Warrior's Moon A Love Story (24 page)

He held her again, this t
ime in a worn padded chair someone had salvaged when the manor had discarded it.  ‘Twas incredibly sweet to be there with her for the balance of the evening, talking and planning.  Sometimes kissing and sometimes doing absolutely nothing but being together.  Chantaya was still ill and not feeling energetic, so it was wonderfully refreshing to know Peyton didn’t have to rush back to Valais this time as they let Mordecai recuperate as well under Isabella’s care.

When they could tell Isabella was tired and wanted to come in and go to bed, Peyton broached the subject of the masquerade ball, and although Chantaya’s eyes lit up, she hesitated for a moment and then said, “I’d love to attend a real royal ball in a lovely gown, Peyto
n, but there’s just no way we could manage it, even if the princess could find me a dress.  How could I get the time away from the kitchen?  Or get there?  And even with something over my face, wouldn’t Rosskeene recognize me?”

Peyton list
ened to all her concerns, but then only smiled and repeated what the prince had said, “Sweet Chantaya, I truly believe that a girl who can save a kingdom can find a way.”  He stood and pulled her into his arms and added, “Please, let’s at least try, Chani.  I’ll come get you and bring you back.  I should truly love to have you there with me.  To hold you and dance the night away with you.  ‘Twould be a dream come true.  I’ll help you.  We’ll figure it out.  I’ll come back here on Thursday next to take you if you can go.  Please say you’ll at the least give it some thought.”

She looked into his eyes and gave him her sweet, spirited smile and assured him, “I shall do everything in my power to attend the ball with you, Sir Peyton. ‘Tis that you are right.  We’ll figure it out.” 

  Peyton and Mordecai stayed more than two full days in the Rosskeene Manor district.  The days Peyton spent in his peasant clothing discreetly checking with Rosskeene’s farmers and tenants near the manor, and the heavenly evenings he spent with Chantaya.  By the time he and Mordecai were preparing to leave in the dark of the third morning, he and Chantaya had fallen in love all over again.  Both of them were devastated about telling each other goodbye, but Peyton felt he should return and report to the castle.  Mordecai was much rested and felt ready to return home. 

‘Twas another of those times when she struggled not to have him see her sad as he left, only to crumble to tears as soon as he was out of sight.  Still, that was better than making him feel guilty about leaving her when he needed to.  The only good thing about Lord Rosskeene’s homecoming that day and the household returning to being wary of the master was that it helped to keep her mind and heart from missing Peyton so desperately.

The issue of getting to the ball wasn’t nearly so difficult as Chantaya had worried it would be. 
‘Twas actually Cook who suggested Chantaya take some time, in a way.  They were working side by side in the kitchen when Lady Winifred came in. 

She seldom came there and when she did, she was usually stewing ab
out one thing or another, so ‘twas a surprise to them when she actually came in acting remarkably happy and said, “His Lordship and I have been invited by the king himself to a royal ball this next week. ‘Tis quite surprising.  Usually these elegant gatherings are planned far in advance.  At any rate, we’ll be taking Master Damian, and my lady’s maids and his Lordship’s and master’s valets, as well as two coachmen and leaving two days early in order to do some shopping in the city.  I must have a suitable gown, of course.  So you needn’t plan on meals for all of us for those four days.”

When she exited, Cook made Chantaya laugh as she rolled her eyes and mimicked, “I be taking m’lady’s maids and 2 gardeners and a smithy and four weavers and seven valets, and I must have a suitable gown, of cou
rse.  I pity the poor maids who must travel with them.  Although, to the rest of us here, ‘twill be as if we’re all on holiday. Nothing to do but see to it that the beasts are fed and those of us as remain get a bite.  At that, I ‘magine most of us will fit in a visit to our families, we will.”

Chantaya only dared to hope
as she asked, “Would there be the possibility Mother and I could visit home as well?  I know we haven’t been here long.”

Waving a hand airily, Cook said, “Take what time you will.  As long as you leave after they do and return before they get back, mind you.  There’s harvesting to do, but we’ll take a breath when we can get it, I say.  Maybe 'twill be you can finally slip that touch of the weather.  Your cough truly does linger.  Of course you should go.  In truth, the two of you shouldn’t honestly have to be here anyway, should you?”    

Shaking her head, Chantaya said, “No.  We most definitely should not!  ‘Twas a crooked plot to harm my mother.  Still, had we not come, I should never have gotten to know and love you, Cook.  Nor Conrad, or any of the others.  So, while I wouldn’t have chosen to associate with Lord Rosskeene or his family, I’ll treasure the rest of you forever.”

Cook smiled sweetly.  “And we you, dear.  Now r
un and tell your mother so the two of you can be making plans.”  She paused and added with a twinkle in her eye, “Or maybe 'twill be the three of you, with Conrad.  He’s gotten quite fond of his guardian responsibilities of your dear mother.”

Happily, Chantaya replied, “Indeed, he has.  And has been the most tender mercy blessing to us. ‘Tis long my mother has been lonely.  I was but three when my father was killed.  Conrad has been a gift from the heavens.”

Cook smiled placidly.  “Seems to me that Isabella has been the heavenly gift.  Be off with you now.”

Chantaya fairly skipped out to the stable.  Maybe she’d even have time to have her gown fitted properly.

                                                       
Chapter 16

On Thursday, Chantaya spent a ridiculous amount of time looking out the windows of the manor, wondering when Peyton would come and if she’d even know he was there when he did finally arrive.  She knew when he’d come
before, he’d hidden in the trees just as Mordecai had, and all afternoon, as she worked, she watched toward the woods.  Finally, as she was walking back toward the stable in the evening, she saw all the horses in the paddock looking that way and knew Peyton must be there somewhere.

She had mixed feelings about the king’s ball.  Part of her was so excited to be with Peyton and to be able to wear a lovely gown and dance the evening away with him.  But another part of her was incredibly frightened at the prospect of trying to function i
n a society she had never been a part of, nor knew their ways.  Granted, because she was more educated than a typical peasant, and even than most nobles, she had a better grasp than most of what society would expect.  Still, the ball was in some ways quite a daunting undertaking.  And that wasn’t even taking into account that she would need to keep Lord and Lady Rosskeene from recognizing her.  In truth, all told, she was quite terrified she wouldn’t measure up, no matter what she was wearing.

When darkness finally fell, she drew on her cloak and was so excited to see what hid in the woods that her mother laughed at her as she all but raced out the door.  She was so intent on reaching the woods undetected, that she almost screamed when Peyton materialized out of the shadows beside the paddock fence.  Once she realized it was him, she flung herself into his arms, completely forgetting the soreness of the still healing wounds on her ribs and shoulder.  It had only been a little over a week that they’d been apart this time, but still, she had missed him!

Standing in the shadows wrapped in his arms was more than bliss and she slipped her own arms around him, wondering once again if he hadn’t grown even taller and broader in this short time away from her.  He seemed so grown up now.  ‘Twas hard to believe this large and confident man was the same boy she’d grown up beside and had spent every day with just a few months ago.  He felt years older and wiser.  And much more mature than her sixteen years felt.  

For several long moments Peyton simply held her and even the ache of the pesky wound at her ribs felt somehow less painful in his embrace.  He affected her whole life that way.  Anything he touched seemed brighter and more alive, just for his presence.  With him near, her whole world moved in greater harmony and hope.

At length, Peyton finally stepped slightly back from her to look down into her face.  For another long moment, he looked into her eyes and then he leaned and kissed her gently on the mouth and asked, “Are you feeling better than last I saw you, my love?” 

She closed her eyes and nodded, feeling almost shy.  Her cough lingered, but she felt immeasurably better than she had
felt those first couple of days after her rain soaked ride.  Physically, she was much improved and the nightmares of the ride and the swordfight that plagued her had finally begun to subside.  Her spirit felt far lighter with peaceful rest.  She felt so much improved she was almost embarrassed at how poorly she had felt when he’d been there.  It had been heaven to cuddle into his arms when she’d been ill, but it couldn’t have been terribly attractive.

He put a hand under her chin and lifted it in an effort to get her to look at him again and when she did, he was smiling his marvelously handsome smile as he whispered, “You look better.  You look beautiful.”

Still hesitant, she softly said, “Thank you, Sir Knight.  I’m sorry I didn’t look so last week.”

Nuzzling the stray curl that hung about her ear, he murmured, “Oh, but Chani, you were most beautiful indeed last week.  Fair too beautiful.  You were near my undoing.  All tousled and sleepy.”

“Tousled and sleepy aren’t usually words associated with beauty, Pey.”

He kissed her below her ear and breathed, “Only because tousled and sleepy are usually spoken of between but the closest of lovers.  Are you able to leave with me?  Shall I go to the village and arrange for a carriage?”

When he kissed her neck again, she had to pause for a moment to remember what he was asking before she said, “I am able to go, but won’t a carriage from the village be too obvious?  People will remember you were checking here for the king.  Won’t they wonder why you need a carriage?”

“They might, Chani, but you’re still ill.  You’re not up to riding, are you?  And it will be much safer with you inside a coach where no one on the road will recognize what a rare
beauty you are.  You’ll be safer hidden within.  There might be highwaymen of a night.” 

Momentarily, Chantaya
remembered the men who had waylaid her the last time she had traveled at night and she shuddered at the memory of that awful swordfight.  That moment when she had had to kill the one came back to her as it had so many times in the past week and more.  At the same moment, the wounds that were still in the process of healing on her shoulder and ribs seemed to ache afresh.  Swallowing, she struggled to pull her mind away from the memories and to think wisely and said, “Must we travel at night?  Would it not be wiser to leave early in the morning?  Would we not be safer?”

“I’ve friends with me.  Matthew, and my squire Shaun and two others.  We shall be safe enough, but I
worried you wouldn’t have time to rest from the journey if we waited until morning.  You can try to rest in the carriage.  Either way is fine.  Which do you prefer?”

“Twill be a tiring trip whether now or then, although you’re right, tonight might be best.  Yes, I could travel easier in a carriage, but we shouldn’t rent one.  Lord Rosskeene is bound to find out about you and me.  I’d rather not go than risk that.” 

She paused again hesitantly and then finally asked, “Would your friends be completely horrified if I rode along instead?  I wouldn’t have to ride sidesaddle and advertise that I am female.  I know it’s not truly acceptable, but I can fair turn into a boy with some borrowed clothing and an old hat.  I’ll wear a long cloak, I swear it.  And then you can rent a carriage in the city tomorrow.  Maybe under the circumstances . . .  If I look unmistakably feminine at the ball afterwards?  Would I embarrass you too unduly?  Do they already know I’ve ridden to warn you?”

“None save Mordecai know.”  Peyton narrowed his eyes in concern for a long moment and then asked, “Your mother would allow that?” 

Raising her eyebrows, Chantaya said drily, “Oh, you’d be surprised how pliable my mother can be when there is the safety and the security of both her daughter and the kingdom at stake.  And she would allow anything you would, Peyton.  She trusts you with my life and more.  She trusts you implicitly.”

“But the only thing at stake here is a royal ball. ‘Tis hardly a matter of the kingdom.”

“Ah, but you don’t realize how my mother would have loved a royal ball.  ‘Twould have been a fairytale dream to her.  As long as you and those with you are the only ones who know.”

Peyton smiled and then shrugged.  “’Tis a wise plan.  If you truly think it won’t over tire you, we’ll not worry about shocking my friends.  They are to be trusted.  And once they see you in a ball gown, they’ll thi
nk nothing of the young lad who rode astride to Valais with us. Would you prefer to leave tonight?  Or in the dark of early morning?”

Considering this, Chantaya finally said, “Let us away tonight.  Surely we will be safe with five large men, one of whom is the bravest of all knights.  I felt pure safe when Mordecai rode with me.”  She gave him a smile and continued, “Twill be a long night ride, but it’ll be easier to carry off my disguise in the dark and that way I may be able to rest tomorrow.”

Leaning to kiss her again, Peyton said, “Tonight it is.  What shall I do to help you get ready?”

Laughing, Chantaya shook her head.  “Just don’t make the lecture overly long when you see me in boys’ trousers, Sir Knight.”

                                                      
 
SSSS

‘Twas a wise plan, but twenty minutes later, when Chantaya appeared in her boy’s clothing, the figure they revealed was nearly scandalously female.  Peyton was indeed about to change his mind and start in with a lecture until she pulled a long cloak over her tantalizing curves.  She must have read some of the near panic in his thoughts because she was laughing at him as she tied a neckerchief about her throat, twisted her hair up into an old hat and went out to begin saddling her horse.  Even Isabella seemed to be laughing at his expression as Chantaya strapped on a small sword and they said their goodbyes at their room door. 

Just before they walked away, Isabella looked him in the eye and said, “I’m trusting you with my greatest treasure, Sir Peyton Wolfgar.
Keep her safe.  From those who would harm her.  And from those who love her.  Behave yourself, young man.  I’m trusting you.  Guard her life and virtue.”

Wordlessly, Peyton nodded and swallowed.  Never had he felt such responsibility. 
‘Twas a sacred trust more pressing even than safeguarding the kingdom.  Still, he had accepted that responsibility, that honor, long before being spoken to by Isabella.

Walking beside Chantaya, he grimaced, but asked calmly, “What are you doing with a sword, Chani?  I agreed to let you ride.  Not to go armed.”

“'Tis part of my disguise.”  She shrugged and added, “Mordecai gave it to me.”, as if that was the end of it.  Peyton let it go for the moment, but determined to speak to Mordecai and insist he take it back.  That way, Mordecai would be the one in trouble and not him.  

As she vaulted into her saddle, he marveled anew at how well
she could ride and decided it was all going to be all right.  At the very least, he was incredibly proud of just how truly capable she was.  It may have been a trifle unorthodox, but he was the only man in the kingdom who had a true love who could help save it and then don a ball gown.

When she rode beside him to where he’d left his friends and he saw the confusion in their faces
, he decided this might almost be an adventure.  Who knew?  Gathering the reins to his own charger, as he began to strap on the armor he’d taken off when he went in search of her, he said matter-of-factly, “There’s been a change of plans.  My lady friend is unable to attend the ball after all and won’t be returning with us.  In her stead, my young stable hand friend here will ride with us.  He has a need to travel to Valais anyway.”

Matthew, in his own armor, smiled and extended a hand to Chantaya as he joked to Peyton, “Poor Wolfgar.  Thrown over for the ball.  You don’t appear unduly saddened.”  To Chantaya he said, “Welcome friend.  Matthew Ansel.”  Chantaya only nodded her thanks as she shook his hand.

Shaun appeared more skeptical and said almost antagonistically, “We’re taking a boy with us?  On a night ride through the robber woods?  He looks to be only a child.  He hasn’t even a hint of a beard, yet he sports a teeny tiny sword.  What are you thinking, Sir Peyton?  Leave him here.”  The others merely looked on to see Peyton’s reaction without adding their opinions.

Chuckling at the indignation that fairly bristled off Chantaya, Peyton stepped into his own saddle, grinned at her and said, “There might be times when the lack of facial hair
be a good thing.  I’ll bet he doesn’t have to waste much time shaving, nor worrying about appearing overly scruffy.”  To Shaun he said, “You’d best watch yourself, my young squire. ‘Tis that he’s quite good with that sword.  Pray don’t rile him.  I’d hate to have to defend you.  He might make us all look amateur.  Come.  We’ve a long ride ahead of us.  Let us away.”

With that, Peyton spun his steed into the trail and he had to bite back a laugh when Chantaya’s horse vaulted a downed tree to cut in front of Shaun’s and turn in beside his own.

For the first hour and more, he kept the horses to steady a trot, hoping to get a good portion of the trip behind them before the moon went down behind the hills to the west.  Chantaya seemed to be fine as she rode beside him, coughing only occasionally as they traveled through the brisk autumn air.  He knew she’d spent a full day working at Rosskeene Manor, but she still kept on doggedly at his side.

When they were half way, he halted the horses at a brook and without even thinking, he stepped to her horse and helped her down, then realized what he’d done and glanced around at his friends.  Shaun and the other two were still attending to their horses and hadn’t even noticed, but Matthew was standing there with a look of confusion on his face that made Peyton smile.  Matthew only shook his head and turned to watch Chantaya where she slipped into the trees at the edge of the roadway.  He was still obviously confused as he turned back to Peyton, who only grinned and looked to his own horse and hers. 

Matthew walked closer to Peyton, looking him in the face, questioning as Shaun said, “He’s even fussy about privacy out here in the middle of naught but the rabbits to see a body.  Look at ‘im traipsing off into the wood.  Why’d you let him come, Sir Peyton?  ‘‘Tisn’t like you to let some little bugger tag along.”  He walked to the other side of the road and relieved himself, then stretched and added, “Me arse is killin' me.  And this whole ride for nothin’. “