CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The night that Jeffrey had been injured, Rory had gone to bed and slept for almost a day. Kieran had kept everyone away from their bedchamber, including asking Sean to move Margaret and Eleanor to another floor, so that Rory wouldn’t be disturbed. She was exhausted and pregnant and he wanted to make sure she had all the rest she needed. The entire trip had been exhausting her and he was anxious for her to recover and to settle in to some semblance of normalcy.
Jeffrey, surprisingly, survived his surgery and they moved him into Sean and Margaret’s room while Sean and Margaret took his room on the third floor. The fourth floor of Southwell’s keep had become the infirmary, a floor where no one was allowed to speak in tones over a whisper. The servants had taken to wearing something that looked like socks on their feet so they wouldn’t make noise as they went about their duties. Kieran, even though he was settling in to life returned to Southwell, still managed to check on his wife every hour just to make sure she was all right. To help ease his mind, Margaret offered to sit with her, an offer he gratefully accepted.
As far as Simon was concerned, they had left his body in the great hall until the early morning hours. The prince had long since left, leaving four dead men and Simon behind. He made no move to claim them. So very early on the morning after Jeffrey’s injury, Kieran, Sean, Christian and Andrew entered the great hall to clean up the mess from the fight. With the dead bodies inside, the servants wouldn’t go near the hall. With help from several of their soldiers, they cleared out the bodies and took them into town to the large cathedral, Southwell Minster, for burial. Kieran left Simon’s body with the priests and never looked back. He was finished with the man and the chaos he had created. Although they had a friendship that went back to when they were children, he couldn’t even mourn the loss of a friend. That friend he knew, once, had died years ago. The man he left at Southwell Minster was someone he didn’t know.
So he pushed it all behind him; the murder attempt, the assassins, the turmoil in the Holy Land. When Simon died, it all died with him.
Nearing the evening of the second day since his return, Kieran was on the grounds with Sean, Christian and Andrew, walking the vast area of Southwell and making note of any changes that had occurred since he had left. He walked with his brothers, talking and laughing, being followed closely by Bud, David and Yusef. Yusef was getting quite an education on English fortresses and they were not surprise to note he had a great deal of architectural knowledge, which he discussed very intelligently. Yusef was polite and flexible, and the Hage brothers were starting to warm to a man they had once considered their enemy. They were coming to understand why Kieran held him in such high regard.
As Kieran strolled the walls of his ancestral home, he felt an amazing amount of peace and contentment. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed England and his family, and he couldn’t help but remember how close he came to not seeing this place again. He would have thought that the fantastic path he had taken to return to England would have been a dream except for the fact that Rory was with him. She was the reason he was back, the entire reason for his existence. He loved her more, worshipped her more, with each passing moment. Even as he walked the parapets of Southwell with his beloved brothers, his heart and mind were up in the room on the fourth floor of the keep with his wife. He kept glancing up to the keep as if to see her through the very walls.
As the sun was setting, Yusef brought up the subject of the Arabians Kieran had shipped home from the Holy Land. That set off a cavalcade of praise regarding the stud qualities of the two Arabian stallions that had survived the trip home. Yusef very much wanted to see the horses; Christian and Andrew were more than eager to show him. Kieran and Sean remained on the walls as Christian, Andrew, Yusef and little David went to see the horses. Bud, fascinated by the soldiers walking their patrol with the big, skinny dogs, remained on the wall and followed one of the soldiers as he went about his watch.
Kieran and Sean watched the child follow the man and his dog along the wall walk. Sean’s gaze eventually moved from the boy to his brother, who was still watching the lad in the distance. He studied his brother a moment, a man he had missed terribly over the past three years. But as he gazed at his brother, he realized that something was different about the man. He’d noticed it from the start. He wasn’t sure what it was, but there was a definite difference.
“You have changed,” he said quietly, watching as Kieran turned to look at him. He smiled faintly. “I do not know how, but somewhere, somehow, you have changed, Brother.”
Kieran lifted an eyebrow, returning his brother’s smile. “Three years in The Levant is enough to change any man.”
Sean shook his head. “It is not that,” he grasped for words, leaning back against the battlement behind him. “There is something else. I am not sure what it is, but I believe it has something to do with your wife.”
Kieran’s smile faded. “What do you mean?”
Sean cocked his head, his smile fading completely. It was clear there was much on his mind. “Where did you meet her?”
Kieran was prepared for the question. “Her brother was my friend. Upon his deathbed, he asked that I take care of his sister. Unable to deny a dying man, I agreed to marry her.”
Sean stared at him, hard. “If I were an idiot, I would believe that. But I am not. I know you too well, Brother. No dying man on earth could have convinced the brother I knew to agree to a marriage. There is something you are not telling me about your very odd yet beautiful wife, Kieran. She behaves in ways I have never seen and she knows things that no earthly person should know. I am hurt that you do not trust me enough to tell me the truth about her.”
Kieran stared at him. Then he looked thoughtful, turning away and leaning on the battlements, gazing off across the darkening landscape. The sun was almost set upon the western sky and he watched it a moment, studying the pink and purple horizon, pondering his brother’s query. His thoughtful expression turned painfully pensive, almost confused.
“Have I ever lied to you, Sean?” he finally asked.
Sean replied without hesitation. “Never.”
“And if I tell you something in confidence, you will never repeat it?”
“I will take it to my grave.”
Kieran looked at him. “I believe you. And you know the same can be said for any confidence you may bestow upon me.”
“I would trust you with my life a thousand times over.”
Kieran inhaled deeply, contemplatively. He gazed out over the purple-shadowed landscape once again. “Then I will tell you the truth because, at some point, it may be necessary to enlist your help regarding matters about my wife,” he said. “You saw what she did to Father.”
“She gave him life again.”
Kieran shook his head. “Nay, she did not, but it may appear that way. There are those who might not understand her skill and believe she is a witch, or worse. She is none of those things.”
Sean leaned on the battlement next to him, his focus on his brother. “So tell me the truth.”
Kieran scratched his head and smiled ironically. “You will find it difficult to believe.”
“After what I witnessed last night, I would believe anything.”
Kieran never honestly thought he would be facing this situation. He never expected to tell the story of how he and Rory really met. But gazing into Sean’s eyes, the same color as his, he realized he was about to tell the man the truth. In fact, he found that he very much needed to tell someone.
“Very well,” he turned and faced his brother, leaning a big shoulder against the battlement. “But you must keep in mind that every word I tell you is God’s honest truth. I did not imagine it, dream it or otherwise. It happened. I would not lie to you.”
“I know that.”
“And I am not mad, either.”
Sean grinned. “That is a matter of opinion.”
“Do you want to hear this or not?”
Sean forced aside his smirk. “I do. Tell me.”
Kieran took a deep breath, wondering where to start. “I told you that Simon had tried to kill me after the secret meeting with El-Hajidd.” He watched his brother nod and he continued. “The truth is that his assassins did reach me. They gored me in the belly and it was a mortal wound. But the owner of the hostel where I was staying sent me to seek an old man who was known for his amazing healing gifts. That man was Kaleef.”
Sean’s brow furrowed. “The same man who worked on father?”
Kieran nodded. “Kaleef used to be a healer long ago but his interests moved into the world of alchemy. He delves into the world of eternal youth and other mystical things. When I appeared at his doorstep, he knew that time was running out for me so he did the only thing he could do. He put me into an eternal sleep that slowed my body processes down enough so that I wouldn’t bleed to death.”
Sean was watching him closely. “He… he put you to sleep?”
Kieran nodded slowly, watching his brother’s reaction. “Remember I told you that Kaleef was experimenting with the secret to immortality and eternal youth? He was able to put me into a manner of deep sleep while he administered another potion that stopped my bleeding and allowed my wound to heal. Now, the problem was this; there was no way to awaken me from this sleeping state except by the strongest of human emotion. A kiss from the one who loved me best. And that is where Rory came into my life eight hundred years into the future.”
He watched Sean’s expression as he launched into the tale of his experience with the twenty-first century. He watched his brother’s face as he told the man about cars, buses, airplanes, department stores, toilet paper and electricity. He watched Sean’s features pale as he spoke of returning to this time from a lightning blast and how he surmised that God must have brought him back for a reason. He suspected that the Crown of Thorns, the core of all of his problems, was the true reason he had returned. He had to finish what he had started, which he assumed to be presenting this most holy of relics to the Church for safekeeping. He had been called home to return it to the faithful. He could think of no other explanation.
Sean didn’t say anything when Kieran was finished. He fell into a deep silence, staring at his boots and pondering what his brother had just told him. Kieran watched Sean’s lowered head, knowing his brother did not believe him but that he was unwilling to tell him so. In truth, he didn’t blame the man; it sounded crazy. So he leaned back against the wall and shook his head.
“I do not blame you for your disbelief,” he said. “Even as I repeat the story, it sounds as if a madman is speaking. But I swear to you, as I live and breathe, that it is the truth. I could not concoct a story like this from my imagination; I am not that clever. Furthermore, I have proof.”
Sean lifted his head, gazing somewhat apprehensively at his brother. “Proof?”
Kieran nodded slowly. “Come with me.”
*
Kieran’s chamber was dark except for a small taper giving off light on the table against the window. Margaret sat by the weak light, looking up from her sewing when Kieran and Sean entered. She smiled brightly at her husband and he returned her smile, stroking her cheek as he followed his brother into the room. Kieran paused in front of his sister-in-law.
“Has my wife awoken?” he whispered.
Margaret shook her head. “Nay.” She set the sewing down in her lap. “She has barely stirred all day.”
Kieran went over to the bed, pulling back the heavy curtains and peering inside. He was surprised to see Rory’s sleepy, smiling face gazing up at him. He smiled broadly at her, putting a massive hand on her forehead.
“So you are awake, are you?” He sat down next to her. “You have been asleep almost an entire day and night.”
Rory yawned and stretched. “I heard your voice when you came in,” she said. “How is your father?”
Kieran’s smile faded somewhat. “He lives,” he replied. “How are you feeling?”
She thought on his question. “Hungry,” she replied. “Is it time for supper?”
He leaned down, kissing her cheek. “What do you feel like eating?”
She wouldn’t let him straighten up. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held him close. “No meat,” she said. “Is there any fruit? And I’d like vegetables that haven’t been boiled to death. Carrots would be good.”
“And white bread.”
“Yes,” she insisted. “And I would love any kind of cakes or cookies.”
He shook his head. “There are no cookies, at least not as you know them.”
She grinned at him, rubbing her nose against his. “I can make some,” she said. “You have oatmeal, honey, eggs and flour, right? I could make awesome cookies with that.”
He grunted. “It is unseemly for my wife to be seen working the kitchens.”
“Please?”
He sat up, taking her with him. When he stood, he swept her up in his arms. “Absolutely not,” he said, turning to face the room. “Greet Sean and Maggie, sweetheart. Maggie has been watching over you all day.”
Rory’s arms were around Kieran’s neck, her head on his shoulder. “Hello, Sean.” She smiled sweetly at the knight, then looked at Margaret. “Thank you for sitting with me today. I’m sure you had better things to do.”
Margaret stood up, smiling. “I had nothing better to do, Lady Hage,” she said. “Are you feeling better?”
Rory nodded. “Much better, thank you.” She pushed herself out of Kieran’s arms, standing stiffly as she turned to her husband. “I think I’d like to take a bath and eat.”
Kieran cast a glance at his brother. “In a moment,” he said. “I want to show my brother something.”
Rory was already moving for the wardrobe, not entirely cognizant of the greater implications of what he was saying. “Show him what?” she asked, opening up the doors, suddenly distracted by the peg and hole joints of the large doors. Even half-asleep, her scientist’s mind picked odd places to kick in and she picked at them a moment before returning her attention to the contents of the wardrobe. “Baby, where are Bud and David?”
Kieran moved for his wardrobe. “Bud is upon the walls with the sentries and David is with my brothers.”
She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. “You left Bud with strangers?”
He lifted an eyebrow at her. “My men are not strangers.”
She frowned at him, shaking her head in disapproval but refusing to respond for lack of a good argument. She continued to dig around as Kieran opened the doors to his wardrobe.
“Maggie,” he said casually, turning to look at his sister-in-law as he removed one of his satchels. “I have not seen my niece since my arrival. Are you keeping her from me a-purpose?”
Margaret looked stricken. “Of course not, Kieran,” she gasped, setting her sewing on the table and practically bolting for the door. “I shall bring her right away.”
“Good. I should like to meet her.”
Margaret fled as her husband lifted his eyebrows at her hasty departure. When he turned to apologize to his brother, Kieran jerked his head at the partially-open chamber door.
“Close the door,” he said quietly.
Sean suddenly realized why Kieran asked to see the baby. It removed Margaret from something Kieran did not want her to see. Sean went over to his brother as the man set a large satchel upon the bed and began digging around. After a bit of maneuvering, he suddenly pulled forth a package wrapped in linen. He unwrapped the fabric, exposing the American blue jeans and extended them to his brother.
Sean just stared at them. Rory happened to look up from searching for the lamb’s wool shift she loved so much and noticed that Kieran was showing his brother the jeans. Startled, she rushed over to the bed.
“What are you doing?” she asked him, looking nervously at Sean. He didn’t answer her right away and she touched his arm. “Kieran?”
“I am proving to my brother that I am not mad,” he answered, looking at her. “And that you are not Irish.”
Rory didn’t know what to say. She glanced at Sean, who was seriously contemplating the jeans. After some hesitation, he took them from his brother’s grip and unrolled them. He laid them upon the bed and visually inspected them before fingering the brand at the top, the rivets. As he continued to inspect them, Kieran took out the construction boots and mock turtleneck shirt that had made the trip through time with him. Sean barely looked at the shirt but, as Kieran had, paid great interest to the steel-toed work boots.
He picked up the shoes, turning them over and over, fascinated and confused by the rivets and modern laces. He picked at the soles, peered inside the shoe. There were tags inside and printing. He scratched at it to see if it would come off. Finally, after several minutes of inspecting the shoes, he looked up at his brother.
“God save us,” he breathed. “Kieran, I truly thought you were mad. But looking at these items… I cannot dispute your story. I have never seen anything like this.”
“Nor will you again.”
Sean struggled to come to grips with a miracle. “And you say that Simon mortally wounded you?”
Kieran nodded faintly. “Had time taken its normal path, I would not be with you right now. You would not know I was dead until years later when I simply did not return home.”
That thought distressed Sean a great deal; it was obvious in his expression. “But you are here.” He shook his head, baffled. “For some reason, you have returned. God’s Blood, is this really true? Did this really happen to you?”
Kieran smiled faintly. “If you do not believe the evidence in your hand, Libby has clothing items as well. She is, in fact, wearing two of them.”
Sean looked at Rory curiously but she backed off, knowing that Kieran meant her bra and panties. She put up her hands. “No way.” She looked at her husband. “I’m not showing him what I’m wearing.”
Kieran laughed but Sean didn’t get the joke. Kieran shook his head at his brother and tried to use his hands to describe what his wife was wearing.
“These garments go… well, they go here,” he motioned to his chest. “And then there are others that cover… they cover around here.”
Rory had enough. She went to her husband and held his hands still. “Never mind,” she told him, lifting her eyebrows at him to suggest if he continued, he would be in a good deal of trouble. “He doesn’t need to know and I’m sure he doesn’t care.”
Kieran stopped his charades game, fearful of an angry wife. He raised his eyebrows at his brother as Sean grinned.
“Nay, Lady Hage, I do not need to know,” Sean assured her. “But I find my brother’s story quite fascinating.”
Rory simply nodded, not knowing what more to say to him. She really wasn’t comfortable that Kieran had told him their story but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. Slowly, she returned to her wardrobe and finally found the soft, white shift she was looking for. When she came back over to the bed where Sean was still sitting, she saw that he had removed one of his massive boots and had put on a construction boot. Kieran was explaining the advantages of such a shoe as she came upon them.
“I’m going to take a bath,” she told him. “Can you please find Bud and David and bring them up here? I don’t want them running around in a strange castle. Too many things can happen.”
Kieran put a massive hand on her head, pulling it to his lips for a kiss. “Aye, Mother,” he said patiently. “I shall send for the boys. But keep in mind that they must grow up sometime. You cannot keep them against your bosom forever.”
She frowned at him. “They’re still children,” she insisted. But even as she said it, she was suddenly reminded of what Margaret had told her about Christian’s child bride locked up in her chamber below. “And speaking of children, what’s this about Christian keeping his betrothed locked up and not letting anyone speak with her?”
Kieran had no idea what she was talking about but Sean did. He paused as he tied up the shoe. “Who told you this?” he asked.
Rory was about to tell him but thought better of it. She didn’t want to get Margaret in trouble if, in fact, she wasn’t supposed to say anything. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “Is it true?”
Sean glanced at Kieran before refocusing on the shoelace. “That is Christian’s affair,” he replied evenly. “We do not interfere.”
“Christian is betrothed?” Kieran interrupted before Rory could speak.
Sean nodded. “To the Lady Charlotte de Longley, an heiress from the Lords of Northwood. She came to Southwell about three months ago.”
“But she’s kept locked up and Christian won’t let anyone speak to her,” Rory jumped in. “Why in the world does he keep this girl isolated?”
Sean finished tying the shoe. “That is his business, Lady Hage,” he said, putting his foot on the floor and inspecting the fit. “As I said, we do not interfere.”
“But she’s only thirteen years old.” Rory wouldn’t let the subject go. “That’s cruel and abusive. He can’t keep her locked up like a prisoner.”
Kieran didn’t know the story behind his brother’s betrothal but he could see that Rory was growing distressed about it. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her.
“Go tend to your bath, sweetheart,” he said, trying to both distract and soothe her. “If it will ease your mind, I will speak with Christian about his betrothed.”
“Please do.” She looked up at him. “He can’t keep that girl locked up unless she’s crazy or something. It’s just cruel.”
“I understand,” he said patiently. “Go and take your bath. Bud and David will be here when you finish.”
Sensing there was nothing more for her to say about Christian, Rory obediently retreated into the big bathing chamber and, as Kieran had done, opened up the dumbwaiter and shouted for a bath. Back in the bedchamber, Kieran and Sean went back to discussing the remarkable shoes with the steel toes. But Kieran knew, even as he praised the quality of the shoe, that the issue with Christian’s betrothed was likely to become a sore subject if he didn’t do as he promised. He would have to speak with Christian about the situation.
Otherwise, he knew his wife well enough to know that there would be trouble.