Taking his son’s invitation, Christopher went over to the table where Elle was licking the butter from a big, flat knife. When she saw him approach, she quickly set it down, looking at him with an expression between fear and curiosity. He smiled politely.
“Are you feeling better today, my lady?” he asked. “I see that my wife’s garment fits you.”
Elle looked down at herself, quickly brushing away a few crumbs in her lap. “It does.”
“May I tell you something about it?”
She appeared puzzled. “If you would like to, you may.”
Christopher’s sky-blue eyes glimmered. “That garment was the second dress I ever saw my wife wear many years ago,” he said. “You see, when I first met her, she was hanging from a tree, and—”
“Hanging from a tree?” Elle said, interrupting him. “A fine lady?”
He grinned. “She wasn’t a fine lady back then,” he said. “And aye—a tree. I was home from the great quest to the Levant, heading toward Lioncross Abbey Castle to claim my bride, whenthis woman fell out of a tree right in front of me. I remember this mass of blonde hair all over the ground as she lay there and groaned, so naturally, I took pity on her and brought her home.”
“This is the same woman you bullied into marrying you?” Elle asked.
Christopher laughed softly. “The same,” he said. “I see that you remember what I told you yesterday.”
“I do, indeed,” Elle said. “I never forget a conversation.”
Christopher shot Curtis a long look. “You would do well to remember that about your future wife,” he said, but his focus returned to Elle. “We returned to Lioncross, where I met Dustin’s mother, Lady Mary. Lady Mary was a kind, gentle creature who struggled with a daughter who was neither kind nor gentle. It was Lady Mary who forced Dustin to don the very blue dress you are wearing at our first official meeting later that day. Therefore, the garment you wear has special meaning to me and to my wife. She would be very honored that you are wearing it.”
Elle looked down at the dress, trying to see it with the sentimentality that Christopher was. “If it has special meaning, why does she not keep it with her?” she asked. “Why was it here, with you, at a battle?”
“Because she would come with me sometimes on a battle march,” he said. “That is why you have clothing to wear—she always kept some with me should she decide to attend me.”
Elle nodded, fingering the dress that had been altered slightly since Dustin had been a young lass, wild and free. She could see where seams used to be, having been let out in the slightest. She tried to picture Curtis’ mother, a blonde woman who liked to hang from trees.
“Did Lady Hereford really hang from trees?” she asked, a smirk tugging at her lips.
Christopher nodded. “Indeed, she did,” he said. “She was fearsome, unrestrained in a way few women are. You remind me of her, to be perfectly truthful. You led a battle yesterday, which is something she is more than capable of doing. She is fearless, and so are you, I am coming to see.”
Elle almost replied withfearless but a failure, but held her tongue. They already knew she was beaten. She knew she was beaten. There was no use in rehashing it every time it came up, and the truth was that it could have been so much worse. Hereford and his son were treating her kindly and fairly when they could have very well made her a prisoner and treated her as one. But they weren’t.
Elle was coming to be grateful for small mercies.
“I am certain I will meet her one day,” she said, because she couldn’t think of anything else and Christopher’s kind words had her unsettled. “I will take good care of her garment.”
“I am sure you will,” Christopher said, seeing that she was feeling awkward. “The reason I am telling you this is not to force sentimentality into the situation, but because you and Curtis are to be married today, and the dress you are wearing is most appropriate. My wife will be quite sad that she cannot be present, but your wearing her dress will give her comfort. She is here in spirit.”
Elle looked at him in astonishment. “Today?” she said. “We are being married…today?”
Christopher nodded. “There is no reason to delay,” he said. “Henry will have his marriage, Curtis will have a new castle and a new wife, and this section of the marches shall be settled for the time being.”
Elle wasn’t over her astonishment, and she didn’t like the way he sounded so positive about the situation. As if this was a good thing. As if her entire world hadn’t just come crashing down.
In fact, it shocked her to the core.
“You speak as if this is something good,” she said, sliding from astonishment to outrage. “You speak as if all that matters is that your son will have his castle and a new wife. But what about me? I have lost everything for your son to achieve his status. I have lost my independence and my freedom, not to mention a castle I held for a solid month against mayhap the greatest warlord in England. Yet… you do not acknowledge that I had to sacrifice my entire life so your heir could have a destiny, and I find that wholly insulting.”
The warm expression faded from Christopher’s face. He glanced at Curtis to see how the man was reacting to Elle’s statement, and all he could see on his son’s face was that, perhaps, she might be right. Curtis’ only response was to lift his eyebrows at his father, which told Christopher he may have been thoughtless.
He was careful in his response.
“If I have been insensitive, forgive me,” he said quietly. “It was not my intention. Much like you, we have done a month’s worth of battle, and I suppose I am weary and eager to return home. But I realize that although you are returning home, it will be different than it was. I should have said that, and I am ashamed that I did not. But this is the nature of war, my lady. I have told you that. There are victors and there are losers. Because I did not acknowledge your sacrifice does not mean that I am unaware of it.”
Elle had to take a deep breath to calm herself. “Have you ever been on the losing side of a battle,llew?” she asked. “Do you even know what defeat feels like?”
