Medieval 01 - Untamed

wedding attire.
    A wedding or a war , Meg thought. Which will it be?
    The question consumed her so that she could barely follow the ceremony. As though in a dream, she moved through the kneeling and rising and kneeling, letting the plainsong chants of the concealed choir wash through her until the priest looked at her sharply.
    â€œI say again, Lady Margaret,” the priest intoned, “it is your right to refuse this marriage if you so desire, for wedlock is a holy state entered into freely. Do you accept Dominic le Sabre as your true husband in the eyes of God and man?”
    Meg swallowed dryly, trying to force a word past the constriction in her throat.
    Behind her rose an agitation that began with Duncan and rippled through the crowd. In its wake were muted whisperings as though of steel being drawn. She turned and looked at the dark Norman knight who was watching her as though his will alone could force agreement from her lips.
    But he could not. Nothing could.
    Dominic knew it as well as Meg did. This was the one time in a woman’s life when her desires could make or break the plans of men.
    Marriage or war?
    Suddenly it was easy for Meg to speak.
    â€œYes,” she said huskily. “I accept this man as my husband in the eyes of God and man.”
    A surprised cry from Duncan was cut short.
    Her father’s cry of outrage was not. But before he could speak coherently, one of Simon’s men materialized by John’s side. Only one person saw the knife in the knight’s hand, but that one person was John. He made no more objection to the progress of the ceremony.
    Nor did Duncan. He had felt cold steel slide through the back slit in his hauberk to lie between his legs, pressing in silent threat against a man’s most vulnerable flesh. Clammy sweat broke over his body. To die in honorable battle was one thing; to be castrated like a capon was quite another.
    â€œDon’t move,” Simon said very softly to Duncan.
    Duncan didn’t move.
    â€œUnless you wish to disappoint Marie tonight,” Simon continued, “and every night hereafter, you will say nothing. Nod your head if you understand me.”
    Duncan nodded his head very carefully.
    â€œHand Lady Margaret’s shoe to my brother as tradition requires,” Simon ordered. “ Slowly .”
    With great care, Duncan gave Dominic a delicate shoe embroidered in silver thread. Afterward Duncan didn’t move again, not even to check on the odd sounds issuing from the gathering behind him. He suspected that his men were having the same difficulty he was, and for the same reason—a knife between their thighs.
    Thirty men-at-arms stepped out from behind the partition that had set apart the men who chanted the wedding mass. Though not one of the men raised the crossbow he carried, it was clear that the weapons were fully wound and ready to fire.
    Meg looked at Dominic’s men, sensed the currents of stifled rage and fear that swirled through the room, and knew that Dominic had foreseen the possibility of an ambush in the church.
    Foreseen and countered.
    Ice condensed beneath her skin as she waited in dread for the bloodletting that would surely follow such treachery. Trembling with fear for her people, she watched Dominic with haunted eyes.
    Dominic’s cold gaze swept over the church like a winter wind. No one moved. Many of the Saxons and Scots stood stiffly, as though afraid that any motion might be their last. And it would have been, for Norman steel lay against their vulnerable flesh.
    â€œWell done, Simon,” Dominic said.
    â€œIt was my pleasure.”
    â€œI don’t doubt it.”
    Then Dominic turned his back on everyone and looked only at Meg.
    â€œAs my betrothal gift of gold didn’t please you,” Dominic said coolly, “I offer a different kind of gift today: I will slay no man for his part in this treachery. Do you accept this gift?”
    Unable to speak, Meg nodded.
    â€œA wise man will understand that his lord is merciful rather than weak,” Dominic continued. “A foolish man will try my patience again. And die .”
    Though Dominic raised his voice not at all, his words carried clearly to every part of the church. There was a murmuring of relief as Duncan’s men understood that they would not be taken out and summarily hanged for their stillborn rebellion.
    Meg wanted to thank Dominic for his unexpected mercy, but her own relief that carnage