The Fallen One (23 page)

    
Even when it was over, he didn’t want it to
be over. He wanted to remain as they were for the rest of his life. He
continued to stroke in and out of her, feeling the warm wetness of what he had
put in her, and utterly and incredibly happy for the first time in many years.
Beneath him, Cathlina lay still and quiet.
 
He finally lifted his head and looked at her.

    
“Are you well?” he asked huskily. “Did I
hurt you?”

    
She met his gaze. “Nay,” she whispered.
“You did not hurt me in the least.
 
You
were quite gentle.”

    
“I tried.”

    
“You succeeded.” She grinned at him because
he was smiling at her. “But… I was thinking….”

    
“What?”

    
“The lady of Lincoln was quite wrong,” she
murmured. “This was not a dispassionate act at all.
 
She must have had a terrible husband.”

    
Mathias laughed softly. “I hope to never
fall into that category.”

    
Cathlina touched his face, inspecting the
masculine lines. “I do not expect that you will,” she murmured. “Already, you
have proven yourself quite wonderful.”

    
Mathias kissed her, without all of the
blazing passion now that his lust was sated but more with emotion and
sentiment.
 
It was stronger than all of
the lust in the world.
 
What he felt for
her was coming from the heart, not the loins. It was both frightening and
wonderful.
 
From this moment on, they
were irrevocably joined.

    
 
When
Mathias finally rolled off of her and settled in for sleep, Cathlina stopped
him.
 
He had no idea why until she got up
from the bed and peered closely at the linen beneath them.
 
When she spied what she had been looking for,
she pointed it out to him with a somewhat joyful expression.
 
Mathias grinned when he saw it.

    
There was blood on the fabric.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

One week later

Edinburgh

    
Edinburgh was bigger than Cathlina could
have ever imagined. The largest city she had ever been to was Carlisle, and
that seemed big enough, but Edinburgh was overwhelming in its size.
 
Coming in to the city from the south, they
could see it spread out on the horizon like a great cloak of men, buildings,
and animals.
 
A faint haze of smoke hung
in the sky above the city, indicative of its large population.

    
Astride a small brown palfrey that Mathias
had purchase for his wife in Hawk, Cathlina had watched the approaching city
with great awe. Riding with the friendly otter in a basket, now named Midge and
officially a part of their group, she had been very excited to realize they had
come to one of their primary destinations. But Midge kept jumping out of the
basket and gleefully running up and down the road until Mathias would climb off
his steed and dutifully chase the animal down.
 

Since
nearly the moment she had met him, Cathlina had become very attached to little
Midgy and when it came time to leave Langholm, Midgy had followed them down the
road and Mathias knew he could not deny his wife her furry little friend. There
was no use even trying.
 
He had proven to
be a cute little companion and had been hours of endless entertainment. For
days they had simply let him run beside them as they traveled but coming close
to the city as they were, Cathlina was afraid he would be stepped on or
otherwise hurt, so she kept him in the basket as much as she could.
 

As
Edinburgh loomed, Mathias and Sebastian and Justus seemed to view the city with
less awe and more suspicion, since it was a city full of Scots and they were
clearly not Scots. To most here, they were the enemy.
 
But they had to pass through Edinburgh to not
only locate Sir Stephen of Pembury but also to make their way to Henry
Beaumont’s fortress north of the city.
 
Still, they had a lot of business to conduct in Edinburgh and Mathias
wasted no time in his search for the Bucket and Barrel.

    
At the first inn they stopped at once they
entered the city limits, the barkeep couldn’t tell them exactly where the Bucket
and Barrel was but he thought it was perhaps near Edinburgh Castle.
  
Unwilling to drag Cathlina all over the
dirty streets of Edinburgh in search of the fabled Bucket and Barrel
tavern,
 
Mathias sought lodgings at the
present inn but was directed to a man who had a bigger inn and more room.
  

This
foray took them down the dirty and stone avenue that was literally awash with
human excrement until they came to a very large inn called the Green Pony.
 
Inside the rather vast structure, the owner
was able to provide them with three very satisfactory rooms on the third level;
two big sleeping chambers and a smaller sitting chamber that were all connected
together.
  
It was high above the common
room and had a great view of the city.
 
Mathias paid for a week’s lodging up front and slipped the otter into
the rooms buried under heavy cloaks.

    
Cathlina was thrilled with the rooms; they
were cozy and moderately clean, and she and Midgy could watch all of the
comings and goings from her perch in the sitting room.
 
At one point during their first day there,
Sebastian stole a big copper tub from the nearby livery and brought it up to
the rooms so they could have a place for Midgy to swim.
 
The otter was happy as a lark in his big
copper tub, swimming and frolicking, but he still barked when Sebastian came
near him.
 
Sebastian took up making faces
at the animal every time he saw him. Sometimes he would even bark back.

    
On their second day in
Edinburgh, Mathias and Sebastian had located the Bucket and Barrel Inn.
 
It was a fairly large tavern and fairly well
kept, but Stephen of Pembury was not in residence.
 
Day after day they returned to the tavern to
sit and wait, with no luck, while Justus remained with Cathlina.
 
To keep occupied, Cathlina had gone to the
street of Merchants early in their stay and had purchased several items
including a knitting needle and yarn as well as a deck of lovely painted cards
all the way from Rome.
 
When Cathlina and
Justus would grow tired of card games, he would sit and snore in his chair
while she

would work on a knitted tunic for Mathias.
 
She was clever with the yarn and the garment
was turning out beautifully.

    
The time with Justus
had been well spent, however. Cathlina had come to know her father-in-law as a
man with a vast amount of knowledge in many things. He was intelligent and
wise, and it was very clear how much he loved his sons.
 
They were everything to him.
 
Cathlina would sit and knit, listening to him
tell stories about Mathias and Sebastian when they were children and of the
mischief they would get in to.
 

He told stories of them playing with sticks
as very young lads and pretending they were swords, a game that seemed innocent
enough until Mathias nearly blinded Sebastian. After that, their mother, the
Lady Penelope, forbid them their swords but Justus would let the boys play when
their mother wasn’t looking.
 
It made for
charming story-telling and Cathlina was coming to like Justus a great
deal.
 
In fact, she missed her own father
less with Justus and his endless library of stories.

As the days passed, she tried not to think
of her family, now left behind and undoubtedly frantic over her
disappearance.
 
She thought perhaps to
send them a missive once she and Mathias got settled in Henry Beaumont’s ranks,
but she hadn’t the nerve to ask her husband yet.
 
Everything was so new and uncertain
still.
 
She even missed Roxane and she
especially missed Abechail.
 
Her baby
sister was very heavy on her mind for she knew Abbie would have loved Midgy.
She hoped she was able to introduce them one day.

Eight days after their arrival in
Edinburgh, the day dawned misty and windy, and Mathias and Sebastian enjoyed a
meal of bread with melted cheese and warmed cider before the fire before
setting out for the Bucket and Barrel.
 

Midgy, having slept in under Mathias and
Cathlina’s bed, came slithering out of the shadows and sat on his hind legs,
grunting for food.
 
He ate fish, which
wasn’t too difficult to come by in Edinburgh, and Mathias found a man who would
deliver a bucket of fish to them daily but he usually came later in the
morning. The innkeeper wasn’t suspicious, fortunately, because Mathias told him
that his wife had a fish fetish and that was all she would eat.
  
For someone who hated the smell and taste of
fish, Cathlina put up with it for Midgy’s sake.

This morning, Midgy was impatient but
didn’t want the bread and cheese the men were eating.
 
Mathias finally gave him a smooth, round rock
to occupy him, one of his favorite toys they had collected on the journey
north, and Midgy ran back into the bed chamber with it.
 
Mathias and Sebastian heard Cathlina shriek
as the otter jumped on the bed and began burrowing.

“Midgy,
no
!”
Cathlina said, her voice hoarse and sleepy. “Your nose is cold! Stop nibbling
on my toes!”

Mathias and Sebastian grinned, listening to
Cathlina as she scolded the otter and then evidently settled down with it. The
bedchamber grew rather quiet.
 
But then
they began to hear signs of life coming forth as Cathlina got out of bed and
went about dressing for the day.
 
Midgy
came rushing back out into the sitting chamber to jump in his half-filled
copper tub and play with his rock.

Mathias finished the last of his cider and
set his cup down. “I will bid my wife farewell before I go,” he said, grunting
wearily. “Pembury had better make a show of it soon or we shall have to move on
without him.”

Sebastian stood up and stretched his
muscular body. “How long will you give him?”

Mathias paused by the bed chamber door.
“Another week and then we leave,” he said. “I do not know what has become of
the man but we cannot wait here forever.
 
However, the armor we commissioned will not be ready for another week.
We have to wait at least that long.”

Sebastian shrugged in agreement and went to
finish his own cider as Mathias entered the bedchamber.
 
There was a small fire burning in the hearth,
peat that smoked a great deal.
 
Since it
was rather dark in the room, Cathlina had lit a couple of tapers as she moved
about getting dressed for the day.
 
Mathias found her bent over the basin, washing her face and neck with
lavender soap.

“Sebastian and I will be leaving shortly,”
he said, putting a gentle hand on her back. “I will see you this eve.”

Cathlina rinsed off her face and looked at
him. “How much longer do you intend to wait for this Pembury?”

Mathias lifted his eyebrows. “Sebastian and
I were just discussing that,” he said. “The new armor we commissioned will not
be finished for another week, so I will give him at least that long. Then, we
must move on.”

“Where?”

“To Henry Beaumont’s lair,” he told her.
“Remember I explained to you why we are here?”

She wiped off her neck. “Aye,” she replied.
“You are going to pledge fealty to Henry de Beaumont and fight in his wars for
the Scots crown.”

“Correct,” he said. “De Lara has sent
Pembury to accompany me north but if the man does not show, then I will have no
choice but to push north and find Henry without him.”

She looked at him seriously. “Do you think
something has happened to him?”

Mathias shook his head firmly. “Pembury?
Bloody unlikely. The man is invincible. I am sure he is on his way but if he
does not come soon, he will have to catch up to us. I cannot wait much longer.”

Cathlina opened her mouth to say something
but Sebastian was suddenly at the door, knocking swiftly. “Mat?” he hissed.
“Someone is at the door.”

Mathias was on the move, unsheathing the
big, sharp but unadorned broadsword that had accompanied him north.
 
Telling Cathlina to bolt the bed chamber
door, he shut it softly and moved for the door that opened up into the corridor
outside.
 
Sebastian had collected his
broadsword and together, the two of them went to answer their caller.

“Who comes?” Mathias demanded.

“Open the door or I will break it down.”

Sebastian immediately tensed for a fight
while Mathias cocked his head curiously; the voice was deep and booming, but
there was something about it that he thought he recognized.
 
The words didn’t frighten him at all because
somehow, someway, he could sense mirth. Aye, he recognized the voice now.
 
Yanking the door open, he lashed out a
massive balled fist and made contact with some portion of a body; he wasn’t
sure which.
  
He struck out as hard as he
could.

The man at the door fell back as Mathias
made contact with his throat.
 
Slamming
back into the wall of the corridor, he didn’t try to fight back.
 
He was too busy gasping for air because
Mathias had hit him squarely on the Adam’s apple.
 
As the man slumped against the wall, Mathias
and Sebastian stood over him.

“How many times have I told you not to
stand so close to a door when issuing threats?” Mathias scolded. “Next time, it
could be more than a fist that comes out at you. It could be a broadsword.”

The man had his left hand wrapped around
his neck, gazing up at Mathias and Sebastian with a mixture of irritation and
humor.
 
Clad in heavy and expensive
battle armor, he was well prepared for any manner of armed offensive but a fist
to the neck, where he only had a mail hauberk, had him reeling.
 

“You bastard,” the man rasped. “I shall get
you for this, I swear it.”

Mathias just shook his head; it was readily
evident that he knew the man, as did Sebastian.
 
After several long seconds of pregnant and
tense silence, the man against the wall suddenly burst out in chuckles, which
caused Mathias and Sebastian to follow suit.
 
Soon, the three of them were laughing uproariously.

“Pembury,” Mathias reached out a hand to
pull the man off the wall. “Where in the hell have you been? I have been
looking for you for a week.”

Stephen of Pembury took Mathias’ hand and
pulled himself up.
He was an
enormously muscled man standing eight inches over six feet and was easily
taller than even the tallest man.
 
In
fact, Pembury was a giant wherever he went. With his dark hair, chiseled
features and cornflower blue eyes, he cut a striking figure of male virility
and power, and had more than his share of female admirers.
 
He was enormously strong, intelligent and
obedient to a fault.
 
He also happened to
be Mathias’ closest friend and the two of them came together in a hug that
reaffirmed the bonds of that friendship.
 
Then Mathias pulled him inside the sitting room and shut the door.