Unending Love (11 page)

Walter seemed to be the only one in earshot who
wasn’t thrilled with the fact that Adalind was evidently spoken for. He simply
shook his head.

“No offense to her betrothed or to your taste in
husbands for your granddaughter, but no marriage would form a more solid
alliance than a marriage to a de Burgh,” he said, a hint of sinister arrogance
in his tone. “I know you are not that foolish, de Lohr.”

David cocked an eyebrow at the insult.  Rather
than try to humor the man or maintain his cool, he went for the throat.  

“I was foolish enough to invite you to sup and
listen to your supercilious boasting for the past three hours,” he fired back.
“You have always been an arrogant buffoon, Walter, and I never liked you. Not
even when our brothers were in the king’s service together and we were forced
by alliances to serve with one another did I like you. Now that you have come
to my castle and insulted me, I like you even less.  You will leave now and
forget about Adalind. She is too good for you and your narcissistic ego. Find a
mate elsewhere.”

Walter wasn’t accustomed to being insulted.  He
lost all of his humor and his jaw went slack. “You dare…?”

David didn’t let him finish. He gave him a shove
in the direction of the gatehouse where his horse and several retainers had
been waiting patiently since his arrival.  The man nearly stumbled to his knees
as David pushed.

“Get out,” David gave the man another shove.
“Get out before I do something I regret.  And if you think to tell your all-powerful
brother what happened here today, he has his own problems right now and will
more than likely disregard you. But if he, in fact, shows interest in your
whining, know that I will tell him exactly what I told you.  He thinks you are
an idiot, anyway, so I would not be surprised if he laughed in your face.”

Walter’s shabby face went red with anger.  He
turned on his heel and ran back to his horse as fast as his fat belly and
spindly legs would allow.  He began yelling at his retainers, pushing them
around, slapping one, until he reached into one man’s shirtwaist and yanked
forth a long, slender dagger.  Then he turned and ran back in David’s
direction, the dirk held before him.

Maddoc swung into action.  He released Adalind’s
hand and placed himself between David and Walter.  As big as he was, he made a
rather massive barrier, one that not even Walter was immune to.  But Walter was
as stupid as David had accused him of being; he ran right at Maddoc with the
dirk.  The intent was apparent and given the fact that he was a de Burgh, he
did not expect the knight to
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resist his charge.  He fully expected to stab
Maddoc in the midsection without a fight. But when Walter drew near, Maddoc
reached out and disarmed him.

Walter screamed as Maddoc twisted his wrist hard
enough to crack bones.  The dirk went flying and Walter fell to the muddy
ground, howling in pain as he cradled his injured arm.

David moved up next to Maddoc, gazing grimly at
Walter’s writhing form.  Then he lifted his gaze and, seeing Walter’s men
standing rather stunned several feet away, motioned to them.

“Get him out of my sight,” he commanded.

Walter’s men rushed forward as David backed
away, grasping Adalind and quickly escorting her into the keep. Only Maddoc
remained behind, like a massive and intimidating sentinel, watching as Walter’s
men dragged their screaming lord back to their horses and forcibly mounted the
man.  Walter continued to scream, with the addition of angry cursing, as they
forced him and his horse from the bailey of Canterbury. It made for a tense and
rather chaotic scene.

Maddoc and a few soldiers followed them to the
gatehouse to make sure they left.   In fact, by the time they reached the
portcullis with the green fields of Kent beyond, there was a solid line of de
Lohr men herding them from the ward to ensure de Burgh’s compliance. 

With nowhere to go but out, they soon left. Maddoc’s
gaze was intense as he watched the group fading off into the distance.   The
fog that had been so heavy the past few days was oddly lifting, and a nearly
full moon was revealed against the black sky.  It would make for easy travel to
the village of Harbledown, which was close by. 

“Should we follow them, Maddoc?”

Maddoc turned to the young knight standing
slightly behind him.  Gerid du Reims had been in charge of the fortress while
Maddoc had been in France visiting his family.  A strong man with uncanny
intelligence and piercing black eyes,  he was a younger son of the Earl of East
Anglia, a local and strong ally to Canterbury. He was Maddoc’s second in
command, and Maddoc shook his head to the quietly uttered question.

“I do not believe that will be necessary,” he
told him. “I am sure du Burgh will return to his brother’s seat of Montgomery
Castle, rally his brother’s troops, and return to lay siege.”

Gerid gave him a lop-sided smile as the soldiers
forming the unbreachable line at the portcullis began to disburse.

“That will give us time to prepare,” he said.

Maddoc nodded, somewhat in resignation of what
was potentially to come, before eyeing the knight.   His gaze settled on the
man rather fondly.

“I have been returned from France for nearly two
days,” he said. “Why have I not seen you in that time?”

Gerid lifted his eyebrows.  “
You
are the
one who has been in hiding,” he pointed out. “You have been with the earl and
his family since your return.”

Maddoc cocked an eyebrow. “I have been on the
walls most of the afternoon.  Someone told me you went into town.”

Gerid nodded. “Fordwich,” he said. “I escorted
the countess.  She went to visit the church and dispense alms. She does that
every week, you know.”

“I know. But next time, tell me directly where
you are going.”

“I tried to find you but was told you were with
Adalind.”

Maddoc cleared his throat softly, nervously,
because it was a subject he didn’t particularly want to elaborate on, even with
someone as trusted as Gerid.

“I was,” he said. “This steady stream of suitors
since her return has her on edge. I have a feeling that de Burgh will not be
the last.”

It was a subtle shift of subject. Gerid nodded
and started to reply, but something over Maddoc’s shoulder caught his
attention.  His eyes narrowed to better see the movement in the dark, causing
Maddoc to swing around to see what had his attention. 

With the ghostly glow of the landscape, it
wasn’t difficult to see that something was moving along the road towards the
castle.  It was short, whatever it was, and seemed to be wailing. Curious, not
to mention mildly concerned, both Maddoc and Gerid made their way out of the
gatehouse, standing just outside of it so they could see whatever it was as it
made an approach.  Suddenly, Maddoc hissed a curse.

“God’s Blood,” he muttered. “That
idiot
.”

Gerid had no idea what, or whom, he meant, but
when Maddoc broke out into a jog down the road, Gerid followed.  They soon came
upon the subject of their focus; Eynsford was walking up the road on his knees,
playing his
citole
and singing hoarsely at the top of his lungs.   As
Maddoc and Gerid came upon him, Eynsford came to a weary halt.

“I have come to apologize to my lady,” he
announced, his voice rough from singing for hours on end. “I spent yesterday
thinking on how I could apologize to Lady Adalind and it came to me; God shows
mercy to the penitent man.  Perhaps Lady Adalind will show mercy to me as well
if I am repentant, so I started crawling on my knees and singing her praises. Please
do not make me go away until I have apologized to her.”

Maddoc stood over the fat young man, shaking his
head with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. “How long have you been
crawling?” he demanded.

Eynsford pointed over his shoulder, back towards
the smoke-shrouded village of Harbledown. “I started at the Snow Dove Inn,” he
said, looking back up at the knights.  He appeared rather fearful. “It has
taken me since this morning to make it this far.  Please do not make me go
away.”

Maddoc snorted, looking at Gerid, who seemed
genuinely puzzled. “The Snow Dove Inn?” Gerid repeated. “That is almost three
miles away, at the far end of town. You have been walking on your knees from
that place?”

Eynsford nodded hesitantly, intimidated by the
way the man raised his voice. “I have much to atone for.”

Gerid looked at Maddoc. “Is this not the
entertainer you chased away yesterday?”

“You saw that?”

“I saw part of it. Lord David had me assigned to
an errand, but I returned just as Adalind was taking a switch to him.”

Maddoc slapped Gerid on the shoulder.  “There is
much more to it than that,” he said. “Right now, I suspect we had better get du
Lesseps inside so the physic can take a look at those knees.  My guess is that
they are in terrible shape.”

Eynsford conceded the point. “They
do
hurt.”

Maddoc reached down and grabbed a fatty arm as
Gerid reached out and grabbed the other.  Together, they hauled the young man
to his feet. Eynsford could barely walk, but his attention seemed to be on
Maddoc.

“You promise you will not turn me away?” he
asked.

Maddoc nodded patiently. “I promise I will not
turn you away, at least for tonight.”

“And if Lady Adalind comes after me with a
switch? Will you tell her I can stay?”

“I will tell her you can stay.  But you do
understand she is spoken for, do you not?”

Eynsford didn’t look pleased. “I do.”

“You will not try to woo her again?”

“I will not,” he sighed dramatically. “Given
what happened yesterday, I do not think she would be receptive.”

“Probably not.”

“Do you know this man she is promised to? Is he
worthy of her?”

Maddoc struggled not to grin. “He thinks so.”

“Is he a fighting man?”

“Most definitely.”

Eynsford looked both thoughtful and intimidated.
“Then he would try to kill me if I attempted to steal her from him.”

“More than likely. It would be best not to tempt
fate.”

Eynsford grunted in pain as Maddoc and Gerid
helped him walk over a slippery, muddy patch.  When he slipped because of his
stiff gate, Maddoc easily steadied him.  Eynsford acknowledged the assistance
gratefully.

 “You, good sir, are a saint,” he declared.  “I
will compose a song about you. What is your name?”

“Maddoc.”

“I shall call it Maddoc the Magnificent!”

Maddoc and Gerid looked at each other from over
Eynsford’s head.  As Gerid fought off a grin, Maddoc just rolled his eyes.

He wasn’t so sure Adalind would think him magnificent
as he gave her nemesis safe haven for the night.

You become an image of what is remembered forever.

CHAPTER
SIX

“I had to tell her, Maddoc,” Christina said.
“She would have gone to break her fast in the small hall and found him there.
What on earth were you thinking to bring him here?”

Maddoc was properly contrite.  It was early
morning after the night he’d brought Eynsford back to Canterbury, bloodied
knees and all.  David had been shocked to see the man but had understood when
Maddoc explained the man’s presence.  In fact, he had struggled not to laugh
about it.  It was a rather pathetic situation.

Therefore, Eynsford was allowed to sleep in the
small hall by the enormous fireplace after the castle physic, a spindly little
man with red hair, tended to his cut knees.  But the moment he lay down and
started to play his citole, David emerged from the master’s chamber adjoining
the hall, snatched the citole, and refused to give it back until morning.  His
good will and good humor only went so far.

“He left early this morning,” Maddoc assured the
woman. “Gerid escorted him back to Harbledown.  As for my bringing him here
last night, the man had just spent most of the day crawling on his knees to the
castle; I simply could not leave him out of the road. What else was I to do?”

Christina cocked an eyebrow. “You are very kind
to a man who wants to court your intended.”

Maddoc grinned. “Not usually,” he said, “but I
suppose I felt sorry for him. The man does not have a chance in the world with
Adalind, yet he continues to try. That kind of determination is admirable. 
Foolish,
but
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admirable.”

Christina’s lips twitched with a grin. “I am not
sure Adalind agrees with you,” she said, tilting her head in the direction of
the closed chamber door. “She is quite cross. I would suggest you think of some
way of soothing her or this courtship might be over before it begins.”

He laughed softly. “I would like nothing better
than to soothe her, but I have been forbidden to be alone with her and I am not
sure I want an audience when I grovel at her feet.  Perhaps I should simply let
it blow over.”