Chapter Eight #4
He kept up a steady stream of jibes and insults even as the field marshal told him to get out of the pen.
He did, but he was going to make sure Kieran knew what he thought of him.
Kieran was over near the pen exit, simply standing there and watching as the defeated knight was practically dragged out of the pen.
But as the defeated knight came close to the victor, Kieran’s enormous fist shot out and clobbered the defeated man right in the face.
He went down, and the crowd went wild.
William and Paris stood there and laughed as Kieran was awarded the beautiful sword that he’d knocked out of the other knight’s grasp.
As the hapless defeated knight was carried out of the pen, no longer victorious, Kieran handed his newly acquired sword over to William as he prepared for the next competitor, who made it a little further than the previous knight had.
He lasted several minutes, but in the end, Kieran’s strength and skill ran him into the ground, too.
After Kieran’s second victory, Addax turned to Emmeline.
“Now do you see why I withdrew?” he said, his dark eyes glimmering with mirth. “I have no intention of losing my Spanish-forged sword to Hage. He’ll have a collection of ten or twelve swords by the time the day is over.”
Emmeline nodded in agreement. “I completely understand,” she said. “Does he get to keep the swords of his opponents?”
Addax nodded. “He does,” he said. “The same thing happens in the joust. If a knight is unseated by an opponent, his opponent is awarded his horse.”
Emmeline was listening intently. “This is a fascinating world you are part of, Sir Addax,” she said. “And an expensive one if you lose your sword or your horse.”
Addax chuckled, returning his attention to Kieran as yet another knight entered his pen. “More than you know,” he said. “As I said – I have no intention of losing my sword, and I most assuredly will not lose my horse.”
“What if Sir Kieran jousts?”
Addax shook his head. “He will not,” he said. “That is not his strength. The joust requires agility that he does not possess.”
“But you do.”
Addax looked down his nose at her. “Of course I do,” he said. “Have you not seen me joust?”
She fought off a grin because he already seemed insulted by the answer to come—an answer he already knew. “Nay, I have not,” she said. “It is my greatest regret.”
She sounded quite sincere in her statement, causing Addax to grin again. “Of course it is,” he said. “But tomorrow is the last day, when the champion shall be crowned, and you shall have your chance then.”
“Excellent,” she said. “I will be able to sleep better tonight, knowing my opportunity is not lost.”
He looked at her, chuckling. He liked her sense of humor.
Emmeline started to laugh in return, but, quite suddenly, her expression seemed to change.
Her smile faded. She was looking at something over Addax’s shoulder, and when he turned to see what it was, he immediately understood what Beau had trying to be discreet about.
Maximilian was standing at a neighboring pen with a woman on each arm.
And he was having a grand time of it.
Addax’s smile vanished as he beheld the man, laughing and even kissing the women.
His right arm was bandaged up, but that didn’t stop him from using his left arm most effectively.
He clutched one of the women closely while the other one cozied up to his right side, avoiding the wounded arm.
Seeing him also told the tale of where Maximilian had been the night before.
There was no need for more of an explanation.
“Let me fetch your husband to you, my lady,” Addax finally said, fighting down his irritation with Maximilian. “Remain here with Beau, and I will bring him.”
But Emmeline put a hand on his arm. “Nay,” she said, preventing him from moving away. “Leave him.”
“Leave him?” Addax said, shocked. “Are you serious?”
She looked at Addax pointedly. “I am,” she said. “My lord, my husband has made it clear what this marriage means to him. It is a business arrangement. Fetching him to me will not change that.”
Addax looked at her, struggling to keep sympathy for her plight off his face. “What he is doing is not right,” he said quietly. “He married you, and he should be here, with you.”
Emmeline shook her head, forcing a smile.
“He unexpectedly married me yesterday,” she said.
“I have had the night to think about this, Sir Addax, and I have come to a conclusion. I can either let his behavior destroy me or I can simply accept it. And I refuse to let it destroy me. It’s come too close to that already. ”
Addax sighed faintly, thinking the entire situation was just horrible. He wondered if he could even give her any shred of hope that it wouldn’t always be like this. “It is early in the marriage still,” he said hesitantly. “Mayhap with time, he will change.”
Emmeline snorted softly. “I doubt it,” she said. “You have known him for a long time, have you not? Do you truly believe he will change?”
Addax couldn’t lie to her. “I do not know,” he said. “Truthfully, I never knew he was capable of behaving as he has, so I do not know anymore.”
Emmeline shrugged, trying to pretend that it didn’t bother her when, in fact, it did. It bothered her a great deal. But she wasn’t going to let the melancholy win. She’d let it win last night, and it had almost killed her. Therefore, the best thing she could do was be brave about it.
Show courage!
“Mayhap he will change, or mayhap he won’t,” she said after a moment.
“I suspect he will not, but in either case, the man cannot be expected to immediately amend his ways. He had a life before I became his wife, a life he was happy with and a life that does not include me at the moment. I do not wish to interfere with that because it will only make us both miserable.”
Addax looked at her in disbelief. “Is this how you view marriage, also?” he asked. “Something that does not require any loyalty?”
Her smile faded. “Of course not,” she said.
“Every woman yearns for a marriage with a husband who will be faithful only to her. I yearn for that also, but Maximilian has made it clear he has no such yearnings. However, that does not mean I will not be faithful to him. I must live by my own convictions, and that means my loyalty is only to Maximilian. I would never entertain lovers.”
“But, my lady, I—”
“Nay,” she said quickly, cutting him off.
“Addax, I know you mean to help, but I still have to live with myself. My honor is important to me even if it is not important to my husband. What he chooses to do is his own decision, but I choose to be faithful to my marriage, even if he wishes to carry on with others.”
Addax couldn’t keep the pity off his face now. He’d never heard anything so sad or, quite honestly, so noble. “You deserve better,” he said hoarsely. “You deserve a man who is worthy of your convictions. I am sorry it is not Max.”
“As am I.”
As they stood there in a desperately somber moment, each one of them realizing what the future held for her, Maximilian spied them from the other pen and lifted his hand, waving happily.
It was a brazen, oblivious move on his part.
As if he wasn’t surrounded by women in full view of his wife.
Emmeline forced a smile and lifted her hand in return as Addax simply turned away.
He couldn’t stomach the audacity.