“Now you see what I am dealing with,” Kevin said. “There is no reasoning with an idiot who will not listen.”
“Let me return to Chris and tell him what I have seen,” Alexander said. “I will leave the de Lohr troops here, but Chris should send word to ap Bedo that his cousin is causing problems at Wybren, not the other way around.”
Kevin glanced at him. “Wouldn’t that mean that Chris knew of ap Bedo’s missive? That could place his spy in danger.”
Alexander shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “We shall word the missive to make it seem as if Chris is asking for ap Bedo’s assistance with ap Gruffudd. The fact that they are cousins is not a secret. But you are correct; that idiot does not listen. He is spoiled and he is reckless, a dangerous combination.”
Kevin couldn’t agree more. “Then I would be grateful if you can see what you can do about it,” he said. “If he comes back one more time, I may have to rip his tongue out and shove it down his throat.”
As Alexander headed off to make plans for his return to Lioncross Abbey, Sean walked alongside his brother as they both headed in the direction that Juliandra had run. Sean had heard Kevin’s proposal of marriage because he’d been close enough to hear the softly uttered words, but he wasn’t sure he should say anything about it. Kevin was clearly focused on finding Juliandra and easing her. So Sean thought that perhaps, this time, he should let Kevin deal with this on his own. It seemed that he didn’t need any brotherly advice. His little brother, from what he’d seen, had grown up quite a bit since he last saw him.
Kevin was finally coming into his own, as evidenced by the way he handled ap Gruffudd.
“I will be in the hall if you need me,” Sean said. “I did not get any of the food that the others were so happily slurping up. I will wait for you there.”
Kevin simply nodded, too preoccupied with finding Juliandra to respond.
He found her in the kitchen yard.
Actually, he found her sitting in the game locker, where the carcasses of hunted game would hang from iron hooks on the rafters. He’d gone into the kitchen yard, thinking she might have gone back to the kitchens, but a servant sweeping up the ashes from the cooking fire simply pointed to the game locker.
Kevin opened the door to find Juliandra sitting there, looking at her feet.
“He is gone,” he said quietly. “I am fairly certain it will not be the last time I see him, but for now, he is gone. I am sorry he upset you so much.”
Juliandra shrugged. “Coming from Aeron, that is nothing new,” she said. “But… but I cannot believe he brought a woman with him, thinking to exchange her for me. As if I am something to be bartered for.”
Kevin leaned against the door jamb. “You are not something to be bartered for,” he said. “All the rubies and gold in the world would not be enough to coerce me into trading you. But mayhap something less potent than that pear cider might convince me, though. I think I’m still drunk from last night.”
She looked at him, sharply, to see that he was grinning. She broke down into a reluctant smile.
“Is that why you asked me to marry you?” she said.
His smile faded. “Nay,” he said. “I asked you to marry me because I wanted to.”
“Why?”
He lifted his broad shoulders. “Because I think you would make a most desirable wife,” he said. “I explained it all to you last night. Are you going to make me do it again?”
She looked back at her feet. “You are asking to marry me without my father’s permission,” she said. “It is a very great thing you are asking of me. If I marry you, will you release my father?”
His smile vanished completely. Without another word, he turned away. He hadn’t taken three steps when Juliandra came running after him.
“I am sorry,” she said. “I did not mean to make it sound as if it were a condition of my acceptance. It is not, you know. It would be easy for me to say that it is, but what you have asked… it should not become a negotiation, at least not like that. It is something personal and deep that you have asked of me. I can only answer it with emotion, not practicality.”
He came to a pause, turning to look at her. “What emotion?”
She sighed faintly. “That it would be my honor to be Lady de Lara,” she said. “You asked me once if I always did everything my father told me to do. I don’t, you know. I rarely do.”
The corners of Kevin’s lips tugged. “And now would be one of those times?”
She nodded. “Aye,” she said. “Kevin… I cannot express how I feel, but I will try. Before I came to Wybren, my life was… without excitement. Without any real joy. My father was still reeling from Burke’s departure, I had no suitors because of Aeron, and I thought all I would ever know would be the tedium of my father’s home. I had nothing to look forward to, nothing to be part of… but when I came here, under less than desirable circumstances, never did I expect it to turn out as it did. I feel needed and wanted, and part of something important with you in the center of it. If I were to leave tomorrow and another woman took my place, I would be crushed.”
By this time, he’d taken a step closer to her, watching her face as she spoke. In the bright sunlight of noon, as the wind blew softly through the trees, lifting tendrils of her hair, he reached out and brushed a stay piece of hair from her eyes.
“Would you really?” he asked softly.
That tender gesture, simply brushing hair from her face, had Juliandra’s heart racing wildly.
“Aye,” she murmured. “I would. It is my place. I want to be by your side, Kevin. It is as if I belong somehow. You make me feel as if I belong.”
“To me?”
“To you.”
He smiled faintly, lifting both big hands so that he was cupping her face. For the first time, he was touching her affectionately, a moment not lost on either of them. Whatever was brewing between them was gaining strength, pulling at them, creating something warm and giddy that threatened to consume them both.
“I feel that way, too,” he muttered. “If you had wanted to go with Aeron, I would have been heartbroken.”
A hopeful smile spread across her face. “Truly?”
“Truly.”
“Then when shall we be married?”
His answer was to lean forward and kiss her, a tender kiss that quickly turned amorous. His first taste of her lips was like food to a hungry man, and he pulled her into a crushing embrace as he feasted. In his arms, Juliandra went limp, collapsed against him as his heated kiss sucked every bit of strength from her body. He only pulled back because he’d heard voices somewhere, nearby, and he didn’t want to make a spectacle of their first kiss. He released her, but he had to hold on to her because she seemed unsteady. She started to giggle and he snorted at her because she was so giddy.
“Are you sure you can stand on your own?” he asked.
She nodded. Then she shook her head. She put her hand over her mouth in a silly gesture. “I am fine, truly,” she said. “’Tis only… well, I’ve never been kissed like that before.”
“It will not be the last time.”
She continued to giggle, her cheeks turning red. “I am glad to hear that,” she said. “I am glad that nothing Aeron said about me has discouraged you.”