Serpent (31 page)

The object was to roll three sticks, which had hash marks on the front and back of them, and based upon the number of hash marks that landed face–up, that was the number of spaces on the path a player moved
. Tacey wanted to be the fox so Thomas had to be the geese, which amused Kevin to no end. When Tacey’s fox beat Thomas’ geese, she was the one who dictated the punishment to the loser. Therefore, Thomas had to sit with a kerchief over his head while they played another round.

Tacey was very good at the game; given that she’d spent so much time alone, she’d had little else to do but practice games or other
pastimes. Thomas was beaten three times before he turned the game over to Kevin, who was able to beat the unhappy Tacey on the first try. In punishment for losing, he made her  hold a spoon between her upper lip and nose, scrunching her face up to keep it there, while they played another round.

Penelope thought it was all great fun and she was pleased to see everyone getting along well enough.
Kevin, having three sisters of his own, was rather antagonistic in a brotherly sort of way with Tacey, making her screech and giggle in frustration. It reminded Penelope of her days at Castle Questing when she had a whole host of brothers and cousins to tease her. She tried not to sink into depression again over the thought of her missing family; instead, she just tried to remember the fun of it all. It was a struggle.

Eventually, the three
teulu
commanders bid everyone a good eve and left the hall, and Penelope was growing rather anxious about Bhrodi’s absence. When one of the old serving women came to take Tacey to bed, collecting the girl’s game and scolding her gently when she resisted, Penelope followed the pair upstairs and ended up in the master’s chamber, alone.

A fire was burning in the hearth and the room was warm and fragrant with rushes thanks to the diligent serving women
. Penelope went to her trunks, stacked neatly against the eastern wall, and began to remove her clothing. She was trying to dress very simply these days, as complicated fashions intimidated her, so it was a matter of pulling off her gown and shift, and donning a warm sleeping shift. With that, she was finished.

Prepared for bed, she thought perhaps to wait for her husband, realizing she very much wanted to see him before she went to sleep. The nights between them since their wedding had been
uneventful for the most part. There had been so much going on that twice already, Bhrodi hadn’t come to bed at all and she had slept alone in the big, fluffy bed. On those nights that they had gone to bed at the same time, she was ashamed to admit she’d fallen asleep quickly. Rather than wake her, Bhrodi had let her sleep. He must have realized what a big change all of this was to her and she had been understandably exhausted. He had played the patient bridegroom.

But not tonight; Penelope was determined to stay awake for him. That brief taste of coupling she had received on their wedding night had been enough to stoke her curiosity about it
. She could still feel the man’s touch and she clearly remembered how he had made her feel. It was all she could think about. She wondered if he had given it as much thought as she had. As she sat on the bed, brushing her hair with the big horsehair brush her mother had given her, the latch on the chamber door shifted and the panel opened quietly.

Bhrodi entered the room, shutting the door softly behind him and bolting it
. When he turned to see Penelope sitting on the bed, brushing her luscious dark hair and looking at him rather anxiously, he smiled faintly.

“So you are awake, are you?” he said. “I half-expected to come in
here and find you on the floor, having fallen asleep before you were even able to reach the bed. You seem to fall asleep rather swiftly.”

Penelope giggled. “I do not usually,” she said. “I suppose I have simply been overly weary as of late. Wearing women’s clothing and being kept away from my charger has sapped
all of my strength.”

His grin broadened as he approached the bed and began untying his tunic. “You poor child,” he clucked sadly. “Forced away from your beloved armor and
snapping destrier. How
will
you survive?”

She lifted her eyebrows
optimistically. “I am not entirely sure, but I am hoping my husband might be kind and generous enough to at least let me do a little of what I’d like to do.”

He pulled the tunic over his head, revealing his muscular chest
. As he tossed the tunic aside, he nodded thoughtfully to her statement. “And what is it you would like to do?”

Penelope was distracted by the sight of all that naked flesh and struggled to stay on
subject. “I would like to get my broadsword back from the beast of the marsh,” she said. “And I would like to tend my charger and ride him daily. Is that too much to ask?”

He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at her radiant beauty in the soft firelight. For a moment, he just stared at her, thinking she was the most glorious creature he had ever seen.
He’d felt emotion for a woman before, for his first wife, but with Sian the emotions were more like the soft harvest moon. It was radiant and pure and comforting. But with Penelope, he felt such depth of emotion that it was like the blinding sun. It was everywhere, and all about him. He was still trying to grasp it all but wasn’t entirely sure he ever really would. At the moment, what he felt for her was purely physical although he was quite fond of the woman he was coming to know. He was positive that once he came to know her better, and more thoroughly, everything he felt about her would consume him and he was glad for it.

“Would that truly make you happy?” he asked softly.

She nodded firmly. “It would,” she said, lowering the hair brush. “Bhrodi, I know you want a fine and beautiful wife, and I am more than willing to try, but… but I was happy the way I was, riding chargers and wearing armor. I have been doing it such a long time that, much like you, it is a part of me. Now I find myself being expected to become a fine lady and… and it is just so difficult for me.”

He smiled, reaching out to stroke her tender cheek. “I do not want you to be unhappy,” he said. “I suppose there are things we could compromise on.”

She was seized with hope. “Like what?”

He shrugged. “Like your wearing armor,” he said. “No one around
here wears armor except me or my
teulu
when we head into battle. It is not such a part of us as it is with the Saesneg warriors. It would make me very unhappy to see my beautiful wife in ugly and manly mail. However, if it makes you happy, you may wear it when you tend or ride your charger, and only if you are not heading into town or going someplace where many people would see you. They simply wouldn’t understand, Penny. I hope you can comprehend that.”

It was a fair enough compromise and she nodded. “I promise I will not wear it when I am around you, or to meals,” she said. “But what about my broadsword?”

He sighed and stood up from the bed, eyeing her as he began to unfasten his breeches. “It really means that much to you?”

She nodded eagerly. “It does.”

He looked down at his breeches as he untied them. “Then I will have one commissioned for you,” he said. “There is no use in going back to the marshes to look for it. It now belongs to the beast and is long buried in the muck.”

Penelope nodded sadly, hanging her head. “My father gave it to me,” she said. “It has the de Wolfe name on the hilt and it is set with amethysts because my mother loves the purple color.”

Bhrodi glanced at her as he sat back down on the bed, untying his boots so he could slide his breeches and boots off in one smooth motion. Then he stood up, gloriously naked, and moved to the hearth to stoke it. The night promised to grow cold.

“If it pleases you, you may design your sword,” he said. “I will take you to Chester to commission your sword because God only knows the Welsh cannot make a proper broadsword. If you want it done correctly, then we will need to go to England to do it.”

Penelope’s head came up, smiling, until she realized he was without a stitch of clothing on. Startled, she quickly turned away and her cheeks flushed madly. She could hear him poking around by the fire until, satisfied, she heard his joints pop as he rose from his crouched position and moved back to the bed. The bed gave a great deal as he crawled beneath the coverlet and suddenly, a hand was reaching out to grasp her.

Penelope ended up with her head in Bhrodi’s lap, gazing up into his handsome face
. He smiled gently at her.

“You and I have not had much time together as man and wife,” he said. “I plan to remedy that tonight, but first, I
must speak with you on matters of importance.”

“Of course,” Penelope agreed. “What is it?”

Bhrodi gazed down at perfect face with its dusting of freckles across the nose and the big, wide hazel eyes that were so sharp and intelligent. Reaching down, he brushed a stray lock of dark hair off her cheek. All the while, he was formulating his thoughts, thinking on how he would phrase what was to come. Things were changing in their very new world and she needed to know.

“I received a messenger tonight from Dafydd ap Gruffydd,” he said quietly. “It would seem that the English have captured
Castell y Bere and Dafydd barely escaped with his life. He has asked me to help defend his cause against Edward, who seems to be plowing through the north of Wales in search of the last Welsh prince.”

Penelope’s gaze was serious
. After a moment, she sat up so she could look him in the eye, more on his level. Her features were full of concern.

“Where is Dafydd now?” she asked.

There had been a time, very early in their relationship, when he would not have told her what he knew. But he was coming to trust her and saw no harm in telling her the truth.

“Dolbadarn Castle,” he replied
. “It is very close to here in mainland Wales. A man on a swift horse can make it there in a couple of hours providing the ferry moves swiftly across the straits.”

Penelope thought on that. “And Edward is heading for Dolbadarn?”

Bhrodi reached out and grasped her hand, bringing it to his lips. “We are not for certain of that yet,” he said, his lips against her flesh. “But one thing is for certain; the man has staked his claim in Wales. He already has castles in Caernarfon, Rhuddlan, and Conwy. Now he is making a massive push to capture and destroy Dafydd once and for all, and when he is finished with Dafydd, it is my sense he will come for me as the last royal blood in Wales. He never wanted peace with me; he simply wanted my submission. I stand between Edward and complete domination of my country.”

Penelope was having a difficult time breathing as his lips gently kissed her fingers
. It was an effort to focus on what he was saying.

“I told you this before you married me,” she whispered, watching his mouth nibble on her flesh
. “I told you that Edward was bribing you with an English bride. He will expect your complete loyalty now that you have taken The Wolfe’s daughter as your wife.”

Bhrodi turned her hand over and began depositing sweet, warm kisses on her wrist. “And I told you I liked the bribe,” he said. “I will be truthful with you; I agreed to a peace alliance by marrying you so long as Edward remained peaceful as well
. Did you know that it was part of the bargain? Edward swore he would remain peaceful in northern Wales if I agreed to this marriage. I knew better, however; I knew he would not. He was already well-entrenched here with his massive castles and I knew he would never stop his aggression.”

Penelope was looking at him with some shock. “Yet you still agreed to the terms?”

His gaze was warm on her. “I agreed to
you
. It was worth the risk.”

Penelope was s
urprised. “But… but why? You had never met me before the night the creature attacked. That was the first time we ever saw one another and even then, you did not know I was your intended bride. Why would you risk your life and the lives of your vassals for me?”

He smiled faintly. “Because once I discovered you were the prize, nothing else mattered,” he said. “
You asked me once before why I had agreed to this marriage, knowing what I do about Edward’s intentions for Wales, and I told you that I made decisions that were always best for me. Know this now; there is something to be said in having the daughter of The Wolfe as my wife. Who do you think your father will fight for? Edward or his daughter’s husband?”
              Her surprise turned to shock. “You think by marrying me that my father will turn against his king?”

Bhrodi shrugged. “I knew this day was coming,” he said. “I knew that someday, somehow, Edward would be knocking on my door
. When he proposed a marriage for peace, I knew it was a lie. All of it was a lie. But when I found out he had proposed the daughter of his most powerful warlord to me, I thought to accept the marriage because it would mean that England’s most respected knight, William de Wolfe, is now my father-in-law. That makes me family. Do you truly think your father will let Edward destroy my world and you along with it? Of course he will not. Your father will come and fight for me. Together, The Wolfe and The Serpent will destroy Edward once and for all.”
              Penelope sat there with her mouth hanging open. “But… but my father is sworn to Edward.”