"Geoff. There you are. I've been looking for you. There's a banquet." William broke off, looked around the room. "What are you doing?"
Geoffdid not turn around or pause in his methodical folding. "Packing."
"I can see that." William fingered the edges of the shirt Geoff had just set down. "Why?"
"Honestly, Sir William." Geoff's hands had become still, yet he remained with his back to William. "You don't know?" His voice was very quiet.
William slipped his arms around Geoff from behind. "Sir William? Are we being formal all of a sudden, Master Herald?" He nipped playfully at Geoff's ear, trying to lighten the mood, but the poet expertly extricated himself.
"Formality is required, don't you think, M'Lord?"
William frowned, puzzled. "Between us? Between you and I Geoff?" Geoff said nothing as he continued to organize his belongings. "Geoff? Why are you packing?" He did not like this. Geoff was notoriously moody, but not usually around him. "You know we have these rooms until the end of the month. After that, I'm sure the Prince will entertain us through the cold weather."
"After you've added him to your list of conquests, no doubt."
"Conquests?" William laughed. "Are you jeleous of Edward, Geoff?" Geoff said nothing. William's tone changed. "Really?"
"Prince Edward M'Lord?" Geoff emphasised the title. "No. Why should I be? Nor of Wat, nor Jocelyn, nor, sorry, what was her name? The one in France?"
"Geoff, really." William spread his arms wide, moving slightly away from the writer. "This is unlike you."
"Yes." Geoffrey turned at last to his knight. "Yes, it is. Jealousy is not something familliar to me, yet here it is, ugly and unjust and inescapable." He let out a breath, touched William's cheek, twirled fingers through the hair he refused to cut. "You are young, William, beautiful. Why shouldn't you bed everyone who strikes your fancy? You should." He shrugged. "I did at your age. It is a wonderful thing, a spectaculaer life, and you've earned it." Geoff's smile was sad, resigned, but not quite dejected. "I am not young anymore, Will. I am jaded, and I find myself growing myopic. I find I am unable to watch anymore."
"So you will leave me instead?" William heard the resentment in his voice, but it was too late to take it back. Geoff merely smiled.
"I notice you did not offer to stop." He turned back to his packing. "You did not offer fidelity."
"Well, I," William gestured with his hands, trying to fill in for the words he could not quite say.
"Will you march into old age with me?" Geoff asked quietly.
"Whaa" It was more an explosion of breath than a word or a question. William just was not capable of answering questions like that.
Geoff laughed, echoing William's earlier mocking tone. "You don't even know what old age is, do you? Come here." He pulledhim close again, wrapping his arms around him so William could not see his face, resting his chin on the top of William's head. "Ah, William. My William. You are my eternal youth. My muse, my heart, my love, my fullfillment. And yes." He kissed Will's locks, burried his face in them, breathed deeply, then pushed him away. "I will leave you while we are still fresh, still in love, still full of possibilities."
"That makes no sense." William could not keep the rough edges out of his voice. "I don't understand."
Geoff had already turned around, shoving the last of his belongings into the small trunk. "That is because you are not a poet, Will." He picked up the trunk. "One day, I will write all this down, and you will read it, and you will see the perfect beauty of it." He touched William's cheek. "The purity of us. It will warm your heart, and you will smile. I promise." William felt his eyes brim, and Geoff cupped his chin, lifting his face. "Have I ever made you a promise I did not keep?" Will shook his head. "You see?"
"I will have to learn how to read." William banished the tears that made his eyes wet. Geoff would not appreciate weeping.
The poet smiled. "Indeed."
William stepped away, shook his head. "The things I do for you, Geoffrey Chaucer."
After Geoff left the room, William sat on the bed, looked down at his hands. He never expected this turn of events. With Geoff gone, who would teach him to read?
"William?" A voice at the bottom of the stairs pulled him back to himself.
"Up here."
"William." Prince Edward's head appeared, followed by the rest of him. "What's wrong?" He came to sit beside the knight.
"Nothing."
"You are not a very good liar." They both smiled. "Where is Chauser?"
"Gone." William's smile faded. There was a pause before the prince spoke.
"I see." Light fingers brushed the hair away from William's temple and the prince peered at him. "Are you alright?" Will nodded. "I'd make it up to you, but that might seem inappropriate."
William could not help but smile. "Do you know how to read, M'Lord?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I should learn."
"O.K." Edward shifted to facehim better. "Call me Edward, and I will teach you. That, and a few other things as well."
William's smile broadened to a grin. "Like what?" For answer, the prince leaned close, parting Will's lips with his own. William smiled into the kiss. After Chaucer, there was precious little, he thought, that the prince would be able to teach him in this field. He was willing to review, however. Very willing indeed.