Dragonblade Trilogy - 02 - Island of Glass (35 page)

She sniffled into her hand. “You
would leave me behind.”

He went over to the bed. “No,
love, I would not. ‘Twas my frustration speaking.  And since when do you become
such a weeper? You have been crying at the drop of a hat ever since we returned
from Stonehouse.”

She looked up at him, shocked at
what she perceived as his criticism. It only served to fuel her tears. “I do
not know,” the tears started anew. “I cannot seem to stop crying. All I want to
do is cry.”

“The Aubrielle Grace di Witney I
first met would have rather put my eye out than cry.”

“I can still put your eye out if
you want me to.”

He smiled, kneeling on the ground
beside her and taking her into his arms. “No, sweetheart, I do not want you
to,” he kissed her cheek, her forehead. “Besides, I threatened to spank you
every time you had a violent outburst. Perhaps this is your way of releasing
your frustrations in a different way.”

He took the kerchief out of her
hand and wiped her face.  He smiled at her, trying to coerce her into doing the
same. But she was hurt and wouldn’t respond, so he kissed her until the tears
went away completely.  Exhausted from their argument, she lay down on the bed
to rest.  In the back of his mind, Kenneth tried not to worry over the fact
that she was, again, exhausted. All the woman seemed to do lately is sleep and
cry.  He was beginning to feel concern over her health, but he chased the
negative thoughts away. Aubrielle was fine; she was simply still recovering
from her ordeal.

The party for London left the
next day because Aubrielle spent the entire previous day in bed.  Kenneth had
grown increasingly worried and even had Argus sit with her while she slept just
to make sure she was all right.  The little physic examined her and insisted
she was in fine health and certainly well enough to travel.  Therefore, at
sunrise the next day, Kenneth, Aubrielle and Everett set out for London.

Aubrielle didn’t look fine. She
looked pale and drawn. Riding atop her white palfrey, she kept pace behind
Kenneth because his charger snapped at anything within range. Her palfrey was
terrified of the big warhorse.  Everett’s horse was slightly less aggressive
and he took position a few feet to the left of her.

She hadn’t eaten anything all
morning. Kenneth knew that because he’d spent nearly every moment with her
since they had awoken. Kenneth sent Everett on ahead to keep watch on the
approaching road while he made small talk with his wife, still riding behind
him.  They were making much slower progress than he had anticipated, but he
didn’t care at the moment. He was more concerned with Aubrielle’s lack of
color.  Somewhere around mid day, they found a nice spot beside a brook and
stopped to share a meal.

Kenneth dismounted his charger
and went to help Aubrielle off her palfrey. She stretched stiffly, arching her
back to bring some life back into her tired body.  Kenneth removed some bread,
cheese and wine from his saddle-bags and spread his rain cloak out on the grass
so that Aubrielle could sit down. She sat gratefully and accepted the small cup
of wine he offered her. She sipped at it, watching a small rabbit with a fluffy
white tail frolic a few feet away. Kenneth distracted her by handing her a
piece of bread.

“I am not hungry,” she waved him
off.

Everett was a few feet away,
listening to the conversation but pretending he wasn’t. Kenneth continued to
hold out the bread to her, patiently.

“Sweetheart, you did not eat this
morning. Please eat something. You need to keep up your strength.”

There was genuine concern in his
voice. Aubrielle looked at him, reluctantly taking the bread. She tore off a
piece, putting it in her mouth and chewing it as if it was made of sawdust.  It
was a struggle to swallow. Then she repeated the process. It was the most
laborious thing Kenneth had ever witnessed. After the fourth bite, he shook his
head.

“We are six hours out of Kirk,”
he said decisively. “You cannot go all the way to London like this.  For your
own good, I must take you home.”

“No!” Aubrielle cried. “Kenneth,
you promised that I could go!”

He stood up. “Aye, I did. But you
cannot go like this; look at yourself, Aubrielle. You are pale and sick and you
cannot eat. I will not allow you to continue.”

She stood up, the ever-present
tears in her eyes. “Please,” she whispered. “I promise to eat. I will not be
any trouble.”

He put his hands on her
shoulders. “Sweetheart, I am not trying to be cruel. But you are obviously ill.
Why Argus declared you healthy, I do not know. You are clearly not healthy.”

“But I am,” she insisted. “Argus
was right. I am not ill. Please… you cannot go without me. You promised we
would never be separated again.”

He touched her cheek. “Must we go
over this yet again? I did indeed make a promise to you and I meant it. But
your health is of the utmost importance to me. If it makes you happy, then I
will not go to London until this illness you have has passed, I swear it.”

“Then you will not go to London
for quite some time.”

“Why do you say that?”

She bit her lip. “Because Argus
told me… I made him promise not to….”

He didn’t like her tone. He
lifted an apprehensive eyebrow at her. “What did you make him promise, Aubrielle?”

She suddenly looked frightened,
grasping for words. Kenneth never knew it was possible for Aubrielle to be
frightened, about anything. The very idea scared him to death. He grasped her
firmly by the arms.

“Tell me, Aubrielle,” he pleaded
softly. “What did you make him promise?  What is so awful that you made him
promise not to tell me?”

She began to cry. More terror
seized him. “Aubrielle, for the love of God, tell me.”

She fell forward, into his arms.
“Hold me,” she whispered. “Hold me tightly.”

Kenneth was beside himself.  He
cradled her against him, stricken with fear. What could be so horrible that she
could not tell him?

“Aubrielle, please…”

“I do not want you to be angry
with me.”

“I will not, I swear it.  What is
it?”

“Promise me that if I tell you, I
can still go to London with you.”

“I cannot promise you anything
until I know what it is that you are having such difficulty telling me.”

She was silent for a moment. When
she finally spoke, he barely heard her. “I am not ill. I am going to have a
baby.”

Kenneth thought he hadn’t heard
her correctly. It took several long seconds before her words registered. When
comprehension dawned, he held her out at arm’s length.

“You… you were afraid to tell me
that you are pregnant?”

She wiped her damp cheeks. “Aye.”

“A baby?”

“Aye.”

He stared at her, wide-eyed.
Then, Kenneth did something so unexpected that he startled both Aubrielle and
Everett, still standing several feet away; he fell to his knees like a child.
Wrapping his arms around Aubrielle’s torso, he buried his face in her belly. Aubrielle
gazed down at the top of his helmed head, stunned.

“Kenneth, are you all right?”

He nodded. “What are you doing?”
she asked.

He didn’t say anything for quite
some time. When his head finally came up, Aubrielle swore she saw tears in his
ice-blue eyes.

“I was speaking with my son,
letting him know that he is most welcome.”

She smiled timidly. “Then you are
not angry?”

He appeared hurt by her question.
“My God, Aubrielle, why would I be angry? How can you even ask that?”

She was starting to feel like a
fool. “Because… because we just got married. We have never really talked about
having children. You are so determined to go to London and find Lucius… I did
not know if this news would be welcome at this time.”

He was stunned, elated, having no
idea how to express what it was, exactly, that he felt. “How could I not be
happy? Though I had hoped we would eventually have children, never did I
believe… Christ, Aubrielle, how could you think I would be angry about this?”

Her face turned into a pout.
“Well, you do not have to become furious with me about it.”

“I am not, sweetheart, truly,” he
hushed her quickly. Then he just stood there with an idiotic grin on his face.
“A son. Truly?”

“It could be a daughter.”

The thought did not distress him.
“I could only be more blessed.” He caught a glimpse of Everett, several feet
away and pretending like he was inspecting the plant life. “Everett, did you hear?
I am to be a father.”

Everett looked over at them,
grinning. “Congratulations, my lord. We suspected as much.”

Kenneth’s brow furrowed. “What do
you mean?”

Everett wandered back over in
their direction. “Any time the Lady Aubrielle Grace di Witney St. Héver would
rather cry than throw a poker at you, something must be terribly amiss. And, of
course, it helps when the physic cannot keep a secret to himself.”

Kenneth cocked an eyebrow.
“Marvelous. Everyone knew before I did.”

Aubrielle reached out and took
his hand. “Do not be angry. A baby is wonderful news, for everyone.”

Kenneth could not have become
angry had he tried. In fact, Lucius could have walked straight into his midst
at that moment and he would have crowed the news to him, too.  He stood there
for several long moments, trying to collect his thoughts, struggling to focus
on something other than his impending child.  He’d always been inordinately
good at concentrating on what needed to be done in the heat of battle.  Though
this wasn’t battle, the news had certainly shaken him up.

“I would feel much better if you
would return with me to Kirk,” he said. “I do not believe traveling is good for
you at this time.”

“I do not want to return to Kirk.
I want to go to London as we have planned.”

“You must think of your health
and the health of the child, Aubrielle. Jostling you about on miles of endless
road will be very difficult.”

“I am strong.”

He could see that he wasn’t going
to get very far with her on the subject. He would have liked nothing better than
to put his foot down and insist they return to Kirk, but Aubrielle had other
ideas. Like an idiot, he found himself unwilling to be forceful with her in her
current state. 

“Please, Aubrielle,” he kissed
her fingers. “Let us return to Kirk. I want this child to be born healthy and I
want you to be safe. This trip to London will be more difficult than you can
imagine. This is not a pleasure trip.”

“But Lucius…”

“Lucius will not slip from my
grasp nor escape my revenge, I assure you, but the news you gave me moments ago
has changed everything. Can you not understand that? My wife and child are more
important at this time than seeking vengeance upon a man who will, at a time of
my choosing, suffer his punishment by my hand. Lucius is not going anywhere. I
will be able to find him now or a year from now. But you are what is most
important to me at this moment.”

She gazed up at him with her
great sea-colored eyes. A bit of color had returned to her cheeks. After a
moment, she shook her head in surrender.

“I cannot argue with you, as much
as I would like to. You make far too convincing a point.”

His eyes twinkled. “I am glad you
see reason.”

He took her by the elbow and
gently led her back over to the palfrey. Before she mounted, she jabbed a
finger at him. “You will not try to go without me while we wait for the birth
of our child?”

“I will not.” He helped her up on
the animal. “But I would speak with Everett a moment.”

He walked over to where Everett
was gathering the reins of his charger. The knight had heard the majority of
the conversation between the earl and his wife and knew Kenneth well enough to
know that he had not given up so easily, no matter what he had said to Aubrielle.

“What would you have of me, my
lord?” he asked Kenneth quietly.

Kenneth kept his voice soft so Aubrielle
wouldn’t hear. “Ride to London and gain audience with Edward. Tell him of the
earl’s death and my subsequent marriage to the heiress. Assure him that the
Marcher lordship of Wrexham is in good hands and reaffirm our fealty to him. 
Then, you will find out where Lucius is. Edward will know; I have little doubt.
Lucius would not make himself scarce from our king, but do not let Edward know
why we wish to know of Lucius’ whereabouts. If the subject of Lucius’ departure
from Kirk’s service comes up, let Edward take the lead and see if you can find
out what Lucius told him. Stick to that story if you can.”

“And if I cannot discover what
Lucius has told him?”

“Then tell him that, as far as
you know, Lucius is still in the service of Kirk but had a personal matter to
attend to in London. We are simply trying to find him to assist him if he needs
it. Pretend you know no more. But above all, find out what you can about
Lucius’ whereabouts.”