Chapter Three #2
That meant the de la Londe knight, who was in a bloodied, unconscious heap.
His men tried to take him away but Axel and Christian refused to release him, instead handing him over to the de Wolfe soldiers as a prisoner.
When the field marshals tried to force the de Wolfe men to release him under penalty of all of the competing knights being disqualified, Ronan threatened to bring the de Wolfe army down to Middlesbrough and raze the town.
The de Wolfe men were allowed to remain and the de la Londe knight remained in their custody.
Through the chaos and confusion and rage, Ronan and Edward managed to clear out the de Wolfe soldiers but the knights remained.
A physic, in the employ of the Earl of Teesside, came to see to Dyce and they allowed the man to examine him even though he was dead.
Titus had remained with Isabeth throughout the fight, but Ronan realized as he looked at her that it should have been him.
Dyce had asked it of him.
I trust you with her life.
The physic had a couple of helpers, men who had brought a blanket to cover up Dyce.
They removed the broken lance from his body and quickly covered him up, lifting him off the ground gently as Ronan went to Isabeth and helped her to her feet.
She was trembling, shocked and grieved, and he and Titus managed to walk her off the arena floor between them, each man with an arm.
They walked her all the way back to the de Brito tent where Dyce was placed, wrapped up tightly in the blankets the Teesside physic had brought.
And that was where he remained the rest of the day and into the night.
Ronan never left him. Now that the chaos of Dyce’s fall had faded away, the shock of the man’s death only grew more jarring as the day went on, so much so that when it came time for Ronan to compete, he defaulted and gave the victory to his opponent.
But he hardly cared.
Evening fell.
There was a feast that night yet again for the winners of the day and the sounds of revelry and smells of food wafted upon the cool night air into the encampment where Ronan had been standing vigil at the entry to Dyce and Isabeth’s tent.
He’d been watching Isabeth the entire day as she sat next to her husband’s body, softly weeping, offering her food and drink that she refused.
He’d promised Dyce he’d take care of the woman and had no idea where to start or even what to do.
He had no idea where his own wife was, otherwise he would have sent for her.
But he knew he was very much alone.
He always had been.
“How is she?”
Jolted from his train of thought, Ronan turned to see Titus standing behind him. The man was clad in his jousting armor and Ronan looked him over.
“Grieving,” he said. “Did you win?”
“I did.”
“Good.”
He returned his attention to the scene inside the tent and Titus came to stand next to him, observing the pregnant woman as she prayed beside her husband’s body. Ronan heard him sigh faintly.
“What now?” he asked quietly.
Ronan shrugged. “I do not know,” he said. “But I think I have gotten myself into a mess. You heard him, Titus – he asked me to take care of his wife and child. I could not deny a dying man so now his burden has become mine. I’ve been standing here trying to decide what should be done.”
“And?”
“And I think I need to speak with my father.”
Titus nodded. “Of course,” he said. “But meanwhile, what are you going to do?”
Ronan shook his head slowly, his gaze riveted to the beautiful woman in the bloodied pale blue silk.
“Whatever Lady de Brito wants to do, I suppose,” he said.
“But first, I must have Dyce taken away so he can be prepared. The priests from St. John the Evangelist are waiting to take him away. The Earl of Teesside sent them.”
“And then what?”
“He returns home, wherever that may be.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that Dyce had his small outpost, but that was a gift from his wife’s father,” he said. “Dyce said she had no other family, and I know he had no family, so I have no idea where she wishes to bury the man.”
“Then you’d better ask.”
That was what Ronan had been thinking for the better part of the afternoon. Asking Lady de Brito what she wanted to do but giving the woman time to grieve before he did. It wasn’t as if they needed to move Dyce home tonight. Or even tomorrow.
But soon.
“This is an unhappy duty,” Ronan muttered after a moment. “I cannot even grieve my friend’s death because, now, it seems I am responsible for his wife. I must present a strong front for truly it is not my right to show sadness. It is hers. I will not take that away from her.”
Titus knew that. His gaze drifted to the lady in the darkened tent. “He should not have asked it of you.”
“He had no one else.”
Titus sighed faintly, thinking that he was glad it hadn’t been him. It very well could have been since he’d been there at the end, too. Gently, he slapped Ronan on the back.
“I am going to remove my protection and then go to the feast,” he said. “I’ll have food sent to you and the lady.”
“That would be appreciated.”
“The de la Londe knight still hasn’t awoken from the beating he was dealt.”
There was a sense of satisfaction to hear that and Ronan was glad. “Good,” he growled.
As Titus headed off, Ronan broke from his position at the tent flap and moved into the tent itself. Darkened and smelling of smoke with a faint hint of a woman’s perfume, he approached Lady de Brito.
“My lady?” he said softly. “I am very sorry to disturb you, but we must take Dyce away to be prepared for his return… home. I realize this is an uncouth question to ask, but I must. Have you decided where you wish to have him buried?”
Isabeth had been sitting so still that one would have thought she was asleep sitting up. Not a muscle moved and her eyes were closed, but when Ronan spoke, she slowly opened her eyes, turning to look at him.
“Ravenscar, I would think,” she said, sounding hoarse and weary. “It is our home, after all. My father gave it to us. Did he ever tell you that?”
Ronan nodded his head. “He told me,” he said.
“We had many conversations about you over the years, when we would meet up on the tournament circuit or he would come north to visit me, and he would speak of Ravenscar. He did tell me that it was a gift. But he also never brought you along on any of his visits north, I noticed. Why is that?”
Isabeth smiled weakly. “Because he did not like to expose me to the dangers of travel,” she said. “I think you know how protective he was of me. He treated me as if I were the most precious glass, so fragile that a mere breath of air could shatter me.”
“Is your health poor, my lady? If so, I did not know.”
Isabeth shook her head. “My health is fine,” she said, though it wasn’t exactly true. “Dyce simply worried.”
“Even so, I did not mean to make light of it.”
“You did not,” she said. “But it is of no matter because, truthfully, I am not much interested in going places. I like my corner of the world because it is safe and it is mine. Now I see what happens when I travel with my husband, out of that safety.”
Her smile faded and her attention turned back to Dyce, who was starting to turn a bluish tinge because he’d been dead a few hours.
Ronan took a moment to study the woman, who was a truly exquisite specimen.
He could see why Dyce had been so enamored with her.
He’d seen it last night, too. Isabeth had an aura of beauty around her that was not easily found with her luminescent green eyes and porcelain skin.
Her hair was brown, but it had glimmers of gold and red all through it, fashioned into a bun at the nape of her neck.
But her lips… they were plump and shapely and quite kissable, as Dyce had said many times.
Ronan couldn’t disagree.
But this exquisite beauty was in distress and Ronan had to help.
Not only for Dyce’s sake, but for the lady’s sake as well.
She was pregnant and widowed, a nasty combination as far as society was concerned.
Ronan began to feel the twinges of protectiveness.
Dyce had been quite overprotective of her and, now, Ronan was starting to see why.
There was something about the lady that a decent man would want to protect.
There was grace and fragility there.
“What happened was a tragedy, my lady,” he said after a moment.
“But what happened was an evil act and the man who did this has been punished. Dyce has been avenged, so take comfort that his friends would not let this travesty go unanswered. Now, we must take care of you. We are all friends of Dyce and it is our privilege to do this for him. We shall return him to Ravenscar if that is your wish.”
Isabeth nodded faintly. “I think so,” she said. “You have visited Ravenscar a couple of times. I remember. But it has been a long time.”
“Too long,” Ronan said. “I am sorry my visits were not more frequent but having a big family like I do means one is kept quite busy. And speaking of families, Dyce said he was your only family. Is that because he did not wish for you to return to your father? Was there some disharmony there? As you said, he was quite protective over you and I would not wish to go against him.”
Isabeth shook her head. “My father died a few years ago and his castle, Briarfield, was inherited by a cousin who has made it clear that I am not welcome. ’Tis sad, really.
When we were children, we were friendly but when he grew up, his wife did not like me for some reason.
I believe she is the one who banished me from Briarfield, not my cousin. ”
Ronan understood the situation now. “And Dyce has no other family?”
“Not close family,” Isabeth said. “But he has great friends, like you, so we never felt completely alone.”