Chapter Twelve
In spite of a night that had kept him active until an hour or two before dawn, Creed was up at sunrise.
He was not accustomed to sleeping during the night at all but last night had been an exception.
He was the Guardian of Darkness, after all, and the night was his domain.
But in his wildest dreams he could not have imagined the joy and adoration he had experienced and, quite possibly, he thought perhaps that he did not sleep at all.
He remembered lying awake for what was surely hours as he watched Carington sleep.
He still could not believe he had married her.
Leaving his beautiful wife sleeping soundly, he dressed silently and quietly quit the chamber.
He found Richard and Massimo in the solar adjacent to the great hall. Richard was seated behind his heavy oak desk while the priest was perched on a stool near the fire, warming his backside as gentle conversation flowed. Upon Creed entering the chamber, the priest bolted to his feet.
“Ah,” he said. “So you did not forget my need to speak with you before I left.”
Creed looked relaxed, rested and extraordinarily content. He shook his head at the priest. “I did not forget,” he scratched his stubble. “But I would hope that you did not expect me here at daybreak given the fact that I was only married last night. Clearly, I have been quite happily occupied.”
Richard cleared his throat at the innuendo, wriggling his eyebrows at Creed when the man turned to give him a lazy smile. Richard, in fact, fought off a smirk at the expression on Creed’s face. He was not surprised to see it.
“Be that as it may,” he tried to divert the naughty subject matter. “Father Massimo has some concerns before he returns to London. We were just discussing them before you came in.”
Creed seemed unconcerned. “Oh?” he began hunting around for something to eat. “What concerns?”
“He fears that taking a wife might feed the queen’s fury.”
The relaxed expression left Creed’s face. “Then do not tell her,” he said, looking between Richard and the priest. “It is a very simple matter; do not tell anyone. There is no reason you need to spread the news of my marriage all over London. It is, frankly, no one’s business.”
Massimo gaze was intense. “It was not my plan to announce it,” he replied. “But I will not lie if I am asked a direct question.”
Creed was fast losing his humor. He scratched his head irritably. “I am truly at a loss to understand why my marriage is such a concern.”
Massimo pursed his lips as he formulated a reply that would express his reservations adequately.
“It would have been better for you to simply keep a low profile while this madness was going on,” he explained.
“To marry in the midst of it gives you an almost rakish appearance, taking a wife while you are rumored to have gotten another woman pregnant. ’Twould have been preferable for you to have waited.
This way, it almost appears as if you are taunting Isabella.
I fear that it will cast a shadow on your innocence purely by perception. ”
Creed’s good mood was gone. “I did not get another woman pregnant,” he jabbed a finger at the priest. “And I am not going to put my life on hold because a spoiled whore of a girl could not shoulder my rejection.”
They were very strong words coming from the usually cool Creed. Richard just looked at the priest, letting the man know with his expression that he supported Creed’s assertion. Massimo put up his hands.
“Gentlemen,” he said softly. “I am not attempting to be belligerent. I am simply trying to see all angles of this. Sir Creed, I told you before that I believed you. That has not changed. But I want you to understand all sides of the position you find yourself in. I want you to understand this is a very serious matter that is simply not going to vanish no matter how innocent you are.”
Creed cooled somewhat. “I do not expect it to vanish. But I do expect to be exonerated.”
“I can only promise to try,” the priest said. “But you must face the fact that you may have to come to London to be questions before the papal council.”
Creed stared at him. “Why?”
“As I said; to answer questions. They will want to hear your side of the tale from your own lips if I cannot convince them that the queen’s assertions are baseless.”
Creed’s jaw was ticking. “Why did you not tell me this before?”
“Because we had your innocence to establish with our first meeting. It was difficult enough given your hostile attitude and I chose not to elaborate on what may, or may not, happen should I not be able to convince the papal legate of your innocence.”
Creed gazed at him a moment longer before turning away, emitting a heavy sigh as he did so.
“My God,” he muttered bitterly. “Does this never end? I have just lost my brother, for Christ’s sake; I have just taken a new wife, of which I am extremely happy, but the weight of the entire world is bearing down on my shoulders with the fate of a kingdom hanging in the balance because of something I have been undeservingly drawn in to.
How much more sorrow and toil am I expected to bear? ”
The priest was not unsympathetic. “God does not give you more of a burden than you can manage, my son,” he said quietly. “As with all things, this too shall pass. You must have faith.”
Creed fixed on him. “If you believe me as you say you do, then you must help me,” he was nearly pleading. “I did nothing wrong.”
Massimo nodded, sighing as he did so. “I will do what I can,” he muttered. “I can promise you that much.”
“Then you have my thanks.”
With a lingering glance at the two men, Massimo quit the solar and headed to the outer bailey where his papal escort await.
Creed and Richard fell silent a moment, each lost to their thoughts, until Richard finally stood up from his chair and made his way to Creed.
He paused, putting a hand on the man’s massive shoulder.
“I have holdings in Ireland,” he said quietly. “If the king is truly after you, then you can take your wife and go there until this situation blows over. They will never find you in Ireland.”
Creed looked at him. “You have always been a good friend to me and my brother, my lord,” he replied sincerely. “There is no way I can ever repay you for the risks you have taken on my behalf.”
Richard snorted softly. “You and Ryton have repaid me many times over,” he said.
“You have kept Prudhoe and my family safe. I would take such risks for you time and time again.” His expression softened as he looked at Creed.
“I cannot tell you how your brother’s death has grieved me.
I was up most of the night dwelling on it.
First Lenox and now Ryton… I can never express my sorrow adequately. When do you plan to take him home?”
Creed had been trying not to think of his brother all morning but now found his attention focused on him. “That depends; when do you intend to tell Cari’s father about our marriage?”
Richard gave him a lop-sided smile. “I can wait until you return from burying Ryton if that is what you are concerned with.”
“That is exactly what I am concerned with. I do not need an irate Scotsman overrunning Prudhoe while I am gone.”
“I thought you said he would not dare attack Prudhoe because he would consider us kin?”
“You are asking me to anticipate a father who had no say in the marriage of his only daughter.”
Richard laughed softly. “Having no daughters myself, I can only imagine Laird Kerr’s reaction. Put yourself in Sian Kerr’s shoes.”
“I have,” Creed was thinking heavily on going to find something to eat. “If it were me, I would overrun Prudhoe and take great pleasure in it.”
“God help us, then. Let us hope you never have any daughters who marry without your permission.”
The very idea made Creed grin. “With my luck, I shall have eight of them, all with their mother’s disposition.”
Richard laughed out loud. “Now there is a happy thought.”
Creed was about to reply when an odd sound filtered in through the lancet window. It took them both a moment to realize it was screaming.
*
As she had been instructed, Julia had run to tell Jory when Creed left his marriage chamber.
She had been flushed and, Jory thought, weeping as she told him, but he had ignored her distress and ran from the knight’s quarters to the keep.
It was not particularly busy at this time of the morning and the main entry door had been unmarred by servants or anyone else who might wonder why he was there.
It was not normal for the knights to enter the keep. But Jory was on a mission.
It was quiet and dark as he made his way up to the third floor; he could hear Gilbert and Edward fighting in their bower to his right and he quickly slipped up the stairs to the fourth floor before Lady Anne could come out of her chamber and scold the boys.
He could already hear her voice as she lifted it, in conversation, behind their closed bedchamber door.
Jory’s boots were silent upon the stone steps as he spiraled his way to the top of the structure.
His breathing was coming in heavy gasps by the time he came to the landing.
Two small chambers were on this level; one to the right and one to the left.
Carefully, he put his hand on the latch of the chamber to his right, his heart pounding loudly in his ears as he slowly opened the door.
One brown eye peered inside, long enough to note that it was cold and empty.
Letting go of the latch, he moved to the chamber on his left.