“When will you be leaving?” she asked.
His grip tightened on her, hearing the longing in her voice. “We should have left this morning,” he said. “There will be a full moon tonight so it is my suspicion that we will move out under the cover of darkness. You and Jeniver will return to Isenhall in the morning after you have had a night’s sleep.”
Courtly struggled not to let depression overwhelm her. She clutched at Maximus’ arm, the one he was holding her with, already missing the man tremendously. She simply couldn’t help it.
“Tell me of Isenhall,” she said to distract herself from the tears that were threatening. “What is it like?”
Maximus thought on his home in Coventry, feeling comforted knowing that Courtly would soon be within the massive, protective walls. “I was born there,” he said. “It is an oddly shaped fortress. You will see for yourself. It is round and the keep and great hall are all jammed into the middle of it. The bailey is quite small but the keep is enormous. As a child, there were many places to hide. We used to torment my mother constantly with our disappearances.”
Courtly smiled happily as she thought of Maximus as a devious child. “Please tell me about your mother,” she said. “I know she is very ill. Would it be too much for you to tell me something of her?”
Speaking on Honey these days was much of a strain, but he found that he wanted his new wife to know about his mother, the woman he loved best in the world. At least, the woman he had loved best until Courtly came into his life. He wanted his wife to see the woman through his eyes.
“My mother is a de Lohr,” he said. “She is the youngest daughter of Christopher and Dustin. Although my grandfather passed away some years ago, my grandmother is still alive. My mother is much like her, actually; feisty, strong, fearless, compassionate. Her given name is Charlotte but my father started calling her ‘honey’ early in their relationship, so that is what everyone calls her. She rules with an iron fist and loves beyond reason. She is a warm and wonderful woman and her illness has been very difficult for us.”
Courtly digested the description of the Lady Honey de Shera. “May I ask you to tell me what ails her?”
Maximus grunted. “A cancer in her belly,” he said. “She fell ill last fall and it has grown progressively worse. The physic believed she would be dead last month but still, she has lingered. My brothers and I were hoping to see her after de Montfort’s meeting but, unfortunately, that will not be the case. I must go to London and you must go introduce yourself to her as my wife.”
He said it with some humor, causing Courtly to turn and look at him. She smiled at the man, seeing in his eyes how sorrowful he was about his mother. She put a soft hand to his bearded cheek.
“I will introduce myself happily,” she said. “I can only pray she finds me acceptable to be a member of the House of de Shera.”
Maximus kissed the hand that was on his face. “She will,” he murmured. “She will love you as I do.”
The smile faded from Courtly’s face and she tipped her head up, kissing him gently on his soft lips. Maximus leaned in and kissed her hungrily, suckling on her lower lips, struggling not to let his passion and arousal overwhelm him out in public for all to see. It was an effort to pull away as they came upon The One-Eyed Raven, but his thoughts turned to the inn itself and the bedchambers on the second floor. He fully intended to consummate his marriage before he left for London. In fact, it was nearly the only thing on his mind.
The livery behind the inn was crowded with de Shera horses and the big yard surrounding the livery was also jammed with them. Horses spilled out into the street, tethered, and being tended to by overworked stable boys. Maximus’ attention was diverted from his luscious wife for a moment as he entered the livery yard and realized just how many de Shera men were present. His brother had brought fifty men with them to Oxford, men that had been spread out somewhat because they couldn’t all fit in one tavern, but it was clear that all of them had now gathered.
Maximus tethered his jennet personally inside the livery so the stable boys could tend the sometimes snappish animal. Taking his wife with him, he proceeded into the rear of the tavern, noting that it was a hugely busy and crowded place inside. Men were eating, talking, yelling, and in general creating a bit of a ruckus. Over near the barkeep’s station, he saw Tiberius and Gallus around the usual de Shera table and he made his way towards them, shoving aside a soldier who came too close to Courtly. The man went flying, bashing into a leaning table, which collapsed onto the floor.
Gallus and Tiberius looked over when they heard the crash, seeing Maximus and Courtly approach. The both rose from their seats, varied expressions of pleasure on their faces.
“Ah,” Gallus said. “Maximus enters a room as only Maximus can. So you have returned, my prodigal brother?”
Maximus gave him a half-grin, glancing over his shoulder at the soldier picking himself up off of the broken table. “He is lucky I only shoved him when he came near my wife,” he said. “Next time, I will break his neck.”
Gallus and Tiberius looked straight to Courtly, the smiles fading from their faces as the reality of Maximus’ words hit home.
“Wife,” Gallus repeated softly. Then, he reached out to Courtly and placed a very brotherly kiss on her cheek. “Welcome to the family, Lady Courtly. We are very honored to have you.”
Courtly smiled timidly at Gallus, thinking that the man was perhaps lying. All she brought with her was uncertainty and discord into a family that was strong and relatively peaceful. She could only imagine that Gallus was already thinking of the long-reaching implications with her father.
“Thank you, my lord,” she said. “I am deeply honored to be a member of the House of de Shera. I shall do my best to always be worthy of my station.”
Gallus’ smile was back. “You are Lady Allesley now,” he said. “You are a baroness and most worthy of that title. My brother is a very fortunate man.”
Courtly looked at Maximus, surprise registering on her features. “I had completely forgotten about your title,” she said. Then, she teased him. “Be assured I did not marry you for your rank.”
Tiberius entered the conversation. “Or his comely looks.”
As Maximus scowled at his younger brother, Courtly laughed. “I did indeed marry him because he is the handsomest brother,” she said. “No offense, my lords, but I am rather partial to him.”
Tiberius kissed her on the cheek. “You have no taste in men,” he said, “but I am happy to call you my sister.”
Courtly accepted Tiberius’ kiss, watching Maximus push his brother away when he thought the man lingered too long around Courtly. But she could also see that it was in good-natured fun. The brothers clearly adored and supported one another, as she’d seen from the beginning. It was heart-warming to see such interaction from a powerful family that not only worked well together out of sheer family loyalty, but also liked one another. That was rare. Courtly grinned at Tiberius as the man made faces at Maximus, but Maximus was content to ignore the man soundly, at least for the moment.
“We were just married at St. Clements,” he told Gallus. “It is my intention to send my wife back to Isenhall with Jeniver while we continue on to London.”
Gallus nodded, watching Tiberius as the man continued to act the fool behind Maximus’ back, much to Courtly’s amusement.
“Agreed,” Gallus said. “She will be safe there. As you can see, we have accomplished a great deal since we arrived back in Oxford yesterday. All of the men we brought with us to Oxford are mobilized and I have sent word to Isenhall for another four hundred. They have orders to move swiftly and meet us at Braidwood Manor in London, de Russe’s place.”
Maximus nodded. Hughston de Russe was part of the de Montfort ally network and his home outside of London, big and fortified, was usually where de Montfort’s supporters gathered. It had become their unofficial headquarters. It was clear that the entire de Shera contingent was ready and waiting for Maximus. He was the
lone straggler when usually, he was the first one ready to move.
Today, however, he didn’t care about that. He could only think about the fact that he was soon to leave his new wife. Even though he knew he had to go, and he’d known it for some time, it wasn’t sitting well with him.
“When do we leave?” Maximus asked reluctantly.
Gallus eyed Courtly, but now for a different reason. He cleared his throat softly. “How soon can you be ready?”
Maximus knew what he meant. He glanced at Courtly, seeing her laughing at Tiberius, and he sighed faintly.
“Give me an hour,” he said softly.
Gallus nodded, watching as Maximus, aware of Tiberius’ antics behind him, lashed out a big fist and caught his brother squarely in the chest. As Tiberius grunted and, laughing, nearly fell to the floor, Maximus took his wife by the elbow.
“I will meet you down here in an hour,” he told Gallus. Then, he turned to Tiberius who was rubbing his chest where his brother had slugged him. “When my wife left last night, she left her possessions behind. They should be in Gallus and Jeniver’s chamber. Will you please retrieve them and bring them to me?”
Tiberius nodded but Gallus spoke. “Jeni is sleeping right now,” he said. “She has not been feeling well since yesterday. Can it wait until she awakens?”
Maximus nodded, as did Courtly. “Please do not disturb her, Lord de Shera,” she said. “I can wait.”
Gallus smiled at Courtly. “You will please address me as Gallus,” he said. “You needn’t be so formal with me. We are family now, after all.”
Courtly nodded her head gratefully, humbled by the acceptance she was being given by these men who, quite possibly, would have to defend that acceptance against her crazed father when he found out what she had done. But no one seemed to care, and certainly no one had mentioned it. As Gallus had said, they were family now. And family defended and protected family, no matter what the circumstances.
With that, Maximus took his wife to the second floor chamber he had shared with Tiberius. It was the very first door at the top of the stairs and he shoved the sticky door open, revealing a rather small and messy chamber. There were two small beds, both of them jumbled and messy, and there were various things on the floor – a worn tunic, dirty hose, a pair of boots. In fact, Courtly tripped over a boot as she entered the room and Maximus kicked it away from her.
“Ty lives like an animal,” he said. “I apologize for the state of the room.”
Courtly grinned at him. “Isadora lives the same way,” she said. “You should see our chamber at home – clothes, poppets – all manner of clutter. She likes to pick flowers but she feels terrible for throwing out old, dead flowers, so we have that issue to deal with as well. There are dried weeds everywhere.”
Maximus smiled as he reached out and unfastened her cloak, pulling it off and revealing the lovely lavender dress beneath, which, in spite of all of the travel it had seen, was wearing very well. It also hugged her figure quite deliciously which reminded Maximus why they had come to the chamber to begin with. He had something to accomplish and not a lot of time with which to do it. As he lay the cloak on one of the beds, he spoke.
“I am afraid there is no tactful way to approach this subject, so I hope you will not be upset if I simply come out with it,” he said as he turned to her. “Since I am leaving for London very shortly, there is the matter of consummating our marriage. We must do this so your father cannot ever separate us and if we do not consummate it now, I do not know when we will be able to. Therefore, it must be done before I leave Oxford. I wish I could take all of the time in the world with this, Courtly, and not rush it or make it seem so… cold… but the fact is that it must be done now. I am sorry if that seems uncaring.”
Courtly wasn’t upset by the realities of marriage. In fact, she was rather curious about the entire process. She was also a woman not given to ridiculous fears and had already shown her mettle for bravery. Therefore, she simply nodded her head as she sat down on the bed behind her.
“I understand,” she said. “You needn’t apologize. But I will admit that I know very little about what to do. My name may be Courtly Love, but the truth is that I am a virgin in every sense of the word. The first time a man kissed me was when you did it yesterday. Of course, I know the mechanics of mating. That is to say I know what is supposed to happen and what the results are, as Lady d’Umfraville made sure to educate her wards on such things, but beyond that… I will have to depend on you to tell me what to do.”
Maximus was rather relieved that she was looking at the situation so calmly, but on the other hand, he wasn’t surprised. Courtly had proven herself to be calm and resourceful since he first met her, something he was very much coming to appreciate about his new wife. The fact that she wasn’t a hysterical female spoke volumes to him. He sat down on the bed beside her and began removing his boots.
“Well,” he said thoughtfully. “It is one of those situations where you let instincts take the lead. I think your body will know what to do even if your mind does not.”
Courtly pulled off her slippers because he was removing his shoes. It seemed like something she should do. “You have done this before?”
Maximus cleared his throat somewhat nervously. “Aye,” he said. “I have had to. It would not do if neither of us knew what to do, would it?”
Courtly thought it humorous to see the man uncomfortable. “Who has taught you what you should know?”
He lifted his eyebrows, hoping he could bluff his way out of the question. “Too many women to count,” he said flippantly. “Why do you ask such questions, anyway? Do you really want to talk about my experiences with other women?”
Her smile faded. “Have there been other women?” she asked. “Someone… like me? Someone you were fond of?”
Maximus thought back to his first love, that flame-haired lass of fourteen he had been so very caring of. He shrugged. “She was fourteen,” he said. “I was seventeen. It was a very long time ago.”
Courtly smiled at the thought of young Maximus in love with a sweet young girl. “Why did you not marry her?”
He shook his head. “My father sent her away,” he said. “She was not of my station. It was not meant to be.”
Courtly thought she detected something sad in those words. “I am sorry,” she said softly. “It must have been painful.”
Maximus looked at her, studying her face, the delicate lines of her jaw. He drew in a long, contemplative breath. “At the time, it was,” he said. “I was young and impressionable. But it was a young love and nothing more. When I look at you, I am not sorry in the least that nothing ever came of it. Had I married her, I would have never known you.”
Courtly smiled sweetly at him. “You may have known me,” she said, humor in her tone. “I may have still fallen out of a window onto your head, but you would have already been married. God’s Bones, what if I had married Tiberius instead? Although your brother is handsome and strong, I would have spent the rest of my life lusting after his brother. After you.”
Maximus was torn between being wildly jealous over the thought of her marrying Tiberius and the thrill of her declaration of lust. He settled for the lust. Reaching out, he gently stroked her blond head, digesting this woman who was now his wife. He could still hardly believe it.
“Then it was fate that sent her away those years ago and not my father,” he said softly. “What I felt for her was something young and giddy. What I feel for you is something deep and abiding. I do not know how it is possible to love someone so strongly after only a few days, but I do. You have embedded yourself into my very soul, Courtly. Whatever the future holds and whatever comes, know that you have all of me, forever.”
Courtly was listening to his words, bewitched by them. Everything about the man was filling her, reaching in and anchoring itself deep. His hand on her head was soft and gentle, yet the heat from his palm was causing her heart to race. She remembered the kiss they had shared earlier, t
he flames of new and awakening desire that had licked at her. His bearded lips had been wildly exciting, more than she could have ever imagined. She found herself leaning into the hand on her head, watching his mouth as he spoke.
“Max?” she whispered.
His hand had moved to her face, his rough fingertips brushing over her lips. “Aye?”
“Kiss me like you did earlier. Kiss me again but this time, do not stop.”
Maximus didn’t need any further prompting. Her murmured request had him on fire and he cupped her face in his two enormous hands, bringing her lips to his. When he slanted over her mouth, it was hungrily, as he had never before kissed a woman until this moment. Everything he had even known about a woman, the feel or taste of one, was gone. It was as if she were the first and only, so strong his passion. As his tongue began to lick her, begging for an invitation into her warm, wet mouth, his hands move from her face and went to work on her clothing.
The lavender garment that he had purchased for her seemed to disintegrate under his hands and he had no idea why. He didn’t think he’d pulled that hard on it but he failed to remember that it had only been loosely basted. The truth was that he didn’t care much and even if he had remembered, it wouldn’t have made a difference because he was quite eager to remove her from her clothing. Courtly didn’t resist him. When he tugged on something, she helped him pull it off.
In little time, the shift came off as well and in the dim light of the chamber, Maximus found himself gazing at his wife’s perfect, nude body. He couldn’t remember ever seeing anything so utterly arousing but as he moved to pull her against him, he realized he was still wearing his clothing and, almost frantically, it began to come off.
The tunic went over his head and he tossed it to the ground, simultaneously untying his breeches. He had to let her go in order to yank those off and they ended up on the floor alongside the tunic. In all his naked glory, he turned back to Courtly only to see that she was sitting on the bed trying to cover her chest with her slender arms. She seemed rather embarrassed, and probably cold, and he felt guilty that he hadn’t been more considerate of her. This was her first time, after all, and even though she was a remarkably brave woman, she still had her limits of bravery. Rather than try to move her arms, he simply pulled her into a tight embrace and covered her, shielded her, with his big body.
England's Greatest Knights: A Medieval Romance Collection Page 23
