Chapter Three #4
The commander’s palms were beginning to sweat.
He very much wanted to get away from her at the moment.
“Not much else, my lady,” he said in a quiet voice.
“My liege and I left the hall shortly after that. The next I saw was your husband building the coffin. He and de Lara took it to the chapel before dawn.”
The little fawn bleated again and Joselyn stroked the animal, comforting it. She seemed stunned by the entire conversation. Slowly, the commander resumed walking towards the keep, gently urging her along with him. She followed stiffly, lost in thought.
Just as they were approaching the keep, chargers roared around the corner from the stable block.
Joselyn heard someone shouting her name and she paused, looking up to see a massive man astride a dapple gray charger heading towards her.
She didn’t even recognize her husband until he bailed off the charger and rushed towards her, flipping up his visor.
“Joselyn,” Stephen’s blue eyes were wide with surprise. “Where have you been? We were just leaving to search for you.”
Joselyn was intimidated by all of the weapons and steel; as big a man as Stephen was, dressed to the hilt in weapons and armor made him larger than life. She clutched the fawn tightly, struggling to find the correct words, when the commander at her side spoke.
“I found her down by the river, my lord,” he told Stephen. “She was at the water’s edge with her little friend.”
Stephen didn’t even realize he had her by both arms. He didn’t remember grabbing her. Gazing down, he saw the tiny fawn in her arms and his confusion grew.
“Where did you find this?” he asked her.
Joselyn found her tongue. “I was at the water’s edge when a doe and her fawn came to drink. Some soldiers killed the mother and I took the baby. It is too young to be alone.”
He sighed, more relieved than he cared to admit that she was well and whole.
He had been terrified that she had run off in her grief.
Or perhaps she had been abducted by bitter Englishmen; in truth, he hadn’t known.
To see her well and safe was a surprise and a tremendous relief.
With a great sigh, he put his gloved hand on her chin, forcing her to look at him.
“Are you sure that you are alright?” he asked softly.
She nodded. “I am fine. Just… hungry.”
The cornflower blue eyes twinkled. Then, they abruptly darkened. Removing one of his massive mail gauntlets, he touched her left cheek with big, warm fingers.
“What is this?” he demanded quietly.
She had completely forgotten about the slap and tried to lower her face, but he would not allow it. He held her chin firm.
“I… I do not know what you mean,” she replied evasively.
“There is a perfect handprint on your face. Who struck you?”
He immediately looked at the sergeant, who visibly blanched. Joselyn could see where Stephen’s thoughts were and she shook her head vigorously.
“Nay, not him,” she insisted. “He has been extremely kind. It was not him.”
“Not him?” Stephen turned back to her, his square jaw ticking. “Then you know exactly what I mean. Who did this? And no more lying.”
“I was not lying,” she insisted hotly. “I simply do not see the need for you to punish some man who was only reacting because I kicked him.”
Stephen was very close to losing his temper, highly unusual for the collected knight. He took his wife by the arm and pulled her into the keep, away from the men cluttering the bailey. Once inside the cool, dark entry that smelled like must, he faced her.
“Where have you been and who struck you?” he demanded in a voice that invited no dispute. “If you do not give me the answer I seek, I will lock you in our chamber and keep you there day and night. Tell me now or my punishment will be swift.”
She was angry, frightened, exhausted and hungry. She opened her mouth to argue with him but tears came instead. She was having a devil of a time fighting them off.
“I went to the river because I wanted to be alone to think,” she told him, trying not to sob.
“While I was there, a doe and her fawn came to drink. The mother was killed by men from the garrison and one of the soldier’s saw me on the banks.
He tried to take the fawn from me so I kicked him.
He slapped me in response and that is when the sergeant found me.
That is all there is to it. I was not attempting to run away if that is what you were thinking.
I simply wanted to go someplace to collect my thoughts and I ended up at the river’s edge. ”
Stephen stared at her a long moment before finally wiping a weary hand over his face. He had just spent the past half hour in total panic and was not quite over it yet. “Who was the soldier?”
“I do not know his name.”
“The sergeant will. I will ask him.”
He was heading out the door and she grabbed him. “Where are you going?”
“To get answers from the sergeant.
He pushed forward but she dug her heels in and held fast. “Wait a moment, please.”
He came to a halt. “What is it?”
She still had a grip on him, blinking away the remnants of her tears. “I was told you built a coffin for my mother last night. Is this true?”
She could see his expression soften at the swift change of subject. He didn’t seem entirely angered by it; if anything, he seemed to calm dramatically. “Who told you this?”
“It does not matter. Is it true?”
He paused for several moments before reluctantly nodding. “It is.”
“Did you put her in it yourself?”
“I did.”
“And de Lara. I was told he ended her suffering at the tip of a broadsword.”
Again, Stephen nodded slowly. Joselyn stared at him, realizing that what she had been told was true and the mercy of the two English knights struck her deeply.
Men who did not even know her mother, who was in fact, an enemy, had shown her such compassion as most men would not have.
It was an unexpected element from the same men who had hanged her young brother, a paradox she could hardly comprehend.
Fighting off tears, Joselyn slowly moved towards Stephen.
It seemed as if she wanted to say something more but the words would not come.
She came closer and closer until she brushed against him, her sweet, warm body against his hard mail.
Stephen watched her, electrified by her close proximity, wildly curious about her behavior, when she reached up and gently put a hand behind his mailed neck.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pulled gently, bending him down until his face was almost level with her head.
Stephen waited for a slap or a punch, unsure of her motives, when she suddenly leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on the cheek.
The unforeseen gesture was enough to send his heart wildly racing.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her lips against his rough flesh. “For the kindness you showed my mother, I thank you deeply.”
With that, she let him go and he watched, his heart in his throat, as she silently ascended the stairs to the chamber above.
He could hear the fawn bleating and eventually a door closed softly.
Still, he continued to stand there, feeling her kiss upon his cheek as he had never felt anything in his entire life.
All thoughts of anger, retribution and punishment were sucked right out of his head with that one tender gesture. When he emerged from the keep, it was to disband the search party and thank Norfolk’s sergeant for his escort.
“What is your name, sergeant?” he asked.
“Lane de Norville, my lord,” the man replied. “I serve Norfolk.”
Stephen nodded shortly. “Sergeant de Norville, you have my thanks for tending my wife. I will make sure Norfolk knows of your diligence.”
The sergeant saluted smartly and was gone. Even as Stephen went about his business, thoughts of the blue eyed, dark haired lady filled his brain until he couldn’t see or think of anything else.