Medieval 03 - Enchanted

eager you
were to consummate your own union?” Erik asked.
    Duncan flashed a smile at his own recent bride.“Viewed that way, a wedding feast is
indeed a form of torment.”
    Erik thrust a golden goblet into Duncan’s
hand, distracting him from Amber’s blushing smile. Duncan
took the hint and turned his attention to the newly wed couple. His
expression changed as he studied first Ariane and then Simon.
Slowly Duncan lifted his goblet.
    The room became still.
    “May you see the sacred
rowan bloom ,” Duncan said clearly.
    A murmuring of agreement and wonder went through
the gathered knights as the story of Duncan and Amber’s love
was retold in scattered phrases.
    “There is no danger of that, thank
God,” Simon retorted in a voice that went no farther than the
two couples. “Ariane is no witch to enchant love from an
unwilling warrior.”
    Ariane gave Simon a sideways look and a thin smile.
“Ah, but I was, once.”
    “What?” he asked.
    “A witch,” she said succinctly.
    Simon’s black eyes narrowed, but before he
could say anything, Ariane turned to the lord and lady of Stone
Ring Keep.
    “Again, I thank you for your
generosity,” she said clearly.
    “Again, I say it was our pleasure,”
Duncan said.
    Ariane kept speaking as though she hadn’t
heard, raising her voice so that it carried through the great hall.
At the same time, she grabbed Amber’s hand with a speed that
rivaled the quickness of her husband, Simon.
    A low sound came from Amber as the bleakness at the
center of Ariane’s soul rushed through the touch like a cold
river.
    “If, at any time in the future,” Ariane
said quickly, “either man or woman hints that I received ill
treatment in the Disputed Lands, let it be known that such is a
lie. Am I speaking the truth, Learned?”
    “Yes,” Amber said.
    “Let it also be known that whatever happens
in this marriage, Simon the Loyal bears no
blame .”
    Pale, swaying, Amber said, “Truth!”
    Arine released her instantly and looked to
Cassandra.
    “Will you be my witness, Learned?”
Ariane asked.
    “All Learned will be your witness.”
    “Whatever comes?”
    “Whatever comes.”
    Without another word, Ariane turned and walked from
the great hall. Each step, each breath, each motion of her body set
the sweeping folds of her dress rippling and swaying. Silver
shimmered and ran like springwater through the woven cloth, teasing
the eye with a sense of pattern just beneath the surface, just
beyond understanding, as tantalizing as the memory of summer heat
in deepest winter.
    Duncan turned to Cassandra.
    “What is the meaning of this?” he asked
bluntly.
    “I know only what you do.”
    “I doubt that,” Duncan retorted.
    Amber’s hand settled with a butterfly’s
delicacy on Duncan’s thick forearm. She looked into the
dangerous hazel glitter of his eyes without a bit of fear.
    “Ariane spoke the truth,” Amber said.
“Cassandra—and through her, all Learned—witnessed
Ariane’s truth. That is all.”
    “I don’t like it.”
    “Neither did Ariane.”
    Erik gave his sister a shrewd look.
    “What else did you sense of Ariane’s
truth?” Erik asked.
    “Nothing I could put words to. And even if I
could, I would not. What lies within Ariane’s soul is hers to
share or conceal.”
    “Even from her husband?” Duncan
asked.
    “Yes.”
    Duncan made a frustrated sound and raked powerfulfingers through his thatch of dark brown
hair.
    “I like it not,” Duncan growled
again.
    “Don’t fret, my friend,” Simon
said. “Ariane was protecting me.”
    Duncan gave the lithe knight a surprised look and
then laughed aloud.
    “Protecting you ?” Duncan asked in disbelief.
    “Aye,” Simon said with an odd smile.
“A beguiling thought, is it not, to be protected by a fierce
little nightingale?”
    “But what danger could come to you within the
walls of Stone Ring Keep?” Duncan asked.
    “I’ll remember to ask
Ariane…eventually.”
    With that, Simon turned to follow his wife.
    “Wait!” called Amber. “It is
customary for a bride’s relatives to prepare her for the
groom.”
    “As Ariane has neither sister nor mother,
niece nor aunt, she will just have to make do with the
groom,” Simon said without looking back.
    “But—”
    “Do not worry, Amber witch. I won’t
tear Ariane’s magnificent dress in my haste.”

7
    I f I cut my
throat, how can I be certain of doing a thorough job of
it ?
    Ariane thought of all the horrible tales she had
heard of