Rose Victory - Eagle Series (25 page)

“You sacrificed all for my honour?”

“For your honour and that of your sire’s.  I know it is important to you, as it is to us.  Without it we are nothing.  I could not start our life together like that.”  His lady paused and a beautiful smile dawned on her face.  “All was not sacrificed; you gave me our son on that night, my love.”

Roydon returned her smile.  “Our son,” a concerned expression crossed his face.  “Is he
…‘Special’?”

Golden eyes glittered up at him.  “
Yes he is,” Roslyn asserted proudly.  “Mated couples have but one son and he is always ‘special’ if his sire has the gift.  Now we know that I can also pass on my gift.  Aguilus’ golden eyes speak for themselves.”  Then she saw Roydon’s concern and added, “Fear not, my love.  He’ll not be able to change until he is fourteen or fifteen and I will be there to guide and protect him.  His other self will make him a stronger and better man.

The earl nodded, his fears at least temporarily
, put to rest.  Then what Roslyn had said a moment before made him catch his breath, uncertainty and budding hope made his voice shake.  “You mean that I will never have another son with you?”

“No
more sons,” the countess blushed, lowering her eyes for a moment.  “Daughters yes, but no boys.  I am your mate, only I could ever give you a son, just the one.”  Roslyn looked at Roydon’s startled expression.  “You are disappointed?”

“No.”  There would be no chance of a legitimate male heir to usurp Aguilus’ heritage as his first born.  “NO!  Are you sure of this?” he asked as he thought of his two daughters and the poor little one who had died at birth.  There had never been a chance then that Emma could have borne him a male heir.

“Yes I am sure.  One ‘special’ child each generation, the only male born to mated couples.  Occasionally ‘special’ male children are born to others of our race who do not themselves have the gift, but that does not happen very often.”  The countess looked at him with a puzzled look in her eyes, wondering at his vehemence, his excitement.

Roydon explained the reason for his question, profound joy and satisfaction
engulfing him.

“You have very strange customs and laws in your country.  In Gibel a man’s first born son is his heir, be he born in or out of wedlock.”

“It does not matter, his heritage is secure.  Aguilus will be the next earl of Eagle Rock.”  The pride in Roydon’s voice was undeniable and then something seemed to strike him.  “But you are a female,” Roydon’s black eyes gleamed appreciatively down at Roslyn, at his wife, appraising her slowly.  “Why are you ‘special’?  You said only males were ‘special’.”

Roslyn nodded.  “Our wise ones, were stunned at my birth, there has never been a ‘special’ female before.  Never in all our recorded history, even in our lore, never.”  Roslyn paused.  “The only reason they could give was that my brother and I are identical twins.  So because he
had
to be ‘special’, him being my father’s only son, I became ‘special’ too.”

Roydon leaned forward to caress her long golden hair.  “You are special to me, my love, very special.”

Roslyn smiled up at him but continued with her story.  “Because I am the first, the only one, there are a lot of things we do not know; one of them being if I could ‘change’ whilst carrying a child.  If I had conceived on the mountain, I could not risk injuring our child, so I had to stay in this form for almost two years until Aguilus was a year old and I could leave him.”  Roslyn bowed her head in memory of the bitter sweet anguish of that time.

“It makes us weak not being able
to change for so long.  I had no clothes, no coin to return home.  That is why I took your cloak.”

“You could have stayed with me, Roslyn.  I could have faced anything with you by my side.”  Roydon spoke
softly.

The countess rose to her feet, pride and courage in every line of her body.  “I would never make you choose between h
onour and me, I had to go away.

“I walked to Nona’s home.  She is one of us, a wise old woman.  I stayed with her until I gave birth and for a year after that.  I could not bear to leave my child.”  Roslyn squeezed her eyes shut at the remembered pain.  “But I was so weak by then that I had no choice.  I changed.  It took me a long time to regain my strength.”

Roydon said nothing, but he watched her sad profile as she stared into the flames, reliving her memories.

“I could not take the boy with me when I left.   We had no coin to travel normally, but I planned to return for him and take him home.”  Roslyn shook her head sadly.  “It was not to be.  My father forbade his coming to Gibel.”

Roydon got to his feet abruptly.  “The king, his grandfather, disallowed you to bring your son home!” he asked in disbelief.

“He was right.  It’s his duty to protect us, all our kind.”  Roslyn explained softly.  “He knew we would return to you when it was time and if he had come to live in our country, Aguilus would have seen things, learnt things, which a child would later unknowingly speak of.

“Father gave me the choice.  It was either leaving him here so you could have him when he was older, or take him home where he would have to stay until he took his oath of silence at eighteen.”  Roslyn turned then to look at him.  “I chose the former.  I did not want you to miss all his childhood.”

Roydon took her into his arms, “Thank you,” he whispered, understanding her sacrifice.  “But the boy need not have stayed with Nona, he could have come to me.”

“What would you have done with a babe?  A young child?”  Roslyn shook her head.  “Your wife would not have accepted him.”

It was true, Emma would have scarcely tolerated a base-born image of himself running around the castle when she herself had been unable to give him an heir.  He would have forced the issue
and taken the boy in of course, but the child would have suffered.  Young children were the responsibility of the women of the household.

“I told Nona to bring him to you when she thought he was ready to fend for himself.”  The countess relaxed against her husband.  “He was never unprotected, my lo
ve.  My father sent his warriors to guard and protect him, he was never alone.  I too watched over him, but could not reveal myself; I had given Father my word.”

“One last question, Roslyn.”  Roydon looked down at the top of her head.  “Why do I suddenly find myself married to you?
”  A smile lurked in his voice.

“When we heard of your wife’s passing, I knew it was time to return.  But Father decided that he wanted me to have of
ficial standing in your country.  He proposed an alliance with your king, to be cemented with our marriage.  Your sovereign was only too happy to oblige.”

“You could have warned me,” Roydon protested mildly.

“We did.  We sent an envoy to you but you were not at Eagle Rock.”

“That must have been when I took my girls north to their grandparents.”

“Instead of waiting for your return the messenger came back home.  By then it was too late to send another one.  So we decided to tell you when we got here.”  The lady smiled.  “Imagine my surprise when I heard that you had been arrested, but would be freed to attend the wedding.  As long as you came to the wedding…!” she shrugged.  “I wasn’t sure how you felt about me.”

“Are you mad?  I was arrested because I refused to marry anyone who wasn’t you.”  Roydon sighed.

“You refused your king for me?”  Roslyn asked appalled.

“I tried to make him change his mind, but in the end I could not defy him.  He is my sworn liege and his threat to take Eagle Rock from me would have left Aguilus destitute.”  Roydon sighed again.  “I am sorry, my love.  I gave in.”

“You are sorry that you married me?” A note of laughter accompanied the question.

“No, of course not, but you know what I mean.”

“Yes, I understand that you obeyed your lord, as did I and you provided for your son.”  His countess looked up at him.  “It is I that am sorry for not telling you who I was.  It was hard on you.”

“It has been hard for you too, my love.”  Roydon slowly caressed her hair, allowing his hand to sweep over the golden locks.  “But it is over, now we are
all together and soon we will be home.”

“Do you think he hates me, resents me for abandoning him?”  The question came out muffled f
rom where Roslyn cuddled against his chest.

“Of course not!
  Aguilus is an intelligent boy.  He loves you desperately and he knows you
had
to leave him.  Nona told him so, as did I.”  Roydon stepped back so that he could look at his Eagle Lady, tilting her face up to him.  “The boy carries your feather wrapped in a of piece cloth against his heart.  As do I.”

The earl leaned down and kissed his lady tenderly.  Holding her face cupped in his hands, he wiped the tears away with his thumbs.  “He loves you
very much, just as I do.”  Roydon stepped back briskly.  “I think it is time that you spoke to him.  Let him know how much you love him too.”  He waited until he received Roslyn’s nod.

“I will send Aguilus in to you.”  Roydon turned and walked towards the door.  His hand on the handle, he looked back at his wife, a devilish smile on his face.  “Take as long as you need, but remember it is getting late and I do have orders from my
king to consummate this marriage.”

Roydon
exited the room leaving behind a blushing bride.

<><><>

In the ante-room the earl found both Aguilus and Ivan sitting on the narrow cot.  Ivan worked, as usual when he had free time, whittling on a piece of wood with his dagger.  His son just sat staring at nothing, unusually silent; he turned a small object over and over in his hands. 

They both jumped to their feet at his entrance.  “Aguilus, your lady mother would speak with you now.  Go to her.”

“Yes, sir.”  The boy walked slowly towards the inner chamber, nervously rubbing at the carving he held in his hand.  A hand on his shoulder stopped him and he looked up at his father, apprehension in his eyes.

“What is that you have there?”  Roydon tried to distract the boy
, to put him at ease.

The earl’s question took Aguilus by surprise.  He offered the eagle carving to his father
.  “It’s a gift that Ivan gave me,” he flashed his friend a smile.  “It is beautiful, is it not, Father?” 

Roydon swept his fingers over the proud head, the exquisitely carved wings.  “Yes it is,” he nodded slowly.  “I am sure your mother would love to see it.”  He return
ed the carving to the boy and squeezed his shoulder affectionately.  “Do not be concerned, son.  She loves you deeply.”

Aguilus squared his shoulders and grinned up at his father, more his old self.  “I kno
w, sir.  I saw it in her eyes.”

“The most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. 
Just like yours.  Now go to her, son.  She needs you.”

Aguilus nodded.  Clutching his
wooden eagle tightly, he knocked on the chamber door and obeyed the soft summons to enter.

“Can I get you anything, my lord?”

“No, I need nothing, thank you, Ivan.”  The earl strolled to the narrow window and looked out at the night.  There was little movement in the courtyard below and Roydon turned back to face the little room.  “That is a nice gift you gave Aguilus, I am glad you are here to guide him.”

“He is a good boy, my lord.  It’s no hardship to be with him,”
the young knight grinned.  “When he is where he is supposed to be.”

Roydon’s lips turned up in a small smile.  “Like this afternoon.”

Ivan nodded.  “I found him behind the king’s bodyguard speaking with Princess Elizabeth.”

“Lady Elizabeth?  Surely she should not have been there?”

“Probably not, sir, she ran off when she saw me.”  The knight’s smile widened.  “Aguilus though tried to brazen it out.  When I told him he was supposed to be standing behind your lordship, he answered that he was, only a bit further back!”

The earl burst into laughter.  “I hope you didn’t let him get away with that!”

“Certainly not, my lord, but I can tell you I had serious trouble trying to keep a straight face,” he laughed.

At that moment the outside door opened to admit Sir Stefan and Antonia.  The former stared in puzzled amusement at the two laughing men.  “What’s going on?”

When Sir Ivan related the incident, Stefan grinned proudly.  “That’s my boy!” he exclaimed, joining in the general hilarity.  At last Stefan sobered enough to
make his report.  “I have put our men on alert, Roy.  As soon as you get leave from the king, it will take only three or four hours to ready our departure.”  The knight sounded pleased.  “By tomorrow morning we will have an extra tent and the cart for Lady Roslyn’s chests delivered.  Rafe,” he continued, naming the leader of their men-at-arms, “will take care of the provisions for the journey.”

“Good.  If I get to the
king early, we should be able to leave by mid-afternoon.”  The earl nodded satisfied.  “I’ll get Henry to let me have a dozen extra guards,” his voice hardened.  “I want no incidents on the return journey.”