By Right of Arms (46 page)

His feet thudded across the bridge.

“Sir Hyatt, what is it? What has the lady delivered?”

He did not pause to answer for he was driven only by dread. He could not imagine the meaning. Perhaps they meant only to call him back; perhaps the child had not come. Or his wife lay in mortal peril. Or worse. He thundered through the portcullis and ran to the hall.

Guillaume sat before a winter fire, a mug of ale in his hand and his stiff leg propped up. Girvin stood nearby, also hefting ale. They did not wear the faces of doom or death.

“Sir Hyatt,” Guillaume said cheerfully. “You are getting slow in your old age. You should have taken a horse to the wood.”

“Guillaume,
three
blasts sounded! What is amiss?”

“Aught amiss, lad. We did not cover all the possibilities with our code.”

“She is well?”

“See to your lady wife, son,” Guillaume said quietly, a smile on his lips.

He needed no further prompting and took the steps to his chamber two at a time. Aurélie lay in the bed, two pillows to prop her. She held a bundle in her arms and he heard the baby crying. Nima sat close by and Perrine was turned away at some chore, her back to the door. He rushed toward his wife.

Aurélie pulled back the blanket and proudly displayed a small, pink, screaming little girl. “Your daughter, messire.”

“My God,” he said in a breath. “I was sore afraid. The lout in the tower sent forth three blasts and I feared the worst. I’ll have the boy horsewhipped!”

“Here now, that’s a feisty mood when the boy did my bidding,” Perrine interrupted, pushing him out of the way and producing a second bundle. She placed another babe in Aurélie’s free arm and drew back the cover to show Hyatt another child, a small, whimpering boy. “We were at odds with how to tell you from the tower, milord.” Perrine beamed. “Small, but strong.”

Hyatt’s face lost color as he gazed down at his wife and two children. “Aurélie, are you all right?”

She smiled tiredly. “I feel wonderful. I am at least as surprised as you.”

He looked at Nima. “They are healthy? Not too small?”

Nima nodded her head. “They are perfect, milord. Do you not think them beautiful?”

Hyatt sat weakly on the edge of the bed. He laughed suddenly, greatly relieved. “Oh, they are indeed beautiful! But, my lady, if you bring them forth two at a time, I shall be hard pressed to feed them all.”

Aurélie let her lips touch the top of one tiny head. “We have need of a large family, Hyatt, to hold all the possessions you bring to your name. There is so much.”

There was a soft knock at the door, and Perrine went to answer it. Hyatt touched a tiny hand, kissed his wife’s brow, and covered the babies again. Perrine returned to the bed and whispered in Aurélie’s ear. “Let him come in,” Aurélie said.

Hyatt turned to see who disturbed them. Father Algernon entered with his head down and his hands folded together. He approached warily, his eyes soft and his lips held together with a slight trembling.

“My lady, will you let me bless the new babes?”

Hyatt stood, stepping back from the bed slightly and glowering at the priest. It was Aurélie who had insisted that they not cast the priest out or punish him, but his continued presence at De la Noye bothered Hyatt. Still, he could not deny his wife.

“I would like you to bless them, Father.”

The priest leaned over the bed, making the sign of the cross on each little head and muttering his prayer.

He turned toward Hyatt. “I have much for which I must atone, my lord. If you can forgive me for my betrayal, born of a foolish heart, I shall try hard to serve your family with my knowledge of God and the Church.”

Hyatt looked at Aurélie, frowning. She held him with her eyes and a slight smile appeared on her lips. This was the first time Algernon had dared to approach him. He looked back at the priest.

“It has been said that it takes greater courage to love and have mercy than to fight and rule lands. Atone with good works, Father, and you shall have a place here for many years.”

“Thank you, my lord,” he said, turning to leave as quietly as he had come.

Hyatt sighed and went again to his wife. “You said you would not ask me to forgive any more enemies.”

“I do not have to, Hyatt. You have the wisdom to know when to forgive with no word from me.”

“Somehow, madame, the whole world believes you the loyal and steadfast wife, all servitude and compliance, and yet without even a word of request, you have your way with me on every turn of the hand. How shall I hold together armies of men if they ever learn that a small and quiet woman rules this warrior’s every whim with such ease?”

Aurélie lifted a baby and placed it on her other side, next to his sister, and then put both her arms about Hyatt’s neck and drew him down to kiss her lips. Though she was weak and tired from childbearing, her kiss caused him to tremble.

“Just tell them that we have a common purpose, my love, and that is all that matters.” She smiled sweetly. “Now and forever.”