Authors: Kathryn Le Veque
Annoyance making a return, Lance
scowled at his older brother. "I would have been ready this minute had my
chamber not been so completely out of order. With all of the servants we have
to cook and serve and clean, how can such a thing be possible?"
"It's possible because you
are a complete pig," Ian said frankly, laughing when his brother shook his
fist threateningly. As Lance opened his mouth to refute his brother's
assessment, a polished, familiar figure appeared in the doorway. The last of
the du Bonne brothers had arrived.
"What's so humorous?"
Stephan du Bonne moved into the chamber with the grace of a cat, tossing his
youngest brother the long-anticipated tunic. "God's Beard, Lance, aren't
you finished dressing? The men-at-arms have already formed escorts and are
awaiting our presence to lead them in guiding our guests."
Ian snorted with amusement as
Lance glowered. "I'll be ready shortly," Lance snapped without force,
slugging his giggling middle brother in the arm when the man refused to silence
himself. "I was waiting for my tunic."
Stephan cocked an eyebrow;
devilishly handsome with pale green eyes and beautiful reddish-blond hair, he
was considered the most comely of the three brothers. He also possessed charm
that had caused many a woman to swoon.
"It was finished last
night," Stephan said, moving to shove Ian away from the window so he could
cast his own experienced gaze over the grounds. "Had you not been so
drunk, you would have heard Genisa when she offered to bring it to your
chamber. As it was, I attempted to deliver it to you after you retired but my
knocking could not be heard over the grunts of pleasure coming from within the
chamber."
Ian laughed loudly as Lance
scowled and turned away, laying the brilliant tunic on the jumbled bed. "I
am sure that I wasn't the only one filling my chamber with the sounds of
pleasure," he said sarcastically. "And speaking of
Genisa,
where is my delicious sister-in-law?"
Stephan was moving for the armor
against the wall; the squires were nearly finished and the time was past to
commence dressing his slothful brother. "Where else? She and Summer have
perched themselves on the battlements to watch the influx of guests. It should
be quite a spectacle."
Ian's humor faded somewhat as he
moved to help his older brother with Lance's protection. "Do you think it
wise to allow Summer to mingle with the guests without one of us as her
escort?"
"Genisa is with her. Summer
will not come to any harm or embarrassment with my wife by her side. Moreover,
Genisa prattles so that even if Summer attempted to speak, she would be unable
to get a word in."
Stephan sounded confident; but,
then again, he always sounded confident. Ian and Lance trusted him. With
thoughts of Summer and Genisa and the state of Lance's slothful nature shoved
aside, the three brothers prepared for the day with a good deal of mounting
vigor. The excitement in the air was a palpable thing.
***
"Do you see the Lady
Isobel?"
The Lady Genisa Rilaux du Bonne
jabbed a slender finger to the green and silver party that had recently passed
under the portcullis and into the bailey. Hidden behind the thick walls of the
battlements, Genisa and her sister-in-law had been observing the invasion of
guests since the early morn. Nearing noon already, the last stragglers were
arriving and the bustle of Chaldon was chaotic.
But the chaos had yet to reach
the parapet above the bailey, high on the defending walls of the old Norman
fortress. The two giddy young ladies had spent a wonderful morning inspecting
the guest from their private haven when they should have very well been tending
the masses.
"There, Summer - see?"
Genisa poked her tapered finger into the air once more. "Good Heavens,
look how fat she has become! Why, I remember when she was the fairest maiden in
the shire. Thank Goodness that marriage hasn't turned me into a cow as it has
apparently done to poor Isobel."
"You are the f-fairest
maiden in the shire, Genisa," Summer du Bonne's soft golden eyes were
riveted to the rotund woman below. "My brother surely would not have
m-married you if you had been second best."
Genisa smiled, a toothy, lovely
grin that had captivated Stephan's arrogant heart. She was indeed a beautiful
woman, flashy and blond and finely sculpted. She had been pursued by nearly
every eligible knight in the province, and sometimes even the ineligible ones.
But the knight managing to capture her heart had been none other than the
illustrious Sir Stephan du Bonne, a knight who had amassed a small fortune and
a certain degree of fame by way of the tournament circuit. One eve in Stephan's
arms had been enough to convince her.
Her gaze was upon him even now as
he spoke kindly to the Lady Isobel and her portly husband. Stephan had ridden
escort from nearly a half mile out, his powerful frame unmistakable atop his
chestnut charger. Even after two years of marriage, Genisa's heart still
fluttered wildly at the sight of him.
"Where do you s-suppose Ian
and Lance are?" Summer burst into her sister-in-law's thoughts.
Genisa tore her gaze away from
her husband's imposing form to glance disinterestedly about the surrounding
area. "I do not know," she said truthfully. "They escorted the
last party in, the both of them. I can hardly imagine that they would simply
disappear when they know all of the guests have not yet arrived."
Summer snorted delicately, her
full lips curving into a magnificent smile. "Knowing Ian, they have indeed
disappeared. They are p-probably planning to wreak some sort of mischief upon
the festivities."
"But this is Lance's
celebration. Why would he jeopardize his own party?"
"Who can say?" Summer
tossed her exquisite mane of honey-blond hair over one shoulder, stroking the
ends absently. "Ever since Lance has returned home, it has b-been the same
story. Ian leads and Lance follows."
Genisa's gaze focused on her
sister-in-law now that Stephan had vanished from view. Staring at the woman's
exquisite profile, she thought back to the previous subject of conversation;
she knew for certain that she was not the fairest maiden in the shire. From the
moment she laid eyes upon her future husband's sister, she knew that she had
been living in a fantasy world where she alone was the most beautiful object of
worship in all of Dorset. There was another of greater glory.
Genisa learned that the du Bonnes
had been harboring a great secret within the stone bosom of Chaldon Castle. The
secret of a woman so beautiful, so magnificent, that she was kept sequestered
from the outside world of mortals unworthy to gaze upon such loveliness. Her
beauty was as fragile as porcelain; long, silken hair the color of honey and a
sweet oval face with big, beautiful eyes of an amber-golden color. Delicately
arched brows hovered over the thick-lashed gems as defined cheekbones tapered
to a delicate chin and delectable mouth. In truth, Summer du Bonne was a
treasure that remained hidden from the world.
Although Genisa had not lived
that far from Chaldon, as her wealthy merchant father had owned a manse in
Swanage, she had never once heard mention of a du Bonne daughter in possession
of such unearthly beauty and was angered into a jealous fit by the unwelcome
surprise. But that was until she attempted to speak with Stephan's young sister;
then she became aware of the reasoning behind the careful shielding of the Lady
Summer du Bonne. They did not hide Summer to horde her beauty - they hid her
because she stuttered. It wasn’t every time; mostly words that began with the
letter B or F. But it was pronounced when she did it. Stephan and Ian and Lance
tried to protect their baby sister from the reactions of a cruel world and
Genisa labored to do the same. She, too, took up the fight to protect Summer.
Her thoughts moved away from her
sister-in-law and back to the bailey below, now thinking of her husband’s two
younger brothers and their tendency for foolery. She responded belatedly to
Summer’s assertion.
"Stephan will have their
hides if they do anything foolish today," she replied. "He and your
father have endeavored to make this a successful day."
Summer shrugged, rising from her
crouched position and moving across the battlement to the opposite side. Genisa
followed and from their perch upon the wall, they could see beyond the fortress
into the green countryside beyond.
"Look," Summer pointed
into the distance. "Stephan is riding out to greet another party."
Genisa shielded her blue eyes
from the brilliant sun. "I cannot see the standards from here. They're too
far out."
Summer smiled faintly. "That
should be the last of the guests. The tourney is scheduled to b-begin in two
hours." Forgetting about the incoming party, her smile blossomed into a
radiant gesture. "I have never seen a tourney, Nise. I can hardly stand
the excitement!"
Genisa grinned. "It's a
wonderful spectacle of arrogance and humiliation. I have seen Stephan compete
in at least six."
"And he won every
b-bout?"
"Every bout, as you well
know. Stephan does not lose." Genisa grasped her sister-in-law by the
hand, pulling her toward the portion of the battlement that straddled the
portcullis. "We can see the incoming party better from here. If this is
indeed the last group, then we must ready ourselves for the afternoon of
competition."
"And f-food," Summer
said eagerly. "I have b-been smelling roast beef all morn."
"Me, too," Genisa
giggled, waving one of the tunic-clad men-at-arms away from the spot she wished
to gaze from. The tournament field in the near distance was revealed, several
of the guests having already established small tents about the perimeter, and
the two women found their attention occupied by the colorful display of
shelters. "Look at all of the tents, Summer. There must be hundreds."
Summer cocked a well-shaped
eyebrow as she totaled the sea of tents. "I count eighteen. B-but we
certainly may have one hundred before the day is through."
Unaware that she had been subtly
corrected, Genisa continued to stare out over the bright turf as the flags of
various houses were secured to the lodges. One hundred or eighteen was all the
same to her; unlike her intelligent sister-in-law, Genisa could not read or
write or calculate numbers. The fine arts of needlework and music and painting
were all she had ever been required to learn.
Suddenly, her bright expression
faded. When Summer glanced at her sister-in-law to say something to the woman,
she noted the change in countenance.
"What's wrong?" she
asked.
"There's the Kerry
tent," she replied, indicating the fanciful shelter of yellow and white.
"Good Heavens, I wish they hadn't been invited. I do not know why Stephan
insisted on inviting Breck Kerry and his stupid brother."
Summer gazed at the brilliantly
colored tarp, its towering standard snapping loudly in the breeze. "Isn't
he the knight who b-broke Stephan's wrist last year?" she asked.
Genisa nodded grimly. "He's
an unscrupulous knight. Stephan says his tactics are foul and questionable, but
his peers tolerate him because his father was a great knight for King Richard
the Lion Heart." Pensively, she sighed and leaned forward on the parapet.
"I wish he hadn't come. I shall worry terribly about Stephan now."
Summer's gaze drifted over the
other tents surrounding the tournament field, an area coming alive with guests
and knights and ladies in fine clothing. "Stephan and F-father invited all
of the knights on the circuit, men Stephan and Ian have competed against for
several years. It would be unfair to invite some and not others for this
celebration."
"I know, I know,"
Genisa sighed unhappily. "Still, I wish he had somehow managed to exclude
Breck. I do not want him here."
Summer smiled, attempting to
alleviate Genisa's fears. "Not to worry, darling,” she said soothingly.
“Stephan is the b-best knight on the circuit, is he not?"
Genisa shrugged carelessly, her
chin in her hand as she leaned forward on the stone ledge. "So he says,”
she muttered. “I have only heard him mention a few others, men who give him
steady competition. There is one knight I have heard him mention above all
others, a man who... look there!" As usual, Genisa had difficulty
maintaining her concentration for any length of time and she stabbed her finger
into the air, pointing to the road that moved through the town and snaked
towards the mighty fortress. "Look at all of the knights in that party.
Five in all."
Summer studied the approaching
party, beginning their ascent up the wide pebbled road towards Chaldon. She
could see the four knights in immaculate armor, riding chargers that were heavy
with battle armor. A collection of men-at-arms accompanied them, as well as a
wagon, a few servants, and a tiny man riding a mule. Strangely, there were no
women to attend the party and Summer found her interest strangely peaked by the
all-male retinue.
"There aren't any ladies
with them," she said to Genisa. "And look at the standard; black and
silver and white. Good Lord, what sort of b-beast is that on the banner? I have
never seen such an animal b-before."