Page 4 of Promises Made at Midnight
Bertram pushed a bowl of porridge in his direction. “You were far away. You should eat, lest it grows cold and your belly goes empty until the noon meal.”
“I am not hungry.”
“Why not? We have a full day of training and it looks like ’twill be a wet one.”
“Why does it matter if I wish to eat or not?” Ulrick grumbled. ’Twas clear his recent musing left a sour taste in his mouth along with a bitter disposition.
Bertram shrugged. “It makes no difference to me, only that you are prepared for the day. That includes eating a hearty meal. Dristan wishes to take us both on first thing to show the new men what will one day be expected of them.”
“I will perform my duty as I always do, Bertram. Leave me be lest I take out my foul mood into the lists. Though ’twill surely end once I best you,” Ulrick snidely retorted.
“I would expect no less, nor would our liege lord.”
Any further conversations were interrupted as the door of the keep blew open and Taegan, one of the guardsmen who had been visiting Fletcher’s estate, swept through the portal, shaking off the rain from his cloak. His brother Turquine called out to him and moved over on the bench to make room for him at the table. He came and sat across from Ulrick with a look of longing at the untouched bowl.
“Are you not going to eat that?” Taegan asked eagerly.
Ulrick pushed the full bowl across the table. “Help yourself.”
Taegan accepted it with a nod. “My thanks. I am most famished. I could eat my horse, I am so hungry.”
Turquine pounded his brother’s back. A lesser man may have felt the force of the blow but not Taegan. The two brothers were used to a bit of rough play between them. “I am sure your horse is appreciative of the fact that he still is in the land of the living,” Turquine guffawed.
“What brings you back to Berwyck so soon? We did not expect you for at least another fortnight,” Ulrick asked.
Taegan finished the porridge and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Was it Ulrick’s imagination or did the man before him look… disturbed? There was not much in life that could faze one of Dristan’s guards enough to cause them to actually show emotion so visibly on their faces.
“I had a spat. Felt I should remove myself from Lancashire for a while,” Taegan replied, before reaching toward the middle of the table and stuffing his mouth with a piece of cheese.
“With Fletcher?” Bertram inquired.
“Nay… with his… guest,” Taegan said looking very uncomfortable. The men at the table all looked to him to continue and Taegan’s gaze swept those nearby before leaning in to mute the conversation to those whom he could trust. “Her name is Amy and she is a friend of the Lady Jenna, Fletcher’s wife. You may not believe it, but she is from that place that Riorden’s wife, Lady Katherine, has also come from… Sanfran… Cisco… and the future.”
“Not another one?” groaned Bertram.
“Aye, I am afraid so,” Taegan declared, looking ill at ease.
Drake, another personal guard pondered his response. “She was here briefly when Fletcher married, was she not? I believe that is the lady that Dristan kept in Lady Amiria’s solar for most of her visit.”
“Aye, she was. She is a feisty one, that Amy is, and a more headstrong woman I have never met.”
Ulrick was unsure how to respond to yet another woman traveling by some unnatural means to arrive back in time. “We seem to be besieged with women who do not belong here amongst us. Will she… go back… to her own place in time, do you suppose?”
Taegan shrugged. “Who knows?”
“What did you fight about that caused you to return then? She is just a woman and there are plenty to choose from on good English soil,” Bertram asked, looking just as uncomfortable at the nature of the conversation.
Taegan’s brows drew together in a frown. “One minute she is kissing me, and the next she is telling me that she wants to wed. Since I am not the marrying kind, I left out of favor, naturally, with the lady.”
Turquine began laughing and almost fell backwards off the bench. “Another lass you will soon forget as you move on to the next.”
Taegan turned to look over at his brother and his face said everything that he would not dare say aloud. “I am not so sure, brother,” he answered seriously.
The mood at their table was a somber one, whilst each knight pondered the mysteries of life and the women who evaded them.
Any further thoughts on the conversation were left unsaid as Dristan rose from his place at the raised dais, calling to his knights. Everyone began to rush to join him in the lists. Perchance ’twas best Ulrick’s thoughts turned to the more pressing matter at hand, and that was to continue Godfrey’s training.Time travel, he mused,was just a bunch of nonsense. Or was it?
CHAPTER4
