Chapter Ten
Near Alston Castle
The Pennines
All of this belongs to me.
Maximilian couldn’t help feeling arrogantly proud of the land he was envisioning.
It had rained the night before, but the sun was shining on the brilliant green hills of the Pennine Mountains.
Everything smelled fresh and new. It would have been a lovely day if not for the mud they traveled upon.
The horses were muddy up to their knees from the splashing, and the carriage wheels were filthy, spraying muddy water on the sides of the cab.
But his first vision of the de Witt lands, which were now de Grey lands, had him smiling from ear to ear.
Maximilian, in spite of his broken arm, had chosen to ride his warhorse.
He wore his broadsword—on his left side, even though he was right-handed—but wearing his mail coat was out of the question because he couldn’t get his arm through the sleeve.
Therefore, he was essentially riding unprotected as Addax, beside him, was in full battle regalia, with Essien riding at the rear of the escort to cover their back.
“We should be there within the hour, according to my father,” Maximilian said to Addax. “He has been to Alston Castle before, you know. He says that it is a grand place. But look at these lands, Ad… This is all mine. Is it not magnificent?”
Addax was looking at the vibrant green hills. “How do you know it is yours?”
“Because it is!” Claudius, who was sitting in the carriage listening to the conversation, shouted through the fortified window. “The village we just passed through, Lanehead, is the southernmost boundary.”
Addax nodded, noticing cottages in the distance as the road went up a hill. “Quite magnificent, Max,” he said. “Congratulations, my friend. May you be worthy of it.”
Maximilian beamed. It was clear how pleased he was. As he shielded his eyes from the sun, looking off to the north and seeing sheep on the hills, the door to the carriage swung open and Emmeline stepped out onto the road from the moving carriage.
The escort was riding at a normal pace, but she was walking quickly.
Clad in a brown traveling dress, with leather boots that went to her knees and a cloak billowing out behind her, she walked up to the front of the escort and continued on, moving swiftly up the road.
There was some kind of settlement in the distance, as they could see, but they realized that it was a town. Emmeline was heading for the town.
Maximilian frowned.
“You!” he called after her. “My lady! Where are you going?”
Addax watched carefully, wondering how she was going to respond. The entire four-day trip had seen the relationship between Maximilian and Emmeline deteriorate to the point where they were hardly speaking to one another.
It had been a concerning thing to watch.
When Addax should have been focused on Claudius and his plans with the Scots, he found himself watching Emmeline as Maximilian treated her like just another property.
Just another something that was under his control.
The first night of their journey had seen them stop in the village of Charlton.
There were a few cottages and a tavern, but it only had one rentable chamber, and Maximilian and Claudius took that one, leaving Emmeline to sleep in the common room.
They never gave a second thought to her, which had infuriated Addax.
Though Emmeline didn’t complain and didn’t ask for anything other than a hot meal, Addax had gone out of his way to find her accommodations.
The tavern keep referred him to a widowed woman on the end of town who had been willing to surrender her bedchamber to Emmeline for a hefty price.
Emmeline was able to sleep in a warm bed with a fire to heat the chamber, something she had thanked Addax profusely for.
Maximilian hadn’t cared one way or the other.
That had been a turning point for Addax, too.
The man he’d known for a few years had turned out to be an incredibly callous individual when it came to the woman he married.
His true character was being revealed. He didn’t exactly mistreat her, but he certainly didn’t show her any respect.
He kept referring back to their first conversation, when they had agreed that their marriage would be a business arrangement.
Addax pointed out that even in a business arrangement, courtesy was shown, but Maximilian didn’t seem to think it was an issue.
He went on doing exactly what he wanted to do.
That left Addax to show Lady de Grey what respect he could.
But the days grew darker.
Since Emmeline had brought her own coin, the next night they stopped, she was the first one into the only tavern in the village of Cramlington, where she promptly cornered the tavern keep and asked for his finest chamber.
He, too, only had one, and it went to Emmeline, which infuriated Maximilian and Claudius.
There was no widow to rent them a chamber in this village, so they were forced to sleep in the common room at the tavern, where Claudius received a black eye because he pushed someone away from the fire.
Addax thought that he rather deserved it.
The next night, Maximilian and Emmeline got into a verbal altercation when she tried to do the same thing she’d done the night before.
Maximilian declared that he was not going to sleep in the common room again, and she told him that was not her concern, which caused him to grab her by the arm and hurt her.
She reacted by slapping him in self-defense, and Addax had to break up the fight.
He also had to talk Maximilian out of punishing her.
After that, Emmeline had been the first one to secure a room, and Maximilian and Claudius, not to be outdone, broke into her chamber and tried to throw her out, but Addax had to calm the situation down, yet again, and the three of them ended up sleeping in the same chamber—Maximilian and his father on one side and Emmeline, in the larger bed, on the other.
Addax sat outside in the corridor by the door, all night, to make sure there was no more trouble.
Therefore, after four nights of the same battles, he was quite honestly exhausted.
He was starting to wonder what would have happened had he not come along, but he was also coming to see a side of Emmeline that was quite strong.
After the first tumultuous day and night after her introduction to her new husband, she’d very quickly made the decision to fight back.
She was going to treat Maximilian and Claudius the same way they were treating her.
No submission to their whims, no bowing and scraping to Maximilian’s tantrums. She simply went about her business, and if that interfered with Maximilian’s business, and he fought her on it, then there was a battle.
Addax had to admit that he was impressed with the way she’d come out of the melancholy she suffered on the day of their marriage.
This wasn’t the same woman who had tried to drown herself in the River Tweed.
That Plantagenet blood she inherited from her grandfather gave her something more to draw from, something deep and powerful that defied explanation.
The woman was a fighter.
And this marriage was going to be a battle.
Therefore, Addax watched curiously as she walked on ahead of the escort and Maximilian called after her.
She simply waved him off, and, as Maximilian prepared to explode at her, Addax spurred his horse forward to catch up to the lady.
He was the only one she would talk to, anyway.
As he drew alongside her, he slid from his horse and took up stride beside her.
“And?” he said pleasantly. “Where are we going, and how may I assist you in reaching our destination, Lady de Grey?”
Emmeline was looking straight ahead. “You can do something for me, Sir Addax.”
“Anything you wish, my lady.”
“Never again address me, to my face, as Lady de Grey.”
“Then what shall I call you?”
“Emmeline,” she said. “That is my name. Or Emmy if you wish. I will answer to either. But I do not want to be reminded that I’ve taken the de Grey name.”
“Very well,” Addax said. “Then you must address me as Addax.”
“I have been.”
“You have been addressing me as Sir Addax,” he said. “We are friends, are we not? There is no need to be so formal.”
She finally looked at him for the first time. “Nay, there is not,” she said. “In fact, I want to thank you for coming. I know you came because Maximilian asked you to, but I wanted you to come also. Your presence has been a godsend.”
Addax found himself looking into those eyes, glittering like jewels, and knew he was feeling something other than friendship.
God help him, he knew it. He’d known it for a few days now.
Sometimes, people came into a man’s life that were meant to be part of it from the moment they met, and he felt strongly that Emmeline was one of those people for him.
He’d met so many people in his life—those who had helped him, those who had persecuted him, and those who had touched him.
There were very few who had touched him. But Emmeline had.
As the days went by, he felt that more and more.
And he shouldn’t.
“I am glad to hear that,” he finally said, looking away. “It would not be a good situation for me if you were opposed to it.”
Emmeline shook her head. “I should be opposed to the man who has kept me sane through this entire debacle?” she said ironically.
“Nay, Addax, I was not opposed to you coming. Mayhap with you mediating my marriage in the beginning, Maximilian and I can at least come to the point where we do not wish to kill one another. I think you can help us.”
“Do you?” he said, eyeing her. “Because it is not my place to interfere in your marriage.”
“You are not interfering if you are helping.”
He sighed sharply. “My lady…”
“Emmeline.”