“I will have the servants bring your larger cases out of storage,” he said as casually as if they were packing for a holiday. “Mary Joan and Ann can start packing immediately. I must have you out of the Tower before the army moves out.”
Instead of weeping, she simply seemed depressed. Rising from bed with the linen sheet still wrapped around her, she padded over to where he stood and pressed herself against him. Matthew wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight and fast. She was warm and sweet and soft, and the pangs of separation were already starting to bite at him.
Cupping her face, he kissed her hair, her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, and finally her mouth. It was a long, sweet, tender kiss that rocked him to the core. He began to wonder if he would be strong enough to see the day through. Although war was his life, as he was born and bred to it, he’d never before had to leave behind someone he deeply loved. This was an entirely new experience and not one he relished.
“Gaston and my brothers will be here shortly,” he said. “I must go and meet with them, but it should not take long. I will try to stay with you as long as I can.”
Though she was quite proud of herself for maintaining her composure, inside, Alixandrea was dying. But Matthew did not look as if he could take any hysterics today. He had enough on his mind without her falling apart and she resolved to stay strong, at least until she was well away from him. When he could not see her tears.
“Oh, Matthew,” she breathed. “I suppose I knew this day would come, but now that it is here, I find that I am ill prepared for it.”
He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “I am not sure if any manner of preparation is ever enough for this kind of thing.”
Her hand reached up, touching his scratchy face where he had not yet shaved. “There is nothing I can say that I have not already said. I do not want you to go, but you already know that. Anything more… it will not change the way of things.”
“Nay, it will not.”
“I have known since the day I married you that you were meant to do this.”
“Indeed.”
She sighed, snuggling back into his warm embrace and savoring it. “Will you at least see me off?”
“Not only will I see you off, but I shall ride with you all the way to Wellesbourne,” he replied. “John and my father shall stay with you there.”
“And then what?”
“You will wait for my return.”
“When will that be?”
It was an honest question. He struggled to give her an honest answer. “It could be weeks or months. I have no way of knowing.”
“Will you at least send word and let me know how you are?”
“As often as I possibly can.”
“I will miss you horribly.”
“And I shall miss you with every breath.”
They gazed at each other for a long, bittersweet moment, a million emotions filling the space between them. Just when it seemed there was nothing further to say, Alixandrea softly spoke.
“Do you remember when I asked you once what you liked to do?”
His blue eyes twinkled, remembering that magical afternoon not so long ago. “I do. Why?”
Her fingers toyed with his armor, his mail. “Perhaps when this is all over, and when peace is finally attained, we… we can go fishing.”
He smiled, touched that she would remember such a thing. But he repeated the word just to make sure he heard her correctly. “Fishing?”
“Aye,” she grasped for words. “But there is a reason why I wish to do this. You told me once that fishing signified peace, far removed from the horror of battle. I think… I think it is something we should do when this insanity is finished.”
“To signify peace?”
“In the hope that we shall always live with it.”
His smile broadened. “I would like nothing better.”
