“I cannot help but come for you,” he said, quietly, knowing that he was speaking for all to hear and struggling not to become embarrassed about it. Maximus de Shera was a warrior with no emotion. Now, he was showing emotion and in unfamiliar waters. “Asking me not to come for you is like asking me not to breathe. I realize you thought you were saving us all from your father’s wrath, but some things are worth fighting for and risking one’s self for. I thought we had a love that was worth these things, but if I am wrong, please tell me. I do not want to fight for something that you do not feel strongly about.”
It was a shot to the heart. Courtly felt tears popping to her eyes, blinking rapidly to chase them away.
“I feel more strongly about it than you can know,” she said quietly. “It is not about fighting for something. It is about protecting people I have come to adore. It is about savingyou.”
He was gladdened by her words, touched beyond measure. He smiled faintly. “I do not need protecting, although I thank you for your concern,” he said. “I have been fighting for many years, love. I can handle the Kellen de Laras of this world. But what I cannot handle is being away from you, not even for a moment.”
It was such a sweet thing to say, now in front of everyone, for all to hear. Now, everyone knew what Maximus felt but he realized that he hardly cared. It was the truth and now was the time for total truth. Men’s lives,hislife, was at stake.
“Do you feel that, already, we have a love worth fighting for, then?” Courtly asked softly. “We have known each other so short a time.”
He knew there were scores of men, standing around, listening. At that moment, he didn’t care.
“I knew I loved you within the first few minutes of knowing you,” he said. “I am a man of firm beliefs and firm decisions. I cannot do anything without my whole heart. You already have my whole heart, Courtly. I cannot walk away from you.”
Even though Courtly was grinning broadly, the tears came. She laughed at herself, at the situation, and at her unmitigated joy in general. As she wiped the tears off her face, Isadora moved over to St. Héver.
The child was looking at the big, blond knight, even going so far as to slip her hand into his big, gloved one, the hand that wasn’t holding the sword. When he looked down at her, she gazed up at him with her big, blue eyes.
“Can you not simply let her go?” she asked the knight. “I know you like her very much but she likes Sir Maximus. You want to see her happy, don’t you?”
St. Héver’s expression remained steady as the child divulged some very private information. He had no idea how she knew what he felt, although he supposed, in hindsight, that he hadn’t been very good at hiding his feelings, once. About a year ago, he’d been fairly obvious about it to Courtly but, fortunately, Kellen had not caught on. But his infatuation with her was over. There had never been any hope between them.
He wasn’t bitter about it. But in listening to the conversation between Maximus and Courtly, he was starting to feel a sense of defeat. Defeat because he knew love was something he could not fight. There was no defense against it. Courtly de Lara had been a fairly lonely lady for several years, thanks to her father. St. Héver had watched the man chase away at least two very good, marital prospects for his daughter among the six or seven that had come to vie for her hand. Even if St. Héver didn’t have feelings for her any longer, it still wasn’t right that she should be denied what he himself had been. He knew he shouldn’t relent but he was starting to topple. He squeezed Isadora’s hand as he spoke to Maximus.
“My lord,” he said. “May we have a word without weapons present?”
Maximus immediately complied. He handed his sword over to Tiberius and walked away from the group, down the road, as St. Héver paralleled his path on the opposite side of the road. When they were several yards from the group, they came together in the middle of the muddy, uneven path. Maximus faced St. Héver expectantly.
“It would seem that we have something to discuss, my lord,” St. Héver said quietly. “You want Lady Courtly but I am bound to take her to Trelystan.”
Maximus’ expression held steady. “You love her?”
St. Héver wasn’t surprised by the question but he struggled not to be embarrassed by it. “No longer,” he admitted. “Therewas a time I did but she did not return those feelings. Still, she has remained kind and considerate towards me. She is a very kind and gracious woman in general.”
Maximus turned to look down the road where Courtly was standing, now with Isadora next to her. The little sister had her arms around the big sister’s waist and the two stood there, hugging.
“I have come to learn that about her as well,” he said, returning his attention to St. Héver. “What did you wish to speak of?”
St. Héver drew in a deep, contemplative breath. He shouldn’t be proposing what he was about to say but he found that he couldn’t help it.
“If I allow her to go with you, then twenty de Lara soldiers will have seen the exchange,” he said. “It will get back to de Lara and I am not in the habit of disobeying orders.”
“Understood.”
“But I do not wish to fight you over it, either.”
“That is wise.”
St. Héver chuckled at the man’s arrogance. He couldn’t help it. “However, if the lady were to run off,” he continued, “tonight, mayhap, when we stop in the town of Woodstock for the night, I would not know about her disappearance until the morning, at which time it would be too late to go after her. Moreover, I have my orders, to return de Lara’s daughters to Trelystan. I would still have Lady Isadora to return, and that would take weeks. By the time I return to Lord de Lara, Lady Courtly could be… anywhere. Long gone, in any case.”
Maximus was coming to understand his meaning, quite clearly, and he was both relieved and grateful.
“What a coincidence,” he said. “We were planning on being in Woodstock tonight.”
“I thought you might be.”
They understood one another. Maximus cleared his throat quietly, glancing off again towards Courtly and her sister.
