There Your Heart Will Be Also (14 page)

****

Cedric watched from the middle of the room as
Sir Henry
left
Sarra's side.
When h
e returned
,
Sarra
sat
staring at
her empty hands
.
Not wishing to intrude upon her thought
s
, Cedric
waited a moment more before
stepp
ing forward.

“Sorry I took so long.
The serving maid was c
lear across the room and it wasn't easy
to get through the crowd.”

“Oh,
it
'
s all right.
Thank you.”

“
Did ye enjoy your dance
?” inquired Cedric.

“
Aye
.”

Sarra
act
ing
shifty,
looking this way and that, like a person with something to hide. W
hat
could
the
two of them
ha
ve
spoken about
,
which would put the young maid in
to
such
an
uneas
y state
?
Perhaps the old knight was looking for a young wife
.
Logically
,
the knight would
start inside the keep with the maids
.

Why did the thought of Sarra with another
man
upset him?
Protection
.
Of course this was the answer.
He wanted to protect her.
Nothing more.
She was young.
Inexperienced.
S
omeone
needed
to look out for her.

As he sipped on his
tankard of
ale,
Cedric
fingered the gift in his sporran.
The gift was to go to the mistress.
This was to be his first opportunity to meet and woo the woman he was
destined
to marry.
But it appeared his
carefully thought
-
out
plans were to be thwarted.
The mistress would not be in attendance.
Sarra, the maid, was stepping in for her.
The wood roll
ed
around in his hand
as
he realized he only had the one gift.

And what of Sarra's birthday?
Would he give the gift to her to pass along to the mistress?
Or would he give it to Sarra alone?
He wondered
if he should
mention his gift
at all
or
just
wait
.
T
he decision was made for
Cedric
when the villagers began to form a line in front of Sarra.

Each villager brought something.
The wool maker brought a homemade woolen scarf, the linen maker a linen handkerchief, the soap maker brought soap
that smelled of roses
, the blacksmith brought a small engraved dagger, and the leather worker brought a sheath for the small dagger.

Every
one brought forth a small but personal gift and Sarra ooo
h
ed and ahhhed over each one.
She truly seemed to love each item presented to her.
The giver left with a sense their gift had been thought of as a great treasure.
Sarra thanked everyone on behalf of the mistress and herself as well.

When the line ended, she was surrounded by favors.
The crowd went back to the dance floor or the food table
,
and Cedric and Sarra were once again alone.

“Look at all these gifts Cedric!
It will take me a week to sort through it all and put it in its place.”

Cedric could tell she was pleased but overwhelmed
.
“Maybe
the mistress will give y
e
extra
time to place them for her
.”

“Maybe,”
Sarra
replied with a
wry look
.

“I hate to do this
,
Sarra
,
but there is one more gift.”

“Oh no, not another.
Who could possibly be left?
I believe half of England has already giv
en me, I mean, the mistress a
favor
.
”

“Me,” he said shyly.

“Oh.”

Cedric got down in front of her, opened his sporran, and pulled out a piece of wood
which
had been hand
-
carved into a running horse.
The horse's mane fanned behind it as if flowing in the moving wind.

Tears slid down Sarra's face.

“It's for
ye
.
I'll have to make something for the mistress later.
Ye don't think
me giving ye a gift
will cause a problem
,
do ye
?
”

Shaking her head vigorously, Sarra
stared
at Cedric
.
She lunged forward
and threw her arms around his neck.

The unexpectedness of
the
affection
ate gesture
almost sent him sprawling to the ground.
One
hand
beneath
him on the ground and an arm around her back
, he reveled in the feel
of their bodies together
.

“Thank you.
It is the most elegant and thoughtful gift I have ever received.
Magnificent.
How did you do this?”
After a
moment
of hesitation,
she added, “You did
carve
this, right?”

Pushing her back from him slightly, so
he
could see her more clearly
, he said
“Aye, I
made
it.”

With deference, Sarra
slipped the horse into her
drawstring pouch
before
le
a
d
ing
him back to the dance floor.
Cedric spent the rest of the evening holding Sarra in his arms.
The tune of the music didn't matter, fast or slow, they followed their hearts only as they moved across the dance floor.

At the close of the party, Cedric offered to escort Sarra to her quarters.
Accepting the offer
,
they walked hand in hand up the stairs and down the hallway. Peals of laughter could be heard
as the party continued behind them.

Beneath
veiled eyes, Sarra studied Cedric. The night had been magical, filled with dancing, food, gifts, and new feelings of love.

Sarra
found she
didn't want
the night
to end.
There had to be something
she
could do to prolong this
time
.
The two of them might never have another chance to share in this way.
Tomorrow would certainly bring questions.
All Cedric had to do was think about the things he'd witnessed at the party.
If he sat
and thought about it
long enough, surely he would realize she was the mistress.
Then what?

Li
ke
a bolt of lightning, Sarra thought of something
they
could do to extend the evening, even if just for a few more seconds.
G
rabb
ing
his hand
,
she said,
“Come with me.
I want to show you something.”

Sarra
led Cedric to the library off the main hall, hidden by a tiny alcove.
T
he doors open
ed
to a
room
with the smell
of lingering smoke,
aged books, and a hint of lilac and rose.
The walls were lined with bookcases
that
housed
books
and various trinkets
.

But for all the
published documents
on the shelves, one
book
was in a prominent place
,
resting
on a type of podium wedged against
a
wall.
This was where Sarra led him.
She lit a candle in a holder and walked with
it toward
the book, careful not to spill any wax on the handwritten pages.

“I want to show you
something
.”

Cedric leaned over
,
trying not to block the light with his huge frame.
He made out a few words.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
He read the first verse in the Gospel according to John and
then stared
at Sarra
.
“This is in English?”

“Aye,” she said trying to refrain from grinning so broadly.
He seemed to be generally surprised he could read
a
Bible on his own.

“Where did ye get this?”

“My fa
…, I mean the mistress' father,
Thomas of Greenbriar,
was in the city when he was a young man, and he was approached by a figure in ragged clothing.
He handed
Thomas
a
book
bound in leather
,
glanced
over his shoulder, and limped off down the street.
Thomas h
id the item in his cloak
at the exact moment
a group of uniformed men raced by.
Later when
t
he
lord of Greenbriar
was able, he opened the book and discovered it was an English Bible.
He knew many in English churches had forbidden the word of God to be written in the common man's tongue.
They claimed it was for the consumption of the clergy only, but a few ‘rebels' had denied
the
idea, and translated the Bible into English anyway.

“
The man
who
had given him the Bible was later discovered floating in the Thames River.
Thomas
said he worried himself into near fits until he was safely at home and able to store the book in a safe place.
Only when he became older and realized to hide the book away was almost as bad as forbidding it in the first place, did he make this podium and place it in this room.”

“
The laird
must have been
a
brave
man
.”

“Oh, he was brave.
But more than
anything
, he knew
to
whom he belonged.
He knew no matter what
,
God would see him through.”

“Would ye mind if I came back and read some more of this later?”

“
Well, I
shall
have to ask the mistress, but I'm sure she won't mind.”

“Generous
,
is she?”

“She can be.”

Cedric seemed a little embarrassed.
After a moment he said, “I have had a wonderful time with ye this evening.”

“
And
I have had a wonderful time with you as well.”
Cedric
seemed hesitant to make the first step or say the first word
which
would end their time together
,
and Sarra was making no moves to do so either
.

Sarra spoke
first
,
ending the a
wkwardness
between them
.
“I guess
I
should
go and check on the mistress
.”

Without a word,
they left the
library, closing the doors behind them.
Sarra led
Cedric
to
her quarters
.

A
s they walked
,
she wondered how the night would end.
Would it be a goodnight kiss on the hand?
Would it be a goodnight kiss on the cheek?
Would it be a goodnight kiss on the lips?
Sarra hoped for the latter but would accept anything Cedric was willing to bestow upon her.

They approached Sarra's door and a feeling of trepidation descended.
Yet another lie she was going to tell.
If he
happened to peek inside there would no doubt be questions
about the opulence of her surroundings
;
the excuse could be because of the
room
's proximity
to the mistress.
And what if he remembered their first encounter?
The day they first met, Sarra had left and
walked to the village instead of the keep.
She sank her teeth into her lower lip.

So caught up in her musings, she barely noticed Cedric.
H
is head
descended
toward
her waiting form
.
Sarra arched
for
him, but before their lips could meet
,
the shrill sound
of
an
alarm bell
rang out
.

Cedric
straightened up
.
“What was that?”

“
T
he alarm,” said Sarra
,
concern lacing her tone
.

Before Sarra finished her statement, she
was
wiggl
ing
free from Cedric's embrace, grasp
ing
her skirts, and flying down the hallway.
A group of breathless knights rushed into the keep's entrance as s
he skidded to a halt in the main hall.

Sir Henry raised a hand
to silence
the growing crowd.
He
stood in wait for Sarra
.
When she no longer moved, he
asked
,
“Gavin, what is your report?
”

Gavin's arm was in a sling, but
otherwise
he was in
the
full gear of a Greenbriar knight.
In a
breathless
voice and with as much composure as possible
,
he responded, “There
is around twenty to thirty men outside the walls, my lady
.
They seem to be gathering our sheep and herding them away.”

Although
she'd
not spoken
her concern
out loud,
Sarra had
wondered if
the celebration would distract the knights from their regular patrols.
The raiders must have discovered the
festivities
and decided to exploit it to their advantage.

Chancing a look under veiled eyes at Cedric, Sarra couldn't help but wonder if
the raiding party
was
somehow related to
his
presence?
Surely this man she was coming to feel for more and more couldn't be plotting to take her keep?

Sarra shook her head, dislodging the ridiculous notion.

Though
Sir Henry was in charge of the knights, he always sought
Sarra's
guidance before making a decision on how to act.
But how could he consult her now?
Cedric stood nearby. To speak with her with any level of importance would reveal her identity.

Sarra's twisted
her hands within the folds
of her gown. Sir Henry was trapped. If he
approach
ed
her now
it
would mean
certain
exposure.

Not only
was exposure a
concern but also the raiders
had to be considered
.
There would be
consequences
either way.
Sarra realized if
the raid
was
n't
stopped some of her own people might die
.
B
ut
on the other hand
,
if the raid continue
d
many more would perish
from lack of food
,
among other things
.

A smile plastered on her face
,
Sarra pretended everything was fine.
If questioned s
he
w
ould say
her
need
for
information
was purely to be able
to share with the mistress.
Aye, that was it!

Those thoughts clear in her mind, Sarra
pulled Sir Henry aside to confer with him in private
.
“Sir Henry, what are your leanings?”

“My lady, you know we must fight.
If we don't then we shall continue to be raided.”

“Aye, I agree.
Lead them as you see fit.
Make sure to say nothing about my involvement in your decision.
”

“But my lady, surely this has gone on long enough.
We are talking about the safety of your people.”

“I leave you in complete control.”

Sir Henry nodded.
His look of dissatisfaction wasn't lost on Sarra as she
stepped aside and pretended to fret like a maid as
the
orders
were given
.

“Men, assemble in front of the keep.
We have a duty to protect our families and to stop the raiders.”

The crowd of young soldiers encouraged one another before heading out to fight.
While Sarra watched the
camaraderie
of the young and inexperienced,
Cedric appeared at her elbow.
He had
disappeared sometime during the exchange,
chang
ing
his kilt and tunic and retriev
ing
his sword.

“Sarra, I am going to assist them.”

“But—“

“Nay.
I must.
I must show fealty to y
er
mistress.”

Sarra
wanted to protest
.
Was it safe for Cedric to accompany the men? Of course the large Scot could take care of himself, but what if this raid was of his doing? What if the entire plot had been instigated by him?
But what could
be
sa
id
?
I'm the mistress
. S
tay put and my men will take care of the situation?