Epilogue 1

"Your grace?"

Gisla lowered her bow and arrow as she turned around, the other archers following her example to look at what was going on.

She looked the servant over "Yes?".

"The Duke wishes to see you, your grace".

Gisla frowned, as if she'd just been insulted somehow "Excusez-moi?".

The servant looked a little nervous, disturbing his Duchess in the middle of her arching training and with this type of news "The Duke wishes-".

"Yes I heard you" Gisla interrupted "But I do not understand the meaning of your message. I believed the Duke would be dealing with tenants complaints this morning and passing judgement".

"He is, your grace. And so he asked for you".

"To advise him?" she asked in confusion. She found it hard to believe. The last couple of weeks she had been helping Rollo ruling their lands and dealing with problems of tenants. But Rollo had told her himself to go train the archers and continue the preparation for the Christmas celebrations.

"No your grace… there…" the servant could not find the courage to finish his sentence.

"Out with it" Gisla pressed the servant.

"There has been a complaint about you".

Gisla's eyes widened as she inhaled sharply, not believing that Rollo would actually call her in… that there had been a complaint… about her! Of all people!

The nerve of that man sometimes! To call her into the great hall, the princess of Frankia!

How dare he…

She exhaled slowly again "Fine" she decided "I will go to him. You are dismissed. I apologize if this situation has made you to feel uncomfortable".

"Not at all your grace".

Gisla slowly walked into the great hall, the words of her servant still resounding in her head: "The duke wishes to see you, your grace".

It was not at all like her husband to summon her like this. And she certainly did not appreciate it.

When she stood in the middle, in front of the great table with Rollo and some of his chieftains around it, she held her head up high and narrowed his eyes at him "You wished to see me, your grace?".

A slight grin played around his lips as he noticed how she tried to get back at him with her particular choice of words. He preferred when she called him by his name in private of simply 'husband' when they were in public.

He nodded at her, a formal welcome "My beloved wife, I thank you for honoring me with your presence".

His voice showed hints of sarcasm and humor.

"It was hardly a request" she replied defiantly.

He smirked, ignoring her taunt "Do you know this man?" Rollo gestured to the left of the room.

Gisla looked to her side, her eyes finding a familiar pair of old grey eyes "I do yes. This man is one of our tenants. I met him this morning. He lives on one of the farms south of our castle".

Rollo nodded "This man claims you have taken away his only son and put him to work in our castle. Is this true?".

She narrowed her eyes at Rollo. How dare he put her on display like this, as if she was to be on trial here. The old farmer should be trialed! She remembered him well and she had indeed taken away his child. And for good reasons!

"It is true" she simply answered her husband.

"And for what purpose?" Rollo asked her.

The room was more than tense as the Duke openly questioned his Duchess.

"To work in the kitchen and to be safe within the walls of our home".

"This man claims you have no right to keep his child away from him".

"This man was beating his child!" Gisla hissed, fighting hard to suppress her temper in public.

Rollo remained calm "He claims that the child had been disobedient and needed punishment. Surely it is not up to you, to meddle in his family affairs. Or do you not believe in punishing disobedient children?".

Gisla scoffed in disbelief "This man was beating his child to an inch of his life when I reached his farm! It is only by the grace of God that I happened to ride in that direction. The boy is eight years old and his little body is filled with bruises and even cuts! That is not punishment, that is torture!" Gisla swallowed hard as she quickly regained her calm posture. She straightened her back and looked arrogantly at Rollo "Perhaps when a child needs such a severe beating, the father should wonder what he himself has done wrong. And when a grown man needs to beat a child to show his authority, perhaps he is not worthy of sons".

She continued to look at Rollo defiantly, looking into his eyes and seeing her words sink in. If he were ever to beat their future children, she would cut off his head.

The message of her words were not lost on him.

He smirked slowly as he stared back into her eyes, she reminded him of a wild cat, protecting her cubs. This boy was not even her own, imagine what she would do for their children.

He looked around "Everyone leave" he gestured "I wish to speak with my wife in private".

The farmer to her left grinned wickedly, surely the Duchess would get a good beating now for disobeying her husband the Duke. Most of the people in the great hall jumped at the chance of leaving, the situation was anything but amusing.

Gisla simply stared the farmer out of the room. When all the others had also left, she turned around to look at Rollo. He slowly got out of his chair and walked towards the door, locking both doors when he reached them.

Her heart jumped a little. Curious what he would do now, slightly nervous but mostly…

Furious.

Her eyes were burning with tears. Tears of anger and betrayal. How dare he put her on display like that.

"How dare you!" she hissed sharply "You once said that I was your equal!".

He turned around, finding her furious eyes "And so you are" he simply stated, confused by her doubt.

"Then why do this? Why do you summon me to answer for my deeds? In public even!".

"Because this is the usual way in Frankia is it not? I want the people to know that I hear their complaints. That I take it serious and that I will listen to their story. That goes for them and that goes for you also. The law is equal for everyone. For you and me also".

She calmed down slightly. It was true. This was indeed the right way. When they first arrived in Rouen she had advised him to listen to the people's complaints and always hear their side of the story. She simply had not expected that it could include her also.

He moved closer to her, his hands caressing her hair slowly, cupping her cheeks between his big hands "And now it is settled" he stated.

She looked a little confused "I do not understand. Nothing is settled yet".

"But it is. For you have told me that he beat his child severely. I do not approve of that. So you did the right thing in taking away the child".

She blinked a couple of times. He simply believed her word? Just like that? He did not wish to inspect the child first or talk to the father again?

"You look surprised" he smirked at her "Is something wrong?".

Gisla relaxed a little, but still looked at him most seriously "Why did you summon me Rollo? Why did you question me in public?".

He shrugged it off "To make them think I value their word as much as yours. When in reality I value yours much more" he smirked and pulled her closer to him, his lips finding hers "I also wanted to see you" he teased as he moved over her mouth.

Gisla found it hard to stay angry with him. She smiled against his lips, answering his searing kiss with her own passion. He trusted her, every word she spoke was the truth to him, it did not matter what others told him. He did not even wish the inspect if she had spoken the truth. Her word was good enough for him.

He deserved the same kind of trust from her.

As if he could read her mind, he slowly moved her back towards the table "You should have told me about the child. I would have supported you no matter what, you must know this Gisla" he whispered as he slowly turned her around to face the table "You should have trusted in me and not simply do whatever pleases you. I cannot have that".

Her heart jumped a little, what did he mean? She could feel his huge body pushing against her back.

"Put your hands on the table" he whispered into her ear a she kissed her neck.

Her eyes grew big "Why?" she asked as she did what he said.

He smirked lustfully as he roamed her back "Because your disobedience has put me in an unwelcome situation and now you must learn to trust me".

Her eyes remained big as her breath stuck in her throat. She looked down at her hands. She was bent down over a table, which could only mean one thing.

"You promised to never be violent with me" she whispered in shock.

Rollo smirked as he slowly moved her dress up, his eyes hungry with desire when he looked over her beautiful pale legs and bottom.

His hands moved slowly over her legs, carefully moving higher "You are not trusting me Gisla" he replied lustfully "I have said to never be violent with you, and so I never shall be".

He leaned in to kiss her neck, moving the dress up even higher, revealing her bare back to him. He could still see a few of the scars which had proven her loyalty and love for him knew no boundaries.

He smiled even though she could not see. Her body aroused him. His hand was still roaming over her, he could clearly hear her breathing had accelerated.

His lips found her neck again as he leaned over her naked body, bending her over the table "Open your legs for me" he whispered hungrily.

Gisla, no longer experiencing even the slightest fear, did as her husband asked her. She bit her lower lip as she looked down at the table. She wished to feel her husband inside of her, for his hands to roam her body as he had done last night and for his warm seed to spill inside her.

"Do you trust me?" Rollo asked as his hand moved between her thighs, setting her most private parts on fire.

"I do" she moaned softly, cursing him for taunting her with this delicious agony.

His hand suddenly left her body, only to be quickly brought back down on her behind in the form of a smack. Not a severe one, it was no more than a teasing. A slight spank only to make her flesh burn and yearn for more of this treatment.

Gisla moaned as his hand hit the bare flesh over and over.

Rollo continued to torture her so sweetly, so deliciously, she could hardly bare it.

"Do you truly trust me?" he asked her again as he pressed his hard organ against her thigh.

"I do" she gasped as she moved her legs a little further apart, almost begging him to enter her.

When he finally did, Rollo groaned as the pleasure consumed his mind completely. Since their marriage two months ago, there had not been one day where he had not made love to his wife. And although the various ways in which they did were often new and strange to her, she enjoyed him immensely and was eager to learn.

She lustfully arched her back as his hands roamed her body, forcing out moans of pleasure from his wife. She felt his big hands everywhere, over her back, around her stomach, pinching her sensitive flesh as his lips kissed her neck wildly. She moved back against him, eager to feel him move inside her.

Gisla had completely forgotten they were not in their sleeping chambers and although Rollo had dismissed everyone and locked the doors, there were other entrances. It did not seem to matter right now as long as he was clutching onto her, kissing her, feeling her everywhere as his breath tickled every inch of her warm body.

She giggled internally at the memory of how insulted she felt when Rollo had summoned her to the great hall to answer for her actions. Mostly because he wished to see her.

"Are you angry that I called you into the great hall?" he asked her that night.

They were laying in front of the fire in their bedroom, his cloak and furs covering them both. She'd almost fallen asleep in his arms before his question brought her back to reality and made her chuckle.

"No. I am not" she answered "Well, not anymore".

He smiled contently as he moved the cloak up a little, making sure she was not cold.

"Why did you go to a healer before arching training this afternoon?" he suddenly asked "Are you ill?".

She frowned a little, wondering how he could've found out about her little visit "No, I am not ill".

"You would tell me, would you not?" he asked most seriously "If something was wrong with you? If you were sick?".

Gisla turned around in his arms as she looked up at him "Of course I would tell you. But I am not sick Rollo".

He frowned "But, then why-"

"I am with child".

His mouth dropped, his eyes grew wide as his heart raced madly at her words "Gisla…" he all but gasped "Are you certain?".

She smiled shyly at his look of excitement. She expected him to be content with it, but the happiness his face radiated right now, was beyond what she'd expected.

"Yes, I am quite certain. The healer says I have been carrying our child for two months now".

In one swift moved Rollo rolled them over as he hugged her against him, planting dozens of kisses on her beautiful face "I am the happiest man in this world and the next. The Gods may know what I did to deserve this, for I have absolutely no clue".

She chuckled softly "Well, it was to be expected, was it not?".

He kissed her again "I was hoping for it, but so soon already, I did not expect that".

She blushed a little "So… you are happy then?".

"This is the most beautiful gift anyone has ever given me Gisla".

She hardly knew how to reply to his reaction. Giving birth to an heir was simply considered a duty where she'd grown up. They had to procure their lands, titles and property. It used to have nothing to do with love or family. But for Rollo everything was different. He wanted the family even more than the lands. He wanted to prosper, find love and watch it grow for him. And so now for Gisla it was a lot more than merely a duty also. It was something that she actually dreamt of. Creating a family with Rollo. Her heathen husband who she wanted to hate at first but never could.

"If we have daughters, I will not marry them off like cattle. I will let them choose freely so that they may also know love".

She slowly rose from his chest to look at him "You should not say that Rollo. You do not know what the future holds. Do not make promises that you cannot keep".

Rollo smiled "You once asked me if I would not rather marry out of love, remember?".

She nodded.

"Do you remember what I said?".

She smiled "You promised that you would have a marriage with love".

"And did I keep that promise?" he asked as he brushed her lips with his.

She smiled as she thought about the things they'd gone through. How the famous warrior fell of their Paris walls when he saw her, her hateful speech and his mocking smile and greeting after she insulted him in public. The dinner celebration and the way he mocked their fate for believing women could not be warriors or rulers. How her heart had jumped when he asked her to train their archers as soon as they reached Rouen and how he had easily seduced her and made her enjoy every single one of his touches.

She kissed him back and smiled "You did".

AN: Hope you enjoyed this. I will probably write another epilogue because I'm not quite out of ideas about what should happen after their marriage. I will not write about giving birth though, I'm no good with that :-p