Chapter Fourteen #4
Gray was still lingering on the exchange between her daughter and Dallas. It took her a moment to realize he had asked her a question.
“Nay,” she forced herself to shift her focus back to the cut. “It doesn’t look like she’ll need stitches. She will mend.”
“Good. I do not want anything to mar that lovely face.” Dallas looked back to his wife and gave her a bold wink. Brooke smiled broadly. Gray was astonished at them both.
“Dallas,” Braxton was still astride his charger, plodding alongside the wagon. “A word, please.”
Dallas tore his gaze from Brooke and swiftly mounted.
Together, they spurred their chargers to the head of the column so that their conversation would not be overheard.
Gray cast a glance at her husband as he cantered off before returning her attention to her daughter.
Even as she tended the cut, her mind was on the exchange between Brooke and her new husband.
Being a mother, and a very concerned one, she could not help her curiosity.
“Is all well, Brooke?” she asked softly.
Brooke could see Dallas in her peripheral vision. She kept trying to turn her head to watch him as her mother cleaned the cut. “Aye, Mama,” she said, still trying to catch a glimpse of her husband. “Everything is fine.”
Gray’s movements slowed as she fixed her daughter in the eye. “Are you sure? He was… kind? You are not injured?”
Brooke knew what her mother was speaking of and she flushed violently, averting her gaze. “Everything is fine, Mama. Truly.”
Gray sighed faintly and resumed cleaning the wound. She wasn’t going to press if Brooke did not want to speak of it. As long as Brooke said she was fine, she would ask no further. Still, it was difficult to fathom that her little girl was now a married woman. She wasn’t used to the idea.
Up at the front of the column, Braxton was amused to notice that Dallas seemed unfocused also. He kept looking back over his shoulder. Braxton finally cleared his throat loudly.
“She is a lovely girl,” he commented casually.
Dallas apparently hadn’t realized how distracted he had appeared. He faced forward, pretending to focus on the road ahead. “What did you wish to speak of?”
Braxton fought off a smile. “Your wife. Did you do your duty?”
“I did.”
“Completely? So it can never be questioned that the marriage was consummated?”
Dallas looked at him, then. “I performed as a husband. And she performed as a wife.”
Braxton could see he was being truthful.
He would not press further. “Excellent,” his gaze moved forward again.
“Now we have a bit of a situation on our hands; Erith is now your keep. The de Clares were guests there last we saw. What is your wish as far as they are concerned? Will you continue to show them hospitality or will you order them to leave?”
Dallas fell into contemplative silence. “I have no reason to order them away if they have come peacefully,” he said after a moment. “Of course, I would know the reason for their visit. If they have come to seek Brooke’s hand, however, I will throw them out on their arse.”
Braxton looked at him; Dallas was usually quite calm, even in the heat of battle.
It was a powerful quality in a powerful man.
To hear him speak with such force was completely uncharacteristic.
Braxton fought off a grin, suspecting that the lovely Lady Brooke had somehow left a mark on the dedicated young knight.
“As you wish,” he replied. “But we must be mindful of their numbers. They are, after all, Gloucester, and Erith is in no condition to withstand a siege. Whatever you decide to do, it must be done with great foresight.”
Dallas nodded, thinking of the broken down fortress that was now his. Strange how the castle now seemed so magnificent to him and he felt quite naturally protective of it.
“I will tell you what else I wish,” he went on. “I wish for Lady Constance sent back to wherever she came from. I do not want that old witch within my walls or near my wife. She is a snake.”
“You are speaking of my wife’s mother and your wife’s grandmother,” Braxton reminded him. “You must be very careful how you approach this.”
“Do you disagree?”
“Hell no. But you must be very careful when throwing her bodily from the keep. You do not want to appear cruel or controlling. More than that, the old woman is of the Northumberland Grays. It would do Erith absolutely no good to offend the whole of Northumberland.”
Dallas looked at him, a twinkle in his eye. “Will your father not ride to our aide?”
“My father will be leading the attack against us.”
“Marvelous,” Dallas snorted ironically. “A most twisted predicament we find ourselves in.”
Braxton could only lift his eyebrows in agreement, his gaze moving back over the scenery around them. It was lush and quiet. Erith was only a few miles to the north. They would be arriving soon and his trepidation sparked.
“If I can make a suggestion, Dallas,” he ventured.
“Of course, my lord.”
“Do not address me so formally in moments like this.”
“Of course, father.”
Braxton’s head snapped up, seeing Dallas silently laughing at him.
He smirked. “Whelp,” he muttered insultingly.
But he grew serious. “I would suggest you send word ahead to Erith announcing not only your marriage to Lady Brooke, but your impending arrival as the new lord of Erith. If de Clare is still there, they must know immediately. And be forewarned.”
“Do you believe that entirely wise? It might give them time to build up a righteous rage.”
“Indeed it will. But I would rather meet that rage head-on than wait until we are at Erith and trapped by the de Clare army within her crumbling walls.”
Dallas turned his head, lifting a gloved hand in Graehm’s direction. The stocky knight was almost to the rear of the column but caught the gesture and spurred his charger forward. He met up with Braxton and Dallas at their position near the front.
“Aye?” he answered Dallas.
“Send word ahead to Erith announcing the marriage of the Lady Brooke Serroux to Sir Dallas Aston.”
“Very good,” Graehm saluted sharply, grinning. His gaze moved to Braxton. “And you, my lord? Am I to announce your marriage to Lady Gray?”
Braxton’s focus was on the road ahead as if he could see Erith in the distance. He began to seriously wonder what lay in wait for them. With Constance’s treachery, he could only imagine. And he knew she would not take the announcement of the marriages well. But he didn’t care.
“Absolutely,” he said. “You will let the world know that Braxton de Nerra has taken a bride.”
Graehm was gone. Braxton glanced over his shoulder at Dallas to notice that the young knight was staring at him. They gazed at each other a moment, a thousand words of curiosity and foreboding filling their air. Braxton faced forward again.
“Put the wagons and the ladies to the rear,” he said quietly. “Put the men on alert. Knights with shields slung.”
Dallas moved swiftly to carry out the order. The last glimpse that Braxton had of his wife was as the wagon made a sweeping turn for the rear of the column.
His visor went down and his shield went over his left knee.