“Do I need to be?” Juliana gasped, knowing what the other woman was capable of.
“Let’s go for a walk, just you, me and your brat.”
Juliana walked slowly at the side of Giselle who kept the baby on the opposite side of her body just out of reach. They approached the side of the quarry and Juliana’s heart sank with thoughts of what might happen next.
“Please, don’t hurt my baby.” Juliana was crying now.
“You say ‘please’ to me now, do you? What do you think I’m going to do? Throw her over the edge?”
“Please – you’re a woman as am I. You must know that this child has done nothing to you. She is innocent in all this,” she begged.
They arrived at the edge of the quarry and Juliana made a grab for Kristen but Giselle was expecting it and turned aside. Juliana looked down into the quarry and saw a man lying at the bottom, still as the grave. She watched Giselle closely to make sure she didn’t move nearer to the edge and looked again at the broken figure below. It was Luke. Horrified she turned to Giselle.
“Did you do that to Luke? He loved you, Giselle. Why did you do that?” Juliana’s heart was racing. Giselle was inhuman, she had no feelings whatsoever for anyone but herself.
“He was getting to be a nuisance. He had outlived his usefulness, but he slipped, I didn’t push him,” she stated without feeling.
Juliana risked a glance over her shoulder and saw Ulfric and Sir Baldwin striding in their direction with Kyle at their side. Giselle had her back to them and knew nothing of their approach so Juliana moved carefully around Giselle hoping to grab the child who was still sleeping.
With a little more confidence than she felt, Juliana said, “Give Kristen to me, Giselle. We can go back to the Hall and talk about Luke and Richard and what your plans are now.”
“I can’t do that,” Giselle’s voice was calm and even. Her mind seemed to be in another place and another time. “Richard has gone and it’s your fault; I loved my brother and you took him from me. You need to pay for what you’ve done.”
“Me? But... Giselle don’t you remember he was the one who kidnapped me! He paid the price for his scheming and dishonour. Please... give me my baby.” She lunged at Giselle and managed to get one hand on Kristen’s leg but Giselle yanked her away again, causing the baby to wake up crying.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Giselle shouted, causing the baby to cry even more. “I can’t stand screaming brats.”
She held Kristen out over the quarry but was stopped in her tracks by shouts from Ulfric and Sir Baldwin and suddenly Kyle was at her feet, snarling and drooling. The dog frightened her more than she would admit when she imagined those teeth sinking into her flesh. The dog snapped again and tugged at the hem of her gown pulling her away from the edge
“Juliana!” Ulfric shouted and broke into a run.
Giselle’s eyes, dark and wide darted from Juliana to the approaching men and back again.
“Daughter! You will put that child down or I will take off your head!” Sir Baldwin bellowed.
Giselle held the baby out and Juliana snatched the child from her grasp. Ulfric arrived, threw his arms around his wife and child and moved them away from a trembling Giselle. Through her sobs Juliana heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard.
“You! You are an abomination of womanhood and no child of mine,” came Sir Baldwin’s voice.
Giselle’s eyes fixed on Juliana. “Bitch!” she spat. “May you rot in Hell!”
Giselle spun round to face her approaching Father, the quarry’s edge crumbling at her heels.
“Giselle! Step away!” her Father shouted. With tears coursing down her cheeks, Giselle closed her eyes and fell backwards disappearing into the void to join her lover - and brother - wherever he was now. She landed heavily on the sides of the quarry and bounced and rolled over and over coming to stop beside Luke’s body, her head hanging at an awkward angle.
Juliana turned away, hugging Kristen to her and shushing her cries, she walked away from the edge of the precipice. Ulfric and Sir Baldwin arrived in seconds and peered over the edge staring down upon the stillness of the two broken bodies.
“I’m sorry, Sir Baldwin,” Juliana whispered. “She must have decided that life without Richard was too much for her. I’m just glad that she didn’t take Kristen with her.”
Ulfric led Juliana away while Sir Baldwin stared into the quarry. “Where did I go wrong?” he asked to no one in particular, his gaze blank with disbelief.
“We’ll organise someone to go down there and get them and take them to the church,” Ulfric said shortly.
They turned their backs on the quarry and moved back to the fair where the festivities were still in full swing. Ulfric spoke quietly to Thorvald who gathered some men together to bring Luke and Giselle up. The others made their way quietly back to the Hall.
***
Sir Baldwin de Gant returned to Normandy after the burial of his daughter. He was a broken man but needed to return home to settle his estates and bring some normality back to his life.
Ulfric and Juliana with a wriggling Kristen walked onto the high ground in Bertone. Kyle ran ahead of them seeming to know where they were going.
“William has told me to build a castle here to defend the town,” Ulfric announced as they looked around at the countryside stretching out below them. “It’s not too far away from the town so in times of trouble the people will come into the castle and will be safe. Did you hear that he has commissioned a book recording every village and town in the country together with what each town holds and who it belongs to? Bertone will be in that book, Juliana. I don’t think the castle will be ready for a few years but I hope you’ll enjoy living there once it is.”
“A castle? Here in Bertone?” Juliana was amazed.
“Yes, don’t forget I’m now the Earl of Lindsey and I have a huge responsibility to its people and to the King. How will you like living in a castle, my wife?” he asked grinning at her.
“I don’t know. I’ve always loved living in the Hall but it holds so many bad memories for me now so I think I would like a change.”
“I’m organising stone masons and carpenters to come to the town and I’ve plans to bring wealth and status to the townspeople. I haven’t told Erik yet but he is to be the Alderman for the area. That will keep him busy and hopefully he’ll find a woman to settle down with. It’s about time he got over you.”
Juliana laughed out loud. “I think the next marriage here will be Thorvald and Sam’s mother. I’ve seen them wandering off together and he already thinks of Sam as his son. Perhaps they could stay in the Hall if they want to.”
“Excellent idea, my love, we will put it to them when we get back.”
They strolled home together arms entwined both confident in their love for each other and their child. Kyle spotted Thorvald in the distance and ran off to intercept him.
Juliana paused their walk and turned her husband to face her. She reached up and stroked the flop of hair from his eyes. “I have something to tell you, Ulfric.”
“Yes, wife. What is it?”
“I believe I’m with child again.”
Juliana laughed at the expression on Ulfric’s face as they turned towards home.
The End
Fire and Ice Page 17
