Madrigal-Chapter 12
Once their breathing returned to normal he moved off of her body and pulled her close
Disclaimer: I really don’t own them but I sometimes I think they own me. I’m making no money from this fic.
In honor of the lovely Jen Bachand’s Renaissance wedding.
I have a wonderful friend and beta in the amazing Kristen Elizabeth. She had to do a lot of work on this chapter; if you like anything about it, it’s probably because of her.
******
Once their breathing returned to normal Grissom moved off of her body and pulled her close. Entwined, they rested together, loathe to lose any contact.
She rested her head against his chest, her long fingers slowly skating across the flesh there. “Often in my life, I have railed against the heavens that I was born a female, never more than these last days when, by virtue of the fact that I am a woman, I have no control over my own destiny.” Sara sighed softly, blowing her breath across his bare skin. “But to have this time with you…to have been a woman in your arms this once…I would not change my lot in life if it is payment for this one night.”
“Sara.” He had always loved her name, so simple, yet so beautiful. But now that he knew the sound of her name whispered against her skin, breathed against her breast, grunted into the joint where her neck and shoulder met, cried out loud as he spilled himself into her, he was in love with the sound of it. The beauty of it enthralled him, as if her name were somehow a part of her and merely by saying it he could hold a piece of her.
“Sara.” His arm tightened around her, reveling in the feel of her bare, soft skin. “There is still time. We could ride away; we would not be missed until well after dawn.” He felt her shake her head against him and he kissed her crown. “The Queen would not allow the King to hurt your mother. She has not been punished by his hand for more than four years; surely he would not now.”
She shifted, sliding up slightly so their faces were aligned. “I would give all that I have, my dowry, my family home and lands, every ribbon I own to be with you. But my love, I could not live with myself if I abandoned my honor and asked you to abandon yours. What is more, you could not live with me either.” Her hands cupped his cheeks and her look was tinged with grief but still so full of love. “You would come to hate me.”
“I could never hate you.” His voice was husky but his protest was vehement.
Sara smiled sweetly. Sadly. “You think not now. But when you realized all you had abandoned for my sake…everything you have worked your whole life for, you would come to resent me for it.”
“No.” Grissom pressed a fevered kiss to her brow. “Never. I would not, I swear it.”
Sighing, she nestled her head against him. “I believe you, love. I do.” She idly traced his eyebrows with the tip of her finger. “But we love each other’s hearts as well as minds and bodies. Should I abandon honor and duty, I would cease to be that person you say you love.”
He felt a thickness in his throat and a tightening within his chest as he listened to her words. While he did not think he could ever stop loving her, he knew he would think less of himself if he became a thief, stealing a bride in the dark of night. Yet his heart cried out in anguish; to lose what he had possessed so briefly, to have held what he thought would never be his…it all seemed senseless, unbearable pain.
Grissom shifted so he lay on his side facing her and she moved to reflect him. They faced each other, the faint glow of firelight from the other room their only light. He let out a breath. “If the fates allowed me to love you in the open, I would make you my wife…if you would have me to husband.” He traced her collarbone then her shoulder, delighting in the silk of her skin. “We would wed in the morning and immediately after, I would put you on Arawn and we would ride out, away from the village, until we came to a meadow, far enough afield that none would see us.”
His hands skimmed down her arm with a light but lingering touch. “I would lay you down in the tall grass and bare all of you to my gaze.” He leaned in and pressed a moist kiss to the place where her neck and shoulder joined. “I would count every freckle and kiss every inch of your skin.” His fingers danced up her arm and slid to her breast, caressing the nipple, then cupping the weight within his palm. “Oh, sweet, I would wring such a song of love from your lips by kissing every part of you.” His lips caressed the hollow at the base of her throat. “And when you could sing no more, I would join my body with yours and take you there. I would hide no part of our love. I would sing my own song of love within you, there in the light with the sun kissing us both.”
Sara ran her fingers through his curls and he heard the tears and tenderness within her voice. “I will dream of the sun on my bare skin for the rest of my days, beloved.”
He rolled them until she was on her back and he rested between her thighs. Grissom brushed his lips across her chin and then the corner of her mouth. “Promise me, dearest. Swear to me if ever you change your mind or you are too unhappy with Lord Vincent, if he is cruel to you or treats you ill, promise me you will send word to me. Swear it, that I may keep that hope.”
“I swear, my love.” She pressed her lips to his softly, but he returned the softness with hunger. His tongue swept her mouth as if he would devour her.
Drawing away from him, panting, she was still able to give him a smile tinged with mischief. “But now I fear your words and your kiss have ignited a fire within me.” She caressed his shoulders, his chest. “I am new to the ways of love, m’lord. Could you show a poor, simple maid how best to extinguish the flames?”
“Ah.” He shifted so his engorged manhood brushed against her as his words, passionate and playful, filled her ears. “M’lady, I can but show you how to dampen the flame.” He settled his body against her with a grunt of appreciation. “I fear this fire will never be extinguished.” All teasing gone, he looked into her eyes with a wealth of love. “And though it may cause me pain, I am glad of it.”
Her hand slipped between their bodies and brought him home. “I, as well, love. I, as well.”
He besieged her lips with his own and began to move within her again.
***
The line of the eastern horizon was beginning to glow with a rosy hue when Lady Sara began to dress to take her leave of him. They stood together beside the work table where they had shared so much time, the place where they had come to know and love each other, now grieving the loss of that love. The sweetness of the hours they had spent lying in each others arms did nothing to alleviate the bitterness of their parting. Grissom felt as if his very soul was being ripped from him as he held her in his arms and kissed her over and over.
Thick with tears, Sara’s voice wobbled as she clung to him. “My love, I must fly.”
“I know, sweet, I know.” But he did not release her nor did she attempt to break his hold.
Within the circle of each other’s arms, they both wanted nothing more than for time to stop that they might stay there forever. The short hours of the night felt like grains of sand within the ocean, too small to fight the rising tide, too slight against all encompassing vastness.
He knew she needed to return to her chambers before the castle began stirring, but the idea of putting her away from him was the same to him as cutting off his own arm.
“Lady Sara.” The voice of Captain James cut across the room, eliciting a hastily suppressed shriek from the lady. The older man seemed not to notice as he entered the mage’s rooms.
The mage was fully aware there was no other explanation for him and the Lady Sara being so entwined, save the truth. He felt the sudden heat that flooded the lady’s cheeks, but his own emotions had careened too wildly in the previous hours for him to feel anything so mundane as embarrassment or shame. He was sure it was only her own natural modesty that caused her to flush so hotly.
As for the Captain, he did not blink at the sight of the young woman in the mage’s embrace. “You must back to your chambers. The hunt begins at dawn. Your absence will be noticed and then it will be disgrace and dishonor for you and a charge of treason for the lord mage if you are found here.”
Unmindful of the Captain’s presence, the mage took her face between his hands and pressed his lips to hers in one last tender salute. “I will hold you in my heart forever.”
Her lips trembled and tears pooled in her eyes. “As you will be in mine.”
The Captain’s voice was sympathetic but firm. “Lady, you must away.”
With one last loving look at the mage, Lady Sara took her candle and hurried from the room, never meeting the Captain’s gaze.
Both men watched until she was out of sight, then the mage looked at his friend. “How did you know the lady was here?” He looked at the Captain’s rumpled uniform and bleary eyes. “Have you been drinking with Tripton the whole night?”
Wearily, the Captain slumped down onto one of the benches at the work table. “Nay.” He unfastened the strap holding his scabbard and laid the sword on the table. “I was on my way to share the news of Tripton with you and saw the Lady but a few steps ahead of me.” He rubbed a thick fingered hand over his face. “It seemed prudent to keep watch upon the stairs.”
Grissom looked at his friend, blinking and mouth agape. “You sat watch all night, that we not be revealed?”
The Captain shrugged. “I cared not for the idea of you being so discovered.”
“James…” Grissom searched for adequate words but found none. “I am in your debt. I know not how to thank you.”
Sadly, the older man shook his head. “I fear you will have no gratitude when you hear the tale Tripton has relayed to me this night.” Smiling, faintly, the man corrected himself. “This night past.”
The mage sat, all senses on high alert. “Tell me.”
“The lord appeared to love his young wife, was very proud of her youth and beauty. After just a short time, though, he grew distrustful of her. Would not let her leave his home, not even to the village.”
The Captain moved his head from side to side, as though to loosen the tension that had knotted there. “He claimed he feared for her safety, but soon the Lady Deborah was not allowed to leave her rooms. He allowed her no letters, no visitors save one serving maid.”
He was silent for several moments as he stared into the embers of the mage’s fire. When he finally did speak, his words were slow and grave. “One day, his lordship came in from the village and went straight to the lady’s rooms. There was a great argument and the lady could be heard screaming in grief and crying. No one quite knows how, but she escaped her rooms. He caught her at the top of the stairs.” He moved his gaze back to Grissom’s. “The servants were told she tripped on her gown and fell, breaking her neck on the way down. Lord Vincent said the blood must have come from cuts from the stone.”
Lord Grissom watched with horrified fascination as the Captain drew something wrapped in cloth from his tunic. He gave a bleak smile as he unwrapped it. “This cost you all of your cask and the rest of your gold.” The tattered muslin parted to reveal a pointed dagger stained with what could only be blood, dried and flaked though it was. “Tripton recovered the knife when the Lady Deborah met her end, and neglected to return it to his master. He says he knows not why he kept it.”
Grissom’s eyes remained riveted to the dagger even as Captain James finished the tale. “Also of note, Lord Vincent’s nephew was found the next day in a field on the other side of the village with his throat slit.” His lips moved into an ironic twist. “The murderer was never found.”
The silence hung thick and heavy between them, each man pondering the burden of this knowledge as the sun broke over the horizon and the castle and the grounds below came to life.
It was finally the Captain that broke the quiet between them. “There is no surety that he will treat the Lady Sara the same.”
The mage was grim in his response. “Nor is there surety that he will not.”
The Captain looked at him appraisingly. “Will she away with you?”
Lord Grissom shook his head. “Nay. She would not betray her honor and duty, nor would she allow me to betray mine.”
The Captain nodded, smiling faintly. “That sounds like the Lady.” He looked at his friend. “Will you let her go or will you fight?”
To fight meant to risk all, his good name, his work, even his life. Less than an hour previous he had been prepared to let her go and hope that she could find, if not happiness, then contentment at least. But now he not only doubted both happiness and contentment, he feared for her life.
“I will fight.”
The Captain of the Guard clapped his shoulder and gave him a weary smile. “Have you a plan? And how may I help?”
***
When Gregory entered the work room later that morning he found the mage hard at work with pots and jars, mortar and pestle scattered over every available surface. Three braziers were in full use, several items heating over the charcoal and noxious smells hanging in the air.
The mage looked at his assistant. “Gregory, I am glad you have arrived. We have a busy day.”
Wide eyed, the young man nodded. “Aye, m’lord.”
“First, I need for you to seek out the Master Gardener; ask him if we may avail ourselves of his saltpetre. We will need that which has already been aged.” He tossed a bag to his assistant. “If he is unwilling to part with it, offer him coin or service, just bring it back to me. But I believe Master David will accommodate us.”
“Aye, m’lord.”
“Bring the saltpetre to me as soon as you obtain it.” As soon as Gregory nodded, Grissom continued. “I am also in need of honey. See what you can charm from the kitchen maids. Also ask them for a goodly amount of charcoal; if you need you may go to the village to obtain more, but time is very important today, Gregory.”
Again Gregory agreed, both his pallor and anxiety increasing. “Aye, Lord Grissom.”
“Then seek out the Master of the Hunt. The King hunted this morning, but the huntsman will be back to the keep well before midday. If he has not returned, leave word for him to seek us out; if you do see him, ask him for the favor of capturing a serpent for me.”
His mouth dropped open. “A serpent, m’lord?”
“Aye, Gregory. Preferably an adder, but any serpent will do.” The mage stirred one of the containers on the brazier closest to him. “When you unpacked from our journey to the North, where did you place the box the scholar from India gave to me?”
Silently, the mage’s assistant crossed the room and reached high on a shelf, bringing down a small wooden crate and set it on the table. The mage nodded in satisfaction. “Very good, Gregory.” He looked at the young man. “You’d best be off; you have much to do and but a short span of time to accomplish it.”
Gregory looked as though he had been hit in the face with a fish, not hurt, but stunned and clearly wondering what was happening. “But, my lord mage, what are we doing?”
Grissom gave him a dark smile. “Magic, Gregory. Magic.”
Madrigal-Chapter 1
Madrigal-Chapter 2
Madrigal-Chapter 3
Madrigal-Chapter 4
Madrigal-Chapter 5
Madrigal-Chapter 6
Madrigal-Chapter 7
Madrigal-Chapter 8
Madrigal-Chapter 9
Madrigal-Chapter 10
Madrigal-Chapter 11
Madrigal-Chapter 12
Madrigal-Chapter 13
Madrigal-Chapter 14