Alexander_A Seventh Son Novel

by Kirsten Osbourne

  Marina wiped the smirk off her face. She couldn’t count the number of times she and Charles had hidden to kiss before they married. Of course her daughter would be just like her. “Let me see to your lump, husband.”

  Charles glared at her. “I need to finish my discussion with Alexander.”

  “No, I don’t believe you do. I will heal you, and you can talk to him after the noon meal when your temper has healed.”

  “I said you will wait, wife!”

  “And I refuse to wait. You sent our daughter to get me, so you must be in great pain.” Marina stepped between the two angry men and raised her hands to heal her husband.

  Madelina nodded to Alexander, and the two of them hurried off to the great hall. “What did Father say to you?”

  “That I cannot dishonor you with such behavior. That I’m not worthy of marriage to you.” He shook his head. “You’d think he’d found us unclothed!”

  “Alex!” she said, a bit shocked. “I’m sorry he behaved that way, but I assure you, I have never behaved the way I have since you’ve arrived. He’s not used to this sort of thing from me.”

  “That pleases me.” He ran his hand through his thick red hair. “If I can convince your father of the need, would you marry me this day?”

  She nodded, tears springing to her eyes. She knew they’d been talking as if them marrying was a foregone conclusion, but to have him ask filled her with gladness. “Aye, I would.”

  “Then I will speak with him and your uncles over the noon meal. Surely your uncles will be able to talk some sense into your father. He knows that I have feelings for you, and delaying our wedding just makes things more difficult for both of us.”

  “I haven’t made a special gown for our nuptials, though.”

  “You don’t need anything new. Wear the green velvet you wore last night. Wear what you have on!”

  She looked down at herself and laughed. “I can’t marry in my hunting clothes!” She wore an old brown dress that had been mended many times over the years. She was certain it had belonged to at least two of her sisters before her and possibly a cousin as well.

  “I don’t know why not. You look beautiful in anything.”

  “I want to kiss you for saying something so sweet to me, but I’m afraid my father would not be pleased.” She smiled at him.

  “Let’s go to the great hall and explain our problem to your uncles before your father arrives. Mayhap they will join our side.”

  When they arrived in the great hall, Alexander went to her uncle Roland immediately. “I would like to marry your niece. I feel as if we’ve gotten to know one another well, and we should marry now.”

  “Gotten to know each other well in less than a full day?” Roland asked, raising an eyebrow. “What say you, Madelina?”

  “I want to marry him. Father just caught us kissing in the sitting room, and he is out of his mind with anger. Please help us convince him to let us marry.” She knew avoiding the true issues would only make things harder. No, she needed her uncle to know the full story before he made his opinions known.

  Roland looked between the two of them, frowning. “I suppose it’s for the best.” He shook his head. “My man is not back with his report on you yet, but I have made some local inquiries. Your reputation is impeccable.”

  Christiana smiled. “Your mother and aunt Eva and I spent all day yesterday sewing. There is a new blue velvet dress ready for your wedding.”

  Madelina flew into her aunt’s arms, hugging her tightly. “Thank you!” She turned and hugged Eva as well. “I have the best aunts in all of England!”

  Eva laughed softly. “That you do. Now all we have to do is convince your father.”

  Madelina sighed. “It doesn’t sound like an insurmountable task until you say it that way.” She worried her father would never let her marry Alex now that he’d seen them kissing.

  Hugh reached out and grasped her hand. “You will marry this man. He makes you happy.”

  Her uncle was a man of few words and had been for as long as she’d known him. He was completely devoted to her uncle Roland and to his wife, Eva. “Yes, I will, Uncle Hugh.” She squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

  Her parents joined them in the great hall just minutes later. “You will stay away from my daughter!” Charles yelled at Alexander.

  Roland shook his head at his brother. “No. It’s time for a wedding. You know it as well as I do. They care for each other, and that’s why they kissed. It’s not an ugly thing.”

  Charles sat down heavily. “Are all of you against me on this?” he asked, looking around the table.

  Marina answered him. “I’m never against you, but this time I’m very much for our daughter.”

  He sighed. “Well, if you disagree with me, then I know I’m beaten.” Looking at Madelina, he shrugged. “I guess you’re marrying him.” He didn’t look happy at the prospect. Resigned was a better description.

  “Today?” she asked softly. It was what they both wanted, and she knew he was the only one who could possibly object.

  Charles looked at his brother and their friend. Both of them nodded at him. “Today.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m not ready for my last baby girl to marry.”

  Marina leaned into her husband. “You don’t have a choice.”

  “I guess not.” Charles sighed heavily. “We should discuss her dowry.”

  Alex shrugged. “I’m not concerned with a dowry.”

  “I am!” Madelina insisted. “I won’t come to you a pauper when my father set a dowry aside for me at my birth.”

  “We’ll talk about it after the meal,” her father said, still seeming annoyed with the entire situation. “When will you marry?”

  “Just before supper,” Madelina said. “I want to marry in the courtyard while the sun is setting.”

  “You’re going to be hot in the blue velvet dress we made you,” her mother warned her.

  “I’ll make a breeze. It amuses everyone anyway. Or maybe I’ll make it snow . . .”

  “You will not get us all wet at your wedding, Madelina!” her aunt Eva insisted.

  “Yes, Aunt Eva. Since the sun is setting later, would you provide the visual I need?”

  “What are you going to do without our powers to call on constantly?” Eva asked with a smile.

  “I don’t know. Hopefully I won’t make it rain inside for missing all of you.” Madelina smiled. “We’ll be living in his family’s castle just north of York.”

  Marina bit her lip. “That’s so far. We may never see each other again.”

  “I will write to you at least once every fortnight, and I will send you messages through Aunt Christiana.”

  Christiana frowned. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to communicate from that far away, but I will do my best.”

  “I know you can do it, Auntie. Because you’ll have someone listening hard for any message you want to send.”

  Madelina looked over at Alex with a smile. They’d be married before nightfall. She was actually going to marry him.

  Chapter Four

  Madelina was separated from Alexander for the rest of the day. She was bathed by her mother and her aunts, who talked to her of what would happen on her wedding night. The snow splashed into her bathwater.

  “Do all three of you need to be here to discuss this with me?” she asked.

  Marina grinned. “Of course we do. We’re triplets after all.”

  Madelina sighed. “I’m going to miss all of you. I haven’t talked to Alex yet, but I’m hoping I can talk him into staying for at least another day or two. I need time to say goodbye.”

  “You can’t force him to stay. It’s his right to take you to his home. He will want to show you off to his parents and brothers.” Marina washed her daughter’s back for her. “I take it I will have seven grandsons from you.”

  Madelina nodded. “If what Alex tells me is true, and I have no reason to doubt him. At least I’ll have little Letice, too. I’ll be abl
e to teach her the healing arts like you taught me.”

  “We’ll have to get your medicine jars ready,” Marina said. “We’re going to need at least a night, probably two, to get you completely ready to go. I want to have a few more clothes made for you as well.”

  “I’m not sure how he’ll take to the idea of staying several more days, Mother.”

  Christiana shrugged. “We’ll get everything ready as quickly as we can. We made a couple of dresses for Letice this morning while you hunted and kissed.”

  “I’m not ashamed of kissing him now that it led to my wedding coming earlier than it would have. I’m ready to be his bride.”

  “You met him yesterday,” Aunt Eva reminded her. “You don’t know everything about him yet. Give him some time.”

  “Time for what?”

  The three older women exchanged a look. “Give him time to adjust to you and learn your ways. Most men don’t allow women to act as the girls in our family always have.” Christiana frowned at her niece. “He’s going to need time to learn our ways.”

  “You don’t think he’ll try to change me, do you? Because he won’t. He’s told me he admires the way I do things.”

  “It’s one thing to admire it in a girl as you get to know her and another to adjust to being married to that same headstrong woman. I fear we’ve spoiled you by making you feel like it’s all right for you to ride bareback and hunt whenever you wish.”

  “You haven’t.” Madelina was certain. They were worrying for nothing. She was going to marry a man who understood her as she already was.

  After drying off, she put her shift on, and her mother brushed her hair dry. With as long as it was, the process took hours, and the women sat and told stories of their early marriages and the trouble they’d gotten into with their husbands for their own headstrong ways.

  When her hair was dry, her aunt Eva put it into an intricate knot atop her head. She stood looking at the three of them, feeling as if she were someone else, just observing the whole thing. “Thank you for raising me the way you did. Thank you for making me strong.”

  The three older women walked to her, and the four hugged together. “I’m very proud of you, Madelina. You not only learned to use your gift, you learned to heal as well. You will be helping many people,” her mother said softly.

  “And having babies,” Madelina said with a laugh. The idea of having seven sons was a little bit daunting.

  “You just let your aunt know when you’re expecting, and I’ll be sure to be there for the births of those babies,” her mother told her. “Your father will love it if I have to go there to help with them, won’t he?” She’d already helped seven of her own grandchildren into the world. Seven more would make her happy and proud.

  Madelina laughed. “I hope someday he comes to realize what a wonderful man Alexander is.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt he will!”

  “I’ll check and see if they’re ready for us,” Christiana said, closing her eyes. What she did needed no explanation because the others had seen it so many times. “Roland says they’re waiting for us.”

  Madelina opened the door to see her father waiting for her. The three older women hurried down the stairs to wait in the great hall, while Charles offered his arm to his daughter. “Thank you, Papa.”

  Charles shook his head. “I still don’t like him.”

  “You don’t have to live with him.” Madelina smiled up at him, hoping he’d see that she was right. She needed to be married to the man as much as her father needed to be married to her mother.

  “I hope he accepts you for the precious jewel you are.” They walked down the stairs arm-in-arm. When they got outside where Alexander stood with the priest, Charles leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Be happy, my daughter.”

  “I will, Papa!” She hugged him close before joining hands with Alexander.

  Twenty minutes later, they were declared husband and wife, and they kissed once more. Her father wasn’t even allowed to complain this time, though afterward, she could see on his face, he wanted to.

  During the wedding feast, she sat nervously beside him. “May we stay here for a few days before we move on to our home?” she asked softly.

  Alex frowned. “Why?” Her father had so much hostility toward him, it would be difficult to stay.

  “My mother and I need to gather all the healing balms and potions we’ve made for me to use. She has knowledge of them, but she has taught me to use them. So I will take them, and I can heal our people as they need it.”

  He sighed, nodding. “Yes, we can stay for two nights.”

  It would be barely enough time, but if they worked quickly, she and her mother and aunts could make it work. “Thank you.” She quickly sent a message to her aunt Christiana. “We’re staying two nights. Please let mother know that we must work quickly to get all we need to do finished.”

  “I will.”

  A moment later, her mother nodded at her, letting her know she’d gotten the message.

  Alex frowned at her. “Are you communicating with your aunt through thoughts?”

  “Yes, I wanted to let my mother know that we would stay another two nights. I told my aunt, so she could tell my mother. Is that a problem?”

  “It’s just strange to be left out of conversations in such a way. Your family doesn’t consider it rude to talk through thoughts so not everyone can hear?” He wasn’t angry, but he was glad she wouldn’t always be able to do it. He was ready to get her away from the house where she’d grown up so they could start their lives together.

  “I never really thought about it that way,” Madelina responded. “It’s just always been the easiest way for us to pass a message along.”

  “I see.” He did, but then he didn’t. It was like keeping secrets and whispering to him, and both were quite rude in his opinion.

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly. She wasn’t sure that she’d stop talking to her aunt the way she did because it was very efficient, but maybe she would stop being quite so obvious about it. No reason to upset him.

  Her uncle Hugh got out his lute and played and sang for them. The songs he sang were always in the language of the French, but that didn’t bother any of them since they were all speakers of the language. His voice was smooth and melodic, and they all enjoyed his singing a great deal.

  Finally, Alexander got to his feet. “Thank you for the wedding feast. I think it’s time my wife and I retire.”

  Her mother got to her feet. “I will prepare my daughter for bed.” She walked to Madelina and linked arms with her, going up the stairs. “We should have thought to have your clothes for tomorrow in his room tonight. It wouldn’t do for you to wear the same clothes.”

  “I didn’t even think of it.”

  “Well, I know Alex is very ready for your wedding night. I hope you are as well, daughter.”

  “Are you worried that I’m not?” Madelina asked, surprised. “I thought you and the aunts told me everything I needed to know.”

  “Yes, we did. I just hope you’re ready for all the emotions that go with it. You will be tied to Alexander forever after tonight.”

  Twenty minutes later, Marina left her daughter in Alex’s bed, completely naked as was the custom. “Just do as he says and try to please him,” she said.

  Madelina lay in the bed, very embarrassed. Her entire family would know what they were doing, and they were doing it under her family’s roof. Certainly, this wasn’t how marriages were meant to be. She should have told him she wanted to leave that very night, not stay another two nights. What had she been thinking?

  Alex came into the room a short while later, a candle in his hand to light his way. He set the candle onto a low table and quickly stripped out of his clothes, very anxious to get on with his wedding night.

  He slid into bed beside Madelina and pulled her to him. “I’m not sure I can do this here,” she whispered.

  “What do you mean?” Alex was already frustrated by some of the even
ts of the evening, especially the way her father acted as if he was attacking her. She couldn’t be trying to refuse him a wedding night, could she?

  “I . . . it feels wrong to consummate our marriage under my father’s roof . . .”

  He groaned, rolling to his back. “Are you serious?”

  “I’m sorry, Alex.”

  “Let’s go outside then. We’ll go to the forest where we hunted today and make love there.”

  She shook her head. “It wouldn’t be safe.” Surely he could wait a day or two.

  “Can I at least kiss you? Your father’s seen me kiss you twice, so they know we’re doing that.”

  “Yes, of course.” She rolled onto her side, facing him. “I’m not trying to upset you, Alex. It just feels wrong.”

  “I know. I understand.” He didn’t, but what else should he say? She was his new wife, and he had no desire to upset her either.

  He cupped her face in his hands, lowering his head to kiss her softly, slowly deepening the kiss. His hand moved under the sheet to stroke her breast, just the side of it with his knuckles. “You’re so soft, Lina.”

  She wrapped her arms around him, holding him closer, one of her legs resting atop his. “I like how it feels when you touch me.”

  “I want to make love to you,” he said softly, his hands cupping her breasts fully, stroking her soft skin.

  “I want you, too. I don’t want to wait.”

  “Then we shouldn’t. Your family will think we made love whether or not we do. Why not just make it true?”

  His reasoning made sense to her. Finally, she whispered, “All right.”

  As soon as he had her permission, he rolled her to her back, his hand going between her thighs and stroking her there. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She didn’t want to be hurt either. Her arms wrapped around him. “What should I do?”

  “I have no idea,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve never done this before either.”

  “You haven’t?”

  “No. My father always said that part of me should be saved for the woman who would have my sons. So I waited.” He kissed her again, this time his tongue strongly invaded her mouth as his body wanted to invade hers. He moved over her, his body completely covering hers.