have a little princess?”

  Katherine blushed but was luckily spared the horror of answering by Lillie’s mother, rushing to her side and pulling her into her skirts with an embarrassed bow.

  “Lilly,” she scolded, “Leave the King and Queen alone! They are very busy today.”

  Michael waved away her fears. “She’s no trouble. Lilly is a beautiful child, ma’am.”

  A quick nod and both mother and child were gone.

  “What an odd question. Don’t you think so, Katherine?” He turned to her. Her face was completely pale except for the blush spreading across her cheeks.

  “Katherine?” Michael repeated, his voice edged with concern.

  “Nothing. I’m just tired. Would you excuse me for a moment?”

  He nodded, and she fled the room as quickly as possible.

  “I think everything went well today, don’t you?” Michael said as he sat on the bed. The moon was shining into the dark bedroom, giving them just enough light to get ready by. Katherine was brushing out her hair and fluttering about the room, picking up stray objects dropped in their rush earlier that morning.

  “Yes, everyone seemed happy, and nothing went wrong. It was a perfect day.” She reached down and picked up a lone shoe. Puzzled, she began to look for its pair.

  “You seemed flustered after the little girl’s question.”

  “Lilly?”

  “Yes. Was everything alright? Did her question really upset you?”

  Katherine felt the baby move. “No, I’m fine. It just caught me off guard.” She continued to look for the missing shoe.

  “I was worried about you,” he said as he readjusted his position on the bed. Katherine’s search had taken her under the edge of it, and he wanted to be out of the way.

  “There’s no need to worry about me. I’m fine,” she insisted, still looking for the matching shoe. “Where could it be?”

  “What are you looking for?”

  She held out the one shoe she had. Michael smiled and pointed. “You’re wearing the other one.”

  “Oh.” Embarrassed, she looked down and saw the mate to the shoe in her hand, right there on her foot. “Forget that.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” The shoe came flying at him, while he laughed.

  “You’re such a child. Why were you smiling so strangely during the ceremony?”

  Knock. Knock. Knock.

  The couple looked at each other. “Enter,” they said simultaneously.

  A wise old face peeked around the bedroom door. Eli smiled as he came all the way into the room. “Your Majesties.” A short bow. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

  “Actually, you saved my life,” Michael smiled as the second shoe flew across the room. He looked at Katherine. “Now who’s the child?”

  “If I had another shoe, I’d throw it,” she said playfully.

  Eli shook his weary head. “You are both children at heart. Such a pity you must live in a grown-up world.”

  The playfulness stopped. “Has something happened, Eli?” Michael rose from the bed, no longer looking like a child, but like the king he was.

  “Not yet. One of the watchmen thought he spotted knights on the horizon. Adam has sent some to spy on whatever it was.” A shrug. “It could possibly be some peasants having a belated celebration.”

  Michael shook his head. “Or an enemy spy trying to catch us off guard. Thank you, Eli, for your warning.” He turned to his wife. “I should go be with the men.” But before he could step foot out the door, Eli stopped him with a gesture.

  “There will be times for that. Tonight may be one of the few nights you two have together. Enjoy it. Be children for one more night.” With tears in his eyes, he turned to Katherine. Stepping forward, his wrinkled hands took her firm young ones. “Promise not to grow up too soon, my child. I would miss you so very much.”

  “I won’t, Eli. You are my only father now.”

  He shook his head. “No, never forget your God. He is a far better father than I could ever be. Trust Him before you trust me.” Eli stepped back to the door. “Sleep well, both my children. If anything happens you will be notified.” With a final tear dripping down his cheek and a sorrowful glance at Katherine, he was gone.

  Michael returned to his place on the bed and observed Katherine. She was deep in thought and had not moved since Eli left. “Katherine?”

  “It had to come now. It couldn’t have waited just one week until we could get established. Or even a month…or two months!” The last was said with enormous frustration and punctuated by her plopping into the chair.

  “God knows what He’s doing. Everything will be fine.”

  “Will it?” Tears were threatening to fall and clung to her lashes. “Will anything ever be fine again? Will there ever be peace? Will my people ever know God? Will we ever be able to have a family? A real one?” She gave up on trying to hold in the disappointment and burst into tears.

  Michael rushed to comfort his wife. “I see little Lilly’s question upset you more than you’d own. Look at me, Katherine.” She looked into his eyes with questions filling her own. “I love you. Nothing will ever separate us. I will love you until the day you die. Katherine,” he leaned close to her and whispered fiercely. “We will have a family. I promise you. We will have a family. And Katherine, our little girl will live in peace. She won’t have to worry about her parents going off to war and never coming back. We will be here to raise her…together. I promise you.”

  “Michael, how soon do you want this to be true?” She could tell him. Now would be the time. He would be happy. His dream would come true! If only this silly war was over…

  “When the war is over. We have to be sure there’s a real peace for her. A peace that is free from fear. That is my promise to her.” He kissed Katherine’s cheek. “Let’s go to bed. There’s a big day ahead of us. Who knows what it will hold, My Queen?”

  Before she could say another word, Michael had helped her into bed, and the candle was blown out. Darkness enveloped her, and she wondered how she got herself into this mess.

  “Michael?” The door creaked as it opened. Adam knew that the couple would be exhausted after their long day, but there was no other option. “Your Majesty?”

  The room was dark. The predawn light was blocked from the room by the heavy drapes. Adam’s candle lit up a small circle around him. As he moved the circle of light to the bed he smiled. Katherine and Michael were sleeping soundly with arms wrapped around each other, their faces peaceful and worry free. God willing, someday that peace would be as undisturbed in the daylight as it was in sleep.

  “Michael?”

  The king stirred in his sleep. He rolled over and lazily opened his eyes. “Adam?” He sat upright, suddenly alert. “Adam? What’s wrong?”

  “The scouts have returned.”

  “And?”

  “We are surrounded.”

  Michael looked at him in disbelief. “How is that possible?”

  Adam shook his head. “I don’t know. There’s nothing we can do about it now.” He nodded toward the sleeping form still lying on the bed. “Should we wake her up?”

  “Not yet.” Sadly, Michael looked at his wife’s sleeping body. “There will be time enough later.”

  “Time for what?” Katherine smiled sleepily at Michael as he stood up from the bed. When she saw Adam standing solemnly in the doorway, she became instantly awake. “Michael, what’s going on?”

  He sighed. “The
war has returned.”

  Adam stepped forward. “They surrounded us; and unfortunately, we are completely cut off.”

  “Was anyone hurt?” She started to get out of the bed than stopped. The terror screaming through her body was enough to make her head spin. The baby turned and twisted. “What are we going to do?”

  Michael reached over and grabbed her hand. “Everything is going to be fine. We’ll make it through this. I promise.”

  “I’ll leave you two alone; I’m sure you’ll want to formulate a plan.” Adam stiffly bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

  Katherine wanted to cry. Everything in her wanted to curl up in a ball and have Michael hold her. She wanted to get back under the blankets and sleep until the nightmare was over. “What are we going to do?”

  “You knew this was coming.”

  “I know.”

  “You knew we would have to deal with this.”

  “I know.”

  “You knew this was part of our responsibility.”

  “I know!” She buried her head into her pillow and continued screaming, “I just didn’t want to have to deal with it so soon! I didn’t expect to be crowned queen one day and fight a war the next! I can’t deal with it, Michael! I can’t deal with it all!” She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. There was no stopping the flood of tears running down her cheeks.

  Michael said nothing for a moment. He watched her crying. “Honestly, it wasn’t what I wanted either.” He slipped back onto the bed beside her. “I wish we could just live happily ever after and never have rain or darkness. But that’s not how it works. God has provided us this opportunity. We need to use it and take care of it. Adven is counting on us, Katherine. Please don’t make me go alone.”

  The crying stopped. Slowly, she sat up and wiped the tears away from her eyes. She squared her shoulders and got out of the bed, walked to the closet and began to get dressed. “I won’t make you go alone, Michael. Just promise me at the end of this neither of us will be alone. Will we make it?”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “We will, my love. We will.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Council Room door opened with a bang. Eli, Adam, and Edwin were already present. Nervously, they sat at the round table. It looked so empty with just the three of them. Like three against a storm of thousands, they sat awaiting their orders and willing to advise if necessary. King Michael and Queen Katherine entered solemnly. He held the chair for her, and she sat. He took his place next to Adam. Eli reached over and patted Katherine’s hand, assuring her everything would be alright. She was visibly shaken.

  Michael spoke first. “Well, gentleman. What are we to do?”

  There was silence in the room. Edwin tapped his foot anxiously.

  “Well?” Michael gently coaxed.

  “Do we have any options but to fight?” Adam said with a sigh.

  Katherine shook her head. “We could wait.”

  “What would that do?” Adam studied her while he waited for an answer. She was nervous, and the fear racing through her was clouding her judgment.

  “We could prepare.”

  “We’ve been preparing.”

  “Well, he wouldn’t expect it!”

  “How can you be sure?”

  Katherine breathed heavily. Her voice carried an edge as she replied, “What do you suggest, Adam?”

  Michael placed his hand on hers and squeezed it. She made no response.

  “I suggest we fight. What other option do we have?”

  “That’s the second time you’ve said that, Adam. Are you so sure we have no other option?” Michael’s tone longed for compromise.

  Adam slowly spoke, “No, I don’t believe so. This man is out to destroy us, and he will if we allow him. I suggest we show him what we are made of. We are ready for this moment! If we can crush him, then let us do it quickly. And if we cannot, then let us know so we may regroup and plan again.”

  “We are talking about men’s lives, Adam!” Katherine’s voice trembled. “A direct assault would cost us more than we can spare. You’re asking for us to send our men to be slaughtered!”

  “There is always hope, Your Majesty.” This was Edwin’s first input into the discussion.

  “Not when failure is certain. We are outnumbered five to one! How can we win against that?”

  This made Adam angry. “Then you are sentencing us all to failure and conquest! We must try!”

  “I won’t risk it! There must be another way!” Katherine looked beseechingly to Michael, pleading with her eyes for him to agree.

  The King sat thinking, planning, discerning. His eyes moved to each person at the table. They landed on Katherine. “It does appear there are only two options. To fight or to wait. If we wait, we are sentencing ourselves to a siege. We had prepared for this, but it is frightening for the people to sit and wait for seemingly certain death.” He paused. “That leaves only the option to fight. It seems this is the course we must take for now. Adam,” a glance at Katherine, “prepare the men. We must fight.”

  Katherine stood on the parapet looking down into the courtyard. The men were running back and forth in various directions, all preparing for war. She had been standing alone for an hour when Michael slipped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

  “I have to do what I feel is best, Katherine.”

  “I know.”

  “I love you, Katherine, and I always will.”

  Her eyes followed the chaos in the courtyard. “I know.”

  “Katherine,” he squeezed her shoulder. “We need to go now.”

  A sigh. “I know.”

  Michael turned her body towards the stairs and started to walk away. When she didn’t follow immediately, he turned back. “Katherine?”

  She should tell him now. There would be no better chance. All the chances she had wasted before now! But she could never get those times back now. All she had was…

  “Your Majesties! The men are waiting for you.” Adam’s voice carried from halfway up the stairs. When Katherine came back from her reverie, the chaos in the yard has indeed stopped. Straight columns of horses and footmen covered the newly growing grass. Over on the other side of the castle she could just make out the new budding leaves on the garden trees. War and peace. Juxtaposed right before her eyes. She had no choice. The baby moved within her as if to emphasize this surreal moment. There was no turning back now.

  She turned and walked to Michael who was still waiting at the top of the stairs. Adam had already gone back down to the yard. The king and queen stepped hand in hand down the stairs to the horses that Edwin had prepared for them. With a light jump, they were both mounted and rode to the gathering group of men.

  “Men, knights of Adven, we have before us today a crossroad.” There was nervous shuffling of men’s feet and horses’ hooves. The men were eager to go and unprepared for a speech. Michael continued. “One path leads to destruction, and the other leads to life. Neither path is easy, but one offers hope to the hopeless and rest for the weary. The path of hope leads to God.”

  Now there were murmurs that raced through those gathered. The whispers threatened to drown out Michael’s next words. “I know what you think! You think that no god can help us now! There is no help from that perspective!” He paused and took a deep breath. “You are wrong, however. There is a God who loves you and cares about you. He cares about Adven, and he cares about Suffrom. His desire is to know you and for you to allow Him into your lives. Will you let Him? His path is not easy; there are rocky roads ahead. But with Him comes hope and peace and freedom from fear.”

  “I want that!” a young knight cried out without thinking. The tension in the atmosphere settled on those in the courtyard as the young man pushed his way to the king. “I don’t want to be afraid! I want to serve my country bravely; and if I must believe in God to do it, then I will!” He knelt at the foot of Michael’s horse. “What must I do to know God and His peace?”
r />   Before Michael could reply, another knight knelt quietly beside his friend. The look in his eyes filled Katherine’s heart with joy. She was seeing new believers in God come to existence right before her eyes! In the midst of all these terrors and trials, there was still hope for new life. More men came forward, and Michael prayed with them. Almost the entire army fell to their knees and accepted God as their Lord. When all had risen and tears had been dried, the men reformed their ranks and prepared to march.

  The gates opened with a loud clang. Quickly, Michael and Katherine led the men onto the field. They separated into three ranks led by Michael, Katherine, and Adam. Edwin was standing somewhere on the castle walls with the archers.

  The enemy lay before them stretched out like a sea of black knights. No standard led their charge, no king rode at the head. It was simply one frightening mass of swords and lances. With a loud cry, Michael charged forward. Katherine and Adam hung back. The first ranks were shattered by the sudden attack. A trumpet sounded in the enemy camp. The knights attempted to surround Michael’s flank, but he retreated back to his own side before they had a chance. So far, so good. No man had yet been lost from Adven.

  Katherine and Adam led the next charge, attacking the outskirts of the massive army. Again, the sudden change in direction caused confusion and chaos in the enemy ranks. They fell back, leaving their fellowmen slaughtered on the ground.

  The blood made Katherine’s stomach turn. It’s because of the baby. She comforted herself with this thought. I have not grown soft! And even if I have, I have no choice but to lead these men. I only hope I’m leading them to victory and not certain death. The trumpet sounded for Adven, and all three flanks charged.

  This time the enemy was ready. They met the onslaught with fresh men, and this time there were casualties on both sides. Loud battle cries rang in everyone’s ears. The clash of metal on metal mixed with the sound of men and horses battling for their very lives filled the battlefield. Blood was everywhere.