by Lynn Wood
“Well wife? Where is your cloak? You were wearing it when you left the keep.”
Abruptly realizing her mistake Rhiann’s face flushed with fear and embarrassment at her husband’s angry tone. “I’m sorry, Nathan. I forgot it was your property. I gave it to one of the woman at the church. She lost everything in the war and had no cloak of her own to keep her warm. I cannot ask for it back. I don’t know how I’m to repay you.”
Nathan’s head started aching with the effort of trying to make sense of his wife’s tearful confession. He finally abandoned the effort and simply asked for an explanation. “What are you talking about?”
“I gave away your cloak.”
He could barely make out his wife’s whispered admission, but he was no less confused by the explanation she offered. “‘You’re wearing my cloak.” He thought he sounded foolish pointing out the obvious, but he discovered over the course of his very brief marriage nothing was obvious where his wife was concerned.
“Yes, but I gave away the one I was wearing. It belonged to you. Don’t you remember?”
A glimmer of understanding was beginning to seep through the wall of confusion his wife erected around herself. He sighed his frustration. “Rhiann, if you are going to keep track of every ridiculous thing I say in the heat of anger to throw back in my face at a saner moment, you’re going to need an excellent memory.”
Her shocked expression brought a grudging smile to his face. “Ridiculous? But Nathan you said…”
He held up his hand not wanting to be reminded of the unpleasant scene between them earlier. “Forgive me, wife. It was not my intent to insult your sacred family traditions.”
“You’re apologizing to me?” Rhiann whispered appalled. “But I should be apologizing to you. I challenged you before your king.”
“Yes, you did.”
Rhiann was puzzled by his calm demeanor as she reminded Nathan of her transgressions. “There were other witnesses as well.”
“Yes.” Nathan decided against letting her off the hook too easily. Her sins had been serious enough to warrant his displeasure.
“I thought you were going to strike me.” She confessed tearfully.
“The thought did cross my mind.”
Rhiann took a hasty step backward.
Seeing her fear was real, Nathan made no attempt to stop her retreat. “The fear I see in your eyes is an insult to me, Rhiann. Do you not remember my promise to you?”
Her hands were shaking. Rhiann wasn’t sure if it was from the cold air or the cold tone of her husband’s voice. “Which one?”
For a moment Nathan thought his wife was mocking him, then noted her anxiety and concluded her concern was real. “I promised I would never hurt you.”
She nodded; assuring him she remembered his promise. “But you broke your promise to me, Nathan. Don’t you remember?” Then added quickly at his dark expression. “The other night…”
When his wife’s voice trailed off and a hot blush heated her face, Nathan realized she was referring to their wedding night. He lifted her chin with his hand so she would be forced to meet his glance. “I explained why I had to hurt you the other night. Did you expect me to live as a monk in my own home forever?”
Her blush grew fiercer and she quickly dropped her eyes back to the ground between them. “But you were angry with me.”
“On our wedding night? I assure you Rhiann the last thing I was feeling that night was anger.”
“No, not then.” If her face got any redder, Nathan might not be able to restrain the urge to laugh, and no doubt once again bruise his wife’s foolishly delicate feelings. “Not that night. Earlier when I challenged you before your king.”
“Our king.” When she merely shrugged away his automatic correction, he added, “And you believe I would abandon my honor in a fit of temper?”
“You confuse me, Nathan,” she whispered finally.
“It pleases me we are both suffering from the same condition.”
She raised her head at the amusement she heard in his voice, her eyes wide, her expression confused. “You’re not angry with me anymore?”
“Apparently not,” he conceded with a sigh. He removed her grandmother’s dagger from his belt and held it out to her hilt first. She made no move to accept it, just stood their regarding it and then him with a puzzled expression on her face. Sighing he reached down for her hand, held it out in front of her, then placed the dagger in it. She raised wide eyes to his face.
Next he reached into the pouch at his belt, removed the unusual stone and its thin silver chain, and then placed it around her neck. His lips curved at how the lifeless stone took on new life as soon as it was returned to its proper place. He shook his head at the fanciful thought and raised his eyes to his wife’s incredulous expression.
“What are you doing?” Her voice was a hushed whisper.
“I’m returning your property to you, wife.”
“My property? But you said…”
“I know what I said, Rhiann, but I also recall neither asking for nor demanding you hand over your grandmother’s dagger and the stone around your neck.”
“I don’t understand, Nathan.”
He forgot how young she was. She appeared intent on giving every word out of his mouth its literal interpretation. He grinned down at her puzzled expression, took the dagger from her hand, slipped it into the leather strap on her arm, then took her hand and began leading her back to the keep.
Rhiann hurried to keep up with her husband, doing her best not to stain his fine cloak with the mud and dust from the ground. “Nathan, but what about my cloak? How am I to repay you for it? I don’t have any funds. Everything is yours now.”
He lifted his eyes to heaven seeking the blessing of a little added patience he was certain before he met his wife he possessed in abundance, then stopped and turned towards his confused wife, lifting her face to his. “Rhiann, nothing has changed for you, at least from a financial perspective. Did you have access to your father’s funds?”
She nodded and confided, “He was most generous with us.”
Curious, Nathan asked, “And what did you do with these funds?”
“We saw to the needs of the villagers. Father said it was our responsibility to see to their needs and ease their burdens when we could.”
He brushed his thumb across his wife’s soft lips, resisting the urge to kiss her. “So you thought to ease the burdens of the refugees under Father Bernard’s care?”
She nodded. Her voice grew a little breathless at his nearness. “Willa didn’t have a cloak. Her husband died in the war. He didn’t even live long enough to see his infant son birthed. She lost everything and now she has an infant son to care for.”
“So you gave her your cloak.”
She shrugged and admitted, “I didn’t have anything else to offer her.”
He couldn’t resist the urge this time and bent down to brush his lips across hers, then tucked her slender form in the curve of his arm and began heading towards the king’s home once more. “I have a feeling we better procure several additional cloaks for you, wife.”
“You needn’t spend any funds on me, Nathan. I have several fine cloaks at Heaven’s Crest.”
Nathan sighed at her reluctance to spend his money. Although he’d been a landless knight he was by no means a poor one. He reached in his pocket and drew out a heavy pouch of coins. When she just stood there regarding the leather pouch with a puzzled look on her face, he reached for her hand again and dropped the pouch into it. “You are not to give away any of your gowns or cloaks from Heaven’s Crest,” he instructed her.
The confused furrow between her brows deepened. “But Nathan how could I?”
He cut her off. “Promise me.”
It irritated him that she seemed to need a few moments to consider his request before acquiescing to it. She finally nodded her assent.
“The words wife.”
“I promise, Nathan.”
“And
in the future, Rhiann, if one of my men offers you their cloak you will accept it. They are responsible for you, and it would go ill for them if anything were to happen to you while under their care.”
Rhiann blushed guiltily and glanced back apologetically at the soldier trailing them back to the keep. He accepted her whispered apology with a smile and a nod.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Later that evening at the king’s table Rhiann tried to stifle a yawn. She was not accustomed to such late hours and even when she was finally allowed to retire to Nathan’s room, she was not given much opportunity to sleep. Nathan seemed intent on exercising his husbandly rights at every opportunity. Surprisingly she had no objection to his intent but it left her with very little time to rest. She wondered why Nathan never seemed tired. She was certain she never saw him sneaking into the keep for an afternoon nap. Her lips curved at her foolish thoughts and she leaned tiredly against her husband’s side. He was engaged in conversation with the man at his left. On her right, the queen’s head was bent close to her husband’s at the head of the table.
She was reluctant to ask her husband’s permission to be excused for the remainder of the evening. She had been enough of a bother to Nathan today. She thought she should concentrate on being a more pleasing wife to him. So she did her best to follow the conversations drifting around her, smiling politely if someone chanced to look in her direction, and edged a little closer to her husband’s warmth.
Even with the fire roaring in the fireplace and all the overhead candles in the chandeliers hanging over the tables for light, there was still a chill to the air. The gown she was wearing was somewhat thin considering the approach of winter but she couldn’t fault the little dressmaker. No doubt deliveries to the city were interrupted during the course of the invasion. She scooted a little closer to her husband’s solid warmth and promised herself she was just going to rest her head on his shoulder for a moment. She definitely would never embarrass him by falling asleep at the king’s table.
From far off she heard the queen asking her a question. She struggled against the fuzziness in her thoughts to try to recall her query. She was very careful not to embarrass Nathan any more than she already did that day. Nathan, hearing Matilda address his wife, and being greeted only by silence, turned to question the cause of his wife’s rudeness. He met Matilda’s amused glance over Rhiann’s head nestled up against his shoulder. She seemed to be having trouble staying awake.
His apologetic glance further amused the queen when he reached down to lift his wife’s chin from where it rested against him. Heavy lids struggled to lift over sleepy green eyes. She smiled when she saw him staring down at her so tenderly. Maybe he was pleased he married her after all. Her expression took on a faraway dreamy quality, and Nathan quickly reminded her of the queen’s inquiry in an effort to bring her back to the present.
“Rhiann, the queen asked you the significance of the bells in your hair.”
Rhiann blushed, remembering the queen’s earlier query and she quickly straightened away from her husband’s side and turned to face Matilda. “Forgive me, your highness, for my inattention. You asked about the bells.”
The older woman smiled kindly back at her. “Yes, my dear. I would have you finish your story from this afternoon. I understand now the purpose of the dagger you wear strapped to your arm, but you’ve yet to enlighten me as to the purpose of the bells.”
Rhiann nodded and offered softly. “The bells are meant to remind me of why I should choose life over death. Though in truth there is no death, only this life on earth, and the more wonderful life awaiting us in heaven when our heavenly Father calls us home to Him.”
Eavesdropping on Rhiann’s conversation with the queen, Nathan was stunned by the purity and conviction of his young wife’s faith in the Almighty. Seeing his astonishment, Matilda prompted Rhiann to continue with her explanation. “So their purpose is to encourage you to choose life here rather than life in heaven.”
Rhiann nodded. “Our heavenly Father is in no hurry for His children to return to Him. He’s not going anywhere after all.”
At the monarch’s smiling nod, Rhiann continued, “The bells serve as a reminder of His many blessings over His children here on earth: of a soft breeze on a warm day, a gentle rain sent to cleanse the earth, the joy contained in a child’s laughter, the love of family and friends. So many gifts He sends freely to all of His children. They are far more important than gold and fine gowns; jewels and lands.”
“And does a time come when you make a definitive choice?”
“Eventually, at each little reminder, the dagger is used to cut a length of bells and leave them as a blessing with the source of the reminder. With each decrease in their number, I am to remember that like the bells there will come a time when I can no longer remember the sound of my family’s voices, but their love for me remains behind with me and we will be joined anew in the next life. When there are no more bells, I am to return the dagger to my grandmother and then she will know my choice is to remain so she may draw comfort from it.”
“I am certain she will, Rhiann. Thank you for sharing your family traditions with me. They are quite beautiful.”
“Nathan said they were…” The rest of her reply was smothered by her husband’s hand clamped firmly around her mouth.
“I have already apologized for my insult to your family traditions, wife. You need not embarrass me further in front of the queen.”
Rhiann reached up to push his hand away, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Really, Nathan, men do not get embarrassed.”
“We don’t?” He liked seeing the laughter in her eyes at his gentle mockery, and he was loathe to threaten it, but one thing about her explanation still puzzled him. “Did your grandmother send your mother a jeweled box with a dagger and a pouch of bells?”
Shadows immediately replaced the laughter in her eyes. She nodded. “Not a jeweled box and dagger, Nathan. The same ones.”
He did a quick calculation in his head. “That’s impossible wife.”
She shrugged.
He pushed.
“She refused it.”
“You can do that?”
“Of course. If you know you would rather not be reminded. If you have already made up your mind…” Her voice, already barely above whisper, trailed off.
He remembered her reluctance to accept the box from the stranger’s outstretched hand, wishing at the time she would refuse it, only now understanding the significance of her decision to accept it.
“I am glad you didn’t refuse.”
“At the time you seemed irritated I accepted it.”
A smile curved his lips at her disgruntled tone. “I failed to understand then the significance of sacred family traditions.”
Her eyes lit for a moment at his teasing, and then she added, still in a soft voice only he could hear. “You understand why I had to accept it. When Amele asked me not to send him back to my grandmother with the unopened box…she’s already lost so much, Nathan. I could not add to her grief.”
“So the strands of your hair you sent back in the box were proof he actually saw you and you accepted the bells and the dagger the box contained.”
“Yes, there was nothing else I could think of to send back.” She saw his eyes pass over the stone nestled at her breasts, knew what he was thinking. “She would have refused the stone, as much as I would have liked to return it to her keeping. The stone has already passed from her hands.”
Nathan seized on the inconsistency. “How was it in your mother’s possession to give to you if your grandmother is still alive?”
She shrugged. He assumed she was too tired for any more explanations. Too bad. He wasn’t about to let her escape until he had all of his questions answered. For some reason his wife seemed to be in a malleable mood tonight. He planned to take full advantage of the unprecedented opportunity for as long as it lasted.
“Rhiann…”
She had the nerve to roll her eyes at
him for his insistence, but he refused to let up.
“It happens like that sometimes.”
“That is not an explanation, wife.”
She shrugged again. “Sometimes the stone decides to seek out a new keeper before the current one has passed.”
“How does it do that?”
“Do you remember how the stone appeared when you held it in your hand?’
Away from his wife’s warm flesh the stone became instantly dark and lifeless. “Yes.”
“That is what happens. The current keeper then knows she has been released from the stone’s service and the time has come to pass the stone to its next keeper.”
“So your grandmother sent the stone to your mother.”
“Yes.”
“Before or after your father was killed?”
“Before, many years ago when I was still a child. I cannot recall the exact date.”
“And your mother did not refuse her.”
“She could not.” His wife sounded shocked by his suggestion. “She knew her entire life the time would come when the stone would pass to her.”
“As did your sister.”
“Yes.”
“What is your sister’s name?”
“Melissa.”
“What happened to Melissa?”
“Before the siege, she left the keep in search of my brother.”
Nathan felt his head beginning to spin again, but he wanted the entire story of his wife’s family history. It was the only way to help Rhiann reconcile herself to the future. He would have preferred to have their conversation in a more private location, but he feared interrupting her now would take away his chance. Besides her voice was so low he thought only he could hear her soft responses to his insistent questions, though he noticed both William and Matilda’s heads were bent in their direction, straining to hear his wife’s soft voice.
“She just left the keep? No one accompanied her?” He was so astonished by her revelation about her sister, it required an effort on his part to keep the tenor of his voice even.
