Chapter Seventeen #3
Gallus was wiping at his eyes, struggling to focus on Maximus’ question. It had been weeks since they’d last spoken to their mother, weeks since she had been coherent, so it was difficult to remember. As they struggled through the cobwebs of memories, Jeniver spoke.
“I recall one that of the last times we spoke, she spoke of Antoninus,” she said, her hands on her husband’s shoulders.
“She told me that she had dreamed of him and that he looked the same as he did when he was young and strong, before age and his health caused him to deteriorate. She said that he stood at the gates of Isenhall but he would not come in. He simply stood there and smiled at her. She was rather perplexed at that but do you know what I think? I think he was waiting for her to come to him and she finally did. Certainly, her passing is a sorrowful thing, but we must not be sad for her. She is with Antoninus now and she is happy, so very happy. Should that thought not comfort us?”
Maximus was smiling knowingly by the time she was finished. He looked at Gallus and at Tiberius, seeing that their tears were mostly gone. They, too, were deeply comforted by Jeniver’s words because their parents, who had been quite devoted to one another, were now together for eternity.
“It comforts me a great deal to know that,” Maximus finally said.
“She has missed my father every day since his death. Mayhap… mayhap instead of lamenting her death, we should be happy that they are finally together. At least, that is how I intend to view it. She is with him now and that is all that matters.”
Seated next to him, Courtly sniffled. “As my father is finally with my mother as well,” she said, wiping at her eyes.
She looked up at Maximus. “That is how I will look at it as well. The man towards the end of his life was not the father I loved. He had changed somehow. But he, too, missed my mother very much. He never remarried, even after all of these years. They are together again and it is what he would want.”
Maximus bent down and kissed her on the top of the head, giving her a gentle squeeze to comfort her.
“As I would want to be with you, too,” he murmured.
Then, he glanced at the group around him, the table of people he loved best in the world.
“But we are still here and we are still intact, and it is up to us to ensure that future generations of the House of de Shera have a country to inherit. Honey would have wanted it that way. That is why she told us to attend de Montfort, to be by the man’s side as he fights for a better England.
I will honor what my mother wanted. With the last breath in my body, I will honor her wishes. ”
Gallus and Tiberius would, too. As the brothers gathered to speak of returning to Isenhall, Courtly went to tell her aunt, still over in the shadows of the tavern, about Kellen’s demise.
Ellice wasn’t particularly surprised to hear about it nor was she particularly grieved.
The man who had caused her life’s misery was finally gone and, for the first time in her life, Ellice felt free.
Free to live the life she always wanted to live without being under her brother’s controlling thumb.
More than anything, news of Kellen’s death gave her relief.
Courtly watched as Ellice left the tavern, heading back to Kennington House with a lightness to her step that Courtly had never seen before.
They were the steps of a woman who had been freed from resentment and anger.
Courtly’s thoughts lingered on the woman, hoping that she would indeed find happiness.
She wished her aunt, the woman who had made all things possible for her and Maximus, nothing less than the best. The old spinster, that bitter, old shrew, had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
But the real blessing in Courtly’s life was Maximus.
As she turned towards the de Shera table, she caught sight of her enormous, proud husband as he stood next to Tiberius, his arm around the man’s shoulders, comforting his younger brother now that the news of their mother’s death had settled deep.
Tiberius actually had a weak smile on his lips and even Maximus was smiling, listening to Gallus as the man spoke of things Courtly couldn’t quite hear.
She observed the men a moment and she knew that, wherever Honey and Antoninus were, they were very proud of the mighty sons they had raised.
Glancing upward, to the heavens above, Courtly hoped that Honey and Antoninus de Shera were watching.
Somehow, she knew they were, and perhaps somewhere close by, her own mother and father were looking down upon her.
It was odd how she could feel their presence very strongly and with that presence came peace.
Most definitely, she felt at peace, because standing before her were the Lords of Thunder, men who would help make England a fine place for future generations.
And her beloved Thunder Warrior who would pass into all things legend.
* THE END *
Next: The Thunder Knight: Book Three in the de Shera Brotherhood Trilogy