Chapter Fourteen
It was morning.
Ellowyn knew this because she could hear animals stirring in the yard below her chamber window. It was still dark as she sat up in the empty bed, momentarily disoriented until memories from the previous night came rushing back to her.
Clutching the coverlet to her naked chest, she recalled Brandt and his scorching touch, his lips and body that seemed to do miraculous things to her.
She was very embarrassed about how she had reacted to him, unable to understand her body’s responses.
Mentally, she was still very virginal and na?ve even if bodily she was not.
To think of her reaction made her cheeks flame, even in the cool room.
Inching over, she pulled back a corner of the oiled cloth to see a heavy fog blanketing the land and a stable yard below.
Smells of animals and urine wafted up, assaulting her nose until she closed the oiled cloth.
Men were shouting out in the yard, bellowing for mounts, and Ellowyn snuggled back under the warm coverlet, eyes wide open and staring at the wall.
Her thoughts began to move to the previous day.
So much had happened. Her sleepy mind was singling out thoughts and fixating on them.
She thought of her mother, of her father, and how they had tried so hard to protect and shelter her.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she thought of her parents, undoubtedly distraught over her disappearance.
Of course they knew she had gone with Brandt, there was no other alternative.
She knew her mother would be weeping and sorrowful, and her father would be both grief-stricken and irate.
Discord had invaded their happy little world and had taken their daughter away from them.
Ellowyn wiped at the tears on her temples as she thought of Brandt, the man now her husband.
She thought perhaps she had been terribly foolish to run off and marry him, but she did not regret it.
She only wished the circumstances could have been different.
Yesterday, all she had considered was her own wants.
She wanted to marry Brandt and would stop at nothing to achieve those wants.
Today, she was regretting her haste at least to the extent it had hurt her family.
But she knew that, given the choice again, she would have made the same decision.
The door to the chamber quietly opened and she sat bolt-upright, startled. Brandt stood in the doorway, his expression somewhat startled as well.
“Did I wake you?” he asked. “Forgive me. I was only bringing food and firewood.”
With that, he sharply motioned to the servants behind him, who scurried into the room bearing steaming trays and cups, and wood for the fire. Ellowyn pulled the coverlet up to her neck, watching the chaos going on, before pulling the coverlet over her entire head and falling back onto the bed.
She remained there, a lump on the bed, as the servants stoked the fire and set out a rather plentiful morning meal.
All the while, Brandt stood in the doorway, monitoring the situation.
When the servants were finished, he snapped his fingers at them and they fled.
But then he waved his big arm at another servant who was hovering in the hall with a pile of fabric in her arms. The woman dumped the massive pile into his arms and ran off.
Brandt entered the chamber and shut the door, bolting it. He eyed Ellowyn’s lump on the bed as he deposited the bundle of fabric in his arms on the bottom of the mattress. The lump stirred. He poked it and it stirred again. It was difficult to keep the grin off his face.
“I wonder if my wife will come out of her hiding places if she knows that a bath has been ordered for her,” he pondered somewhat obviously. “In fact, I have brought many wonderful gifts for her to inspect.”
The covers came off in a flash and Ellowyn’s messy red-head greeted him. His grin broadened.
“I see I have lured you out of your cave,” he said. Then, he pointed at the pile on the bed. “I raided a merchant’s shop early this morning and brought you these. You said you had nothing more to wear. I have remedied that.”
Ellowyn peered at the heap on the bed with interest. “You raided the shop?” she clarified.
He shrugged, watching her as she crawled across the bed, keeping the coverlet around her nude body to protect her modesty. She began to rifle through the items with one hand while keeping the coverlet up with the other.
“A figure of speech,” he said. “The man was preparing to open his shop for the day and I purchased these items for you. There are four surcoats, two shifts, various belts and scarves and hose, and a sack that contains a variety of soaps and oils and combs. You said you had nothing and I wanted to ensure that you had something until you could purchase items more suited to your taste.”
Ellowyn looked at him, surprised and pleased. “You did this for me?”
He looked at her as if puzzled by the response. “Of course,” he said. “You are my wife. It is my duty to provide for you.”
Her gaze lingered on him, hearing his words, you are my wife.
She felt such giddy joy at the reminder, chasing off the damp thoughts from just moments before.
Aye, she’d run off to marry him, leaving her family to start a new life with a man she had quickly come to adore.
She missed her family very much. But she realized it could not dampen the joy she felt at becoming Brandt’s wife.
Gazing up at him, she was very glad to be with him, no matter what the circumstances.
“I would thank you for your thoughtfulness, then,” she said. “You are very generous, my lord.”
He gave her a half-grin. “Not under usual circumstances, but you seem to bring it out in me,” he said, his gaze moving over her appreciatively as his manner softened. “Did you sleep well?”
She nodded, a smile coming over her face. “Very well, thank you,” she said. “Did you?”
He nodded, his dark eyes twinkling. “Surprising well considering my new wife thrashes about in bed. Twice I was smacked in the face by flailing arms.”
Ellowyn’s mouth popped open in outrage. “I do not thrash!”
He laughed, bending over to kiss her on the forehead. “Aye, you do, but I find it quite charming,” he said. “In fact, I find everything about you quite charming. You are a true and rare treasure, my lady. I feel like the most fortunate man alive.”
He insulted her and soothed her at the same time, leaving Ellowyn with a furrowed brow and a smile on her face.
“Compliments and slander well played, Lord Husband,” she said.
When he snorted and shifted on his big legs, she noted that he was dressed in a full complement of armor.
“I would assume that I have little time to dress?”
He nodded. “That is a fair statement.”
“Then I will need something to pack these garments in.”
“My men are searching out such a trunk as we speak,” he said, “and I would appreciate it if we could be on the road within the hour. We have much traveling to do before we reach Guildford.”
She was aware of that. As she looked at him, something else occurred to her. “Is my father chasing us?”
His humor faded. “My scouts indicate he has amassed his army,” he replied. “He will not be far behind us so the sooner we depart, the better.”
Ellowyn thought seriously on that. “Perhaps we should send him a missive and tell him we have married,” she said.
“Even if he did catch us and, for some reason, wrest me from you, the fact remains that I am your wife. My father cannot dissolve our marriage. Perhaps if we tell him that, he will give up trying to reclaim me. There is no point if we are married.”
Brandt lifted his eyebrows. “If your father has any brains, then he knows I have married you already and he will come after us regardless. We are speaking of honor, Wynny – I defied your father and slandered his honor by taking you. He wants you back. He will try to kill me to achieve this.”
She frowned. “I will not allow it,” she said firmly. “Moreover, he cannot kill you. Frenchmen have been trying to do it for years and have not succeeded. What makes you think a crippled Englishman can?”
Brandt chuckled, shaking his head. “An angry crippled father is worth a thousand whole-bodied Frenchmen,” he said. “Do not underestimate him.”
He was half-joking but Ellowyn was still serious. “So what do we do? Retreat to Guildford and hope he gives up at some point? Perhaps he will come to Guildford and lay siege.”
Brandt nodded. “It is a distinct possibility,” he replied. “But my castle is well-fortified. He will not succeed if he tries to bring me down.”
“Do we just sit and wait him out?”
“Nay,” Brandt said, rather firmly. “I will go about my business seeking fresh men and supplies for the Prince of Wales, and eventually return to France.”
Her spirit dampened. “And leave me behind at Guildford with my father trying to beat down the walls?”
He sobered. Then he put his hand beneath her chin, tipping her head up to receive a sweet kiss to the mouth.
“We are not going to play out that scenario at this moment,” he said softly but firmly. “You will get dressed and I will return for you within the hour. Agreed?”
She made a face but nodded. “Agreed.”
He smiled, kissing her again. “I will station a soldier outside in case you need something.”
She watched him head to the door. “Where are you going?”
He put his hand on the latch, his eyes studying her. “I have many tasks that require my attention,” he replied. “But I will not go far, I swear it.”
He winked at her before quitting the room and quietly shutting the door. Ellowyn sat there a moment, pondering his massive and handsome presence, before being interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Two serving women admitted themselves, carrying a big copper tub between them.