A Knight's Vow (40 page)

“And you me!” Alyson said quickly, kicking teasingly against him to feel his hard, masculine strength. To her surprise he released her at once, his face contrite.

“I have hurt you?” he asked. “The baby?”

“We are fine.” Alyson took his large hand and placed it on
her stomach. “We shall be well. All will be well, Guillelm. I
know it.”

“You do?” His features buckled in relief. “Oh, that is excellent!”

He swept her against himself, kissing her over and over,
telling her how much he loved her. Suddenly, he stopped
again. “You are sure?”

Alyson nodded. She was sure. Her sister’s dark predictions
and her own tragic family history had no more power over her.
She did not know why or how, but she knew she would be safe.

Now, taking this knowledge as a gift, she sought to reassure Guillelm further. “The abbess says I will have a safe
pregnancy. So does Eva the wisewoman.”

He believed her, although the abbess and Eva had said no
such thing. But then, Alyson thought, snuggling down in the
wide bed with its wolfskin furs and soft pillows, a wife did
not have to tell her husband the truth all the time.

It was spring, season of new lambs, as it had been in her
dream. Guillelm was with her, as in the dream, much to
Gytha’s red-cheeked chagrin.

“It is wrong, my lady! A man at a birthing! It is not seemly!”

“Peace,” Alyson gasped, clutching her husband’s hand more
tightly as another pain crested within her. He knelt by her bed,
mopping her hair, giving her weak ale whenever she thirsted and
above all, holding her hand. He had come to the main bedchamber the moments her pains had begun, sensing what was happening even before the wisewoman Eva had been summoned.

Eva now packed more rushes under Alyson’s hips, remarking, “In the village, the menfolk often stay. Someone must
tend the other children and the fire and keep the animals
away. The other wives help when they can, but that is not
always possible. I think it a good thing the husband sees how
brave his woman is, bringing his children into the world.”

“So does this husband,” growled Guillelm, saying to Alyson.
“You are doing well, sweetheart. I am so proud of you”

“Push, Alyson,” Eva broke in. “Push hard”

Sweat stood on Alyson’s forehead as she obeyed. For an instant she felt to be splitting in half and then, dimly, she heard a cry and Eva’s glad shout, “An heir for Hardspen! My lord,
here is your son!”

“Let me-” Alyson craned forward to see, her arms
outstretched, just as another fierce pain flattened her back onto
the bed.

“Alyson!” Guillelm hugged her, hiding his face. “Breathe,
little one. Excellent! Keep on ””

He spoke calmly but she felt the strong tremor through
his body as he watched her struggle. She was glad he was
there but sorry, too; grateful for his support but sorry he
should be cast in so helpless a position. He was the one who
usually did the fighting!

She tried to smile, to reassure him, but then sneezed instead, a sudden spasm that sent a whiplash of swift, slithering pain through her body.

“My lady, there is another child!” Eva exclaimed, and within
an instant a second high, wailing cry filled the chamber.

“Alyson, we have a daughter,” Guillelm said, kissing her
cheek. “Twins! Boy and girl and both healthy! See them, they
are beautiful …”

Through blurring vision, Alyson saw Guillelm, his
bronzed, scarred hands cradling two tiny bundles.

“An easy birth, especially for twins,” Eva was saying. “The
lady has been blessed.”

“Such, tiny, perfect fingernails,” Guillelm marveled and
Alyson smiled, sinking into a delicious, pain-free slumber.

As sleep took her, she heard Guillelm say softly, “I love
you, Alyson.”

I love you, my lord dragon, she thought in return, resting
safe and secure in his arms, with their babies, their children,
between them.