by R. R. Vane
“Or better say, Queen Eleanor and her sons are still feuding against Henry,” Tristram countered with a frown of his own, because he’d always been loyal to Henry.
“Yet Eleanor is a far greater ruler than her husband!” Judith said quite pointedly.
He stared at her, stunned.
“You truly believe so? With a king like Henry?”
“But Henry had the great Thomas Becket murdered!”
“Yet the great Thomas Becket was quite mad and would have brought the downfall of our country. He sought to enslave all of us to the Church!” Tristram countered, not caring his words might seem blasphemous.
Judith widened her eyes at him.
“T’was murder though! Don’t tell me you condone it?”
Tristram heaved a deep sigh.
“Nay, not at all. Yet Becket was not the man you think he was. He was vain and had greed and ambition of his own.”
“Why, so does Henry!”
“And so does Eleanor!”
Tristram started scowling at his wife, who decidedly was not the biddable, sweet woman he’d thought her at first, then suddenly paused with a smile and a shake of his head.
“We’re arguing again, I see,” he muttered, understanding that, after all, it did take two to argue.
Judith shrugged and cast him a brilliant smile, taking his hand
“I imagine we’ll often get to argue. Didn’t you say we had a life ahead of us?”
She didn’t seem in the least concerned they didn’t share the same way of thinking, and Tristram decided not to feel too concerned either. His wife was right, and he expected they would not always find themselves in agreement. He didn’t wish for a wife who minded him just because she was afraid to speak her mind. And he understood it was a relief that Judith now felt able to do so, and not to always feel compelled to agree with whatever he said, as she’d done in the first days of their acquaintance.
“Come,” Judith called to him cheerfully. “My chores for the day can wait. Let me show you why I love Redmore!”
She now looked carefree and happy, and the worry lines he’d perceived upon her face before seemed to have disappeared. He followed where she led with a smile, eagerly thinking of the time when she got to become his wife in every way.
As she was leading Tristram to show him the places she loved, Judith told herself she should strive to dwell only upon the happiness of being with her husband. The rest did not matter - whether he’d broken faith with her or not. Yet she was more and more willing to believe that Tristram had not done so, because his eyes had been warm and unflinching upon her when he’d told her he’d thought of her. And even if he had broken faith with her, she did not mean to hold that against him. They had been apart for too long. But he was here now, and she meant to be a good and true wife to him. Surely, he would not think upon another woman if she strived to be the best of wives to him, even if he was so beautiful and clever while she was only plain and ordinary.
They kissed and talked and spent a day Judith knew she would always treasure. Upon their way home there was much more kissing, and Judith loved Tristram’s sinfully beautiful lips upon her own, and how his hard and heated body felt against hers. It seemed at first he was more restrained than she in their caresses, and she began to feel she was too eager and too wanton. But soon, she simply forgot herself in his arms and all her shyness melted, and Tristram’s kisses became deeper and his caresses more ardent.
“Well, wife mine,” he said at last with a smile, tracing the imprint of his kisses on her reddened lips with one hand and the curve of her cheek with another. “I think at last I’ll have my heart’s desire of doing much more than just sleeping chastely by your side.”
She blushed, but she met his eyes levelly. It did not feel shameful at all to want him so much. And he didn’t seem displeased with her eagerness. Rather he seemed to rejoice in it, and this was setting her at ease.
“Wait for me, husband!” she told him, deciding to be bold and brushing a quick kiss upon his lips in front of the door of the bedchamber. “I only need to say goodnight to Mother. But I promise I won’t tarry!”
He heaved a sigh, but let her go, saying he’d use this time to bathe, and casting her a mischievous grin when he added he might be already naked next time she glanced upon him. Judith nodded with a wide smile of her own, because she fully remembered Tristram looked even more beautiful than usual with no garments upon his body.
She was still smiling when she went to see her mother and make sure Lady Fenice was not feeling poorly and didn’t need her at this time. Her mother did not seem to be in ill health, but soon Judith came to see she was casting worried glances. Judith became aware her own cheeks were flushed and her lips must look red and swollen from so much kissing. Tristram had uncovered and unplaited her hair as he was kissing her to bury his hands in its mass, and now she began to pat it self-consciously.
“So,” Lady Fenice said softly.
Her mother attempted to smile, but Judith saw the smile didn’t reach her eyes. She hurried to reassure her, “Tristram… He… he is my husband,” she found herself muttering softly, not knowing what to say to make her mother see all was well and that she was happy to spend her time in Tristram’s arms.
“Certainly. It is as it should be. He seems a worthy man,” her mother muttered.
And Judith recalled only too well her mother had spoken of all those women Tristram might have dallied with in London, but she attempted to push the disturbing thought away from her.
“All is well!” she told Lady Fenice in a steady voice.
“Aye,” Lady Fenice acquiesced, but her voice sounded doubtful.
Presently, her mother heaved a small sigh and clasped Judith’s hand in hers.
“Have a care! You see, I fear he is one of those men who loves games. He does not mean to do ill things, yet it might be in his nature to toy with ladies’ affections, used as he is that every woman he meets should fall at his feet. He’s handsome, witty, well-born and skilful. And he knows it only too well. Life seems like an effortless, diverting game to him, and when one sees life as a game, it’s easy to see others just as playthings.”
Judith shook her head, attempting to tell her mother she didn’t know Tristram as Judith herself now did, but Lady Fenice didn’t let her speak.
“Perchance I’m wrong. Yet have a care. It seems to me he likes to play games, that one. He’ll toy with you because this is how men of his sort are. And I do not want to see your heart broken and trampled upon.”
“But you are wrong. This is not Tristram!” Judith countered impassionedly.
Chapter 16
No matter how hard she tried to push them away, her mother’s words of warning still seemed to ring in Judith’s head even after she left the solar. When she reached the door of her bedchamber, she found that two serving women had just gone out of it, and they were both blushing and giggling. Judith entered the bedchamber with a puzzled look upon her face, only to find Tristram having a bath. She understood this might be the reason why the two serving women were behaving so, and a deep searing feeling of anger suddenly stirred within her.
She stared at Tristram, trying to hide her displeasure. He’d done nothing unseemly though. Both noble and serving women were required to attend to lords when they bathed, assisting them with soap and towels. So neither Tristram nor the serving women had done anything untoward. Or had they? Judith recalled the pretty blush in one of the serving women’s cheeks. The serving woman was indeed the most fetching woman in the castle, and most men here stared longingly after her.
At present, Tristram lay in his tub with his eyes closed and a look of contentment upon his face. Yet he soon opened his eyes, and smiled upon Judith.
“You’re here, I see. Perchance you care to join me in the tub, my lady? The water’s still warm.”
Judith had already noticed her husband was not shy at all about his nakedness, so she strived not to make much of it. She’d seen that Tristram was wel
l used to bathing in front of the people who busied themselves about the chamber, not caring if they were male or female. However, by the way the serving women had acted, it seemed they had most certainly cared to see their handsome lord naked.
“Oh¸ I see Ann’s fetched fresh towels and soap for you,” Judith now said, striving to make her voice light and speaking the name of the pretty serving wench.
“Is that her name?” Tristram said, and his voice sounded idle and unconcerned, but he was staring at her with dark eyes which were liquid and warm. “But won’t you join me, wife?” he added, letting his eyes unashamedly roam over Judith’s body.
“Ann, aye. Isn’t she pretty?” Judith found herself muttering, before she could bite back the words.
“Pretty? Aye, I guess,” Tristram said and his voice sounded just as idle and unconcerned as before.
He stared at Judith with ardent eyes, and heaved a sigh when Judith did not heed his invitation.
“Shy of me still, I see. You were not quite as shy earlier though,” he said softly, and Judith plainly recalled the heated kisses they’d shared in the hallway and the way she’d wantonly moaned when Tristram had unashamedly caressed her breasts with his practiced hands.
“Oh, never mind¸” Tristram said with a smile. “There’s plenty of time for you to let go of all your shyness. And many other things I can teach.”
His grin was rather wicked when he glanced at her, yet, before, when he’d been caressing her shamelessly, Judith had liked this wickedness, and he seemed to have already perceived it. It was plain he now wanted to lie with her, and it was what Judith also wanted. Yet at this time she felt her shyness fully return. It was clear he was skilled in bestowing caresses upon women. And she found herself simply wondering how many women he’d had. Beautiful women – just as her serving woman Ann was.
“Shall I fetch a fresh undertunic for you from your chest?” Judith asked, not knowing what to do with herself and seeing that Tristram had already stepped out of the bathtub and had begun drying himself with a linen towel.
“Aye, if you please,” Tristram called to her as he began attending to his damp hair.
Judith strode to the other end of the chamber, then opened Tristram’s chest of garments. She meant to look for a clean shirt he could wear to sleep in, because it was early spring and the chamber was quite chilly. Redmore was made mostly of stone and not of timber.
When she opened her husband’s garment chest, Judith’s eyes were drawn by a kerchief which lay on top of his clothes. It was very pretty, with the letter B embroidered upon it with a flourish. On it lay a dainty rosary and the pressed white flower of a briar rose. Judith couldn’t help but stare, because it was a lady’s rosary and because the flower looked very much like the love tokens knights at Court kept from their ladies. And the kerchief also looked very much like the tokens lovers exchanged at times.
She lingered for a while, not knowing what to make of what she was seeing, and she was roused only by Tristram’s voice at last asking her if she’d been able to find the thing she’d been searching for. Hastily, Judith fetched a clean undertunic from the chest, closing its lid with a thump. She soon went to Tristram and handed it to him, attempting to stare away from his beautiful nakedness. Tristram cast her a searching look, and slipped the long tunic on with a small sigh.
“There. Better?” he asked, now cupping her cheek.
Judith nodded mutely. She couldn’t tell him it was not because she was shy that she so often averted her eyes from his nakedness. It was not shyness, but deep, scorching lust that prompted her to look away from him more often than not.
Tristram’s long, elegant fingers were now tracing the curve of her cheek.
“We’ll go slow. And gently… Aye?” he said softly, and soon bent to capture her lips in a tender, lingering kiss.
Before, on the stairs and in the hallway, he’d been kissing her ardently and boldly, but now he made his kiss teasing and practiced. And, unwittingly, Judith found herself wondering again how many women he’d kissed this way. Tristram must have sensed she was not responding to his kiss, because he soon broke it. He took her hand in his and led her gently to the bed, making her sit on it.
“What is it?” he asked in a warm voice, seating himself by her side and looking at her with searching eyes.
“Nothing,” Judith lied hastily, knowing her cheeks were quite flushed.
“Nay,” Tristram countered in a knowing voice. “Something, for certain. I wonder how I can make it better. Perchance you wish to play a game?”
“A game?” Judith asked with widened eyes.
But she needn’t be told Tristram loved games. All sorts of courtly games, and word games. They’d already played several word games together, because they both enjoyed playing with words and making rhymes. Yet Judith understood Tristram wasn’t speaking of a word game at this time. He likes to play games, that one. He’ll toy with you because this is how men of his sort are.
“Aye. There’s nothing wrong with being playful in the bedchamber, so that you know,” Tristram now said, beginning to caress the palm of her hand in slow circles. “A kissing game perchance? Would you like that?” he added in a lazy voice which instantly stirred deep heat inside Judith’s body.
“A kissing game?”
“Aye. It is very simple. You just close your eyes and think of a spot in which I could kiss you. You tell me if I guessed right after I’ve kissed you. If I am right, I get a kiss in return from you as a reward,” he said, speaking ever so softly.
His voice and touch were simply bewitching, and Judith found herself already breathing hard in anticipation of his kisses. She strived to find her own voice and said, “What of penance, my lord? What should your penance be if you guess wrong?”
Tristram smiled and answered in a tone even softer and lazier than before, “There is no penance in this game, my lady. It’s not that kind of game, because the time’s not yet right for such. This game though… I think you may find it truly rewarding.”
Judith strived hard to keep her head clear, but Tristram’s voice was quite compelling and she found herself eagerly acquiescing to what he was asking. She closed her eyes as they both lay on the bed, and instantly thought of a part of her body where she’d like Tristram lips to kiss her. She thought she wanted Tristram’s lips upon hers once more. Nevertheless, Tristram, the fiend, certainly had other things in mind. He brushed a feather-light kiss on the side of her neck, burying his hands in the dark mass of her hair.
“Mm,” he said against her hot skin. “Did I guess right, my lady?”
Judith recalled only too well what he’d told her before. He’d get a kiss in return as a reward from her if he guessed right, and, in spite of the warning voice in her head, her own lips suddenly ached to kiss him.
“Aye, husband. You guessed right,” she lied brazenly.
He chuckled, and it was plain he knew she was being brazen, yet he closed his own eyes for a kiss from her. And Judith could not help herself. She lifted his undertunic to caress the hard muscle of his chest, placing her hot lips there where she could hear his heart thumping.
“My turn now,” Tristram told her in the same lazy voice, when she was done shyly caressing him.
This time his kiss was even bolder. He undid the laces at the back of her gown and then simply divested her of it, and she was left only in the linen dress she wore underneath. He slowly lifted the hem of it, to bestow several kisses right at the sensitive spot at the back of her knee. His kisses were practiced, and Judith strived hard not to simply melt under the heat of his lips. How did he know so well what would give her most pleasure? She suppressed a sigh, striving hard to chase from her mind the image of the many lovers he might have had. Again, she lied brazenly when he asked her if his guess had been right. And then she got her own turn to kiss and caress his beautiful body. He’d already stripped himself of his shirt, but she averted her eyes from his erect manhood which she had already felt prodding against her. Instead she ki
ssed his elegant, long-fingered hands. And when his turn came again, he was even more brazen than before. He simply rained soft kisses down her belly, and Judith thought she’d swoon with pleasure. He smiled at her when he at last lifted his head to look into her eyes.
“So?” he asked. “Was I right this time as well?”
“You know you were,” Judith whispered, understanding it was not a lie after all, since all his kisses were in places where she’d pictured him caressing her in her mind when she’d thought of him in her lonely bed.
She kissed his lips ardently, and they both became entangled in the kiss. He buried his hands in her hair once again.
“I love your hair – so like a mermaid’s. It is a shame you have to cover it during the day. It’s beautiful. Just like the rest of you,” he muttered against her lips.
And Judith nearly smiled at the praise, but suddenly a sharp splinter pierced her heart, as cold as ice. She knew she was not beautiful, but only plain. Her heart started thumping with unease. Tristram’s next words did not reassure her.
“And I love you, wife. All that which is you,” he said, and his voice sounded full of heat.
The image of the pressed flower she’d glanced upon sprang in her mind and coldness enveloped her entire body. How could a man as wondrous as Tristram love her? He must be lying. And it was perchance just as her mother had feared, that it was all a game to him. A lie… And she was just a plaything among others. Tristram kissed her again, and as his kiss deepened, she perceived he was now slowly hoisting the hem of her shift. And Judith understood that, in spite of the coldness in her heart, her quim was hot and wet for him. If he got to touch her there, he would get to see how eager she already was for his thrust. And he would get to understand how utterly besotted she was with him. And then he would break her heart, because he did not truly love her. Belatedly, Judith understood she’d begun to push her husband away.
He didn’t press, but rolled away from her with an astonished look in his fine dark eyes.
