Part II
Copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Delayne
Hidden in the shadows, Alexander grabbed a goblet and shifted his eyes around the room in an attempt to find her again. He hadn’t intended to leave her alone until they were away from the unkind words of those in the crowd. He’d lost her while listening to the biting judgement from another knight.
The words circled, knocking against the truth, while he searched out Percy.
“What in the world was he thinking, sending her here, like this?”
“Maybe that she would have a grand time, find a mate, settle down and raise a happy family,” Percy surmised dryly. “The way he talks about her, Sir Blakely has never wanted less then the best for his niece.”
“The best would be to keep her locked away,” Alexander muttered. “Lord Fowler’s back in London.”
“Lord Fowler? Why would he come back? The king is surely to hang him.”
“Hanging the man is the least the king will do—when he is caught.”
“And you’re so sure he would go after Lady Arlington—a lady whom, despite her beauty, has very little power in London?”
“I’m not sure of anything,” Alexander surmised, his eyes watching the crowd for some sign of her. He wasn’t just bothered by her safety, but driven by a desire to see her again. “I’ve been uneasy since we received the report that he had been spotted in London. Strange he should disappear for so long and suddenly return. For whatever reason he murdered before, he didn’t complete his duty. He is a knight, honor bound to do so.”
“But he is not a honorable knight. To murder and kill--”
“You misunderstand honor as it applies to knighthood. To keep honor one must complete the task. He didn’t complete his task. To end the house of Arlington. To destroy the Black Knight.”
Lila was weary and the ball was only halfway over. Sara was a beauty and adored by William, but her chatter only began to mix with the sounds of the ball. Such a place, Lila thought, was not where one should reacquaint themselves with old friends.
“You’re leaving?” Sara murmured and passed her goblet of to William. “But we were only just started to talk.”
“I shall be in London for a day or so. You should come by,” Lila said as Sara clasped in her hands. “In the peace and quiet of the halls of my parents home we can find so much more than we may in the presence of others.”
“Then expect me.”
“For a mid meal?”
“Yes. We shall have a celebration all our own.”
Lila sent for her carriage and for her maid, sure that a story of friendship, of a set of dances, and of a conversation with an old man would be enough to satisfy Ashton’s curiosity and her Uncle’s wishes.
The old man had been an accountant for her father’s estate. He was boisterous and friendly and remembered her at her father’s knee.
Waiting in the entryway, she smiled a bit as she looked back toward the ball then frowned as Alexander approached.
“You disappeared,” he said and held out his hand.
She tucked her own behind her back, hiding them in the folds of her gown.
“So did you.”
“Such ice for a lady is hardly appealing,” he said and studied her curiously. Then nodded as the door was opened for her signaling the arrival of her carriage. Immediately, their cloaks were brought forth.
“I shall be accompanying you to your uncle’s estate.”
“I should think not. People will talk when they see that we are leaving together. We’re staying on in London, anyway.”
“No one notices me, my lady. All eyes are on you. Besides, I’ve cleared it with your driver. With your maid. It is not safe for the Duchess of Arlington in London anymore.”
Lila blanched, taking an automatic step back. For a moment the image flashed as she'd last seen her father. London had not been safe then when he'd taken a dagger to his heart. Her mother had screamed.
Lila pushed the image back before she heard the words, before she had to deal with more pain, “I’m no longer a threat to anyone.”
“You carry the linage and have all your life.”
“I carry other lineages too. Now that you know mine, you seem more interested.”
“I want to see to your safety. Your maid has seen that your things were sent for.”
“Who are you?”
“A knight in the kings service,” he said, wrapping the cloak around his shoulders and securing the clasp. He nodded as Percy stepped in from the doorway. “Lord Percy will vouch for me. He is coming, as well. It is important for you to leave London immediately.”
“And you have nothing of say of my approval?”
“I should hope to earn it,” he said carefully, then sighed when he saw the hurt flash in her eyes. “I never had such a dance as those I had tonight. I would have found you if other matters had not detained me.”
“And so you want to a ride. To Billingdor. To meet it’s master.”
“I’ve met it’s master—and thought his neice a great deal younger than the grievous woman that stands before me now.”
“Grievous, you say?”
Percy stepped forward, frowning toward Alex as he realized that his friend was only fumbling his mission. “It is not safe for the Duchous of Arlington in London at this time,” he held a hand out for hers. “Princess, you know my father, Lord Merlin Wentworth.”
“Say you nothing of my reputation that I should leave with men?” she hissed.
“We will not leave with you,” Percy said and frowned at Alex whom he thought had certainly fumbled the explanations. “We will wait a moment or two--”
“Not long--”
“Not long,” Percy consented to Alex’s interruption. “You driver is instructed to meet us on Barbury Lane. Then we will follow on our own horses with a safe distance. We will guard you princess. With our lives.”
“Your uncle never should have sent you to London,” Alex muttered.
Lila glanced at him. “On that, Sir Alexander of Edinborough, Knight of the king’s chamber, we agree.”
The trees at the edge of the forest stood tall, a wall against the night. Alex rode his steed close on the entrance path, understanding that Sir Blakely Billingdor, or one of the hounds, would soon hear his arrival.
He had not long to wait. Blakely stepped from the shadows immediately, a large hound at his side.
“You prowl close to the gate tonight,” Alex said as he slid from his steed.
“Tis a quiet night, and an odd one for a knight of the kings chamber to visit so late.”
He’d drawn his sword, despite their friendship, but for their friendship, Alex thought, the black knight’s hand rested on the head of the hound. It did not bother Alex, for he understood the Knight’s duty. It would come first, as would his own.
“I have escorted your niece back to your estate.”
“Lila—she was not due back until the end of the week,” the Knight’s face blanched, “She is all right?”
“She is angry at me, but glad to be home and away from London. London does not suit her.”
“It did as a child,” the older knight said. “She’s wasting away in this castle of mine.”
“Tis not safe for her in London. Lord Fowler has returned,” at the look in Blakely’s eyes, Alex frowned. “You knew this.”
“Fowler has never left London. I could hide her away forever, but soon she would wither. Lila is of age … and she stays in a castle who’s walls were never built to trap such beauty in.”
“The walls were built for safety.”
“And if I should die, in this duty of mine, those walls would no longer be hers and would pass from my hand, my line. She would have nothing.” Blakely turned and stared into the forest. “Her mother ... I've been thinking that her mother would frown on it.”
“Why in this time? When such forces are at work in the land?”
“When have forces not been a work? If Fowler was not in London, he was somewhere. Tis safer for her in London then on the road at night in a strange land. She has the estate there for her comfort and I have people for her protection. It is not far from here. I have heard of other balls farther away. Thank you for seeing to her safety. You would seek refuge for the night?”
“If it would be granted, for myself and my friend, Percy of Wentworth.”
“It is granted.”
“I would also ask the favor of a knight such as yours for the right to speak with his niece.”
Lord Billingdor considered the younger knight with a frown. “You understand I am not her father and it is her choice?”
“I understand that if she chooses me, you will have a say in it. I am not of royal blood, nor would I seek such a title.”
“And yet, she is,” the elder knight murmured. “I reserve my words.”
“So you do, and so is your obligation.”
“But you have my permission, while not my blessing, to speak, as you say with her. We'll see how the course runs as her fire already blazes against you.”
There was laughter in his voice, Alex realized, and knew of the great love an uncle had for his niece. He got on his steed and looked back at the forest, only to see the knight and the hound at his side silp into the dark trees.
Lila had learned from her maids that Percy and Alex had stayed the night, so she chose not to break the fast with her uncle, knowing they would have joined him, and headed out into the gardens.
She was glad, she realized, as she walked among her flowers, that she had an excuse not to speak with her uncle. There were things to tell him, of course, about the ball and the people. There would likely be another war waged about her attendance at another.
She turned suddenly and headed down a familiar garden path that wove to the edge of the castle wall. She'd planted roses alongside the steep staircase that wound up to the small gaurd tower. It was a favorite place of hers, with the scent of the roses and the view from the tower.
From the view, she looked over the lake that was on her uncle's land. It shimmered under the early morning sunlight.
Despite the midnight flight, she couldn't help but remember the ball. Seeing Sara, dancing with Alex. She had always shared openly with her uncle, as he was prone to listen, and she was troubled that she hesitated now.
Yet, this time her feelings were involved. Once the conversation began, it would shift and move under his superb scrutiny. Her uncle knew her so well, and would understand that something else had happened. She wanted it kept secret until she understood it.
She wanted to tell him of Sara, of course, but that could come later.
If only she could stop thinking of him!
Lifting a rose still on it’s stem as it tilted over the stone wall, she drew in the scent. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she savored. The scent, as always, reminded her of her mother. It was in times like these that the Father of the castle church had taught her to pray the Psalms.
She let one run through her head, a favorite, as her nerves were shaken.
The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
She turned and saw Alex at the bottom of the stone steps. She knew her face paled and hoped it was unnoticeable in the morning light. “You may break the fast with my uncle, Knight of Edinborough. He surely would have something to say to you.”
“He just might,” Alex said, stepping onto the first step. He had been reluctant to tread into the garden, understanding that it was her place. “However, it would have seemed an oddity to him as he knew I had things to say to you.”
“You’ve spoken with him.”
“I made him aware of your return last night and for the reasons I had for making such a decision.”
“Which you felt I needed not know.”
Alex titled his chin and studied her. “I fear and felt then that the news was unpleasant and that it might hurt you.”
“Yet you care nothing for my reputation.”
“We did our best to protect your reputation." Slowly, he climed the rest of the steps, weary of the distance between them. "If you had not chosen to leave the ball so quickly, on your own, I would have had time to explain things to you in a better manner. Lila.”
She stepped back as he steped ontot he small tower platform. “You do not have permission to be that familiar with me, Sir Alexander of Edinburough. And you still have not answered my question, or questions.”
He only considered the words for a moment. Truth seemed to be important to her, and as it was a trait that suited him, he also wanted her to expect such things from him. “Lord Fowler’s been seen in London.”
“Lord Fowler ...”
Her eyes unfocused for a moment as she retreated back into horror and memory. Alex stepped forward and put a hand on her arm. She jumped, surprised and mentally seemed to stumble back against the stone wall.
The daughter of Arlington had been in the room when her parents were murdered.
“Princess.”
Lila shook her head. “I’m no princess.”
But she was, Alex thought, and she was trembling. “Your mother was the sister of our late king and your father brother to the Black Knight.”
“Lord Fowler should want the King’s forests for what reason?”
“Not the forest, but what’s inside the forest. The forest is massive and covers land beyond the eye. Your uncle could not protect all.”
“What’s inside?”
“That is a secret held only within a few of the most trusted of the king's advisors. I could not even tell you, milady, nor my steed-if I even knew myself.”
“Or Percy of Wentworth?”
“Nor Percy.”
She looked away. For a moment she was silent, only her eyes mirroring her trubled thoughts. “And why do you ask for my attentions?”
“I ask, only because you brought such beauty to me—beauty a Knight just christened by the king never expected to have found. Not beauty,” he added quickly, “out here, but in the eyes, in that smile you graced me with . . . in the touch of your hand,” he added and took hers again. “I’m already a knight in the king’s service, milady. I need nothing more.”
“You left my side last evening.”
“I looked for you and not finding you, I went to find your maid. Arrangements needed to be made.”
“Someone stopped you, told you the truth."
“I already knew the truth. Someone stopped me, told me lies. Blistering gossip meant to hurt you. I knew then that the arrangements needed to be made. If others knew, or thought ... Fowler was too close."
“Arrangements you could not discuss with me?” she pulled her hand from his and turned away.
“I could not find you.”
“Tis just a ball, not the whole of London.”
“Ah, the lady pouts,” he stepped around her, saw the frown, and indeed a pout.
“Your charm is lacking, sir.”
“So Percy has told me. Words of flattery are at times a cover of truth. I would rather seek honesty and would rather be honest. Lila,” he said her name softly, a gentle whisper from his lips. “I would ask for a dance now, if there were music.”
Lila looked up at him, and saw the kindness and the plea. Neither did she understand.
“Why do you speak such words to me?”
“I’ve never felt this way before. And I don’t like that you frown at me so. I know the ball made you hurt last night and that the people there seek to harm in their callous ways. It was my intention to protect you from their words, their looks, and then I lost you within the crowd. It is not easy for a knight, honor bound, to recognize his own failings.”
She turned and looked out over the lake. So many secrets she had shared only with herself over the beauty of the lake.
“My father brought my mother here," her voice was little more than a murmur. "He introduced her to my uncle, whom my mother feared greatly. Then he took her out to the edge of the lake and told her that even if her brother demanded their union, it was not for that purpose that he loved her. He'd loved her from the first moment he'd seen her at court, and he'd come here just after that to tell his brother and to think and to pray. This was my father's favorite spot at Billingdor. He thought of my mother here, looking out over the lake.”
She turned and placed her hand in his. “I would be lying if I told you that I don't want you here. I came up these steps, much like my father, thinking of someone I met within the royal court.”
“I am no royal.”
“Neither am I. You asked for music. That I cannot give you, but a walk in the silence of my garden I may. Such music draws my heart in ways a ball never would.”
“Then I shall take such an honor, for it is such a greater offer than a dance.”
The knight of Billingdor stood on the terrace, his back turned from the gardens and watched Percy of Wentworth swivel a dueling sword with blatant easy and energy of youth. “A skinny thing for the mountains of my food you eat. It’s no wonder the way you hop around like a jack rabbit, loosing such weight.”
Percy stopped and leaned on his sword, his smile as wide as a cat's. “Alex says that I must have been cursed by the monks to have a bottomless pit inside my stomach, because my father refuses to give them money. Of course, that’s because his brother joined the Spanish monastery and they haven’t spoken since they were boys.”
Billingdor chuckled, finding Percy amusing. “You father has been known in the court to have … odd traits, but substantial reason in matters of importance.”
“Why reason things if they are unimportant? And why live life in colors you know when there are colors you’ve never seen before,” he said, thinking of the suit of clothes that still rested in it’s trunk. “Such is father’s reasoning.”
“And his son’s, in many ways, I would assume,” the knight murmuered and turned to watch his niece as she wondered through the gardens. “Your friend is honor bound to the king. He is an honorable friend?”
Percy moved back to sit at the table, deciding he could have a bit more, “The most honorable of the chamber.”
Percy glanced out into the garden, following the black knight’s steady gaze. “He’s not a man of the court. He doesn’t like to play at society, though he knows how. The king expects him to grace the crowds and blend in.”
“Lila’s not a woman of the court, either. She might of been, had her mother lived to bring her up. As it is, she has followed in my footsteps.”
“Shall she be the next guardian of the forest, then?” Percy asked, watching the knight.
Billingdor only laughed. “Lila knows nothing of such things. I erred in speaking. She’s taken over the run of the castle, which was never my suit. I never found a lady of my own, which I longed to keep … and who longed to carry the burden of Billingdor. So it has fallen to Lila to breath life into the halls.”
“I should say then, that they’re perfect for each other,” Percy murmured. “They’ll live in happy bliss away from the balls of London. Raise a family in the quiet life of fields, and frown from far away on the people that prance in their gaiety around meaningless … shall we call them balls.”
The Black Knight smiled a tender smile, remembering Lila as a child, looking lost and alone in the halls of Billingdor, her new home.
“I should say then that this man of hers shall earn my blessing.”
