Chapter Twenty-One #3
“You have your daughter back, de Nerra,” he hollered. “We have showed a measure of mercy. Now you will do the same.”
Braxton was losing his mind. His nerve, his gut, and everything else was starting to go.
The knowledge that Gray was ill, perhaps dying, swamped him until he could think of nothing else.
He heard de Milne’s offer but he couldn’t agree with it, not in the least. He could hear Brooke weeping softly as he faced the darkened walls of Elswick.
“I appreciate your show of mercy,” he shouted up to de Milne. “But I am told that my wife is very ill. Surely you know that I cannot leave without her.”
De Milne didn’t reply for several long and tense moments. “It would be better if she is not moved,” he replied. “I have a physic with her. She is well tended.”
The news should have made Braxton feel better but it only made him feel worse.
He lost everything at that moment; his guard went down completely and he was stripped of his vengeance.
All he wanted was to see Gray no matter what the cost. If they would not turn her over to him, then he would go to her. It was the only choice.
“I will send my army home,” he told de Milne,” but you will take me a hostage. I want to be with my wife. If you will not release her, then you will take me also. Please, de Milne; as one husband to another, surely you can understand my desire. I beg of you.”
Dallas, Thomas, Robert and the rest of the brothers heard him, turning to look at Braxton with varied degrees of astonishment and horror. Dallas even let go of Brooke, rushing to Braxton in denial.
“Nay, Braxton,” he hissed. “They will kill you.”
Braxton pretended as if he hadn’t heard him. He yelled up to de Milne again. “I am surrendering to you, de Milne,” he said. “You will accept me as a prisoner and take me to my wife.”
De Milne was off-balance by the offer, evident in his manner. He was no longer hard as nails; he was edgy in his reply. “Send your army home now and I will consider it.”
“They will leave before sunrise. You will take me to my wife.”
De Milne was still hesitant. “If you enter Elswick, I cannot vouch for your safety, de Nerra. There are many here who seek vengeance for Lord Roger’s death. It is possible that you may not live long enough to see your lady should you venture into Elswick.”
“I will take that chance. My life is in your hands, de Milne. As an honorable knight, I will trust you.”
He began to pull off his weapons, casting them to the ground as Dallas and the others watched in horror.
Thomas tried to plead with his son as he continued to remove his armor, his mail, throwing them into a pile on the cold, dark ground.
Robert tried to talk to him, as did Davis.
They all begged Braxton not to do it, but Braxton wasn’t listening.
By the time he was finished, he was clad only in his breeches, boots and damp, dirty tunic.
Everything else was on the ground in a pile.
The only person who didn’t seem to be begging him not to do it was Brooke.
She watched Braxton as he stripped down to his clothing, standing vulnerable before an entire fortress.
As Dallas and Thomas suffered through the throes of anxiety and Braxton’s brothers collectively tried to dissuade him, Brooke went over to Braxton.
She was coming to understand his logic where no one else did, this young woman who had grown up so much over the past several weeks.
Perhaps it was her love for Dallas that had helped her reach new heights of maturity; perhaps it was because she was coming into her own and developing her own sense of wisdom.
Whatever the case, she was the only one who wasn’t fighting Braxton on the matter of his surrender. She understood.
She stood in front of him, smiling faintly at the warlord, the mercenary, who was now at his most vulnerable. He was such a mighty man, someone she respected most in the world. But he was also the gentle man who had made her mother so very happy. Her voice was soft as she spoke.
“Once, Dallas came to my rescue and saved my life,” she murmured. “It was a great sacrifice; I understand that now although I did not at the time. I did not see how close he came to losing his life, too, and that he was willing to do it for a woman he did not even know.”
Braxton gazed at her, suddenly seeing a good deal of Gray in the young woman. The beauty, the gentle wisdom, was the same in both women. Reaching out, he took her hand and brought it to his lips for a gentle, fatherly kiss.
“Sometimes, one must do as he must without thought to personal safety,” he whispered. “This is something I must do.”
Her smile broadened. “I know,” she reached out and touched his rough cheek.
“But before you go, please know that although I did know my real father, I did not love him half as much as I love you. He did not teach me half as much as you have or show such concern for me. You are the father I always hoped for, Braxton, and I thank you for that. Without you, I would not know such happiness or such love. You have made all things possible for me and for my mother. That day at the falls of Erith, my life changed forever because of you.”
Braxton gazed at her with tears in his eyes. “I am very proud of you, Brooke,” he murmured, kissing her on the forehead. “I could not love you more if you were my own flesh and blood. Please know that.”
She clutched his hand, smiling up at him. “And I love you also,” she whispered. “I will walk you to the gates.”
He simply nodded, putting a big arm around her shoulders as they began their trek towards the gatehouse of Elswick.
Dallas watched them go, tears streaming down his cheeks; a greater self-sacrifice he had never seen, coming from a man who had been like a father to him.
Braxton knew full well that he may never make it out of Elswick alive, but that didn’t matter to him.
It was more important that he be with Gray, the very center of his world.
It was selflessness of the greatest magnitude.
As Braxton and Brooke faded off towards the torch-lit castle, Dallas turned to Thomas.
“My lord,” he said hoarsely. “Your son is the finest man who has ever lived.”
Thomas’ blue-green eyes watched his youngest son in the darkness, drawing closer to the portcullis of Elswick. He understood the depth of the self-sacrifice; they all did. Thomas could barely put his feelings into words but, for Dallas, he tried.
“He is his own man, lad,” he murmured. “What he is has nothing to do with me. But I will tell you this; a prouder father has never walked this earth.”
Dallas glanced at Braxton’s brothers, all in varied degrees of anguish.
Robert’s cheeks were wet with tears as he turned away and headed off into the darkness.
Eventually, they all turned away and headed off into the darkness.
Braxton was doing what he felt he must do and they respected that.
But Dallas stood there, waiting until his wife returned to him.
Then they, too, disappeared into the darkness.