Beast: Great Bloodlines Converge (49 page)

Gannon pulled Sparrow along with him for his parents’ inspection. “There is no great mystery,” he said. “This is my wife, Lady Sparrow Summerlin le Bec. She hails from the great Norfolk Summerlins. Have you ever heard of Edward Longshank’s Legend, Alec Summerlin? That would be her grandfather, many times over. In fact, we’ve already decided to name our son Alec.”

Arissa’s eyes widened at the implication. There was something in the way he said it. “Gannon?” she ventured haltingly. “Is she…?”

Gannon’s smile threatened to split his face in half. “You can expect your grandson this summer.”

Arissa crowed in delight and rushed Sparrow, throwing her arms around the woman. “I am so thrilled to know you, my lady,” she said, inspecting the fair-haired beauty. “Surely this trip has been exhausting for you. I shall put you to bed right away. You must rest!”

Sparrow wasn’t able to speak a word before Arissa was dragging her off into the manor. Gisella grinned at her mother’s over-anxious attention before turning her focus to her father and holding out her hands.

“May I have my baby, Papa?” she asked. “I must tend to her swaddling.”

Richmond appeared greatly disappointed. “Now?”

“Now,” Gisella said. “Unless you want to be covered in….”

Richmond cut her off as he immediately handed over his granddaughter. He wanted nothing to do with soiled clothing and Gisella laughed softly, cradling the babe, who grinned a happy toothless grin at her mother. Richmond tickled the baby’s cheek.

“She is beautiful, Gigi,” he said softly. “She looks a bit like you did as a child. But I wonder where her blond hair came from?”

Bastian spoke. “My mother, my lord,” he said. “She was very fair.”

Richmond nodded, looking back at the baby, who was now smiling up at him. He smiled back. “Lovely Audrey,” he cooed. “What a wonderful, spoilt life you shall have. The best of everything. Even the best husband; I shall search far and wide for such a man.”

Gisella put up a hand to stop his ramblings. “She is already pledged, Papa,” she said, glancing at Bastian, who grinned in response. “Bastian’s good friend, Andrew Wellesbourne, has a six-year-old son who, I am told, is the perfect match for Audrey. He is a cute little boy, I will admit it.”

Richmond frowned. “Wellesbourne?” he repeated. “I have heard of the family, of course. They are already pledged, you say?”

Bastian laughed softly. “Not formally, of course,” he said. “But I would not be displeased if Audrey married Adam Wellesbourne. The Wellesbournes are a fine family, my lord.”

“They are sworn to Warwick, are they not?”

“Indeed they are, my lord.”

Richmond shrugged, not entirely disapproving of such a match, as he returned his attention to his granddaughter, who suddenly let out a yell. It was clear the baby’s attention was wandering and Gisella rocked her daughter to distract her.

“Papa, will you take Bastian in-hand while I go into the manse?” she asked. “You must be very nice to him. No jokes or mean questions, please?”

Richmond looked at Bastian, who was smiling openly at his wife. “I will do my best,” he said, noting the obvious adoration. That softened him to the man already. “Go inside now so that I may talk about you when you are not around.”

With an adoring smile at her father, and then her husband, Gisella followed her mother and Sparrow into the beautiful new manse. When the women were out of sight, Richmond turned to Gannon.

“So?” he said, displeased. “You think not to tell your mother and me about your wedding? Why were we not invited to attend? Once your mother overcomes her shock at your new wife, she will be very hurt.”

Gannon put up a hand to ease his father, eyeing Bastian as he did. “It happened rather… quickly,” he said, scratching his head nervously. “Do not be angry, Papa, truly.”

Richmond frowned. “Quickly?” he repeated. “What does that mean?”

“It means he
had
to marry her, my lord,” Bastian explained for his friend. “They have only been married less than a month. There was no time for invitations.”

Richmond looked at Bastian, eyebrows lifted in surprise and realization, before returning his somewhat flabbergasted gaze to his son. It was evident that he wanted to become angry with him but he couldn’t seem to muster the will. Finally, he sighed.

“I cannot condemn you for that,” he muttered. “Your mother was pregnant with your older brother when I married her. Well do I remember those days, Gannon.”

Gannon was trying not to smile at his contrite father. “It seems that is a le Bec family trait, marrying women after they become pregnant.”

Richmond started to laugh but it occurred to him that he was standing with his daughter’s husband. His eyes narrowed at the man. “It had better only be a trait with the men and not the women of the family,” he said suspiciously. “If that is not the case, then you had better start running now, de Russe. I shall give you a few minutes lead before I come after you.”

Bastian threw back his head, laughing. “Only the men in the family cannot control themselves,” he said. “Your daughter and I were married for several months before she conceived.”

“Do you swear this to me?”

“I do, I swear it. Do you not think Gannon would have soundly beat me had the case been otherwise?”

Richmond stopped scowling at the man, a grin breaking forth. “How could Gannon condemn you when he himself is guilty of such a thing,” he said. Then, he slapped Bastian on the shoulder. “I am truly happy to finally meet you, de Russe. Gloucester had told me a great deal about you. He thinks a great deal of you, which was why it was difficult to turn down his proposal of a marital contract between you and my daughter. But I have also heard rumors about you and the Maid of Orleans, which have been rather confusing.”

Bastian sighed faintly. He had expected as much. The rumors about him and the Maid continued even though it had been almost two years since that tragic event. He resigned himself to the inevitable interrogation from a concerned father.

“What do you wish to know about my association with her?” he asked. “I will tell you all you wish to know.”

Richmond believed him. His gaze was steady on the man. He really couldn’t imagine that what he heard was true. Sometimes great men were maligned through jealousy, political agendas, and more. He knew well about the politics of war, for he had been deeply entrenched in them, once. Moreover, he doubted his son would swear fealty to a man that was anything less than honorable and worthy. Gannon’s loyalty to de Russe told Richmond all he needed to know. Now, he was coming to feel a bit foolish.

“Was she really six feet tall with arms as big around as tree trunks?” he asked. “I heard that about her. Any woman who leads an army must be a fearsome thing, indeed.”

Bastian wasn’t expecting that question. After a moment, he burst out laughing. “Nay, my lord,” he said. “She was tiny, like your daughter. Is that all you really wish to know?”

Richmond nodded his head, laying an affectionate hand on his son’s shoulder. “For now,” he said. “Meanwhile, let us retreat into the manse and get better acquainted. I would like to hear about your adventures in France. Were you there for Henry’s Coronation?”

Bastian grunted as they began to head towards the house. “I was indeed present for the young king’s coronation in December, one year past, in Paris,” he said. “As the King’s Protector, it was my duty to attend, which your daughter did not take kindly to. She did not wish to be separated from me.”

Richmond cast him a sidelong glance. “How did you feel about it?”

Bastian smiled faintly. “I was in France for a month,” he said. “I should have been there for three. I did not wish to be separated from her, either.”

“Are you still the King’s Protector?”

Bastian shrugged. “In title only,” he replied. “I hand-picked a contingent of guards who now watch over the young king, although I do spend some time with him. Mostly, my days are spent with Gloucester and Beaufort. There are great issues at hand now. The young king wants peace. Beaufort is even inclined for peace. Negotiations with the French have stalled for the most part. Gloucester wants me back in France and I am afraid that is where I may be headed in the summer.”

Richmond mulled over the issues facing Bastian. “In my day, it was Henry Percy and Owen Glyndower in Wales,” he said softly. “Such madness. Such wasteful madness. With you, it is France.”

Bastian knew the history of the Glyndower rebellion well. When he was a squire, he’d had a master who had fought those wars and who had told many stories about the heroics. He’d also told another story about le Bec, something Bastian had always wondered about. He was standing next to the man that very story, that very curiosity, centered around.

“I’d heard tale, once, that it was you who brought down Hotspur,” he said quietly, glancing at Richmond. “Is there truth in this?”

Richmond’s expression grew distant as he remembered those great and terrible days when Henry Percy and Northumberland turned against the young king’s grandfather. He’d spent many years battling the Welsh, as well as the English, in those days.

“I heard something about you, too,” he countered softly, eyeing Bastian. “Did you really bed the Maid?”

Bastian shook his head firmly. “I did not.”

“Then it was I who killed Hotspur. Truth begets truth, Sir Bastian.”

They came to a halt at the entry to the manse, each man appraising the other. Now, they were coming to understand that, in many ways, they were kindred spirits, each man with rumors and legends that followed them. Bastian smiled faintly.

“I wish my father could have met you,” he said softly. “He died right after Gisella and I were married. He had the greatest admiration for you.”

Richmond’s bright blue eyes twinkled faintly. “As I will come to have the same admiration for his son, I am sure.”

By this time, Gannon had already entered the manse, lured by the smells of food. He knew he would have plenty of time to reminisce with his father, telling him of his adventures since he last saw him. But now, it was time for Richmond and Bastian to become acquainted, from one warrior to another.

Old knights never really die
. That was what Bastian was thinking as he gazed upon a man who faintly resembled his wife.
A living legend
, he thought.
I am gazing at a living legend
.

“I have more truths to tell you, should you care to listen,” Bastian said after a moment. “I never had the opportunity to tell my own father this and I should have very much liked to. You are the closest thing I have to a father now. I feel… I know that I can trust you.”

Richmond nodded. “I would be honored, Sir Bastian.”

“Just Bastian.”

Richmond smiled. “Bastian, then,” he agreed. “What is this truth about?”

Bastian smiled in return. “This truth is about a heart,” he said. “The heart of a warrior and a patriot, something both of us understand well.”

Richmond understood the story of the Maid’s heart completely. He assured Bastian that, if he had been in Bastian’s position, he would have done the exact same thing.
Honor transcends kings and countries
, he told Bastian.
As long as you are honorable to yourself and to your vows, you shall remain a true and noble man. No one can ever take that away from you.

Great and noble men, and great knights, never did die. Bastian came to understand that during the next month he spent coming to know the complex and warm character of Sir Richmond le Bec. The legend of le Bec, and ultimately the legend of the mighty Beast, would always live on so long as men continued to tell their mighty and gallant tales from one generation to the next.

They were the immortals.

THE END

The Children of Bastian and Gisella de Russe
:

Audrey (Married Adam Wellesbourne – four sons)

Liliana (Married into the royal family – three sons, two girls)

Maxim (married a German princess – four sons)

Joan (Nun – convent in France)

Augustus (Married into the Pembury/Culpepper family – two girls, one son)

Braxton (Married into the St. John family – three sons)