Chapter Fifteen #2
Douglass felt sorry for him. “You did not fail, Papa,” she insisted softly. “It was because of you that I met Tiberius. To me, that is a great victory. May I go with him… please?”
Bose smiled ironically. As if I have a choice. He then looked at Tiberius, who was looking quite beaten at the moment. He looked the man up and down, studying him. “Are you well enough to ride tonight?” he asked.
Tiberius nodded. “I am.”
Bose lifted his eyebrows at the finality of that statement. If Tiberius thought he was to be permitted to ride back to Isenhall, he would have done it with two broken legs. He would have crawled if he had to.
“I believe you,” Bose said with a twinge of humor at the knight’s determination. Then, he hesitated. “If I try to keep Douglass here, she will be miserable. But if I let her go with you, I will be miserable. What shall I do?”
Tiberius took the question seriously. “I swear to you that I will show her only chivalry and kindness on our journey to Isenhall,” he said.
“When we reach home, I will turn her over to my brothers’ wives for safekeeping.
I swear to you upon my oath that I shall not molest her in any way until we are properly wed.
This I will do because it is not as Grayson said.
I did not swear fealty to you because I wanted to bed your daughter.
I swore fealty to you because I love her.
Let me have her and I swear that you shall not be sorry. ”
Bose could hear the sincerity in his voice.
“I have always known you and the Lords of Thunder to be honorable men,” he said quietly.
“I do not expect this should be any different. Take her, then, and go swiftly. I suppose she really does belong to you, de Shera. On that first night at Isenhall when you became drunk and said that I should give her to you because you saved her, I suppose you were right all along. There was a magic to the moment you took her from Coventry, something that bonded the two of you. Now, I will give her to you. You have proven to me that you deserve her.”
Tiberius looked at Douglass, who was looking at him with tears in her eyes.
There was so much joy and relief in his heart that he could hardly think straight.
All he knew was that he had been given permission to marry her.
He had been given her. Sword still in his hand, he made his way over to her and pulled her into a crushing embrace with only one arm.
It was the best, most satisfying thing he could think to do.
Finally, the youngest de Shera brother, the rake with a reputation, had earned something only a true man earned – the love of a good woman.
He’d never felt more like a man than at this very moment.
He had his love now and he would never let her go.
“Go,” Bose hissed at them. “Before d’Vant wakes up.”
Douglass wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned to her father. Releasing Tiberius, she went to Bose and collapsed in his powerful embrace.
“Thank you, Papa,” she whispered. “For everything, thank you.”
Bose hugged his eldest daughter tightly, fighting back tears.
He knew she would be happy with Tiberius but it was very difficult to let her go.
“Your mother and I will come to Isenhall when time permits,” he assured her.
Then, he pulled back, cupping her lovely face between his two big hands.
“Be happy, my sweet. That is the greatest gift you can give me.”
The tears were back as Douglass nodded, biting back a sob as she hugged Bose one last time and kissed his cheek. She then moved to Garran, standing next to their father, and hugged him, too. Embarrassed at the display of affection, Garran hugged his sister tightly before pushing her away.
“Hurry up,” he said gruffly, covering for his emotions. “Get out of here. Hurry before d’Vant wakes up and runs after you.”
Douglass wiped the tears from her cheeks. “But what will you tell him?”
“That Tiberius escaped and took you with him,” Bose said.
When Douglass and Tiberius looked at him with some surprise, he simply shrugged.
“What would you have me tell him? That a woman knocked him unconscious and I rewarded her with Tiberius because she won the battle? He would never live that down.”
Tiberius grinned. “I could live with that.”
Bose waved him off, fighting off a grin as he looked at d’Vant. The man was starting to stir. “Hurry now,” he waved his hand at Douglass and Tiberius again. “Get out of here.”
Douglass flew at her father one last time, kissing him on the cheek and handing him the iron rod that was still in her grasp.
As Tiberius and Douglass said their farewells to Grayson and Davyss before fleeing the hall, d’Vant began to lift his head.
Bose took the iron rod that Douglass had given him and smacked the man on the head again, sending him out cold.
When Grayson and Davyss looked at him in surprise, he simply lifted his big shoulders.
“They need time to get away,” he said. “Meanwhile, let us eat and drink. D’Vant will come around shortly and he can join us.”
Grayson looked at the young knight sprawled across the floor. “I have a feeling joining us will be the last thing on his mind.”
Bose knew that. God’s Bones, he knew that.
But he tried not to think about it. Letting Douglass go with Tiberius complicated the issue greatly, not the least of which was the fact that his daughter would marry a de Shera.
For those who saw the black and white of Henry against Simon, that would be a problem.
Dark times were to come, indeed.
*
Traveling at night was never the best option but, in Tiberius and Douglass’ case, they had little choice.
Before collecting Storm from the stables at Wintercroft, Tiberius had allowed his future bride a few stolen moments to collect what she could of her possessions, things that would be easy to carry for the rough ride ahead.
Douglass collected two gowns, a shift, toiletries and combs, and tossed a heavy cloak over her shoulders.
With her possessions wrapped up in a green woolen surcoat, she and Tiberius had fled for the stables.
The big, gray warhorse was happy to see Tiberius, as he was usually quite restless when housed in unfamiliar stables.
Tiberius pulled the giddy, nipping horse from his stall and had the groom quickly saddle him, and soon they were riding from Wintercroft’s gates.
Quickly, very quickly, they moved down the road that took them into thickets of forests where moonbeams pierced the darkness, streaming to the ground like fingers of silver.
The horse had an easy traveling gait, one that was quite comfortable, so Douglass tucked in behind Tiberius and held on tightly as they cantered down the road.
Even though there was a bright half-moon in the sky, the landscape surrounding them was still very dark, full of phantoms. Douglass didn’t like the darkness so she squeezed her eyes shut, laying her cheek against Tiberius’ broad back as they thundered down the road.
The traveling became monotonous very quickly.
Once the fear of d’Vant following them died away, the apprehension for their undertaking took hold followed shortly by the tedium of the trip.
There were a great many emotions Douglass was feeling as the big, gray horse charged down the road.
She wasn’t entirely sure what Tiberius was feeling, but she was most definitely feeling a slurry of emotions.
Surprise, fear, realization, and above all, the hope that they make it safely to Isenhall.
It was still a few days away and a great deal could happen in a few days.
But Douglass kept her mouth shut, holding tightly to Tiberius as the man directed his horse south.
At some point, Douglass must have fallen asleep with the rhythmic rocking of the horse because when next she realized it, she was inhaling the stench of smoke and human habitation.
She wrinkled up her nose, lifting it from Tiberius’ back as she became aware that she had smelled that stench before when they had traveled on the outskirts of London.
They were back in the mix of one of the greatest cities in the world and she looked around, seeing dark and vacant streets.
“Will we stop for the night or do you intend to ride all night?” she asked Tiberius as he slowed the horse to an easy trot.
Tiberius shook his head. He was riding in full armor, a state that was both an invitation and a deterrent to those would see a knight, alone in his travels. Some men would try their hand at defeating a fully armed knight while some would turn tail and run.
“We will stop,” he said. “We will go to the Carmelite Monastery in White Friars for the night. They will marry us and give us shelter. After that, I hope you can stand riding hard for Isenhall because that is what I intend to do.”
Douglass was rather surprised by his intentions. “We will be married tonight?”
He directed the horse off to the right when they came upon a fork in the road. “Indeed,” he said. “Did you truly think I would wait any longer than necessary?”
A smile crossed Douglass’ lips. “I had not thought on it, to be honest,” she said. “I assumed we would at some point very soon, after you have had a chance to deal with the crisis.”
“What crisis?”
“The crisis you are going to tell your brothers about, of course.”
He shrugged. “That is secondary to our marriage,” he said. “But I will say that I am impressed that you have not pressed me to tell you what it is.”
She didn’t seem distressed about it. “I assume if you want me to know, you will tell me.”
He smiled faintly. “That is wise,” he said softly.
“You are wise, my lady, so very wise. And I am so very fortunate. That is why I must find a priest at this very moment to marry us, so that I may once and for all claim all of that wisdom and beauty for my very own… so that I may claim you for my very own.”