In the center was Christiana, curled into a ball, wearing only a thin bit of wool, her body black and blue. Her eyes were swollen shut, her lips cracked.
Slowly, Roger knelt by the bed and touched her temple.
“Roger?” she whispered and tried to smile, which caused her lower lip to start bleeding.
With a look of fury on his face, Roger bent and lifted her.
Raine’s hand came to rest on his shoulder. “We’ll take her south to our family.”
Roger only nodded and carried Chris out of the room.
Gavin assisted Miles in standing.
“Where are the women?” Miles asked.
His brothers were oddly silent and seemed to grow a little fearful.
“We, ah…” Stephen began.
Gavin’s head came up. “I think I’ll ride ahead. Here.” He tossed a key to Miles. “Maybe you better look after the women.”
“Yes,” Stephen and Raine added hastily, all three stumbling over each other to get out of the room.
Miles looked at the key in his hand, realizing it was the key to the cell where he’d been locked. “You didn’t!” he said but his brothers were gone.
For a moment he stood there and, at last, he began to laugh, laugh as he’d never laughed before. A few years ago he and his brothers had been living alone in their safe little world of mere battles and wars. Then, one by one, they’d married four beautiful, charming women—and really learned what war was.
Just now he and his brothers had taken a castle and killed several men and they’d taken no notice of the danger, but when faced with four furious women locked in a cell, they turned cowards and ran.
Miles started for the door. Thank God he’d not been involved in locking the women up! He pitied his brothers when at last they saw their wives again.
Like hell he did! He thought of every time they’d treated him as their “little brother.” Now they were going to pay for every trick they’d ever played on him.
He tossed the key up, caught it and, grinning, started toward the cell full of beautiful women. He just might lock himself inside for a few days.
What Happened to Everybody
CHRISTIANA RECOVERED COMPLETELY, MARRIED ROGER Chatworth and ten years later, after they’d almost given up hope, they had a daughter, who, to Roger’s chagrin, married one of the Montgomerys from the south of England. The Chatworth name died out except, now and then, a child would be named Chatworth Montgomery.
Miles and Elizabeth either created or adopted a total of twenty-three children and one of their sons, Philip, was a great favorite of Henry VIII. La
ter, two of Miles’s grandsons went to the new country of America and remained there.
Raine was hired by Henry VIII to train his young knights and Alyx became lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine. The court was a happy place and the king listened to and put into action some of the reforms Raine wanted. Raine and Alyx had three daughters, the middle one inheriting Alyx’s musical talent. There’s a legend that some of our great singers of today are descended from Alyxandria Montgomery.
Bronwyn and Stephen had six children, five boys and a girl. Bronwyn’s name became a legend in her clan and even today Clan MacArran children sing her praises. Bronwyn’s daughter married Kirsty MacGregor’s son. He took the name of MacArran and eventually became laird.
Lachlan MacGregor married one of Tam’s daughters, became so enraptured with her that he turned clan business over to his men. Davy MacArran fought for power, won and became a MacGregor. But Lachlan’s daughter, Davy’s wife, wasn’t the docile little thing everyone believed and in the end it was she who was actually the MacGregor.
Judith and Gavin held onto the Montgomery estates. They prospered and left the estate in such good shape financially that today it’s one of the largest, richest private homes in the world. One of Judith’s descendants runs the whole place. She’s a small, pretty young woman with odd-colored eyes, unmarried because she’s never met a man who’s accomplished in his life half what she’s done in hers. Next week she has an appointment to meet a thirty-year-old American, self-made millionaire, who says he’s a descendant of a knight named Miles Montgomery.
I have great hopes for them.