Queen of Lost Stars (Dragonblade Series/House of St. Hever) (27 page)

“He’s exhausted and ill,” he said without elaborating. “I do not expect that you will see or hear from him the entire time I am gone.”

“How long do you expect to be gone?”

He looked at her a moment. Then, crouching beside her chair, he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “I would suspect that we will ride directly from Shrewsbury to Lavister.”

She tried not to look too upset. “But you’ll have to come back for the army.”

He shook his head. “I’ll send word to have them sent on to Lavister. We’ll merge the Shrewsbury and Lavister forces and lay siege. There’s truly no telling how long this will take.”

No matter how badly she wanted to make a fuss, she would not. She had selfishly had him to herself for several days now while he had neglected his duties. Now, he needed to focus on his responsibilities to Edward. Quietly, she set her sewing aside and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. He stood up, lifting her, holding her close against him. Neither one of them said a word for some time, relishing the feel of each other for the times to come when there would be no comfort, no warmth.

“You will return to me,” she whispered.

“On my honor as a knight, I swear it.”

“I do not want to be without you, Kaspian, not for a minute, not for a day. But I know you must do as you must.”

He was silent a moment. “For the first time in my life, I find that my attention is not where is should be. When I should be determined to regain my fortress, I’m content to stay in another man’s castle and languish away the hours with you. I cannot go a minute without thinking of you, as if you consume my entire being. I do not want the responsibility any longer of manning a border garrison for the king. I simply want to be your husband and live my life by your side. It’s mad, truly.”

She pulled her face from the crook of his neck to look at him. “Not as mad as me wanting to tag along with you everywhere you go, into battle or otherwise. I know that I cannot go with you to Shrewsbury, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to. It’s not a matter of you going anywhere without me; ’tis a matter of me being
without
you. Does that make any sense?”

He smiled at her, drinking in her beautiful face, thinking at that moment that he was the most fortunate man on the face of the earth. “Madelayne,” he said slowly, “I think we are in love with each other.”

“You
think
? Kaspian, I
know
.”

He couldn’t think of any response other than to kiss her. He’d never been so happy and it was difficult to know how to manage it. Lavister was gone, his knights were in turmoil, but he wasn’t the least bit guilty that he felt so elated. Nothing else seemed quite as important. He whirled Madelayne around and around until she screamed, listening to her delighted giggles. When he finally set her down, she was blushing furiously.

“Thank you, Madelayne,” he said softly.

“For what?”

He shrugged his shoulders, not at all sure how to put anything into words. He had never been any good at verbalizing his emotions. “For marrying me,” he said simply.

They ate the nooning meal in the privacy of their room, enjoying quiet conversation of what their life would be like once they return to Lavister. The first thing Kaspian was determined to do was rid themselves of Nicholas, confident he was feeling well enough to lead his troops once again. He had always had faith in the man, as a comrade, but Nicholas’ introduction to Lavister made Kaspian realize that the man’s negative attributes outweighed any benefits he might bring. Nicholas had only brought chaos with him from the moment he set foot inside Lavister’s gatehouse and Kaspian would be relieved to be rid of him. He didn’t relay his ideas to Madelayne, however; she was bubbling on about something else and he did not want to dampen her mood.

“Where are your thoughts, husband?”

Madelayne’s voice was soft and sweet, and Kaspian realized that he had been daydreaming of vanquishing Nicholas so much so that he hadn’t heard a word she’d said. He smiled at her sheepishly, reaching out and pulling her from her chair onto his lap. She slid onto his massive thighs easily, curling up like a cat.

“I was thinking about taking a trip into Shrewsbury to shop,” he gently lied.

“Shop? For what?”

“A wedding ring.”

She smiled with veiled excitement. “For me? I’ve never had one, you know.”

“I know,” he said. “I fancy buying you an obscenely large gold and garnet ring. What do you think?”

She thought a moment. “I rather like diamonds. They shine so prettily in the sun.”

“Fine. An obscenely large diamond, then.”

“What about you? Will you wear a wedding ring?”

His brow furrowed. “Men do not wear wedding rings.” She simply smiled, as if to graciously accept his refusal, and he abruptly changed his mind. “But if you want me to wear one, I will. I’ve never had one either.”

Her expression brightened. “Gold, I should think. I know pewter or silver is more popular, but I like the way gold shines.”

“Gold it shall be. But no diamonds for me. I must draw the line somewhere. Besides, the church frowns on anything garish.”

She giggled in agreement. Then she sobered, absently stroking the back of his neck. “Thank you, Kaspian.”

He found himself watching the way her lips moved when she talked. “For what?”

“For marrying me.”

His response to her, as it had been so often as of late, was to kiss her. It wasn’t long before Lady Hawys’ gown was a pile on the floor, with Kaspian’s clothes right beside it. His first instinct was to suckle her breasts, as usual, but she stopped him. He looked at her questioningly.

“I… I am thinking to let them dry up,” she said, almost apologetically. “You are well enough now that there is really no reason to keep my milk flowing. It can be most painful sometimes.”

He ran a finger down her cheek. “I will be gone for several days, maybe weeks. That will be time enough for you to dry up. But for now… as selfish as it sounds, I find it most comforting.”

Her reply was to push his mouth down on her nipple, and he drank deeply, sucking her so hard that the pleasure-pain of it made it almost too difficult to bear. Kaspian’s hands were on her shoulder blades, holding her fast to him, feeling more wild passion than he had ever known possible. When she was dry on both breasts, his mouth trailed down her torso, tasting her natural sweetness, suckling her hips, her thighs, her feet.

When he finally covered her small body with his large one, he did it with such gentleness that there was no weight involved at all, only an intimate closeness that covered her from head to toe. She welcomed him deep inside her, feeling her healed body stretch to accommodate him, savoring the sensation of his hardness. He thrust slowly but firmly at first, gaining in speed and power until Madelayne stopped him. Pushing him over onto his back, she slid atop him, riding him until an explosion of stars filled her eyes and delicious tremors overtook her body. Buried deep within her, Kaspian took his release with the greatest of pleasure.

He didn’t know how long they lay in each other’s arms, touching, feeling, exploring and caressing. All he knew was that he never wanted to leave her. The afternoon was cool and dreamy, perfect for languishing away the hours in the wonderful world of discovery. When a knock finally came at the door, however, he knew their stolen hours were over.

It was Reece. Since Ewan’s death, the young man had been lost. But with Thomas emotionally disabled and Nicholas on his death bed, Kaspian put the junior knight in charge of the preparation and restoration of Lavister’s remaining army and the activity seemed to help him a great deal. The death of his brother and the new responsibilities had matured him.

Kaspian answered the door fully clothed. Madelayne sat in the chair where her embroidery was laid, looking fully clothed but, in fact, the stays down the back of her dress remained undone from the hasty dressing. She smiled at Reece, who looked somewhat uncomfortable to have disturbed his liege.

“My lord,” he said. “Everything is prepared as ordered. We can be at Shrewsbury in a few hours.”

Kaspian nodded shortly. “I shall join you in a moment.”

Reece quit the room with a stiff bow in Madelayne’s direction. When he was gone, she laughed softly. “I think he is angry at you for marrying me. He can no longer flirt with me without incurring your wrath.”

Kaspian simply lifted an eyebrow in agreement as he sat down on the bed to pull on his heavy leather boots. His mail was down in the armory, having been cared for by the tradesmen of Kirk until it was almost new-looking. Madelayne went to stand beside him, waiting until he was done with his boots before motioning to the stays on her back. Before fastening each successive stay, he kissed the flesh on her back that it would cover until there were no more stays left. Then he playfully bit her neck and she yelped in delight.

“Now, I must go down to join Reece and don my armor,” he said. “I shall see you before I depart, have no fear.”

She had hold of his hand, firmly. “What of Thomas?” she asked. “Will he be going with you?”

Kaspian shook his head, sadly. “He will not,” he said. “Thomas has not been sober since Mavia’s death. I will have to depend on Reece, who is, so far, doing an excellent job.”

Madelayne was saddened about Thomas’ state, too. He was a great knight, now sucked into the quagmire of grief and alcohol in the turmoil of Mavia and Nicholas. “I will watch over him while you are away,” she said. “For now, however, I want to go with you to the armory.”

“That is no place for you.”

“Neither was the vault of Lavister, but I was there.”

He pursed his lips irritably. “Cheeky wench.”

She grinned. He didn’t want her around the dirt and earthiness of the soldiers in the armory, but he couldn’t resist a chance to squeeze in a last few stolen moments with her. Her hand in the crook of his elbow, Madelayne escorted her husband down to Kirk’s armory to spend a final few moments with the man before he departed.

The moments were precious and swift and, before she realized it, he was beyond Kirk’s big gates, heading off to the south and Shrewsbury.

*

Kaspian had only
been gone a matter of hours and already Madelayne felt as if he’d been gone for years. The evening meal was finished for the most part, the only meal she had actually eaten in the great hall since her arrival to Kirk. Lady Hawys had been gracious and had seemingly forgotten about the turmoil the disruptive people from Lavister had caused the first few days of their arrival. In fact, Madelayne was enjoying tremendous respect and status as the wife of Kaspian St. Hèver. She’d never realized until now how highly the vassals of Edward thought of him until Lady Hawys began treating her as an equal. It was an elevation in social ranking she had never imagined.

But Lady Hawys’ socialization did not extend beyond the cursory. With Mavia gone, Madelayne’s closest companion was now Dolwyd. The old man looked older than he had only weeks earlier, his gray hair grayer and his walk more stooped. Mavia’s death had upset him, as had Ewan’s, and the situation between Thomas and Nicholas was still an explosion waiting to happen. Thomas had not gone with Kaspian, reluctantly, and Nicholas still lay in the knight’s quarters, ill with a poison that refused to leave him. As Dolwyd had said, the inhabitants of Lavister Crag had all gone stark raving mad and life wasn’t what it should be.

But he was a comfort to Madelayne nonetheless. He had spent most of his time with Nicholas, coaxing the knight from the brink of death, but tonight he had taken the time to sit with Madelayne at sup because Kaspian had asked him to. He didn’t want his wife to be alone in this strange place. Kaspian, in fact, had gone to visit Nicholas directly before he departed Kirk and had been greeted with a man gray and weak. In truth, he only wanted to convince himself that Nicholas was still too ill to wreak havoc with Madelayne while he was away. Satisfied of the man’s perilous condition, he went along his way.

Madelayne was enjoying the last of her mead, a drink that Kaspian and even Cairn had found most foul. They preferred the hard knocks of their ale and wine to the soft, honeyed drink more suited to women. The hall of Kirk had quieted somewhat, some people finding a place in the corner to sleep off too much wine and the dogs going about looking for scraps. Lord and Lady de Kirk had long since retired, leaving few people still enjoying the evening and conversation. But Madelayne wasn’t conversing with anyone other than Dolwyd; she didn’t particularly want to return to the chamber she shared with Kaspian and face it alone. She missed him so badly that it hurt.

“Greetings, Lady St. Hèver.”

A voice from behind startled her. Looking up, she found herself gazing into healthy-looking blue eyes. Nicholas smiled back, looking nothing like the man she had been led to believe was dying. Shocked, Madelayne’s jaw dropped.

“Nicholas!” she exclaimed in surprise. “What are you doing out of bed?”

He presumptuously took the seat next to her, demanding a trencher from the nearest serving wench. “I’m feeling much better, actually,” he said, his eyes drifting over her. “You, however, look marvelous. Marriage agrees with you.”