A KNIGHT'S TALE:
FOREVER LOVE
By Wendy
*Don't own 'em, wish I did :) *
Unedited-sorry
Christiana silently watched her mistress from the grand archway that over looked the garden of Duke Recene's great home. The handmaid had become concerned with her lady's pale features and her long reflections of solitude over the last few days and as she continued to observe, her concern intensified. Lady Jocelyn sat on the stone bench shaded beneath the canopy of an ancient oak tree, spinning the stem of the daisy between her fingers, as she seemed to stare absentmindedly into space.
Torn between leaving her mistress alone to her thoughts, or intruding and maybe easing the burden by lending a sympathetic ear, Christiana started to turn away, before realizing that Jocelyn needed her.
Jocelyn couldn't believe that everything that had been so right could go so wrong in such a short time. As she stared at the daisy in her hand, without really seeing it at all, she thought back on that instant when time stood still, the day she came face to face with the other half of her heart.
How detached she had tried to seem as she locked eyes with the blonde stranger sitting astride his horse, while her heart pounded, threatening to burst from her chest. Barely able to find breath, she had forced herself to turn away from him and walk away, when all she wanted was to run to him and beg him to take her in his arms.
But Sir Ulrich Von Liechtenstien of Gelderland had followed her and wooed her with such words, and deeds, that she could do nothing else but fall more deeply in love. Even when she had realized that Sir Ulrich wasn't all that he seemed, it didn't matter, she loved the young knight, whether he was Sir Ulrich with title, or William Thatcher from Cheapside.
But it had mattered to William, and when Count Adhemar inflamed with jealousy over William's triumphs over him at the jousting tournaments, discovered 'Sir Ulrich's secret, Jocelyn had been sure she would lose him forever.
She had begged him to run, not to make his appearance at the London championships, knowing that the Count had already revealed William's identity and that guards would be waiting to arrest him should he turn up.
He had refused her.
Jocelyn could help smiling as she remembered his passionate words. 'I am a knight!' She had never heard those words spoken with such conviction before that day. William Thatcher might not of been born a knight, but he was one in every sense of the word, a knight of the purest kind. But that had not stopped the guards arresting him as soon as he set foot in the arena, nor had being a knight in his heart stopped them putting him into the stocks.
Jocelyn was sure that had it not been for Prince Edward coming to his rescue, William would have been left there to rot away, along with the putrid fruit and vegetables that lay littering the ground at his feet. But Edward did come. The Black Prince must have seen a fellow knight in the young man who twice had allowed Edward the courtesy to see the man before him and not the prince.
Jocelyn's only regret was that she was not there, before the same crowd that had moments before been throwing rotting fruit at William, to witness Prince Edward unsheathing his sword and tipping the blade to William's shoulders, dubbing him Sir William Thatcher. But she had been there when wounded and bloody, William defied the odds and raised his lance to unhorse Count Adhemar before a cheering crowd.
"William!"
William's father though blind, had heard the crowd chanting his son's name. 'His' son had changed his stars.
"My William changed his stars," Jocelyn whispered to the wind as she plucked the last petal from the daisy.
"Your Sir William loves you," Christiana said as she joined her mistress on the bench.
Startled by the unexpected company, Jocelyn dropped the now plucked daisy to the ground before brushing away the stray white petals from her lap. "I know he does," she answered with a faint smile as she watched the petals fall to the ground.
"You don't sound so certain," Christiana said softly.
"I am certain that William loves me," Jocelyn sighed. "It's just-- father."
"The Duke?"
"I know that William has started negotiating with father to marry me, but so has Count Adhemar. Father will not speak of it to me of it, or of my choice." Lady Jocelyn frowned as sighed again. "It's--Father has been behaving--so odd. I don't know what he is thinking anymore."
"He is thinking that he is about to lose his daughter," Christiana smiled. "It is a big decision for a father, especially when he is giving away his only child."
"You think that is what it is?" Jocelyn said hopefully.
"What I think," the lady-in-waiting replied. "Is that the Duke loves you and he knows how much you love Sir William. You are worrying yourself into sickness for nothing. You are not eating and you are so pale, M'lady."
Jocelyn bit the bottom of her lip, as she turned to Christiana. The young woman was more than an attendant, she was her best friend and Jocelyn needed to trust someone. "I am with child."
"Sir William's?" It was an unnecessary question, Christiana knew it was William's child that Lady Jocelyn now carried, it could be no other, but the handmaiden's shock gave the question voice.
"Yes," Jocelyn's voice was tinged with both happiness and sadness. "But if father does not give William permission, I don't know what I will do."
"Duke Recene does not know?" Another obvious question, but Christiana was at a lost for what else to say.
"No, he does not. The shame to our house, to his honor, it would destroy him and any standing he has in the King's circle."
"Maybe if the Duke knew about the child he would quickly reach agreement with Sir William and he would give you the permission you seek. What does Sir William say?" Christiana asked.
Jocelyn closed her eyes, turning away as she placed her left hand over her stomach, "I does not know."
"You have not told him?"
"I want him to marry me willingly, not because he is given no choice."
Christiana couldn't hide her disbelief that Jocelyn could think such thing of the man who loved her so much, "M'lady, surely you jest? Sir William worships the ground you walk on and has from the first moment he saw you. He would see this child as a gift from God."
"As do I," Jocelyn smiled, her heart feeling less burdened by her heart to heart with Christiana. "Thank you, Christiana."
"For what?" The lady-in-waiting asked.
"For being my friend." Jocelyn replied, before quickly changing the subject.
TBC
FOREVER LOVE
By Wendy
*Don't own 'em, wish I did :) *
Unedited-sorry
Christiana silently watched her mistress from the grand archway that over looked the garden of Duke Recene's great home. The handmaid had become concerned with her lady's pale features and her long reflections of solitude over the last few days and as she continued to observe, her concern intensified. Lady Jocelyn sat on the stone bench shaded beneath the canopy of an ancient oak tree, spinning the stem of the daisy between her fingers, as she seemed to stare absentmindedly into space.
Torn between leaving her mistress alone to her thoughts, or intruding and maybe easing the burden by lending a sympathetic ear, Christiana started to turn away, before realizing that Jocelyn needed her.
Jocelyn couldn't believe that everything that had been so right could go so wrong in such a short time. As she stared at the daisy in her hand, without really seeing it at all, she thought back on that instant when time stood still, the day she came face to face with the other half of her heart.
How detached she had tried to seem as she locked eyes with the blonde stranger sitting astride his horse, while her heart pounded, threatening to burst from her chest. Barely able to find breath, she had forced herself to turn away from him and walk away, when all she wanted was to run to him and beg him to take her in his arms.
But Sir Ulrich Von Liechtenstien of Gelderland had followed her and wooed her with such words, and deeds, that she could do nothing else but fall more deeply in love. Even when she had realized that Sir Ulrich wasn't all that he seemed, it didn't matter, she loved the young knight, whether he was Sir Ulrich with title, or William Thatcher from Cheapside.
But it had mattered to William, and when Count Adhemar inflamed with jealousy over William's triumphs over him at the jousting tournaments, discovered 'Sir Ulrich's secret, Jocelyn had been sure she would lose him forever.
She had begged him to run, not to make his appearance at the London championships, knowing that the Count had already revealed William's identity and that guards would be waiting to arrest him should he turn up.
He had refused her.
Jocelyn could help smiling as she remembered his passionate words. 'I am a knight!' She had never heard those words spoken with such conviction before that day. William Thatcher might not of been born a knight, but he was one in every sense of the word, a knight of the purest kind. But that had not stopped the guards arresting him as soon as he set foot in the arena, nor had being a knight in his heart stopped them putting him into the stocks.
Jocelyn was sure that had it not been for Prince Edward coming to his rescue, William would have been left there to rot away, along with the putrid fruit and vegetables that lay littering the ground at his feet. But Edward did come. The Black Prince must have seen a fellow knight in the young man who twice had allowed Edward the courtesy to see the man before him and not the prince.
Jocelyn's only regret was that she was not there, before the same crowd that had moments before been throwing rotting fruit at William, to witness Prince Edward unsheathing his sword and tipping the blade to William's shoulders, dubbing him Sir William Thatcher. But she had been there when wounded and bloody, William defied the odds and raised his lance to unhorse Count Adhemar before a cheering crowd.
"William!"
William's father though blind, had heard the crowd chanting his son's name. 'His' son had changed his stars.
"My William changed his stars," Jocelyn whispered to the wind as she plucked the last petal from the daisy.
"Your Sir William loves you," Christiana said as she joined her mistress on the bench.
Startled by the unexpected company, Jocelyn dropped the now plucked daisy to the ground before brushing away the stray white petals from her lap. "I know he does," she answered with a faint smile as she watched the petals fall to the ground.
"You don't sound so certain," Christiana said softly.
"I am certain that William loves me," Jocelyn sighed. "It's just-- father."
"The Duke?"
"I know that William has started negotiating with father to marry me, but so has Count Adhemar. Father will not speak of it to me of it, or of my choice." Lady Jocelyn frowned as sighed again. "It's--Father has been behaving--so odd. I don't know what he is thinking anymore."
"He is thinking that he is about to lose his daughter," Christiana smiled. "It is a big decision for a father, especially when he is giving away his only child."
"You think that is what it is?" Jocelyn said hopefully.
"What I think," the lady-in-waiting replied. "Is that the Duke loves you and he knows how much you love Sir William. You are worrying yourself into sickness for nothing. You are not eating and you are so pale, M'lady."
Jocelyn bit the bottom of her lip, as she turned to Christiana. The young woman was more than an attendant, she was her best friend and Jocelyn needed to trust someone. "I am with child."
"Sir William's?" It was an unnecessary question, Christiana knew it was William's child that Lady Jocelyn now carried, it could be no other, but the handmaiden's shock gave the question voice.
"Yes," Jocelyn's voice was tinged with both happiness and sadness. "But if father does not give William permission, I don't know what I will do."
"Duke Recene does not know?" Another obvious question, but Christiana was at a lost for what else to say.
"No, he does not. The shame to our house, to his honor, it would destroy him and any standing he has in the King's circle."
"Maybe if the Duke knew about the child he would quickly reach agreement with Sir William and he would give you the permission you seek. What does Sir William say?" Christiana asked.
Jocelyn closed her eyes, turning away as she placed her left hand over her stomach, "I does not know."
"You have not told him?"
"I want him to marry me willingly, not because he is given no choice."
Christiana couldn't hide her disbelief that Jocelyn could think such thing of the man who loved her so much, "M'lady, surely you jest? Sir William worships the ground you walk on and has from the first moment he saw you. He would see this child as a gift from God."
"As do I," Jocelyn smiled, her heart feeling less burdened by her heart to heart with Christiana. "Thank you, Christiana."
"For what?" The lady-in-waiting asked.
"For being my friend." Jocelyn replied, before quickly changing the subject.
TBC