“I have been thinking,” he said, somewhat quietly. “Mayhap Sebastian has been right all along. Mayhap it is time to redeem ourselves. A tournament is a safe place to start. I will not be picking up a sword or bearing arms in the course of war. It is essentially a game of skill. With the money I win, mayhap….”
Justus was extremely interested. “Mayhapwhat?”
Mathias looked at him. “Henry de Beaumont is looking for men,” he said. “We can relocate to Scotland and fight those wars the Scots constantly fight. The money will help us redeem ourselves as knights and as men, and we can mayhap marry and have families and homes.”
Justus was astonished. “Marry?” he repeated. “Mat, you have never expressed an interest in marriage, ever.”
“I am interested now.”
Justus stared at him, mulling over his statement and remembering the very beautiful young woman Mathias had spent the afternoon with. Suddenly, it was all starting to make some sense.
“That girl?” he said. “Has she asked you to compete?”
Mathias frowned. “Of course not,” he said. “For all she knows, I am a smithy and nothing more. She has not asked anything of me.”
“But she has put ideas in your mind,” Justus pressed. “Has she spoken of marriage?”
Mathias put the sword down. “Da, she has not said or done anything,” he insisted. “But I would be lying if I said she has not made me realize what has been taken away from me. If my lands and titles had not been stripped, I could command a bride as fine as her, but in my current state… nay, she deserves more than a smithy. She deserves a man who can provide for her in a manner in which she deserves. With a wife like that, I could take on the entire world and win. She would make me proud again.”
Justus’ heart hurt as he listened to his son speak of things he hadn’t spoken of since that dark January day. He’d always suspected Mathias’ thoughts but to hear the man speak of them was heartbreaking. He’d lost so very much in a circumstance that had been both unjust and unfair, that had seen some men retain everything and some men lose everything. But it had been the way of things.
“You will regain what is yours again someday,” Justus said softly. “Alberbury Castle and Caus Castle will be returned to you as will the Westbury Barony, and you will once again be known as Baron Westbury, High Warden of the Northern Marches. When enough time passes, Edward will soften and you shall regain what is rightfully yours.”
Mathias was looking at the sword, half-finished, in its iron cage. “I do not share your confidence,” he muttered with sadness in his tone. “My mother was the sister of Roger Mortimer’s wife, Joan. When Mortimer and the king became at odds, I had no choice but to side with my family.”
Justus could feel the anxiety beginning. “You did what was expected.”
Mathias snorted. “I left my friends, my king… I sided with the usurper because he was my family.”
Justus’ jaw ticked as he watched his son, seeing the tension in the man’s body as he spoke. “Edward understands,” he insisted softly. “That is the reason he did not kill you when Mortimer was captured.”
Mathias’ jaw ticked as he looked at his father. “He did not kill me because he was my friend,” he said, his teeth clenched. “That fact, and that fact alone, was the only reason he did not put us all to the blade.”
Justus suspected that a year of remaining silent on the subject of losing his knighthood was about to come to a head.Mathias was working himself up and Justus hastened to ease the man.
“Tate and Kenneth and Stephen pleaded for your life,” he said quietly as Mathias began to pace. “They all love you, lad. You were spared because they understood your reasons for siding with Mortimer. It was not because you wished to see Edward dead. It was because Mortimer is your uncle by marriage.”
Mathias’ eyes flashed. “Wished the king dead or not, siding with Mortimer killed my knighthood. Edward might as well have put me to the blade. I was dead the day I swore fealty to Mortimer.”
“You are too hard on yourself.”
Mathias’ jaw ticked furiously. “Nay, I am not,” he said, leaning on a post near the great and scarred anvil. “I am not hard on myself at all. The truth is that I should have been smarter. I should not have let family ties influence me to side with a man I knew had no right to rule England. I should have stayed with my king… and now see what my judgment has cost me.”
Sebastian picked that moment to enter the room, his arms full of equipment, but Justus held a hand up to still him. Mathias was letting loose his emotion and Justus didn’t want Sebastian interrupting something that was long overdue.
“This too shall pass,” Justus insisted softly, urgently. “The tides of politics change as frequently as the seasons. Soon, you shall have your life restored to you. Edward is wise, lad. You have friends in very high places. The name Mathias de Reyne means something. Your castles will be returned to you, as will your titles and lands. But it will not happen if you defy the king by bearing arms in a tournament or fleeing to Scotland to fight in their foolish wars. You must be patient.”
“Iampatient,” Mathias roared in an uncharacteristic display of rage. “Da, I have worked my entire life to achieve greatnessfew men do. It was taken away from me, mayhap justly or mayhap not. In any case, I have been patient for these long months, watching other knights ride through this dirty little village and knowing my greatness far exceeded theirs once… God’s Blood, once… once I was the man all men feared. I want that back. Now, I see something I want very badly and all of those things I lost those months ago… I want it back, because I must have it in order to haveher.”
So itwasthe girl. Now they had the crux of Mathias’ change of heart. Justus’ gaze lingered on his eldest a moment before turning to look at Sebastian.
The redheaded knight was still standing in the doorway, watching his older brother have a moment of weakness. He had heard most of the conversation. But, unlike his father, he was unwilling to talk Mathias out of competing in the tournament. He wanted to see his brother’s greatness restored, too, because if Mathias was great again, then he and Justus would be as well. Moreover, he wasn’t very good at dealing with emotion so it was better to move past it quickly.
“Here,” Sebastian pushed into the room and laid the equipment out on the hacked-up, sturdy work table that was nearly in the center of the stall. “This is all of it, Mat. There is almost a complete set of armor plus various smaller weapons, tunics, banners, and based on the missive regarding de Lovern’s father, we could have one of the priests at Lanercost Priory draw up a bill of Patins. You will need it to enter the tournament.”
Mathias, finished feeling sorry for himself for the moment, began rummaging through the armor and pieces of mail, all of which had been left by the unfortunate de Lovern. He could feel the familiar excitement filling his veins with thoughts of competitive combat and the thrill of the joust. It seemed like forever ago when last he competed.
“We will have to pay the priest well for his cooperation,” Mathias said as he held up the section of shoulder armor for inspection. “We will also have to create an entire lineage for Banbury. Da, what do you know of the Earl of Banbury?”
