Always sensitive to heat, she made it snow there in the room, so they wouldn’t get too hot. He shivered. “Stop it! Why are you making it snow?” Was she trying to make him stop with the cold?
“I’m sorry. I was hot. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Maybe a gentle cooling wind, but we don’t need snow.” He grinned down at his wife. Who else would make it snow on her wedding night?
He kissed her again, holding her face in his hands as he entered her in one quick stroke. As soon as he was buried deep within her, he raised his head, needing to know she was all right. “Lina?”
Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him, the only light in the room the small candle on the table. “Yes?”
“Am I hurting you?”
“Just a little. Mama said it would stop quickly.” She stayed perfectly still, hoping it would stop soon. It felt like it had lasted forever already. “Are we finished?”
Apparently, her mother hadn’t explained what would happen in great detail. “We’ve barely started, love.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t imagine what else he could possibly do that he hadn’t already done, and then he pulled out and moved back inside her. “Oh! That felt good.”
“I’m so glad!” He started moving more quickly, finding his pleasure within her and resting his head on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said a long while later when his breathing had returned to normal.
“Why are you sorry?” she asked. “That was nice.”
“I’m sorry because you didn’t feel the same pleasure I did.”
“I don’t think a woman is supposed to feel that kind of pleasure.” She turned to her side snuggling close to him. She was just relieved she’d fulfilled her duty with him.
“You are, and you will,” he promised. Not that she heard him because she was already asleep. He knew, though. He would make certain that the next time, she enjoyed it as much as he did.
When she woke the following morning, Alexander was already gone from their room. She sat up in bed looking around for him, but he wasn’t there. She pulled her clothes on, feeling tender between her thighs. She thought about asking her mother to heal her, but she knew she would be too embarrassed to explain why. Not that her mother wouldn’t understand.
When she got downstairs, everyone was having breakfast, and little Letice looked sad. “Why aren’t you happy?” she asked, kissing the girl’s cheek.
“I slept alone.” Letice frowned at her.
“Oh, I see. Well, I’m married now, so I can’t sleep with you every night.” She did her best not to blush as she looked at Alex, but there were snowflakes drifting through the great hall.
Charles shook his head at her. “I love you, Madelina, but it will be nice not to have to deal with weather inside the castle constantly.”
Madelina wrinkled her nose at him. “You love me for the weather in the hall.”
“I’m not sure that’s the reason I love you!” He grinned at her, though, and she knew all was well.
“We’re leaving in the morning,” Alex announced. “Can everything be ready by then?”
Madelina looked at her mother, who nodded. “I was up most of the night, gathering the herbs and putting them into pouches. I have written out instructions on many of them. You’ll be ready.”
Christiana smiled at Madelina. “And Eva and I spent the night making new clothes for you and Letice. You’ll both be ready.”
Letice looked at Madelina. “We leave?”
“Yes, we’re going to go live with Alexander. His family lives three days from here.”
Letice seemed confused. “You won’t leave me?”
“No. I won’t leave you. You’ll be with me for a very long time.” Madelina hated that she was being taken from her new home so quickly, but it was necessary. Her mother didn’t need to raise another child, and it was her only chance for a daughter.
“You won’t die?” Letice asked softly.
“No, I won’t die. I’m going to stay with you.” Madelina felt tears drift down her cheeks, fighting against the rain she knew would come if she wasn’t careful. She hated that her powers were activated by her emotions. She loved when she could decide what should happen, but when they happened automatically, they became a problem.
Throughout the day, she worked with her mother, getting the herbs put in pouches and seeds for her to grow more herbs in other pouches. They took a break for the mid-day meal and then got back to work. Many of the servants were working with her aunts to get dresses finished for both her and Letice. They were representing her family as they moved, and they would not look like paupers.
She had no idea where Alex was all day, but by his angry look at supper-time, she had a good idea he’d spent the day with her father. She leaned close to him to whisper, “Is all well?”
He nodded. “Your father does not like me.”
“He doesn’t like that I married you. I think he likes you just fine.”
“The results are the same.” Alex sat down beside her, Letice on the other side of her. It still seemed strange to him that he’d married her just the day before, and already they had a child. One part of him wanted the time alone, and he wanted to ask her to leave the child, but the other part of him realized that Madelina had a need to bring the girl with them. Whatever the reason for that need, he wouldn’t take it from her.
After supper, Madelina took Letice upstairs to put her to bed, and Alex went with her. The three of them sat in Madelina’s childhood room and tried to explain what was happening to the child. “Because I married Alex, we’re all going to travel together to the house where he grew up and that’s where we’re going to live.”
“Alex is my new papa?”
“Yes, he’s your new papa, and I’m your new mama. Soon you’ll have lots of brothers, and we’ll all be a happy family.” Madelina tucked the little girl under the covers and smoothed her hair away from her face. “Does that sound nice?”
Letice nodded. “I want to have family.”
“You do have a family. I promise. You’re mine now.” Madelina leaned down and kissed the girl’s cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning, and we’ll leave then.
Letice closed her eyes, her lashes long against her cheeks. Alex and Madelina stayed there for another minute while they waited to see if she was going to ask anything else, but when she didn’t, they tiptoed from the room.
When they’d closed the door, Madelina looked at Alexander. “I want her to be happy.”
“It won’t take long for her to forget she ever had another family,” he said softly. “She’s very young.”
“But we can’t let her forget,” Madelina said. “I wish we knew what to tell her about her parents.”
“Why don’t you want her to forget?” Alex asked, confused.
“Because I want her to know that we chose to keep her with us. She wasn’t a child of birth, but she’s a child of our hearts.” Madelina wasn’t sure if she was explaining it well, but Alex seemed to understand.
“Whatever you wish where she is concerned,” he said softly.
As they made their way down the stairs from the east wing and up them into the west wing, she yawned. “I had no idea how much work went into preparing to move. Mother and I worked all day on just the herbs and the seeds to grow more herbs. I hope there’s a good place for my herb garden at your home.” She was getting more and more excited about starting her life with him.
“I believe there is. Mother has a small garden each year, but it’s usually flowers, not herbs.”
“Will she mind if I plant herbs in it? I don’t want to upset her.”
He frowned at her. “My parents will move into the dower house after we get home. They won’t live with us. She’ll have a flower garden there.”
“Why not? It’s their home!” She hated the idea of ousting his parents from their home.
“This is something they’ve known they would do since they came to England. They built a house on the land where t
hey would live as soon as I married. I think they’re excited to move into their new home. I know I’m excited to be able to take over the castle and run it as my own.”
“Do your brothers not mind that their younger brother is inheriting instead of them?”
He shrugged. “I never really thought about that. We always knew that I would inherit, and growing up knowing that makes things different I think. It is strange compared with the way other families do things, but for us, it seems just right.”
“As long as there won’t be any angry wives trying to hurt me or Letice,” she said with a grin.
“Oh, there won’t. All of my brothers have children and have moved to other areas. They truly are content.”
Madelina breathed a sigh. “Then I’m sure we will be, too.”
Chapter Five
As soon as they’d breakfasted the following morning, Alexander announced it was time to load the wagons. Madelina hadn’t realized just how much she had to take with her, but her uncle had announced that he would be sending four men with them, along with two wagons. That way they would be safer on their ride. His men would take turns driving the wagons while she and Alex rode beside them. Letice would ride in the wagons at times and with Alex and Madelina at times. The girl was not afraid of horses, and Madelina planned to start teaching her to ride as soon as they were at their new home.
Madelina embraced both of her parents, thanking them for loving her as they did. When her aunt Christiana embraced her, they came up with a plan. “Every hour or so, reach out to me with your mind. If I answer, you know that I will be able to hear your cries for help and pass along news from there. If I don’t, you will know that you have to go back to the previous place.”
“You really don’t think you’ll be able to communicate with me from that distance, do you?”
Christiana shook her head sadly. “I’m certain I won’t. So it will be up to you to find the closest place to your new home where we can communicate.”
Thinking of how much Alexander hated her communicating with her aunt with him there, she realized she may have to hide what she was doing. It was a small thing, and she needed to have a way to contact her family. “We will make it work, Auntie.”
Eva hugged her as well. “Stay strong,” was all she said.
Madelina swung up onto her mount and faced forward, refusing to turn around and wave. As they passed over the hill that would hide the castle where she’d grown up from her view, she thought to her aunt, “I love you!”
“Be safe!” came back loud and clear.
Madelina refused to cry because they didn’t need rain on their journey, so instead she kept her shoulders back and stifled her emotions. Alex watched her. “You’re doing well.”
She smiled, happy that she’d fooled someone. She would never be able to fool herself, though. Half of her heart was staying with the people who loved her so much at the Nobilis Castle. “Does your home have a name?” she asked, trying to think of only what was ahead of her and not what she was leaving behind.
“It is called Lain Castle.”
“Lain?” she asked softly.
“’Tis our family name.” Alex couldn’t help but worry about his new bride. She looked as if she was strong and doing well, but he knew how very much she loved her family. She would be sad for a time, and he would need to help her work through that sadness. “My father and mother are surely expecting us to return soon. I don’t know if Father realizes that we’re married, but it’s a possibility. He often guesses correctly. It’s part of his luck.”
She smiled over at him. When one of her sisters had married, she’d hidden her powers from her husband, worried that he wouldn’t want her if he knew about it. She was glad that she and Alex could be completely open about their families with each other.
Letice spent much of the day riding with her new mother, enjoying being held as well as looking around her. She seemed content to sleep as they rode as long as her mother was still holding her.
When they stopped at the end of the day, Madelina’s legs were wobbly, and her arms were half asleep from holding the child. They’d put in a good eight hours on their horses, and that was the longest she’d ever been on a horseback. Alex held Letice as she dismounted, his gaze on his bride. “Are you all right?”
Madelina nodded, laughing. “I thought the hours I had spent on horseback over the years would have prepared me for this journey. There is a great deal of difference between two hours on a horse and eight hours on a horse. I may have to limp off and rest for a bit.”
He smiled at that. “I will see to supper tonight. I have eaten on the road before, and it is easy for me. There is a tent for us. I slept on the ground on the way here, but I didn’t think you’d want to sleep in the open.”
“Thank you for thinking of me.”
“Thank your uncle. He sent the tent with instructions it be returned with his wagons. He didn’t want you to feel out of place.”
She smiled at that. “Let me take Letice, and she and I will avail ourselves of the woods for our needs.” She also wanted to talk to her aunt Christiana to let them know they’d made it safely through the first day of her voyage, but she didn’t want to do it with Alex there. He’d made his feelings clear already.
While she was taking care of her needs, she reached out to her aunt. “Aunt Christiana? We have finished our first day of travel. I am sore!”
“Well, of course you are! Your mother packed a salve in your potion bag. Use it on your sore thighs. She promises it will help.”
“Thank her for me, and send my love to all!”
“You receive love back from every one of us. You know that without being told, though.”
Madelina did know without being told she had the love of everyone she’d left behind. This was the first night of her life she would not sleep under the roof of her uncle’s castle. The first night she would not be protected by her father and uncles. Her life was changing quickly. She wasn’t sure she was ready for the rate of it all.
When she and Letice returned to the wagons, Alex had a fire going and was working to put up a tent with the other men. He was stripped to the waist, his arm muscles bulging as he did his share of the work and more. Madelina hadn’t thought before about the type of training he must do to keep fit, but apparently, he worked as hard at it as her father and uncles did.
“How can I help?” Madelina asked, wishing she could just get the salve to use and not have to deal with anyone.
“Rest until supper. You’re not used to this type of work,” Alex called back.
She started to protest, but she realized she really did need to rest. She went into her medicine bag and found the salve her mother had included, disappearing back into the woods to apply it. “Are you sore?” she asked Letice.
The little girl shook her head, her hair swinging about her face. Madelina knew she needed to start tying it back or it would always be in the way.
She was moving easier as soon as they left the woods and returned to the campsite, and she and Letice sat down several feet from the fire. She didn’t want the fire to go out when she called in the wind to keep herself cool.
The meal consisted of dried venison and some greens Madelina and Letice picked while they waited for Alex. “These are greens that will make us stronger,” she said, passing a handful to him.
“You know how to find food from vegetation growing beside the road?” He was surprised but knew he shouldn’t be. Her upbringing had been very different than most young ladies.
She shrugged. “My mother has taught me much.” She watched as Letice ate a bite of the greens and made a face. She didn’t stop eating, though, which pleased Madelina. The child had spent her life until now in poverty. She knew that if she didn’t eat what was put before her, she didn’t eat. Eventually she would learn differently, but for now, it worked out well. “The tent looks ready.”
Alex nodded. “The men will take turns guarding the tent through the night. They can take turn
s sleeping in the wagons while the others drive, so they will be fine.” He rightly saw on her face that she worried about the men guarding them.
“That sounds good. I’ve never slept in a tent.”
He frowned at that. “Never?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never slept anywhere but the castle where I was born and raised. My family wasn’t one for travel, and if someone did travel, most of the children stayed with whomever was left at the castle. Mother was frequently sent for when someone important was dying because she was known for her healing, but she never took me with her.”
“That’s probably because she knew you’d be safer at home—and she was afraid you’d make it snow on everyone around you.”
Madelina nodded. “That’s exactly why. I have been guarded my entire life. This is the most freedom I have ever known.”
He eyed her curiously. “You are free, but you know you must listen to my instructions, don’t you?” Most women knew they must be obedient to their husbands, but she had been raised so differently.
She shrugged. “I know that the man is head of his wife even as Christ is head of the church.” She felt that there was much compromise in marriage, though, and she’d seen that’s just how it should be in the marriages she’d observed from infancy.
“And you believe that?”
“I believe that there is compromise in a marriage. I know that there are times when our opinions will differ, but I hope you will always listen to my counsel. My experiences are very different than yours, and I may be able to provide insight into a matter you know nothing about,” she said softly. She certainly hoped he’d agree with her.
“But my word will be final, correct?”
She nodded. She believed that—mostly. In time he’d come around to her way of thinking. She was sure of it. She decided to change the subject because she wasn’t sure they were ready for their first big argument. “I can’t wait to arrive at your home. I am looking forward to teaching Letice to ride.”
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