In an instant everything made sense to her. “Miles de Poitiers?”
He nodded. “He was my father.”
Now she knew how Draven had come to serve his king. “Draven went to Normandy to find you. That was how he became your father’s squire?”
“And we have been together ever since. I owe my brother my life in more ways than one and I refused to leave him in the lonely shell where he has spent most of his life.”
“You’re a good man, Simon.”
Simon shook his head. “I pale significantly in comparison, for he was the one who faced his father while I was always the one who ran away in fear.”
“You’re too hard on yourself.”
“Perhaps, but I am truly grateful to you for reaching him when I couldn’t.”
“I could never have done it without you.”
“Then we are eternal allies.”
Emily smiled as he left her alone with her husband.
This was not the way she had imagined her wedding night. But she wasn’t about to complain, for she had what she had always wanted. A husband she could love, and even more than she had dared dream, he was a man who loved her back.
And now that she had him with her, she would never let him go.
Hours later, the king sent his physician to check on Draven. And once the castle had quieted, she curled up next to him and watched him sleep while she brushed her hand over her handsome face.
“You are mine forever,” she whispered, then closed her eyes and slept.
In the morning, true to Simon’s prediction, Draven was on his feet.
Emily cringed as she helped him to dress. Surely the clothing had to hurt as it rubbed against the massive cuts and welts on his back. Yet he said not a word about it.
“I can’t lie abed all day.”
“You need to,” she insisted.
He shook his head, took her hand, then led her to the hall below. Her father looked up at their entrance and gave Draven a hard glare.
Emily sighed. After he had brought the salve she had hoped her father might be softening, but by the frown on his face, she could tell her father was a long way from ever accepting his new son-in-law.
Draven went to greet Simon and she made her way to her father’s side at the table.
“If you could accept Niles as your son after you caught him in Joanne’s bed, why can you not at least spare a smile for my husband?”
“Because I know his mettle.” Her father cast another menacing glare to Draven. “‘Tis far beyond your ken, Em, for you see the good in people. I know the truth of him.”
Shaking her head, she took a seat at the opposite end of the table, far away from him while she broke her fast. She could feel her father’s stare on her, but she gave him her back as she ate bread and cheese.
Draven came to her side at about the same time she realized she shouldn’t have eaten anything.
Her stomach heaved.
“Emily?” Draven asked, his face concerned.
She tried to leave the dais, but stumbled. Draven caught her against him, and she heard him suck his breath in as she inadvertently touched his back. Still, he said nothing to her as he helped her toward the back of the room. They didn’t make it far before she emptied her stomach all over him.
Draven let go of her with a groan.
