Val sighed heavily, feeling more relief at her agreement than he cared to admit. He turned to Vesper, seeing that she was looking at him with an expression between apprehension and pride. It was an expression that filled him with strength he never even knew he had. Kissing her hand, he looked deeply into her eyes.
“I will be gone for a long time,” he said softly. “Mayhap even years. I know this is not something you expected, but your support in the matter means everything to me.”
Vesper smiled faintly. His hand was holding hers, still up by his lips, and she leaned forward to kiss his hand as he had kissed hers.
“You are a great man,” she said hoarsely, fighting off tears at the thought of a long separation. “You must be allowed to restore that greatness. Wherever you go, and for however long you are gone, know that I will love you just as I do now until I die. No separation or war can destroy that. When you return to me, it will be as if you have never left.”
Her words gripped his heart, squeezing it, making him feel such longing for her already that it was tearing him apart. But he couldn’t think on that now; he couldn’t destroy their last few hours together with his melancholy. Cupping her face with his free hand, he kissed her on her soft, warm lips.
“And I shall love you and no other, for always,” he murmured. “Have no doubt that I shall return to you, Vesper. I belong to you.”
Vesper was trying very hard not to weep. The tenderness of this moment was shattering her into a million pieces of longing but she fought it. “As I belong to you.”
Val kissed her once more before standing tall. Still holding Vesper’s hand, he faced Henry and William.
“We are agreeable, my lord,” he said, trying to swallow away the lump in his throat. “I will go to Ireland and my mother and my wife will go to Northumberland. I cannot thank you enough for your generosity, my lords, all of you.”
Henry grinned, that gap-toothed smile. “My wars in Ireland are already won,” he announced. Then, he held out both arms as if to embrace the entire hall. “Good lords and good ladies, may I introduce you to Baron Gilderdale, commander of my armies in Ireland. Long may he live and prosper.”
Val simply shook his head at the pomp and circumstance of a sometimes-dramatic king, fighting off a grin when he saw Tevin and William smiling openly at him. Somewhat embarrassed, he scratched his cheek, turning to glance at Calum and Kenan standing several feet away only to see that they were laughing at him in a joyful sort of way. That brought about his own laughter, a release of tension and an expression of delight in the course his future had taken.
Where Val thought there had been no hope, hope anew rose from the ashes. He was stronger than before, a knight bound for the glory that was Ireland, with his mother and wife safe inEngland, protected by friends and allies who weren’t willing to see him fall from grace. Instead, they had been there to help dust him off and set him on his feet again.
Even in the darkness, there was light.
But there was also a slight problem.
“Wait,” Val said, turning to Henry as the man seemed apt to hunt down food and drink now that business was concluded. “If I am to leave for Ireland, then I would like to marry Vesper before I go.”
Henry flashed that famous grin. “I happen to know of a cathedral nearby,” he said. “I will send word to the Archbishop of Winchester to perform the mass.”
“How soon will I leave for Ireland?”
Henry sobered, just the slightest. “We are waiting for more men from Dorset and they should arrive by the morrow. As soon as they come, the army shall depart.”
“Then there is no time to waste for my wedding.”
And waste time, they did not. In her traveling clothes and with the King of England in attendance, Lady Vesper d’Avignon married Sir Valor de Nerra at the entrance to Winchester Cathedral that very night as a faint dusting of snow fell from the dark and swollen sky. Once the vows were taken, everyone moved inside for the great mass and the wedding blessing.
It was a night of great rejoicing and happiness, but no one was rejoicing more than Margaretha. Finally, her bachelor son had taken a bride and she couldn’t have been more pleased about it. The entire wedding feast consisted of more talk of grandchildren, at least as far as she was concerned, and when the newly married couple retreated to their borrowed chamber in the keep of Winchester for the night, a slightly-drunk Margaretha made sure they understood that their purpose that night was to conceive a child.
Henry egged her on and poured more wine into her cup as Val rolled his eyes and carried his bride away. Only when he was out of sight did he grin at the sight of his drunken mother demanding grandchildren.
With his wedding night before him, he intended to do his best to obey her.
EPILOGUE
Holystone Castle
May, 1173 A.D.
It was aglorious spring day, abnormally warm this far north, but Vesper wasn’t complaining. The sun felt wonderful on her face as she stood at the edge of the kitchen yard, watching Margaretha stand in the middle of the fowlery where chicken and ducks and their young gathered.
But Margaretha wasn’t standing there simply for something to do. She was watching her grandsons run about, chasing the newly hatched ducks and admonishing the boys to be gentle with the little creatures. Gabriel and Gavin de Nerra, identical twins born nearly nine months after their father had departed for Ireland, were just over a year and a half years of age and, as Margaretha put it, they were wicked personified. They ran around like madmen, ate heartily, hated to be bathed, and generally caused a ruckus around Holystone, which had been a quiet castle until the birth of the two ruffians.
But they were precious ruffians. William de Percy’s two spinster sisters, Lady Arietta and Lady Blossom, had been disturbed by the babies at first but very soon came to tolerateand even love them. Now, they vied for time to tend them with Margaretha, greatly displeasing the woman who had waited so long for them. But the wait had been worth it; she adored the boys who looked much as their father did at that age. Bright, sweet, and spirited, she thanked God daily for their exhausting presence.
But they needed a strong hand, one she was more than willing to lend. Even now, she stood over them as they chased chicks and ducklings, her attentive eye watching their every move.
