Chapter 15
Finally in a bed beside his wife, after bathing, Henry felt at peace in a way he hadn’t before. But that didn’t make what he had to say to her any easier.
“I may go to battle tomorrow.”
In the flicker of a single candle flame, fear glinted in Elisande’s green gaze.
“What?” She sounded incredulous. “How? Where?”
“We ride northeast, ready for anything.”
“Baron Goddard’s lands,” she said.
“Yes.”
“That is why the king said …” She trailed off.
“Said what?”
“That I must lose any loyalty I have to anyone but you or him.”
Henry cupped her cheek. “It is imperative. If your Saxon blood—” he started.
“I have no loyalty to Goddard, and my brother left me here to die at the hands of those he claimed were murderous barbarians. Do you really think I could be loyal to them? I assure you, I am not.”
“Thank God,” he whispered before taking her mouth with his.
She pulled back from his kiss. “Wait. You think they will fight the king?”
He would rather taste her than talk. “We will not know until we know.”
She touched his face. “I can’t lose you. Not now. We’ve barely gotten started.”
“So, your concern is for me?”
“Of course. I rather like having you as a husband.” She scooted closer alongside his naked body. “There are definite advantages.”
“Is that so?”
She nodded, and he dipped his head to press a kiss to her forehead.
“Like this?”
“Among other things.”
“Then we should definitely explore those advantages before I leave.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go,” she said, the playful tone of her voice absent.
“I will always do my duty,” he replied. “But, God willing, I will always come back to you.”
“See that you do.”
“I told you, I am exceedingly hard to kill, and that was before I had this much incentive to stay alive, my lady.”
His lips took hers, and neither of them spoke again for hours.