“Mother is my captive,” Rupert said imperiously. “If you’ve come to save her, then you’ll have to fight me.”
Caius put up his hands to show he had no weapons. “There must be an easier way to secure her release, Sir Rupert.”
“Nay,” Rupert barked. “Fight me or else.”
Caius thought on his options at that point. He sighed dramatically. “I would not presume to tangle with you, Sir Rupert,” he said. “May I at least see her?”
Rupert considered his father’s request. After a moment, he gruffly motioned his father to follow him. Caius followed his sondown a little path and into a larger, rockier area beyond. There were stone steps to the right, leading up to a big, flat rock where the boys liked to play King of the Castle. With the mist, there was a blanket of wet covering the stone steps as Rupert pointed to them.
“She is up there,” he said. “But you cannot go and get her. You have to talk to her from down here.”
Caius lifted an eyebrow at his son before turning to the keep. “Em?” he called.
As soon as the sound left his lips, two young boys suddenly appeared at the top of the rock, just at the top of the stone steps. Caius grinned up at Atticus d’Avignon and Calix d’Avignon, aged four and almost three years, respectively, as they appeared with big sticks in their hands. Emelisse suddenly appeared behind them, wrapped in a cloak against the mist.
“Greetings,” she said, a wry smile on her lips.
He grinned broadly. “And to you, my lady,” he responded. “I see you’re being held hostage.”
She lifted an eyebrow at Atticus, who was nodding his head vigorously. The kid had big dimples and grinned at his father quite devilishly.
“It appears that way,” she said, rubbing her swollen belly. “What are you going to do about it? I am growing weary.”
Caius just shrugged. “Rupert says that I must fight him.”
Emelisse sighed. “Then hurry up about it,” she said. “Calix and I need our naps, but Rupert is standing in the way.”
Caius looked at his eldest son. “Do you hear that?” He pointed towards Emelisse. “Your mother is tired and needs to lie down. Can we move this fight to another day?”
Rupert shook his head. “Nay,” he said decisively. “If you want her, you have to fight me for her.”
Caius sighed dramatically, though it was good-natured. “As you wish.”
He moved for Rupert, but the boy suddenly squealed and ran off. This brought Atticus and Calix down the slippery stairs, much to Emelisse’s horror. At eight months pregnant, she wasn’t moving very fast, so she gripped the stone outcropping as she made her way down after the boys, all the while calling to them to slow down. Caius, seeing this, diverted himself from Rupert to go and help Emelisse down the stairs, but he was intercepted before he could get to her. Atticus and Calix ran right into his legs.
Someone hit him in the groin with a stick and he grunted, doubling over as his sons proceeded to attack him. But his pain was short-lived as he grabbed both boys and began growling like a bear, tickling squirming little children. Calix, not quite three, couldn’t defend himself very well and began to cry. He found himself back in his mother’s arms as Caius took on Atticus and Rupert.
Atticus somehow had his father by the neck as Rupert held on to one big leg. The boy was wrapped around it as if he were holding on to a tree trunk. Emelisse, rocking the sleepy and weepy Calix, just stood there and shook her head.
“I believe you are losing,” she told Caius.
Atticus managed to knock his father’s Adam’s apple and he coughed as he shifted the boy’s arms.
“It seems that way,” he told her as he lifted Rupert up by the ankles and listened to him yell. “But at least you are free of the tower. I am a willing sacrifice, my lady.”
“My hero.”
Caius grinned broadly as Emelisse moved in on the wrestling group and grabbed Atticus by the arm, pulling him off his father. Atticus hit the ground, tripped over Rupert’s foot, and fell to the muddy earth. Angry, he jumped up and tackled his brother, sending them both to the wet ground. Caius intervened beforeany punches were thrown, pulling the boys off of each other and sending each child in an opposite direction.
“Enough,” he scolded gently. “It’s cold and wet out here and your mother must return to the keep.Move.”
Rupert and Atticus obeyed, but they still had their big sticks and played swordfight all the way through The Gatehouse and down the rocky path. Meanwhile, Caius took Calix from Emelisse and held the sleepy boy as they began their mile trek back to the house. He collected Emelisse’s hand as they took the path back to the main road.
“Do you feel well enough to make the walk back?” he asked her. “I can bring a palfrey up here if you wish to ride.”
She shook her head. “I am well enough,” she said. “The walk will do me good.”
“Tell me if you grow too weary.”
