Sapphire - Book 2 (23 page)

“I am fine, Mother,” he told her, breaking
the embrace to save himself from the embarrassment of being kissed
further. “And aye, the baron is dead.”

“Sapphire,” said Lady Katherine, coming to
her side. “I am happy to see you are alive and unharmed as
well.”

“And I, you,” said Sapphire with a smile. “I
am alive thanks to your son,” she told her. “Without him, I’d
either be dead or across the sea with the baron right now, as he
planned on ransoming me.”

Roe reached up and helped Sapphire dismount.
That’s when she saw something she hadn’t noticed before. On his
waistbelt was fastened an ornate dagger with a blue sapphire gem in
the hilt.

“Where did you get that?” she asked,
pointing to the dagger, a newfound excitement rushing through her,
making her feel alive.

“Oh, I nearly forgot.” Roe unfastened the
dagger and handed it to Sapphire. “This is a betrothal present for
you, Sapphire. I got it at the fair from an old blind hag, and
haven’t had the chance to give it to you.”

“This is my dagger!” she cried out.

“I thought you would like it, as it sounds
similar to the dagger you told me you once had.”

“Nay, not similar,” she said, “but it is the
exact same one.”

“Sapphire, you lost that dagger close to two
decades ago, how could that possibly be the same one?” asked
Roe.

“You said you bought it from an old blind
hag?”

“Well, she wouldn’t let me pay for it. She
said it was her contribution, and just gave it to me.”

“Did she say anything else?” asked
Sapphire.

“She was rattling on, asking me all kinds of
questions about how much I loved you.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“I told her I loved you, Sapphire, and that
is the truth. I love you more than anything and can’t wait until we
are married.”

“It was her,” said Sapphire, remembering the
story her mother had told her of buying the daggers from the blind
old hag. “It was the same lady my mother bought the daggers from in
the first place, I am sure of it.”

“But that’s impossible,” said Roe. “If the
blind hag was from Blackpool, how would she get all the way to Rye,
as she is blind? Besides, she’d be so old she’d be dead by now, as
that was many years ago.”

“I don’t know how and why, but I do know it
was her. And don’t you see, that this dagger proves that you are my
true love and we were meant to be together? Roe, I am so happy,”
she said, running her hand over the hilt of the dagger. “My dagger
has come back to me after all these years. And my dream has come
true, as I have found my true love in you, and this has only
verified it.”

“Father, you are alive!” Erin ran out of the
stable with Dugald right behind her. Auley jumped off the horse and
his daughter barreled into his arms. He moaned and Erin realized
that he was wounded.

“You’ve been hurt,” she said, looking at his
arm. “Tell me you’ll be alright.”

“I’ll live,” the man said with a large
smile.

“He was injured when he saved my life,” said
Alice, slipping from her horse. Her guards stayed mounted atop
their own horses.

“Erin, this is Alice,” Auley said. “She is
the baroness of Lydd.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Erin said with a
curtsy.

“So - are you the baron’s wife?” asked
Dugald.

“I was married to the wretched man,” she
admitted, but I must say I only did it to ensure that my brothers
and the rest of the sheepherders’ land would be safe for them to
continue raising the sheep for wool.”

“What’s going to happen to you, Father?”
asked Erin. The girl’s eyes teared up and opened wide as she looked
directly at Roe. “You aren’t going to have him sentenced for
smuggling, are you, Lord Sexton?”

Roe’s heart went out to the girl. He
couldn’t stand the fact that he was the one who was going to have
to sentence her father.

“I’m sorry, Erin, but your father did some
things that were very wrong.”

“He was forced into it by the baron,” said
Erin. Then she looked at Auley and said, “tell them father.”

“It is true,” the man said. “And I did it
only to ensure your safety, Erin, but still there was no excuse for
being a part of the smuggling, and Lord Sexton has every right to
sentence me as he see fit, so please don’t be angry with him. Even
if I go to my death for this, at least I will go knowing that you
are safe now, and have Dugald to watch over you and protect
you.”

“Auley saved my life,” Alice spoke up,
glancing at the man fondly. “I do think that should count for a
lighter sentence.”

“That’s true,” piped in Roe’s mother. “As
she is a baroness. That action needs to be rewarded. Too many
people have died already over this, Roe. Henry was pulled into the
baron’s scheme as well and though I realize he wasn’t very honest
or loyal, we did become very fond of each other. He went to his
death protecting me. I’d be dead right now if it wasn’t for him.
Auley is the girl’s father, so please don’t take him from her. She
doesn’t deserve that.”

“But he knows smuggling is a punishable
crime, though usually not death on the first offense. Usually a
hand is caught off to prove a point,” Roe reminded them all.

“Nay!” cried Erin, gripping on to her
father.

“It’s all right, Erin,” Auley said. “I
deserve whatever punishment Lord Sexton gives me. And even without
a hand, at least we’ll still have each other.”

“What are you going to do, Roe?” asked
Sapphire. “Do you need to hold a trial?”

Roe hated being in this position, but as
Lord of Rye it was his decision how to handle the situation. He
wanted more than anything to let him go without repercussions, but
he had to uphold the rules and set an example for his people.

“I can’t let you keep the Bucket of Blood,
Auley,” he told him.

“I understand,” the man said with his eyes
fastened to the ground in shame.

“However, I do think it would be a good
wedding present to Dugald and Erin, don’t you?”

“What?” he said, looking upward, hope back
in his eyes. “Aye, I think so too.”

“Erin already knows how to run the place,”
Roe said, “but both she and Dugald are still young and I will pay
for an experienced man to help them until they are able to do it on
their own.”

“Thank you, my lord, you are too
generous.”

“What about my father?” asked Erin, with
tears in her eyes. “Lord Sexton, what is going to happen to
him?”

“I will not cut off his hand,” he told her.
“And since Auley did fight against the baron and his men, he has
proved his loyalty to me and that I can trust him. Auley, you will
not be sentenced, however I will have to banish you from Rye
forever.”

“Nay,” said Erin. “I want to live near my
father.”

“Then I’ll take him to Lydd,” said Alice.
Auley smiled at her slightly, and Roe could see an exchange of
admiration between the two of them. “That way he will be close
enough for you to come visit him, Erin.”

“But he still won’t be able to come to Rye
to see me,” complained Erin.

“It’s all right, sweetheart,” said
Auley.

“I’ll make the exception for Auley to be
able to visit Rye but only if accompanied by the Baroness or one of
the castle guards,” said Roe. “And only twice a year, no more.”

“Thank you,” said Auley with gratitude in
his eyes.

“Yes, thank you,” Erin echoed.

Roe looked across the courtyard, spying the
dead body of his uncle lying in a wagon of hay. “I am sorry about
your husband,” he said to his mother. “But he will be buried in the
graveyard behind St. Mary’s in the village alongside my
father.”

“What’s going to happen to the dockmen who
the baron bribed to help him?” asked Waylon.

“I know they were probably just victims of
the baron and have families to feed as well,” said Roe. “But still,
they cannot go unpunished. They will do their time in the dungeon
and after that I will send them overseas to fight for the king
rather than having them sentenced to death. When I feel they have
served sufficient time, they can return to their families, though
they, too, will be exiled from Rye.”

Sapphire was quiet, and he noticed she was
still looking at her dagger. He pulled her closer in a hug,
remembering she had told him that she missed her family.

“I think the wedding banns have been posted
long enough,” he said, causing her to look up with question in her
eyes.

“What do you mean, Roe?”

“I mean I cannot wait another moment to
marry you. So in the morning a missive will be sent to your father
and sisters asking them to come to Rye anon. And as soon as they
arrive here, you and I will be married.”

“I’d like that,” said Sapphire, her eyes
twinkling in the firelight of the night torches of the castle. “And
I want more than anything in the world to be your wife. Because tho
I knew it before, I am now convinced,” she held her dagger up for
him to see, “that I have found my true love in you.”

’Twas less than a sennight later, and the
day of the wedding was here. Sapphire waited nervously in the
courtyard, pacing back and forth waiting for her father and twin
sisters as they had yet to arrive, tho their messenger had said
they’d be here this morning.

“Calm down,” said her sister Ruby, who had
arrived last night with her husband, Lord Nyle Sheffield. “You are
so nervous that you are making the baby jump.”

“Really?” Sapphire surveyed her sister
dressed in a golden gown with the bulge of the baby very noticeable
now. Her hair was so light blond that it was almost white, and with
the sun shining down upon her, she looked like an angel.

“Give me your hand,” said Ruby, “and you’ll
see for yourself.”

Ruby reached out and took Sapphire’s hand,
placing it on her stomach. The baby kicked and Sapphire felt it
beneath her fingers. She jumped back and pulled her hand away
quickly.

“Oh!” she cried out.

“You act as if you think the baby is going
to bite you,” said Ruby with a giggle.

Sapphire giggled too when she realized her
sister was right. It felt so good to have Ruby here that Sapphire
couldn’t stop smiling. They both laughed and hugged, as Ruby’s
husband walked up to meet them.

“What is the laughter all about?” asked Lord
Nyle Sheffield.

“I’m just happy,” said Sapphire. “And I
can’t wait to have a baby. Many of them!”

Roe joined them just then, and overheard
what she’d said.

“That’s fine with me,” he piped in, “but
just one at a time, alright? I know you have twin sisters and I am
not sure if my ears could handle two babies crying at once.”

“I’ll take three at a time if I can get it!”
exclaimed Sapphire, causing odd looks on both the men’s faces. Ruby
and Sapphire burst out laughing at that.

“A travelling party is arriving,” announced
Waylon coming to join them. “Lady Sapphire, I believe ’tis your
father and sisters.”

“Let’s go.” Sapphire took Ruby by the hand
and they both took off across the courtyard.

“Father!” she cried out, almost pulling him
off his horse as he tried to dismount.

“Sapphire, I am so glad to be here.” He gave
her a hug then acknowledged Ruby. “That baby looks like it’ll be a
good sized one, congratulations Ruby.”

“Father, don’t say it that way or you make
me feel like a whale. But thank you and it is good to see you.”

Sapphire introduced her father as well as
her twin sisters, Amber and Amethyst to Roe and his mother, and
when everyone had exchanged pleasantries, Roe spoke up.

“Father Geoffrey awaits us at St. Mary’s
church, so if you would all join us on this special day, I do
believe it is time for our wedding.”

Sapphire ran her hand over the dagger at her
waist, and her father spotted it.

“That looks familiar,” he told her. “Did
your dagger mysteriously show up just like it did with Ruby?”

“From a blind old hag as well,” said
Sapphire.

“Father, mayhap we can find this old hag,”
said her sister Amethyst, “as I would really like to find not only
my dagger but my true love as well.” Amethyst had dark
shoulder-length hair and a liveliness about her that was admired by
all. She was always in a happy mood and enjoyable to have in one’s
presence.

“Where is she?” Sapphire’s father, Earl
Blackpool asked.

“We don’t know,” said Sapphire. “After Roe
got the dagger from her, she seemed to disappear.”

“What about you, Amber?” asked Ruby. “Don’t
you want to find your dagger and true love as well?”

“We’ll see,” Amber answered, and Sapphire
thought she was acting oddly. Though she was the quieter of the
twins and always proper, she seemed to be holding a secret within.
Sapphire knew Amber well enough to realize that she wouldn’t say
anything about what was on her mind until she was good and
ready.

“Well, let’s go to the church,” Roe said.
“As I have a woman to marry and I can wait no longer.”

“Me neither,” said Sapphire, smiling and
running a hand over the hilt of her dagger thinking how lucky she
was to be marrying Roe and no longer being married to the horrible
baron.

* * *

Roe stood at the top of the stairs of St.
Mary’s church, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. He
looked over to Sapphire, just as they were getting ready to say
their vows, and just drank in her beauty.

It was a custom to be married in blue, and
she wore her bright blue velvet gown laced in gold trim. Her long
mahogany hair was braided loosely, trailing down her back. She wore
a headdress composed of a metal circlet woven with bright red
poppies and purple larkspur that she and Ruby had picked from the
field outside the castle just that morning. A small veil was
attached to the back. And on her neck she wore the sapphire
necklace that had been her mother’s. She also wore the sapphire
jeweled dagger at her waist.