Page 103 of The Guardian's Bride
“We will consider their conditions. There is much inconvenience and expense keeping those cages. People come to stare, say the reports, they trample the grounds, they make it difficult for soldiers to move in and out of those places. There are extra visits from physicians because of their health. It is very annoying. Letters from the Pope—we are full aware, MacDuff, of his disapproval. Other kings and potentates as well—letters from the King of France and the Holy Roman Emperor—no one seems to agree with this. Allowing the women to live in convents may be necessary.”
“It may be best, if I may say so,” Aedan remarked.
“You may not say!” Edward snapped. “You and your council may wait upon our decision. Lady Rowena, how long will the effect of that water last? There is a reviving of the spirit, it seems.”
“I am glad to hear that, Sire. I cannot say how long it will last.”
“There are matters that require our royal presence. The Scots must see Edward of England riding under the dragon banner in armor on a war horse, expecting obedience.”
“Sire, we are Scots, if you please,” Rowena said, knowing it was bold. “And should you do that in your state of exhaustion and illness—it could be the last time you do.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “I know that. Go.”
Outside the tent,Aedan took Rowena’s arm and hurried with a long stride, while Brian, Patrick, and Henry followed. He wanted to leave this place as fast as possible. Rowena hastened beside him, and in deference to her ankle injury—though she did not seem to be limping—he slowed.
And saw Malise Comyn in the company of three or four guards, arguing with them. Aedan made a sharp right turn on the path to head toward him.
“What are you doing?” Rowena asked.
“Finishing what I should have done in the royal tent.”
Malise had his back turned as Aedan walked up to the men. The king’s guards looked up in astonishment at the interruption as Aedan tapped Malise on the shoulder.
“Pardon me, sir,” he said.
Malise turned and scowled. “MacDuff! Best get out of here quickly before I bring the whole of the Scottish and English justice systems down on your head. You got away neatly today, sir. But it will not last.”
“One favor,” Aedan said.
“Hardly. What do you want?”
“This.” Aedan hauled back and punched him so hard that Malise went down to his knees, cupping his hands over his face, blood pouring between his fingers.
Aedan shook the tension and ache from his hand. “Thank you, sir. I look forward to whatever the justice system has to say about you and me, and which of us has inflicted more ill and damage on the other. I will gather my witnesses. You do the same.”
He turned on his heel and walked away. Behind him, he heard the guards laughing as they brought Malise to his feet and led him away.
His friends stared at him, mouths open. Henry grinned, ear to ear, and clapped him on the shoulder. Brian laughed, while Patrick applauded.
What he cared about most in that moment was Rowena. He turned to her. “Was that chivalrous, do you think, or the act of a brawny ox in need of taming and tethering?”
She looked up at him and smiled. “A little of both, I think. And I think—I rather enjoyed that.” Suddenly she laughed, a chime like sweet bells that went into his heart like the twinkling lights in the stone she treasured.
And he treasured her. “Love,” he said, “so long as you are pleased.”
“I am. But there are other things that will please me more,” she murmured.
“Tell me about them,” he whispered. “But not here.”
He bent to sweep her into his arms and kissed her, soundly and surely, in the dust and mud and commotion of the enemy king’s war camp. Her lips were soft and lush under his, her promise truer than any he could imagine—but for his own.
“I am a fool in love,” he murmured, sweeping back a drift of her dark hair.
“We must do something about that. Surely there is a treatment for it. I have the same malady, as it happens.”
“Perhaps that wee stone can help.” He took her hand and walked with her, while the others followed, chuckling.
“Oh, I have something even better,” she said, taking his arm, kissing his hand, and then hurrying beside him out the gate and into the meadow where the horses and freedom waited.
