Immortal Love (19 page)

Dominick dozed off for a short time. When he
woke he saw Eleanor lying deathly white and still. Her chest rose
in shallow breaths. Tears ran down Martha’s face. Her attempts to
douse the fever were failing. Martha’s call to her mistress to wake
up was futile.

Zenon came with the priest from the chapel.
Randolf and Erik were behind and stood next to Dominick. A sense of
disbelief overwhelmed him. His mind would not accept that Eleanor
was dying.

The heat in the room made him feel as though
he had entered Hell. The smell of incense churned his stomach.
Looking toward the bed Eleanor’s, body was so small beneath the
pile of bed robes. The priest droned on in Latin. Perspiration
dripped down his face. A vision appeared to him in the corner of
the room. Eleanor’s mother stood watching her daughter. She turned
to Dominick, eyes filled with sadness.

Gut-wrenching fear took over his desperate
mind. Eleanor’s fever was getting higher. The room was too hot.
“This is wrong,” Dominick said. He knew now what he had to do.
Pushing through the crowd by the bed, he began pulling off the
covers. He looked up at Zenon. “Saddle my horse.

Zenon looked horrified. “But my lord—”

“Do it, now!” Dominick shouted.

Zenon jumped to do his bidding.

“My Lord, what are you doing?” Martha said in
confusion.

“I will not allow Eleanor to die this way.”
He finally unwrapped her body from her cloche. Her skin was as
white as the chemise she wore. When he picked her up in his arms,
her body felt as hot and dry as the embers in an oven. He whisked
her out of their chamber. The crowd followed closely behind with
Martha and the priest protesting that he was going to kill her.

Their protests fell on deaf ears. Zenon was
waiting outside with Dominick’s horse. Dominick handed Eleanor to
his brother just long enough to mount then reached down and gently
pulled her back into his arms. Cradling her against his body he
charged out the gate. Eleanor’s head bobbed as he rode hard toward
the forest. Once there he eased Aries down the slick hill to the
stream.

Throwing one leg over the animal’s neck he
slid down with Eleanor held close. With her cradled in his arms he
carried her into the stream. He heard shouts beyond the trees but
he ignored them. Once he was waist deep in water he bent his knees
and plunged Eleanor into the icy stream.

He cupped water in one hand and poured it
over her head. He bathed her fevered face and shoulders. Her
breathing was getting deeper and her eyes began to flutter. His
fear shattered into relief.

All of the villagers crested the hill.
Randolf and Erik raced down on horseback, standing guard over
Dominick and his wife.

Color other than the red rages of fever was
creeping back into her face. Her eyes fluttered once more.

“That’s it my little dove, come back to me,”
Dominick crooned, holding her slightly apart from him so the water
could completely surround her.

Her eyes opened, lucid and clear. She clung
tightly to him. “Dominick, what’s happening?”

His heart flooded with relief and he kissed
her forehead. “I will tell you later.”

A cheer rose up from the crowd.

Eleanor looked toward the bank. Her arms
wrapped around his neck. “Why are we in the river? It’s
freezing!”

Dominick felt a chuckle bubble in his throat.
“We just went for a little swim, my dear. Come, let me get you back
to the castle, and I will explain everything.” With that he carried
her to the bank.

Martha held out a blanket and tucked it
loosely around Eleanor, who held on tightly as Dominick mounted and
headed back toward Godwin. A procession of villagers followed.

Dominick carried her up to their chamber and
placed her in a chair away from the hearth. The room was still
stifling hot. He pulled logs off the fire to reduce its fury and
opened the shutters.

Martha was in shortly after that. He grabbed
dry clothes and left to allow her to tend his wife. Once out of the
chamber Dominick felt himself take his first real breath in two
days. Eleanor’s fever had broken, and she was lucid and talking.
This was the third time she had come so close to death.

When he returned to the chamber he found
Eleanor propped up on pillows, in a clean chemise. Martha had
brushed and braided her hair in two plaits on each side, and only
one robe covered her body. The room was significantly cooler.
Eleanor looked tired, but in a more natural way than before.

“It seems I have you to thank again for
saving my life.” Her smile shone bright. “This is becoming a habit
with you. Someday I hope to return the favor.”

He sat down on the bed beside her. “Let’s
just hope this is the last of our adventures.”

“We can certainly hope,” she said through a
large yawn.

Pulling some of the pillows away, he helped
her lie down more comfortably. “Rest now. I will have food brought
up later. By then I’m sure you will have an appetite.”

She nodded then drifted off into a natural
sleep. Dominick checked her forehead for fever. To his relief, her
skin was cool to the touch. He sat and watched her until Martha
shooed him out, promising to stay with her while he got a belly
full of food and rested for a while.

For the first time in days he felt like doing
just that.

I
t had been a week
since Eleanor came out of her fever. Dominick insisted she stay in
bed for two more days after her ordeal, and the rest of the time
she was to remain inside the castle. From the time she stepped out
of her chambers, people were there, waiting on her hand and
foot.

Their constant attention was maddening. By
the seventh day, she decided she had had enough. Dressing in an old
worn gown, she headed out to see about her kitchen garden, hoping
the storm hadn’t torn apart her little seedlings. Upon inspection,
she found them to be poking out of the ground on sturdy little
stems. Gathering her gardening tools, she plopped down on her hands
and knees and began plucking out weeds, removing stones, and
dragging her trowel through the dirt that had been packed down by
the storm.

Her body felt the healing powers of the earth
as her hands dug in the soft dirt. Working in the garden gave her a
sense of peace and well-being. Once she finished clearing out a
couple rows of cabbages, she sat back on her knees, and looked at
them with satisfaction. She shaded her eyes from the sun and looked
toward the castle. Its restoration filled her with a sense of hope.
Her father’s neglect and McPhearson’s assaults had all but
destroyed her home. Now it was being rebuilt, along with the
village. Godwin was offering new life and a sense of security to
its people, a security she’d never felt before.

A long shadow fell on the ground before
her.

“I thought my instructions were for you to
stay in the castle until you’re well.”

Eleanor walked to the top of her garden to
clear a new row of vegetables. She kneeled down to continue her
weeding. She gave Dominick her most brilliant smile. “I’m feeling
fine. Better than I have in a long time.”

Dominick was looking much too serious. “I
won’t have you taxing yourself.”

“Relax, my good knight. I feel in sound
health. And I could not take another day looking at those gray
walls.”

He bent down beside her reached to gently
tilt her chin toward him so he could look into her eyes. She was
touched by his concern.

Dominick studied her face, and she realized
he was looking for signs of fatigue. “You’re sure you’re feeling
well?”

Looking up at the bright blue sky, she
couldn’t hide her exhilaration at the beautiful day. “I’m more than
feeling well.” Stretching her arms out, her face uplifted to feel
the warmth of the sun. “I’m feeling glorious.”

“This is good.” He took her hand. “If you’re
well enough, I would like to show you something.”

“What would that be?”

He pulled her up from where she was kneeling
and helped her over the small fence that protected the garden.
“It’s a surprise. Call it a late wedding gift.”

He led her to the stables. Standing her just
outside the stable door, he instructed her to wait and disappeared
into the dark opening. After only a few moments he led out a
snow-white Arabian horse.

Eleanor gasped in surprise. “Oh, Dominick!
She’s beautiful.”

His smiled was from ear to ear. “Do you like
her?”

“Like her? She’s magnificent.” The horse’s
beauty overwhelmed her.

“What are you going to name her?” he
asked.

She could hardly contain her excitement. “You
mean she’s mine?”

“Didn’t I say it was a belated wedding gift?
The Lady of Godwin must have a quality horse.”

Elation made her feet take flight, and she
bounded into Dominick’s arms, squeezing his neck. “Oh, Dominick,
this is absolutely wonderful.”

It wasn’t until his arms came around her that
she felt the heat of his body travel the length of hers. The desire
to stay there was frightening. She quickly pulled away. Her face
grew hot, and she needed to say something to break the tension. “I
only wish I had a gift equally as precious to give you.”

When he pulled up her chin, she saw his eyes
smoldering.

“One day you will, my little dove, and it
will be the most precious gift of all.”

There was no doubt in her mind what he was
talking about. Strange warmth settled low in her middle.
Deliberately, she put the animal between them, stroking its neck.
“I think I will call her White Wind. She looks as though she could
fly across a meadow.”

“She’s remarkably fast.” He hesitated for a
moment. “I never thought of it until now, but do you know how to
ride?”

“Zenon taught me when I was a child, when we
still had horses. But I have to admit it has been a few years.”

“Once you have ridden, you never forget.” He
stroked White Wind’s neck. “How about this afternoon? I could have
Martha pack an afternoon meal, and we could eat it by the shore, to
celebrate your recovery.”

Excitement bubbled inside her. She smiled
back at him. “I would love that.”

“Good then it’s settled. We will ride this
afternoon.”

“It will have to be after I finish clearing
the kitchen garden. The soil needs to be worked."

“That will be fine. I have some things to
attend to as well. I will look for you this afternoon. Then we can
decide when to get away.”

She gave White Wind another stroke on her
muzzle before heading toward the garden. She looked back for a
moment to see Dominick leading the horse into the stable.

Her stomach fluttered. She was smiling inside
as well as the outside. As she tilled the garden, Dominick’s
handsome image came to mind. Unexplainably, she felt as giddy as a
young maid being courted by a handsome knight, something she’d
never dreamed of. It was a nightmare that had haunted her life,
that some day she would be forced to wed. But now it had come to
pass and those nightmares were becoming a distant memory.

An afternoon at the beach would be intimate.
She jolted at the notion. Was she ready to be a wife?

In all fairness she had to remember the
gentle man that had held her while she wept, the man who had time
to play with children, and the generous man who had already given
her more than she expected in a lifetime. Never in her life had she
seen those traits in her father, or any noble for that matter.

Dominick had saved her life on three
occasions. He deserved more than her skepticism, but doubt was hard
to put aside. The man was still a warrior. All his life he had
known only war. Could he transform into a land owner and a fair
lord to her people and truly be happy?
Time.
She needed more
time. She had to put aside her adolescent fears and concentrate on
the good people of Godwin.

Dominick’s shadow crossed over hers once more
as she was pulling the last weed out of the garden.

“Are you ready, my lady?”

She held out her hand for him to pull her up.
“Yes. Just let me clean up, and I will meet you at the
stables.”

“I will see you shortly then.”

Her heart lurched again when he squeezed her
hand slightly before he let it go and walked in to the kitchen
entrance. Hand on chest, she chastised herself for letting her
emotions rise and fall, acting like a silly girl.

Soon cleaned and dressed, with her hair now
plaited in one braid down her back, Eleanor was ready for her
outing. Walking toward the stables, she saw a groom holding White
Wind’s reins. A fine leather saddle trimmed in silver sat on the
mare’s back and suited such a magnificent animal.

Dominick led his large warhorse out of the
stables. It dwarfed her white Arabian. This must be how she and
Dominick looked when standing together, the giant and the elf. She
chuckled at the thought.

Spotting her outside, he led the two horses
toward her. “Let’s make our own adventure, shall we?”

She couldn’t keep the enthusiasm out of her
voice. “Yes, I would like that very much.”

“Then we shall be off.”

Her body reacted when his hands circled her
waist and boosted her into White Wind’s saddle. It took a moment to
steady her heartbeat.

Gracefully, he mounted Aries, and with a wave
of his hand said, “Lead the way.”

Guiding him out the west gate past the fields
and through the grassy meadow that bordered the ocean cliffs, she
realized Dominick had been right, she hadn’t forgotten how to ride.
Her heart raced when she brought White Wind to a full gallop. The
thrill of the ride rose as the wind rushed past her face and she
felt reckless and carefree.

Soon she came to a path that led to the
shoreline. The Arabian carefully picked her way down to the soft
sandy beach.