What do you plan to do for the rest of your life?
He knew what he wanted to do.
Whether or not that happened would be up to her.
“My life has been preordained,” he said after a moment. “Or, so I thought. Every son of a noble house faces the same future– preordained by his family. In my family, I was the second son. My brother would inherit everything and I was content to serve, to follow. With my brother marrying an heiress, that future has changed considerably. Now, I find myself with the de Lara empire resting on my shoulders while my brother builds his own legacy with Bath and Glastonbury.”
“And you will build your own legacy here?”
“Of course,” he said. “I will marry and have sons to carry on my legacy and the de Lara name. But I respect my ancestors and where they came from. The ancestor who came to these shores with theAnges de Guerrewas a nobleman of Aragon heritage, though he was from Gascon. He was the Count du Boucau and a branch of the de Lara family still holds that title. My ancestor’s name was Luc and I always intended to name my firstborn son Luc.”
“Luc,” Juliandra repeated, rolling it over her tongue. “I like that name. It is strong.”
Kevin stared at her a moment before breaking out into a grin. “Then I shall have to marry you because you have already agreed to the name,” he said. “I fear another woman might not be so agreeable. Tell me, Juliandra, how serious is your betrothal to this Aeron ap Gruffudd?”
Juliandra wasn’t sure if he was serious or not, but she went along with it. She shook her head. “I told you that we are not betrothed,” she said. “Aeron simply thinks we are and tells everyone who will listen.”
“Then he would more than likely attack Wybren if I married you.”
She looked at him;reallylooked at him. He was talking more than she’d ever heard him, not exactly rambling on, but not exactly his usual controlled self. He had a cup of the pear cider in his hand, which was strong, so she was fairly certain it was the drink that had loosened his tongue. Was he speaking of things in his heart that he was too afraid to speak of when he was sober?
Was it too good to hope for?
Her giddy self was about to overwhelm her common sense.
Hadn’t she just been thinking about marrying Kevin earlier in the day? Hadn’t she just been musing about it, knowing her father would never permit it? She was trying to remain level-headed about the situation, but she was rapidly losing ground. She’d only come to Wybren to seek her father’s release.
She’d never come to stay.
Or fall in love with a handsome English knight.
… hadn’t she?
“He would not go away easily if that is what you are asking,” she finally said. “But this is all purely talk, Kevin. You are not serious about marrying me, so do not tease me so.”
He frowned. “Who says I am not?”
“Are you?”
It was the question she’d been dying to ask, now presented. It hung in the air between them. Kevin had been leaning towards her on his chair, close to her because he’d wanted to be. But with that question presented, he leaned back on the other side of the chair, eyeing her because the one part of his brain that wasn’t drunk told him to watch himself.
Be careful.
The trouble was that he wasn’t listening to his sober self.
He was going to be reckless.
“Let us say that I am,” he said. “For argument’s sake, wouldyoube agreeable?”
It was like a game of chess– he would make one move, she would make another. The light tone of the conversation was becoming more serious now, but Juliandra wasn’t afraid of it. Shewasagreeable. At least, she thought she was. She thought she might be very happy being married to a handsome English knight, a man as gentle and trustworthy as Kevin.
A large part of her wanted to indulge in that fantasy, just for a moment.
“It is only a giddy maiden’s dream,” she said, finally looking away. “Whether or not I was agreeable means nothing. It is my father you would have to ask and I know what he would say. He would deny you because he does not want his daughter to be married to a warlord,oran Englishman, which makes little sense to me given that my mother was English, from Rochester. My father met her when he was traveling home from France many years ago. My grandfather is English, though I’ve not seen him since my mother died.”
Kevin had known that, for she’d told him the first night they’d met. “Does Aeron know that you are half-English?”
She shrugged. “I do not know,” she said honestly. “It is not a great secret, as there are many in this area who knew my mother, but I do not know if he knows.”
