Chapter Five #3
He smirked. “Thank you, my lady,” he said. “I am flattered that you should take notice of an old knight like me.”
She cocked her head at him, wiping the last of her tears away. “You are not old,” she said. “You are ageless.”
“I have bits of silver hair about my face.”
“Those are merely bits of steel from your sword,” she said. “When you fight in battle, the slivers fly off your blade and into your hair. They become part of you.”
He laughed softly. “I like that,” he said. “I shall tell everyone that from now on.”
They smiled at each other for a few moments, joy and warmth filling the air between them.
The past two days had seen such happiness overtake them, such giddy happiness, that it was difficult for others not to see it.
If there was any question lingering that this betrothal was not agreeable to both of them, that had been summarily dashed.
It was more than agreeable.
“My lord!”
A shout came from the gatehouse, and they turned to see Eddard heading in their direction. He was moving at a swift pace, jogging intermittently, and Roi let go of Diara’s hand for propriety’s sake. They were betrothed, but he didn’t need to be seen pawing her in public.
“What is it?” he called.
Eddard held up something in his hand, and as he drew closer, they could see it was a vellum envelope. He handed it to Roi, who looked at the seal.
“From my father,” he said, casting Diara a quick glance as he broke the seal and unfolded it. After reading the message quickly, he folded it back up. “I must speak with your father.”
He took Diara’s hand, and they headed back to the keep.
*
“You will be married here, before you leave, if you want to take her with you.”
Roi wasn’t pleased with that response. “My son is not even in the ground yet,” he said. “I do not intend to marry the woman he was betrothed to until he is properly buried. That is where I am going—back to Lioncross on the morrow to bury my son, and I would like to take Diara with me.”
“Marry her first.”
“Nay.”
It was a standoff in Robin’s solar. Roi had just received word from his father that Beckett had arrived at Lioncross and the family was preparing for his funeral.
It would take Roi two days to return to Lioncross, and he didn’t want to delay.
He also didn’t want to leave Diara behind, but he didn’t want to marry her before he went.
He didn’t feel that was particularly appropriate when his son wasn’t even properly buried yet.
Everything had its order, and the order was to honor Beckett before he could take the woman who had been intended to be his wife.
But Robin didn’t see his perspective. In fact, he was being quite mulish about the entire situation. He sat at the expensive table in his solar, wine in hand and a stubborn expression on his face.
“I will not permit my unwed daughter to travel with you to Lioncross Abbey,” he said frankly. “What if you get there and decide not to marry her? How could you even think to compromise her like that when she is already… Well, it would be unthinkable.”
Roi cocked an eyebrow. “When she is already what?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were about to tell me that your daughter is already talked about in such ways, weren’t you?”
Robin bolted out of his chair, instantly furious. “In what ways?” he demanded. “What are you saying?”
Roi didn’t rise to the man’s anger. “I am saying that you were not honest with me in the least when you were not forthcoming with the rumors regarding your daughter’s reputation,” he said.
“Do not deny it, for it would be a lie. You never told me that the House of de Redvers spoke unkindly of her. I had to hear about it from someone else.”
Robin was taken aback. “So that is why you feel it is appropriate for you to escort my unwed daughter to Lioncross?” he hissed.
“Because her reputation is already compromised? It is a two-day trip. What were thinking of doing with her when night fell, de Lohr? Did you think it would be a simple thing to damage her because she is already spoken of in such a way?”
That unfounded accusation had Roi’s dander up.
“You have said many things over the past several weeks that have been slanderous and ugly,” he said.
“You have bullied and annoyed my father, you have bullied and annoyed me, and now you are accusing me of immoral intention. I am telling you now—one more word from you that even hints at insult or petulance and you’ll not like my reaction. ”
Robin wasn’t used to being challenged. He didn’t like it when anyone fought back against his tirades, so he stiffened with rage. “You threaten me in my own home?”
Roi jabbed a finger at him. “I make you a promise,” he said. “Any more of this bad behavior from you and I will tell my father to dissolve whatever alliance you may think you have with the entire de Lohr empire. We will no longer tolerate your childish tantrums, Robin. I am warning you.”
Robin was angry, but not angry enough to fire back at him.
He didn’t want the de Lohr alliance removed, but he was coming to see that he couldn’t control Roi.
More and more, he was coming to realize that.
The man would do as he pleased no matter what Robin wished for him to do, and that awareness made Robin’s blood boil.
“No alliance, no marriage,” he said, trembling because he was so angry. “If you are serious in your promise, then I will dissolve the betrothal at this very moment. I’ll find a husband for my daughter who will bring me a strong alliance elsewhere.”
Roi hadn’t forgotten that Diara was standing back by the doorway, hearing all of this. Before another word was said that would see his betrothal broken, he took a deep breath. He found that he had more at stake than he thought he did.
He didn’t want to lose Diara.
“See if you can understand my position, Robin,” he said, struggling with his composure.
“Think back to the days when you had some compassion and understanding. My son is in a wooden box at Lioncross Abbey, waiting for me to return so he can be buried. I do not want to marry Diara before I put him in his crypt because she was his betrothed before she was mine. It would be in extremely bad taste to marry her now and then show up to my son’s funeral married to the woman that had once belonged to him.
Furthermore, if I marry her now, my focus will not be on her.
It will be on my son and the grief that is tearing at me.
That is completely unfair to her. Can you understand that in the slightest? ”
Robin was still in verbal battle mode. “It will make no difference to your son if you are married to her or not,” he said.
“Beckett is dead. He is not going to crawl out of his grave and berate you for marrying a woman he did not show much interest in marrying to begin with. It will not affect his ability to lie in that grave and rot.”
That was all Roi could take. He took three steps and lashed out an enormous fist, catching Robin squarely in the face.
The man fell backward, immediately unconscious, as the blood flowed from his mouth and nose.
But Roi didn’t even check to see how badly he’d hit him; he simply turned for the door, where Diara was standing with her hand over her mouth in shock.
He marched right up to the panel and put his hand on the latch, pausing to look at her before he opened it.
“If that upset you, then I apologize,” he said through clenched teeth. “But I will let no man speak to me so callously about the son I lost. He should be thankful you were in the chamber, or I would have done much worse.”
With that, he yanked the door open and headed out of the keep. Diara, however, wasn’t going to remain behind. She ran after him, catching him as he descended the stairs into the bailey.
“Wait!” she cried, rushing down the stairs. “Roi, please wait!”
He came to a halt at the bottom of the steps, turning as she came up behind him. Her eyes were wide with concern.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
He took a deep breath, struggling to calm himself. “I am going to prepare my horse,” he said. “I am also going to tell the de Lohr troops to prepare to leave immediately. I must return to Lioncross.”
“May I go?” she said eagerly, putting her hand on his forearm. “Please? I should very much like to go with you.”
He sighed. Looking into that anxious face, he was starting to feel some remorse for what he’d done. He knew it was the end of the betrothal, and he deeply regretted that.
“I do not think you should,” he said. “I am certain that when your father awakens and realizes what happened, our betrothal will be no more.”
“Why?” she said. “You did nothing to warrant such a thing.”
His brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean? You just saw what happened.”
She was very calm as she spoke. “I saw my father trip and hit his face on the edge of his table,” she said evenly. “I saw you move to try to catch him, but he still injured himself. That is all I saw.”
Roi’s eyes widened. “You… you saw what?”
She smiled at him. “I saw my father trip and fall,” she repeated patiently. “Now, I am going to tell my mother that Iris and I will be going to Lioncross to attend Beckett’s funeral. Iris will make a good chaperone, don’t you think?”
“But your father did not give permission.”
“He did,” she said. “Before he hit his head. He simply will not remember.”
With that, she winked at him and turned around, heading back up the steps and disappearing into the keep. It took Roi a full minute before he realized that he was standing there with a stupid grin on his face. Every hour, every minute, saw him learn more about this woman he was about to marry.
And positively loving it.