Read Online Swords and Shields (Reign of the House of de Winter) by Kathryn Le Veque - Free Book Online

Davyss and Devereux and their youngest son, Dallan, headed for the old Church of the Sepulchre. Davyss, once again, carried Lespada , wondering how on earth he was going to explain the lack of a flesh and blood groom. He supposed that given the fact that Drake had actually even agreed to the marriage, he should have been grateful for small mercies, but he found that he was mostly concerned with how East Anglia was going to react to the presence of the steel groom. Once again, Lespada would marry another lovely young woman, as an aversion to marriage among the male members of the de Winter family seemed to be a pattern.
    With everyone gathered at the door of the old church in preparation for the ceremony, including Drake’s friends, James de Lohr and Cortez de Bretagne, Davyss greeted everyone as the father of the groom and announced that the bride would be marrying Lespada by proxy because Drake was ill. That announcement instantly brought the bride to the boiling point and now Davyss found himself facing down a furious young woman.
    “My lady, it is perfectly acceptable and legal to marry the sword of your husband,” Davyss said evenly, remembering how someone had explained the very same thing to his wife, long ago, as he’d watched from the shadows. “If you understand anything about the knighthood, then you will know that the sword of a knight is the most precious possession he has. It means more to him than anything and is a symbol of all that he is. Drake is unable to attend you this day and sends his sword in his stead with the utmost respect.”
    Elizaveta didn’t care if having the sword represent her groom was a sign of respect or not. Having spent the past month traveling from France to Norfolk, she had only been given two days to rest before attending her wedding. She was still quite exhausted and rather ill, herself, from having eaten some bad food the week before, so the fact that her husband had chosen to declare illness rather than attend his own wedding didn’t sit well with her in the least. At that moment, the battle was on.
    “It is a coward’s way out,” she said, unrepentant that she was being rude to the earl. In her mind, he deserved it. “You are coddling your cowardly son and if he does not have the strength to stand and be married, then I shall not marry him at all. I will marry no weakling.”
    Behind Davyss, he heard a snort of laughter, quickly shushed, and suspected it was his youngest son, Dallan, who had said very much the same thing before they’d left Thetford Castle. Tall, blond, and pious, Dallan was not on his brother’s side as far as this marriage was concerned. Davyss further knew that Devereux had probably thrown an elbow into Dallan’s ribs to silence him.
    “My lady, I assure you that my son is not a weakling,” Davyss said, his manner cooling with the rude girl. “If you refuse to marry the sword by proxy, then you insult the entire de Winter family. Is that your intention?”
    “It is not,” Christian du Reims, standing behind his daughter, spoke. A big man with black eyes and long, gray hair gathered at the nape of his neck, he had been a fierce fighter in his younger years. These days, he was simply a lonely, old man. “We have no desire to insult the House of de Winter, Davyss. I apologize for my daughter’s manners. She is weary from her travels. Let us conduct the initial mass now and proceed into the church for the nuptials.”
    Elizaveta whirled to her father angrily. “Nay,” she said flatly. “I will not marry the sword of a weakling.”
    Christian’s eyes narrowed. “If you say that again, I fear I shall have to beat you in front of these kind people,” he said. “That will not give them a very good impression of the wife their son is to marry.”
    Elizaveta’s eyes narrowed as well. She was not about to back down on this matter and her father had always given in to her whims, no matter what, so his attempts to discipline her where not