Swords and Shields (Reign of the House of de Winter) (3 page)

Davyss sighed again, this time more deeply. Weary, both physically and mentally, he planted himself on the nearest storage barrel that could support his weight. He sheathed his sword as he sat, bracing his hands against his knees and looking up at his tall, stubborn son. He was fairly certain that Drake knew what he was about to say so he immediately delved into the issue.

“Let us say, for example, that there is a man,” he began. “A wealthy man of status. He has a wonderful wife and five children, including four sons, but his greatest pride has always been in his eldest son. He is a knight beyond compare and great things are expected of him. Now, the man’s wife has been determined to marry off all of their children to give them security and happiness. That is truly all she wishes for them. However, the man’s eldest son, whom great things are hoped for, is extremely reluctant to wed for unknown reasons. He simply refuses and cannot provide a valid explanation for that refusal. Now, if you were in this man’s position, Drake, what would you say to the son?”

Drake pursed his lips, mildly irritated, and sheathed
Lespada
. The gorgeous, bejeweled sword was tucked back neatly into his scabbard. Drake then folded his big arms across his chest in a relatively defensive gesture.

“I would not force him to wed,” he said flatly.

Davyss’ dark eyes were intense. “Why not?”

“Because it is his life and he must live it how he sees fit,” Drake said somewhat passionately. “Mayhap he prefers swords and shields instead of women and marriage. Many men do, you know.”

“But does he not have an obligation to his family?”

Drake frowned. “What about his obligation to himself?” he fired back softly. “Does he not have the right to be happy or must he put his family before himself?”

Davyss could see that his argument was going nowhere. He tried another tactic. “Why do you not want to get married, Drake?” he asked softly. “Is there some specific reason? A lover, mayhap, that we do not know of? God’s Bones, boy, it had better not be a lover. Your mother will have your hide.”

Drake fought off a grin in spite of himself. “Why?”

Davyss threw up his hands. “Because if she is your lover, presumably you have bedded the woman,” he said. “Trust me when I say that bedding a woman you are not married to can cause… complications.”

“Bastards.”

“I prefer to call them complications.”

Drake stifled a chuckle. “You mean like the two half-sisters you provided to me and my siblings?”

Davyss simply nodded, averting his gaze. “It was a long time ago,” he said, “long before I met your mother. She accepted those women as my children nearly the moment she found out about them. The point is that it was a shameful thing to do to her. I do not want you facing the same shame should you ever find a woman to love.”

It was a moment for the great Davyss de Winter to confess a personal weakness and some of the tension left the conversation as the defensiveness drained away. Drake could see his father’s side of it, truly, but he was still disinclined to agree with him. Feeling rather sorry for his father, which he suspected was his father’s intention all along, he moved towards the man.

“Father,” he said quietly, crouching down in front of the man and putting his hand on the man’s knee. “Why is it so hard for you and Mother to understand that I simply do not wish to be married to a woman I do not even know? I have so much I want to do in life and so much I want to see, and a wife does not fit into those plans. When I marry, it will be because I want to marry her. Because I am fond of her. You and Mother love one another and I wish for that kind of marriage as well. Why can you not understand that?”

Davyss looked at his boy. “I
do
understand that,” he said softly. “But you must remember that your mother and I did not want to be married, either. Your grandmother forced the marriage and it was utterly miserable for the first few weeks. More miserable than you can imagine. The love between us had to grow and thank God that it did. What I am trying to say is that you, too, can find love with the woman you marry but you will never know unless you marry her.”

He had a point but Drake wasn’t willing to concede, on any level. His frustration began to grow because he felt like his argument was losing ground.

“Then I would rather not know,” he said, turning away. “Father, if you make me do this, I will be more miserable than you can imagine. I will make my wife miserable. I do not even know the girl and already I feel pity for her, having to marry a man that wants nothing to do with her. Moreover, you brought me home under false pretenses. You told me that Mother was ill and begged me to return and when I did, I find myself a betrothed man and a marriage awaiting me. It was unfair and you know it.”

Davyss shrugged. “In my defense, your mother
w
as ill,” he said. “She has a condition of the belly that sometimes renders her immobile for days, even weeks. She was very ill at the time I sent you the missive. But she is better now.”

“You used her illness to coerce me into coming home.”

Davyss stood up. He wasn’t going to let his son make him feel guilty for doing what he felt he had to do. “You are correct,” he said, giving his son a glimmer of that legendary de Winter stubbornness. “The marriage was already arranged and I had to get you home. Would you have come had I told you the truth? Of course you would not. Drake, I have been listening to your mother worry over you for the past ten years, wondering if you were going to find happiness, worrying over just the right match for you. My mother did it to me and now your mother is doing it to you. If you walk away from this marriage, then I cannot guarantee what your relationship with your mother will be like after this. She has never asked much from you but she does ask for this. Why can you not make the woman happy?”

So he was throwing Devereux into the equation now, playing on Drake’s sense of guilt and obligation towards his mother. It was true that the woman was pushing the marriage upon him, but that aside, she had been the most understanding and compassionate woman Drake had ever had the fortune to know. He loved his mother deeply and her wisdom in all matters was unparalleled. Drake respected it greatly. But the fact of the matter was that Drake was more concerned with his own wants now than his mother’s at the moment.

“I do not want to ruin my relationship with my mother,” he said sincerely, “but as I live and breathe, I also know that if I do consent to this marriage, I will be the most miserable man in Norfolk. I also know that I will quite possibly come to resent my mother for forcing me into marriage and that will ruin our relationship as well. There will be no winner in this battle of wills, Papa. Either mother will resent me for not obeying her wishes or I will resent her for having been forced to obey them. Either way, there will be strain between us.”

Davyss could see that. He’d been thinking that all along, in fact. Moving to Drake, he put a big hand on his son’s shoulder. “Then what will you do?” he asked as if he had no more options to give. “What
can
you do?”

Drake shrugged. “I do not know, to be truthful,” he said. “I have been agonizing over this for days. I cannot do this, Papa. I cannot be tied to a woman I do not know. There is so much in this world that I’ve not yet done or experienced. A wife will only hinder that.”

“A wife may be the greatest experience yet.”

Drake struggled with his frustration. “Mayhap,” he said. “But I want that to be
my
decision. Right now, my liege is heading to Scotland with Edward and I am not there. Do you know how upsetting that is? Edward has convened a massive army to take back lands against the latest Scottish revolt and has called in dozens of barons for the task, but I am here because my mother wishes me to wed. Of course I am unhappy about this. I am damned unhappy. I am a knight who has been pulled away from his duties because of my mother’s foolish wishes.”

Davyss held up a finger of caution. “You will not call your mother’s wishes foolish,” he said sternly. “Her wishes are never foolish. Her desire to see you wed and established is genuine. But I understand that your mind and heart are elsewhere. I understand that completely.”

Drake was frowning at his father. “Then if you understand it, you understand why I do not want to be here,” he said. “It is more than simply not wanting to wed a woman I have never met. It is the fact that I am not being allowed to do what I was born to do. I am a de Winter and a de Winter belongs in battle.”

Davyss scratched his head and turned away, trying to think of a way to salvage the situation. He was in a difficult spot, wanting to please both his wife and his son who were on completely opposite sides of the issue. He understood Drake’s point of view but he also understood his wife’s; scratching and scratching his scalp, he paced across the uneven floor, trying to formulate a plan to please them both. It wasn’t an easy task.

“Allow me to make a proposal,” he finally said. “You want to be with Edward right now and I cannot disagree. Your mother wants you wed right now and I dare not disagree. But… if we tell your mother that we must postpone the marriage because duty calls you away, that might be enough to ease her, at least for the time being. I will have to speak with Summerlin about it and convince the man to see my side of it, but it can be done. Mayhap… mayhap if we simply postpone the marriage with the promise that it will take place at some later time when your duties with Edward are finished, it will be enough to ease both your mother and Lord Summerlin. Would you be willing to agree to that at least?”

Drake was interested, that much was clear. But he was also suspicious. “Postpone it
how
long?”

Davyss shrugged. “Enough for you to get this wanderlust out of your heart,” he said. “A year? Two? Three? Who is to say? We cannot postpone it forever but mayhap if we postpone it long enough, Summerlin will grow tired of waiting and marry his daughter off to someone else. Would that be agreeable?”

Drake knew he would never get a better offer, at least at this point. He had no choice but to agree. “It would,” he said. “Will you tell Mother?”

Davyss nodded. “I will,” he said. “Meanwhile, you make your way to the stables and get out of here. If you do not leave, we run the risk of your mother refusing to allow you to go, so you must simply leave as quickly as you can. I will keep the hounds off your trail for as long as I can.”

Thrilled and relieved, Drake grabbed his father’s head and kissed the man on the cheek. “Bless you, Papa,” he said sincerely. “I love you very much.”

Davyss grunted. “You love me very much when I risk my very life on your behalf,” he said. “It is not Summerlin I fear but your mother.”

Drake grinned. “I know,” he said. “I am sorry I will not be able to bid her farewell. You will tell her for me, won’t you? Tell her I love her and will return when I can.”

Davyss cocked an eyebrow. “
When
being the operative word,” he said. “This bargain between us is predicated on the fact that you will, at all costs, send me word on your status when this business in Scotland is finished. I will be kept apprised of what is happening and when you plan on returning home. If you do not do this, Drake, I will ride to Scotland myself and find you. It will not be a pleasant meeting.”

Drake nodded, knowing his father meant what he said. Drake took great pride in his honor and integrity, so he was not hard-pressed to agree to his father’s terms.

“You know I will keep you informed, Papa,” he said quietly. “I swear that I will. But I will not swear upon or agree to a timeline for my return to Norwich. It may be a year or it may be five.”

“Five is too long.”

Drake held up a finger. “I am agreeing to a betrothal I do not want,” he pointed out. “You will have to give concessions as well. I will set the timeline for my return.”

Davyss pursed his lips, a hint of irritability. “Very well,” he said. “I am not entirely sure your mother will be pleased with that, but it will have to suffice for now. But I will demand it be no longer than five years, Drake. To make the Summerlin girl wait any longer is ridiculous and disrespectful to the entire contract. Am I clear?”

Drake wasn’t happy about his father’s statement but he finally nodded his head. “Very well,” he said. “No longer than five years. But you had better let me leave now before Mother gets involved and we are back where we started when you first entered this storage vault.”

Davyss’ dark eyes lingered on him. “Why?” he asked. “Were you really going to fight your brothers and me until death?”

Drake shook his head. “Nay,” he admitted. “Not with a sword, in any case. But I was fully prepared to throw punches.”

Davyss grinned. “You are much like your Uncle Hugh in that respect,” he said. “He was never afraid to throw a punch, either, and especially not at me.”

Drake gave him a half-smile, thinking on his father’s only brother, Hugh, who had died of a cancer the year before. Hugh’s death had devastated Davyss. Drake put his hand on his father’s shoulder again.

“You miss him,” he said softly.

Davyss nodded, his dark eyes growing distant as he recalled memories of his brother. “Aye,” he said. But he quickly pushed those memories away, unwilling to dwell on them. He put a big hand against Drake’s stubbled cheek. “Go, now. Out through the kitchen where she will not see you. Move quickly for the stables and do not look back. I will settle what needs to be settled here.”