“You,” he admonished, his mouth still on hers, “must contain yourself, madam. One of these days your cries are going to raise the roof and I will have a good deal of explaining to do.”
She grinned sleepily, satisfied, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Are you complaining, my lord?”
He grinned devilishly. “Never,” he kissed her again. “But I fear you are drawing the concern of Arabel. Her chamber is right below ours, you know. I think she heard you once because she asked me what you were screaming about. You know how I am when she asks me questions like that.”
Cantia laughed softly. “You become tongue-tied and embarrassed,” she teased. “The only things that can stump the mighty Earl of East Anglia are personal questions from his fifteen-year-old daughter.”
He made a face at her, kissed her one last time, and climbed out of bed. It was still dark in the room, as it was just before sunrise, so he lit a fat taper with a flint and stone purely so he could see where he was walking. The massive wardrobe over by the wall was his destination and he opened the doors to a neat and tidy network of possessions, long cleared of Brac Penden’s remnants.
“I have a conference in Thurrock this evening with Lord Chafford,” he said, turning to glance at her. “You remember him, do you not?”
Cantia was sitting up in bed. She made a face. “Of course,” she said, reaching for her dressing robe on the end of the bed. “A fat man with foul breath.”
Tevin grinned as he pulled forth leather breeches. “That may be,” he said, pulling on his breeches, “but the man commands a strong force that has held Dartford Crossing for months. It would seem that Stephen has been in touch with the man and wants to meet with us both, evidently. Lord Chafford and I need to discuss strategy for that meeting.”
“Am I coming with you?”
“I would prefer that you did not. His stronghold is north of the Dartford Bridge and I must cross it in order to reach him. I do not want you on that bridge right now, not with all of the fighting that has gone on around it over the past several months.”
She didn’t like that answer. “Why cannot Lord Chafford come to Rochester? Why must you go to him?”
“Because he invited me.”
“You are the earl, Tevin. You do not bow to another’s summons. Tell him you will meet him at Rochester.”
It was not a request or suggestion. It was a command. He fought off a grin. Cantia had been quite the tyrant as of late, unusual for the normally sweet and accommodating lady. He found the fire of pregnancy quite humorous at times, but he also had a healthy respect for it. If he didn’t defer to her wishes in all things, there was often hell to pay. The powerful Earl of East Anglia was controlled by a lovely slip of a woman and he didn’t give a lick about it. He loved it.
“If that is your wish, sweetheart, then I will send him word and tell him to come here tonight.”
“Good,” she nodded her head decisively. “Let that be the end of it.”
“You will have to entertain him and be a party to his foul breath all evening, then.”
She made a face at him. “I would rather suffer through it than have you away from me, even for a night.”
He just smiled at her as he pulled a heavy linen tunic from the wardrobe. Cantia was on her feet, pulling the robe over her head as she moved for a second robe that was heavy brocade lined with lamb’s wool.
“Why would Stephen want to meet with you both?” she wanted to know.
Tevin pulled a tunic over his head followed by another one of heavier wool. “Because I control the south side of the Dartford Bridge along with all of the roads from Gillingham to Wellhall. Moreover, East Anglia is my stronghold and I have ten thousand men at my disposal. I am more important to Stephen than most.”
She fell silent as she sat down on the bed to pull on her doeskin boots, very warm in the cold morning.
“Rochester is far from East Anglia,” she said softly. “When do you plan to return to Thunderbey Castle?”
He glanced over his shoulder to reply, noticing she was having difficulty pulling on her shoes. Her belly was already quite large and got in the way of normal activities. He went over to her, taking the boot and gently slipping it on her foot.
“Not until this baby is born,” he said. “Many things have been put on hold because of him.”
Cantia watched him pull on her shoe. “Like our trip to Saxony to seek Louisa’s father?”
“Like that.”
“I told you that I was fine to travel in the beginning. We could have been there and back again in these past several months.”
He looked her in the eye, somewhat sternly. “I am not going to travel with my pregnant lady. I told you that.”
“So we must wait until your son is born before we do anything to that regard?” she asked, growing pouty. “Then you will not travel with an infant, and neither will I. He will be several years old before we will be able to travel to Saxony, but what if we have more children? We will never go and we will never receive our annulment because I will never be able to travel.”
“I could always send a missive, as I have suggested.”
“And chance that it would not be received? A thousand things could happen to a lone messenger. Nay, we must all go together to ensure our request is received and approved.”
Tevin wasn’t about to suggest he could go alone. It would not be well met, at least not at this time, so he did what he usually did when she grew upset – he shifted the subject in an effort to both distract and comfort her.
“I am sure there are many different possibilities we can speak of at another time,” he said quietly. “But in speaking of Thunderbey, to reiterate my position on the subject, I do not want to force you to travel over miles of open road in your condition, so we will wait until the child is born before I will as much as entertain the thought of returning home. Why would you ask such a question?”
Attention successfully diverted for the moment, she shrugged as she handed him the other boot and he slipped that one on as well.
“Rochester is my home,” she said simply. “Hunt was born here and this child shall be born here. Do you not like it here?”
He nodded. “I like it very much,” he reached down and carefully pulled her to her feet. “But, as you said, it is far from East Anglia. At some point, I must return home to my castle and to my people. I do not want to be gone overlong from my lands.”
Her brow furrowed and he could see the pout coming. “I suppose,” she said, doing a bad job of hiding her unhappiness. “But I do not want to travel with a new baby and if you must return to Thunderbey at some point soon, I am afraid you will go without us. I do not want you to go without us.”
He kissed her forehead, hugging her gently. “I will never go anywhere without you,” he assured her softly. “I have told you that before. I will never leave your side, Cantia, not ever.”
“Promise?”
“Of course I do.”
He appeased her somewhat and was in the process of kissing her again when he heard sentry shouts coming from the bailey. Going to the window, he pulled back the oilcloth to reveal an enormous bailey below, alive with the glow of dozens of torches. As Tevin watched the activity, Cantia came up behind him. Together, they watched the commotion on the walls.
“I wonder what the activity is about?” Cantia asked. “What could be happening so early in the morning?”
Tevin had his arm around her shoulders. He watched the increasing commotion for a moment longer before kissing her on the temple and releasing her. Returning to the open wardrobe, he pulled on a pair of woolen socks before sliding into his heavy leather boots.
“I will find out,” he said. “I want you to stay to the keep until I know what is going on.”
“But I have a meal to supervise.”
“You may not go outside for any reason, at least not until I know what has my soldiers so excited.”
She sighed and sat down beside him, watching him tie off the
last boot. He leaned over and swiftly kissed her before rising from the bed and heading to the door.
“I will return shortly,” he said.
Cantia blew him a kiss as he left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, she ended up lying back down on the bed and quickly fell back asleep.
When she dreamt, it was of copper-haired babies and summer weddings.
*
Tevin could hardly believe what he was seeing.
He actually looked at Myles, who was standing next to him, as if to confirm that the man was seeing the same thing. Myles looked surprised as well, so Tevin knew they were both envisioning the same thing. In the darkness of the new dawn, a group of weary and ragged people stood at the gatehouse of Rochester. Men in disheveled clothing, old weaponry, and one very old ox cart comprised the group, and at the head of it was Gillywiss.
Tevin had the gate guards raise the portcullis. When it lifted midway, he walked underneath it with Myles, John and Simon behind him. Although John and Simon did not know who Gillywiss was, as they’d never met the man, they could see that the appearance had Tevin surprised. With weapons drawn, they stood behind the earl as he engaged the ragtag leader of the group.
“What are you doing here?” Tevin asked the man. “What is so important that has you traveling in the darkness?”
Gillywiss was astride an old bay stallion. He wearily slid off the beast, coming to stand before Tevin with his usual wild-eyed look and toothy smile. In spite of his exhaustion, he bowed gallantly.
“My lord earl,” he said. “I have brought you something that will make you forever remember my name.”
Tevin cocked an eyebrow at the bold boast. “What do you mean?”
Gillywiss cocked a finger at him and began to walk back into his group of haggard travelers. “Come with me, my fine earl,” he said. “I want you to see what I have for you.”
As Tevin hesitantly followed, Myles, John and Simon fell in behind him with their weapons at the ready. The dirty, ragged group of men that had accompanied Gillywiss gave them a wide berth, unwilling to provoke the heavily armed knights. When the entire group reached the ox cart that was in horrific condition, Gillywiss tossed back the dirty canvas that covered the majority of the straw-covered bed. Upon it, in the darkness, lay a body.
“There,” Gillywiss said proudly. “I did what I said I would do.
Tevin’s brow furrowed as he gazed at the rolled-up corpse. It was so dark that he couldn’t see very well. “What did you do?” he asked.
“I found her.”
“Who?”
“Your wife.”
Tevin’s eyes widened as he stared at the pile. “You cannot be serious.”
“Serious indeed. See for yourself.”
Expression full of disbelief, Tevin hesitated a moment longer before snapping his gloved fingers at Myles.
“Bring me a torch,” he hissed. “Now.”
Myles bellowed orders and someone came on the run out of the gatehouse bearing a searing torch, casting warm yellow light into the dark of the dawn. Myles grabbed it from the man, holding it high as Tevin reached into the cart to make clear the contents. He tried to stop his hands from shaking as he rolled the figure onto its back and peeled back the layers of musty, varmint-ridden material. As he tried to get a clear view, Gillywiss stood on the opposite side of the cart, watching intently.
“I told Lady Cantia I would find this woman,” he said confidently. “I have many family members living in Paris, in the catacombs, and they know the streets. They know the people there. So I asked them if they knew Louisa of Hesse. Do you know what they told me?”
Tevin wasn’t looking at him even as he shook his head. But that was the only reply Gillywiss received, so he continued in his usual theatrical fashion.
“They told me they might know of her,” he went on, “but there are thousands of people living in the streets of Paris with no names and no history. I spent months in Paris, following clues that would lead me to nowhere or to women who claimed to be the wife of a great English lord but they could not tell me what your daughter’s name was. That is how I tested them. I asked them to name the child they had abandoned. No one could tell me, but this one could. And she wept when she spoke of her.”
He was pointing in the cart and by this time, Tevin had pulled away enough of the material so he could look at the face. Heart pounding, he had Myles hold the torch close so he could see the pale features. And what he saw shocked him to the bone.
“My… God,” he breathed.
Myles was crowded beside him, equally electrified by the very pivotal moment. “Is it her, Tevin?”
Tevin just stared, unwilling or unable to reply for a moment. He just stared. Finally, he tilted the dirty face upward so he could see it from another angle. Then, he hissed.
“Louisa?” he shook the face gently. “Louisa, can you hear me?”
Gillywiss was watching the scene, rather proud of himself for doing what he set out to do. “She is a prostitute,” he said as he watched Tevin try to rouse the woman. “I found her in a hovel of other prostitutes because I had been told a woman calling herself Princess Louisa lived there. When I told her I was looking for du Reims’ wife, she wanted to know how Arabel was faring. She asked me to take a message to her daughter.”
Tevin’s head came up, his dark eyes intense in his pale face. “What was the message?”
“That she was sorry. And then she wept.”
Tevin’s gaze lingered on the man before returning it to the frail woman upon the straw. She was struggling to open her eyes.
“What is wrong with her?” Tevin asked. “Why is she collapsed like this?”
Gillywiss’ gaze moved to the small figure. “She has the French disease,” he said, his tone less grandiose. “Many prostitutes have it. It will destroy her mind and eventually kill her. She is not long for this world.”
Tevin immediately removed his hands from the woman, as he certainly did not want to contract anything she might have. He pulled his gloves off as he looked at Gillywiss.
“Then why did you bring her here?” he hissed. “I do not want her infecting my entire castle.”
Gillywiss shook his head. “You cannot catch her disease unless you bed her,” he said. “That is why they call it the French disease.”
“Nonetheless, I do not want her here. Cantia is pregnant and I do not want to risk her or the baby.”
Gillywiss shrugged. “Can you tell for certain it is your wife?”
Tevin’s gaze moved back to the lump on the straw. “I… I cannot say for certain,” he said, sounding hesitant and strained. “It may be… but I cannot say for certain.”
Gillywiss motioned to the men who were controlling the cart. Tevin and his men stood back as the cart began to move as if to turn around.
“I have done what I set out to do,” Gillywiss said. “Your lady saved my sister’s life, so I promised her that I would find the person that stood between her and her happiness, and I have done that. I have paid my debt. What you do with this woman is your own business.”
Tevin’s attention was divided between the cart and Gillywiss. It was clear he was still very shocked. He was also confused.
“Why would you do this?” He had to ask because he never believed the man had been sincere in his declaration to find Louisa. “Cantia is nothing to you, nor am I. I do not understand why you would do this.”
Gillywiss’ expression seemed to harden. He, too, was torn and attempting not to show it. “Because,” he said, almost defiantly, “perhaps you will remember this day and you will be owing to me, and I can come to you when I need something and you will provide it.”
“So you did it so I would be obliging to you?”
Gillywiss waved his arms at his men, who began to disband and move away. He followed them somewhat, like a shepherd moving sheep, waving his arms and casting Tevin and his men defiant yet triumphant expressions. The wild eyes were working st
eadily. But when the group moved a nominal distance down the road, Gillywiss suddenly rushed back in Tevin’s direction with a finger thrust forward.
“I did it because your lady was kind to us,” he was nearly whispering but the finger was shaking threateningly. “I did it because she and I have something in common, wanting things we can never have. I did it because she saved my sister’s life. There are many reasons why I did this and you will not question me again.”
Tevin gazed back at him steadily. He could tell the man was posturing for the sake of his comrades for his words did not match the angry actions.
“Not only do you seem to have a deep understanding of these dark times,” he said quietly, “but it also appears that you are indeed a man of your word.”
“I am.”
“Come to see me again. We will discuss what I may do for you in return.”
Gillywiss’ gaze lingered on him as if trying to determine how serious he was. Then, the toothy grin made a bright return.
“Invite me to the wedding,” he said rather saucily as he turned away. “Perhaps I will wear one of the fine garments your lady left behind. And if you do not understand what I mean, ask your lady. I believe she knows.”
“She knows. She told me.”
Gillywiss paused, an eyebrow cocked. “What did she tell you?”
“That you like her clothes more than she does, so she left them for you as a gift.”
Gillywiss wasn’t quite sure what to make of the statement so he laughed. Then he laughed again, that crazy wild-eyed laugh that he was so capable of. He was still laughing as he moved back down the road and mounted the weary bay stallion. The group closed in around him and they began to move off down the rocky road, into the dawn that was growing brighter by the moment. Tevin just stood there, staring at the fading figures, until Myles caught his attention.