Archangel (4 page)

He smiled, his strong feature shadowed in the moonlight. “My apologies,” he said. “I did not mean to.”

Emberley wasn’t truly upset and she returned his smile to let him know. “I know you did not,” she replied, studying him for a brief moment.  Her gaze moved over his features in a warm, comforting manner. “I was lost in thought and did not hear you approach.”

“Surely there are safer places to lose oneself in thought. Why are you on the battlements?”

She gazed across the wilds of Somerset beyond the castle walls. “I do not sleep well and walking helps me to relax,” she told him. “Many are the nights I have spent upon this wall walk.”

His eyes glimmered in understanding. “I know the feeling well,” he said quietly. “I do not sleep well, either. Even now I am exhausted from a week in the saddle but I do not know if I will be able to sleep.”

Her smile grew. “Perhaps if you stay here any length of time, you and I will keep each other sorry company on nightly walks.”

He flashed his teeth, big and straight and white. “There are worse things I can think of.”

She laughed softly, leaning against the battlement wall as a night bird sang overhead.  In the still of the night, it was calm and soothing.  Emberley seemed to be staring at Gart quite intently.  From the expression on her face, there seemed to be more on her mind than sleepless nights.

“May I ask you a question?” she finally asked.

“Of course.”

“How much did my children steal from you?”

His smile faded and his eyebrows lifted.  “Why would you ask that?”

She sighed heavily. “I know what they were doing in the entry earlier this eve,” she said softly. “You do not have to pretend. I know they were robbing you.”

He shook his head. “They did not rob me.”

She cocked her head as if she didn’t believe him. “Gart,” she lowered her voice reprovingly. “Do not lie for them. I know what they do. They do it to everyone that enters the keep.”

He chewed his lip thoughtfully and averted his gaze, leaning on the battlements just as she was.  His eyes moved out over the shadowed land.

“How would you know this?”

She sighed with exasperation. “Because many visitors have told me this,” she said. “They give them money simply to keep the peace.  But I make the boys give it back.  If they have stolen from you, please….”

He put up a hand to stop her, turning to look at her lovely face.  She was a positively exquisite creature, made more beautiful by the haunting moonlight. As he gazed into her lovely eyes, her beauty nearly erased every thought in his head. It was a struggle to speak rationally.

“They did not steal from me because I did not have any money on my person,” he told her. “Therefore, I am not lying to protect them. They did not rob me.”

“But they tried.”

He reluctantly nodded. “They did.”

She held his gaze a moment longer before looking away and shaking her head. “Their motives are so complex,” she said. “Romney believes that money will buy things to make Lacy and I happy.”

“Lacy?”

“Their two-year-old sister,” she explained softly. Then she started throwing her hands around as she spoke. “They rob anyone who enters the keep or, as Romney explains it, they exact a toll from visitors, and then the boys escape the castle and run off into town to purchase things. One time they purchased perfume for me and another time it was a belt, which I am sure they stole. Unless they robbed the king, they could not have afforded it. It terrifies me that they do this. I am afraid that one of these days, they will fall victim to bandits or wild animals. It is not safe for them outside of these walls.”

“Nor is it safe for visitors inside of the walls with those three on the loose.”

She looked at him and burst out in giggles. “This is serious,” she chided him, although she was grinning. “I am nearly at my wits end with them.  I apologize that they tried to rob you, Gart. You must think me horrible for raising such terrible children.”

He looked at her, a smile playing on his full lips. “I think your children are bold and clever,” he said, although it was not quite the truth. “Why do they feel the need to buy you nice things?”

Her smile faded and he could sense her manner becoming guarded. She looked away, off towards the forests to the east. The silence that followed was heavy as she thought on her answer.

“Things… things are not entirely pleasant here,” she said, vaguely. “I suppose they think that gifts can make them better.”

He watched her profile in the moonlight, a long and pregnant pause. “You are not happy.”

It was a statement and not a question. Emberley shrugged. “I have four beautiful children,” she said with feigned enthusiasm. “There is much to be thankful for.”

He shifted, inadvertently moving closer to her in the process. “I did not question your gratitude,” he said. “I questioned your happiness.”

She shrugged again, still not meeting his eye. “It does not matter if I am happy or not. My children are healthy and we have much to be thankful for.”

He sighed faintly, knowing he shouldn’t involve himself in something that did not concern him but unable to resist. He had known Emberley since childhood.  He had seen her grow up for the most part. With Erik gone, he almost felt compelled to act in the man’s place, to perhaps advise or console her. It was a foolish thought but he couldn’t help himself.

“Does your husband always speak to you so rudely?” he asked quietly.

She looked at him as if startled by the question. “It is his way,” she said rather lamely. “It is his right.”

“I know what his rights are,” Gart said. “I would suspect by the way he spoke to you that he does it quite regularly.”

In the moonlight, Emberley’s cheeks flushed dully. “It is his way,” she repeated softly.

“Perhaps it is, but I do not like it,” Gart said. “Based upon that observation, I will ask another question.”

“What question is that?”

“Has he ever struck you?”

She hung her head, refusing to look at him. “Gart, I am sure you are asking out of concern, but it truly is none of your affair.”

He watched her lowered head, her lovely profile, seeing tears pooling in her eyes.  He suddenly felt very, very angry as he realized the truth.  She didn’t even have to tell him. He knew.

“So he takes his hands to you,” he rumbled. “’Tis a vile, foul man that would strike a woman.”

Emberley took a deep breath and wiped quickly at her eyes before the tears could fall.  When she turned to look at him, he could read the anxiety on her face.

“I appreciate your concern,” she whispered, laying a soft white hand on his wrist. “I truly do. But you must not ask me any more questions. You would not like the answers and if Julian found out, he would not like that I have told you.”

His jaw flexed.  “Your husband being quite eager to announce to the men in the hall that he and the queen were lovers,” he said. “Is this true?”

She yanked her hand away from his wrist and he would never forget the expression on her face; something between disgust and shame.  Turning on her heel, she tried to rush away from him but he was on her in an instant, his colossal hands grasping her slender arms.  She tried to shrug him off but he wouldn’t budge.

“Leave me alone,” she snapped. “I do not see where my husband’s affairs are any business of yours.”

He cooled, releasing her.  She stepped away from him but she didn’t run. She faced him defensively and he backed off. 

“You are correct,” he agreed calmly. “They are not my business. I suppose since your only brother was my best friend, perhaps I was showing interest on his behalf. It is simply that I look at you and see that young girl who used to follow Erik around and…forgive me. I should not have overstepped myself. I was only concerned.”

Emberley gazed at the man, cooling significantly at his placating words.  Then she sighed heavily as if all of the fight suddenly left her. Her defensive mechanism was always close to the surface, preparing to defend her tender heart from her cruel husband and his cruel words. She realized she need not be defensive with Gart. For as long as she’d known him, she’d never once heard of him showing women any manner of cruelty.

“You need not ask forgiveness,” she said, remorseful. “It is I who must ask for your grace. I should not have snapped so. I know you are only asking out of concern.”

He gazed steadily at her. “Great concern,” he corrected gently. “Erik would ask this of me.”

She smiled gratefully. “I know,” she whispered. “I miss him very much.”

“As do I.”

“You are a good friend, Gart,” she said. “When you were not upsetting my mother, I know she looked upon you as a son.”

He gave her a lop-sided grin.  “I am thinking that Erik and I were much like your boys – into great mischief and mayhem in our youth.”

She laughed softly. “Then perhaps you will not think me such a terrible mother that my boys rob anyone who enters the keep.”

He was glad to see she was no longer tense and angry with him, thinking he would try yet again to get at the truth of the matter now that he seemed to have broken her defenses down.

“I never thought you a terrible mother,” he said quietly. “But I would like to know the truth of your husband’s treatment of you.”

Her smile faded as she gazed up at him. “Why?” she lifted her shoulders. “There is nothing you can do. He is my husband and may do as he pleases.”

Gart knew that and somehow, it hurt his heart. He knew it would have hurt Erik’s. “Is he truly the queen’s lover?” he asked quietly.

She nodded without emotion. “They have been lovers for almost a year,” she replied. “I do not know what she sees in Julian other than his wealth. He is a terrible character and a horrible….”

She trailed off, embarrassed at divulging more information than she should, and Gart’s expression grew serious.

“I am truly sorry,” he said in his soft, deep voice. “You do not deserve such disrespect. The man is a fool.”

Her smile returned, weakly. “You are very kind.”

“Kindness has nothing to do with it. It is true.”

Her smile grew, now modest. “I appreciate your concern. It has done my heart good to see you, Gart. You remind me of better days.”

Her words, kind and sweet, softened him. His heart began to beat strangely in his chest as he reached out and took her small hand in his, bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss.

“It has done my heart a world of good to see you,” he said softly. “I see Erik in your eyes and it comforts me.”

Gart’s warm kiss on her hand made Emberley’s breathing quicken. She was taken back to the days when he was a handsome, very young man and she was his adoring public. He had grown into such a magnificent man she could hardly believe it.  She wondered how different her life would have been had she had not married Julian. If only Gart could have been her husband…
but no
.  She chased the thought away as quickly as it came. It would do no good for her to long for a man she could never have.  That opportunity was long gone.