Warrior's Moon A Love Story (10 page)

“Which one of us?”

“You one of us.”

“Why wouldn’t it frighten you?”

He gave her that grin again.  “Uh, for the reason that . . .  Uhm, remember when I said I’m rather looking forward to some of those things in marriage?  I suppose I lean toward being a rogue, because I, uh, I imagine those things are going to be wonderful!  Sorry.  Just being honest.”

She could feel her eyes widen and said hastily, “I think you’re right.  Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this.  One of us is definitely frightened.”

He put a gentle hand to her cheek and touched her softly, then shook his head.  “Try not to be, Chani.  None of this should frighten us.  It should make us happy and excited.  We do love each other.  This isn’t anything more than the natural progression of a lifelong friendship.  We know each other.  We know we can trust each other, no matter what.  We like each other.  We have fun with each other.  In truth, is there even any other option?  Can you truly say you could walk away from me someday without looking back?”

Leaning her cheek into the palm of his hand, she thought about that and then met his eyes and shook her head.  Tears welled into her eyes again as she whispered, “Never.”

That made him smile as he whispered back, “Me either.”

For a long, long moment, they stood there looking into each others eyes in the dappled sunshine of the path and then Peyton slowly lowered his head and gently kissed her once on the mouth, ever so softly.  Raising his head, he leaned
close again and kissed her once more on the soft spot of her temple and said, “See, it might not be too bad.”

             
                                         
Chapter 6

Her mother spoke to her three times before walking over to stand before her and wave her hand back and forth in front of her face.  “Chantaya, pray tell me, are you in there?”

Snapping out of her reverie, Chantaya nodded.  “Yes, Mother.  What?  I’m sorry.  I’m afraid my mind is elsewhere.”

Drily, her mother said, “Yes, I can see that.  Where is your mind, may I inquire?”

“Oh, it’s uh, I’m just thinking.  What did you want?”

“I’m just wondering what happened to the wash basin? 
‘Twas here earlier.  Pray, do you know where it went?”

“No.  I haven’t an idea.  You didn’t put it somewhere?”

“Ah, here it is in the cupboard.  Why is it in the cupboard?  We never put it in the cupboard.”

Chantaya didn’t answer again because her mind had gone back to the conversation she and Peyton had had earlier that still seemed surreal somehow.  Could it truly be that she and he were to someday wed?  And would kissing always be as nice as it had been this afternoon?  Maybe the things married people did wouldn’t be frightening at all.   She checked her hair one more time in the looking glass.  He
would be here any moment to walk her to the tavern.  For some reason, that made her unbelievably nervous.

                                                      
 
SSSS

Peyton dropped Chantaya off at the kitchen door of the tavern and then turned back around and headed for Sir Mordecai’s.  He had to ask him some questions and maybe the time walking would help Peyton clear his head.  There had to be a way to marry Chantaya and still be able to serve the kingdom. 

He found himself near in a daze as he traveled for thinking back on kissing her today.  He’d wanted to do that for a shamefully long time and it was every bit as nice as he’d imagined.  Isabella would crown him if she knew he’d been thinking that way about her daughter.  He wished he’d reached for Chantaya’s hand while he was walking her to the tavern, although, that may have frightened the poor girl more than he already had today.  He should never have admitted to so looking forward to marital relations, even if she had asked him to be honest.

The whole conversation had gone unbelievably smoother than he’d expected.  He’d known that discussion was coming for literally years now, but had no idea it would come to a head this morning because of some stranger from the Forks.  Chantaya had been amazingly funny, even for her breaking down and crying because she didn’t want to have to marry one of the frumpy locals or grow old with only an ugly cat.  He strode along the forest trail with a sense of absolute euphoria that was foolish in light of his questions for Mordecai.  Still, she had basically agreed to some day marry him!  ‘Twas the greatest dream of his whole life and he wanted to jump logs and spin in circles and shout it to the tops of the trees.  Chantaya Kincraig would someday be his wife!

Now he just had to figure out what to do about serving the king.

Mordecai was out in the pen with his horses as Peyton strode up and Peyton had the sense he always had that Mordecai had been aware of his approach long before he got there.  That alertness was part of the reason he’d become legendary as a knight and Peyton was working on learning it as well.  If he was going to do this at all, he was going to do it well.

His old friend turned to him and then smiled and asked, “Peyton, what has you so energetic this day, lad?”  Peyton grinned, but didn’t admit anything.

They’d been working together for over an hour before Peyton finally asked the question that burned within him, “Sir Mordecai, do any of the knights ever take wives?”

Turning, Mordecai studied him for a long moment before answering, “I wondered if your attitude had something to do with young Chantaya.  Yes, the knights sometimes take wives.  Often, in fact.  In truth, marriage makes them better at it.  More focused and steady and driven.  There’s something about defending the love of one’s life that tempers the warrior’s heart.  That’s not to say a maid isn’t sometimes a distraction as well, but it certainly makes victory a greater passion.”

Peyton heaved a huge sigh of relief, but then wondered aloud, “Then why did you never marry, Sir Mordecai?”

The old man turned back to his ancient horse and Peyton wondered for a minute if he hadn’t heard him and then Mordecai said, “Oh, but I did, Peyton.”  He turned back to
Peyton with a heartbroken smile.  “Christiana Ferron.  The fairest maiden in all the land.  At least, to me she was.  She had hair of the purest gold and a heart to match it.  I was much older than her, but she loved me dearly anyway.” 

Peyton waited in silence, knowing the rest of the story would eventually come and that it wouldn’t have a happy ending since Mordecai was here in the woods all alone these long years.  At length, Mordecai went on sadly, “We’d tried for years to have a child and finally, she was expecting our first.  No two people were ever more in love or more thrilled to soon be parents.  But it didn’t turn out as we’d dreamed.  She died giving birth to the most beautiful, perfect wee blonde daughter.  A fair replica of her pretty mother.”

“And the babe?”

“Sweet Eliana.  She was the light of my life, she was, after her mother passed away.”  He paused and looked away again before saying, “The plague swept through Valais the winter she was four.  I did everything a knight knew to do, but I was no match for such a disease.  She died in my arms when the crocuses were just breaking through the last of the snow.”

Peyton put a big hand on his friend’s shoulder.  “I’m sorry.”

Mordecai only nodded and looked out across the backs of the horses at something Peyton couldn’t see.  At length, he turned back and said, “Someday, in the next life, I hope to see them again.  Some of the old writings teach of families that last beyond this life.  I hope and pray they are right.  We’ve always tried to live worthy if it is so.  And I have to believe.  Otherwise, I would lose sight of the whole point of this existence.”

After a few more thoughtful moments, Mordecai turned back to him.  “Treasure her, Peyton.  She is of infinite worth.  Treasure her.  Nothing can make being an honorable man more important or come more easily than a woman of character.  She can strengthen you in every part of your life.  She will help you rise to your God-given potential.  And remember there are no guarantees.  Life is short sometimes.  Don’t take it for granted.”

“No.  I won’t.”   

“Do you still wish me to speak to the king concerning your becoming a squire?  It will mean leaving her for a time to train and leaving her again every time you’re called away to battle.  The leaving is hard.  I’ll promise you that.  Although, the honor and the pay was some consolation.  Not enough.  But some.”

“Then why did you do it, Mordecai?”

“Because it was the right thing to do.”

Peyton nodded solemnly.  “Speak to the king.  I will speak to Chantaya.”

             
                                        
 
SSSS

Peyton had dropped her off unquestionably happy, so Chantaya was once again at a loss as to why he was now unquestionably troubled as he picked her back up to walk her home.  Whatever could have happened in the short four hour interim?  The notion that he was having serious second thoughts about her made her feel slightly ill just at the idea. 

She looked up into his face as he helped her on with her cloak, but all he did was give her a sad, half smile and then wrap his arm and his own c
loak about her shoulders as they ventured out into the dark. 

Still a touch self conscious about their earlier conversation, she walked beside him in silence as she worked
to muster her courage to ask him if he’d changed his mind.  They were clear past his home and almost to hers before she finally ventured there.  “What is it, Peyton?  Does the thought of someday wedding me make you as troubled as you look?  Have you changed your mind then?”

He gave one small humorless laugh and shook his head and then bent it to kiss her hair again much as he had those two nights before.  “I will never change my mind about wanting to be the love of your life, Chantaya Kincraig.  That has been set in stone for a decade and more now.”

At his answer, she stopped and turned to look up at him in the moonlight.  “What then, Pey?  What is it that keeps stealing your sweet smile?  If it is in my power, you shall have it returned to you.”

He looked down into her eyes and even in the dark she could see the devotion that shone there.  Then, he looked away and said, “Mordecai wishes to request of the king that I become a squire to one of his knights.”

For a moment, she considered that and all it entailed and then said, “But I don’t understand.  You should be thrilled.  ‘Tis a great and rare honor. ‘Tis what you’ve dreamed of.  Why does that trouble you?”

“Because I shall have to leave you for a time to train.  I don’t know how long.  And then I shall be a warrior, Chantaya.  A willing one.  Our king is a rare and good steward.  But warriors sometimes don’t come home to their wives.  And their children.  Sometimes they give their lives.  Sometime
s they come home horribly scarred and wounded. ‘Tis a risk we would both have to accept.”

She gave a gentle shake of her head.  “Did we not accept that risk years ago, Peyton when first we realized how very extraordinarily talented you were at everything Mordecai
began to teach you?  Did we not accept that risk when first we came to realize his presence here was no coincidence?  Did we not accept that risk when we came to understand that the forces of evil will always be fighting to take away the rights and powers of those who strive to do what is right?” 

She reached up and tenderly touched his cheek.  “I accepted that risk before I even understood that I will adore you always, Peyton.  And I was proud of
you.  Now, knowing the man you are and the responsibility you are willing to shoulder for God and country, I’m honored to associate with you.  Someday becoming the wife who will stay home with your children and pray for you is a greater honor still.” 

She shook her head again.  “This decision is yours to make Peyton Wolfgar, but I will stand behind you in whatever it is you believe you should do.  Whether you stay or go.”

He looked into her eyes for another long moment and then pulled her close again and rested his chin on top of her head.  For several minutes he just held her like that as they both thought through the significance of what could happen.  Finally, he said, “It might be truly hard sometimes, Chani.”

Struggling to swallow the lump that had risen in her throat at the thought of being without him for a time or even losing him permanently, she nodded.  “I know.”

After a pause, he asked, “You’re sure?”

“I am.”

He pulled back so he could look at her again and she raised her tear bright eyes to meet his.  Giving her another sad smile, he said, “I love you, Chantaya.”

“And I love you, Sir Peyton.”

He leaned his chin against her forehead and said softly, “You must.  God help us.”  After another moment of quiet embrace, he took her hand and turned to lead her the rest of the way home.  They had journeyed far in the course of one short day.

                                                      
 
SSSS

Mordecai left the next day and was gone for three during which Peyton and Chantaya cared for his old horse Wallace and prayed the horse wouldn’t breathe his last breath on their watch.  They’d slipped from childhood friends into an unusual relationship of hidden, but committed young love remarkably seamlessly.  They hadn’t even told Tristan, and in public they acted the same as they always did, but with each other, there was no doubt in either of their heads and hearts about the nature of their relationship.  Nothing more had been said about when they would marry, but the fact that they eventually would had become sure.  It was indescribably comforting to Chantaya to know what her fate would eventually be.

Once, as they were walking home from Mordecai’s, Chantaya asked him, “Why did you never speak to me of our future?  Before that day I went into the village?”

“Because you’re only fifteen.  I thought it would be another year before we would speak of such things.”

“But you could have at least let me know a portion of the direction of your heart.”

He rounded on her where she walked beside him.  “I show you a portion of the direction of my heart every day of your life, Chani.  Don’t you see that?”

She nodded.  “I do.  But still, a girl could die of wondering without some kind of hint at your thoughts and feelings.”

He took her hand and pulled her back to walking down the path.  “And a couple could die of loneliness if a girl’s mother found out I was more than her childhood friend.  I don’t doubt that as soon as your mother realizes my intentions, she’ll put a stop to our endless freedom together.  And I can’t blame her.  Knowing someday I shall be your husband makes me wish you were older.”