one was one of
his finest works. Mathias pulled it from
its cage and inspected it closely.
“I have been thinking,” he said, somewhat
quietly. “Mayhap Sebastian has been right all along. Mayhap it is time to
redeem ourselves. A tournament is a safe
place to start; I will not be picking up a sword or bearing arms in the course
of war. It is essentially a game of
skill. With the money I win, mayhap….”
Justus was extremely
interested. “Mayhap what? ”
Mathias looked at him.
“Hugh Beaumont is looking for men,” he said. “We can relocate to Scotland and
fight those wars the Scots constantly fight. The money will help us redeem ourselves as knights and as men, and we
can mayhap marry and have families and homes.”
Justus was astonished.
“Marry?” he repeated. “Mat, you have never expressed an interest in marriage,
ever.”
“I am interested now.”
Justus stared at him,
mulling over his statement and remembering the very beautiful young woman
Mathias has spent the afternoon with. Suddenly, it was all starting to make some sense.
“That girl?” he said.
“Has she asked you to compete?”
Mathias frowned. “Of
course not,” he said. “For all she knows, I am a smithy and nothing more. She
has not asked anything of me.”
“But she has put ideas
in your mind,” Justus pressed. “Has she spoken of marriage?”
Mathias put the sword
down. “Da, she has not said or done anything,” he insisted. “But I would be
lying if I said she has not made me realize what has been taken away from
me. If my lands and titles had not been
stripped, I could command a bride as fine as her, but in my current state… nay,
she deserves more than a smithy. She
deserves a man who can provide for her in a manner in which she deserves. With a wife like that, I could take on the
entire world and win. She would make me proud again.”
Justus’ heart hurt as
he listened to his son speak of things he hadn’t spoken of since that dark
January day. He’d always suspected Mathias’
thoughts but to hear the man speak of them was heartbreaking. He’d lost so very
much in a circumstance that had been both unjust and unfair, that had seen some
men retain everything and some men lose everything. But it had been the way of
thing.
“You will regain what
is yours again someday,” Justus said softly. “Alberbury Castle and Caus Castle will
be returned to you as will the Westbury Barony, and you will once again be
known as Baron Westbury, High Warden of the Northern Marches. When enough time passes, Edward will soften
and you shall regain what is rightfully yours.”
Mathias was looking at
the sword, half-finished, in its iron cage. “I do not share your confidence,”
he muttered with sadness in his tone. “My mother was the sister of Roger
Mortimer’s wife, Joan. When Mortimer and
the king became at odds, I had no choice but to side with my family.”
Justus could feel the anxiety
beginning. “You did what was expected.”
Mathias snorted. “I
left my friends, my king… I sided with a usurper because he was my family.”
Justus’ jaw ticked as
he watched his son, seeing the tension in the man’s body as he spoke. “Edward
understands,” he insisted softly. “That is the reason he did not kill you when
Mortimer was captured.”
Mathias’ jaw ticked as
he looked at his father. “He did not kill me because he was my friend,” he
said, his teeth clenched. “That fact and that fact alone was the only reason he
did not put us all to the blade.”
Justus suspected that
a year of remaining silent on the subject of losing his knighthood was about to
come to a head. Mathias was working himself up and Justus hastened to ease the
man.
“Tate and Kenneth and
Stephen pleaded for your life,” he said
Miss Roseand the Rakehell