Page 203

He continued to chuckle at the infant, examining the fingers and toes that escaped from the swaddling. The babe was quieting somewhat when Analiese brought over the other boy.

“Here,” she said. “Hold your second born so that he will feel no favoritism.”

William took the other babe eagerly, both children nestled quite comfortably in his arms. He looked at his second son, noticing the much darker hair and skin tone. This child would look like him.

“Well, little pup,” he said to him. “You do not look much like your brother, do you?”

The babe’s response was to wail loudly. Hearing his brother scream, the other child resumed his yelling as if to out-do him. It was so comical that William laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks. Unnoticed to him, Byron and the ladies had slipped from the room to allow him privacy with his family.

With the babies screaming, he stood from the chair and began to pace, speaking softly to them of the history of their parent’s relationship. His tone was so soothing and honeyed that it was no time before the infants quieted and went to sleep. But he continued to walk with them, staring at them as if he were afraid they were going to disappear.

He was amazed and elated and could imagine no greater joy than this. Silently, he thanked God for the blessings he had seen fit to bestow upon him. How could one man be so very fortunate, he wondered dreamily.

Jordan was still asleep when Analiese came in to take the babies and put them to bed in the adjoining room. She had a wet nurse ready to feed them when they woke, allowing Jordan time to recover. William was grateful for her foresight.

It was nearly the noon hour but William felt as if he had been up for days. He went back over to the bed where his wife lay, watching her as she slept. He noticed there was a bit of color back in her cheeks and reached out to touch her face ever so gently. God, how he loved her.

He slumped against the wall on her side of the bed, sliding down until his bottom hit the floor. He sat there, one knee raised and elbow resting on it, watching his wife’s sleeping face, never more content in his entire life.

She awoke, once, later on that afternoon to find him gazing at her. With a faint smile, she closed her eyes again and drifted off for the rest of the night.

*

The next morning, Jordan awoke absolutely ravenous. Cradling one son while William held the other, she wolfed down a huge portion of gruel as well as a large chunk of bread, talking the whole time with her mouth full. He watched her with a great deal of amusement, listening to her prattle on about the babies, Northwood and Questing. She insisted on seeing Kieran before he left so that he could pass a message on to Jemma for her.

He found it hard to believe she had just birthed two children the day before with the boundless energy she was exhibiting. He knew he was going to have trouble when she demanded to be released from bed.

Kieran entered the room, dressed in his armor, ready for travel. He spoke to both babies as if they would understand exactly what he was telling them, informing them that by one year of age he expected them to be in the saddle, swinging a broadsword.

Jordan argued vigorously with him, advising him that her sons would be scholars and not warriors, a statement William raised an eyebrow to. She merely smiled sweetly in return.

They spoke between them pleasantly for several minutes. Jordan reminded Kieran exactly what he should say to Jemma and extracted a promise that he would send them a missive regarding the child when it was born. William could see Kieran was eager to get on his way and told Jordan to be quiet and let the man leave.

Kieran was headed for the door when Deinwald burst in, his eyes wide.

“William, we’ve just received word from Northwo….” He stopped when he saw Kieran standing there.

William saw Deinwald’s hesitation and was immediately alerted to the fact that something must be terribly wrong. The way the man was looking at Kieran also told him that it must have something to do with Jemma.

He could not simply kick Kieran out of the room. The man was going to Northwood this minute and would need to know anything of importance. Mentally bracing himself, William nodded at his knight.

“Continue, Deinwald,” he said evenly. “What did the message say?”

Deinwald looked helplessly at William. He didn’t want to tell him, not in front of Kieran, and certainly not in front of Jordan, but in his haste he had created the situation. He took a deep breath, his eyes going between William and Kieran. He could not even look at Jordan.

“A messenger arrived a half hour ago,” he said quietly. “The Scots attacked Langton, forming a line to prevent any assistance from England. Alexander forbade Northwood troops to fight, as you knew he would, so Paris called upon Beverley, Hawkgrove, and Deauxville Mount. It took them over a week, but they broke the lines and separated the Scot forces. Only Langton was long gone.”

He glanced over at Jordan; they all did. She was sitting with her son clutched to her chest, her eyes spilling over, but didn’t utter a sound. Deinwald, visibly upset at her reaction, continued nonetheless.

“By this time, the English troops had suffered quite heavily and were discouraged to see that their fighting had been in vain,” he went on. “As they fell back, newly reinforced Scot armies chased them back into England. They got as far as Northwood. She is under siege as of three days ago.”

William was rigid. He was acutely aware of the small baby he held, careful not to allow his reaction to reflect on the child. Moving to the adjoining door, he calmly called to the wet nurse to come and retrieve both children. The fat woman silently and swiftly complied.

“Go on,” he told his knight after the woman left.

“Henry is so mad he could spit nails,” Deinwald said. “He’s mad as hell at Alexander for dishonoring the treaty his father agreed to. He’s already ordered 1200 troops readied for you to lead back to Northwood. Additionally, he wants Alexander brought back to London.”

“What in the hell for?” Kieran demanded.