Chapter Twelve
Langley Castle
“The mist is heavy this night.”
The words came from Laurence. He had been hunting for Gage for the last hour, finally locating him on the outer wall of Langley, looking north. It was a still night, so quiet that the only noise was coming from the castle. Out in the land beyond, nothing stirred.
The mist was obscuring everything.
“Aye,” Gage said, leaning over the parapet and looking at the ground as it met up with the wall. “Heavy and cold. It is that time of year.”
“You remember the seasons here, do you?”
Gage nodded. “I remember everything,” he said. “The moment we saw Wynter and Spring in The Rabbit Burrow, it was as if every memory I’ve ever had of my home came flooding back to me. Honestly, I thought I’d pushed all of that out of my mind.”
“Is that what has you on the battlements in this mist?”
Gage nodded. “That,” he said. “And other things.”
“Like what?”
Gage paused before answering. “What do you think of Brian?”
Laurence leaned against the damp stone wall.
“De Luci?” he said. “I remember him as a young man. Remember that he assumed Tynedale at a young age, when his father died. He was a rather timid boy, but after the gathering we have had with him today planning the assault on Septentrion, it is clear that the timid boy no longer exists. Brian is a capable commander.”
Gage nodded. “I got that impression, too,” he said. “Usually, when we fight a war like this, it is with strangers – the stranger who pays us and the stranger we are paid to fight. This time, it is family that we are being told to fight. I was just thinking how strange it all is.”
Laurence looked at him, watching him for any signs of emotional turmoil. “It is,” he said. “The question is if El Norte is up to the challenge. And make no mistake – this is a challenge.”
Gage snorted ironically. “More than you know,” he said. “You were so right when you said that my responsibility is to Stagshaw if Boothe falls in battle. You have spoken the truth and I accept it. In fact, I’ve decided to stay, Bull, and I want you to stay with me.”
Laurence tried not to show the relief he felt at that statement. “You know I will,” he said. “But what if your brother does not fall?”
“He will,” he said. “One way or another, he will. I am thinking of putting a bounty on his head to the other soldiers. The man to kill him shall receive one hundred gold marks. I want Boothe dead, Bull, but not by my hand. Out of respect for my father and the legacy of the House of de Reyne, I cannot kill my own brother, no matter how badly he has wronged me.”
Laurence cocked an eyebrow. “I would be happy to do it and you need not pay me,” he said.
“You forget that your father accepted my fealty when I was a newly sworn knight. He took a chance on a young man who was eager and bright, but still had things to learn. In a sense, I feel as much animosity towards Boothe as you do. He has all but ruined your father’s good name and he has tried to ruin yours, too.
I would consider it an honor to right that wrong. ”
Gage’s eyes glimmered dully at him. “I did not realize my family needed a champion.”
“Then you have been misinformed.”
Gage laughed softly. “You are a good friend, Bull. I consider myself very fortunate.”
“As do I,” Laurence said. But he paused a moment as he looked off into the mist. “But that is not what has you on the battlements staring into the fog.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that a certain young woman you had forgotten about has you thinking.”
Gage sighed heavily as he rubbed his hands together against the chill. “Why would you say that?”
“Because I know you.”
Gage gave up trying to be evasive at that point. There was no need. “You do,” he admitted. But he collected his thoughts before continuing. “I do not know how or why, but somehow over the past few days, I cannot think of anything other than Wynter de Thorington.”
Laurence struggled to keep the smile off his face. “I see,” he said, looking away and trying to be casual about it. “So you haven’t forgotten about her, after all.”
“I asked her to be my wife.”
Laurence’s head snapped to him with astonishment. “You did what?” he gasped. “You offered for her hand?”
Gage could see his shock and he was torn. Perhaps Laurence didn’t think it was the right thing to do, or perhaps he was happy about it. It was difficult to tell by the man’s expression.
“I did,” he said. “Bull, I do not make rash decisions. You know this. I have never acted on a whim in my life. But returning to Northumberland… and seeing Lady Wynter in Durham… realizing what Boothe had stolen from me… I have never seen anything so clearly in my life. I look at Wynter and I see what I should have had. I should have had her. I should have married her and remained in Northumberland. She was always fond of me and I have always been fond of her, though I was too blind to realize just how fond.”
“But you realize it now.”
Gage looked at Laurence in earnest. “Aye, I do,” he said. “I feel as if coming home has been an awakening of sorts, an epiphany that has taken me completely by surprise.”
“It has taken me by surprise, too.”
A voice came from the mist and they both turned to see Brian approaching. He had just emerged from one of Langley’s many turrets. When he saw Gage and Laurence looking at him, he smiled weakly.
“Bull,” he said quietly. “De Soto is looking for you.”
Laurence didn’t even question him. He simply left, disappearing into the turret as Brian remained on the wall walk. When the knight was gone, he turned to Gage.
“He will discover soon enough that I have lied,” he said. “I wanted to speak with you without an audience.”
Gage knew immediately why. He wondered how much of the conversation Brian had just heard.
The entire day, through a marathon session that had them poring over a map of the land between Langley and Septentrion, he could feel something coming from Brian.
It wasn’t anger, exactly, but more like curiosity.
Suspicion, even. Every time he looked up, Brian was watching him.
He braced himself.
“I am at your service,” he said steadily. “How may I help you?”
Brian leaned against the wall in the same place Laurence had been leaning.
“I could pretend that you don’t know why I wanted to speak to you alone, but I will not insult your intelligence,” he said.
“You have known me for many years, Gage. We were never what you would call good friends, but we were never enemies.”
“Nay, we were not.”
“I caught a few words of what you were just saying to Bull.”
“And?”
That was a good question. Brian lifted his shoulders. “And I came to clear the air between us,” he said. “Well, it is mostly to clear the air with me. There are a few things I want to say to you.”
“Speak,” Gage said. “I am listening.”
Brian nodded, accepting Gage’s permission to speak freely.
“I will start by saying that I wish I had been a better neighbor,” he said.
“Our fathers were friends and probably our grandfathers, too, but you and I seemed to always be going different directions. There was never the opportunity for a friendship to build.”
Gage eyed the man in the mist. “That is a fair statement,” he said. “I always thought you were rather quiet and somber. You had a big burden placed upon you at a young age. I suppose that made you a little different from the rest of us who didn’t have such responsibility thrust upon them.”
Brian lifted his eyebrows. “Very true,” he said. “I had to grow up quickly.”
“Is this what you really wanted to speak of?”
Brian shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “It has come to my attention that the woman I wish to marry is not interested in me. I believe that she is interested in you. That was not an issue until a few days ago when you returned to Northumberland. Now, I fear that my task of wooing her has been made much harder than it already was.”
Gage’s brow furrowed. “It seems like an odd thing to be speaking of on the eve of battle.”
“I know. But we may not have another opportunity.”
“Then what are you asking me?”
“If you intend to rekindle your romance with Wynter de Thorington.”
Gage had to give him credit. The man wasn’t afraid to ask a blunt question.
Everything was happening so quickly that although he knew the situation would come to this at some point, with an honest discussion between him and Brian, he wasn’t sure he was quite ready for it.
Whatever he was feeling for Wynter was new and surprising to him, too, so he wasn’t about to articulate it for an old acquaintance and romantic rival.
Truly, he harbored no ill will towards Brian.
In fact, he knew he was encroaching on the man’s territory when it came to Wynter.
Even if the feelings weren’t reciprocated by her, still, the gentlemanly thing to do would have been to back off because Brian had staked his claim.
But he couldn’t seem to manage it.
Even so, he wasn’t sure he wanted to tell Brian that. It was true that they were heading to Septentrion in the morning and the last thing Gage wanted was to be looking over his shoulder for Brian’s dagger aimed at his back.
With that thought, he proceeded carefully.
“There was never a romance to begin with,” he said, which was the truth.
“Lady Wynter is ten years younger than I am, so when I was a young man of eighteen or nineteen years, Lady Wynter was eight or nine years of age and I am not in the habit of romancing children. She was sweet and she followed me around like a puppy I could not get rid of, but any romance at the time was strictly one sided, I assure you.”
Those were the facts. He didn’t want to lie to Brian directly and he had to tell the man something, so it was best if he told him as much truth as he could – at least, the truth from the beginning of his acquaintance with Wynter.
But the expression on Brian’s face suggested he didn’t quite believe it.
“I remember hearing gossip about it, I suppose,” Brian said. “I do not know if you remember, but my mother kept me sequestered as a young boy for the most part, away from friends and allies.”
Gage nodded. “I remember because you were never allowed to come to Septentrion even though we had the same tutor.”
“That was true,” Brian said. “My mother was so overly protective that we would share our lessons with Father Dominus and then she would snatch me away back home. Mayhap that is why you and I have never been great friends. The truth is that I do not have any great friends. In any case, I was focused on my studies as a young man, on learning to rule Langley, and it was only after my mother died that I really came to know my allies. Lord Ashington was one of the very first men to introduce himself and take me under his wing. He has been a great friend and mentor for the past several years. I remember Lady Wynter when she was younger, too, but I did not have the privilege of her following me around like you did.”
Gage cracked a smile. “It was like feeding a cat,” he said. “The nicer I was to her, the more she followed me. I could not shake her, which can be quite inconvenient for a young man who only wants to focus on the knighthood.”
Brian’s gaze drifted over him, remember that arrogant young knight who had, frankly, intimidated him. “Then you’ve not come back to rekindle a romance?”
“As I said, there was no romance to begin with.”
“I saw you speaking with her.”
“Am I supposed to ignore her?”
Brian shrugged. “Nay,” he said. “I just wanted to know… well, I suppose I just wanted to know if you’ve come back to create competition for her hand.
I will be honest when I tell you that I have been wooing her for the past two years.
Her father feels that I will make an excellent husband for her and at the risk of sounding immodest, I agree.
A beautiful home, wealth, a respectable family, and a husband who would worship her…
she would want for nothing. Most young women would be eager for that. ”
“But not her?”
He shook his head. “She tells me that her heart belongs to another and always will,” he said. “Therefore, it would be unfair to me if she marries me.”
“You disagree?”
“Not necessarily,” he said. “I want her to be happy, but I would like not to be miserable in my marriage with a woman who pines for another man. I know I can make her happy if she would only open her heart and mind a little, but she is convinced she will never marry because the man she loves does not intend to marry.”
Gage lifted his eyebrows. “Then that is proof I am not the man she pines for because I do intend to marry, someday.”
Brian looked at him as if surprised by the admission. “I would imagine you’ve met many women during your time with your uncle’s army.”
Gage wriggled his eyebrows. “More than you know,” he said.
“My lord, I would suggest we forget about Wynter de Thorington for now and focus on Septentrion. I think we both have enough on our minds without trying to hash out romantic intentions or the lack thereof. If you wish to discuss Lady Wynter when this is over, I will listen, but for now… let us focus on why I’ve come here.
There are much more important things to worry about at the moment. ”
Brian didn’t press him. He still wasn’t convinced that he’d not come to take Wynter away from him, but he felt better after speaking to him.
Gage was correct about one thing – they had more pressing things to focus on at the moment.
Tomorrow, they were launching a siege against Septentrion and if the day’s discussions about it had been any indication, it was not going to be a simple task.
If they wanted victory, then they were going to have to work for it.
Brian didn’t want to pay all of that money for a mercenary army only to see it thrown away.
Wynter de Thorington was going to have to wait.