A/N - I have made a GRAVE error! I left out a chapter - THIS ONE! I can only say, at the time I was cleaning this one up, I had gotten a new job and had to move across the state in 9 days on no money. It was a stressful time. This chapter will be moved in it's rightful place (next to last chapter of Roland's saga) by the time I post the next actual chapter of William Edward's. Thanks to those who mentioned that there had been no 'romance' so far - I knew there had been!

Aside from Heaven

Chapter 3E

Wandering Son

Roland had forgotten the rancid smell of Bordeaux, the unwashed masses and stench along the harbor and docks of the Garrone. The trip would have been much quicker had he taken the roads to Toulouse and then hired a sailing vessel to navigate the Garrone into Bordeaux, however considering he was carrying eleven trunks filled with velvets and silks and feminine gifts and childhood memories for his wife, as well as several crates of wine, it was decided to take the long way to Bordeaux – by the Great Sea, through the straits and up the coast of Spain and around to France. Pirates were a worry, but luckily for the vessel Roland and Thomas had paid for passage on, met no pirates or bad weather. The weather had been bright and sunny the entire trip and the winds were favorable.

Roland spent the majority of the trip, bent over the rail. He had a vague recollection of staying that way returning from the Holy Land in his previous life. He had committed a heinous crime he'd never forgiven himself at that time and contemplated suicide.

According to The Angel of Death, he had jumped over the rails once and successfully killed himself – for about five minutes. She brought him back and in the end, he was glad she had.

But during the trip, he wondered if he would ever be able to ride the decks of a ship again.

By the time he got his sea legs under him, they arrived in the harbor of Bordeaux. Thomas was one of the first over the rails, off to look for a cart and a gang of young men, looking to make a few crowns. He found ten strapping young men, who waited patiently for the sailors to unload all eleven trunks, two crates, and both horses Raymond allowed them to steal from him. He feared if they were left behind and discovered to belong to Raymond, some might accuse Hervé or any of the locals of theft and Roland wouldn't permit that. The peasants were valuable; they understood the making of the wine, the growing and care of the grapes. They were as valuable as the land, the fruit that grew on the property. By the time they left, Roland was feeling great ownership of and responsibility to Alise's estate.

And he was beginning to grow anxious about his properties in England. He needed to see them, inspect them. Last he recalled, Locksley was in a serious state of disrepair. There were things he had hidden in his previous life in the water closet, as well as buried under the dirt foundation of the root cellar. He rather doubted the home was habitable. If it had caved in on itself, what was hidden in the water closet was probably gone, stolen. It would make what was hidden beneath the foundations hard to impossible to find, much less retrieve.

After seeing the niche carved for his former self, as well as his wealth in his catacomb, Roland was beginning to think the crypts of Ripley's might be a better place to store things. So might the converted dungeon of Aigues-Mortes.

Gisborne was now non-existent. Even the foundations of Guy's boyhood home were eradicated. Someday, he would take care of that, but not in this lifetime.

Mounted up, with Roland and Thomas corralling the hired shoulders, they headed to Henry's Castle. According to a local Roland questioned, Henry and his family were still in residence. They rode into the courtyard to much fanfare and welcome. A servant was sent to find Alise, to inform her of her lord's return, while Thomas oversaw the delivery of the trunks to Roland's rooms. They had arrived just between the midday and evening meal. Henry was in one of the large halls of the mansion, talking with several advisers, his wife nearby.

"Welcome home! You have arrived just in time, Roland." Henry was in a good mood. "Several of us were going to go hawking-"

"Henri," his wife's voice was soft, concerned. "He is pale, just arrived." She leaned closer. "The trip was not an easy one for you."

"We took the Great Sea, my lady," Roland admitted. "I am not a seafarer." His eyes went up, searching the room for Alise. He reached in to the satchel he was carrying. "Otherwise, the trip was a success. I have brought the two of you a gift." He pulled an aged bottle from the depths of the bag.

"Is that from Alise's grandfather's estate?" Eleanor was quick to take the bottle before her husband did. "This is a great gift indeed!"

"Only one?" Henry growled. He waved the crowd away.

"Several, my lord, but this one I wanted to give you personally."

Eleanor was smiling. "How are my parents?"

"My cousin?" Henry added.

Roland took a deep breath. His eyes lit up as he saw his wife dressed in sky blue, gliding serenely across the floor. "All is well."

"You should tell me all at dinner-"

"Henri!" Eleanor quickly snapped. "He has not seen his wife in months! I expect he is starving and not for food or wine!"

Alise was getting closer.

"Sire, your wife is most astute." It was mumbled, softly spoken, so much so that Henry had to lean in to hear him. "My queen, your parents send their love and are pleased you have been delivered of another healthy child. They are happy your marriage is successful. Raymond," he reached out and drew Alise to him, taking her hand and kissing the knuckles, "is doing as well as expected. Life is not easy in Toulouse at this time, but he is making do." Alise's perfume enveloped him and he closed his eyes in bliss. This scent was hers, he'd dreamed of her fragrance many, many nights.

"Then you-"

"Henri!" Eleanor was quite irate. "You are being cruel!"

Roland tried hard not to smile. "By your leave sire, I am exhausted, I am in desperate need of a bath and deeply desire a soft bed." Alise was staring at him with adoring eyes, eyes full of promise.

"And you have need to see to your wife." Henry was finding mirth in the situation, much to Eleanor's ire. He leaned in towards his young earl. "I will see you at breakfast in the morning."

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps?" The king's eyebrows rose. "Perhaps?"

But by then, he was speaking to Roland's back.

~~~…~~~

The moment they turned the corner, no servants, others in sight, he kissed her. He kissed her up the stairs, around another corner, where they heard giggling. Alise blushed and Roland took her elbow and led her down the hall, past the snickering unmarried daughters of Lord de Westeron and kissed her again.

They met the servants coming out of the apartment, empty buckets, nods of welcome. Thomas stood at the door, waiting for Roland. "All the trunks and crates are accounted for, your bath is filled, and I have sent word that you and your lady-wife," he nodded towards Alise in greeting, which she graciously returned, "will be dining privately in your apartments this eve." He then gestured to an elderly manservant on the other side of the door. "This is Robert. He has been ordered to cut the tongue from anyone who tries to disturb you until the morning, unless they bring food."

Roland clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Go bathe, eat, and find a plump maid to enjoy the evening with." He addressed Robert. "Nothing but dinner is to come through these doors this eve."

"Eh?" Robert leaned closer and squinted. "What d'ye say?"

Alise entered the apartments, chuckling lightly.

"Thomas! You've set a deaf man on my doors!"

"Then he won't be able to hear the two of you screaming in joy! Now go swive yer wife!" Thomas was laughing down the hallway. As Roland slammed the door shut and bolted it, he didn't see Robert side step to block the doorway.

"Fargin' nobility. I heard ye just fine!"

Roland grabbed Alise the minute the door was barred. "Come here, wench!" His mouth found hers. While the stolen moments in the halls were bliss, this was a battle, a battle of lips and tongue and air. Roland found the ties on her bliaut; likewise, Alise undid and discarded his coat, his jacket, shoes and slippers were kicked off, kicked away.

"My lord, the bath will get cold." Alise was gasping for breath. Hose were pulled away, tossed aside.

"Then let it get cold!" Roland was edging her backwards, to the bed. As she climbed up, Alise found her tunic pushed up, baring her from the waist down to her husband. "Jesu, I have missed the smell of you!" He buried his nose within her, teasing her, plying her with nether kisses, refusing to give way, until she reached her peak and was crying his name. He gave her little time to recover, before mounting her, their fingers intertwined over her head, her ankles locked around his hips. By the time he was growling in her ear, they rolled from the bed, falling to the floor in laughter. She came again, the two finally giving in, giving way to more kisses and not caring they were bathed in sweat.

The bath was not beginning to cool when the two entered it together and as such, they did linger in it. Dinner arrived and Roland carried it from the sitting room, into the bathing chamber and they fed each other, foregoing eating utensils, fingertips nipped and suckled on.

"If you must be gone so long next time," Alise whispered, "I beg you, my lord, to take me with you."

"Miss me?"

The want in her eyes was obvious. "Aye, my lord. I missed you every day and every night." She gasped as he caressed her breast. "Please, do not leave me again."

There was something in her voice, something...

"Did anyone bother you while I was gone?"

Her eyes dropped. "Lord Winchester, my lord." Quickly, she looked up, her hand on Roland's shoulder. "Please, Roland. He simply made innuendos. He touched my shoulder once. I slapped him and complained to his wife that afternoon in the ladies solar." She snarled at the memory. "She said better me than her. As I enjoy your touch so much, I suspect his is less than satisfactory. I believe the Queen said something to the King, as the man has stayed away since."

"He is still here?"

"Oui."

Roland's face turned a sour sneer. "I will speak to him."

"I do not believe-"

"It does not matter what you believe," Roland cut her off with a snap. "I will speak to him. If he feels freely to do this to you, he will attempt this with others who are weaker and do not bend the ear of the court as you are able. That he would attempt to take advantage of one I hold dear while I was not here is galling and infuriating." Suddenly, his tone and countenance changed. "Come. Stand. I have gifts for you." Gently, he helped her from the tub. Easing her into her robe, he took her by the hand and led her to the trunks sitting in the corner.

"What is all of this?" Alise's curiosity was aroused. For a moment, Roland saw the young girl in her and wondered of their own daughters, when they came.

Taking his draw purse and knife from the table, he sat down with her in front of them. Each trunk was padlocked, with a single key shared among them. "Marie told me to tell you that she and Hervé miss you dearly and are grateful you have married such a handsome young lord with such lovely manners." Alise began to giggle at her husband's gaiety. "The steward in Nîmes sends his best wishes as well."

"I miss them also."

"Hopefully," Roland conceded quietly, "we will visit for a season in a few years. I need to see to the lands Henry has granted me in England. Locksley will need to be rebuilt, more than likely, and I wish to check on the people there." His smile faded. "I have been charged with making sure your lands do not fall into Church or Louis's hands. It will be a hardship to manage properties so far apart, but I trust Hervé and those in Nîmes." Alise was nodding. "Marie worried that you were forced to pack too quickly and as a result were forced to leave much behind."

"Oui." Alise was nodding her head in agreement. "I was given a day and limited to one trunk."

"I feared as much." Roland inspected the trunks, looking at the individual markings. Finally finding the one he wanted, he dragged it forward, placing it in front of himself and his wife. As he settled in and inserted the key into the lock, he turned to Alise. "I discovered and learned many things on this trip. I discovered your lands and properties, your homes and those who live on your estates and in the town that I am now duke of, are important to me. Their welfare is important to me. You and I cannot thrive if they do not. Our children will have nothing if the people on your properties have nothing. Our fates are tied. The fact that the Church has laid waste to your father's holdings and the King of France covets them, gives me no end of worry and I have no doubt that you worry as well. We must walk a fine line. I'll not sit for the Church or Louis to root through what is yours." Alise nodded dejectedly. "This means we must walk a fine tightrope and appear to live quietly and within the Church's dictates. We must give Louis no reason to stick his foot in our door. I will cut it off." He turned the key and removed the lock. Opening the chest, he began to carefully pull things from it, handing them to Alise.

"I learned many things, while exploring Nîmes and Aigues-Mortes. I learned more about the language and the people than I ever thought. I believe you were fond of this cloak."

Alise took it and nodded. "I was. My grandfather gave it to me."

Roland continued. "I learned about grapes and flavors and the colors and pressing. I learned," he gently pulled out a rolled leather scroll, "that my wife loved the gardens and the flowers and, while there, I was amazed by the layout, the thought, the planning she put into them. Which is why, you should be very careful when you unroll this." He handed the scroll to her. "According to the cook in Nîmes, you were very adapt in cultivating not only the floral beauties in the garden, you were also well versed with herbal lore and kitchen herbs. According to Marie, you loved the gardens in Aigues-Mortes, so I thought, in rebuilding our home in England, if you wished, you could be a part of the laying out of the kitchen garden, as well as a French garden in England, that you and our children would enjoy."

"Oh... oui... oui..." Carefully, Alise opened the roll, gasping at the carefully folded squares of parchment and material, with a large variety of selected seeds in the creases. "Oh Roland. You must have collected from each and every plant-"

"I tried. I thought if you saw some of your home in France, growing in our garden in Locksley, you would feel more at home and consider it your home as well.

"In exploring the homes you grew up in," he continued, pulling more and more cloth, tunics, veils, kirtles, from the trunk, "and speaking to the servants within the homes, they told me stories of a young, boisterous girl who climbed trees, and asked questions and had unusual interests and cared, not only for her grandfather when he became ill, but for those around her. She not only loved, she was loved and in hearing stories of her and the love she left behind, I learned that I loved her as well." He kissed her then, something sweet and promising. "I learned that right here and now, she is my world and my world is built on her smile." The trunk was now empty. Roland picked up the knife and began to pry within the chest. "I have brought all of your clothes, your lute, your flute, your needlework, several of your dolls Marie said you loved," he waggled his eyes at her. "Our daughters will enjoy them." She was nodding, grinning through tears. He lifted what looked like the bottom of the trunk from the box, before delving in again. He lifted out a gold circlet. He handed it to her. "Do you recognize this?"

Alise gasped and took it from him. "It was my mother's." She looked up at her husband. "Roland, this was hidden-"

"And I found it. Among," he lifted an enameled and elaborate scroll, "other things. Your grandfather and father were crafty souls. Did you know quite a bit of your father's wealth and ancestral heritage are hidden at your grandfather's?" Alise did not answer. Her eyes were riveted on the lapis tube, Roland held in his hand. "Paintings, tapestries, jewels, statuary..." He uncorked the top of the container and slid out two pieces of parchment. "And this." He handed a piece to her. "I do not recognize this language. I suspect you do."

Alise laid her mother's circlet in her lap and took the parchment, with trembling hands.

האהוב שלי מדבר ואומר לי: קום, האהבה שלי, היפה שלי, ובא משם, ולהנה החורף הוא העבר; הגשם נגמר ו

"'Tis Hebrew."

"Ah." Roland had unrolled the second scroll. "Does it say, En dilectus meus loquitur mihi: surge amica mea, et veni, quoniam ecce enim hiems transiit; imber abiit et recessit?"

Alise was trembling. "Oui." It was a barely audible whisper.

Roland handed her the scroll. "I recognize the handwriting beneath this. 'Tis yours." Alise had placed her fists, white-knuckled in her lap. "Go on." She shook her head. "Take it!"

"Roland, I-"

"Take! It!"

Alise couldn't look at her husband, fearful of what she would see. Doing as he bid, she took the scroll from him. "I thought you said you loved me."

"Read it."

Alise swallowed hard, before whispering, "Mon bien-aimé parle et me dit: Lève-toi, mon amour, ma belle, et viens, car voici l'hiver est passé; la pluie est terminée et est parti..."

Roland began to whisper along with her, only in English, "My beloved speaks and says to me: Arise my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The Fig tree ripens its figs and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away." He took the parchment from her and began to roll it up, Alise openly sobbing. "I do love you. Every trunk has a false bottom and each one is filled with a layer of these. That is how much I love you. I found it, Alise. I found your grandfather's hidden library, his hidden wine cellar, his hidden treasure, along with what Raymond has managed to spirit away and hide. Mind the grapes, Alise."

"Mind the grapes, Roland."

"And I intend to mind them. Was anything hidden in Nîmes?" She shook her head no. "Good. Now listen carefully, as I will not repeat myself. I was not lying, I do love you and I will die defending and protecting you and what is now ours. But there are things you must understand and accept and agree to, or it will not go well for you. Much less us." He inserted the scrolls back into the tubing and sealed it.

"I know what you are and privately, I care less how you worship Almighty God. But publicly and to England, France, Henry, and Louis, you are Catholic! I have seen first-hand the desolation and destruction the Holy See has wrought on the innocents in the South of this country. Henry will burn a heretic himself before he allows the Church to come and raze England! And he will not lose another inch of Plantagenet land to Louis!"

"But, you do not under-"

"I do understand! All you had to do was give money to the church! Your grandfather knew that! That is how he kept the Church appeased and out of Aigues-Mortes! Piety! Give them money! It kept him and you safe! You still worshiped as you saw fit! You still had your intellectual gatherings and you," he shook the casing at her, "have taken woman's lore and herbs to keep from conceiving." Alise colored at that. "For that, I understand, however sometime between now and the time we arrive on England's shore, you must cease and tend to your duty to our marriage."

She was nodding. "I intended to stop doing so when we crossed the channel." Her head shot up. "Henry and Eleanor-"

"Henry waited to consummate the marriage because Eleanor was a child!" He tapped her on the nose with a long finger. "You are not!"

"We also had two weeks to come to know each other." Alise shrugged. "All of the trunks?" she smiled. "Everything?"

Roland smirked, the left side of his mouth lifting. "All of the trunks. You are an intelligent woman and it is my experience that intellectual women cause all sorts of trouble when their minds are not engaged." He replaced the scrolls back in the trunk and replaced the fake bottom, pressing it down tightly. "So I brought things to engage you, for I am an indulgent man in love with his manipulative wife!" Alise laughed at that. "These must remain hidden until Locksley is rebuilt. I will ensure there is a library for us with hidden flooring similar to your home for these. Once it is complete, you may continue your translation. Alise," again the long digit was up, "if word gets out, I will burn all of it. I did not bring everything, but we will be returning to Aigues-Mortes, so you can continue your... hobby."

Alise squealed and jumped in Roland's lap, causing things that were at rest to reawaken.

And rather than put things away immediately, they made love again on the floor, before repacking the trunk and retiring to their bed, where they made love... again.

tbc

Song of Solomon 2:10-13