Guibert’s ears tinged red at the praise.“’Twas but a lucky swing,” that knight argued, winking at Alienor before he dropped onto the bench beside Kado.
“You are too modest, my friend,” Kado teased, then sobered again.“He saved my life,” he told Iolande.“And then we talked.When Guibert spoke of Montsalvat, though in hushed tones, I knew that I might find my answer here.”He hesitated for a moment, then took Iolande’s hand in his.“Do you know the fate of my Arpais?”he demanded huskily.“I would hear even the worst of it, Iolande.”
Iolande cleared her throat and Alienor watched her stroke her thumbs across Kado’s hand, clasped so tightly within her own.She took a deep breath before she spoke.“’Twas Guibert who saw her die,” she said softly.Alienor’s gaze darted to her foster father to find his expression impassive.
Kado glanced at the older knight who dropped his gaze.“It seemed likely that you might know of her, for there are few of your appearance in these lands.When you spoke of Arpais, I wondered if she might have been the woman I met so briefly.”
“You guessed!”Kado said.
“’Twas not a tale to share lightly,” Guibert said.“I had to know for certain that she was the woman you sought.”He brushed a hand over his brow as if he sought to free himself of some painful recollection.Alienor wondered what grisly sight Guibert recalled.Kado looked down, his expression grim, then Guibert cleared his throat.“When you mentioned Alzeu de Pereille, I thought you might have met Iolande before.Had I been certain earlier, my friend, I would have confided the tale of that lady’s demise.”
Kado placed one hand gently on Guibert’s shoulder.“I have no doubt of that, Guibert.’Twas kindness alone that convinced you to spare me the tale until you could be certain she was my Arpais.”
“Much trouble have we seen in these parts since last you traveled here,” Iolande commented, and all knew she sought to bolster Kado for the truth.
Kado must have guessed as much, as well, for he swallowed, then eyed Guibert again.“Tell me only that ‘twas quick.”
Guibert nodded immediately.“Aye, ’twas sudden and without suffering, but she had no chance of escape.”
The other man closed his eyes for a moment.“And the child?”he asked finally.
Iolande smiled and seized his hands.“She entrusted the child to Guibert,” she whispered and Kado straightened.“Who raised her as his own.”
“Nay!”Kado said with wonder.
“Aye.”Iolande lifted a hand to indicate Alienor, as Kado rose unsteadily to his feet.Alienor’s heart began to hammer in her chest.This man had known her mother.Was he her own blood kin?She barely dared to hope.
“Kado, I would have you meet Alienor, who is wedded to my son.”Iolande’s smile encouraged Alienor to step forward.At the older woman’s gesture, she reached for her hood and uncovered her hair.
The delight in Kado’s expression when he gazed fully upon her was enough to make Alienor’s own tears rise.He rounded the end of the table like a man in a dream, reaching up to touch Alienor’s cheek as if he feared that she would dissolve before his very eyes.
“The very image of my Arpais,” he murmured hoarsely.Alienor pressed his hand to her cheek with her own shaking fingers, wanting to console him but knowing not how.
“Arpais,” she repeated softly, and Kado smiled at her.
“My only and most beloved daughter,” he whispered, confirming her suspicions.
’Twas Arpais who had surrendered her to Guibert.
“My granddaughter,” Kado added, as if he could not believe the way of things any more easily than Alienor.
They eyed each other, then smiled in the same moment.Alienor moved closer even as her grandfather gathered her close to his heart.
Kado hada lump in his throat as he held this woman close, this woman who so resembled his Arpais, child of the child he had thought lost to him forever.There was hope then, after all.He should never he have left Arpais in these lands, but it was too late for the resolution to make any difference.Only now did he feel the fullness of his expectation to see her again, only now when he felt the void of her loss within him.
How many years had he teased himself with the possibility that he would see Arpais again if he only rode to the west?How long had he imagined tales of her and Robert, happy and healthy with a brood of children?He knew well enough that Robert would never have willingly abandoned his bride, but it was too late to know the truth.Fate had intervened, through no fault of Robert, and his Arpais had died alone.
But not unloved.
’Twas a miracle that her child had survived, and he owed Guibert far more than he had realized in Carcassonne.He pulled back and touched Alienor’s cheek, marveling.Was this truly the squalling babe he had held, though it seemed only days has passed?She could be no other, this woman who might have been Arpais.He summoned a smile of reassurance for her, seeing the questions in the depths of those eyes.His gaze dropped to her rounded stomach and his smile broadened
The two vines had tangled and borne fruit, despite the upset of his and Alzeu’s carefully-laid plans.The two regal bloodlines had been successfully merged.
“I know naught of my roots,” Alienor said softly.
Kado smiled at her reluctance to make demands of him, even as he knew that her curiosity must be overwhelming.Arpais, too, had been accepting of what came her way and determined to put others first.That they shared this trait as well as such distinctive eyes proved to Kado beyond doubt that this child was indeed of his line.
“Arpais was the light of my life,” he admitted.“I would be glad to tell you all about her.”
