Lynn Wood - Norman Brides 03 (29 page)

Michel divided his time over the next months between the demands of his kingdom and resolving the curse that was an ever present shadow to his joy in his young bride and the growing evidence of the child she carried within her.  Every spare moment, which were few…too few, he spent researching the mystery that had descended on his unsuspecting shoulders as surely as had the burden of reclaiming his grandfather’s throne from those who had followed the murderous traitor that stole it from him in his sleep. He spent much of that time in the cathedral library where the lamps burned long into the night, until he finally took to his bed for a few hours rest before rising to meet the needs of his kingdom.  He would not deny himself the pleasure of the scarce private hours he had with Elena.  So each evening he waited to take up the search for the answers he sought until after he’d spent precious hours with Elena, finding both pleasure and peace in equal measure in her loving, tender arms.  Then replete, he held her while she fell asleep against his chest and he stroked her long, silky hair in a rhythmic, soothing motion. 

He treasured the intimate moments they shared, and held close to his heart the memories of his child’s tiny limbs pressing against his mother’s swollen middle as if his babe was in a hurry to escape her tender womb.  Michel would watch awed as his wife’s soft flesh yielded to accommodate their child’s sometimes languorous stretching against its confinement, which at times was followed by a rapid flurry of fists, foot and head, as though his babe danced to a music only he or she could hear. 

When his unborn child finally settled down and followed his mother into sleep, Michel would slip from his bed and dress before pausing at the door to his chambers to stare back at his slumbering wife, her face peaceful in repose, as if she remained completely untroubled by the demons that tormented him about the threat that hung over their child’s life.  Some nights Michel would stand there long moments memorizing her features.  It was as though some part of him knew these rare, priceless moments they enjoyed were destined to be taken from him, and he sought to clutch them close to his heart so he could carry them, and the memory of his wife’s beauty, into the darkness that awaited him in the shadows hovering just beyond his line of sight.

Then he would make his way down the darkened hall and exit the keep, accepting Arden’s reins from the stable master’s hands, recognizing the man waited up each evening to perform this task for him.  Michel thought perhaps the older man wanted him to know he understood what drove his king, and offered this small service to show his support by offering to share, in the only way he could, the lonely vigil Michel labored under.  Michel would ride to the cathedral, accompanied by Amele and his guard, where most nights they were greeted by Bishop Maren.  The three men would exchange familiar, trifling greetings and the quickly settle down to work among the ancient books and journals in the church’s stewardship. 

In the swift passage of time since Elena shared the news of her pregnancy with him, the three men spent most nights surrounded by books, journals, maps and family bibles trying to decipher each hand-written document, often struggling against old ink fading on the parchment pages while they searched for any mention of the curse to assist them in finding its resolution.

“Listen to this; I think it’s written in King Nathaniel’s hand. I don’t know how I missed this before,” Bishop Maren proclaimed in an excited voice, breaking into the heavy silence that had fallen between the three men, ‘
My heart tells me I am close to understanding the curse that besets my blood.  Alyssa has brought new hope to my house.  The people respond in some inexplicable way to her gentle, assured faith. I remember the moment we passed through the gates of Calei, the people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of her and waited hours in the cold so they could cheer her arrival with an enthusiasm even I had not anticipated.  It was as if they too sensed the light within her that I was aware of from the moment of our first introduction. In some way I have yet to comprehend, Alyssa’s coming to Calei has brought new hope to my home and my subjects.’

“
Didn’t the elder say something about King Nathaniel not realizing what he held in his grasp?” Amele reminded them.

“Apparently my grandfather concluded that my grandmother was part of the resolution of the curse,” Michel mused, nodding in response to Amele’s comment.

“Was it Queen Alyssa or the unusual stone she wore?  Though I have only heard rumors of the queen’s amulet, I cannot help but wonder if it is the same stone you now wear, Your Highness,” Bishop Maren asked.

“Yes, the stone is the same one my grandmother brought with her to Calei, but the clue refers to the daughter of the moon.  If my grandmother is part of the resolution of the mystery it seems far more likely she would be connected to the first part of the clue,” Michel replied.

“Could the stone be the heart of the sun?” Amele interjected.

Michel shook his head.  “If my grandmother was somehow the daughter of the moon and the Salusian stone the heart of the sun, the curse would have been resolved in my grandfather’s time as my grandmother entered Calei with the stone in her possession. In essence, she had already captured it. No, we must be missing something.  Is there anything more to the passage you were reading from?”

The bishop shook his head. “No, but we’ll keep looking.  Like King Nathaniel when he wrote this entry, I think we’re close…closer perhaps than anyone has been since the hour he penned it.”

All three of the searchers were aware of the new aura of hope that hung suspended over the dim room where they sat huddled around a small work table piled high with old records.  It was Amele who finally broke the silence that fell between them, as if the three men feared disturbing it would dispel their burgeoning optimism as easily as a man’s voice dispelled the silence. “May I suggest we continue our search tomorrow?  The night is already well advanced and you will soon be rising, my king, and greeting the demands of a new day.”

Michel nodded his assent.  Gaining his feet he addressed the others, “Perhaps I was too quick to dismiss the stone’s part in this.  Has it not always passed from mother to daughter in an unbroken line for a thousand years?  It’s very possible the stone is as old as the curse.  Perhaps it is in some way connected to its origin.”

“If what you say is true, Your Highness, I find it interesting that the stone has returned to Calei in the hands of its new guardian.  I believe I recall correctly the elder stating your presence here brought him hope for the curse’s resolution…hope that he has not known since the reign of King Nathaniel.”

Amele added softly, “That would be the last time the stone and its keeper were both in Calei.”

“But I am not the stone’s proper keeper, Melissa is.”

“Melissa?” Bishop Maren echoed.

“My twin sister.  My grandmother passed the stone to her daughter, my mother, who passed it as she lay dying to my younger sister, Rhiann.  When Melissa was found alive, Rhiann gave the stone to her, as Melissa, being the elder daughter, was the rightful steward of the stone.”

The bishop nodded and added curiously, “How did the stone come to you?”

“Melissa insisted I wear it when I returned to Calei,” Michel replied.

“So the rightful steward, as you refer to your twin, insisted the stone return to Calei with you?  That’s interesting.”

“And the elder said I was not to be concerned about its loss because it was in trustworthy hands,” Michel added.  For the first time feeling true optimism that they were close to the solution they sought begin to take hold in his heart.

“Didn’t Queen Elena tell you the stone appeared anxious to escape her stewardship until she made the decision to return it to you when you were injured?”

“Yes,” Michel admitted, then added with growing certainty. “The stone is at the center of this.  And so is my grandmother.  She knows something.  She knew she would never return to Calei…and so did the stone,” Michel tacked on in an awed whisper.  “The stone has been trying to return to Calei ever since it left.”

“But it was necessary for it to do so in the hands of the rightful steward,” Amele concluded, following Michel’s reasoning.

“But I am not the rightful steward,” Michel protested.

“Twins have always been the exception, my king.  You have every right to wear the stone.”

“Perhaps, but I am not the stone’s true steward.  I need to speak with my grandmother.  She is the key,” Michel announced.

“You cannot think to make this journey personally, my king.  Your wife will give birth soon.  Your place is here with your wife, and mine is at your side,” Amele quickly inserted when Michel would have interrupted him.  “With your permission, I will send Melos with a company of men to seek Queen Alyssa.  I believe your conclusion is correct and that your grandmother was somehow able to deflect the power of the curse.” 

“What do you mean?” Michel wondered.

“Has it escaped your notice, my king that Queen Alyssa managed to elude the effects of the curse for herself and the child she carried?”

“But she was forced to flee Calei for her life,” Michel protested.

“I did not say she ended the curse, only that she was able to escape its impact on her and her child. That should give you hope for your family’s safety as you now have the stone in your possession.”

“You believe the stone will protect my wife and child?” Michel asked awed by the thought.

“I have never known the stone to react to another outside your family, yet it reacted most forcibly to Lady Elena’s possession.”

“Reacted to it by attempting to escape her grasp and burning her hand,” Michel reminded him.

“The stone burned Queen Elena’s hand?” Amele echoed. 

“Yes, her palm bears the imprint of the stone.”

“Before or after you were wed?”

“Before.”

“I find that astonishing.  In all of the legends I have heard of the stone, there is none where it reacts in any way except to turn cold and dark when it leaves the keeper’s hand.  Yet it appeared to have the opposite reaction when held in the hand of your wife.”

“What do you think it means?” Michel wondered.

“I do not know, but I think you are right to discover if Queen Alyssa can shed any additional light on this mystery. What do you know of Queen Elena’s family?”

Michel considered Amele’s question, wondering why he’d never pursued this line of reasoning in his search for answers.  “Very little, only that she was Barnabas’ niece and that she was sent to live with him as a young girl when her parents were killed in an accident in the mountains.”

“Is there anything more in Barnabas’ personal journals about Elena’s parents?” Michel asked.

“I never thought to research your wife’s family.  It never seemed significant before, but I will do so immediately, though I think, Your Highness, King Barnabas’ personal journals are likely still at the keep,” Bishop Maren replied.

“Yes, I will go through them in the morning. For now, let us take to our beds. Amele is right; the sun will soon be rising on a new day.”

“Yes well, perhaps it will drop its heart at our feet on its way over Calei, thus clarifying the other half of the clue we haven’t yet begun to unravel.”

His companions laughed at Amele’s wry comment, and then exiting the imposing library, paused to extinguish the lamps on their way out.

Michel nodded his greeting to the guards stationed outside his door and entered his chambers.  As he stripped out of his clothes he went over in his thoughts the results of his research that evening and concluded he had genuine reason to hope the resolution of the ancient curse was within his grasp.  Melos would leave in the morning to bring his grandmother to Calei.  Though he did not doubt Amele’s claim that his grandmother intended never to return to her dead husband’s kingdom, Michel did not doubt she would respond to his summons and he felt confident when she did so, another piece of the mystery would fall into place. 

Satisfied with his reasoning, he threw a few additional logs on the dying fire, then stripped out of his clothes and crossed to the bed.  He stood gazing down at his sleeping wife, heavy with the burden of his babe and thought they would not have long to wait now to meet their child.  For the first time since Elena informed him he was going to be a father, Michel felt true joy at the prospect, unburdened by the dread of the curse.  He sank down on the bed and gathered his sleeping wife in his arms just as the deepest hours of night before dawn fell over the heart Calei.  His unborn child gave him a gentle nudge in greeting, and smiling, Michel gave into his exhaustion and allowed sleep to claim him.

His rest was deep and dreamless, so it came as a surprise to him when a heavy pounding disturbed him in the depth of his slumber.  His wife’s drowsy voice calling his name, finally roused him,

“Michel, there is someone at the door.”

Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, both of them well aware only ill news would cause such an interruption in the darkest hours of night.  Michel bent and kissed his wife, “Go back to sleep.  I am certain it is nothing for you to be concerned about.  The city is not under attack. There is no sound of the bells ringing, alerting the city’s defenders.”

Elena nodded at his reassurance, but Michel felt her eyes following him anxiously around the room as he dressed then crossed to the door and pulled it open.  Amele stood in the doorway, and Michel released a deep sigh at the concern etched into his friend’s face.  The city might not be under attack, but he could tell the news Amele bore was ill indeed.

“There’s been a rock slide at one of the mines.  A dozen or more men are trapped beneath the rubble,” Amele informed him gravely.

Michel nodded.  “I’ll come with you directly.  Let me share the news with Elena and try to persuade her to remain behind at the keep.”

Amele nodded and Michel returned to his chambers only to find his wife already rising from their bed and searching through her chest for fresh undergarments.  Releasing a soft curse beneath his breath, Michel swiftly crossed the room.  He slid his arms around his wife’s rounded middle from behind and drew her back against him.

“Elena, love, I would prefer it if you remain here.  There’s been a collapse at one of the mines.  I’m certain everything that can be done is being done.  I must go, but you need your rest.”

Elena spun in his arms and raised concerned eyes to meet his equally concerned ones, “Michel, my place is with you and with the families whose husbands and fathers are trapped beneath the rock.  How uncaring would it be for me to return to the comfort of our bed while other wives fear for their husband’s lives.”

Michel reluctantly nodded his approval.  “You may come, but you will eat first.  I must go with Amele.  One of the guards will escort you after you’ve fed our babe.”

He waited for Elena to agree to his dictate, then bent and brushed his lips across her lips before turning back to where Amele waited for him in the hall outside his chambers.

Upon reaching the site of the accident, Michel learned the news was grim.  More than twenty miners were trapped beneath the rock slide.  All attempts at a rescue had been thwarted by the unstable condition of the mountain.  Even as he stood listening to a report by the man in charge of the rescue attempts, a fresh rumble of rock slid down the side of the mountain, burying the trapped men even deeper beneath an additional layer of stone.  Amid the crash of stone, Michel could hear the agonized cries of the men’s families where they waited a safe distance away. 

“Every time we attempt to create an opening wide enough to get a team of men underground, there’s a new slide.  At this point we don’t even know where to focus our efforts, or if anyone is left alive under there.”

Michel nodded.  “We need to get a man down there to try to make contact with the trapped men.  A single man alone has a better chance of making it through the debris without creating enough of a disturbance to bring about a fresh slide.”

“That may be true, Your Highness,” the head of the rescue team began.

Michel interjected, “But you are reluctant to order a man to his death.”

“Frankly, yes.”

“Then I will go,” Michel stated.

“Your Highness!? You cannot be serious.”

Michel met the other man’s astonished look.  “I am very serious.  I too am loath to order a man to his death, but I am even less willing to stand here and do nothing while the trapped men’s families look to me to save the lives of their husbands and fathers.”

“Your Highness, you cannot take this risk.  Allow me to go in your stead,” the older man pleaded with him.

Michel’s met the other’s resolved glance in understanding even as he shook his head, denying his request.  “What is your name, my friend?”

“Allon, Your Highness.”

“Well Allon, I cannot allow you attempt to enter the mine when I can see the blood seeping through the wound on your leg.  I am guessing you have already made such an attempt and it proved unsuccessful.”

The other man sighed and admitted, “Yes, Your Highness. I was not able to make it far before the last slide.  The others were barely able to pull me out in time.”

“Then let us go and retrieve a rope and tools,” Michel commanded and the older man reluctantly nodded.

When the two men joined the others, Allon announced, “King Michel will attempt to reach the trapped men.  Mason he’ll need rope, fresh water, and tools.”

From where he stood with his brother, Amele became aware of Michel’s intent, and swiftly approached his side.  “My king, you surely do not think to carry out this rescue attempt personally.  You are unfamiliar with the mines.  There are men here who’ve spent their entire lives in them and are far more familiar with what to do in the event of another slide.”

“I am aware of that my friend.  Most of these men, like my good Allon here, have been injured in their attempts to rescue the trapped men.”  Michel accepted the rope and tools he would need from Mason’s outstretched hand.  He could see his tunic and breeches were liberally splattered with blood and noted there was a bandage binding the arm he held stiff at his side, while he offered Michel the necessary supplies with his uninjured hand. 

“Then allow me to make this attempt in your place, my king,” Amele pleaded with him as Michel tied the rope around his waist and stowed the water and tools in the leather pack Allon offered him.

“No, my friend.  We both know you do not do well in confined spaces and if I assented to your request I would soon be forced to come in after you anyway,” Michel rejoined with a lighthearted smile to ease the pain of his rejection.  Amele nodded his acceptance of Michel’s reasoning, but Michel could see his agreement cost him.

Michel listened attentively to Allon’s instructions as to how to signal the surface if he discovered news of the trapped miners, what to do in order to protect himself in the event of another collapse and how to let them know he was in trouble and himself in need of rescuing.  As news spread across the city of the accident in the mines more and more men gathered at the site to offer what assistance they could to the team of rescuers.  A stunned whisper rustled through the crowd when it became obvious to the onlookers that the king himself intended to make the next attempt to reach the trapped miners.

“Please, my king, you must allow me to render you this service.”

The pleading voice reached him from below and Michel turned in the direction of the source to see young Colin on his knees before him.

“Rise, my friend,” Michel commanded and reached down to assist his young guardsman to his feet.

When the younger man stood before him, Michel looked over his shoulder to see his mother fighting tears.  He could see Baron James’ widow stood a little apart from the crowd of onlookers, as if her neighbors still judged her for the treacherous act of her husband.  He met the older woman’s worried glance and shook his head. 

He reached out to grip Colin’s shoulders and gently denied his request, “Colin, your mother has already given two sons in the service of Calei.  I cannot ask her to sacrifice another.”

The younger man turn to where his mother stood regarding him with anxious tears in her eyes, then he excused himself from his king and swiftly crossed the distance between them and his mother. 

He gripped her hands in his and whispered fiercely to her, “Mother, you must not take this opportunity from me to render this service to our king and to our home.  If I am to die, let me do so in replacement of the life my father thought to steal, and restore our family’s honor.  I understand your fear, Mother, but I am a man full-grown and you must not deny me this chance to serve my king.”

His mother closed her eyes over her tears and nodded once.  Colin took her slender frame in his arms and kissed her brow.  “All will be well, Mother. King Michel will see to it that you and my sisters are taken care of.”

Colin disengaged from her clinging arms, and returned to kneel before his king.  “Your Highness, my mother understands my need to render you this service.  I beg of you to allow me to do so and restore my family’s honor in your sight.”

Michel once again reached down to assist his determined, fiercely loyal guard to his feet.  “Each man is responsible for his own honor, Colin.  You have never defiled yours so there is nothing you need to do in order to restore it in my sight.”  Michel could see that the young man’s resolve remained firm.  He glanced over his proud shoulders and met the anxious eyes of his mother.  She nodded her assent to his silent question and Michel released a heavy sigh.  It did not sit well with him to send this young man in his place, but he could see Colin was resolved to go and would likely follow him underground at the first sign of trouble.  He nodded his assent reluctantly in answer to the anxious question in Colin’s eyes. “You know what you are to do?”

A relieved smile curved the younger man’s lips, as if Michel had just bestowed a great favor upon him, rather than having just consigned him a task that more likely than not would lead to his death beneath a mountain of rock.  “Yes, Your Highness.  I am to seek out the lost miners and when I find them, I am to tap on the stones above our heads to signal the men where they are to dig in order to free us.”

Michel nodded and instructed, “If you become trapped, or lost, send a signal to the surface and we will do our best to free you.”

An understanding smile curved the young man’s lips.  “My king, I see that your heart is full of misgivings, but do not grieve my passing, if such is the will of the Almighty.  You bestowed upon me a great gift.  I render this service freely to Calei, my home, and to my king, both of whom I love.  My homeland needs you, my king, far more than it needs a single soldier in its service.  You are destined to restore Calei to its previous heights, and I think, to exceed them.  I would rather die in its service, than see my beloved Calei deprived of its true king.”

Michel blinked back the bitter tears of regret that stung his eyes.  “Go then with my blessing, my friend, and the blessing and gratitude of all true Caleinians.”

Colin nodded, his eyes free of the doubts Michel knew were reflected in his own.  The younger man, smiling now that Michel had granted his urgent request, bent down to kiss Michel’s hand and then rose and turned to the men who waited with the ropes and equipment  he would need to find his way below ground.

Minutes later, Michel observed his young guardsman squeeze his way through the narrow crevice that was all that was left of the previous wide entrance into the mine.  He noticed Colin lift the lit lantern in his hand as he passed from his sight.  Though dawn was already beginning to lift the darkness over the city, beneath the earth it was always dark.  Michel felt a hand slip into his and squeeze gently.  He turned to look down into Elena’s concerned expression. Her clear brown eyes were filled with understanding of his decision and compassion over what she knew it cost him to send another to his almost certain death, rather than take on the task himself. Mingled with her compassion Michel detected barely concealed relief that it was Colin’s mother and not her that might lose a loved one this day.

He bent and kissed the top of his wife’s heard as his arm came around her no longer slender form.  As if aware he must return his attention to the task at hand, and she was a source of distraction away from it, Elena slipped from his encircling arm and made her way over to where Colin’s mother still remained standing anxiously apart from the wives and daughters of the missing miners. He watched his wife place a gentle arm around the widow’s stiff posture and speak softly in the older woman’s ear.  Michel nodded his silent approval of his wife’s caring, gentle nature and then turned his attention back to where the rescuers huddled in hushed silence waiting anxiously to hear the faint sound of rock tapping against rock.