Epilogue
“Maeb,” I breathed her name as I kissed down her neck and my hands pulled her closer to me. I hated to be away from her but too often it was necessary. Gawd after all this time I still wanted her so much. My fingers went to the laces on her dress and I felt the urgent need to free her from her clothing and fast.
“Jonathan.”
OK, so that wasn’t a groan of lust nor was it a whisper of encouragement. What could I do to change that?
“Jonathan, we have guests.”
Damn. What was the point of being King if I couldn’t make love to my wife whenever I wanted to? And ohh yes, I wanted to, I wanted to right now!
“Jonathan?”
I suppose that means I should stop. Damn.
“I am sure they can entertain themselves for a little while,” I could hear the hope in my voice.
I deep chuckle brought my eyes away from my wife’s ample bosom.
Ahh, so when she said we had guests, she meant here and now. Damn.
“Brother, good to see nothing changes!”
“Thomas, Good to see you too, now go away.”
“Jonathan!” Maeb gasped but I could see the smile she was fighting.
“Maeb,” I whinned like a child and pouted just a little, “Haven’t you missed me?” I pulled her hips back to mine so that she had no doubts just how much I had missed her.
“You have been gone one night.”
She was blushing. I loved it when I made her blush. Ohh yeah, I loved it a lot. I edged her closer to the door. There were four steps from the other side of that door to the bed. I knew. I had counted them many times.
“Thomas and Fleur are big people now, they can amuse themselves,” I pulled her now determined to make it to the bedroom and fast.
“Mummy! Callum pulled my hair!”
I turned to the voice. A flash of auburn hair and a squeal of “Daddy,” was the only warning I had as the skinny arms wrapped around my neck so tightly that they threatened to cut off my air supply.
“Daddy, you’re home!”
“Princess,” I coughed as I caught her.
At the same time Maeb escaped. I caught my breath. I had no hope now. There was no greater weapon than my children. They defeated me every time.
“Daddy, can you pleeeaaasssse send Callum to the gallows or have him banished or something?”
“Aine!” Maeb gasped, “That is very unladylike of you. And what are you wearing?”
The squirming girl in my arms rolled her eyes theatrically, “Daddy, Mummy’s says I have to wear a dress today. She said that I have to sit around the house rather than practice with the boys. It’s not fair. I don’t want to be a girl!”
I smiled at Maeb as I watched the frustration crease her beautiful face. Aine was so much like her mother, too much like her. She had me wound around her little finger. Whereas little Gracey was more like her namesake. However that didn’t mean I could resist her. I was a slave to my daughters.
“Aine, you must listen to your mother. You are a lady. You are my Princess. Be good and listen to your mother.”
Her little eyes narrowed as she looked at me like I had just betrayed her, I cleared my throat and stepped away from her as her hands went to her hips. I quickly turned to Thomas. I had to get out of here. This was a losing position. If I gave in to Aine, Maeb would be angry with me, but Aine knew exactly how to get her own way. Escape was the safest option.
“Thomas, let’s leave the ladies. I am sure that they have... lady things to do.” I fumbled as I quickly pulled him with me out the door and into the corridor.
“Phew that was close!” I muttered as we made our way out in the direction of the practice field.
“You were always good with the quick exits,” Thomas laughed. “So how have you been Jonathan?”
“Good, good,” I lied, “it’s been too long Thomas, how are things at Hithwood?”
I half listened to Thomas as we walked. When I became King I made Thomas a Lord and gave him back the lands belonging to Lord Maine. Father preferred to stay dead to the world and returned to live out the last days of his life with Grace in the forest. They lived together for many happy years before age caught up with them. They died within days of each other as I expected they would. We buried them side by side near the waterfall, their special place.
“Your feet, Callum, move your feet!”
I put a hand out and stopped Thomas, they had not seen us yet.
“Yeah, yeah, James, my feet, my feet! I get it!”
“Well Callum if you listened to Grandfather Robert and practiced more, this wouldn’t be so hard!”
“I listen!”
“No, you tease Aine and spend your time thinking up new ways to annoy my little sister!”
“Yeah, well that’s a hell of a lot more fun than practicing this!”
James signed deeply, lifted his sword and started the training exercise again.
“It sounds like little Aine has an admirer,” Thomas laughed softly to my horror.
“No! It’s just sibling rivalry. They have grown up together they are practically brother and sister.”
“You just keep telling yourself that!” Thomas laughed.
I looked back to the boys. Thomas couldn’t be right could he? My oldest daughter was barely fifteen. She wasn’t old enough for that sort of attention. Hell, I wasn’t ready for her to have that sort of attention.
“James, Callum,” I greeted them as I stepped out from the shadows.
“Father!” James turned.
“Uncle Jonathan,” Callum cringed and rubbed the back of his head. I almost laughed, sometimes he reminded me so much of Douglas it was uncanny.
“Apparently I am sending you to the gallows Callum. Can you explain why this is necessary?”
“Tattle tale,” Callum muttered low enough that he thought I didn’t hear, “Aine is just over reacting. It was an accident Uncle.”
Thomas was doing a poor job of hiding his laughter behind me.
“Hey Uncle Thomas, is Maine here?” Callum skilfully changed the subject then ran off towards the hall as Thomas nodded. “I’m going to see Maine!”
The boys loved it when Thomas visited. James, Callum, Maine and little Robert, Colm’s son, were best friends.
“How was your trip father?” James asked warily.
I suppressed a sigh. James and I had a difficult relationship. When he was old enough we told him the truth of his birth but it was hard for him to hear. He wore my features so he had grown up surrounded by whispers and sly looks. He was obviously not Edward’s son and although I had claimed him as my own this had not helped his mother’s reputation. Maeb and James were very close. I suspected he blamed me for these slights on his mother’s character.
And, of course, there was the fact I killed Edward. Even though it was clear to almost everyone that he was my son there still remained a lingering doubt in his mind. He called me father but it never sat comfortably with him. I could hear it in his voice.
So James was unlike my other children. With the others there was unconditional love. With James he was distant to me and no matter what I did - I could not bridge that gap.
“Successful, thank you James.”
“Come here nephew! Happy Birthday!” Thomas pounced on James and hugged him, “How’s Grandad Robert, have you managed to soften up the old coot yet? And the ladies, have you managed to soften them up too? I see you are still enduring Callum and Aine’s budding romance.”
“I wish he’d just kiss her and get it over and done with,” James growled then realised that I was there and stiffened, “I mean, it’s nothing.”
Damn, so Thomas was right. I subconsciously turned and looked to where the women would be wrestling Aine from her boyish clothing and forcing her into a dress. Hell. Maybe they should not be doing that. The last thing I needed was for Callum to see her looking like a young woman if his head was... head, ohh damn, my little girl. I suddenly wondered if Maeb had given her ‘the talk’ yet?
I turned back to find James watching me. I would have to have another talk to the boys. Of course the talk I gave the boys was vastly different to the one I hoped Maeb gave my daughters.
“Where are your brothers and sisters?”
“Mathew, John and Joe are with Uncle Colm and Grandfather out riding. And Gracey will probably be holding Aine down at the moment while the Aunty and Mother try to convince her that wearing a dress is her duty to the Kingdom.” He sniffed in frustration, “At least Gracey knows her place.”
“If nothing else that will make your coming of age memorable!” Thomas laughed. “I have a feeling that Aine would rather face an assassin than a pair of dress shoes.”
James smiled one of his rare smiles. I felt a tinge of jealousy, he never smiled like that for me.
“Yes Mother told her that if she wore the dress she would show her how to use the hair pins as weapons.”
“James? You coming? The girls are starting to arrive!”
I heard Callum call from an upper window that gave a good view of the courtyard. James shuffled his feet and looked uncomfortable.
“Let the boy go! He has to eye up the young ladies who are arriving in the hope of winning his affections.” Thomas rolled his eyes at me.
I waved him off and watched him leave. The guests were already starting to arrive? We were holding a feast tonight to celebrate the birthdays of James and Callum. Apparently it was a good opportunity for every noble man with an unmarried daughter to thrust her under the nose of my son and the future King.
“When did we get so old Thomas? What happened to all the years? My son is turning sixteen, how did this happen?”
Thomas threw his arm around my shoulders, “Your wedding seems like only yesterday. Ahh that was a good day.”
“Your last day as a single man, if I remember rightly,” I laughed at his soft smile and faraway look. “One look at Fleur De Burge and you were as good as married.”
“Well given how much love the bride and groom were giving off, it was no wonder several children were conceived that night.”
I laughed but it was true. Nine months after our wedding the midwives were busy. That was when Aine was born. I smiled as I remembered how many times my wife and I disappeared that evening. Indeed I was giving off a lot of love that night!
“And now James is turning the ladies heads,” Thomas continued, drawing me out of my reminiscing, “Aine and Callum will soon need a chaperone because I don’t think the boys that are coming here tonight will be here just to support their sisters. Callum will need to get busy if he is going to win her heart.”
I groaned as my head dropped into my hands. “Please don’t Thomas. She is just a child. She’s my little princess.”
“Well Jonathan, your sword welding little princess has grown into a beautiful woman, you just haven’t noticed it... yet.” Thomas laughed.
“That’s it! I am pulling up some of the nails from the floor boards outside her bedroom.”
“Come brother. Would creaking floor boards have stopped you? Did anything stop you?”
“Yes, love did. I fell in love with Maeb and that was it.”
“Well let’s just hope your daughters have inherited their mother’s ability to command a man’s love then.”
I nodded as I made a mental note to sleep with a sword within easy reach. Maybe a cross bow might be necessary.
As we walked towards the stables I looked out down the road for the group of riders. Matthew would be racing back - he had a drive to win at everything. John would be hanging back with Maeb’s father - he loved hearing the stories of battles long gone. And Joe would be talking with Colm and his son William. Those three had grand ideas.
My thoughts went to Maeb as I saw the horses come through the gate. She was everything to me. She remained the centre of my world. She blessed me with six healthy children, only one child did not survive to reach one, little Eve, and then she had a miscarriage of the eighth child after six months of carrying it. After that she did not conceive again. We continued to try but no seed took. Personally I was happy about this.
Although I loved our children and adored watching her grow full and heavy, the births gave me nightmares. I still remembered seeing Aine lying there dying while giving life. I could not forget what had to happen to bring Callum into this world. The closer we got to the birth of our children, the worse the nightmares. I would often wake dripping in sweat and clutching her to me. So I was relieved when she did not fall pregnant again.
But it seemed that our reprieve would be short lived. Our children were becoming adults. Soon they would marry and soon they would be having their own children. I hoped that I would still be here to pace the hallways as we waited to welcoming in our grandchildren. Our grandchildren... where did the years go to?
I coughed and rubbed my chest. Damn this persistent cough.
Thomas turned to me with a worried expression. I ignored him instead I helped the children from their horses. In the company of my children he would not ask. I spent too much of my time avoiding Maeb’s questions and today I didn’t want to think about it.
Tonight we would celebrate and feast but before that I wanted a little time alone with my wife. I wanted to remind her that I remembered what it was like to be a young man. I wanted to chase her around the bedroom and throw her onto the bed and make love to her like we used to when we were lovers. Hell I might even whisk her away to the cellar in the middle of the evening and see if I could still make love to her on the stone stairs.
I sighed, no, my back wouldn’t bend like that anymore. I would just have to settle for the bedroom then.
I rubbed my chest again. Soon it would be James’ time. I just had to hope that I had done enough to prepare him.
As parents, that was all we could really hope for. No one would remember us. Our love story would be forgotten. The history we made was like dust in the wind. All that mattered were our children. The values and ideals we sowed into them would be remembered. That was all that would be passed down to the next generation. That was what our legacy would be.
I left Thomas and headed for our bedchamber hoping I would catch Maeb.
Another cough ripped through my chest reminding me that I was no longer a young man and this was a young man’s world. My job was almost done and my time was almost up. However I still hoped to teach young Joe but even if that was not possible I knew that James and Callum would look after him, his sisters and his mother. I had taught them that much.
That didn’t stop me wishing that I could be here to support them as they became adults and found their own places in this world. I still wanted to be here to meet my grandchildren. I still wanted to be here for Maeb too. I didn’t want to think what this would do to her.
Maybe the cough wasn’t what I suspected it was. Maybe it would disappear despite the fact it was worsening. Maybe I would live through this year even though most who coughed like this did not. Maybe it would be different for me.
I wasn’t dead yet and I wasn’t about to give up on life.
I opened the door to find Maeb unlacing her dress. I watched as it fell to the floor. I smiled as I softly closed the door behind me. Yes, there was still some life left in this old man. I was still her knight and I would not let her forget that.
I pulled her into my arms and groaned as my fingers found her soft skin.
When all others had forgotten me, she would remember me. I would always be her knight to remember.
The End.
A Knight To Remember
©2011 Maree O’Brien
The right of Maree O’Brien to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved . No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.
---=== Authors Note ===---
Wow. It is done. What a journey.
I really hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I feel almost like a part of me is here within these words. I am going to really miss this story.
I know that I have hinted that there is a story to write with Callum and Aine, however I have no plans of writing it at the moment. My next project is to finish Can’t Catch Me! And to have some fun on Seriously, What’s Hot?
I really hope that you don’t disappear on me now that this is finished. Please try one of my other stories -
The Watchers Wake (Completed)
Don’t Catch Me! (Completed)
Can’t Catch Me!
Seriously, What’s Hot?
Although they are all different, my writing is improving as I practice on wattpad so I would love you to read them and let me know what you think!
Anyway, thanks for reading and supporting A Knight To Remember!
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Cheers, Maree.