Epilogue #3
Summer de Moray was a lovely woman with beautiful, pale green eyes.
Her hair was covered by her wimple but they could see tendrils of blond peeking out.
She greeted Gallus and Maximus politely.
“I have heard so m-much about you, my lords,” she said, a slight stammer in her speech. “I am t-truly honored.”
Gallus took her outstretched hand gently in greeting. “It is our pleasure, Lady de Moray,” he said. “To finally meet Douglass’ mother is truly delightful. Welcome to Isenhall.”
Summer smiled, a gesture that looked exactly like Douglass.
“You are soon to have another daughter of m-mine,” she said, her gaze turning to Maximus.
“Baron Allesley, it is your son that my youngest daughter is pledged to. I will be honest when I say she did not want to come at all. We had to practically tie her to the wagon. She is young and stubborn, but I assure you that she is a kind and obedient girl.”
Maximus had to laugh. “We have had much the same issue with Cassius today,” he said. “Arranged marriages are very difficult when the couple has not seen one another, so let us get on with the introductions. I am looking forward to meeting Lady Sable.”
Summer and Bose turned to look at the rear of the group of people that had accompanied them and Bose held out his hand, obviously focused on one of the persons back in the pack.
As he did so, Maximus turned to bring Cassius forward and was stricken when he saw that his son was almost to the servant’s door, preparing to escape. He boomed.
“Cassius!” he shouted. “Come here this instant!”
Cassius had his hand on the iron latch, cringing when he heard his father shout.
He was at the door, very nearly to freedom at that point, and it would have been so easy to run.
But run to where? He truly had nowhere to go and his father would only catch him.
Nay, if he ran now with everyone watching, it would only make a bad situation worse.
Frustrated, angry, he took his hand off the latch and turned to look at the group of people standing over near the hall entry. He prepared to meet his doom.
As he watched, a young woman emerged on Bose de Moray’s arm.
She was petite, with long, shiny hair the color of polished copper, and skin as pale as cream.
Cassius could see her as she stiffly greeted his father and uncle, and he could clearly see when she looked in his direction because Maximus was pointing at him.
Intrigued just the slightest, Cassius began to make his way back to the gathering, his gaze never leaving the small, beautiful woman with the copper-colored hair.
It was so very shiny and as he came closer, he could see that she was dressed in a broadcloth gown that was dark brown in color, a gown that seem to emphasize a deliciously curvaceous figure.
God’s Bones, Cassius thought. Is it possible that this is Lady Sable?
There was only one way to find out. Cassius went to stand beside his father, no longer the petulant bridegroom but the seemingly very interested betrothed of a stunningly lovely young woman.
The glorious words that came out of de Moray’s mouth confirmed that she was, indeed, Lady Sable, and at that moment, Cassius couldn’t even remember a time when he was reluctant about this marriage.
For all he could remember, he had always been looking forward to it.
His father spoke to him at some point and even nudged him to get his attention, but Cassius couldn’t take his eyes off of Lady Sable. He couldn’t believe his good fortune.
More guests arrived later in the day and early the next morning, including the House of de Winter and Courtly’s sister, Isadora, but Cassius was hardly aware.
He had been sitting with Sable and her parents since the moment they’d been introduced, hanging on Sable’s every word, coming to know a young lady who also had a bit of a stutter in her voice just as her mother did and just as Cassius did.
He felt drawn to her as he’d never felt drawn to anyone in his life, a kindred spirit in their similar speech patterns, and when the marriage took place the next day at Vespers in Isenhall’s tiny chapel with not only the living as witnesses, but generations of de Sheras in their crypts, Cassius took his vows with the greatest sincerity and soon enough, Lady Sable de Moray became Lady Sable de Moray de Shera. Cassius was thrilled.
At the wedding feast, Gallus, Maximus, and Tiberius stood back and watched the festivities.
They watched Cassius and Sable’s joy as well as Bose and Summer’s bittersweet happiness as they married off their youngest daughter.
They watched Davyss de Winter tell wild stories to an enraptured audience of his lovely wife as well as Courtly’s sister, Isadora, and her husband, Kirk St. Héver, who rolled his eyes periodically at Davyss’ very tall tales.
The de Wolfe brothers were no longer with the House of de Shera, having returned north to serve with their father, William de Wolfe, but Stefan du Bois was still with the House of de Shera these days, in charge of a new stable of fine young knights.
All of them were feasting in the hall this night, enjoying the fine food and celebrating a good life.
For all of them, especially the Lords of Thunder, it had been hard-fought to get to this moment. For once, there was peace in the land with a new king and new ideas, but even so, there had always been joy within the walls Isenhall no matter what. On this night of nights, the joy knew no bounds.
“I feel her here, you know,” Gallus murmured softly.
Maximus turned to look at him. “Who?”
Gallus smiled faintly. “Honey,” he said confidently. “Can’t you feel her? She is everywhere.”
Tiberius, standing on the other side of Maximus with a cup of fine wine in his hand, nodded in agreement.
“She is sitting in her chair near the hearth,” he said, pointing over to the snapping, sparking hearth and a small, cushioned chair that was positioned there.
“I can see her as clear as day. She is sitting there, watching all of us with great approval.”
Maximus could see his mother, too, as he’d seen her sitting in that same chair, in that same position, for many years.
“No matter what we have done in life and no matter how hard we have fought or what we have done to survive, a night like this is our reward,” he said quietly.
“It makes all of the trials and tribulations worthwhile. Although I wish Honey had lived to see all of this, it is enough to know that she lived as long as she did. But tonight… tonight, I miss her very much. I wish I could tell her that.”
Gallus could feel himself becoming very emotional. “She knows, Max,” he whispered. “Her presence is here, in this hall, in every child we have and every breath we take. She knows you miss her. She knows we all miss her.”
Maximus could feel himself growing emotional as well. “If there was one more thing you could say to her, Gal,” he wondered, “just one more thing… what would you say?”
Gallus took a deep, thoughtful breath as he contemplated the question. “One thing only?” he asked rhetorically. “I suppose I would tell her that I loved her.”
“And I would thank her.”
It was Tiberius who spoke. Gallus and Maximus turned to look at him. “Thank her, Ty?” Maximus said. “Why?”
Tiberius smiled. “Look at what we have,” he said, indicating Jeniver, Courtly, and Douglass as they sat talking to their guests.
They were three of the most beautiful, smart, and passionate women in all of England.
“Look how fortunate we are. We owe it all to Honey. She made us what we are, don’t you see?
Without her, there would be no ‘us’. There would be no Lords of Thunder. ”
Gallus grinned. “How right you are,” he said. “I would thank her, too.”
Inevitably, their attention turned towards the chair still next to the hearth, the chair that their mother had favored, the one they’d never had the heart to move.
She was still there, watching them, proud of her sons as only a mother could be.
Proud of the men they had become and the families they had raised.
Aye, she would have been very proud. And she would have been very happy that the legend of the Lords of Thunder, for one and for all, would live on.
* THE END *