Chapter 21 #3
Lucia sighed. “I can believe it. Mercia fights Wessex. Northumbria fights itself. William would not have gained a toe-hold if Tostig hadn’t betrayed his brother Harold. Harold was a fine man,” she said sadly. “A marriage was proposed between us, but then I met Guy.”
Madeleine sought to distract her. “Have you ever visited York before?”
“What? A Lady of Mercia venture into the land of boglins and hairy men? Heaven forfend!”
Madeleine grinned. “I gather you’ve never met Waltheof Siwardson.”
Lucia raised her brows. “No, but I knew his father and can well imagine. It’s the faery blood.”
She seemed perfectly serious. Madeleine asked, “Is there faery blood in Mercia?”
“Certainly not,” said Lucia, then slid a mischievous glance sideways. “Disappointed?”
Madeleine laughed. “A little. But only a little.”
But when she saw Aldreda watching her again, Madeleine thought Aimery might need faery blood to escape the gathering storm.
That afternoon the barges were steered into the great water of the Humber estuary and traveled up it to where the Aire River joined it at Airmyn.
They all climbed stiffly out, gratefully aware that one more day would have them in York.
Madeleine could hardly believe it, but it seemed as if Matilda was going to achieve her end.
Madeleine was no longer sure if she wanted to reach York or not.
It promised time at last for her marriage, but threatened Aimery’s exposure as Golden Hart.
After all, if Odo brought forward his witnesses before the whole court, William would have to act.
At the very least, Aimery would be disgraced and banished.
She was fretting over this when she bumped into Odo. She had the disquieting feeling he had deliberately stepped in her way. “Excuse me, Odo. The queen has need of me.”
“Of course,” he said without moving. “How is Her Majesty?”
“Well, considering. Step aside, please.”
“And you? Rumor says you, too, are with child.”
She made herself face him boldly. “We hope it is so. Odo, what do you want?”
“Just greeting my dear cousin,” he said, and finally moved out of her way.
Madeleine hurried on, her heart thundering. He might as well have been a fox toying with a chicken. He knew everything.
She had to push her worries aside as she tended the weary, uncomfortable queen.
They all again tried to persuade her to stay where she was and send for the king.
He could be in Airmyn in a short day, but Matilda would have none of it.
As soon as the queen was settled, all Madeleine’s personal worries came back to her, and she sought a private moment with Aimery.
She opened the subject bluntly. “I spoke with Aldreda.”
He was sitting at a table studying a map of the area. He didn’t look up. “Ignore her. She’ll come to her senses.”
“I think you’re wrong. She’s like a vixen with one cub. Or perhaps two,” she added darkly.
He glanced up. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Is it yours?”
She saw his jaw set. “No, it isn’t mine. I haven’t touched Aldreda since I was fourteen years old.”
“I believe you!” Madeleine said quickly. She did believe him. Why had she even mentioned it?
“Kind of you. It’s doubtless Odo’s child. She was playing the whore with him at Baddersley before the wedding.”
Madeleine thought back to her three suitors and shivered at the mistake she could have made. She paced backward and forward. “So why is she claiming it’s yours?”
He sighed and put aside the map. “Greed,” he said. “Everything comes down to greed, the most vile of sins. I’ve promised to do what I can for Frieda, but she wants more.”
“I know. Is it reasonable?”
“A Danelaw marriage? No, even if it had any meaning anymore.”
“But if you don’t, she’ll betray you to the king.”
He shrugged. “If that is my wyrd.”
Madeleine hit him. She made a fist and hammered his shoulder, which made as much impression as if she’d hit an oak tree, but at least he paid her some attention. “What do you want me to do?” he asked.
Madeleine shook her head, and her hand. “I don’t know. But you could at least worry. Odo’s licking his chops, too.”
He shrugged. “I am worrying. There are men on the move nearby.”
“Rebels?” asked Madeleine sharply, also consigning Aldreda and Odo to the irrelevant.
“Not Norman. They may have no connection to us.”
“But we would tempt a force if it were large enough.”
He tossed the note aside. “True. I’ll just have to spend the night drumming the next day’s route into Odo and Allan and hope they’ll keep in position and close.” He stood and smiled. “York tomorrow.”
Despite everything, the mere word sent a curl of warmth through her belly. “A lot of good that will do us if you’re in chains.”
He grinned. “Merely tax our ingenuity.”
She gave a watery smile and went into his arms. “I’m terrified, Aimery.”
He rubbed her back. “Don’t be. I’ll protect you. It will be all right.”
“How can you know that?” she asked with exasperation.
“Perhaps I have the sight, too.”
She looked up. “Have you?”
He kissed her. “Not as far as I know, but I do know this. Nothing short of death will keep me from our tryst.”
Madeleine shivered and kissed him fiercely.