The Wolfe (78 page)

He was sure Jemma had gone insane
over the news.  William could just picture her hysterics as Jordan and Paris
tried to comfort her. God only knew how he would have felt in the same situation.
Hell, he had been nearly hysterical and he had actually
been
with
Kieran.

Kieran and Deinwald both had been
remarkable. Kieran took to second in command as if born into it. With Paris
always at William’s side, he’d never fully had the chance to prove himself and
after six months of service William would have been hard-pressed to decide who
was a better second; Paris or Kieran. They were both powerful, intuitive, and
uncannily intelligent.

Deinwald, too, had blossomed with
his new power. Still surly and arrogant, he had also grown a heart somewhere in
the process and the soldiers loved him almost as much as they loved The Wolf.
On pure reputation alone, William had their undying loyalty from the start
before he had ever drawn his sword in Wales.

William had to admit he did like
London, but he had had no time to spend at court to know if he liked or
disliked it. But one thing had been apparent; the single women of the court
knew he was there and he had a constant influx of notes, handkerchiefs, flowers
and the like. At first he had been amused by the attention, but as of late he
had grown just plain annoyed. In the back of his mind he was deathly afraid the
king would suggest a betrothal to one of the eligible ladies and he had
nightmares over that day.

A messenger roused him from his
thoughts. The page told him that the king requested his presence and William
obeyed, following the boy through the maze of corridors that comprised Windsor
Castle until they reached the king’s private audience hall.

He entered the room, bowing deeply
before Henry. As he was prostrate, he failed to notice a movement out of the
shadows.

“Well, you look like a court dandy,
I must say,” came a most familiar voice.

William whirled around, his eyes
wide with astonishment. Paris stepped forward, grinning like a fool.

“Paris.” he gasped. “Damnation, man,
what in the hell are you doing here?”

When Paris’ smiled faded, William’s
heart lurched. Before he could answer, the king stepped in.

“I am afraid he came personally to inform
us of a bit of bad news,” Henry said. “I know how close you were to de Longley,
William. Please accept my condolences on his passing.”

William was stunned. “The earl is
dead?”

“Aye,” Paris said solemnly. “Three
weeks ago. He died in his sleep.”

William took a moment to collect
himself. He was greatly saddened by the man’s passing, more so that when his
own father had died. He felt the loss of a dear, dear friend.

“Which means we now have a new earl,”
Henry cut into his thoughts. “Alexander has ascended the title. Northwood and
all of her might are in the hands if a weakling. God help us all.”

William’s head snapped up to the
king, suddenly realizing the implication of that statement. He looked at Paris;
his friends face was grave. He was desperate to get the man alone and drill him
with questions.

The king was leaning on the arm
chair, looking thoughtful. “I will not strip the new earl of his title, not
just yet anyway. The man has done nothing yet to warrant such an action. But I
must tell you both that I am extremely wary with Alexander as Warden of the
North Border. Paris, you must watch him as my personal eyes in the matter.
Anything out of line I expect reported immediately to me.”

“Aye, sire,” Paris replied. He
didn’t like spying for the king, but in this case he would make an exception
Alexander needed watching.

The king snorted most un-monarch
like. “It would solve the entire problem if a mishap befell Alexander and Adam
ascended the title,” he mused. “He is the only de Longley offspring worth a
damn. Young as he is, I think he’d make a fine earl. Well, enough plotting. You
are both dismissed, I am sure you have much to talk about.”

The king had delivered the news and
now had other things on his mind, fortunately for the both of them. He dismissed
the men with the promise that they would dine with him that evening.

William was still reeling even as he
and Paris strolled the corridor leading back to his rooms. Not a word was said
the entire walk, but when the door to the chamber closed, William turned into a
madman.

“Are you insane?” he demanded
harshly. “Leaving Jordan while Alexander gobbles up Northwood’s seat?”

Paris put up a hand. “I know what you
are thinking, but I can assure you she is perfectly safe,” he said
emphatically. “The knights have the watch of her and you know that no harm will
come to her.”

William hissed loudly, kicking the
nearest table into firewood. “Damnation!”

Paris was only beginning with news
from Northwood. He cocked a blond brow at his friend. “Better get a grip on
yourself, William. ‘Tis more to tell.”

“Get on with it, then.”

“Much has happened since you left,
my friend,” he said. “Too much to write in one of those public missives the earl
sent to you. First and foremost, let me congratulate you.”

William sneered at him irritably. “For
what?”

For the first time, Paris smiled. “For
the child your wife carries. She is into her sixth month of pregnancy, eating
everything in sight and driving me daft with her moods.”

William stared at him a long, long
time. Had a chair not been directly behind him, he would have collapsed on the
floor. As it was, the chair groaned dangerously at the sudden deposit of weight.

“A child?” he whispered in
disbelief. “Oh, my God.”

Paris, amused at the suddenly pale
face, clapped him happily on the shoulder. “Aye, a child, and a large one by
the size of her,” he told him. “She is already as big as a house but as
beautiful as ever.”

“My God,” he repeated. He was in
shock. “A child? Is Jordan well? How does she feel?”

“She is fine,” Paris replied. “Sylvie
is with her constantly and Byron sees her daily and says the babe thrives. But
I must tell you that she cries easily and rages with the change of the moon.
She is possessed, I tell you. I am at my wits end dealing with her.”

William cracked a smile for the
first time. “I would gladly trade places with you, my friend.”

Paris was so sorry for his friend.
What William and Jordan had had to go through was nothing short of cruel. He
gave William a sympathetic pat. “Would that you could.”

William sat back in the chair, his
smile widening as his shock transformed into delight. “A babe? I can hardly
believe it.”

His friend nodded. “The babe is due
in early spring. ‘Twould be wonderful if you could be there when she brings
your son into the world.”

William looked determined. “I will
not miss it, I swear it. Nothing on this earth will keep me from her side. You
will tell her that.”

“I will,” Paris replied with a sly
grin. “She told me to tell you that if you are not there when your son is born,
she will name the child after me.”

William laughed. “She probably would.”
he sobered a bit. “Then she has been well all these months?”

Paris sat opposite him, feeling the
warmth from the large hearth. “She has missed you like I have never seen one
person miss another. She eats, sleeps and drinks you. She lives for your messages,
William. I truly believe they sustain her. When I told her I was coming to
London, she all but followed me here.” William smiled faintly and Paris
continued with the rest of his news. “But there is still more to tell. Jemma,
too, is expecting around the same time as your wife. She is suffering great
shame through the eyes of the castle, although the knights have treated her like
a queen.”

“Jemma?” William’s eyebrows rose. “My
God, does Kieran know?”

 “No,” Paris said. “I have only seen
the king, and you. He must be told immediately.”

“Absolutely,” William agreed
heartily. “I shall send my page for him right away.”

William bellowed, sending the young
boy who was hovering in the next room running. When the lad was gone, he turned
back to Paris.

“The most serious problem, however,
is Alexander,” Paris went on. “I have reason to believe he is reconsidering
Northwood’s alliance with Laird Scott. You know he never did agree with his
father’s decision to make peace with the Scots.”

“He cannot reconsider the alliance,”
William said flatly. “It is the king’s directive. He has no say in the matter.”

“Be that as it may, he seems to be
serious about dissolving the treaty,” Paris said. “And that means if Langton is
attacked, I will be powerless to reinforce them if Alexander says no. He is
putting Langton and the clan Scott in great jeopardy.”

William shook his head. “Damn,” he
cursed softly. “And I am sure Jordan is hysterical about that. Did you tell
Henry?”

“She knows nothing about it. She has
been having a difficult enough time with her pregnancy and your absence,” Paris
said. “As for Henry, I wanted to mention it to you first and seek your
thoughts. You heard Henry; he will strip Alexander of his titles.”

William paused, thinking. He would
not let Alexander ruin his John de Longley’s honor. Laird Scott had put all of
his trust in the English, and if Alexander refused support, then all would be
lost for them both.

“Paris, send a message to Captain
Payton-Forrester at Beverley,” he told him. “Tell Will the situation and ask
him for his pledge of support should Laird Scott send for assistance. If
Northwood troops cannot go, then ask him if Beverley will. I will speak with
the king myself about this matter.”

Paris nodded. “Well that he will
listen to his champion,” he said. “We may well have a new earl before the winter
is out. As far as sending a missive to Beverley, I shall do that, but I have
already thought along those lines as well. Earl de Troiu was at Northwood for De
Longley’s burial and I explained the entire situation to him. You know how he
despises Alexander and he has pledged his support should it come to that.”

“Excellent,” William was feeling a
little better about the crisis. “Damn Alexander.”

Paris nodded. “And you should be
aware that he has been making threats to send Jordan back to Scotland,” he
said. “He does not want the dowager countess at Northwood. Yet he seems more
threatened by Adam than the child Jordan carries and has even taken to hating
Analiese because she has befriended Jordan. He has completely alienated himself
from his family, William. Even mild-tempered as Adam is, he not beyond verbal
confrontations with his brother and I have actually had to separate them on
several occasions.”

William shook his head with regret. “Adam
will kill him if Alexander provokes him beyond reason and I serious wonder if
it may not come to that,” he said. “As for my son, I suppose when I return to
Northwood for the birth I will enlighten the earl as to just who Jordan is
truly married to and then I shall bring her and the babe to London with me. She
will not stay there another day after that child is born.”

“But what of the king?” Paris wanted
to know. “What are you going to tell him about Jordan’s child?”

William shrugged in resignation. “I
have all of the documents here, with me. The marriage certificate, the deeds to
my lands and titles. After the initial anger, I would hope he would be happy
that she is still married to a border lord and the treaty will be between
Northwood, Questing and Langton. It should be favorable.”

“He will not be happy you lied to him,”
Paris said. “Too bad De Longley isn’t here to back you up on this.”

“Too bad, indeed,” William agreed. “But
I think over the past six months I have proven myself invaluable to our king. Hopefully
he will take that into consideration and not cut my head off.”

Paris chuckled as Kieran entered the
room, his eyes widening at the sight of Northwood’s captain.

“Paris.” he exclaimed, shaking his
hand enthusiastically. “What in the hell brings you to this hellish city?”

“I was lonely for your ugly face,”
Paris told him, then looked him over. “We received the messages from William.
We were afraid we’d lost you there, old man.”

Kieran pulled back his collar to
allow Paris a view of his most impressive scar. “Damn near cut my head off, the
Welsh bastard,” he said. “I guess he was mad because I cut down twelve of his
companions.”

“They deserved it, I am sure,” Paris
said, indicating a chair for him to sit.

“You’d better sit, Kieran,” William
told him. “There is a lot to say.”

Kieran looked at his lord. “What in
the hell is the matter with you? You are white as a sheet.”

William laughed as Paris smiled
smugly. “Let me be the first to congratulate you, Kieran.”

“For what?” the man wanted to know.

Paris returned to Northwood within a
few days, leaving William and Kieran alone with their surprise. Both men were
still a bit stunned at all of the news, but recovering nicely and most happily
anticipating their sons.