The Wolfe (75 page)

William looked doubtful. “Which
border? I am, after all, destined for Wales.”

“Not permanently,” de Longley said. “Even
Henry knows you have grown up here in the wilds and assumes that you would
prefer lands here; he is not unkind. He mentioned Castle Questing as your seat.”

Now William was surprised. “Questing?”
he repeated. “My God, that place? That was the stuff of legends and stories
when I was a lad here. In fact, I can remember John Winebald telling me that
the ghost of Baron Dudforth still roamed the halls looking for the sword he
lost in the Crusades.”

“Pah,” de Longley spat. “Dudforth is
walking in paradise, not the halls of that massive structure. He did name it
for the Great Quest, however. ‘Twas the seat of power along the border for many
years during and after Richard’s crusade. Dudforth was with him, you know.”

“I know,” William nodded, becoming
more pleased by the moment. “Questing is the size of Northwood, at least. Even
though she has been vacant for a number of years, the king still maintains a
skeleton force there because of the village. So he mentioned Questing, did he?
‘Twill be a nice place to raise a family.”

“A family?” the earl looked at him. “You
are a little early to be thinking of that yet, aren’t you?”

William shrugged. “God willing,
Jordan will bear me many strong children. ‘Tis never too early to think of that.

De Longley nodded and rose slowly,
as did his former captain. They faced each other, hundreds of words begging to
be spoken but neither man could seem to find the proper way to express them. It
was difficult to put twenty years into a few sentences. The earl had been the
only father William had ever known and if he thought about it, he would realize
that he loved him as such. His heart felt strangely tight at the thought he was
no longer a formal part of Northwood. Finally, William put his hand on the earl’s
shoulder, for a change.

“I would say good-bye now, my lord,
in case I have not the chance tomorrow,” he said, his voice tight with emotion.
“You have been a father to me and I shall always consider you more than my
lord. Thank you for everything you have ever done for me, and everything you
continue to do.”

To William’s surprise, the earl
rushed forward and quickly embraced him before stepping back hastily. He swore
he saw tears in the man’s eyes.

“As I have told you before, lad, you
are more of a son to me than my eldest and heir,” he said. “I am truly glad
Henry sees fit to bestow upon you what you so mightily deserve. And I consider
it a privilege to have been your liege. Now, if you will excuse me, I am
feeling my age tonight. I will see you on the morrow.”

William nodded as the earl moved
down the corridor. But he paused, his robes flowing about him.

“I shall come to your wife before
dawn and escort her over to her new apartments in the family’s wing,” he said.
“Her maids and ladies are there now, assuming she is with me in my bower.
‘Twill look better if I return her come the dawn.”

“Agreed,” William replied. “She will
be ready.”

De Longley nodded and, with a final
glance, disappeared down the dimly lit hall.

William stood there a long time, his
mind a jumble of emotions and worries. His life was taking an unexpected
direction, some pleasant and some unpleasant. It was difficult to know how to
react to all of it. For a man whose entire life had been carefully mapped out,
these past three weeks had thrown him into another world.

He would return now and seek his
wife, claiming the last few hours before the dawn at her side. He knew once he
entered their bed that there would be no sleeping, for he was aching to touch
her again.

His heart was smashing into a
million pieces at the thought of being away from her for an unknown amount of
time and he wondered briefly if one could die from a broken heart.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

As he knew, they did not sleep the
night away. Jordan took the news of his departure calmly enough, perhaps a bit
too
calmly. William wasn’t sure if she even grasped the words he was telling her,
but she insisted she did and that she was not worried in the least. She knew
her Wolf would return to her.

They made love to one another again
and again, sealing their love with the scalding flames of passion even as the
cock crowed, signaling the approach of the dawn. As the horizon turned deep pinks,
they were reluctant to admit their time together was limited.

When the hour drew near, Jordan’s
brave facade finally broke down and William found himself bathing her, brushing
her hair, dressing her, preparing her for the difficult day ahead. He would
have liked nothing better than to join her in her tears, but he could not. He
had to be strong for her.

He soothed her, eventually firmly
chided her, gently ordering her to stop weeping and be strong. She obeyed, slowly,
for every time she looked at him the tears would start anew. Finally, she was
able to regain her composure and noticed her reflection in the large bronze
polished mirror as she went to put water on her face.

“English, ye choose the pale green
dress ye told me never to wear again,” she teased him, smoothing at the
seductive material. “‘Twas the dress I was injured in. Joana did a wonderful job
of repair, dunna ye think?”

He glanced at her as he drew on his
boots. “‘Tis my favorite dress,” he said frankly. “Kieran’s, too, even if it is
obscene. But I wished to see you in it today.”

She turned and grinned at him.  “While
ye are away I shall have Joana make six of them, in different colors. One to
drive you mad with lust for every day of the week.”

He smiled in return, moving to don
his armor. “You would, you little minx,” he said. “Here, love, help me with
this.”

She went to him eagerly, helping him
with his chausses and then with the fixing of the armor. She tried not to think
that this would be the last time she did this, for God only knew how long it
would be until she saw him again. That thought threatened tears all over again.

When he was almost finished, she
distracted herself by retrieving her comb and standing on a chair to run it
through his thick, dark hair.

“What are you doing?” he asked with
a mock frown.

“Brushing yer hair, English,” she
snipped good-naturedly. “’Tis a mess.”

He made a face but stood still as
she combed. “Aye, and it will be again when I put my helmet on,” he told her.

Undaunted, she continued until William
was sure she had brushed him bald. But he closed his eyes at her touch, tucking
it back in his memory to remember when he was feeling particularly lonely. He
watched her beautiful face as she observed her handiwork, playing with the natural
wave in his hair until she was sure he looked presentable.

“There,” she sighed, looking down
into his eyes. “Now ye look like a proper baron.”

He wound his thick arms around her
mid-section, pulling her against him. Standing on the chair, she was almost
exactly his height.

“And you, madam, look like a proper baron’s
wife,” he kissed her sweetly. “I will send you a missive as soon as I reach London
and let you know what is happening. I will try to write you at least every week
until I see you again. And you know, of course, that my brother is the Earl of Wolverhampton
should you need to get a private message to me. It will be much easier for me
to write you than for you to write to me.”

She nodded. “I know,” she replied,
running a hand along his hair. “Have ye decided which knights ye will take with
ye?”

He sighed. “I have been thinking
hard on it,” he said quietly. “For whoever I take will remain with me once we
return to Questing. Even then, I intend to press de Longley for more. Those men
are like my brothers.”

“They will not be happy that only
two will be allowed to serve ye in yer new position,” she said.

“Neither am I, but I must respect de
Longley’s wishes.” He lifted her off the chair and onto the floor, still
embracing her. “But I have made my choice. I will take Kieran as my second, and
Deinwald.”

Her eyes widened. “Kieran?” she
stammered. “But…English, Jemma will be crushed.”

“I know, but think on it, love,” he
told her. “When we return to Questing, Jemma will go with you. And Kieran will
go with me. ‘Twill be much harder if he stays here and I have to petition de
Longley to retrieve him at a later date.”

She saw the logic, but she knew how
heartbroken her cousin would be. She sighed and nodded.

“Ye are right, as always,” she said.
“Poor Jemma.”

He snorted. “Poor Jemma indeed. She
will no longer have the biggest knight at Northwood as her personal protector
and she will have to tame her mouth.”

She frowned. “‘Tis not that and well
you know it. She and Kieran love each other. In fact, she says he has asked her
to marry him.”

He released her with a half-grin,
pulling on his gauntlets. “Then he had better do it today, before we leave, or
they will be waiting a long time.”

She watched him, now finally in full
armor save his helmet. Her heart lurched painfully in her chest but she was
determined not to let him see her pain. God, she missed him so much already.

The light mood between them was
fading fast, the void filling with the pain of separation. She tried to fight
it off, thinking madly of what to say or do, but it was difficult when his
armor was reflecting candlelight back at her, reminding her with every move he
made that he would be gone soon.

He turned to her finally and
anxiously watched her face for any sign of a breakdown, but she gave him a
smile instead.

“I have a song for ye,” she said
softly. “‘Twas a song my grandmother sang to my grandfather every time he left
for battle and she swore that to sing it was to bless the man and render him
impervious to harm.” Smiling shyly, she looked him in the eye and lifted her
beautiful voice.

     Home, my sweet,
where e’er ye roam,

to home my heart ye
come,

     The world is a
cruel and darkly realm,

but yer hearth will
remain yer stead.”

It was sweet, sad and simple. Her
voice trailed away and his heart was suddenly gripped by her words. She could
see his carefully maintained composure slipping and tears filled his eyes.

Running to him, she threw herself
into his arms and they held each other silently, the force of their embrace
speaking everything they could not say because tears stood in the way. She
wanted to stay in his arms forever, never letting go, wanting to cling to him
kicking and screaming as he left with the king. Had she had any less sense, she
would have done exactly that. But she knew he would be back. He had promised
her.

Jordan pulled back, tears on her
cheeks but smiling nonetheless as he hovered over her, devouring her face.

“Buy me some pretty things in
London?” she begged sweetly.

He smiled. “Of course I will.
Dresses and baubles and jewels to fill your chests, I promise.”

“Tell Kieran to buy Jemma some
pretty things, too,” she told him.

“Aye, madam, I will,” he eyed her
critically. “Now, I will have your promise that you will not be too hard on
Paris. He likes you a great deal. You will obey him without question, for he is
my voice in my absence.”

“Aye, I will not run amuck over
Paris, I promise,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

He gave her an exaggerated scowl. “You
had better not, for if I hear that you have so much as frowned at him, I will
take a strap to your pretty little bottom.”

She kissed the end of his nose. “As
ye say, husband. I shall behave.”

There was a knock at the door. They
looked at each other, knowing the time was upon them at last. He gave her an
encouraging smile and went to answer it.

De Longley stood in the doorjamb,
circles beneath his eyes. He smiled weakly at the two of them.

“I do apologize for interrupting,”
he said.

“Not at all, sire,” William said
with more energy than he felt. “My lady is ready to accompany you.”

The earl passed a glance to Jordan. “Is
she? Good, good. Your wife looks lovely, as usual.”

William glanced at her, standing
alone in the middle of the room. He felt his heart twist painfully again at the
sight of her. “Aye, she does indeed.”

De Longley sensed the pain in William’s
voice. He held out a hand to Jordan.

“Come, my lady,” he said pleasantly.
“See the splendid apartments I have selected for you.”

Jordan obediently moved forward,
taking his hand. She paused a moment, her eyes seeking out her husband as if
asking his permission to go. William gazed down at her wide green eyes, forcing
himself to smile.

“Go ahead,” he said softly. “I shall
see you later.”