“The sun already rides high,” he protested when Alienor gripped his arm and would have held him for another moment by her side.He smiled at her.“Be happy, child.’Twill be soon enough that our paths cross again.”
“Be safe, Guibert,” she responded, as had always been their custom.Never had either uttered a farewell to the other, and so it would continue.Alienor kissed the weathered cheek of the man she had known as a father, blinking back her tears when he strode from the hall.
Guibert had never tolerated tears on his departure, and by tacit agreement, Alienor had never actually witnessed him riding out.’Twill be soon enough, she repeated to herself, cherishing the familiarity of the words.How many times had he taken his parting thus?
“’Twas my mistake that we missed the gardens yesterday,” came an increasingly familiar voice from her side.Alienor wiped her tears and turned to find Alaric beside her.The sympathy in his gray eyes revealed that he had seen her reaction to Guibert’s departure.“He shall return soon enough,” he assured her with a confidence Alienor wished she could share.His words were an unconscious echo of Guibert’s own.
Alienor nodded in agreement, realizing that she was well and truly alone in her husband’s home.Feeling in need of reassurance, she reached out and patted the small shaggy beast standing beside Alaric, wishing her husband was not lost to her by day.
Trust those I trust.Dagobert’s words echoed in her thoughts and she glanced up to find Alaric’s steady gaze upon her.Her husband entrusted this man with the unicorn’s care and safety each day.Surely there could be no greater trust than this.Alienor summoned a smile, rising to her feet to face the goatherd.
“I would like very much to see the gardens,” she confessed.
He smiled, urging the unicorn forward and ushering Alienor toward the door.
“We shall have to be watchful, for Dagobert shows little discretion once he is amongst the herbs and flowers.”Alaric had that troublemaking twinkle in his eyes and it prompted Alienor’s smile.She knew he would make a jest or tease her, and welcomed the prospect.“My hide would be forfeit if he became ill and was compelled to abandon your bed for even one night.”
Alienor gasped and flushed.She quickly stepped ahead of him that he might not witness her embarrassment, but his knowing chuckle proved she had not succeeded.Why were these people so intent on discussing such intimate matters?
“You are worse than a rutting goat,”Eustache grumbled as he and Dagobert climbed the stairs together to the lord’s chamber.The keep was quiet, the hour late, and the sound of snoring rose from the hall below.Eustache’s torch cast a flickering light over the stone.
“’Tis jealousy behind your mood, no more than that.”Dagobert was unwilling to let his friend’s sour mood affect him.There was truth in the assertion that he was more and more anxious to seek his lady’s bed after only two nights.Her willing response to his touch and her warm companionship each day together wove a web around his heart that was proving difficult to deny.He was blessed indeed to draw such a wife by pure chance and he knew it well.
He meant to make the most of every moment.
“’Tis without doubt these nights in the company of a chewing goat that make me so merry,” Eustache said.
Dagobert grinned.“’Tis all for the greater good, I assure you.”
Eustache looked skeptical.“I would have you get her with child with all haste so that we might return to more pressing issues.”
Dagobert suspected that if Alienor were to conceive, he would be the last to tell the household lest he be compelled to abandon her bed.
And truly, there was little of greater import than his need for a son and heir.
“Have you heard tell of Brabant?”he asked as they reached the top of the stairs.His heart sank when Eustache shook his head firmly.
Could something have gone amiss in their carefully laid plan?
“Nay, but he has yet a fortnight to confirm,” Eustache reminded him.“’Tis unlike him to wait until the last moment but perhaps ’twas unavoidable.”
Dagobert nodded agreement, then opened the antechamber door and pulled a heavy brass key from his pocket.He heard Eustache close the door to the hall behind him, securing the two of them in the small outer room of the lord’s chambers.Eustache slipped his torch into a sconce on the wall.
Dagobert fitted his key into the lock on the inner door and the tumblers rolled with a barely detectable sound.The door swung open on carefully oiled hinges.He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Alienor did not stir.The brazier had burned down low but there was still light in the chamber.His namesake glanced up from the hearth with interest then strolled toward the door with a wag of its short tail, evidently anticipating the treat Eustache always brought.
While the goat accepted some nicety from the kitchens, Dagobert removed the cord with his wedding ring and signet ring from around the beast’s neck and slipped it over his own head.He nodded to Eustache before he stepped into his chamber and closed the door, his heart pounding in anticipation.
Alienor.She rolled to her side, as yet unaware of his presence, and Dagobert watched the firelight play over her features.How he wished that he could love her in the light, instead of merely hearing her gasp of surprise.Her arm fell to the feather pallet in her sleep, her fingers extended toward him as though she would beckon him to bed.His breath quickened, even though he knew she still slept.
She was so sweet and trusting.He did not like to betray her.He wondered how long this ploy could continue.How long would it be until Alienor suspected that the cup Iolande offered her each night contained more than wine?How long would it be until a trusted member of the household slipped and revealed his true identity, even inadvertently?He was uncomfortable at the thought of her discovering the truth.
The time that he had spent in his wife’s company convinced him that she was no fool in her own right.How long until she guessed his dual identity herself?He thought he had already seen speculation in her eyes, and her attempts to touch his face the previous night had surprised him.How long could he curtail her curiosity?If he were to fall asleep when Alienor did not, she would surely find him out.If he were to speak overmuch to her, she would surely recognize his voice.
What if he confided in her?Could he trust her with the truth of it?The thought stunned him with its insistence and its simplicity.The temptation almost overwhelmed his characteristic caution.He knew so little of Alienor and her loyalties, even of her nature, and certainly knew nothing of her ability to hold her tongue under duress.How deep was her commitment to his house?His heart urged him to trust her completely, but he knew there was too much at stake to take such a risk.
There had been years of planning and buying alliances.They were near the end of almost two decades of hiding, while making preparations for this single attempt to regain his heritage.Even now the days were rapidly slipping away before his final test, a test failed by each generation of his family for centuries past.Would he manage to regain the crown wrongfully stolen from his ancestors?
If not, what had he to offer his lady wife?He was a man pledged to this seemingly futile battle to regain what had been lost centuries before.His attention was compromised and his wealth might be taken.At best, he could give her a son who would take up this same task in his wake.He felt in that moment that Alienor had been sorely cheated.
