Archangel (20 page)

Gart was a knight; he had better fighting instincts than most men and had built an astounding reputation. But the truth was that he wasn’t a great intellect or scholar. He tended to act on emotion or instinct more than he actually reasoned a situation through in his mind.  He was coming to think that there might not be a solution to the situation that wouldn’t somehow be detrimental to them all. But he gave it one last try.

“Is Julian a greedy man?” he asked quietly.

Emberley looked strangely at him. “No more than most, I suppose,” she replied. “Why do you ask?”

Gart drew in a long, thoughtful breath,  “As much as I do not want to admit that running may not be the answer to our problems, I am beginning to suspect it would not be the perfect solution,” he looked at her. “I will still go to my uncle and my mother’s family and demand all that is due to me.  It would be a great deal.  Do… do you suppose that if I offer it all to Julian in exchange for you and the children, he might accept my offer?”

Emberley couldn’t help it; her jaw dropped.   Hysterical tears began to bubble up and she put her hands over her mouth, trying to block out the noise.

“You cannot do that,” she gasped. “Gart, you cannot give him everything you have. I will not let you do it.”

He put his hands on her shoulders to calm her down; he simply couldn’t help it. “No need to become upset, kitten,” he said soothingly. “I simply asked a question. Do you think he would take it?”

She was struggling against the tears, resisting his question but finding it oddly intriguing.  “I will not hear you. I cannot.”

He made sure no one was watching before kissing her hands swiftly, sweetly, before letting them go. “Easy, lady,” he murmured. “No need to upset yourself. It was simply a question.”

Emberley wiped at her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself.   She simply couldn’t believe that Gart would give up everything just for her.  “If you gave him all that you had, then what would be left to live on?” she asked softly, urgently. “We would be destitute. Do you think that would make us happy? You would come to resent us.”

Gart shook his head. “Nay, I would not,” he insisted softly, interrupted her gently when she opened her mouth to argue. “Kitten, you swore to me that all would be well. I will hold you to that. But it is apparent that this is a situation with no simple answer.  I need time to think of a resolution that is best for all of us.”

Emberley took another deep breath, calming further.  She nodded in agreement. “As you say,” she said softly, turning when she heard her daughter scream in the yard.  “I will trust that you will do what is right.”

He very much wanted to take her in his arms.  He was fairly aching to hold her. But he took a step back instead, fearful that his control would snap if she was too close to him.  As he stepped back, Lacy suddenly came toddling their way as fast as her baby legs would carry her. Brendt was hot on her heels, telling her that he was going to capture her, and the little girl was screaming in delight.   Gerta brought up the rear several feet back, the old nurse huffing to keep up with the pair.

Gart reached down and scooped the little girl up as she passed by, growling like a bear against the side of her head and nibbling at her ear.  Lacy giggled uncontrollably as Gart snarled and tickled.  Brendt, standing at the man’s feet, whacked him with his wooden sword to get his attention. When Gart looked down at the boy, he heard Romney’s battle cry.

“He has captured her!” the child shouted. “Get him!”

Emberley tried to stop the out and out assault, but she ended up stepping out of the way and letting Gart handle it.  He didn’t seem to mind.  As she stood there and watched, she began to think that perhaps they could live without a cent to their name as long as they were all together. Already, her children showed Gart more attention and affection than they had ever shown Julian. But Gart had opened that door the moment they had met them; they had tried to rob the man and he hadn’t truly punished them. He had been kind and understanding of their games, for the most part. He loved them.

 It warmed her heart to watch Gart fight off her boys, grabbing Brendt so the child hung up-side down in his arms and using his knees to shove Romney and Orin away.  Lacy had her arms around his neck and was giving him big, sloppy kisses even as he wrestled with the boys.  The enormous knight that grown men were afraid of was enjoying every minute of it. He had four very young and very adoring admirers.

And one woman who loved him deeply.

Chapter Ten

Early July, 1204 A.D.

“My lady?”  Gart addressed Emberley as he entered the great hall of Dunster. “You should come to the kitchens and see the impressive buck that your sons killed.”

The afternoon was warm, lazy, with a stiff sea breeze blowing off the ocean.  It made the outside air sticky with moisture and salt. The great hall of Dunster was a nice cool spot, dry, smelling of smoke and old rushes.  It had been quiet and peaceful until Gart and the boys had broken the spell.

Emberley smiled at Romney and Orin, who were flanking Gart with faces full of pride.  She set down the sewing in her hand, a lovely little dress that she was making for Lacy.  It was blue with embroidered flowers around the neck.  Spread out all over the table was her sewing things as she mended breeches and sewed little dresses.  Although the servants could do the work, she enjoyed it.

“A buck?” she lifted her eyebrows at her boys, then Gart. “I thought you were teaching them to ride. You said nothing about hunting.”

Gart nodded. “I was teaching them to ride, but we were interrupted by a three point buck.  Rom and Orin are very good with a crossbow.”

She tried to keep the shock from her expression. “Crossbow?” she repeated. “Those weapons are bigger than they are.”

“I held it and they pulled the trigger.”

The boys were nodding proudly throughout Gart and Emberley’s exchange.  They seemed so genuinely happy that Emberley didn’t have the heart to scold Gart for allowing her sons around something as dangerous as a hair-trigger crossbow. 

“Come and see our buck, Mama,” Romney reached out and grabbed her hand. “We will feed everyone with it and Gart said he will have a man make shoes from the hide.”

Emberley let Romney pull her from the great hall.  Orin was running on ahead, jumping up and down and shouting about the buck.   Gart brought up the rear, a lazy smile on his face as he watched the boys dance around, yanking on Emberley’s arm.

She looked over her shoulder to make sure he was following, smiling when their eyes met.  Gart’s smile broadened and he winked at her.  It made his heart swell simply to look at her. The past seven weeks at Dunster had been just like heaven; tucked away in their own little world, he could pretend that Emberley and the children belonged to him.  They played together every day and at night after the children went to bed, Gart would sneak into Emberley’s bower and make love to her most of the night.  He couldn’t ever remember being happier, safely shielded in this little corner of paradise with a woman he deeply adored.

Days like today had become commonplace.  He would spend his time with the boys during the day, teaching them about riding or battle, schooling them as he had often schooled pages and squires in the past.  All three boys were fast learners, eager, and they had all become quite attached to each other.  Gart always made sure he returned to his own bed chamber before the children woke up because every morning at dawn, three eager little boys woke him up.  It was the best thing he could wake up to, this part of life he had never known existed.

As Gart thought of the joys of the past several weeks, watching Emberley’s shapely backside in the process, the group rounded the corner of the towering keep and entered the kitchen yard.  The big buck was lying in the middle of the yard, surrounded by a couple of male servants and the cook as they figured out the best way to go about butchering it.  Romney made sure to tell the cook that he killed the buck and the fat woman was very proud of him.

“Good heavens,” Emberley exclaimed softly. “That is a very big deer. We will have lots of meat from him.”

Romney and Orin were nearly bursting with satisfaction. “Gart said we could kill another one the next time, too,” Romney said. “Can I have my own crossbow, Mama?”

Emberley shook her head. “You may not,” she said. “It is not that I do not trust you, but a seven year old boy simply does not need a weapon like that.”

“But I will be able to feed the castle,” Romney insisted, looking at Gart. “Do you think I am big enough to have one?”

Gart didn’t want to get in the middle of the debate. “If your mother says you must wait, then you will listen to her,” he told the boy. “Her decision is the one we will abide by.”

Romney didn’t seem pleased but he kept his mouth shut.  Not wanting to crush her son’s spirit, Emberley hastened to reassure him.

“You did a fine job, sweetheart,” she told him. “I am very proud of you. Go find Gerta now and I will meet you in the hall for the nooning meal.”

Romney obeyed his mother, taking Orin with him.  As Emberley eyed the big buck, Gart noticed that the cook and the two servants had moved back into the kitchens to find a knife big enough to cut the buck with.  It was just him and Emberley left in the yard as he faced her.

“Did I do a fine job, also?” he asked softly.

She looked at him, a smile playing on her lips. “You did, sweetheart. I am proud of you as well.”

He smiled at her. “Just so you are aware, I had a crossbow when I was Rom’s age. My father commissioned it for me.”

Her smile left her and she flattened her lips irritably. “Did Rom coerce you into begging on his behalf?”

Gart laughed. “He did not. I am begging of my own accord.  Boys must be allowed to become men.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “At seven years of age he must become a man?” she shook her head. “That is ridiculous. He is still a child.”

“He wants very much to be a man. You must let him.”

She cocked her head “If he was your flesh and blood child whom you had raised from birth, I wonder if you would be so eager to see him grow up?”

“I suppose we shall find out one day if God is merciful.”

Her smile abruptly faded and she turned away from him, hoping he would not see her change in expression. But Gart was extremely observant and noticed immediately. He also noticed she was trying to hide it from him.

“What is wrong?” he asked softly. “Why do you look that way?”

She shook her head but he wouldn’t let her get away so easily. When she tried to move away, he blocked her path.

“Tell me what is wrong,” he begged softly.

She grew frustrated and stepped back from him, still not meeting his eye. “Do you have any idea what you ask for?”

“What do you mean?”

She looked at him then. “You pray for a child of your flesh and mine.”

“I realize that.”

“It will be a bastard!”

She lifted her voice and he shushed her softly. “It will not be that way forever.”

She rolled her eyes miserably. “You do not know that for certain.”

“Aye, I do.”

She burst into quiet tears.  Unsure why she was so emotional, Gart looked around quickly, spying the buttery in the corner of the kitchen yard. It was a little stone shack where cold dairy products were stored. It was also sturdy and private. Not wanting Emberley’s tears to be seen by everyone, he took her by the elbow and gently pulled her into the buttery.  She followed without a fight.