There Your Heart Will Be Also (21 page)

Cedric unsheathed his sword and planted it point down in front of him.
He got down on one knee behind it, bowed his head low before Charism, slowly lifted his eyes up to her astonished face and declared, “I am Cedric MacNeil.
I pledge fealty to this castle.
I request y
er
hand,” he picked up Charism's hand and kissed it, “in marriage.”

Charism giggled at the attention.
“Cedric MacNeil, I am Charism of Greenbriar.
While I gratefully accept your fealty, the marrying I must take time to consider.”

Cedric stood and walked around Charism like a strutting peacock.
“Do I not suit ye?”

“Alas, that is not the problem.
The problem is
. . .
” Charism
cleared her throat
.
Sarra could sense
Charism's intense
stare
,
b
ut she was frozen.
How had this happened
?
He was supposed to take one look at Charism and run away screaming.
Of course, Sarra would have spent months trying to get over him but it would have been worth it.
There was no way she would marry a man
who
had
only
come for her land.

Before Sarra could make a move, Cedric said, “A fortnight, perhaps, to consider my proposal?
Such a span
will give my future bride time to acquire a gown worthy of her stunning beauty.”

Fourteen days?
T
he world
seemed to spin
around
Sarra
a
s
she fell to the ground.

Cedric watched the trembling
Sarra
from the corner of his eye.
The mistress appeared to be looking to the maid for assistance in accepting or declining his marriage offer.

Sarra's eyes were glazed over and locked on Cedric's imposing form, lips frozen in consternation, her skin pale.
It
appeared as if
the insolent maid
found the idea of the marriage
to her mistress
preposterous
.
How dare she
!

Cedric's fist
s
balled
at his side
.
He would be Laird and she would be
his
maid.
Then they w
ould see if her attitude toward
him remained.

As these thought
s
ran rampant through his mind,
Cedric
noticed Sarra's eyes roll back in her head as she toppled to the ground.
He caught her befo
re her head slapped the floor
.
How was it this woman
continued to wind up in his arms?

With a beseeching look, Cedric sought Charism's eyes.
“What shall I do with the young lass?
She seems to have swooned at m
e
offer of marriage to ye.”

“Aye. She has indeed.
We shall take her to, well, hmm,” stalled
Charim's
reply.

The old woman worried wrinkled lips.
Her e
yes shifted around the room.
What was she hoping to see?
Cedric followed her
line of
vision but couldn't fathom what the mistress was looking for.
Finally he
r aged eyes shifted back toward
Cedric and his burden.

“Aye.
We must take
the maid
to the servant's quarters.”

Cedric
's
eyebrow rose but he didn't ask.
Why had it taken the lady so long in deciding such an obvious course of action?
Shrugging his shoulders, Cedric followed along behind the mistress as she ambled up the winding staircase.

When they reached the top, Charism opened a door.
It creaked loudly and the sound of tiny scurrying feet could be heard.
Mice?
Cedric bent low under the door beam and carried Sarra inside the room.
The ceiling grazed the top of his head as
he
walked.
The one window in the wall brought in
a small amount of
light, causing Cedric to bump into trunks and bed frames.

Once completely inside, Charism directed Cedric to place Sarra on a cot near the window.
As her small frame touched the straw mattress, Sarra let out a sigh of relief and curled into a tiny ball.
Without thought, Cedric's hand slipped forward and moved a stray hair from Sarra's face, placing it behind her ear.
Gulping deeply
,
he
couldn't stop the feelings he held for the lass rushing up inside him.

“Beautiful
,
ain't she?”

Cedric had forgotten Charism was in the room with him.
He took a step backwards a tad too quickly,
and
his feet
caught
on a rug gracing the floor.
His fall pitched him
bottom
first on one
of
the other cots
, where he
landed
with a thud
.
T
he bed collapsed from under him
,
falling to the floor.

Charism's hand rose to cover her mouth but not before a giggle escape
d
.
Cedric flipped over and placed his knee down, pushing himself off the ground.

“I guess I owe someone a bed.”

Charism could hold her
reaction
back no longer
,
wild laughter pour
ing
from her throat
.
The corner of Cedric's lips twitched as a grin graced his own visage.
Charism placed a hand upon Cedric's forearm and began to direct him out of the room.

“Come with me.
We will tell one of the servants about the bed
and it will be repaired
.
Mending the furniture
is hardly the work for the soon to be
lord
.”

“Are ye acceptin' my proposal then?”

“I'll let ye know.
Right now we need to let the young maid have her rest.”

“But aren't ye concerned about
her
swoon?”

“Nay.
She will be all right.”

Charism ushered him out the door.
Leading him outside
,
she introduced him to a servant in charge of maintain
ing
the household furniture.
Once they were talking, Cedric noticed Charism pick up her skirts and take her leave.
She wasn't headed back to the house to check on the maid.
Where could his future bride be going?

****

Charism left
Cedric talking and h
ur
r
ie
d back to her own home.
She
had noticed Sarra's odd actions of late.
Upon meeting Cedric
,
Charism realized her assumptions were true
,
Sarra was in love.

Before the merchants left,
Charism had come across a beautiful blue silk material for
a
gown and had already delivered it.
Now she strolled down the village lane on her way to see the seamstress
.
Mathilda needed measurement
s
.

“Mathilda, are ye here?” whispered Charism
,
as she
peere
d around for nosey villagers.
It wouldn't do for
Sarra to know what she was up to.
W
hen th
e wedding
day came, her gown would be ready and waiting
for
her.

“Aye, I'm here.
Come on in and stop ye
r
whisperin'.”

Mathilda had the blue fabric in hand.
“I guess ye got the measurements.”

“Aye, I do.”

Charism handed her a small slip of parchment folded several times over.
Mathilda unfolded the paper
,
careful not to smudge the ink.
Looking up from the paper she made a slow perusal of Charism
,
looking her up and down with a trained eye.

“Now Charism, ye know as well as I do this,” she shook the paper
with the measurements
in her hand, “will never fit ye.”

Charism
frowned
.
“Just make the dress.
”

Shrugging her humped shoulders Mathilda
glanced
back
at
the material and muttered a dismissive, “Aye.”

Sarra woke.
Something was strange.
To begin with, she had no idea where she was.
Looking around the darkened room didn't help.
As her eyes
adjust
ed
to the environment
,
s
he
was able to make out faint lines of old beds.
It couldn't be.
Could it?
C
rawl
ing gingerly across the
splintered wood on the floor,
she found her
way to the door
.
Once
the door was
reached
,
she realized her initial thoughts
were
correct.
She was in
the old servant's quarters.

The smell of must and rat dropping
s
should have been a dead giveaway.
Not to mention the weak floor boards and the low ceiling.
What was she doing up here
anyway
?

S
he
struggled
to remember.
The last thing to happen was
Cedric proposing to Charism.
Right?
The
idea sent
her
head
swim
ming
again and she fell down on one of the ancient beds.
How could this have gone so horribly wrong?

Her
intent was to introduce Cedric to Charism and scare him off.
But it hadn't worked.
He'd stood there and claimed the King of England had given him Greenbriar!
Oh, and the best part was
first
he had to marry the mistress of the keep.
Instead of running
,
the ogre of a man had asked for Charism's hand in marriage
!

Sarra dropp
ed
her head
into
her
hands.
Charism
had
sent
her
a
searching
look
.
S
he
had known what Charism sought
,
but she was stunned by the proposal and unable to answer even the simplest of questions.
Then to top of
f
her embarrassment, she'd swooned.
Charism must have had Cedric bring her here instead of her own rooms.

Lying back on the mattress, Sarra stared at the cobwebs dotting the ceiling.
The weaving of the web was like interlocking lies.
The more she lied about herself the worse things seemed to get.
F
ather would be disappointed to know she
'
d been deceiving so many people.
Her
H
eavenly
F
ather was probably not pleased either.

But what could
be done
about it now?
If Sarra revealed her true identity to Cedric
,
would he be willing to forgive her?
Would he perhaps be willing to give a
second
chance to get to know him better?
Did she want to get to know him better?
The Scot had
c
o
m
e
her
e
to steal her land!
There had been no question as to whether the lady of the keep wished to
marry and have him as lord.
Nay, the king had decreed it and Cedric was here to collect.
The audacity of the man!

Sitting bolt upright on the bed, Sarra realized she had no desire to be saddled
with
a man such as Cedric.
There was the little matter of him thinking Charism was the mistress.
This
might cause a problem.
But on second thought,
Sarra was sure there would be a solution.

Leaving the attic room,
she
descended to the main floor.
The house was in the bustle of preparing for
the
supper
meal.

“Oh, mistress, I didn't see you there,” said Ella as she rushed by.

“Ella, don't call me mistress at the moment.”

“What?
Why not?”

“Because for now Charism is the mistress.”

Ella stopped and
peered
at her curiously.
“Do we have another unwanted visitor hereabouts?”

“Nay.
Aye
,
I mean
.
Cedric MacNeil…”

“The stranger?”

“Aye.
He proposed to Charism today.”

Ella
was
completely baffled.
Her face was a blur between happiness and sadness.
“I don't understand.”

Taking a deep breath, Sarra explained, “
The
King
gave Cedric
the
right
s
to Greenbriar if he marries the mistress.”

“Oh
. I'm afraid I still don't follow
.”

“I introduced him to Charism as the mistress.”

“
But w
hy?”

“
Ella.
Do you think I want to marry a man whose only desire is for my land?”

“Nay,” Ella replied, her head dipping in shame.

Sarra instantly felt guilty.
The maid didn't understand but
it
wasn't her fault.
Sarra didn't completely understand herself.
How could she feel
this
way about Cedric yet be willing to disregard it all because
of his desire
to take care of
Greenbriar
land?
Shrugging to herself
, she decided
it didn't matter.
She
had made her
choice
.

“Ella
,
do you know where Charism has gone?”

“Nay.
She didn't say.”

“Do you know where Cedric is?”

“Nay.”

“Very well.”
She
left Ella and the others to
prepare
the meal
. Grabbing a piece of bread and shoving it in her mouth, she
went in search of Charism.
She needed to speak with her.

When Sarra stepped outside
,
she was
shocked.
While she ha
d
lain upstairs in the abandoned room, the sky
ha
d darkened and night had descended.
Perhaps the bustle from inside hadn't been
from preparing
the supper meal but rather the clean up.
She
sighed as her belly rumbled.
Maybe
she should go back and look for
more
leftovers and seek Charism at a later time.

Before Sarra could
decide on a course of action
,
she heard
footsteps
.
A glance over her shoulder revealed a
strange man staring at her.
Over the past few weeks there had been many new people entering the keep.
Some had been merchants coming to sell wares.
Then there was the group of Scots
who
helped
to
stop the
raid
ers from stealing
the sheep.
But this man didn't remind her of anyone that she'd seen.

Studying
the newcomer, Sarra asked, “Are you looking for someone?”

“Aye, I am,” said the beady
-
eyed man, while turning his head to the side and spitting into the dirt.

“Perhaps I can help you.”

“I doubt it.”

“I am familiar with all the regular inhabitants of the keep.
If you don't mind telling me who you seek
,
I'm sure we can find them.”

The strange man winked, and laughed.
His finger ran up his nose, pulled out something long and slimy, and flicked it over into the grass.
Sarra
,
sensing danger
,
backed up a step.
No one was nearby and
she
wondered if she should scream now or wait.
But before
she
had time to react, the small man jumped forward and clamped his hand across her mouth.

She
struggled
,
k
icking and biting.
But it was no use.
The little man held all the tighter, pulling her roughly against his chest and dragging her to
a
nearby horse.
The pointed heel of
her
shoe
left deep furrows in the dirt.
If he was able to get her astride his beast and out of the keep,
the
knights might never find her.
She had to
break
free.

With one last
superhuman
effort, Sarra sank
her
teeth into her captor.
When he grabbed his hand,
she
screamed.
Before the last note of
the
yell
sounded
, the man's fist rose and smacked her hard on the cheek, sending her reeling to the ground and into a world of instant blackness.