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Izlyn peered at the object. It looked like a dried weed, flattened by time and age, but when he turned it more in her direction, she realized that she was looking at the thistle she had given him the day before Gryffyn had been killed. She gasped as realization swept her.
“You gave this to me years ago,” he said softly, watching her astonished expression. “Do you recall?”
She nodded vigorously. “I do,” she replied. “I gave it to you back during the time when Gryffyn was killed. And Gart…. do you remember Gart Forbes? He was very upset that I had given you a flower and had not meant one for him.”
George grinned as he pressed the flower into her open palm, watching her inspect it. “I remember Gart,” he said. “I have not seen him in years, though. He was in France fighting for de Lohr for a while but I have heard he is back in England. If he comes to visit you, I will have to kill him.”
Izlyn laughed softly. “Gart moved on from me long ago,” she said. Then, she sobered, holding up the flower. “But I am very glad you did not.”
George met her gaze, his eyes glimmering warmly at her. Then, he did what Keller told him he could not do. He took the flower from her, took her hand, and kissed it gently.
“Never,” he whispered. “Now, let us retreat inside before Keller has a tantrum. Your brother-in-law and I must discuss your dowry.”
Izlyn held his arm tightly as they disappeared into the cool innards of Nether’s keep, heading for the small hall where Keller was in the process of brooding. He and George spent two days negotiating Izlyn’s dowry which, in the end, had been quite generous of Keller and even included a plot of land from the Carnedd Barony to provide them with income. When all was said and done, the only matter left was the wedding itself, and on a warm August day in the year of our Lord twelve hundred and four, Lady Izlyn d’Einen because Lady Ashby-Kidd. Three out of Keller and Chrystobel’s five children cried through the entire ceremony. The naughty twins had brought hollowed straw from the stable and tiny little pebbles, using them like blow guns and shooting the groom through most of the ceremony until their mother realized what they were doing and took them both outside to a sound spanking. Then, Keller and Chrystobel had five children who cried through the ceremony.
But it didn’t matter, for the mass was beautiful and the couple, very much in love. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day in spite of the commotion. The bride had violets woven into her hair while the groom wore the faded thistle his bride had given him so long ago pinned to the collar of his tunic. When it came time for the final vows, Izlyn had remembered something Keller had said to her once, something the girl had written to her sister on behalf of her new husband.
Somehow, the words had always stayed with her so when it came time to repeat their vows, Izlyn had added a line that meant as much to her as it had to her sister. Back in those days, those terrible dark days, they discovered that men by the name of Keller de Poyer, Gart Forbes, Rhys du Bois, William Wellesbourne, and George and Aimery Ashby-Kidd could heal what Gryffyn had damaged. Angels in the form of English knights had changed their lives forever.
I see the magic of a new beginning with you.
Now, it was Izlyn’s turn for a new beginning.
* THE END *
