The Knight and The Healer: A Medieval Romance (11 page)

The banns had been waived. They were married on the Castle’s chapel front porch earlier in the day, with the invited burghers of Klayloch, Angalica, and other neighboring towns looking on. She was still wearing the long, lacy white gown that she wore earlier. Her hair was in a bun full of orchids. She held a bouquet of white and red roses.

              While she was walking down the aisle to be seated for the celebratory mass, she thought of the number of hours she spent fantasizing about her wedding day when she was just a child. She never really thought this day would come. She never thought she’d marry someone she loves and who loves her, instead of marrying someone just because the marriage has been arranged for them already.

              Fr. Tobias officiated the wedding. Both she and Paul couldn’t help but have tears when asked if they would take each other as husband and wife.

              When he kissed her at the conclusion and the people of Klayloch cheering and clapping for them, she felt like she her heart would burst. Tonight, she would be giving him a gift no others had received and that he would never forget.

              That evening, without the need for witnesses’ supervision, they entered Paul’s bedroom. Both found they were actually nervous.

              She let him take the flowers from her hair and kiss her from the forehead down to her lips. Soon, he left a trail of kisses from her neck to her shoulders as he slipped the sleeves of her dress off her shoulders, letting the dress fall to the floor.

              He kissed her some more and put one of her breasts in his mouth. She stroked his hair as he did this. He then looked up at her, and kissed her one more time on the lips.

              “I want to give myself to you now.” She told him,

“There will be soon enough for that, my darling. Tonight happens but once a lifetime.”

She wanted him to give her all to him and do it now. “I’m ready now.”

              “Are you sure?” He asked.

              “Yes.” Meg breathed, looking into his eyes. “I’m sure. Now, and for forever.”

              He kissed her on the forehead as he laid her down on bed, her body resplendent. He removed his clothes, and kneeled above her. He kissed her passionately on the lips, and on the neck, hearing her laborious breathing.

              He entered her slowly so as to prolong the pleasure. She burrowed her nails on her back as he did, and whimpered in ecstasy, her beautiful face being made more beautiful by the moonlight. She moaned as he moved inside her, and soon enough, their bodies moved in one fluid motion. They moved together with all the fire and longing inside them.

              Soon, they were moving in such a way that they both felt like there would be no more tomorrow. They came together, their hearts beating fast, body to body, skin on skin.

              “I love you.” He told her. “Thank you.”

              “No, it is I who must thank you.”

              They made love again that evening, thankful for each other and for the day, hoping for more tomorrows. And of course, there came to be many more tomorrows.

             
Paul and a group of Knights were lounging in the great hall. Servants were keeping them supplied with their choice of ale or beer. Sir Morgan stood to speak.
“May I have your attention, men? Because of father’s death, King Alexander spared Klayloch an assignment. Now, I’ve heard more about that assignment. It involved going way up north to Caithness. It seems the Earls of Orkney allowed their vassals to kill the bishop there by roasting him alive, the only problem being, the late bishop was a friend of the King.

              “So the King sent troops to restore order and to inflict punishment and that they did. They recently returned with their prize, 80 hands and feet cut from the perpetrators. I’m glad we missed the call.

              “That just serves to remind me King Alexander is a much better friend than he is an enemy,” Paul observed. Timothy waved to him.

              “What is it, Timothy?”

              “Can I speak with you alone, Paul?” They moved to the small room at the back of the hall.

“I just wanted to thank you.” Timothy replied. “For everything.” He took a deep breath. “To be honest, I don’t know if I deserve to be a knight.”

              “What makes you say that?”

              “Well, father never really saw me as one,” Timothy answered. “And I do understand. I understand completely. I mean, it wasn’t easy for him to be around Tobias and me because, well, we did lose our mother because of us.”

              “Timothy, you must get past that. It wasn’t your fault or Tobias’s.” Paul told him. “Everyone knew how hard it was for mother when she was pregnant with you two. It really took a toll on her health, but you know what? No one knew what was going to happen, and you certainly didn’t.” He took a deep breath, “And, I am sorry, too.”

              “What would you be sorry for?” Timothy asked, confused.

              Paul took a deep breath and looked at the hills from afar. “I never really told you how proud I am of you as a brother. How great of an equestrian you are…how you work for the peace of the nations. I don’t think you know how much that means, Timothy.” Paul said. “You are someone who’s capable of doing great things, and changing the life of our people, not for your own gain but for everyone else’s. And that’s something I really value.”

              “I still do not think I’m supposed to be a knight, Paul.” Timothy said sadly. “I feel like we’re disrespecting father’s memory. He never really wanted me to be one, and…and I was there when he died and I wasn’t able to do anything.”

              “Don’t say that.” Paul said. “You cared for father as much as any of us did, probably even more.” He went on. “His death was an accident. You need to get that kind of thinking out of your head. I also feel shame myself because I was not here but what could I have done?” Paul continued. “The thing is, things happen because they are meant to happen. We can drive ourselves insane thinking we could have saved him, but fact of the matter is…maybe, it happened so we all could learn to help each other out.”

              “Do you think so?”  Timothy asked.

              Paul shrugged. “I do. We’ll never know for sure but this is what I believe.” He took a deep breath. “We just have to make the most out of this. We didn’t grow up with father being around very much, but we can still try to change things for this family. And for what it’s worth, Timothy,” Paul smiled holding his brother by the shoulder, “I’m sure you’ll be the best knight we have out there.”

              Timothy smiled and hugged his brother. For a couple of seconds, they were quiet. They both looked towards the hills, just absorbing the moment.

              “I like her for you,” Timothy said and Paul looked at him. “Lady Meg, I mean. She seems to know what she’s doing. She is nice and wonderful and she treats people the right way, plus she certainly is pretty.”

              Paul smiled, thinking of his Meg. Each day, a new facet of her was being revealed to him, and he couldn’t help but love her more. She was magnetic and charismatic. She had a good heart. And he was happy that more people were seeing that.

              “She is wonderful.” Paul agreed. “I don’t know where I’d be without her. She always says that I saved her life, but she saved mine, Timothy.” He looked at his brother. “Because you see, I left that day with nowhere to go and I really did not know where my life was headed. But with her, I just felt like it was finally alright to be myself. And that I can actually make sense of things and make them right. She taught me how to handle challenges and to see the right solution for every situation.

              “She’ll make a great partner.” Timothy agreed. “Well, I have to go.” Timothy extended his hand for a handshake. “Thank you, Paul.”

              Paul embraced his brother. “No,” Timothy, “Thank you.”

              Many things have happened over the past couple of weeks, Mal mused as he watched Beth teaching new mothers important skills for raising babies. She looked confident and at peace with herself as she did that.

              Just a while ago, she was standing beside him, telling him how proud she was of him, and how much she missed him. He was moved to kiss her on the spot, not caring if the workers saw them. He loved her, and didn’t care if the whole world knew it.

                                                                                    <<<<>>>>

Beth became Lady Elizabeth of Klayloch. In addition, she took command of the Clan’s increasing number of skilled healers. She ultimately delivered two boys and a girl to their family. Mal demonstrated his administrative skills by making the Castle Klayloch enterprise the envy of Scotland.

              Sir Timothy joined many expeditions abroad, and was planning for more. Tobias was promoted by the Church to the position of Bishop of Klayloch, while Morgan as Paul’s number one adviser on matters military. He was even trying to give up his addiction to ale.

              Paul and Meg’s relationship thrived, and people under their rule admired them, as did people from neighboring lands. They had a peaceful life in the castle, but both of them knew that they had to be ready for what’s to come.

The challenge of writing about events in 1225 A D is in describing life and events with little written history. The daily habits, healers and diet in this story are accurate for the period. For example, food really was served on large circular pieces of bread called trenchers, two servings per trencher. After the meal, the trenchers were given to the poor who gathered at the kitchen door.

Alexander II of Scotland was, of course, real as were the gory revenge raids and trophies his armies claimed. Nonetheless, he is remembered for a “golden age” of peace for most of  his reign as well as his off again-on again friendship with his brother-in-law, England’s King Henry.

His first wife, Henry's sister Queen Joan of Scotland, to whom he was betrothed when she was ten and he twenty-two, sadly could produce no heirs in their seventeen year marriage. She died a premature death possibly praying for fertility at a shrine in Canterbury. Oddly, she was buried in England not Scotland. His second wife did produce children, most notably Alexander III. The less said about his reign as his father's successor the better.

Paul, Meg, the brothers and their wives exist only on our pages.

              This book is second in a series centered on the mythical Castle Klayloch and its denizens.
Each book in the series is a complete story.
The first book, “Love and Death at Castle Klayloch”, is also now available as a Kindle book. The third, "The Knight and The Runaway Bride" featuring brother Morgan is nearly complete and coming soon.

Be sure to go to my website, www.lornabenson.com, and sign up for our free newsletter. It will keep you informed about release dates; give you some great free stuff and more ongoing information about a fascinating time. We hope to see you there.

              Self-publishing thrives because readers take the time to write reviews. Reviews are often why a potential reader chooses a book. So, please take the time to review this book. Be candid and share your likes and dislikes; it is how we can improve it over time.