The Fallen One (16 page)

When he tried
to get up, Sebastian planted a ham-sized fist in his face and knocked him back
to the mud, unconscious.
 
After that, his
companions fled.
 
Mathias snatched the
poker from Cathlina’s grasp and tossed it, turning her around in the direction
they had come. But the moment he spun her around, they both came to an abrupt
halt.

Saer de Lara
was standing behind them with Abechail on one side of him and Roman de Lara on
the other. By the look on his face, Mathias knew the man had seen the entire
incident.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    
“De Reyne,” Saer
hissed. “Of course I know the name. I know the man’s reputation. He was
Mortimer’s devil. Everyone knows who he is.”

    
Tate stood across from
his cousin, trying to stay neutral about the situation.
 
He had heard Mathias’ side of it, and a
sobbing Cathlina’s, and the stories were much the same.
 
But Saer’s story was something concocted by
an overprotective and zealous father, how he happened across his daughter in
the company of two ruffians in the midst of a street fight.
 
Tate was trying to balance the entire
situation out and keep Mathias from Saer’s wrath.

    
“Did you also know he
is one of my closest friends?” Tate asked softly.
 
When he saw the look of surprise on Saer’s
face, he nodded. “We fostered together. There is no finer knight in all of
England that Mathias de Reyne.”

    
Saer threw up his
hands. “How can you say that?” he demanded. “The man sided with Mortimer and
tried to kill us all! He is everything we fought against, everything we hated,
and I cannot believe that you would defend him so.”

    
“He sided with
Mortimer because he is related to the man,” Tate fired back, struggling with
his temper. “He had no choice.
 
We all
side with our family, do we not? His only true crime was that he was related to
a man who tried to usurp the king. That has no bearing on how good and true a
knight he is.”

    
Saer didn’t want to
listen.
 
He turned away, wandering
aimlessly through Tate’s crimson tent.
 
Cathlina sat near the door on a small stool,
her eyes huge at her father.
 
She knew
she was in for a row but she was also quite defiant about it.

    
“Father, he is the man
who saved us from the man who tried to abduct Abbie,” she said with surprising
strength. “He is kind and decent and considerate, and I will not hear you say
anything terrible about him. He does not deserve it.”

    
Saer looked at her as
if she was mad. “Not deserve…?” he sputtered. “You have no idea what you are
saying.
 
The man is wicked!”

    
Cathlina shot to her
feet. “He is
not
wicked,” she said,
her voice growing louder. “What you saw earlier in the street was my fault.
That terrible knight was saying such awful things about Mathias and I’d had
enough of his slander.
 
Mathias defended
Abbie so I returned the favor. I would not let someone speak so terribly about
you, or Mother, or anyone else that I cared for.
 
Mathias was trying to walk away from the
confrontation but I did not; I struck that horrible knight and I do not regret
it.”

    
By this time, Saer had
ceased his agitated movements and was peering at her strangely. “
Care
for him?” he repeated. “What does
this mean?”

    
Cathlina wouldn’t back
down. “Just that,” she said. “I care for him, Father. He is sweet and wonderful
and virtuous. He has asked to court me and I have agreed.”

    
Something happened to
Saer at that moment; his color changed from a sweaty red to a yellow
ashen.
 

“
Court
you?” he repeated, shocked. “I… I cannot believe my ears. If he wanted to court
you, then he should have come to me first. Moreover, I will not let the man who
headed Mortimer’s war machine court my daughter. It is unthinkable.”

    
Cathlina regarded her
father carefully; she was quite capable of manipulating him but she could see
that he was starting to take a very firm stand against Mathias that would not
tumble like the walls of Jericho.
 
Once
Saer was set on something, it was very difficult to change his mind.
 
She had to strike hard and fast if she was
going to win this battle. Aye, it was indeed a battle.

    
“Father,” she said
after a moment. “You will listen to me and listen well; I love Mathias. There,
now I’ve said it – I love him. It is my intention to be his wife.
 
You only have one choice in this matter; you
can give us your blessing.
 
If you do
not, I will take the first opportunity to run away and commit myself to the
cloister. Is this perfectly clear?”

    
Saer stared at
her.
 
In the next moment, he was charging
across the tent and grabbing her by the arm, yanking her from de Lara’s
tent.
 
Cathlina struggled against her
father, pounding on his hand to force him to release her, but it was of little
consequence. Saer had her firm.
  
Tate
went after them, mostly to make sure Saer didn’t inadvertently hurt his
daughter, but by the time he quit the tent, he had to prevent Mathias from
charging Saer.

    
Mathias had been
lingering several feet away from the tent with Sebastian and Kenneth, waiting
to be dealt his scolding by Saer and, more than likely, Tate as well when he
saw Saer dragging Cathlina from the tent.
 
She was struggling and fighting, and he snapped.
 
Only Tate and Kenneth’s strength prevented
him from charging Saer and breaking the man’s neck.
  
Cathlina saw Mathias and began to scream.

    
“Mathias!” she cried.

    
Mathias lurched in her
direction but Tate and Kenneth held him firm.
 
“Nay, Mat,” Tate hissed. “Let them go.
 
I will go and speak to them later on your behalf but for now, let them
go. You have no choice.”

    
Mathias was as coiled
as a spring.
 
He watched Saer drag
Cathlina across the meadowed expanse that separated Tate’s encampment from
his.
 
She was fighting and kicking all
the way.
 
He dragged her into a tent made
of canvas and rope, and shortly they heard sharp smacking sounds and Cathlina
screaming.
 

After that, there was no way to corral
Mathias because Tate started running in the direction of Saer’s encampment and
Mathias was on his heels.
 
Kenneth and
Sebastian barreled after the pair, everyone crowding into Saer’s larger tent
where Saer was giving his daughter a very sound beating on the bottom.
 
Tate grabbed the switch in Saer’s hand and
Mathias grabbed Cathlina.

    
“Enough,” Tate snarled
at his cousin, tossing the switch aside. “Are you truly so weak and foolish
that you would beat your daughter? What on earth is wrong with you?”

    
Saer was shocked to
see a host of knights in his tent, interfering in his fatherly duty, but more
than that, he was furious. He looked at Mathias with Cathlina cradle against
him, sobbing.

    
“You may not have
her,” he hissed. “You, who controlled Mortimer’s forces and orchestrated the
deaths of thousands of men. I lost friends to you!”

    
Mathias had Cathlina held
against his chest, his embrace soothing and protective.
 
“As I lost friends to you,” he said quietly.
“Such is the nature of war, de Lara. You can point fingers at me as much as you
wish but you are equally guilty.”

Saer stood there, looking at the man he had
fought so zealously against. He felt sick watching the man with his arms around
Cathlina.
 
In truth, he was overwhelmed
with all of it.
 
He hadn’t suspected
anything between the smithy and his daughter although perhaps he should have
considering she had left Kirklinton without an escort to go and see the
man.
 
She had told him that her visit was
purely to thank the man for helping fend off Abechail’s attacker but in
hindsight, he should have been wiser. Saer just didn’t want to imagine that his
Cathlina, his pride and joy, had designs on a man. Now to find out that the man
had once been a hated enemy was nearly too much to take.

“Mayhap,” he said softly, calming somewhat
as his fury cooled and the reality of the situation began to settle. “But look
at you now; a smithy? A once great-knight reduced to shoeing horses and
shoveling dung? And you expect to make a life for my daughter living as
peasants?”

Cathlina looked up at Mathias, total trust
and admiration in her expression. Mathias glanced at her, feeling her
confidence fortify him.
 
But before he
could respond, Tate spoke.

“Mathias’ exile will not last forever,” he
said quietly. “I will speak with the king to that regard.
 
Mayhap is indeed time to forgive and forget
those events which tore this country asunder.”

Saer looked at him. “But what if young
Edward will not forgive?” he said, shaking his head. “Tate, if we were speaking
of your daughter, would you allow her to marry a dishonored knight, knowing
what kind of life that would mean for them? As a father, I want the best for my
daughters and even if de Reyne was not a dishonored knight, I would have
extreme reservations about allowing my daughter to wed him.”

“Why?” Tate asked softly.

Saer began to grow agitated again. “Because
the man fought with the enemy and very nearly cost us our lives,” he said. “Would
you let
your
daughter marry him?”

Tate nodded before the question fully left
Saer’s mouth. “Knowing the character of the man as I do, I would be proud for
my daughter to marry him.”

Saer grunted and turned away, eyeing
Mathias, his daughter, and even Kenneth and Sebastian. He had a tent full of
knights, seasoned men who had shaped the course of the country, but he was torn
and despondent.
 
He couldn’t decide if it
was truly because of Mathias and all he had once stood for or if it was because
he didn’t want to lose Cathlina. His little girl had become a woman and he’d
hardly noticed.

“Then you must allow me to think on this,”
he muttered, looking at Mathias. “All I have heard is from my daughter stating
that she wishes to marry you.
 
You have
not come to me, as a man would, and spoken to me of her.”

Mathias conceded the point. “You are
correct,” he said.
 
“However, in my
defense, there has not been the opportunity and your daughter and I have only
recently spoken of such things.
 
It was
not the proper way to go about the situation and I offer my apology. However,
now that we are face to face, I will tell you now that it is my intention to
marry your daughter.
 
At present, I will
be able to provide quite well for her as a smithy’s wife and in time, she will
have all of the titles and wealth that I can provide for her when my titles and
lands are restored. Of this I have no doubt. I assure you that my intentions
are quite honorable.”

Saer watched the man as he spoke, his body
language and the fact that he never once broke eye contact. That spoke of
respect.
 
It eased him somewhat but not
completely; he was still having a difficult time swallowing everything. It was
too much for him to absorb at the moment and he finally waved a dismissive hand
at the group.

“I must think on it,” he said. “I will give
you no answer today.”

“But soon, Father?” Cathlina said, wiping
the last of her tears from her eyes.

Saer whirled on her, pointing a stern finger.
“That is enough from you.”

Cathlina frowned as Mathias stepped in. “I
understand and respect your need to think on my request,” he said, giving
Cathlina a squeeze so she would remain silent. “I also trust that you will make
the right choice. I will eagerly await your word.”

Saer only shrugged.
 
Tate caught Sebastian and Kenneth’s
attention, silently ordering them from the tent with a nudge of his head.
 
When they left, he turned his attention to
Saer one last time.

“I trust I will not need to come running
back here to prevent you from beating your daughter,” he said. “If it happens
again, I will take her with me back to Carlisle. I will not let you harm her
because you are angry. Is that clear?”

Saer looked at Tate as if the man had hurt
his feelings. “I was not beating her,” he said. “I was spanking her for her
insolence. She needed it.”

Tate cocked an eyebrow. “A technicality,”
he said, his voice low. “I do not approve of hitting children, no matter how
insolent they are.”

Saer, feeling emotionally exhausted and defeated,
simply turned away.
 
Tate’s attention
lingered on the man before turning to Mathias and Cathlina.

The pair was huddled together, the hulking
presence of Mathias wrapped around Cathlina.
 
She looked so small and fragile in his arms.
 
Tate touched her affectionately on the cheek
before turning to Mathias.