Chapter Nine #4
“Max, I… Max, look at me,” he said, noting that his brother’s attention was on Tiberius and Courtly.
When Maximus reluctantly looked at him, he continued.
“You know I had a meeting with de Montfort today. We will be leaving for London on the morrow and we must discuss plans and logistics of such a move. I do not have time to enter marital negotiations with Lord de Lara. Moreover, I am sure he has the same news that I do and will be moving to London tomorrow as well. His daughter, I would assume, will go with him. Can we not discuss marital contracts once we reach London?”
Maximus was clearly, and deeply, unhappy. “London?” he repeated. “Why are we going there? I thought de Montfort was convening a big gathering at Oxford tomorrow?”
Gallus grunted. “As I said, plans have changed,” he replied. “De Montfort received word that the king is convening his supporters next week and he wants to be there. Therefore, we move to London.”
Maximus rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“That is all well and good, but it is quite possible that my business cannot wait until we go to London,” he said.
“Courtly has said that her father intends to send her and her sister back to Trelystan Castle, mostly to separate Courtly from me. Evidently, he has chased away every suitor she has ever had and he did not like the fact that I paid his daughter attention at the feast last eve. It would seem that her father has an aversion to men when it comes to his daughters.”
Jeniver was listening serious as Gallus exhaled sharply, with impatience.
“Max, listen to me,” he muttered. “I am very sorry to say that Kellen de Lara’s approval of your betrothal is not the most important issue we face at the moment.
There is something even more critical than all of this.
Because de Montfort wants us in London by next week, we cannot go home and visit Honey.
We cannot spare the time to see to her.”
Maximus was distracted from Courtly and Tiberius now with the mention of his dying mother. He hissed. “Damnation,” he growled. “Can we not even spare a few days, Gal?”
Gallus shook his head. “You know I am as unhappy as you are about this, but we have no choice,” he said.
“Moreover, my sorrow is deepened because I do not believe it will be safe to take my wife into London, either. It is a dangerous place at any given time and we will be spending most of our time with de Montfort and the allies, which would leave Jeniver alone a good deal of the time. It is my intention to send her back to Isenhall. I feel I have little choice. She will be safer there.”
With that, he reached out and took Jeniver’s hand, pulling her gently to him. As Gallus kissed his wife on the temple, Maximus was watching the two of them.
“Then in your sorrow from being separated from your wife, surely you can understand my desire to seek a betrothal with de Lara,” he said quietly.
“You do not want to be separated from the woman you love and I… I do not want to be separated from Courtly. I must know she is mine, Gal. Can you not understand that?”
Gallus could, somewhat, but Maximus’ behavior had him frustrated.
He struggled not to explode. “Of course I do,” he said with some anger.
“But, Max… why you? Why now? You are my rock, my most dependable warrior. You are an immovable object, but now, suddenly, you are pleading like a childish squire, bleeding all things soft and silly about wanting a woman. How can you do this now when you know how badly de Montfort needs our focus?”
Maximus stiffened at his brother’s words.
“I am allowed to be a man in all ways,” he said, struggling not to snarl in front of Jeniver.
“I am allowed to have feelings for a woman. You’ve had the opportunity twice and I have not had it at all.
Now, when I have found a woman I want to marry, you begrudge me the same happiness you have known? Are you truly so selfish?”
The situation was starting to get ugly and Jeniver put herself in between the two of them so they wouldn’t start throwing fists. “Max, he does not begrudge you happiness,” she said to calm the situation. “He does not mean it the way it sounds.”
Maximus was so angry that his lips were starting to turn white, tense with rage.
“He means it exactly that way,” he said, both to Jeniver and to Gallus.
“I will not let him ruin my chance for happiness. If her father will not allow us to marry, I have no qualms about abducting her and leaving England for good.”
Shocked, Jeniver and Gallus looked at him. “Max, you wouldn’t,” Jeniver gasped. “You would not leave us!”
Maximus opened his mouth but Gallus reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his tunic.
“You are mad,” he hissed. “You do not even know what you are saying. I did not say that I would not speak with de Lara on your behalf. I simply asked you to wait. How is that destroying your chance at happiness? If the lady loves you now, she will love you next week or next year. Why is it so urgent that you marry her this instant?”
Maximus didn’t like to be grabbed, not even by his brother.
Jeniver could see his fists balling and she shoved him back, smacking her husband’s hand so that he would release him.
Pushing the men apart was strenuous and she was already feeling sick and weak, but she jabbed a finger at Maximus in a stunning show of strength.
“You will not fight him, do you hear?” she commanded.
Then, she looked at Gallus. “And you know very well that family loyalty supersedes everything. Your loyalty is to your brother most of all. You will listen to me well, both of you. Gal, we will all take Lady Courtly back to Kennington now, whereupon you will speak with Lord de Lara about Maximus. You will get the man’s consent to a marriage this night or we will stay at Kennington until you do.
Once you have his consent, Lady Courtly and I will return to Isenhall while you and Maximus go to London.
Lady Courtly will be of great assistance to me, as you know I am not feeling my best as of late.
We will remain with Lady Honey and your daughters until you and Maximus return from London.
Maximus will then marry the lady the moment he returns.
Now, will that convince both of you that the situation is not worth fighting over? ”
Gallus didn’t like to see his wife so upset. Her pregnancy had been very taxing on her, and even now as she scolded them, he could see that she was rather pale. Nay, he didn’t like it at all, not one bit. He looked at his brother.
“She is right,” he mumbled. “Family is the most important thing. I did not mean to make you feel guilty for your feelings towards the lady, but you must understand that there is a great deal of pressure on me to mobilize our army and move at the head of de Montfort’s force.
And you… you are my warrior. You are the knight that all men hope to be.
I cannot lose you, Max. I simply cannot. ”
Maximus was softened by his brother’s words and he, too, didn’t like seeing Jeniver so upset. He was feeling a great deal of remorse that he had upset her so, but mostly, he was fixed on what she had said.
“I know,” he said after a moment. “You will not lose me. But I need your help, Gal. Lady Courtly says that her father has chased away every suitor she has ever had and I do not want him to chase me away. I have a feeling I cannot intimidate him into agreeing to my demands. Therefore, I need your help. Badly.”
Gallus relented, mostly because he knew he had no choice. He looked at his wife. “Very well, sweetheart,” he said. “We will go to Kennington now and open negotiations on behalf of Max. I suspect I should just turn you loose on de Lara because we shall have his agreement much sooner.”
Jeniver grinned, relieved that Gallus and Maximus were no longer fighting.
“I would not be opposed to that,” she said, although she was seriously thinking of resting for a little while.
She was beginning to feel quite weak now.
Still, this situation would not wait. She needed to be strong.
“Allow me to go and gather my things and then we shall depart. Kennington House is not far from here, truly. We should make it there in little time and, depending on how soon we can gain de Lara’s agreement, we should be back this evening in plenty of time for you to discuss business with your brothers. ”
Gallus cocked an eyebrow at his wife as she turned for the stairs she had so recently come racing down. “It is not that simple and you know it,” he said. “Negotiations could take more than just a few moments of your time.”
Jeniver cast him a glance, giving him a wink. “Not if you turn me loose on him.”
Gallus lifted his shoulders. “If you feel up to the task, you may try,” he said. “He may respond better to the soft overtures of a woman.”
Jeniver’s only reply was to smile as she turned back for the stairs. The moment that she did so, however, the entire room began to rock unsteadily and she began to feel very weak and dizzy. Grabbing for the banister was the last thing she remembered before everything went dark.