Love's Magic (38 page)
Nicholas turned the corner, Ed and Ned in tow. “Is that her? Is she awake?”
Celestia felt her face flush and she quickly patted her hair as Nicholas came into view. Her father groaned and put his head in his hands.
“Nicholas. You came back from Spain?” The joy was fleeting. “How long have I been, er … sick? Years?”
Ed laughed. “Yer funny, ‘Tia. Not even a sennight, but it were touch and go for a while.”
Ned gave his sister a kiss on the cheek. “Never want to see another puke bucket again. No matter how much I’ve missed ye.”
Celestia’s skin burned and she swallowed. Her throat
was
sore.
“The last thing I can remember is Nicholas going on pilgrimage, and fighting with Grainne about opening the north tower. Do you know she wouldn’t leave?” She rubbed her throat.
Nicholas stepped farther into the room, and she focused on him. He looked so handsome, so strong, so
hairy.
“Nicholas? You’re growing a beard?”
He grinned and finger combed the black fringe. “I am a changed man, Celestia.”
“So you didn’t go all the way to Spain?”
“Nay. What I needed was right here, all along.”
“Tell me,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
Nicholas sat down on empty portion of the floor. Montehues were everywhere, and he absorbed their love like water to a starving plant.
“Well, let me see. Petyr caught up with me, as you had sent him to do, and convinced me the baron was the key to the puzzle.”
He noticed some of the Montehues’ curious looks and explained, “My father never claimed me as his own until I came back from the Crusades, a bitter, broken man.” He lifted Celestia’s hand and caressed each lovely finger. He kept his tone light, as if telling a humorous story around a campfire. “However, he had sent me on crusade, wearing his colors, to deliver a holy relic to King Richard. The relic, it turned out, was a fake. So the baron had made arrangements for the caravan to be attacked, with no survivors, and no fake relic. He wouldn’t be in trouble with the king. But I lived.”
Celestia broke in, “Did you tell them about Lady Esmerada’s curse?”
Deirdre lifted her brows in amazement. “A curse? Your family really has a curse, too?”
Nicholas said, “Yes, but it is not as powerful as the curse that runs in your family.”
“Well, that is fine, then. Who is Lady Esmerelda?”
“Esmerada. She was my mother. The baron had treated her badly, so she cursed him. She lived in the north tower. I think she is the one who hid the relic in the ashlar stone. She must have known the baron wanted it.”
Nicholas met Celestia’s gaze. “Joseph found the relic; he thought it was a treasure.” He pressed her fingers. “Joseph is dead, Celestia. He …” Nicholas looked down but would not accept any guilt. “He was a friend to me, at the end.”
Evianne sighed. “I have had Geoffrey out looking for Maude and Grainne Kat, but he cannot find them, not even in the village. They would want to know what happened to him.”
“Yes. It seems that Grainne Kat has held a grudge against the baron for some time; she even taught her children that he was the devil. Joseph thought he had killed the baron at the end, and he was proud to have done it. But his arrow just nicked the skin of the wily old man’s neck.”
Celestia gasped. “The baron is dead?”
“Nay! The baron is alive and well. I think he is even going to marry again.”
Celestia raised a blond brow. “You gave up vengeance so he could marry?”
“He claims the curse had killed all his other wives and offspring, and now that he has settled with me, the curse should be lifted.”
Lord Robert said, “Settled? What does that mean?”
“I will tell you in a moment, if I may.”
Celestia clenched her hands into fists. “Grr! I feel that everything has passed me by.”
Nicholas kissed her palm. “Nothing has passed you by, in fact, I have even waited to explore the north tower until you are well.”
“You did? Nicholas—but that was your mother’s tower. I would understand if you wished to go there alone.” She leaned her face closer to Nicholas’s.
Ela snorted. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, could ye just kiss and have done? I want to know what happened next!”
Celestia blushed as her family laughed.
“Petyr tried to murder the baron and lay the blame on me. Joseph and I burst through his chamber window.”
“It was me and Ned’s plan, too. Well, mostly Ned’s, he worked inside the castle, while I had the pleasure of working with the horses.”
“If ye hadn’t a been workin’ in the stables, then ye’d never have found Lord Nicholas beneath them.”
The two proudly pushed each other back and forth until Lord Robert placed a large hand on each shoulder. “Ed here found ye beneath the stables?”
“Aye. He and Joseph helped me escape.”
Celestia started to laugh. “You’ve had all the adventures without me.”
Nicholas grinned and cleared his throat. “Well, Petyr and I got into a bit of a … skirmish, and I saved the baron’s life, and for that he had to grant me a boon.”
He reached inside his tunic and pulled out a roll of parchment. He presented it to Lord Robert, bowing from the waist. “I am too comfortable to rise to my feet, my lord.”
Lord Robert huffed. “And what is this? Ye already havin’ troubles with yer taxes?”
Deirdre rolled her eyes. “Well?”
Lord Robert glanced at Nicholas, then said, “This paper releases us from any obligation to the Baron Peregrine; we will now owe our fealty directly to the king. We own our property, Deirdre.” He rolled the paper back up and stared at Nicholas. “Why?”
Celestia looked at her husband with love and pride emanating from her smile. “He is an honorable man, Father. I told you.”
Nicholas said, “In thanks for your graciousness when I wed your daughter.” He waited for the laughter to die down. “And in part because I know that you all were put into this situation because my father, the Baron Peregrine, is not a fair, nor decent man. I saw a chance to right a wrong, and I took it.”
Galiana sighed and fluttered her lashes.
Lord Robert said gruffly, “It will be a fine thing for the twins to be fostered beneath ye, Lord Nicholas.”
Celestia clapped her hands together. “Ed and Ned are to stay here at the keep? Oh, Nicholas. I am so happy.”
Evianne stood. “I am glad, Celestia, to see you so—but if ye are to stay that way, everybody needs to get out. I’ll not have ye relapse! It took all of us to get ye better.”
Celestia’s eyes pooled. “All of you, yes, thank you so much. But how can I say thank you for saving my life?” She wiped at her face, yet the tears spilled faster than she could catch them. “First you save me, then you’d have me drown in my own tears.”
“Say no more, daughter, and you’re welcome. But once you are completely better, you might have to pay your brothers and sisters.”
“Pay them?” Celestia sent them a confused glance. “Aye,” Deirdre laughed. “’Tis obvious you’ve never had to clean up after a purging!”
Celestia awoke from a pleasant dream. A dream of a dark-haired lady. She stretched beneath her woolen coverlet, pleased to be alive.
“Lazybones!” Galiana stood at the foot of her bed. “I have a bath ready for
your ladyship,
if you would allow me to attend you?”
Celestia sat up so fast she gave herself a headache. “Galiana, I’ve missed your teasing. A bath sounds divine.” She sniffed. “I don’t smell anything.”
Gali tossed her a robe. “Upstairs, in the master chamber. Viola has a nice fire going, too.”
“I could soak until my toes wrinkle. My head itches. A full week abed is too long.”
Soon she was ensconced in warm water up to her nose. “Rose hip?”
Galiana smiled, so beautiful that it brought a smile to Celestia’s face, too. “Chamomile and lemon balm. With a pinch of anise for spice.”
“Lovely.” Celestia curled her toes.
“I am jealous of you, ‘Tia.”
Celestia, who had been leaning back with her eyes closed, opened her left eye and asked, “Because all of me fits in the bathing tub?”
Gali giggled. “Nay!” She lowered her eyes demurely.
“Nicholas is very handsome. And so generous. Even Father has had to be nice. Mother thinks he can do no wrong, and the boys—well, they follow him around like he was King Richard himself.”
Celestia hid her grin in the soap bubbles.
“His hair is so dark, and his shoulders—I do hope that my husband will be as wonderful.”
Celestia flicked a bubble at her sister. “Leave my husband be! And tell me, why is it that you have not picked out a man already?”
Averting her head, Galiana ignored the question and asked, “So ye do love him, ‘Tia? Then ye won’t lose your gifts? I know how important they are to you.”
“My healing powers mark me as one of you.” Sighing, Celestia slid farther down in the tub. “The legend says that the love must be reciprocated. He has never told me of his feelings, other than that he was afraid to care for me.” Her brows drew together. “But I tell you this, Gali—I would give them up for Nicholas, if the choice were mine to make.”
Galiana exhaled with a dreamy look on her face. “Of course he loves you—everybody loves you. You are beautiful and kind. And ‘tis obvious that Nicholas doesn’t mind that you could fit in his pocket.”
“Oh!” Celestia squealed and tossed a handful of water at her sister. Ela knocked and joined them. “What are ye doing? Viola and Gram will be very mad if ye get water all over the floor.” She stomped over to Celestia and kissed the top of her head. “Light blue. I am so happy that you are feeling better, ‘Tia.”
Celestia grinned at her youngest sister. “And just when did you get even taller? You’ll be the size of Mam, soon.”
Ela blushed, disgust evident on her beautiful features. “It seems that I am to be an Amazon, like the rest of the women in our family. I was hoping to be short.”
“And why would you want to be short?” Celestia arched her brow in question.
“None of the boys treat me like a girl. I can run faster than they, throw farther, ride better, and,” she lowered her voice confidentially, “I am smarter, too.”
Celestia and Galiana burst into conspiratorial giggles. Celestia finally realized that Ela did not think this a funny situation at all and gestured to Gali, who drew their youngest sister down on the window seat. “Ela, you are growing up to be a fine young lady. I didn’t realize that a woman had to pretend to let the man be more intelligent until I was thirteen.”
“But Celestia never had to do that. It isn’t fair.”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Yea! But I was
forced
to wed, else I would be a maiden still.” The girls laughed; three sisters, three friends.
N
icholas paused outside the bedchamber, his mind reeling with what Celestia had just revealed. He’d been drawn by the feminine laughter coming from the bedchamber. How was he to know that he was the butt of such merriment?
He had thought, given the conversation with all of her family yesterday, that she might stay at Falcon Keep because she loved him. After what he had just heard, he had no doubt she would leave.
Closing his eyes, he clenched his jaw tight. Did he dare to offer her the annulment? Or should he hold her captive, and never tell her that he had her freedom in the palm of his hand?
Lord Robert cleared his throat. “Spying on the chicks, were ye?”
Nicholas jumped. “Where the devil did you come from?”
“My chamber.” Robert pointed to the room he’d just vacated across the hall.
“Oh.”
“Nicholas? Have ye spent much time around the ladies?”
Snorting, Nicholas said, “I was raised in a monastery, what think you? Women, yes; ladies, no.”
Lord Robert nodded in comprehension and put his arm around his son-in-law’s shoulders. “Ye have much to learn about the magpies, then. Let me share a few vital pieces of information that will help ye stay happily married.”
“Sir?”
They walked down the stairs and into the main room. The Montehue women had cleaned and aired out the place, providing a few feminine touches that made a keep a home.
“Ye must always remember that you are king in your own keep. If ye let the wench get the upper hand, ye might never get it back! And when she chatters on and on about her day, ye don’t have to really listen, but nod now and again, as if ye’ve heard every word.”
A loud crash sounded behind them, and Deirdre walked out of the downstairs sewing room where Celestia had been staying while ill. She dropped the soap-filled bucket and rag, sending suds all over the floor.
“What else were ye saying, Robert?”
Lord Robert dropped his arm from Nicholas’s shoulders and stammered, “Uh, I was simply giving the lad a few helpful hints, so that he can have the happy marriage that you and I share.”
Deirdre tapped her foot.
“And I was mentioning that it was most important to listen carefully to whatever Celestia said, to show that he cared.”
Deirdre threw the rag at him, hitting him square in the chest. “So you say, my loving husband. How about dumping this bucket of water into the moat for me, then?”
Lord Robert immediately fetched the bucket. “Yes, dear.”
When he returned, Nicholas’s laughter echoed in the room, but the man himself was gone.
She wanted her husband.
Letting Gali and Ela help her dress meant that she was prepared to be as feminine as she possibly could be. Celestia applied scented powder behind her knees and kept her hair unbound and free. Ela brushed it until it crackled and shone. “Such beautiful hair you have, all long and wavy. I much prefer it to my own mess of curls.”
Celestia met her younger sister’s eyes in the mirror and remembered when Nicholas had bolstered her own self-confidence. It seemed that most everyone felt they were not perfect.
“You are a lovely young lady, who will most certainly have men tripping over their feet. Your eyes are the color of emeralds; your neck is long and slender. Promise me, Ela, that you will see these things in the future. Your hair is the perfect foil for your skin. Will she not be the loveliest of us all, Gali?”
Galiana wrinkled her nose as she tapped her chin. She walked from one angle to the next, as if undecided. Ela squirmed uncomfortably.
“By heavens, I think ye may be correct. ‘Tis a good thing you’re so much younger than me, Ela dear. I would hate to have to compete against you for the men in the marriage mart.”
Ela blushed and the older girls shared a smile.
Proving she was not just another pretty face, Ela changed the subject in order to escape being the object under discussion. “Why are you spending so much time on your looks this day, ‘Tia?”
Gali smirked. “I know. She wants to make sure Nicholas falls in love with her.”
Celestia smoothed her hair and refused to answer, lamenting her small bosoms, instead.
“I truly wish that I had more, here, than I do. And spending the last week sick and puking has made them even smaller.”
“Stop whining. You look gorgeous.” Gali laughed. “And it is long past time for you to go and seduce your husband.”
Ela sat back, confused. “You don’t know that Nicholas loves you? Your auras spike red whenever you are near each other,” she sighed. “It’s sort of sweet.”
Later, Celestia still wanted her husband, yet he was still nowhere to be found. She’d searched all through the keep. The knights had not seen Nicholas, nor had her family. She eyed the tower. He had said that he would wait for her, but perhaps he had grown too curious. She knew that feeling quite well.
She went down the long, deserted hallway and called into the entrance leading to the tower, “Nicholas?”
Suddenly she knew he had to be there. She ducked through the hole in the wall and faced the stairs. She’d tumbled down them, but it had been Maude who had pulled her. She remembered the way the lock had crumbled to rust beneath her hands, and the odd feeling that she had not been alone.
She drew in a breath for courage, picking up the faint scent of apples, and climbed the circular stairs.
The door was ajar. She pushed inward and gasped.
“Oh, my!” Tapestries hung all around, vibrant and bright. Dust-free furniture gleamed in the sunlight that came through the arrow slits. A large door led to the battlements that circled around the outside of the tower, and it, too, was open. “Nicholas?”
She walked to the center of the room, her feet cushioned by soft furs.
He came in through the door from the battlements, looking wind-tousled from the fresh air.
“Celestia?” He ducked his head, but not before she saw some deep emotion in his gray eyes. “I am sorry, but I found I could not wait after all. The tower seemed to call to me. How are you?”
Waving a hand through the air, she quipped, “A bit out of breath from the climb, my lord.” She decided to blame her racing heart on the stairs, rather than the sight of her husband. He looked … closed to her. Why?
She affected a trill laugh. “This is a veritable sanctuary,
Nicholas. ‘Tis beautiful and so well cared for. It looks as if it were vacated just this morning, and not twenty years ago.”
He stepped farther into the room, his steps reluctant. “Aye. I can almost remember my mother here.”
“Sit. And tell me everything, Nicholas.” She sat on a padded bench. “There is room for you here.” She fluttered her lashes and smiled becomingly.
He sat on a three-legged stool instead. “What is there to tell?” He stared at her with pain in his eyes. “Celestia! You do not have to act anymore. I heard what you said to your sisters this morn.”
She blushed, thinking of how they had discussed his good looks and noble spirit. She widened her eyes. Had he heard them plan his seduction? Was he ready to say that he loved her, too? “You did?”
“Aye.” He sighed, then folded his hands together and met her eyes. “I would offer you an annulment.”
“You what?” What happened to poetry and flowers? Love songs? Oh, but the minstrels had it all wrong and she’d made a fool of herself, believing he had come to care for her. “I see.” She looked out the door toward the blue sky. How could the sun be shining on a day like today?
“You released my family from any obligation to your father. You saved my brothers from the baron’s retribution. And now you want to release me from my vows. I see.” She blinked back the tears of hurt; she would not cry! It did not matter that her heart and soul were breaking. She would not lay the pieces at his feet.
“I have the holy relic of Saint James the Apostle. The true relic. I made my father give it to me so that it could be returned to its rightful place.”
“Oh, you are so noble, Nicholas …” her tone made an art of sarcasm.
His black brows quirked with temper. “What say you? That I am
not
noble?”
She shot to her feet and sank two inches into the plush furs. “Aye, you are noble, you are kind, you are generous, you are handsome. Well, I don’t give a fig for all of that!”
Nicholas sat back, stunned by her ire.
“You’re still as stupid as a rock!”
He jumped up from the stool. “Stupid? Aye, I suppose I am stupid. I offered you an annulment so that you would have the choice to wed me or nay!” With one large step he had her in his arms. “I retract the offer, Celestia. I cannot let you go.”
He kissed her brutally, then stepped back. “I love you, and I thought you loved me, too. But then I heard you tell your sisters that ye would rather be unwed, still.”
Celestia licked her bruised lips, drawn to Nicholas’s display of passion like a child to a sweet. “You love me, Nicholas?” She threw herself forward and tackled him to the large white fur on the floor. She dropped kisses all over his face and hair and lips, wherever she could reach.
Nicholas wrestled himself on top, pinning her. “You won’t leave me?”
“My heart was yours from the moment you walked into Montehue Manor—so belligerent and confused.”
“I was bloody well drunk! And I could not believe that they wanted me to wed someone as beautiful and fragile as you …”
“I am not fragile, Nicholas.” She nipped his lower lip with her teeth.
“True, you are one of the strongest people I’ve ever known.”
She curled her arms around his chest and linked her fingers behind his back so that he was locked to her. “Are you finally at peace with yourself, Nicholas?”
He looked into her eyes and didn’t see the separate colors. He saw love shining at him, beckoning him to come closer. “Aye, I have found peace.” He leaned down to place a soft kiss on her inviting lips.
She pressed forward, molding her body to his. “I’ve been a married woman for some time now, Nicholas, and yet I remain a virgin. Is it not a good time to remedy that?”
“I …” he paused.
“What is it?” Celestia didn’t care for the way he distanced himself from her, so she tugged at his hair and brought his gaze to hers. “Tell me.”
“You know that I was captured.”
“Yes! So?”
“My body is not a pretty one … I have scars all over my back and legs.”
“I have seen all of your scars, Nicholas. Do ye really think I care about that?” She scoffed. “Besides, I’m short. I have not the perfect body, either. But would I deny this chance at loving? Scars and—oh! Do you think I will burn you?”
“It wouldn’t matter if you did.”
Celestia pushed at his solid chest. “I won’t. I think your injured spirit was so much a part of the wounds that they needed to be reopened to finally heal.”
Nicholas grabbed her hands and rolled so that she straddled him.
“I agree. Those scars pained me. The memory of being tortured, of being violated, was a sickness inside me that festered. Thanks be to you and your love, I am healed.”
She brought his wrists to her lips and kissed the smooth flesh there. “Does this hurt?”
“No.”
Celestia could feel the length of him harden beneath her thigh, and her belly warmed. She leaned over to kiss his full lips. “And that?”
“It’s heaven, and you are my angel,” he whispered against her mouth. His hot breath made her heart skip and her pulse flutter. She pressed her breasts against his chest, her nipples aching.
“I would not hurt you, Nicholas.” Celestia could feel the power within her build from her center and spread through her veins. She could heal an entire village, if it was true and he loved her, too.
“I know that. I fear I will somehow hurt you, unintentionally.” He squirmed beneath her, and she clenched her thighs around his waist.
“Nicholas, you are noble.” She kissed him again, nipping at his earlobe. She could be content to breathe in his unique scent for the rest of her days.
His hips jerked. “'Tia, I would rather not be so noble. I want you to be my wife in truth.”
“I thought you would never ask!”
Nicholas groaned with lust at the eager anticipation in his wife’s eyes. “I feel like an untried lad.”
“Then we can find our way together.”
He stood, his hose uncomfortably tight against his throbbing groin. Nicholas’s mouth was dry, and his heart thudded against his ribcage. Finally, he could touch all of her. Caress her flesh, taste her skin. Scowling, he reminded himself to go slow, damn it, and not to hurt her.
He shut the door to the tower and turned around, shocked to his toes to see Celestia standing in naught but her chemise and stockings. The cloth was sheer, and the sunlight through the open door showed the curve of leg and hip, the darker skin of her peaked nipples as she smiled shyly in invitation.
With shaking fingers, he removed his tunic, then his linen shirt. She stepped toward him, her hand outstretched. He shivered as she ran her fingers over his bare chest. She walked around him, tracing a path across each scar from the lash of a whip. He bowed his head as she kissed each reminder of his captivity.