The Fallen One (6 page)

Mathias kept filing. “You will pay me or
the horse stays here and I will sell him to the highest bidder to recoup my
losses.”

The young knight was outraged. “He is my
horse and I am taking him.”

“Not until you pay me what you owe me.”

The young knight marched over to Mathias
and lifted a hand to strike him, but Mathias grabbed the knight’s wrist before
he could follow through with the action.
 
The knight yelped as Mathias shoved him away and tumbled over a bucket
near the anvil.

This brought the knight’s companion
charging forward, unsheathing his sword. Mathias dropped the charger’s hoof,
preparing to defend himself against the armed knight, when a stool suddenly
sailed into the knight’s feet and the man went down.
 
With both knights on the ground, Mathias was
rather dumbfounded when Cathlina rushed up and kicked the armed knight in the
shoulder.
 
It was a hard enough kick that
the man’s entire body rattled.

“Shame on you!” she scolded angrily. “You foolish
whelps! By what right do you try to cheat a man out of his earnings? You are a
dishonor to the knighthood, both of you!”

Mathias’ eyebrows lifted at her furious
manner and brave tactic of throwing the stool she had been sitting on in order
to disable the armed knight, but in truth, he wasn’t surprised. She had shown
remarkable bravery the day before whilst fighting with a man three times her
size.
 
If he thought about it, his
respect for her had sprouted at that moment; she was a strong and courageous
woman. Now, with this latest show of courage, his respect for her had gone from
a sprout to a healthy bloom.
 

“’Tis all right,” he soothed her, trying to
steer her away from the men who were trying to gain their feet.
 
“Please go and sit down. Do not trouble
yourself over this.”

Lured by the commotion, Sebastian appeared
from outside the stall.
 
His brow
furrowed at the men on the ground.

“What goes on here?” he demanded.

Mathias merely shook his head but Cathlina
spoke. “These men were trying to cheat your brother out of his earnings for
shoeing this horse,” she pointed angrily. “They tried to attack him.”

Sebastian’s red eyebrows flew up in
outrage. “Is that so?” he said, going to stand over the young knight who had
started it all.
 
He was just starting to
sit up as Sebastian loomed over him and glared. “You were trying to cheat us?”

The young knight rolled to his knees,
attempting to stand up and keep a distance from the enormous red-haired knight.
 
“He… he was slow and lazy,” he
stammered, his arrogance gone now that he was being challenged by two very big
men. “It is within my right not to pay him for a job he did not complete when
he said he would.”

Sebastian reached out and grabbed the man
by the neck as Justus, lured from the opposite side of the stall by all of the
scuffling going on, came around to see both of his sons standing and two armed
knights in various positions on the ground.
 
The big old man with the long gray hair went straight to Sebastian.

“What are you doing?” he hissed, pointing
fingers at the man in Sebastian’s grip. “I have warned you against harassing
our customers.”

Sebastian didn’t let the young knight go.
“He is trying to cheat us out of paying what he owes,” he told his father. “He
tried to attack Mathias.”

Justus looked at his eldest son. “Is this
true, Mat?”

Mathias had positioned himself between
Cathlina and the men tussling, including his brother.

“He tried,” he confirmed. “But it is of no
matter. His horse is finished and he owes a crown.
 
If he refuses to pay, as he has declared to
be his intention, then we keep the horse. Hopefully he has reconsidered, as a
knight without a horse is a sorry sight indeed.”

The young knight had managed to yank
himself away from Sebastian and was fumbling angrily for his purse.
 
Mathias untethered the charger and held out a
hand, refusing to hand the reins over until the young knight paid him in
full.
 
By the time the young knight got
the reins in his hand, he was so angry that he yanked at them and the horse
took offense.
 
A big head swung at the
young knight, nearly knocking him over, as the young knight and his companion
stumbled from the stall.

When they were gone, Mathias went about his
business cleaning up as if nothing was amiss.
 
Sebastian, however, followed them out and stood in the entry to the
stall, watching them walk down the street with an expression that dared them to
turn around and look at him. He would have liked nothing better than to go
charging after them.
 

With the situation settling down, Justus
eyed his two boys before realizing that Cathlina was standing back in the
shadows.
 
Surprise filled his expression
as he gaze beheld her lingering on the fringe.

“A lady?” he said, pointing to her. “God’s
blood, there is a lady here. Does she have business with us?”

Mathias put his hammer on the anvil and
began to remove his leather apron. “This is the Lady Cathlina de Lara,” he
said. “It ‘twas her and her sister that we did a good turn for yesterday. Lady
Cathlina has come bearing gifts to thank us.”

“Good turn?” Justus was still confused.
“What do you mean?”

Mathias had a half-grin on his face, his
eyes on Cathlina as he spoke. “The lady’s sister was nearly abducted
yesterday,” he said, trying not to be thankful for such an event but it was the
reason that had introduced him to the lovely young woman. “Sebastian put their
accoster in the stocks back behind the stall.”

Justus was aware of that particular
circumstance. “The animal with one eye who will not speak?”

“The same.”

“He was still there last I saw.”

“He will be there for a few days or until
Sebastian has had his fun with him and decides to let him go.” He set his
leather apron down and pulled a leather vest off a nail. “I will be gone for a
few hours, Father. I must escort Lady Cathlina home.”

Justus’ gaze was still lingering on
Cathlina, thinking on the events of yesterday as Sebastian had told them. He
and Mathias had all but swooped out of the sky like avenging angels.
 
Mathias was a bit more modest, but in looking
at the beauty of the lady before him, he began to suspect that one or more
smitten sons was on the horizon. It would be hard to look at all of that beauty
and not be bewitched by it.
 
That spelled
trouble.

“I am sure she has her own escort,” Justus
said. “Your presence is needed here. With the tournament beginning tomorrow, we
have more business than we can handle. I cannot lose you, even for a few
hours.”

Mathias put the leather vest on over his
rough tunic, securing the fastens that held it snug to his body. It was, in
truth, a measure of protection against sharp objects, like swords or daggers,
because the leather was heavily woven and fit his enormous torso like a glove;
tight against his broad chest and snug against his slender waist.
 
Since he was disallowed armor, the vest was
the next best thing.

“I will not be gone long,” he assured his
father. “And Lady Cathlina has no escort. She bravely rode here alone but I
certainly cannot let her return alone.”

Justus could see the glimmer in Mathias’
eyes when speaking of Lady Cathlina and he knew the man was already infatuated.
It hadn’t taken long at all, but he hardly blamed him.
 
Still, he had to discourage it quickly.

“Then I will send Sebastian to escort her,”
he said. “You are needed here.”

The glimmer vanished from Mathias’ eyes
when he looked at his father. “
Not
Sebastian,” he growled, leaving no room for discussion.
 
In fact, the last time his father heard that
tone, they were in battle. “I will return in a few hours and do not let
Sebastian touch anything in that basket. If he does, I will put
him
in the stocks.
 
You will tell him that.”

Justus sighed heavily, realizing there was
no way to discourage his eldest.
 
Strangely enough, he was rather glad for the lady’s appearance when it
came to Mathias; the man hadn’t shown so much interest or concern about anything
in well over a year.
 
The Mathias that
had lumbered around the smithy stall since that dark January day had been
morose and sullen, quiet.
 
A mere shell
of his former self. But this Mathias was much more like the Mathias of old;
humorous, concerned, and interested in what was going on around him. Aye, the
lady had done that much, at least.
 
Justus had no choice but to relent.

 
“Return
as quickly as you can,” he said, with reluctance. “We shall be working long
into the night as it is.”

The glimmer was back in Mathias’ eyes. “I
will, I swear it.”

When Sebastian found out where Mathias was
going, he tried to follow until Mathias slugged the man in the chest so hard
that he fell into a big puddle of horse urine and got covered in the
stuff.
 

As Mathias and Cathlina walked off,
Sebastian vowed to get even.

CHAPTER FOUR

For a day that had started so beautiful,
the weather turned bad quickly. It was just a few miles from Brampton to
Kirklinton Castle but as the weather threatened, Mathias picked up the pace.
 

He was disappointed, too, because the first
hour of their ride had been very pleasant and leisurely.
 
He and Cathlina had spoken of trivial things,
like little stories from when they were younger or, in Cathlina’s case, a
grandfather who had no teeth and spent all of his time gnawing on animal bones
like a dog.
 
She had giggled through the
story and Mathias had been charmed by the way she told it.
 
The more time he spent with her, the more he
felt his wall of self-protection crumbling.
 
De Lara or no, he was deeply attracted to her.

But then the clouds rolled in and the
breeze began to pick up. He watched the sky turn dark but Kirklinton was at
least another hour away so he gently prodded Cathlina to move a bit
faster.
 
But she wasn’t interested in returning
home any time soon; she was more interested in their conversation and truth be
told, so was he.
 
Their quickened pace
didn’t last long before they were back to a leisure stroll.

Mathias rode a big, heavy gray charger that
was well past its prime; when he’d had his knighthood stripped, they’d taken
his charger as well and he missed the horse very much. It had been Justus who
had purchased the old charger for his son a few months after that fateful day
and Mathias was rather fond of the beast, but he soon discovered it was rather
skittish.
 
It particularly didn’t like
thunder.
 
Every time the clouds rolled,
the horse would jump.
 
As Cathlina
chattered on, it was taking increasing effort to control the old stud.
 

“Now you know all about my silly grandfather,”
she said as fat drops of rain began to splatter. “Tell me about your family,
Mathias; I have met your father and brother. Where is your mother?”

He clucked to the big horse to soothe it.
“My mother died a few years ago,” he told her. “In fact, I was away at the
time. My mother and I were rather close and it was always a regret that I was
not with her in her final hours.”

Cathlina turned serious as he spoke of his
mother. “I am sorry,” she said softly. “Was your mother ill for a long time?”

Mathias nodded. “She was,” he said. “I
tried to spend as much time as I could with her but at that time in my life, I
was traveling quite a bit and could not stay by her side for an over amount of
time.”

“Traveling?” Cathlina asked, cocking her
head. “Where were you traveling to?”

Mathias had been very careful throughout
the conversation to avoid any mention of his knightly past. He’d done a good
job of it so far but questions like the one Cathlina proposed could get him
into trouble, so he was very careful in how he answered it.

“I was learning my trade,” he replied; it
wasn’t a lie.
 
He had been a young knight
learning his trade - he simply didn’t specify
which
trade, smithy or knighthood. “My travels took me to France
and to Italy.”

“You have been to Italy?” Cathlina was
enthralled. “How was it? Was it beautiful? Did you go to Rome? My father went
to Rome. He said the streets were paved with gold.”

Mathias laughed softly at her enthusiasm.
“It is a beautiful city, to be sure,” he agreed. “There are many ancient and
mysterious buildings.
 
The people there
told me that gods used to live in them.”

Cathlina’s mouth popped open in awe. “Is
this true?”

He fought off a grin at her gullible astonishment.
“That is what I was told.”

Cathlina thought long and hard about buildings
where gods used to live. “I would certainly like to see them someday,” she said
fervently. “Mayhap I shall travel there as well.”

Mathias studied her lovely face, so pure
and sweet.
 
He wanted to offer to escort
her there; he truly did.
 
He was so upswept
in the moment, feeling giddy as he hadn’t felt since he had been a young boy.
He would travel the world with her if only to speak on things like silly grandfathers
and godly abodes. It made him feel more wonderful than he could ever recall,
this beautiful young woman with the silly giggle.
 
But the offer would not have been
appropriate, and he was sorry.

“I am sure you will,” he said quietly.

She caught something in his tone, something
that was both wistful and genuine, but by the time she turned to him, he was
looking away from her.
 
It seemed that he
had spotted something up the road and she strained to see what has his
attention. He seemed concerned and that, in turn, had her concern.

“What is it?” she asked. “What do you see?”

Mathias wasn’t sure, but it was men on
horseback.
 
He could see them just over
the rise, heading in their direction.
 
Soon enough,
 
they would be upon
them.
 
The wind whipped and the thunder
grumbled as he watched their distant approach.

“Men on horseback,” he replied steadily.
“More than likely, more knights for the tournament. More horses I must shoe.”

He said it with some humor, trying to
deflect any concern over the potential approach of danger.
 
He was successful in diverting her attention
and when he turned to look at her, she was smiling at him.

“It is a pity that the tournament is only
open to knights,” she said. “You are quite brave. I would wager that you could
do very well in a tournament given the chance.”

Mathias stared at her; her innocent
statement brought an avalanche of memories crashing down on him. He’d competed
in dozens of tournaments in his lifetime and for six years in a row had been
the man to beat in every tournament from Edinburgh to Southampton.
 
But that had been in between Mortimer’s wars,
and he hadn’t competed in a tournament in at least four years. It seemed like a
lifetime ago.

“It takes more than bravery to compete,” he
told her. “It takes a good deal of skill and strength.”

“Do you know much about tournaments?”

“I know enough.”

“I saw one tournament a few years ago,”
Cathlina said. “When I fostered at Lincoln Castle, there was a very large
tournament one year.
 
Our lord and
several of his knights competed.
 
It was
very exciting.”

A warning bell went off in Mathias’ head.
He turned to her. “Who was your lord?”

“Ranulf de Pennington,” she replied. “He
held the castle for the crown.
 
He nearly
won the joust but a big black knight under Roger Mortimer’s banner beat him.
Nearly drove Lord Ranulf right into the ground.
 
We all hated him very much after that.”

Mathias looked away.
That big black knight was me,
he thought ironically.
 
Odd how the world, so big most of the time,
had suddenly grown quite small.
 
“Did you
even know the knight’s name or was he simply the Hated One?”

Cathlina giggled. “I do not recall,” she
said. “It was something like Rain or Rainton. I do not remember.
 
If I ever meet this man, I will punch him
right in the nose and call it justice for Lord Ranulf.”

It was
de Reyne
. Mathias knew she didn’t know his surname because he never told
her.
 
He thought to never tell her now
lest she punch him in the nose.
 
Moreover, it seemed as if she already had a bad opinion of him. He
cleared his throat, almost nervously, and hastened to change the subject.

“So you have been to Lincolnshire,” he said.
“You have traveled a great deal. Many people do not ever leave the towns they
were born in. You have been fortunate.”

She was successfully diverted. “I was at
Lincoln Castle for six years,” she replied. “There was so much war going on and
my father was away so often that my mother did not want her daughters away as
well. I went to foster when I was eight years of age and returned home six
years ago.”

“That would make you twenty years of age.”

“You are correct,” she said. “I had my
birthday last month. How old are you?”

“
Too
old.”

She grinned. “It is not fair you know my
age and I do not know yours.”

He cast her a sidelong glance. “I am much
older than you.”

“How much older?”

“Thirteen years.” When she began to count
her fingers, slowly, he laughed. “I have seen thirty-three years.”

“God’s Bones,” she said, shaking her head.
“Are you truly so old? Why have you not married before now, Mathias?”

“Who says that I have not?”

“Have you?”

He snorted. “Nay,” he said. “I was
betrothed once but she found a better prospect.”

The truth was that he had been betrothed to
the Lady Lucy de Geneville, a niece of the Lady Joan, Roger Mortimer’s wife.
But that betrothal had been quickly dissolved when Roger had been captured and
anyone associated with him dishonored.
 
He didn’t particularly care about it, although Lucy had been devastated.
For some reason, she had fallen in love with him.
 
He still remembered her tears when everything
fell apart.
 
Looking at Cathlina, for the
first time in his life he was coming to understand, however small, the
disappointment Lucy must have felt.
 
To
be separated from the person you so desperately want….

“Impossible,” Cathlina cut into his
thoughts. “There is no better prospect than you. Why, you are a successful
craftsman with a thriving business. I would think any young lady would be
honored to be your betrothed.”

He gave her a half-smile, humble, but his
eyes were on the knights that had now drawn much closer.
 
In fact, they began to race towards them down
the road, kicking up rocks and dirt, and the line of eight or ten men at arms
behind them were also beginning to gallop.
 
Mathias went on his guard.

“My lady,” he said, holding a hand out to
her and trying to remain calm. “Come to me. I would have you get on my horse
and ride with me.”

By this time, Cathlina saw the horses
racing towards them and she was frightened.
 
Dutifully, she directed her palfrey over to him and he took the reins to
hold the horse steady.

“Those men?” she said, reaching over to
pull herself onto his horse. “Who are they?”

He let go of her horse long enough to pull
her up in front of him.
 
She was warm and
soft and smelled of lavender, but he ignored the very sweet sensations as he
settled her on his lap. As the thunder rolled and the wind whipped her hair
into his face, he let go of her palfrey so he could have full control of his
steed.
 
The old horse had a lot of
strength but not a lot of speed, and he was without a weapon.
 
He was mentally calculating the odds and
several potential escape plans when Cathlina suddenly let out a hiss.

“It is Beauson,” she said.
 
Then, she started waiving frantically.
“Beauson!”

Mathias had no idea what she was doing, or
who she was speaking of, but he quickly realized she knew the incoming knights.
  
He held his charger steady as the party
closed in on them.

It was a well-armed group. The de Lara
knights were dressed for battle, including massive broadswords and a variety of
smaller weapons.
 
The men at arms were
also well equipped.
 
Both knights threw
up their visors, angry and accusing eyes moving between Cathlina and
Mathias.
 
In fact, the knight in the lead
unsheathed his broadsword and pointed it dangerously at Mathias.

“If you value your life, you will let her
go,” he snarled. “Release her!”

“Wait!” Cathlina cried, throwing out her hands.
“Put down your weapons, both of you! He has done nothing wrong!”

The knight retracted his sword somewhat but
not all of the way; he was eyeing Mathias critically.
 
The lady didn’t seem harassed or injured, but
the man sitting behind her was very big and very menacing looking.
 
The sword was remained at the ready.

“What do you mean?” he demanded. “Your
father is frantic, Lady Cathlina. What goes on here?”

“Beauson de Velt, put your sword away,”
Cathlina commanded. “I rode into town on an errand and this man politely
offered to escort me home.
 
I am
perfectly fine and everything is well. Put the sword
away.
”

Beauson eyed the young lady; he was more
confused now than he was when he rode up. “What errand?” he asked, genuinely
perplexed. The sword lowered. “What do you mean?”