Unending Love (37 page)

There was panic in his thoughts and in his
movements. By the time Maddoc turned around, he realized that there were two
people on Daniel’s horse.  The second person, much smaller than Daniel, had
been concealed behind him.  As he brought his horse around and headed for
Daniel, the small figure on the back lifted its head and the face came into
view. The hood partially came away, revealing tuffs of blond hair. It was a
very familiar face that had Maddoc gasping at the sight.

“
Adalind!”

Maddoc couldn’t believe what he was seeing, his
astonishment overwhelming him.  His breath caught in his throat and as he tried
to dismount his horse, his foot caught in the stirrup in his haste and he ended
up falling to the ground.  The visor flipped up, bright blue eyes focusing on a
sight he wasn’t sincerely sure he would ever see again. 

By this time, Rhys and David and Christopher
were upon them and Adalind began weeping when she realized she was looking at
Maddoc.  She hadn’t been aware of anything until the knight swung around,
fell
[J71]
 
off his horse, and lifted his visor.  She knew
those eyes; dear God, she knew them! Leaping off the back of Daniel’s charger, she
slipped in the mud and scrambled to her feet as she struggled to reach Maddoc. 
The mud was so slick, preventing her from moving quickly, and Maddoc was having
an equally difficult time regaining his footing.  It was agonizing, trying to
come together while the elements worked against them.

Muddy, wet, and sobbing, Adalind crawled up onto
the embankment, half on her feet, half on her hands and knees.  Maddoc had
rolled to his knees, trying to get up, but Adalind was faster, and healthier,
and she threw herself into Maddoc’s arms, knocking the man off balance.  He
felt onto his back with Adalind clutched against him, holding her so tightly
that he heard her back crack. 

On the ground, in the mud, with the rain pouring
down on them, Maddoc and Adalind finally found each other.

“Maddoc!” Adalind wept, her hands on his face
through the raised visor as if to convince herself she wasn’t seeing a phantom. 
“You are alive! Oh, God, I thought you were dead!”

Maddoc was trying to hold her and remove his
helm at the same time, but the latches were rusting and he ended up ripping the
helm off his head.  The helm went sailing and his hands were in Adalind’s hair,
holding her fast as he kissed her furiously.  She tasted like Joy.

“I am not dead,” he whispered in between gleeful
and furious kisses. “I am well and whole. And you? Are you well? Did he hurt
you?”

Adalind shook her head, her hair wet, slapping
the both of them. “I am unharmed. I swear that he did not harm me.”

The furious kisses slowed and they paused a
moment, drinking in the sight of each other.  For a brief, warm and glorious
moment, they just stared at each other.  Realization settled. They were
together again.  Maddoc had tears in his eyes, mingling with the rain, running
down his face.

“Addie, I love you,” he said hoarsely. “I should
have told you before and I beg your forgiveness that I did not.  I love you
with all that I am.  Please know this.”

“I do,” she whispered, feeling glorious and
ecstatic at his declaration. “Oh, Maddoc, of course I do.  I love you also,
with all of my heart and soul.  From the beginning of time until the end of it,
I will love you and only you.”

He kissed her, hard, his lips trembling with
emotion. Everything about him was quivering with delight and fear and relief.  “Now,”
he began softly. “Tell me what has happened.  Are you Lady de Royans?”

She shook her head before he even finished his
question.  “Nay,” she murmured, her fingers on his lips. “He tried, but I would
not let him. I fought him every second of the day, every waking moment.  The
man never had a moment’s peace because I would not allow it.  He tried to force
priests to marry us, three times he tried, but each time I would not let him. 
I think he finally gave up.”

The understanding that she was unmarried, and
untouched, drove him to new tears.  He threw her into a fierce hug, his face
buried in the side of her head, listening to her soft weeping and shedding
grateful tears of his own.  He could hardly believe it; although he’d hoped for
the best, he never truly believed the situation would work out in their favor.
He was shocked and thankful to realize it had. 

“My sweet, sweet girl,” he murmured. “I am so
sorry for everything that happened. If I could only take away the sadness and
fear, I would gladly do so a thousand times over.  Please forgive me, Addie.”

She pulled back to look at him, curiosity mixed
in with the joy in her expression. “For what?”

He sighed faintly, drinking in the sight of her
face, studying her, wondering if all would ever be the same again between them.

“For failing you,” he whispered. “For letting de
Royans get his hands on you.  I am so sorry, sweetheart. “

She was genuinely puzzled. “It was not your
fault,” she insisted. “It was my fault. I should not have tried to interfere. 
Maddoc, ‘tis I who should be asking for your forgiveness. Had I not tried to
interfere, none of this would have happened.”

“Interfere?”

She nodded, sickened by her confession. “I tried
to help,” she said, haltingly. “I had a dagger and I was going to stab de
Royans with it so you would be able to best him.  I was only trying to help,
Maddoc. I swear I was.”

He thought back to that moment in time, nearly
the only thing he remembered over the past several weeks.  After a moment, he
nodded in understanding. “I saw you with the dirk,” he said softly. “I thought
you might be trying to help me but I was terrified you were going to be
struck.”

“That was when Brighton gored you.”

Her eyes were filling with tears again and he
pulled her back into his embrace, comforting her as the situation began to
clear. Now, he understood for certain what had happened and it had been as he
suspected. No one was to blame.  But he still felt guilty for the outcome and
perhaps always would.

As he comforted Adalind, he began to notice that
they were surrounded by several knights, including David.  Maddoc locked gazes
with David and a smile came to his lips.

“Addie,” he murmured, kissing the side of her
head. “I think your grandfather wants a hug, too.”

Adalind nodded, but she didn’t let go. “I am not
finished holding you yet. He will have to wait.”

Maddoc grinned, hugging her tightly for a few
moments longer before patting her on the back. “Let us get up and out of this
mud,” he told her. “You are soaking wet and I would remove you from this rain.”

Adalind nodded but she wasn’t so inclined to let
go of him until David and Christopher reached down and gently pulled her up. 
As she hugged David, Christopher and Rhys stepped in to pull Maddoc to his
feet.  As soon as Maddoc regained his balance, he caught sight of Daniel
standing next to Rhys, grinning like a fool.  He ran at Daniel and threw the
man in a hug.

“You found her,” he muttered, giving Daniel a
squeeze before releasing him. “How in God’s good name did you find her?”

Daniel was still grinning. “It was purely by
chance, I assure you,” he said, looking Maddoc up and down. “And you, my
friend… last time I saw you, it appeared you were on your death bed.”

Maddoc shook his head. “I am told I was very ill
but I do not remember any of it,” he said. “I do not even remember your visit. 
I was told you went after de Royans to avenge me and to regain Adalind.  My
thanks is not nearly enough at this moment, Daniel. I cannot put into words how
very grateful I am.”

Daniel slapped him on the shoulder. “You would
have done the same for me,” he said. “I consider it an honor to have avenged
you.”

The warm look in Maddoc’s eye faded. “Tell me
everything,” he said, his voice low. “Where is de Royans?”

Adalind chose that moment to press herself up
against Maddoc again, wrapping her arms around his armored body.  Maddoc put
his arm around her, kissing the top of her head, as Daniel eyed them both.

“That is a story I will gladly tell you when I
am warm and dry and fed,” he said to Maddoc. “Adalind and I have been traveling
in brutal conditions.”

Maddoc could see that he’d get nothing more out
of Daniel with Adalind around, which concerned him. He wondered why.  Perhaps
it was a bad tale, indeed.  He hugged Adalind to him and kissed the top of her
head again.

“Then we shall do what we can to dry you both
out,” he said.  “We are setting up camp about a quarter of a mile up the road. 
Let us dry off and partake of a good meal. I feel like celebrating.”

With that, the group moved back to the road,
collecting horses before heading back to the clearing where the army was
setting up their encampment.  Maddoc collected Adalind, and his horse, walking
beside Daniel as they made their way back to the armies that had been collected
to find Lady Adalind and bring her back safely. 

The moment they got back to camp, the rain
tapered off and the clouds parted, revealing a glorious sunset on the western
horizon.

***

“He was injured badly enough that I believe he
could not have left the church under his own power,” Daniel said. “It is my
assumption that the priests are taking care of him until he is well enough to
travel. And with that, you now know how I came across Adalind and what
transpired with de Royans.”

It was a cold and wet night after the vicious
rain, but the clouds had moved away to reveal a diamond-night sky and a nearly
full moon. It was bright and glorious as several fires burned steadily into the
night. Some of the men had managed to find wood in the undergrowth that wasn’t
saturated, and the warm fires burned brightly.

Daniel was sitting before one of those fires
with Maddoc, Adalind, David, Christopher, Rhys, Gart, Brydon and both of
Maddoc’s brothers.  They were crowded around the biggest fire, drinking tart
wine and eating the succulent venison that Gart had managed to take down when
the rains cleared and the animals had emerged to feed.  Gart and Rhys had
butchered the animal into several pieces so it would cook faster, which it did,
and the air was filled with the smell of roasting meat and the sounds of happy
men. 

Adalind had stuffed herself ill on meat and now
sat in a miserable and weary heap against Maddoc, who hadn’t let her out of his
sight, or more than a foot away from him, since their reunion that afternoon. 
Now, they sat discussing the crux of the issue, between Adalind’s story and
Daniel’s, up until the point where Daniel had left Brighton injured on the
floor of the church.  Maddoc knew everything now.  He was sickened by Adalind’s
tales of fending for herself and stealing but he was hugely grateful for the
happenstance that brought Daniel and Adalind together.  It could have been so
much worse. While Daniel stuffed his face, Maddoc stewed.

“Then you did not kill him,” Maddoc clarified.

Daniel shook his head. “I did not,” he replied,
eyeing Adalind because of her hand in his reasons for not killing de Royans. He
took the chivalrous route and took the blame.  “I had an uncharacteristic flash
of mercy.  Besides, I thought it more important to remove Adalind.  She was a
hysterical mess.”

Maddoc cocked an eyebrow, looking at Adalind as
she sat with her head against his chest, struggling to keep her eyes open.  He
turned back to Daniel.

“Then it stands to reason he is still at the
church,” he said softly.

Daniel nodded. “As I said, the man could not
travel. It will take some time for him to recover enough to ride.”

Maddoc didn’t say anything.  He gazed at the
fire with Adalind dozing against him. He shifted so she would be more
comfortable, his arm around her protectively.   He seemed distance and pensive,
not realizing that most of the older knights were watching him.  Being wiser,
and with many years of experience in such things, there was not one among them
who did not suspect what Maddoc was thinking.  David was brave enough to voice
it.

“What are you thinking, Maddoc?” David asked
softly.

Maddoc paused before replying.  “I am thinking
that de Royans is still a threat so long as he lives,” he murmured. “I will be
looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”

“That is not true,” Adalind yawned. “He promised
he would never return.”

“And you believe him?”

She shrugged and yawned again. “He is a knight,”
she said simply. “I believe his word just as I believe yours.   Maddoc, you
must remember that I knew Brighton before all of this. He was an honorable man
then. Perhaps he has regained his senses.”

“Honorable men do not challenge other men for
their wives,” Maddoc countered quietly. Then he looked at Daniel.  “Where is
this church where you left him?”

Daniel was chewing on a big piece of meat. “A
day and half ride that way,” he pointed to the road leading south. “Maresfield,
I believe, is the name of the village. It has a big church in the center of
town.”