WolfeLord by Kathryn Le Veque

CHAPTER EIGHT

“You told herwhat?”

“That I wish for her to marry you.”

Will stood in the center of Lily’s chamber, dumbfounded.

It was mid-morning at Carlisle and, unfairly, the world was going on while Will and Lily continued to deal with catastrophic news. Everything around them was going on as normal and it hardly seemed right, but that was the situation they found themselves in.

And now this.

Lily had asked Adria to marry Will.

“Why on earth would you do such a thing?” he finally managed to ask. “You tell her what is happening and then you demand she marry me?”

Lily could see that his shock was turning to outrage, but she didn’t back down. “I did,” she said. “If you will stop posturing long enough to allow me to explain, I shall.”

“I am not posturing. Speak.”

Lily took a deep breath. “You will not deny me this last wish, William de Wolfe,” she said, becoming angrier than he was. “I am the one who is suffering through something horrific and unimaginable, not you. I am the one who will not see my next birthday, so stop acting as if you are the one being wronged. It is not you. It is me.”

She was shaking by the time she finished, spewing angrily, and he put up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I am sorry,” he said. “I am not trying to be difficult… but marriage? You want Adria to marry me? Why, in God’s name?”

Lily wasn’t going to let him off so easily. If she had any chance of bending the man to her will, she had to take a stand and make a good show of it.

The tears started to come.

“Because I want to leave this earth knowing that you are being taken care of,” she said. “I want to know that Atticus and Athena and Andrew have someone they can turn to, someone that cares for them. I want to see my family tended to by a woman I love dearly, one I know will be good to all of you. Is that so much to ask?”

Will’s outrage was gone, replaced by a distinct sense of remorse and sorrow. “Nay,” he said hoarsely. “It is not.”

“I want you to be happy, Will. Adria is a good woman and she will make you happy.”

Will didn’t even know what to say. It wasn’t as if he could fight with her about it. He didn’t have the heart. But he was still deeply shocked.

“Very well,” he said after a moment. “If that is what you wish.”

“It is.”

“And she didn’t say anything before she left?”

Lily dabbed at her eyes with her kerchief. “Nay,” she said. “I know the news has hurt her. It has hurt all of us. I think asking her to marry you was too much, so mayhap you should find her and ease the situation.”

Will frowned. “What do you want me to say?” he said. “Lily, I am as shocked as she is. I have never once looked at Adria in a romantic way. Not once.”

“Then you do not think she is pretty?”

“She’s damned beautiful, but that’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?” Lily asked. “She’s beautiful and sweet and she loves our children. I know she would grow to love you if you would only let her. Wouldn’t you like to have a wife who was in love with you, Will? A woman who could give you something I never could?”

That was a harsh way of putting it, but it was true. Oddly enough, it gave him pause. Will thought that he and Lily would be married until he died. He’d always planned on that. It never occurred to him that she would die before him, so the loveless marriage they found themselves in was something he’d resigned himself to years ago. He thought that was going to be the rest of his life. To think that he might actually have a chance for happiness was a new and startling thought.

With Adria.

What Lily said was true. Adria was beautiful and sweet and she loved his children. She was young, with a curvy figure that most men gave a second look to. If he thought hard, he found her attractive, wildly so, but that was never anything he would have acted upon. He was loyal to his vows and always had been. But he had to admit that what Lily was suggesting was intriguing.

Perhaps a little too intriguing.

“I don’t know,” he muttered, turning away. “I must think on it.”

“What is there to think about?”

“Lily, I cannot make lifelong decisions in a quick moment,” he said, exasperated. “You must let me at least become accustomed to the idea. I never planned on another wife, but now you are demanding I have one, so I am allowed to think on it a little.”

Lily did something at that point that she wasn’t supposed to do. She got out of bed. She made her way over to Will, who was standing by the window overlooking the inner bailey.

“I would like to give you all the time in the world to think on it, but I do not have that kind of time,” she said quietly. “I have decided to let Tarraby take the child from me in the hope of saving his life. If what Tarraby says is true, then every day that passes is a day the child is dying. Therefore, next week on a day of my choosing, I will permit the man to take the child from me. But between now and that day, I must know that you and my children will be taken care of. I want you to have a chance at happiness, Will, and I believe Adria will be that chance.”

Will sighed heavily as he turned to look at her. “How can you even know that?”

She smiled faintly, gazing into his handsome face. “Because I do,” she said. “Adria is almost part of our family, anyway. Would you prefer she marry someone else and you would never see her again? Our children would never see her again?”

He grunted. “It is of no matter to me because I do not have feelings for her,” he said frankly. “She is your vassal, not mine. I am not the kind of man who goes around feeling things for women who are not my wife.”

“You do not even feel anything for your wife.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “That is not fair,” he said. “Mayhap we have resigned ourselves to a marriage that has us friends and not lovers, but that does not mean I pine for other women.”

Lily put a hand on his big arm. “I want you to think about pining for Adria,” she said softly. “I give you my full permission, Will. Take this week and see if you find anything about her that you can have feelings for. Will you do this for me? Please?”

He rolled his eyes and looked away. “You cannot be serious.”

“I am.”

“You cannot force me to feel anything for her.”

“I am not forcing you,” she said. “All I am doing is asking you to try. Pretend I am not a factor, nor is your marriage, for soon enough, it will not be and you will be a widower. Pretend you are alone and can have any woman you want. All I am asking is that you try, Will. Please. I want you to.”

He wanted to walk out of the room in protest. He really did. But something made him stay – confusion, curiosity, and perhaps even interest. He wasn’t even sure what he felt. All he knew was that he couldn’t walk away from her or what she was suggesting because it evidently meant so much to her.

He returned his focus to her.

“You are not going to leave me alone until I do, are you?” he said.

She grinned impishly. “Nay.”

“But what if this isn’t what Adria wants?”

“You will not know unless you ask her.”

Will sighed sharply, looking her in the eyes. He seemed to study her for a moment, as if remembering that girl from long ago that he’d been so attracted to. He just didn’t know what happened to that, but he did know one thing.

Lily was his friend.

She always had been.

“You are my closest friend,” he said hoarsely. “I do not know how that ever came about, that you should be my friend and not a wife I love madly, but the loss I will feel of this friendship is greater than you can imagine. I do not know what I am going to do without you harping on me or ordering me around.”

There was humor amidst the tears that came to Lily’s eyes. “And you are one of my dearest friends, as well,” she said. “I will miss you greatly, Will, and that is why I must make sure you are well taken care of when I leave. I want you to be happy. I want you to love. And I want you to remember me with some fondness as the years go on. I am sorry I could not be the wife I should have been to you, but I do not consider my life wasted. Not at all.”

Reaching out, he grasped her hand and lifted it to his lips for a kindly kiss. “Nor I.”

“Then please talk to Adria. It means a great deal to me.”

He dropped her hand and nodded wearily. “I will try.”

With that, he turned and quit the chamber, leaving Lily by the window, watching him go with tears in his eyes. She knew it was a huge burden she had given him, but she felt in her heart that it was the right thing to do. Everything was happening so quickly that there simply wasn’t time for careful thought and lingering plans.

Next week.

She had until next week to find her husband a wife.

*

“Ah,” Gar said.“I have been looking for you. Sir Ronan, is it?”

Ronan looked up from the spear he’d been inspecting. He was standing outside of the armory built into Carlisle’s massive outer wall, going through some old weapons they had found in a storeroom, when he saw Adria’s father approaching.

“Aye, it is,” he said. “How may I be of service, my lord?”

Gar smiled, being very friendly with him. He pointed to the spear. “Expecting trouble?”

Ronan shook his head. “Not any more than usual,” he said, holding up the old spear. “These were found in a storeroom. I have no idea how long they’ve been there, but most definitely longer than Will has been in command.”

Gar pretended to study the spear even as Ronan lowered it. “I suspect you have more than your share of work here,” he said. “You know – for things like weapons and protecting the castle in general.”

Ronan nodded. “Being recently knighted, however, I am at the bottom of the chain of command,” he said. “That will not last long, however. I can defeat Hermes and, somehow, I’ll prove myself over Marcellus, or at least try to. I’ll get to the top.”

“Spoken like a true de Wolfe, I’m sure.”

Ronan grinned. “Will is the heir to the kingdom,” he said. “The best I can hope for is inheriting a grand post when he is the Earl of Warenton, but I want him to feel as if he can trust me. After I’ve beat down all of my competitors, of course.”

Somehow, they got onto the exact subject Gar was hoping they could discuss. It had come organically, in conversation, and he was pleased. But he wasn’t going to let them stray from it.

He’d come with a purpose.

“Then your father does not have any property to inherit?” he asked.

“He does,” Ronan said, picking away the frayed leather at the head of the spear. “My father was granted the title Lord Sydenham and the Sydenham Barony, a small but strategic barony between Wark Castle and the town of Kelso. As a result, he commands Roxburgh Castle, a rather large bastion that is not unlike Carlisle in that it is a crown property manned by both de Wolfe and royal troops.”

Sydenham.So Ronan’s father had titles and land, which undoubtedly meant income. Given that he was part of the de Wolfe family, he had wealth from them, as well. Surely he was a rich man, indeed.

Gar could see gold coins floating before his eyes.

“Why do you not serve at Roxburgh?” he asked.

“Because my father wanted me to gain some experience outside of his influence,” Ronan said. “My father is a great knight and I have no doubt that I will serve him one day, but for now, I remain at Carlisle.”

“I see,” Gar said. “And your mother? Where does she hail from?”

“She is a Hage,” Ronan said. “Kieran Hage, her father, was the Earl of Warenton’s second in command until his death a few years ago.”

“Ah,” Gar said. “I am sorry for your family. But I am sure he was quite proud of you.”

Ronan smiled faintly. “I hope so,” he said. “He was a great man. I miss him.”

“Of course you do,” Gar said, eyeing Ronan as the knight pulled off the rest of the frayed leather and separated the spear head from the shaft. “That shows a man of good character, feeling affection for friends and family. Certainly they must feel affection towards you, too. It is a pity you do not have a wife to share your affection. I must say I found it quite shocking to hear that you were not married.”

Ronan lifted his eyebrows. “I do not know why,” he said. “I have only seen eighteen summers. I have time still.”

“True,” Gar said. “There is no one special, though?”

“No one.”

He was going back to his spear and the conversation was starting to lag, which was something Gar didn’t want.

He had to go in for the kill.

“Sir Ronan, I would like to present something for your consideration,” he said. “I realize we do not know each other, but given that you are a de Wolfe, I know that you are a fine and noble knight purely from the reputation of your family. You see, my daughter is in need of a husband. With her comes the Alcester title and properties upon my death, which would pass to her husband. She is my heiress. Would… would that be of any interest to you?”

Ronan looked at him. “Your daughter?” he said, dumbfounded. “Lady Adria?”

Gar nodded. “Aye,” he said. “Lady Adria. Do not give me any answer now. Simply… think about it. You have known Adria for some time, I would imagine, so you know that she is a good lass. She is pretty and resourceful. I do believe she would make a fine wife and it is time for her to wed, so I am simply bringing it to your attention so that you may think about it.”

Ronan was looking at Gar with bewilderment. He didn’t even know what to say. Gar moved away from him, holding out a hand as if to beg pardon that he’d just dumped that rather heady proposal on his lap.

“Just think,” he said. “I will leave you now. We may discuss it again at your leisure.”

With that, the man scurried off, back across the outer bailey as Ronan watched in shock.

Did Adria’s father just offer me a betrothal?

Scratching his head, he went back to work, but the thought of marriage to Adria stuck with him. As Gar had requested, he thought about it.

Maybe too much.