Chapter Five
The One-Eyed Raven Inn
The Lady Jeniver ferch Gaerwen de Shera sat across the table from her husband’s brother at the morning meal, a surprising event considering her pregnancy often kept her in bed in the morning.
But not this morning, she was actually hungry as she pulled bread apart as Gallus, Maximus, Tiberius, and the knights sat in the quiet common room of the old inn.
Men were sleeping in various positions around the room, just beginning to stir, as the sun began to rise.
“Please tell me about your meal at Lord de Lara’s last night, Max,” Jeniver insisted as she popped a piece of warm bread into her mouth. “Ty said that the lord’s daughter actually cooked the meal herself. Is this true?”
Maximus smiled weakly. He was exhausted because he hadn’t slept all night.
Thoughts of Courtly de Lara had been seared into his brain until there was nothing else he could think of.
Her brilliant smile, her honeyed voice, and her magnificent beauty had him obsessed as he had never been obsessed with anything in his life.
He’d only known the woman a day, but in that day, he’d come to discover a woman of humor, intelligence, determination, and compassion.
There wasn’t one aspect of the woman that he didn’t like or wasn’t attracted to.
“Aye,” he said. “Evidently, her father and his sister hate one another. The sister resides at Kennington and when de Lara told her he’d invited guests for dinner, the woman ran off and took her servants.
Rather than let her father be embarrassed in front of his guests, Lady Courtly cooked the meal herself to save the man’s honor. ”
“And it was a damn fine meal,” Tiberius, mouth full of bread, spoke. “She learned her craft at Prudhoe Castle and the meal was delicious. But I came to see last night that we may have a problem with the lovely Lady Courtly.”
Jeniver’s brow furrowed. “What problem is that?”
Tiberius eyed Maximus. “I think our dear, sweet Max is fond of the lady,” he said. “She was the only one he spoke to all evening. It was as if there were only the two of them in the entire hall.”
Shocked, Jeniver looked at Maximus. “Is this true?” she asked. “Are you fond of the woman, Max?”
Maximus wasn’t ready to divulge what was in his heart yet, and certainly not to an audience. He glared at Tiberius. “Keep your mouth shut,” he growled. “My behavior is none of your concern.”
Tiberius was trying not to grin. He was sitting next to Maximus but stood up and moved away from him, fearful that he would be the recipient of a fist to the jaw. Maximus wouldn’t hesitate if provoked.
“There is nothing to be ashamed of,” Tiberius said, chewing his bread from the other side of the table where Jeniver and Gallus sat. “She is a beautiful, sweet woman, Max. Had you not met her first, I might have pursued her. In fact, if you are not interested, mayhap you will let me have her?”
It was the wrong thing to say. Maximus bolted up from the table, going after Tiberius with a vengeance.
None of the knights moved to help Tiberius, mostly because they didn’t want to be in Maximus’ line of fire, but Gallus stood up and quickly put himself between his brothers as Maximus made a swipe for Tiberius’ neck.
“Enough, Max,” Gallus commanded softly. “No fighting with my wife present. And when did you become so sensitive? Go sit down and finish your meal.”
Maximus was red in the face. He had hold of Tiberius’ collar and wouldn’t let go. “You put Lady Courtly out of your mind, do you hear?” he snarled at his younger brother. “She is not for you.”
Tiberius was torn between being amused and defending himself. “Since when do you take me seriously?” he asked, trying to pry his brother’s hand off of his tunic. “Let go of my tunic. You are going to tear it.”
Maximus barred his teeth and tightened his grip but Gallus shoved at him, breaking his hold on Tiberius. As Tiberius made his way over to Jeniver and sat down beside her, knowing Maximus wouldn’t go after him if Jeniver was nearby, Gallus frowned at his middle brother.
“Go sit down and eat,” he told him. “He was just being as insufferable as usual. Why are you being so serious?”
Maximus didn’t say another word. He turned and left the common room, heading out to the livery through the back door. Tiberius and Gallus watched him go, as did Jeniver. She looked at Tiberius.
“You have struck something within him by speaking of Lady Courtly,” she said quietly. “I have never seen him behave that way before.”
Tiberius was coming to see that he probably should not have teased his brother on the matter of the lady because the truth was that Maximus had paid an inordinate amount of attention to her the night before.
It had been rather astonishing to watch, as Maximus wasn’t known to pay attention to women on a conversational level.
But Lady Courtly had his brother’s undivided attention.
“I did not think he would react so violently,” he admitted. “They were as thick as thieves last night. I have never seen my brother smile so much. If I had to guess, I would say the lady had thoroughly enchanted him.”
Jeniver, a sensitive and caring woman, began to feel badly for Maximus, perhaps the most reserved of the brothers. She was coming to think that Tiberius’ teasing had embarrassed him.
“Mayhap I should go and speak with him,” she said, climbing off the bench and bracing herself against Tiberius’ shoulder as she moved. “Mayhap he needs a woman to speak to and not his judgmental brothers.”
Gallus was standing behind his wife, taking her arm to help her away from the table. At four months pregnant, she was moving rather stiffly and gingerly, as her belly was growing and she was just starting to become the slightest bit uncomfortable with her changing body.
“You had better let him calm himself first,” he told her. “Sit down, sweetheart, and eat your meal.”
Jeniver shook her head, moving for the door that led out to the livery yard beyond the inn. Already, she could smell the strong scents of horses and hay upon the cold, early morning breeze.
“He must not be left to stew about this,” she said. “If he truly feels something for the lady, then it was wrong to tease him about it. I will see if I can ease the man.”
Jeniver heard her husband’s weak protest as he called to her but she ignored him.
Something told her that Maximus did, indeed, need someone to talk to who wasn’t going to tease him about his feelings if, in fact, he felt something for de Lara’s daughter.
Jeniver had a good relationship with Maximus and she loved him dearly, as a brother.
He was a good man with a good heart that he kept buried deep beneath that warring exterior.
As she wandered across the livery yard, shielding her eyes from the early morning glare, she caught sight of him just inside the stable.
Maximus was bent over his black and white stallion, inspecting the right front foreleg. Jeniver came up behind him, quietly, watching the man as he tended his horse.
“Max,” she said softly. “Are you well? I am sure Tiberius did not intend to be cruel. You know how he is. He likes to tease.”
Maximus looked up from his horse to see his lovely sister-in-law standing a few feet away.
Jeniver was truly a wise and gentle soul, a lady that Maximus’ mother loved dearly.
Honey had accepted Jeniver from the beginning of her relationship with Gallus, and that was something that made Maximus respect his brother’s wife greatly.
Lady Honey’s respect was not given lightly.
Maximus smiled thinly at her, without humor.
“Aye, he does,” he said. “Someday it is going to get him into trouble. And in answer to your question, I am well. You needn’t worry about me.”
Jeniver studied the very big de Shera brother.
“I do not worry,” she said. “But I would like to hear about Lady Courtly without Tiberius making jest of everything you say. Gallus told me how you two met. How very brave it was of you to save her life from a burning building. Truly, Max, that was an amazing effort.”
Maximus sighed faintly, leaning on his horse and averting his gaze. Jeniver was one of the very few people he could let his guard down with and he could feel his control slipping, wanting to confide in someone about what he was feeling. He just didn’t really know how.
“I just happened to be there,” he said. “Anyone in my position would have done the same.”
Jeniver smiled gently at the very modest warrior. “I am sure she and her father are very grateful.”
Maximus nodded. “They are,” he said. He hesitated a moment before continuing.
“I will admit, I was quite astonished to know that she cooked the evening meal last night. She said she did not want her father to be embarrassed in front of his guests. She did it because it needed to be done. Most women would have lamented the fact that they had no cook and simply let everyone go hungry, but she did not.”
Jeniver could see the soft reflection in Maximus’ eyes as he spoke of de Lara’s daughter. “And you admire that?”
He nodded. “I do.”
Jeniver’s smile grew. “Is she pretty, too?”
He looked at her, then, prepared to give a vague answer but he found that he couldn’t. In all honesty, he simply couldn’t diminish a woman who, in his opinion, was quite special. She was pretty, indeed. All that and more.
“Aye,” he replied. “She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She is excellent at conversation as well. Evidently, de Lara schooled both of his daughters in military matters and there was much that she and I could discuss. At least, a little bit. She seemed to want to speak of things like flowers and art, mostly.”
Jeniver was quite intrigued by the way Maximus was speaking of Lady Courtly and she could see that Tiberius was right. Maximus, the consummate warrior, was indeed enchanted by the woman. It warmed her heart to see it.