Warrior's Song (Medieval Song 1)

He wanted to snort at that, but he didn’t, saying only, “No, you are wrong, Chandra. A man makes choices. He does what he wishes to do. There is nothing or no one to force him, at least in matters of the flesh. Your father does what he does because he chooses to. He is your father, but it is better that you see him for what he is. Now, why does your mother so dislike you?”

He thought she would argue with him about her father, but she said, shrugging, “I don’t know.”

The chances were good that she didn’t know. He, however, needed to find out everything about this girl who would be his wife. He would have to speak to Lord Richard about it.

“Truly,” she said, “I never wanted to marry anyone.”

“You are ready. You are eighteen. Past ready.”

“I don’t want to belong to any man, and that’s what it would mean. It is God’s commandment that a wife yield to her husband.”

“Aye, it is the natural way of things. But that needn’t worry you, Chandra.”

“It is natural only to you, not to me. I do not want to be owned.”

“Listen to me. I admire you. I enjoy being with you. I enjoy competing with you, something you and I will likely do until we grow too old to raise a bow and arrow. It is more to your advantage to wed me than, say, a man who would want you only for the wealth you would bring him, a man who would crush your spirit, mayhap even beat you. I really do not see myself as your master, and quite frankly, you would make a dreadful slave.”

She jumped to her feet and began pacing about the small stall. He was content to watch her.

Finally, he said, “Everything will be all right, Chandra, I promise you. You must trust me, just as you trust your father. Believe that I will try never to hurt you or to demand things of you that you would dislike.” He rose then and cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her face upward. “Do not fret, little one, and don’t curse me while I’m gone.”

“You’re leaving?”

He grinned down at her, wanting to kiss her. He cleared his throat. He knew well when to advance, when to retreat. “I must leave to fetch my family. I will return in two weeks for our wedding. Your life will change, Chandra. I cannot deny that. I think eventually you will prefer being a wife to being a daughter. There are many pleasant benefits, you know, over being one and not the other.” Before she could kick him or yell at him, or just bite him, he quickly leaned down and kissed her. She didn’t move. Still, he felt confident when he released her.

“Will you wed me?”

Her father’s words were clear in her mind. Slowly, she nodded.

“Say the words.”

It seemed that an eternity passed before she said, her voice low and thin, “I will wed you.”

“Good.” He kissed her again, hard, then said, “I must tell the men. We will leave at dawn on the morrow. Contrive, sweeting, to miss me whilst I am gone.”

He left her, his step jaunty, and she saw him smile as he raised his face into the rain.

CHAPTER 10

Lord Richard said calmly to his daughter, “Sir Jerval and his family are nearly here. Go remove your boy’s clothes. I want you to wear the saffron gown, Chandra, and do not forget Jerval’s necklace. He told me himself that he believed the necklace would look well with that gown.”

He saw that she would argue and held up his hand. “Do it, now. I will not tell you again. You are a lady. You will act like a lady. You are greeting your future husband and your new family. Do not shame me, daughter.” He let the unspoken threat lie heavy between them. Finally, without a word, she turned on her heel and went back up the narrow stone stairs to the upper floors.

When Jerval first saw her, standing there, tall and proud and utterly silent, he realized that he had been wrong. He had believed that no woman could be as beautiful as he’d remembered her. But she was. She was wearing the necklace he’d given her. She looked pagan, like a princess awaiting her champion. He felt something move deep inside him, fill him, and he recognized it for what it was. It was love for this woman, a caring so deep, he knew it would fill him until he died.

He strode to her, drew her against him, felt the long length of her, the softness, and kissed her, everything he felt for her in that kiss. She didn’t move.

She was wary of him as a man, perhaps even afraid of him. He knew that. He would go more slowly. When he stepped away, he said, “Come, Chandra, and meet my parents and my cousin, Julianna.” He wondered if she could see the naked love he felt for her shining from his eyes. Evidently not. She looked, truth be told, as cold as carved marble, mayhap even miserable if one looked deeply enough into her eyes. That would change; he would make it change. He knew her, and he knew himself. She was his mate; God had fashioned her just for him.

Lord Hugh and Lady Avicia stood just inside the Great Hall speaking to Lord Richard. Lady Do

rothy stood behind her husband, making no move to greet Jerval’s parents. He had assumed she agreed with their marriage, but now he wasn’t so sure. Not that it mattered.

Chandra bowed to Jerval’s parents of them. Lord Hugh was thick in the middle, his belly plumping over his wide leather belt. Lady Avicia was bountiful herself, but there was beauty there, in her large dark eyes and her black hair, barely streaked with gray. She saw that Jerval resembled neither of them. Again, she thought, he could have been her father’s son. It was odd, but Lady Avicia was looking about the Great Hall with something akin to disdain. Disdain about what? It made no sense. The Great Hall of Croyland was magnificent. As for Lord Hugh, he looked quite pleased.

Chandra said little, speaking to Jerval’s parents only when spoken to. They were pleasant. Then she met Jerval’s cousin, Julianna, a small pretty girl with very white skin, blond hair so light it looked nearly white, and soft blue eyes that grew very hard indeed when they landed on Chandra. And Chandra wondered, Why does she dislike me? She doesn’t even know me. Then Chandra realized that it was jealousy in Julianna’s fine blue eyes, digging deep and furious, that jealousy. She wanted her cousin for herself, wanted him badly.

Chandra wished she could give Jerval to her. But no, he wouldn’t be happy with Julianna, he . . . She looked at her father, saw that he was smiling, saw that he was very pleased with himself and what had come about. She wasn’t going to think about Jerval and Julianna together, or what that would mean to her.