Read Online Knights by Linda Lael Miller - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Linda Lael Miller
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“Gloriana is your destiny, and you are hers. I knew it when she first stepped through that gate, just there.” She pointed, and Dane saw an ordinary portal and was reminded of why his sister-in-law lived in the abbey, rather than at Hadleigh Castle with her husband. “Do you know what lies on the other side of that gate, Dane?”
He shook his head, deeply saddened. “No, sweet.”
“Another world,” Elaina replied. She was very pale, and he saw fragile blue veins pulsing beneath the soft flesh of her temple. “It is a passageway into the world ours will one day become. And there are other gates, other thresholds and corridors, that lead to still other—”
Dane had taken her hand; he raised it to his lips and kissed the knuckles lightly. “
Shh
,” he whispered, heartsick, “You grow weary, Elaina. I have tired you, and you must rest.”
She nodded. “Yes,” she said, and tears pooled in her lashes as she rose from the bench and pulled free of Dane’s grasp. “Yes, I must lie down. I can hear it, you see.” Elaina raised both hands to her ears, as if to shut out some dreadful din. “Such a wretched, hurried place, full of carts without horses to pull them, moving fast and trumpeting to each other, like a thousand stags in a thousand forests—”
Dane prayed she would leave the courtyard, before he broke down and wept for her. “I will come again,” he promised, for it was all he had to offer. Though he had bought splendid gifts for Elaina, they were in hischamber at Hadleigh Castle, for he had not thought to fetch them before leaving his brother’s keep.
“Send Gloriana to me on the morrow,” Elaina pleaded, hesitating at the gate he and Edward and the abbess had used, as wraithlike and fragile as a child. “I must see her.”
At his nod of acquiescence, which she waited to see, she vanished.
Dane lingered a few moments, recovering himself, and then strode into the larger courtyard, where he found Edward and the abbess, waiting with the horses. There was no sign of Elaina, for she had no doubt retreated to the chapel or her cell.
Dane took a coin from the leather bag tied to his belt and pressed it into the abbess’s callused palm, shutting her bony fingers around it. He did not ask Sister Margaret to look after Elaina, for that would have been an insult, since everyone knew she was devoted and made every effort on Lady Hadleigh’s behalf. Instead, Dane simply mounted Peleus and reined the great, impatient animal toward the outer gate.
“What did you expect to gain by visiting Elaina?” Edward asked when they were away from the abbey and the drawbridge was in plain sight, just ahead.
It was an intuitive question, and Dane had no sensible offer to give. “I am fond of the lady,” he said evenly. “As you should be, since she was as near a mother as you ever had.”
Edward’s youthful, tumultuous skin was flushed. “It is said that Elaina is a witch, that she casts spells. She made the swine die one year, and another—”
“Swill!” Dane interrupted furiously. “What ignorant, superstitious dolt dared utter such a claim?”
The boy subsided, but he did so ungraciously. “Doyou think I’d tell you, Kenbrook?” he asked. “And see you cut out their tongues with your dagger?”
Dane tipped back his head and gave a raw burst of laughter. There was no mirth in the sound and no mercy in Dane himself. “That I would do,” he said, and sobered. “Have a care, Edward. There are those who would burn Elaina for her foibles and think it a service to the Almighty. Be vigilant, if you care for our lady sister at all, and put a stop to such talk whenever you hear it.”
Edward swallowed hard, and then he nodded.
No other words passed between the two brothers as they rode side by side over the drawbridge, passing through the outer bailey and dismounting at the stables. Edward left his gelding to the care of a groom, while Dane, troubled, attended to Peleus himself.
Gloriana knelt in
He shook his head, deeply saddened. “No, sweet.”
“Another world,” Elaina replied. She was very pale, and he saw fragile blue veins pulsing beneath the soft flesh of her temple. “It is a passageway into the world ours will one day become. And there are other gates, other thresholds and corridors, that lead to still other—”
Dane had taken her hand; he raised it to his lips and kissed the knuckles lightly. “
Shh
,” he whispered, heartsick, “You grow weary, Elaina. I have tired you, and you must rest.”
She nodded. “Yes,” she said, and tears pooled in her lashes as she rose from the bench and pulled free of Dane’s grasp. “Yes, I must lie down. I can hear it, you see.” Elaina raised both hands to her ears, as if to shut out some dreadful din. “Such a wretched, hurried place, full of carts without horses to pull them, moving fast and trumpeting to each other, like a thousand stags in a thousand forests—”
Dane prayed she would leave the courtyard, before he broke down and wept for her. “I will come again,” he promised, for it was all he had to offer. Though he had bought splendid gifts for Elaina, they were in hischamber at Hadleigh Castle, for he had not thought to fetch them before leaving his brother’s keep.
“Send Gloriana to me on the morrow,” Elaina pleaded, hesitating at the gate he and Edward and the abbess had used, as wraithlike and fragile as a child. “I must see her.”
At his nod of acquiescence, which she waited to see, she vanished.
Dane lingered a few moments, recovering himself, and then strode into the larger courtyard, where he found Edward and the abbess, waiting with the horses. There was no sign of Elaina, for she had no doubt retreated to the chapel or her cell.
Dane took a coin from the leather bag tied to his belt and pressed it into the abbess’s callused palm, shutting her bony fingers around it. He did not ask Sister Margaret to look after Elaina, for that would have been an insult, since everyone knew she was devoted and made every effort on Lady Hadleigh’s behalf. Instead, Dane simply mounted Peleus and reined the great, impatient animal toward the outer gate.
“What did you expect to gain by visiting Elaina?” Edward asked when they were away from the abbey and the drawbridge was in plain sight, just ahead.
It was an intuitive question, and Dane had no sensible offer to give. “I am fond of the lady,” he said evenly. “As you should be, since she was as near a mother as you ever had.”
Edward’s youthful, tumultuous skin was flushed. “It is said that Elaina is a witch, that she casts spells. She made the swine die one year, and another—”
“Swill!” Dane interrupted furiously. “What ignorant, superstitious dolt dared utter such a claim?”
The boy subsided, but he did so ungraciously. “Doyou think I’d tell you, Kenbrook?” he asked. “And see you cut out their tongues with your dagger?”
Dane tipped back his head and gave a raw burst of laughter. There was no mirth in the sound and no mercy in Dane himself. “That I would do,” he said, and sobered. “Have a care, Edward. There are those who would burn Elaina for her foibles and think it a service to the Almighty. Be vigilant, if you care for our lady sister at all, and put a stop to such talk whenever you hear it.”
Edward swallowed hard, and then he nodded.
No other words passed between the two brothers as they rode side by side over the drawbridge, passing through the outer bailey and dismounting at the stables. Edward left his gelding to the care of a groom, while Dane, troubled, attended to Peleus himself.
Gloriana knelt in
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