Constantine. “Gregg will abide by my wishes, whatever they are.”
It was Samarra’s turn to snort. “Gregg has said she does not wish for your son to take to sea,” she said. “He has the de Moyon lordship to inherit since she is the heiress. He will make a fine lord.”
“And I want to fight French bastards!”
Rex wouldn’t shut up about fighting the French and both Rhodes and Constantine wondered who was going to get punched first for teaching the lad such a naughty word. Samarra wasn’t beyond punishing them the same way she punished her sons. She was a loving mother, but strict. She was a loving wife and sister, but not afraid to throw a well-aimed fist when warranted. Constantine thought this would be a good time for him to depart.
“We shall discuss it later, Rex,” he told his nephew, putting a finger to his lips to silence the boy when Samarra wasn’t looking. “Go back inside with your mother, now. Your father and I will be around shortly.”
Rhodes took Constantine’s cue. He went to his wife, putting his hands on her shoulders and kissing her sweetly. “Please go inside now,” he said, quietly but firmly. “We are unsure of the numbers we might be facing and in case the French have brought any archers, I would prefer you safely inside.”
Samarra was torn; she knew that her husband was trying to get rid of her but now with her son in her arms, the need to protect the boy was overwhelming. Still, she very much wanted to position herself on the battlements and watch the battle when the French came ashore. This had been the type of internal struggled she’d faced almost daily since marrying Rhodes, the struggle of the lady mercenary against the wife and mother who was not expected – and discouraged – to fight.
Truth be told, she loved being a wife and mother. She loved being Lady de Leybourne, chatelaine of Tyringham Castle. But in times like this, with the smell of battle in the air, well… she missed it.
“Very well,” she said, although it was clear that she was disappointed. “If you are sure you do not need any help?”
“I am sure, sweetheart.”
“You will call me if you need me?”
“I will, indeed.”
Samarra sighed, glancing up at the gatehouse, at the battlements of Tyringham. Now she was starting to feel some self-pity. “There used to be a time when I was quite useful,” she said wistfully. “Mayhap that time will come again.”
Rhodes was feeling badly now. Samarra had been a warrior her entire life and he’d essentially forced her out of it. He was the one who had asked her to go against her natural instincts. With a sidelong glance at Constantine, he put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and turned her for the keep.
“There will be a time when you can fight alongside me again,” he assured her quietly. “But now is not the time. You have children to protect, including one in your belly, and that is the greatest calling for you. I may protect the fortress, but you protect my heart and soul. If I were to lose you and the boys, I could not go on. You protect me, Samarra. Does that make sense?”
She looked at him, his eyes glittering in the weak light from the torches. He’d never really presented his thoughts in such a way and, in truth, she did understand him. She didn’t feel quite so useless when he put it that way.
“It does,” she said. “But you will still call upon me if you need me, won’t you?”
He smiled faintly and kissed her tender lips. “I will always need you,” he whispered, his mouth against hers. “And I will always love you. Go inside, now. It is my wish.”
When he spoke like that, he turned her into putty. She would do anything he asked. But she also wasn’t so dull that she didn’t realize he was manipulating her on some level. Still, she didn’t mind. She had his heart, and he had hers, and that was all that mattered in the end.
Kissing him once more, Samarra took her son back into the keep, leaving Rhodes standing there, watching her go. He didn’t move until she went inside and bolted the door. Only then did he return his attention to Constantine.
By now, the fortress had quieted down considerably because the French pirates and their sleek vessel had just beached down below. As Constantine and Rhodes rushed up to the battlements to watch the ensuing ambush, Constantine muttered to Rhodes.
“I thought you were going to have trouble with my sister,” he said. “If there is a battle, she wants to be part of it. She has always been that way.”
Rhodes reached the crenellation of the battlements, protected by a section of stone wall as he watched the French disembark down below. Because of the mist, he could barely see them.
“You can take the sword from the woman but you cannot take the woman from the sword,” he replied quietly. Now, Constantine was standing beside him and they were watching the activity together. “Your sister’s warrior ways were what I first fell in love with but it is something I have asked her to surrender. I have often wondered if that was wrong of me, if I should have simply let her be what she was.”
There was shouting down on the beach now as men burst forth from the trees lining the sand and a full-scale brawl commenced. Constantine watched with interest as the French pirates were engaged by hundreds of angry English soldiers.
“I have known the woman my entire life, Rhodes,” he said. “Believe me when I tell you that she needed you. A sword in her hand would only take her so far in life. What you did… you gave her everything she needed, only she did not realize it. I believe she realizes it now.”
Rhodes was watching the fight below, which wasn’t much of a fight. The French were quickly overwhelmed and it was only a matter of time before they were all either killed or captured and their ship taken a prize by Constantine. But even as he watched the battle, his thoughts drifted to Samarra. It seemed that she was never far from his thoughts, no matter what.
“I hope so,” he said. “I need to know I have not made her unhappy.”
“You have made her delirious with joy.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
“I will say something else.”
“What?”
Constantine pointed to the sands down below, the battle that was quickly ending. “That ship I am about to take from the French bastards….”
Rhodes rolled his eyes. “Christ, Con, if you say that one more time in front of Rex, Samarra will beat us both.”
Constantine started to laugh. “As I was saying, that ship I am about to take from the French bastards – take a good look at it. Rex shall be sailing it in about twenty years.”
Rhodes eyes narrowed. “If that is true, then I shall take your first-born son and swear him to service for me.”
Constantine shrugged. “So my son will have a noble profession and yours will not. I can live with it.”
Rhodes was irritated with the overly-smug pirate. “And I cannot. Now I am sorry I helped you with the French. It would have been better for me and for Rex had they caught you.”
Constantine was enjoying Rhodes’ distress. He patted the man on the back as he turned away from the battlements.
“The French could not catch me,” he said, “nor can the Spaniards. The Scots, on the other hand… well, they are my brethren, as odd as it seems. This shall not be the last you see of me, dearest Rhodes. I will return for your sons and take them to sea with me.”
“My sons will do as I say.”
Constantine was grinning as he took the first step of the stairs down into the bailey. “Just as you did as your father wanted? I have heard the story, Rhodes. Think carefully before you make that declaration about your sons. They could very well grow up to defy you just as you defied your father.”
Rhodes broke into a grin in spite of himself. “Cheeky devil,” he growled, turning to look at Constantine. “Defying my father was the best thing I ever did.”
Constantine’s eyes glimmered in the torchlight. “Then remember that when it comes to your sons choosing their destiny,” he said. “Whether they sail with me, or whether they fight with you, all men must make the deci
sions that are best for them regardless of what their father says.”
They were wise parting words and Rhodes knew he was right. As Constantine headed down to the bailey and, ultimately out to the beach where the French had been subdued, Rhodes found himself thinking of his sons and the men they would become someday. Would they defy his wishes to find their own destinies in life?
Considering the stubbornness of their parents, Rhodes couldn’t help but think that, perhaps, the men in the de Leybourne family were indeed masters of their own destinies.
They, too, would have to find their happiness just as he had.
It was the call in the heart of every man.
The End
Children of Samarra and Rhodes
Rex
Reed
Reyne
Rhiannon
Roan
Rosamunde
About Kathryn Le Veque
Medieval Just Got Real.
KATHRYN LE VEQUE is a USA TODAY Bestselling author, an Amazon All-Star author, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance and Historical Fiction. She has been featured in the NEW YORK TIMES and on USA TODAY’s HEA blog. In March 2015, Kathryn was the featured cover story for the March issue of InD’Tale Magazine, the premier Indie author magazine. She was also a quadruple nominee (a record!) for the prestigious RONE awards for 2015.
Kathryn’s Medieval Romance novels have been called ‘detailed’, ‘highly romantic’, and ‘character-rich’. She crafts great adventures of love, battles, passion, and romance in the High Middle Ages. More than that, she writes for both women AND men – an unusual crossover for a romance author – and Kathryn has many male readers who enjoy her stories because of the male perspective, the action, and the adventure.
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