Chapter Twenty-One #2
William had heard that before, from all of the men under his command who had fallen in love and married. He grunted.
“It seems as if love is catching, like a disease,” he said, watching Caius grin. His gaze moved to Emelisse, sitting in a chair as her husband stood next to her. “And you, my lady? I take it you are in agreement with this arrangement?”
Emelisse nodded. “Very much, my lord,” she said. “You did send Caius north to mediate the situation between Winterhold and Hawkstone, did you not?”
“I did.”
She looked up at Caius, reaching up to take his hand.
“He not only mediated it, he settled it,” she said.
“Hawkstone will return to the peaceful home it once was. Winterhold is no longer aggressive, and the land can heal. We can all heal. But none of this would have happened had you not sent an army to help Alice. Mayhap it did not turn out the way you expected, but the heart of what you sought was to help us all find peace. You did, in a most unexpected way.”
William’s old, yellowed eyes were glimmering at her weakly. “Nay, it was not in the way I had expected. But from everything I have heard, it was definitely for the best,” he said. His attention returned to Caius. “Where will you go now?”
Caius looked down at Emelisse. “To Richmond,” he said.
“I have not been home in some time, so I shall return there and show off my great outpost to my wife and Hallam and Lady Chadlington. It’s strange…
when I left Richmond those weeks ago at your summons, I left alone.
I have always been alone. But now… now, I return with the part of me I never knew I was missing. ”
William rolled his eyes. “Cai, if you say anything more like that, I swear I shall become ill,” he said, standing up wearily.
“Enough sentiment. It is time for supper and I have been smelling the beef all afternoon. Let us feast and speak on things that do not involve death and destruction and sappy love stories. Alice, darling, allow me to escort you.”
He held out his elbow for Alice, who rose from her chair and gladly took it, smiling affectionately at her uncle as her husband followed a few feet behind. Caius moved to go with them, with Emelisse on his arm, but he could see Maxton and Kevin and William muttering between them. He came to a halt.
“Aren’t you three coming?” he asked.
Maxton shook his head. “I believe we are going to find our evening’s entertainment elsewhere,” he said. “My wife will not let me go to The Pox when we are in London together, and she is not here right now, so I do believe I shall visit our favorite tavern.”
“I’ve never been,” William said, excitement in his tone. “I’ve heard my father speak of it, but he says it is a terrible place. I want to see it for myself.”
Caius rolled his eyes. “God,” he groaned. “And you with your penchant for gambling. Max, if you take de Wolfe, you may find yourself in more trouble than you can handle. The lad will rob even the sharpest man blind with his gambling ways.”
As William’s face fell, Maxton simply shrugged. “What’s wrong with that? It wasn’t a month ago that you were there, drinking other men under the table. We made a fortune.”
Caius gave him a look to kill, tipping his head towards Emelisse as if to suggest he not say such things in front of her. But Maxton laughed.
“Come with us, Cai,” he said. “Who knows when we’ll have this chance again. You can keep your squire out of trouble.”
Caius realized that he wanted to go. Badly. But there was no chance he was going to take Emelisse there.
“I should not,” he said. “Emelisse cannot go and I will not leave her alone.”
“Why not?” Emelisse said. “If you want to go with your friends, then go. I will probably be conversing with Alice all night, anyway, so you may as well go and enjoy yourself. I do not mind.”
He was greatly tempted, but as he looked at her, he felt the need to be completely honest. “Sweetheart, The Pox isn’t simply a tavern,” he said. “The filth of society goes there. The gambling games are… unique. Sometimes dangerous.”
“Do you at least have a good time?”
“Always.”
“Then you should go,” she said. “I suspect you do not see your friends very often. You should enjoy the time you have.”
Caius didn’t know what to do, but Maxton stepped in, giving him a shove towards the chamber door.
“Cai, are you mad?” he hissed. “She is giving you permission. My own wife will not give me permission to go to The Pox, so take this great gift from her. Go.”
Caius let Maxton push him to the door, lifting his hands apologetically to Emelisse, who was laughing softly at him as he was shoved out the door. Kevin followed close behind, grinning at her, while William slipped by her politely and ran after them.
He wasn’t going to miss this for the world.
It was an evening to remember for all concerned.
Much later that night, as Emelisse slept soundly in the borrowed chamber in William Marshal’s townhouse, Caius returned to her very drunk and very happy, having won a beautiful new warhorse from his squire, who had been foolish enough to test him in a drinking game.
William de Wolfe had learned the hard way, as Marius de Wrenville had also once learned, that men who compete against Caius d’Avignon seldom win.
In any arena.
The Britannia Viper was now, and forever, a champion for all seasons.