Chapter Four
Opening the door of the ramshackle cottage, Julia took Galfrid’s hand and beckoned to an eerie glowing arch of twisting blue-and-white light before her. “Spirits, come inside. We wish for you to witness our solemn oaths as we promise ourselves to each other to have and to hold for all eternity.”
The arch dissolved into bright mist, and the pale forms of a man and woman stepped forward over the threshold into the house.
Julia and Galfrid stepped back to make way for them, bathed in their uncanny glow.
She had no direct experience with ghosts, but she had listened to a thousand stories.
They were here to resolve their unfinished business, and what better way than to unite two lovers in danger of suffering the same fate?
She turned to Galfrid and took his hand in hers. “Before God and these immortal witnesses, I plight thee my troth. I give you all that I have, my heart, my body, and my soul, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health, unto death and beyond.”
Death might have severed the bonds of some marriages, but not theirs. Like these two spirits, she meant to love Galfrid forevermore.
Tears welled in Galfrid’s eyes, and he squeezed her hand as he repeated her vows, word for word, his deep voice trembling.
As he spoke the final promise, “unto death and beyond,” the spirits twisted into thin vines binding their hands like rope.
Their promise was sealed more fully than any earthly vow.
The spirits enveloped them in cool mist, and for a moment, she could see them as they were in life, young and very much in love as they’d kissed in a forest glen before the cruel world had torn them apart.
She reached for Galfrid and pressed her lips to his, needing to feel his warmth and solidity as the ghosts thinned and blew out on the breeze, returning to their vigil outside the door.
But the pounding of hooves outside made her stiffen.
“I know you’re in there, you bastard. Give me back my bride, and I’ll let you live.” Lord Eustace’s voice froze her heart as even her encounter with the Moonlight Marauder and his bride had not.
Galfrid tightened his arms around her, then let her go, grabbing his sword and striding to the door. “Stay inside.”
“No.” She would not hide while Galfrid faced all the danger. “I’m coming with you.”
He gave her a warning, pleading look, but she followed anyway. She was going to stand by the man she loved, the man she promised herself to for the rest of eternity, no matter what happened next.
When she emerged from the cottage, their ghostly guards were gone. Had they disappeared for good after marrying them? Was their business on earth finished now? She wished with all her might that they would return to send Lord Eustace running.
As Julia emerged from the cottage, Lord Eustace sat sneering at Galfrid from atop his horse. He was alone, thankfully. None of his men were with him. “Mother always said you’d betray me and try to usurp me. I should have known you’d steal my bride.”
Why would Lord Eustace worry about being usurped? Julia knew very well that bastards couldn’t inherit.
“And you’ll never get her back. Not while I draw breath.” Galfrid stepped forward, brandishing his sword to defend her, eyes aflame. “Turn away now. Let us go, and you can leave unharmed.”
“Ha!” Lord Eustace dismounted and stalked toward them, drawing his sword. “I’m not leaving until you lie dead at my feet. She’s coming back with me.”
“Never.” She met Eustace’s gaze with all the inner steel she possessed.
“I’ll deal with you later,” Eustace snarled, advancing on Galfrid. “First I have to dispatch this son of a bitch.”
How dare he insult Galfrid’s mother like that! Julia wanted to tear the man limb from limb herself for his foul words.
Galfrid’s gaze turned deadly cold as he raised his broadsword and swung. The clang of metal hitting metal resounded across the moors as Eustace blocked his blow.
Their boots squelched in the mud as they staggered back to prepare for another strike.
She couldn’t lose Galfrid. Not now. She had risked everything to be with him.
He had to prevail against his half brother, but if he killed a noble, he’d be hunted as a criminal for the rest of his days.
Running away with Julia was dangerous, but killing a baron warranted death.
And even if they escaped the long arm of the king’s justice, how would he live with himself after committing fratricide? There had to be another way.
As the two men were absorbed in their deadly dance, Julia made a run for Galfrid’s horse.
Maybe he had a bow and arrow or a crossbow.
If she could hobble Lord Eustace without killing him, perhaps she could convince Galfrid to leave him alive, and they could still escape without blood on their hands.
Trembling, she searched one side of his destrier. As she worked, a small chest tumbled out. What was that? No time to wonder. She needed a weapon immediately.
Making her way to the other side of the massive war horse, she searched again.
Still no luck. Peering over the saddle, she winced when she heard Eustace’s hissed breath as he lifted his sword for another swipe at Galfrid, who dodged in the nick of time and spun to attack Lord Eustace’s exposed flank. She had to act quickly, but with what?
Aha! My dagger! In her distress, she’d almost forgotten she had it. If she could throw it just so, she could end this madness before it turned deadly.
Pulling the blade from beneath her cloak, she positioned herself beside Galfrid’s horse, in the shadows. The two men were too preoccupied to notice her movement.
Steady. Steady. Wait for the right opening.
Lord Eustace turned his back to her, preparing for another swing of his broadsword, and she threw it, heart in her throat.
The blade sank into his exposed hamstring, and he let out a yowl that would wake the dead. Staggering back, he pulled the dagger from his leg. “You bitch, I’ll kill you for that!”
He lurched toward her, sword raised.
Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest as she ran for the trees, having no weapon with which to defend herself. “Galfrid, help,” she cried out as her attacker charged.
Just as she feared that her life was at an end, a burst of cold blue-and-white light exploded above her, and a massive tree branch fell right on top of Lord Eustace, knocking him to the ground where he lay, unmoving.
“Thank you, spirits,” she whispered, trembling from head to foot. The blade had missed her by a whisper, and but for the grace of God and the help of the ghosts, she would have been killed.
Galfrid knelt beside his brother and felt for a pulse. “Nothing. He’s dead.”
She took a deep, shuddering breath and let it out. “The spirits took their vengeance and spared you from having to kill your own kin. We shall be eternally grateful for the mercy they had upon your soul.”
Sheathing his sword, Galfrid walked toward her with open arms and a tender gaze. “You’re shaking, my love.”
He enveloped her in his strong, warm embrace, and tears ran down her cheeks as he kissed her head. “I have you. We’re safe. And I’m never letting you go again.”
She melted against him, letting the heat of his broad chest sink into her and soothe her, calming her swiftly beating heart.
A gentle blue-and-white glow enveloped a small chest on the grass beside Galfrid’s horse. “What is that? It fell out as I was searching for a weapon to use against Lord Eustace.”
Galfrid turned and cocked his head. “Those are my mother’s belongings. I wonder why the spirits have taken an interest in them?”
Holding her waist with one arm, he walked with her over to the glowing chest. Together they knelt beside it, and he reached out, slowly and gently, opening the top.
Bit by bit, he pulled forth a green wool scarf, which he held close and breathed in.
“I remember her wearing this in the winter when I was a lad. It still smells like her.”
He handed it to Julia, eyes glistening. She lifted it to her nose and smelled cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
“And here’s her drop spindle for spinning wool. She used to spin for hours on end as she watched me play with the other children as a child. It was practically an extension of her hand.”
Once again, he handed the precious bit of wood to Julia, who cradled it in her hands like the most precious jewel ever found. Because it was.
“And what’s this bit of parchment at the bottom? It’s written in Latin. I can’t read it. Can you?” He pulled out a yellowed scroll that had a heading reading, Ultima Confessio Patris Matthaei.
“I believe that says it’s the last confession of Father Matthew. Why would your mother have the last confession of a priest? And why would it have been written down? Did he write it?” It was a very odd thing for a servant to possess.
“I don’t know. Can you read the rest?”
“It says, My greatest regret as I lay dying is that I agreed to hide all evidence of the marriage between the servant woman, Kate, and Lord Hugh. I married them in secret three years before he married Lady Basilia, but the castle fell on hard times, and he needed the money a noble marriage would bring in. He never told anyone the truth about his first marriage, and he told me I had to hide it, or he would find a way to have me discredited and defrocked. To my eternal shame, I agreed, and held my tongue when he married Lady Basilia. He told Kate that I refuted their wedding and that she’d never be able to prove it had happened.
I write this as I lay dying. I know Kate cannot read it, but I hope someday Galfrid finds it and can claim his true birthright as the lord of Knaresborough Castle. ”
Julia could hardly believe her eyes as she read. Galfrid was the true lord of Knaresborough, and Eustace had been a usurper all along? “Eustace must have found out the truth. That was why he feared you. Thank heavens that this scroll survived!”
Galfrid clutched Julia close. A sob wracked his body. “All my life I lived with being bastard born, and my mother was treated as a sinner and temptress, barely worthy of a Christian burial. And it was all a lie. Everything I was told growing up—lies. My poor mother!”
Another sob tore through him, and Julia hugged him close, wishing there was a way to ease his grief.
“Your mother was a good and pious woman, and we’ll set everything to right as soon as we get to the castle.
We’ll have a proper wedding before God, a priest, and the town, and we’ll build the most beautiful monument ever seen for her grave so that everyone will know she was the true lady of Knaresborough Castle. ”
Galfrid glanced back at Lord Eustace. “We should bring my brother’s body with us.
He wasn’t a good man, and he didn’t deserve you.
But he still shared my blood. He was the last of my family.
” Galfrid’s voice broke on the last word, and unshed tears welled in the corners of his eyes.
“Now I am truly alone. Except for you.” Leaning forward, he clutched her close and kissed her deeply.
She could imagine his soul pouring into their embrace, like the spirits who’d saved them.
She melted into his arms, letting the torrent take her.
“I am worthy of you at last,” he said, pulling back.
“And we can even abide by the will of the Queen Dowager. After all, you will be marrying the lord of Knaresborough Castle as she intended.” A bittersweet smile lit up his beloved face.
“I only regret that we had to endure so much fear and loss to get here.”
She kissed his cheek and his lips. “We should return to the castle. There is much to do.”
He nodded and gathered up his mother’s things, replacing them in the small chest. Securing his half brother’s body, he tied a long rope to the bridle of Eustace’s horse so that he could lead it home.
They were a somber procession as they made their way back to the town.
Instead of going straight to the castle, they went to the church.
Lord Eustace’s body needed to be laid to rest in the family crypt.
Galfrid needed to confirm Father Matthew’s letter with the priest, and she and he needed to wed.
“God forgive Father Matthew,” said the priest upon reading the written confession. “He wronged you and your mother gravely, my lord.”
Galfrid straightened at the use of the honorific. “I still can’t believe it. All my life, I lived with the shame of my birth. I hardly know who I am.”
Julia took his hand and squeezed it. “You are the man I love, the man I plan to spend the rest of my days with. Let us repeat our vows before this priest so that none can doubt that I am yours.”
As boys from the town carried Eustace down to the crypt, Julia and Galfrid spoke their vows a second time before the priest, though Julia was certain nothing could be more binding than the vows spoken before the ghosts.
Walking to the castle after the ceremony, a growing crowd followed in their wake as word of what had happened spread. The clouds parted, and the morning sun shone down, bathing all the world in golden light. It was the dawn of a new day for them as a couple and for all the residents of these parts.
Before entering the castle, Galfrid paused and turned to the townsfolk who had followed.
“Before you on this day, I claim my birthright as the lord of Knaresborough Castle. But as I do so, I can’t help thinking of my mother and her parting words when I left this castle for the north many years ago.
She said, ‘Your worth is defined not by your birth but by your heart. Be kind, generous, brave, and just, and you will earn the respect of your fellow man and God’s blessing on your life.
’ And I am truly blessed because I have won the heart of the bravest, cleverest, most loving person I know. ”
Julia nearly swooned as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. This was the love she’d craved for as long as she could remember. He was the only man for her and always had been.
Joy welled in her heart as they stepped through the doors to the castle to begin their new life as lord and lady.
They had endured such fear, danger, and grief to carve out a life together, but they were together at last with their whole lives spreading out before them.
Squeezing his arm, she reveled in his warmth and said a silent prayer to the ghosts that brought them together, giving thanks and praying for peace.
Julia would spend the rest of her days with Galfrid, living the life that they should have been granted in a more just world. The ghosts had taught her an indelible lesson: Love transcends death, and it’s worth fighting for in this life and the one beyond.
The End