Free So Great A Love by Flora Speer Page B

moments of blistering
sunshine.”
    “I said, turn back!” Arden shouted. “No
matter how long it takes, we will reach Bowen before we stop.” He
usually allowed the men attending him great freedom to speak their
minds, but not tonight. He yearned for warmth and shelter from the
unrelenting storm no less than his companions. The difference
between him and them was that Arden knew that, for him, there was
no safe or comfortable place to stop, not even when they reached
Bowen Manor. For him, there might very well never be a place where
he would find peace.

Chapter 6
     
     
    Arden guessed it was near midnight when they
finally came to the palisade that surrounded the manor house and
the outbuildings at Bowen. Knowing there must be a sentry on duty,
he called out, identifying himself. After a moment he received an
answer. It took another few minutes for the wide gate to swing open
enough to allow Arden and his men to enter.
    “My lord,” said the sentry, “we didn't expect
you, and Sir Wace decided we'd need only one man to guard the gate
on a night like this.”
    “Don't disturb Sir Wace,” Arden said. “I
remember where the stable is. We can see to our own horses. We
aren't hungry; we brought food with us, but we are tired. All we
want for now is a place to sleep. I can show my men to the hall and
I'll speak with Sir Wace in the morning.” He nudged his weary horse
and it began to move away from the gate. Guy and Michael followed
him.
    “My lord,” the sentry called after him, “I
think you should know – your sister, my lord – and her
friends—”
    Arden paid no attention to the indistinct
words. He was almost at the stable door and the sentry's voice was
muted by snow and the wind.
    A short time later, with the horses fed and
watered and only one stableboy awakened in the process, Arden and
his fellow travelers entered the great hall of the manor. They
found it pleasantly warm, heated by the fireplace in which banked
embers still glowed.
    “'Tis clean and well-kept,” said Guy, looking
around with appreciation for what he saw. “You have a good staff,
my lord. They haven't shirked their duties in your absence.”
    “I must remember to congratulate Sir Wace
when I see him tomorrow,” Arden responded dryly. As he spoke he
unclasped and swung off his wet cloak, then bent his head and
lifted his arms so Michael could remove his chainmail hauberk. His
next words were muffled by the mail. “There are rooms above stairs
that you are welcome to use if you like. I can rouse the servants.
They'll be sleeping in the kitchen, near the fire there.”
    “Unused rooms will be cold,” said Guy.
“There's no need to waken anyone. Like the servants, I would rather
be warm by a fire.” From the saddlebag he carried slung over his
arm, Guy pulled a thick blanket. This he spread on the floor near
the fireplace. He then arranged his saddlebag as a pillow.
    “Leave space for me,” Michael said to Guy. He
finished divesting Arden of his sword and belt, his armor and his
boots, then laid everything in a neat pile on the floor. “This is
the best kind of campaign, when we have a roof over our heads at
night, a steady fire to warm us, and the sure knowledge that we
won't be ambushed while we sleep.”
    “Will you be joining us, my lord?” Guy asked.
Having removed his wet boots and spread his cloak out to dry, he
was already settled on his makeshift bed, with his feet toward the
fire which Michael was building up anew using logs taken from a
basket that was set at a safe distance from the hearth.
    “No,” Arden said. “Tonight I have a longing
for privacy.” Out of habit he picked up his belt and sword, to take
them with him. Leaving Michael and Guy to their makeshift beds, he
headed for the short staircase leading to the solar and the lord's
chamber.
    He guessed the fatigue that suddenly
overwhelmed him was the result of finally reaching Bowen, of
knowing he would be undisturbed there. He yawned mightily,